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Anniversaries. Goku never really understood them, and neither did Vegeta. The movies and TV shows made such a big deal out of them—romantic dinners, long walks on the beach, surprise getaways to exotic lands. But for Goku and Vegeta, seasoned warriors with the fate of the universe often on their shoulders, such things seemed... well, trivial. Vegeta always scoffed at the idea of candle-lit dinners, and Goku had a hard time wrapping his head around the notion that a "romantic walk on the beach" was meant to be more meaningful than training. So it was no surprise to either of them that their first anniversary was spent, not on a walk down a moonlit beach, but lost in the flower department in the grocery store.
Goku scratched the back of his head as he stared at a display of flowers. There were so many, and the woman at the register had said something about flowers having different meanings—but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what those meanings were. They all just looked... pretty.
He jumped as Vegeta's voice came from right behind him.
"It is impossible to make a selection. It doesn't matter where we go in this blasted store. Nothing seems right." He grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Yeah...do you really want flowers? What about...some chips or something? Food is always good..." Goku said hopefully.
Vegeta smirked, "Yes, I suppose food is a proper gift. What would be acceptable though?"
"We could get you some more protein powder," Goku said helpfully. "Or...uh...maybe some of those bagged salads with the peppers and carrots?"
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think I eat for lunch?"
Goku frowned instantly. "Uh...I did...but judging by your face, I'm going to change my mind on that."
Vegeta sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even if I did, it doesn't seem like a very fitting gift to celebrate an anniversary with. Some food would just be a regular meal." He looked up at the woman behind the register. "You, woman! What do you humans do for anniversaries? My mate has no concept of this kind of thing, and neither do I."
The woman behind the counter frowned, "Uh...well...candles are popular? Maybe a nice bottle of wine?"
Vegeta huffed, "That's more of a date night type thing, isn't it?"
The woman blinked, "I...not really. They're mostly with, like, a romantic evening with a fancy meal, then you exchange gifts, and then you...um..." She cleared her throat. "Sex and stuff."
Vegeta groaned, "All that, just for a stupid anniversary? Ridiculous. Kakarot and I do all that without any stupid special day about it."
"Well, it's...special...because of the anniversary," the woman explained. "If you're in a committed relationship, sometimes people celebrate how far they've come over the years. Like, in the first year you might just celebrate how you got to know each other, and in the second year you might celebrate moving in together, or the proposal...you know?"
"Proposal? What's that?" Goku tilted his head to the side.
"She's referring to when one asks another to be their partner, Kakarot," Vegeta answered. He looked back to the cashier, "Are you saying that humans celebrate each and every thing in the years leading up to the commitment?"
"Yeah...uh...they do. Sometimes people even celebrate things like how they met." The woman glanced at Goku and Vegeta's hands and noticed the matching rings on their fingers. "I mean, you're married! That's a...big deal! What was the wedding like?"
"Wedding?" Goku blinked.
"Another big party for the sake of throwing a party," Vegeta grumbled. "We didn't have much time for a ceremony. Kakarot and I just got these blasted things because a friend of ours insisted and wouldn't shut up about it."
"You...you guys didn't even get a wedding? That's...so sad!" The woman sighed.
"What? Why? Kakarot and I don't care about all that." Vegeta's brow furrowed.
"That's not the point. Don't you want to share your love with the world?" She looked between them frantically.
"Vegeta doesn't do public affection," Goku mumbled. "Except for kisses."
"Of course, I'm a private person," Vegeta said, as if it should be obvious. He shrugged, "To be honest, it's not the end of the world that we didn't have some big extravagant wedding. We made an agreement, we signed some papers, and we had sex. It was done."
The cashier blushed, "There was no romance?"
Vegeta and Goku exchanged a glance.
"Romance?" Goku frowned. "Like...singing and dancing? Or like in the movies when they always say, "It's not you it's me," and "I promise I'll be better," and then they get back together?"
Vegeta couldn't help but snort. "Like that ever happens in real life. People just get married and go back to living their lives, just together. They create their own drama."
"Why can't you just say I love you?" The cashier said.
"Vegeta doesn't say I love you," Goku shook his head. "He's just not like that."
"And Kakarot is totally fine with that."
"Yeah, it was in our agreement and everything."
"Agreement? You had an agreement?!" She gaped at them.
"Of course!" Goku nodded with a smile.
"We both knew what we wanted, so we talked about it, and agreed to it, and now here we are." Vegeta nodded. "Besides, 'I love you' is just a string of words. If a person needs to say that in order for someone else to feel loved, then they're probably not going to be satisfied."
"Wow...that's...kind of sad." The cashier frowned.
"Look, just tell us what we need and we'll be on our merry way." Vegeta rolled his eyes.
"Right, flowers! Um...roses are always a safe bet..."
"Roses? Is there a reason for them?" Goku asked.
The cashier grinned, "They have a lot of meaning to them. They represent love, passion, romance..."
"Annnnnd I'm sold." Vegeta grabbed the largest bouquet of roses he could find and moved towards the checkout counter.
"Uh, yeah, um...candles. You'll need some candles. And chocolate! It's literally the bread and butter of anniversaries."
Vegeta and Goku took her advice, and the next thing they knew, they stood in the baking aisle, staring at the wall of chocolate. It was like the flower department—there were so many options, but none of them seemed right.
"I guess we could buy every kind? There's a lot here to choose from." Goku's eyes kept searching the shelves, but he still didn't find anything he liked. "Uh...what kind do you like, 'Geta?"
"I don't have a preference. Pick what you think is good," Vegeta shrugged.
Goku huffed, "Great, well, neither do I." He grabbed a box of something called chocolate-covered cherries, and Vegeta frowned.
"You should look at the nutrition label on that before you—"
"Here, what about this one?" Goku asked as he handed Vegeta a bag of what appeared to be chocolate-covered pretzels. "You like pretzels...right? Oh, and these! And look at these, they look awesome! Aww, these ones are shaped like stars, and this one has caramel in them, and look at this one—it's got little cookie bites inside!"
Vegeta looked over the boxes of chocolate Goku was holding. "These are...all the same chocolate..."
"I guess." Goku shrugged. "Do you not like them?"
Vegeta smiled and shook his head. "Let's get it all. You seem to like them."
"Aw, really? You don't mind?" Goku asked happily.
"Not at all." Vegeta tossed the chocolate into the cart, then leaned on the handlebar. "I think we have enough now. Let's pay for this nonsense and go home."
"We...do?" Goku frowned. "This was pretty quick."
"My patience for this kind of thing is waning, and I am beginning to lose interest," Vegeta said with a sigh. "We have enough food at home to whip something up for dinner anyway."
Goku chuckled and placed a hand on the small of Vegeta's back. "Alright, let's go pay for it, then."
After paying for the candy and flowers, the pair walked out of the store to the car. They shoved the bags into the trunk, then Goku hopped into the driver's seat, only for Vegeta to shove him into the passenger seat instead.
"Hey! I always drive!" Goku pouted.
"And I have had enough of your reckless driving. I will drive this time, and hopefully, we won't end up in a ditch somewhere."
"I'm offended."
"Oh, get over it, Kakarot," Vegeta rolled his eyes. He was just pulling out of the parking lot when he grumbled, "I didn't know you didn't care for the statement 'I love you.' I wouldn't have agreed to the 'agreement' if I had known. You could have just told me."
Goku froze, and Vegeta glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What? You want me to say it?"
"No, of course not, don't be ridiculous."
"Aww, you're lying!" Goku said with a smirk. "You totally want me to say it, don't you?"
Vegeta shrugged and continued driving.
"But what about the agreement?"
Vegeta sighed, "The agreement doesn't state that I can't say it. I just...never wanted to at first. It's embarrassing and...mushy."
Goku grinned and leaned over to press a kiss to Vegeta's cheek. "Are you getting soft, 'Geta?"
"Don't start, Kakarot."
"Oh, I'm starting something." Goku grinned.
"I'll throw you out this window if you keep it up."
"Awww, 'Geta."
"Stop."
"Love you."
"Shut up, Kakarot."
"You love it."
"I do not."
It wasn't a surprise that the entire car ride was filled with playful banter and insults. Goku was resilient, and Vegeta's threats held no weight. It was fun and silly, and just a regular day between them. When they got home, Vegeta pulled the groceries out of the trunk, and Goku led the way into the house.
It was actually more of an apartment, with two bedrooms and a spacious living area. Bulma had helped pick it out with them, and it was decent enough for Vegeta to agree to buy it. It wasn't too cramped, it had a nice kitchen, and there was plenty of space for them to train outside. It worked for them just fine.
"So, do we...put the flowers somewhere? Like the vase on the table?" Goku asked.
"Sure, whatever." Vegeta shrugged.
Goku placed the roses into a glass vase that sat on the dining room table. "Should we put the chocolate on the table, too?"
Vegeta rolled his eyes and set the bags on the counter. "If you want to, but I don't see why it needs to be on display."
"Okay, okay, jeez, I'm just trying to figure this out. I...want it to look nice." Goku grumbled.
Vegeta softened, "I'm sorry. I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I just...don't see the point in the grand gestures and celebrations. I don't need all that."
Goku gave him a small smile. "I know. But...we could at least give it a shot."
Vegeta sighed, "Fine. Put the chocolate on the table. Then...I suppose we could cook something together. Maybe a dessert. I'm sure there's a recipe for something we can find."
Goku brightened instantly, "Yeah! Let's look through the cookbooks." He dug around in a cabinet until he found one of the books that Chi-Chi had given them. "Uh...here, how about this? Chocolate lava cake?"
"What the hell is a lava cake? And what is that filling? Dark chocolate mousse? What's that?" Vegeta frowned.
"I dunno, but it looks good." Goku flipped to the ingredients list. "We have all this stuff...maybe it's worth a shot?"
"Fine, but if it fails, we're ordering pizza." Vegeta grumbled.
"Deal!"
As it turned out, baking a cake was far more difficult than either of them had anticipated.
"I think these eggs were bad..." Vegeta grumbled as he poured the batter into a pan.
Goku looked over the eggshells with a frown, "Maybe it's the flour. Or...maybe it's that one thing...I forgot the name...the thing in the oven that makes things rise..."
"Baking soda?" Vegeta guessed.
"Yeah! Maybe we need more of that..."
Vegeta sighed and put the cake into the preheated oven. "It's too late for that. Let's just...pray that we don't develop dysentery after eating this."
Goku snorted, "Come on, it can't be that bad."
Twenty minutes later, when the cake was done, Goku sliced it open to reveal...nothing. It was completely hollow.
"Huh...I thought baking soda was supposed to make it rise..." Goku frowned.
"It's also supposed to be baking powder, which I assume we didn't buy. We just bought baking soda." Vegeta sighed. "Let's just...order a pizza. This was obviously a failure."
"Aww, it wasn't a total failure. We tried! And...I bet it tastes really good!" He snatched up a fork and took a bite of the cake.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow as he watched Goku's expression turn into something resembling nausea.
"...no...?"
Goku swallowed it slowly. "Uuuuuh...I love it...but...maybe we should order that pizza?"
Vegeta snorted, "Give me that fork. Let me try it."
Goku handed Vegeta the fork, and he scooped up a bite of cake. Vegeta grimaced and coughed.
"Well, that was awful."
Goku chuckled and tossed the cake into the trash. "Okay, so...pizza?"
"Pizza."
By the time the pizza arrived, the couple was far more interested in watching TV than cooking another meal, recovering from either an undercooked cake or a cake that tasted like soap. Goku plopped onto the couch with three slices of pizza in his hands, while Vegeta grabbed a slice of his own.
"So, I guess the chocolate wasn't a success...but maybe there's something else we can do that's special? I mean, we've been together for 2 years now. That's a long time." Goku said.
Vegeta shrugged, "We've done a lot in the last 2 years. Training, traveling, saving the universe, fighting a god, almost dying...sex..."
Goku snickered, "Yeah, all of that counts as anniversary material."
Vegeta smirked, "I don't know about you, Kakarot, but I consider training a date."
"You...since when? You used to hate it when I suggested it!" Goku said.
"Yes, but you're a Saiyan. It's part of our nature to train with one another. It helps build trust, and I believe it creates a bond between us. It shows that we value each other's strength." Vegeta shrugged. "There is a certain...intimacy to it. You are my equal, and I am yours. It's an unspoken understanding that we have reached."
"Oh...I didn't know that. I thought that dates were...you know, those dates in the movies where they go to the beach and have picnics and stuff." Goku mumbled.
Vegeta chuckled, "Those are romantic dates. Training dates are just...dates. They're relaxing. I don't prefer the whole 'candle-lit dinner and fancy clothes' type thing. I like it when we're sparring and we're pushing each other to new heights, then we're exhausted and sore afterwards, so we take a shower together...then we end up in bed."
Goku blinked. "Oh...I didn't know that..." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I...guess I like that, too. I just...didn't know if that counted as a date to you. I kinda assumed that it was just a regular old training session. How come you never said anything?"
"There wasn't much call for me to. You seemed happy enough with the usual dates that humans do, and I just went along with it. It wasn't hard to pretend to enjoy it." Vegeta shrugged.
Goku frowned, "Wait...you pretended? Well, now I feel bad! Why didn't you just tell me?"
Vegeta shook his head, "It's fine, Kakarot. Honestly, I enjoyed most of our dates. Picnics in the woods, ice cream by the lake, walking on the beach at sunset...well, actually the beach one sucked. I had sand in places it shouldn't be for weeks afterwards. Other than that, it was enjoyable. But training...it's different. It's intimate, and I cherish it. It's a Saiyan thing."
Goku smiled, "I like that. Yeah...I guess I feel the same way about it."
"See? We celebrated our anniversary without even knowing it." Vegeta said.
Goku laughed and leaned against Vegeta's shoulder. "I guess we did. So...no presents?"
Vegeta shrugged, "We can if you want to, but I don't really care for the gifts."
Goku hummed thoughtfully, "Okay...what about...something that we can do together? Like...a vacation! We could go somewhere fun!"
"Where would you want to go?" Vegeta asked.
"Um...anywhere you want. Hawaii, Europe, Australia...New York! That's fun, right?" Goku suggested.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow, "Those are all places that have beaches or skyscrapers."
"I have a type." Goku chuckled.
Vegeta rolled his eyes playfully, "Clearly. Fine, we can go to New York. We can stay for a week. Maybe two."
"Awesome! When can we leave? Can we leave tomorrow? Tonight? Right now?!" Goku jumped to his feet.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Kakarot, sit down. We're not leaving tonight or tomorrow. We need to book tickets and a hotel first, and then we can go. Besides, it's late. We should get to bed soon."
Goku sat back down on the couch with a pout, "You're no fun."
"I'm the logical one in this relationship, I would expect you to remember that by now." Vegeta shook his head. "Now, come on. It's time for bed."
Goku perked up instantly, "Oh! Yeah, definitely! Bedtime!" He hurried off towards their bedroom before Vegeta even got up from the couch.
Vegeta just rolled his eyes and followed behind Goku. When he opened the door to their room, he was greeted with the sight of Goku already stripped down to nothing, flopping onto the mattress excited like a child on Christmas morning.
"You heard the word bed...and automatically thought sex?" Vegeta chuckled.
"Well...yeah." Goku said with a shrug. "What else would I think?"
Vegeta blinked. "Sleep?"
"You're kidding, right?" Goku frowned. "Whenever you talk about going to bed, you always mean sex. Isn't that what you meant this time?"
Vegeta blinked, "Uh...well, alright, fine, but don't say I never do anything for you."
Goku grinned triumphantly, "Yay! Sex!"
Vegeta chuckled and crossed his arms, "You are such a brat." He moved towards the bed, peeling his shirt off and tossing it to the side as he climbed over Goku. "Sometimes I'm concerned about how much of a child you really are."
"Mmmm, I'm not a child anymore," Goku said as he wrapped his legs around Vegeta's waist and pulled him closer. "Besides, you love it."
Vegeta smirked and pressed a kiss to Goku's lips, "Maybe I do."
"I love you, 'Geta."
"Yeah, yeah, I...love you, too, whatever."
"AWWWWWW-"
"Don't start!"