for saiyanprince

[meatery]

[It had been, to put it lightly, a rough day. A rough eight months, quite frankly, with both of her sons in the otherworld and her grandson kidnapped by their killer. She'd missed the fight with Raditz, arrived just too late to play peace keeper between the two brothers, and then hadn't even been able to avenge them by killing Piccolo (maybe she should have just killed him. They don't have the Dragonballs now anyway). Then Vegeta and Nappa had arrived, behaving even worse than Raditz, and she hadn't had any choice but to side with the Earthlings. Kakarrot and Gohan would have never agreed to anything else. Their happiness was more important than her loyalty to her prince.

Months later both of her sons have been revived, her grandson is safe in his mother's arms and the saiyans have finally stopped finishing Frieza's work by picking each other off. Gi-ne considers it and thinks she can be okay with the fact that the only one they actually lost was Nappa (and a bunch of the earthlings but she won't cry about Piccolo at least). She had, at least, been able to save her prince. She'd been beaten badly by the elite, but she still had enough strength to stop Krillin from landing the finishing blow. Kakarrot had been surprisingly supportive. And so, once her family had been taken away, she'd picked the heavily injured prince up (probably unconscious) and taken him to a small city she was reasonably confident the others wouldn't look for them where she knew there was a hospital prepared to treat him.

That was earlier. Having spent some time speaking to the doctors (and getting her own injuries treated) Gi-ne enters Vegeta's hospital room, closing the door behind her. She's just assuming he's awake again by now.]

They don't have healing tanks on this planet, but I've been to this place before. They'll know how to take care of you.

[And, hopefully, her temporary betrayal will be forgiven once Vegeta has healed. Until then, she's confident in her ability to control him.]

Comments

[saiyanprince]

[Prince Vegeta was not happy. Here he lay battered and beaten on some backwater planet, defeated by low class warriors, having lost his tail, and spared by arguably the weakest Saiyan he'd ever met. That last part was arguably the worst of it all. He was an elite warrior of a proud race. Dying in battle was the best end one could hope for. This smacked of pity and his pride would not accept it.

So, even as he heard Gi-ne's words, he did not respond to them. Instead, he glared straight ahead at the opposite wall as though it might eventually crumble under the weight of his disapproval.]

[meatery]

[She stares at him for a moment, waiting for a response. When she doesn't get one, she sighs and walks over to take a seat by his bed.]

Kakarrot should be okay eventually, if you're curious. Raditz and Gohan too. [She won't even pretend that he should be worried about Krillen and Yajirobe.]

[saiyanprince]

[He cut his eyes over at her at the mention of Kakarot.]

Do you think I care about the condition of you or your traitorous son?

[meatery]

You should. [Isn't particularly phased by his expression. At least she got a response out of him.] We're the only friends you have left in the universe, after all. Even Raditz isn't happy with you now.

[Not enough to be over here trying to finish him off, of course, but still.]

[saiyanprince]

Friends?! Ha! What use does a real warrior have for friends? You even talk like a weakling.

What happened to your Saiyan pride? Was it destroyed along with our planet?

[meatery]

No, I've always been like this. Might make me a weakling, but at least I've always had plenty of friends.

[Frowns at him. Looks like the brat prince never grew up after all. She should probably be angry at him but she's never been good at holding a grudge- and all she can see is a petulant child anyway.] You want to talk about Saiyan pride? After what you did to Nappa?

[saiyanprince]

Better to be destroyed then subject to this humiliation.

[He nods to the various instruments that beep occasionally next to his bed.]

[meatery]

They're primitive, but they work. [Examines one of the beeping machines like she knows what it's for.] And we heal well enough left on our own anyway, you'll be fine.

[...] If you're good I'll try to get a senzu bean for you when the new crop grows.

[saiyanprince]

Is that supposed to intimidate me?

[Normal people did have normal conversations without threats, intimidation, or energy blasts but....he did spend all of his time with Nappa.]

[meatery]

Intimidate you? [Tilts her head and frowns like she's trying to figure that out. Reviewing the previous sentence... Nope, she doesn't get it.] I just meant if you don't threaten me too much. You'll be stronger than ever once you're healed, after all.

[It's possible she's been on Earth too long.]

Anyway, Kakarrot gave the last beans to Gohan and Krillin. We won't get any more for a while.

[saiyanprince]

I'll be stronger once I've healed regardless. Then you'll regret having grown so soft.

[He didn't have much choice with the primitive healing, but he could still retain some pride and refuse their...beans.]

[meatery]

Because you'll kill me? My sons? My grandson? [Sighs and leans forward, putting her hand on his shoulder.] Prince Vegeta, you need to be a little less impulsive. Do you really want to be a prince with no subjects?

[saiyanprince]

[He looked off to the side, but didn't really have an answer to that. The whole 'prince without a kingdom' thing was a sore spot that those who followed Frieza often chose to poke at....if they were stronger than him and could get away with it.]

[meatery]

[Nods, thinking he's obviously conceding! If you're patient, even the brat prince will listen!] A wise ruler listens to his loyal subjects when they tell him he's acting like a crazy person.

... I mean, probably. Your father and I were never really close.

[saiyanprince]

Ugh, if I'm going to be forced to lie here and listen to your prattle on, you could at least make yourself useful and bring me some food!

[It's been a while since he had a decent meal and he's famished.]

[meatery]

Now, see, there's an order I can follow just fine. [Laughs but winces as she stands up. Ow. Someone hit her ribs really hard earlier.]

I'll go take over the kitchen and cook us up something good. You get some rest until I come back.

[saiyanprince]

[Well, at least she can take over something useful. After she's gone, Vegeta throws off the covers and slowly moves to try and stand. While he was crushed under the transformed Gohan, it hadn't been as targeted as when he destroyed Kakarrot's legs. Still, it was a daunting and painful challenge.

Managing that much, he trudged over to the window to gaze out at the surrounding city. He rarely spent time in a city that wasn't already under Frieza's control. Others he'd quickly destroyed without taking a moment to really look at them.]

[meatery]

[It's not a large city, just barely meeting the requirements not to be called a large town. The hospital is one of the few tall buildings and there's a mountain range to the East. Looks like quite a pleasant, peaceful little place.

Shortly after Gi-ne leaves Vegeta might hear screams from downstairs but they don't last long. She'll be gone for an hour or two, forcing her way into the kitchen and happily kicking the hospital staff out. Then she raids the pantry and fridge and starts cooking up a storm. It's hard on a foreign planet, but she's doing her best to make something that resembles the food from their home. Either way, she'll make sure it tastes good.]

[saiyanprince]

[The quite is...a little unnerving. He's so used to being constantly surrounded by either battle or other warriors that the only times he ever had quiet was while in his pod between planets or while sleeping. Hearing the commotion from down below, he can't help but smirk a bit.

While he'd much prefer a healing pod, he supposes recovering here wouldn't be so bad. Once better, he'd reassert himself as prince by defeating Kakarrot, then take over Earth to make it a new home world for the Saiyans.]

[meatery]

[Okay, that's a start, they can revise that plan. Keep some bits, lose others. Earth is a perfectly nice planet to call home.]

[Anyway, after Gi-ne's done cooking she takes a break to eat her fill first. Then she goes upstairs with a pile of food on a tray for Vegeta in one hand and one small plate filled with food for herself (just in case she gets hungry again). It takes some careful maneuvering with her feet, hips and shoulders to get the door opened and closed again as she comes back inside.]

Ta-da! [Still focused on not dropping anything, not looking over at Vegeta yet. Hopefully he hasn't fallen back asleep.] Smell that? Bet you'll be glad I'm still alive once you get a taste of this!

[saiyanprince]

[Turning his head as she entered the room, it was good to see that she'd made enough. Saiyan portions were quite a bit larger than most. When the smell hit his nose, his stomach decided to remind him of just how hungry he was and rumbled noisily.

Frowning at his organ's treachery, he began the painful walk back to his bed.]

We will see.

[meatery]

Food will help you heal faster.

[Maybe? Gi-ne doesn't really think food will ever not help. Puts the food down on Vegeta's beside table and frowns a bit when she sees he's out of bed.]

Did you need anything? The healing process they use here means you have to stay still and rest for a while.

[saiyanprince]

[He gives a growl as she mentions him having to stay still.]

How long until these supposed beans are ready?

[Managing to get himself back into bed, he quickly begins reaching over to the bedside table to pull over food and start eating.]

[meatery]

Not sure. A month, maybe two? [Moves the table a bit to make it easier for him.] I think it depends on the weather. Agriculture, you know?

[Yeah, Gi-ne is not confident in her farming knowledge. There's a reason the saiyan diet is mostly meat.]

They're grown by a cat.

[saiyanprince]

[He looked up at her with the right side of his face bulging as he slowed his chewing to study her for just a moment. Surely he must have heard her wrong.]

Did you say a cat?

[meatery]

I'm not going to lie to you, Prince Vegeta, this planet is pretty weird.

[If they're going to claim Toriyama's Earth as the new saiyan homeworld, it's probably best to let Vegeta find out about all of it's stranger aspects gradually.

Gi-ne sits down, puts her smaller plate on her lap and starts snacking idly.] Humans are the dominant species- like the ones we fought with- but there are a lot of other ones around. I always try to check if what I'm hunting can talk before I eat it. [Chew chew.] ... Unless I'm really hungry.

Sorry, didn't get the notif!

[saiyanprince]

No matter. Humans can be kept as servants since they're strong enough to be useful. We can just exterminate the rest.

[Someone been around Frieza a bit too much? Maybe a little.]

Are there any other Namekians on this planet or did Nappa destroy the only one?

it's fine!

[meatery]

[Oh, boy, Kakarrot isn't going to be happy about that.] That... Probably won't be necessary, your highness. [Also, you killed most of the strong ones.]

There were two, Nappa destroyed both of them when he killed Piccolo. [She feels bad about Kami and losing the Dragonballs is inconvenient but Piccolo dying... Meh.] You've met all the real warriors on the planet.