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"Come on, dad!" Bulla shouted, pulling her father's arm. "You promised you'd try to socialize more. Now what did we talk about?"
Vegeta mumbled something.
"I can't hear you!"
"I can't socialize if I don't leave the house!" Vegeta huffed loudly.
"Exactly! Unpacking is boring and I won't let you use it as an excuse. We have our whole lives to unpack!" Bulla was practically hanging off his forearm now. Vegeta sighed. He was exhausted just from driving over here and unloading the car. Not physically, mind you. Vegeta was fit, always had been. But he'd much rather stay here and unpack than go outside.
He glanced down at Bulla, who was staring up at him expectantly. The same on-command innocent glint in her eyes as her mother had had.
...And he'd much rather go outside than disappoint his daughter. "Alright, fine."
One adventure exploring around the new house and Bulla was already bored. Trunks had felt much easier to raise, but then again, besides the fact that Bulma had done most of the heavy lifting, back then it'd been much easier to just let your kid run off on their own to get into mischief. The purple-haired rascal had gotten his energy out that way. The same energy Bulla seemed to have, except these days if you let your kid explore on their own it'd get damned Child Protective Services called on you. It was nothing Vegeta agreed with but what could he do about it besides try to compromise and let her get her energy out in other ways?
As they put their shoes on, Bulla rambled excitedly about a sort of downtown area that was a short walk from their cul-de-sac that had all the essentials. Which, for Vegeta, mainly meant the coffee shop. If he could just make it there before socializing with anyone, he could get by. Probably.
They made it to the end of the sidewalk.
The man was tall with dark and wild hair, and wore a somehow not-tacky orange workout shirt with black ¾ sleeves. And he had a baby strapped to his chest in a matching, still somehow-not-tacky baby carrier. Said baby was the spitting image of his presumed father.
“Whoa! Vegeta?” The man grinned.
Vegeta blinked.
…
“K— Kakarot?!” He exclaimed.
“Yeah! Wow! It's been forever, man,” Kakarot smiled. His smile looked the same as it had when they were kids.
"Yeah, uh.. you look great." It sort of just slipped out before Vegeta could stop himself. Who could blame him? Kakarot was totally ripped. “Uh, Bulla, this is Kak- Goku. My best friend from childhood,” Vegeta said warily. The sort of best friend you teased and bullied all the time, but somehow it worked. Mainly because Kakarot didn’t seem to mind at all, and was just about the only one who could stand being around Vegeta for more than 5 minutes. Kakarot had come about one day when one of their classmates, Broly, accidentally yet completely covered Goku’s head in mashed carrots. Vegeta still remembered what he'd looked like, having to suppress a grin.
“Hello. And hello, cute baby,” Bulla smiled, giving both of them a wave.
“Thanks! His name is Goten,” he grinned, taking his wrist and waving it. “Call me Goku. No one but Vegeta calls me Kakarot,” the man giggled, amused that the nickname had come back so naturally.
“Where'd Kakarot come from?” Bulla asked.
“One of our classmates, Broly, accidentally smushed carrot all over my hair. Your dad thought it was hilarious and called me Kakarot ever since,” Goku explained with a smirk.
Vegeta flushed slightly, rolling his eyes. But he couldn't help but smile a bit. It was funny, even to this day. “I still remember what you looked like,” he scoffed slightly, a result of his suppressed laughter, crossing his arms as he peered at Kakarot.
Kakarot laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. A shy or awkward habit Vegeta recognized from their childhoods. “So, where’ve you been, man?”
“After Bulma and I got serious, we moved to New York. You know how smart she was as a kid? That never stopped,” Vegeta recalled fondly. “She started her own company there and it's growing. You might even hear about it here one day. My son, Trunks, is running it now.” He paused, glancing downwards. New York had just been… too much. Maybe it was selfish of him to have taken Bulla away from there too, but he’d needed to go. Back to his roots. He'd tried to held out, had for five years. Finally Trunks convinced him that he had everything taken care of, and he should go. For his own pride. “So uh.. we just moved back here,” he finished dumbly, motioning vaguely to the cul-de-sac behind him.
Goku didn't respond for a moment. He assumed by Vegeta’s words and tone that Bulma was… well, gone. “No kidding!” He replied cheerily, hoping to lighten the mood once more. “I live in this cul-de-sac too. After Chi-Chi and I divorced last year, I moved back here.”
Great job, dumbass.
“Oh, so you did end up marrying Chi-Chi.” As kids did, Chi-Chi and Kakarot had gotten 'married' in the schoolyard one recess with the promise of doing it for real one day. “Uh, but I'm sorry it didn't work out.”
"Yeah, that's alright," Kakarot chuckled somewhat sheepishly, hand going up to his neck again. “It's old news. We take turns taking care of Goten and Gohan. Actually, he's probably about her age. And she definitely looks like Bulma," he commented, smoothly changing the subject as his gaze flicked to Bulla once more.
"Yeah, she does," Vegeta said with a fond smile, glancing at his daughter. It had hurt at first, but Vegeta had learned to see it as a good thing. "And not only that. She's as smart as her too,” he added, reaching out to ruffle Bulla’s hair. “Bulma died when she was 5." After a minute or two of thought he’d decided he was okay with sharing, and that he should be upfront with Kakarot. They'd been best friends, the four of them, after all. No matter how long ago it had been.
Kakarot's expression fell as his fears were confirmed. "I'm so sorry, man. I wish I could've seen her again."
Vegeta nodded.
Awkward silence.
"Uh, so I just finished my jog, but you should totally join me sometime. I'll show you all the best routes.”
"Uh, I don't know about—”
Bulla stepped firmly on his foot.
"I mean I'd love to," Vegeta said through a pained smile.
"Great! Let me give you my number."
Vegeta, somewhat begrudgingly, handed over his phone. He wasn't sure how to feel about rekindling with his childhood best friend, but with them being neighbours and Bulla on his back, it was probably going to be inevitable sooner or later.
Kakarot continued on his way with a wave and Bulla grinned up at her dad. Ever since mom died he'd always seemed lonely and even grumpier than usual. She'd thought it was about time he meet someone new. "I like him. He seems fun."
Vegeta didn't reply. "Can we get coffee now?"
"Yes dad!"