Chapter Text
The party was in full swing, no short of the extravagance and spectacle the Briefs family prided themselves on. There was laughter, food, and music. Currently up on the stage was Gohan and Videl, singing a shaky, but sweet rendition of ‘Lay All Your Love On Me.” The Earth’s heroes sat at their respective venues, taking in the brilliant decor and providing commentary on the rousing karaoke session that had been going on for a while.
All but one.
“Ohh Vegetaaaa~!” Bulma singsonged.
“Hmph.” The Prince turned his head and scowled, nursing his drink.
“Don’t be like that. Don’t you want to get in on this? Everyone’s done a song except you and Goku! And I couldn’t even get him to budge. I swear, he won’t get in on this unless you give him a reason to compete. You’re my only hope, Vegeta.”
“The hell makes you think I would be so willing?”
“Women’s intuition.”
“Truly a bad call.”
“Oh hush! You should cut loose, get out of yourself a little more! We finally got you to drink with us tonight, why not take the chance to go all the way?”
“I don’t sing.”
“Bullshit. I heard you humming the other day.”
“Let me make something clear in that intoxicated brain of yours. I. Don’t. Sing.”
“You’re just scared.” Bulma snorted, tipping the wine glass to her lips for another drink.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, your majesty.” She said, a Cheshire grin on her face. Vegeta snarled in response, moving to snatch the glass from her grip.
“Hey-!” Deprived of her alcohol, Bulma could do no more than pout at the thief who had stolen it from her.
“You are clearly out of your capacity!” Vegeta chucked the crystal into the horizon, satisfied with the little ‘crack’ noise it made after impact.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill!”
“I’ll kill more than that if you keep pushing this nonsense.”
“Pfft, please. The only thing you’re killing right now is your tough guy image. Imagine it! The poor prince of Saiyans has such bad stage fright that he can’t possibly perform in front of people who are clearly weaker than him!”
“Do you realize how absurd you sound? I am not frightened of anything.”
“Then what is it, huh?” She leaned in, dropping her voice. “ Are you just a bad singer? That’s it, right?”
“No— You—! Agh!” To defend or deny, what would it be? The answer was lost to the sound of his angry sputtering.
“Hah! Either way you slice it, I’ve got you boxed in.”
“I refuse to play into your poorly manicured hands.”
“Poorly manicured?! Ugh! I’ll have you know I have the best nail salon in town on call!”
“I’d have never guessed.”
“Smartass. You’re just mad because you know I’m onto you.”
“Do enlighten me.”
“One word, bud. Goku.”
“What?! That fool can’t possibly have anything to do with this!” He crushed the can in his fist, the remainder of the alcohol spilling across his hand. Luckily for him, his gloves were waterproof. The woman was grinning at him with the kind of sadistic glee one had when getting ready to rip into their prey.
“You’re afraid to embarrass yourself in front of him. That he’ll think you’re not living up to your image because you lowered yourself to singing with the rest of us. You’re afraid of showing him a vulnerable part of yourself, and I know why.”
“Bulma,“ He warned, snarling.
“Don’t you Bulma me, mister! Admit it, you like Goku!”
“I will do no such thing.” Hissed the Prince, looking around to make sure no one had tuned into their conversation. He was met with a knowing stare from the Namek, to which he scowled and turned back to the heiress. If he wasn’t pissed before, he was now, a hot flush rapidly crawling over his skin. She simply smiled at him, an unsettling thing in the face of his rage.
“Alright, then I will.” Forget a steady spread of red, he was freaking burning. Be it from the unadulterated perpetual rage in his heart, or the embarrassment of the blue haired woman threatening to expose something he wouldn’t even admit to himself. A strangled noise escaped the Saiyan, the veins in his forehead bulging.
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“Oh, I would. I’m Bulma fucking Briefs, I don’t make empty threats!” Her hands went to her hips as she made this declaration, the truth of her statement ringing loud and clear. It was a miracle that no one was paying them any mind, more concerned with singing along. Kakarot sat among his sons, the three of them reminding everyone exactly why there needed to be 3 different catering companies at any Briefs family function. “I’ll give you an ultimatum, how’s that sound?”
“Seeing as you’re choosing my options, I don’t see how that would appeal to me.”
“Well. You can embarrass yourself, or I can embarrass you. It’s good to have the option, am I right?”
“No! Not at all!”
“Now, you can march onto that stage and woo your ‘rival’ with those pipes, or I can just tell Goku that you’ve got a major crush on him.”
“I am the Prince of All Saiyans. I do not crush .”
“That sounds like someone who’s crushiiiing~”
“This is the reason we’re divorced.”
“Actually, that’d be Goku.” She smirked.
“... Just give me a damn karaoke track.”
“There’s a good man.” She raced off to the equipment, leaving the man to make his ascent to the stage.
“Is that Vegeta?!” Krillin shouted, hands in his (non-existent) hair. There were various reactions from the Z-fighters, ranging from mild amusement to jaw-dropping surprise. Goku simply did a double take before grinning wide.
“Sure is!” Now he was really on the edge of his seat here. This was so unlike Vegeta! Part of him wondered if Bulma had threatened to withdraw the man’s gravity chamber privileges again. It was one thing to get Vegeta to agree to something, but for him to do something so out of his usual range of cantankerousness? His childhood friend had to done something big to get the man to go along with this. And honestly? He was kind of excited to see where this would go. It didn’t matter if the elder Saiyan wasn’t the best showman, Goku just wanted his curiosities satisfied. The image of Vegeta singing wasn’t something he’d thought of until now. Now that it was in his head, it wasn’t going anywhere.
“Woo, go Vegeta!” He cheered on, ignoring the death stare thrown his way. Soon enough the others joined in, whistling encouragements to the very angry man.
“For the record,” The Prince started into the mic “I detest every single one of you. Especially you, Bulma.”
“Love you too babe!” Bulma cackled as she pressed the ‘play’ button, her ex-husband’s cursing drowned out by the opening bars of his song.
He stared out at all those watching him, fighting the knot of aggression building in the tension of his muscles. His heart was racing- skipping between beats in favor of amping him up. How he wanted nothing more than to just blow this stage away and leave in his usual fashion. But of course there was the issue of his pride on the line. If he were to run away, he’d not only be partaking in cowardice, but Bulma would let his little revelation slip to Kakarot, and that would not do. Certainly not. He’d have to do this on his own terms.
‘Oh, to hell with it.’ He opened his mouth and let his tonal memory do the rest. Curse that damned woman for picking a song he actually knew.
“So many times I've wondered, where you might be heading down this railway track of life. And if maybe I could journey with you…”
The crowd was stunned into silence, be it by Vegeta’s willingness to take part in this charade, or the fact that he wasn’t half bad at this whole singing thing.
“This is a little too romantic for him, isn’t it?” Chi-Chi whispered.
“That’s what makes this even richer.” Android 18 had her phone out, recording the entire spectaclet. This was going to be the subject of gossip for months to come, that was certain.
“Oh, you’ll never know the pain I feel, knowing that your love for me’s not real.
You don’t know… You don’t know…”
Vegeta clenched his fist, bringing it to his chest. His anger was through the goddamn roof.
“That every time I see you smile, my heart is slowly breaking,
Because I know you’re dreaming of someone else…”
At this point Vegeta’s eyes were closed, shielding him from the eyes on his person. How stupid of him to agree to this! He could have denied it if Bulma followed through on her threat, pushed it away and upheld his image. But no, instead he was singing some- Trite love song! His pride was all sorts of wounded, and that damned beating in his heart wouldn't cease. He was tired of reservations and regrets, tired of worrying about what a bunch of fools thought. Of worrying about what he thought. He would cast these soft worries to the wayside and embrace this spotlight for as long as he had it.
They wanted a show? Fine. They were going to get a damned show.
“Whoa, Vegeta must really like someone! He’s singin’ his heart out.” Goku rubbed his chin, eyes glued to the unexpected performance.
“Goku, he’s singing about you.” Bulma pointed out.
Well, that was a surprise. But, not an unwelcome one. He’d been harboring feelings for the other man for a while, unsure of whether or not they leaned toward respect and admiration or something more. Knowing that Vegeta actually liked him at least gave him a definitive answer to the internal dilemma he’d been having for the last few years.
“Oh… I should probably let him know I’m single then.” Turns out, 7 years of being dead had changed things considerably between them. Both he and Chi-Chi had stayed together for the sake of raising Goten up until he was old enough to understand. They’d never really gotten around to announcing the news either. Much like in the case of their marriage, the spark of the situation died down, fading into the background. Only a few people had figured it out, his best friend included in that bunch. She wasn’t the smartest woman in the world for nothing. She was also the scariest woman in the world with the look she was giving him.
“Actually, I have the perfect idea…” She pulled Goku in to whisper to him, a mischievous smile on her lips.
This was going to be fun .
Vegeta let the mic hit the stage floor, his feet hoping to carry him far away from the applause and whistles that accompanied the end of his song. The Prince brushed past them all with a frown. He didn’t even spare Kakarot a glance, desperate to be anywhere but in his presence. He’d almost gotten away too if not for the sound of the moron’s voice.
“Is this thing on?” Goku tapped the microphone, a thump’ echoing from the speakers. Satisfaction came in the form of the resounding echo. He grinned and raised the mic to his lips.
‘The hell is he doing?’
“Hey guys! This is really wild! I didn’t think everybody would get up here, but man, it was a real treat. It kinda got me fired up, so I’m gonna give this one all I’ve got.” Goku locked eyes with Vegeta, smiling wide. “Don’t go anywhere, alright?”
The Prince frowned, but he stayed where he was with arms folded. Everyone else could embarrass themselves dancing along, but he would do as suggested, stay right where he was. A keyboard riff burst forth, the air filling with the upbeat tempo of the song’s instrumental. Goku hopped from foot to foot, swaying energetically with the music.
“It’s hard to say, don’t wanna stay. I twist and fight, can’t find my way.
I must believe, that fear and trouble can even be fun, if you think the right way.”Of all the songs for the Earth’s hero to have chosen, he picked the one that reeked of his carefree nature. Typical Kakarot.
Where the fool’s acquaintances danced around in their chairs at the onslaught, Vegeta was somewhere between disgruntled and endeared, unable to call up any real urge to walk away from this nonsense and go where he’d be most comfortable.
“I don't wanna draw the line, I've gotta see it through some way
Fight for what I know is mine, the dream I had of me that day!”
Instead, he watched his longtime rival rise into the air and spin before flying over his audience, completely mystified. He looked so happy to be putting himself out there, a stark contrast to Vegeta’s stubborn performance. Another difference was that he faced his audience, instead of closing his eyes and letting the music do the rest. He’d also noted another thing about Kakarot on the stage,
He wouldn’t stop fucking staring at him.
“Don't care if they call me greedy, if they hate me, make me blue
Don't care if they laugh at me, 'cause I will make the dream come true.”
A deafening roar of applause swept across the common area as the others cheered for the Saiyan. Their collective (excluding Vegeta) cheers however, came to a halt when the man hovered towards the established odd man out. Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows, taking a defensive stance.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
“What’cha mean? I always look like this.”
“You came over here for a reason, out with it.”
“Well… I was, wondering-”
“Wonder back over there if you’re going to be indecisive.”
“Vegeta, just listen to me for a second.” The other man looked… Frustrated, something that usually took more of Vegeta’s unrelenting bite to provoke. “Look, I’m not any good at this romance stuff, or with any of the cues you might’ve been throwing out. But, I was hoping we could try... Y’know, just you and me?” A series of gasps followed this request, reminding the older man that they still had an audience.
It was like someone lit a match in the pit of his stomach. His cheeks were aflame, all sense of composure up and out of the window. Damn Bulma and her instigation, damn this display, damn Kakarot for putting him on the spot in front of these Earthlings! And damn the man for giving Vegeta a choice that actually appealed to him. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, there wasn’t any place he could go without that clown following him like some excitable mutt.
“Don’t… Expect anything.” Came the begrudging murmur. And just like that, Kakarot’s face lit up in the smile that set his heart off to the races. The taller Saiyan pulled Vegeta to his chest hooking his fingers under the man’s chin.
“I won’t if you won’t.” That damned grin was starting to annoy him, so Vegeta did what made the most sense. He yanked the fool down and kissed him.