Just a smile
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Part 13
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Vegeta was cold. He curled up under the covers and wrapped his arms around his body. In his confused dream, he was running through a dimly lit tunnel with icicles hanging from the ceiling. Strangely enough, he could see again and it was no problem to avoid the huge cones, some of which reached to the ground. His breath hung in small clouds in front of his blue lips. He rubbed his hands and breathed on them, wishing he hadn't got here without a battle suit. The corridor narrowed and the ceiling lowered. Soon he could no longer run, but had to walk carefully so as not to hit an icicle. He tried to make a way with his fists, but they slid through the icicles as if they were just visions. As soon as he tried to run his whole body through a pin, however, it turned out to be harder than even the best steel.Richer by a humming skull and a few bruises, Vegeta avoided each peg. But as it got tighter and tighter, he finally stopped. The cones in front of him were too close for him to get any further. An energy attack produced the same result as his punches. The energy balls went through the ice, so they were totally ineffective. Disappointed, Vegeta turned to run back, but more cones grew out of the ceiling before his eyes and he was trapped. Frustrated, he tried a few breakouts, even becoming Super Saiyan, to no avail. The wall he leaned against was covered with a layer of ice, he was shivering and freezing all over. Totally discouraged, he crouched down, pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his lower legs. With his head on his knees, he surrendered to the inevitable. The cold ate deeper and deeper inside him. Soon it would have reached his heart, then he could sleep, finally sleep forever ...<br />
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Bluma woke up to an unfamiliar noise. She rolled over and drowsy tried to find out what it was. It took some time for her not yet very lively brain cells to release the information. Someone's teeth chattered. There was only one other person in this bed besides her. That was Vegeta. So Vegeta chattered his teeth. Bulma reached out to shake him awake so that he would stop, but as soon as her hand came to rest on his bare shoulder, she flinched back. It felt freezing. She put a hand on her own cheek. No, she was warm and she wasn't cold a bit. Vegeta wasn't going to get sick, would she? Since she was still not fully awake, she just did what first occurred to her. She moved very close to him, laid her warm cheek on his back and wrapped her arms around him. She straightened the blanket so that they were both covered from head to toe. Then she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.<br />
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Vegeta suddenly felt how warmth spread from his back and his numbness dissolved. He was still very tired, but he managed to face the ice prison. A kick against the thick icicle met resistance and the cone burst. Surprised, but also incredibly relieved, Vegeta smashed peg after peg. Meanwhile his whole body was pleasantly warm and when he transformed into a Super Saiyan, his golden aura exuded enough warmth and energy to melt the cones in a wide area. He was finally free again and could rest. Exhausted but satisfied, he crouched back against the wall and surrendered to the feeling of security that came from the arms that had embraced him ... Wait a minute, which arms? All of a sudden Vegeta was wide awake. He felt something soft, warm on his back that snuggled up against him. He felt for it and stroked Bulma's arms, hair and back, which she acknowledged with a muffled, incomprehensible murmur and then snuggled closer to him.To his astonishment, he didn't feel the need to wake her up or push her away. Instead, he just closed his eyes and thought that it had happened before, back on Earth after his adventure in the snowstorm. Obviously Bulma had felt how miserably he had frozen and therefore gave him some of her warmth. She was a strange girl, sometimes defensive and beastly, then again cuddly and passionate. At some point, he resolved before he fell asleep again, at some point he would learn to understand her ...
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The ship's computer registered the alien sensors and tried to build a barrier, but it was already too late. The ancient intelligence had awakened and sent its spies to solve the intruders. The on-board computer was not difficult to crack and gave out the information willingly. What the newly awakened power learned in this way confirmed their suspicions that the aliens were the very patterns that had been waiting for centuries.The time was finally ripe and the preparations were as good as complete. Via the ship's internal systems, the old power recorded the warmth patterns of the two life forms and began the final and decisive analysis.
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Bulma woke up to the silent vibration of her wrist communicator, which she had slipped back on after the bath. She actually didn't feel like following the wake-up call, it was just so comfortable to snuggle up to Vegeta's warm back and listen to his deep, powerful breaths. Whatever nightmare that had plagued him that night, he was defeated and the shock was gone.
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Bulma closed her eyes in satisfaction. A few more minutes and she would get up ...
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"Ouch!" She uttered in a low voice at the pinprick electric shock that the communicator gave her. Why did the device have to be so cunning and do something in common with the on-board computer? Of course, he knew very well that she hadn't got up yet.<br />
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Sighing, Bulma pulled away from Vegeta and slid over to the edge of the bed. A pressure on the sensor field and the subdued lighting shone on her sleepy face. It didn't help, the repairs wouldn't take care of themselves.
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She tiptoed into the bathroom to get dressed and splash some water on her face, and then into the kitchen, where she made a giant pot of coffee and baked a tray full of dough rolls. After two large cups of coffee and three rolls, she felt human enough to go to work. When she stepped out of the kitchen, Vegeta just woke up to the smell of the coffee and the rolls. His hand felt for Bulma.
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"I'm already up, Vegeta," she said unsure whether she should switch back to a cool distance or finally show her true feelings. "How are you this morning?"
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"Quite passable," he said with a crooked grin. "Is the coffee ready yet?"<br />
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"It's already on the table. You can go to the bathroom beforehand, I've put fresh clothes out for you."
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The everyday conversation was like dancing on raw eggs. Neither of the two dared to approach the delicate subject of their feelings for one another. Vegeta was still afraid of being open and vulnerable to her and Bulma hesitated because she was afraid that he would give her the cold shoulder out of sheer pride and defiance.
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"By the way, I'm really hungry. Throw a few sausages and scrambled eggs into the pan." He pushed himself up and orientated himself on her aura, as well as the sound of dripping water that seeped over to him through the open bathroom door. He managed to find the shower without great difficulty and the basket with the fresh laundry was also easy to feel on the washing machine.
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When he had fought his way to the breakfast table, Bulma put the plate with the already cut sausages and the scrambled eggs in front of him without comment and pushed the basket with the rolls within easy reach.<br />
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Then she rattled the dishes while doing the dishes so that he wouldn't have the feeling that she was monitoring his every move.
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For him, breakfast was far less of a nuisance than he had expected, somehow the food and drink went off without any major mishaps.
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"Will it take a long time?" He asked after the last sip of coffee and slowly got up. "Meanwhile, I'll do some exercises outside in the open air."
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"Well, then you're out of my way," she said cheerfully and cleared the table. "You will take care of yourself, won't you?"
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"Do I look like I need a nanny?" He replied.
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"You will still be allowed to ask", Bulma's collar slowly burst. It had worried her that he couldn't even say please and thank you for breakfast. This stubborn wooden head, when would he finally learn that a little politeness wouldn't let a point fall out of his crown?She quickly got the staff she had prepared and handed it to Vegeta.
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"That makes it easier."
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He grabbed the rod so tightly that it broke in the middle and threw the parts into the room with a disgusted face.
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"Why?", Bulma wrung her hands, "Why did you do that? A white cane would have made it easier for you not to stumble over obstacles." She was trembling all over. Vegeta frowned, not missing the flare of her aura. "I was ... so glad ..." She walked over and picked up the two pieces of metal rod. ".. so glad to have found something that is of use to you ... I'm not a doctor, I can not give you anything else ... not help you ..." The tears came unintentionally. She didn't really have time to cry and he wasn't worth it either. You should spank his bum and then put him in an anthill. With the two halves of the staff pressed against her, Bulma stood there frozen and let the tears run their course.If she was silent, he wouldn't hear it, not notice how much it hurt her when he thrashed around so thoughtlessly with words and deeds.
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Vegeta took three steps towards her and paused. She cried. He could hear it by the way she breathed, feel it by the way her aura flickered. It struck him that she was trying to keep it a secret from him, that she didn't just throw the parts of the staff at his head and use her claws in his face.
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Two more