1st shopping trip [Video/Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[The blue haired girl who appears on the video feed is nothing short of irate.]

Bad enough that I get taken away just before I got to go home, but some creep changes my clothes while I'm unconscious and leaves me with this plain thing?!

[She looks disdainfully at the plain white sundress.]

Don't even get me started on surgical modification. Ugh. I want to know who's in charge of this sketchy operation so I can give them a piece of my mind!

[Bulla clenches a petite fist and looks like she wants to smack someone. Then she realizes that anyone else who has a little book device like this probably isn't in a much better situation.]

Sorry...this is just so not what I needed right now, so if anyone is listening and can tell me who I should go yell at, I'd appreciate it.

[Action]

[The teenager is a decidedly unhappy camper. She just wants to be home with her family where she belongs, but instead she's stuck here. She'd really like to slap the pervert who undressed her and took her clothes. Even discovering that she'd be able to get them back doesn't really make up for what's happened. She's tempted to fly in the air to get a better view of the area in the hopes of spotting an escape route...but she'll save that for later. There are priorities that need to be addressed. Namely this bland little sundress she's currently wearing.

She wanders along, exploring and doing her best to remember where she's going. A couple of times, she finds herself lost and begins marking where she's been with a stick on the ground. It helps, and after a while she reaches the town.

Bulla looks irritable right up until she spots a clothing shop with a cute shirt and skirt combination on display amongst other outfits. Her expression visibly brightens and she makes a beeline for the shop.]

Comments

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[The force that she barrels into her father is enough that even an athletic human would have been knocked over and injured. She wraps her arms around him because she's scared and confused, but she knows he'll protect her.]

I don't know. I woke up in a field wearing this ugly little sundress and someone did surgery on me and I don't even know what's going on now!

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He'll happily hug her back, catching her as she slams into him, not phased at all of course by the blow, it was nothing to him whatsoever. He does not like seeing his daughter this way, and it finally sinks in that she's got wings too, just like him, and that means she's subject to all the horrors that came of this place. The experimentation, the Third Party, everything. Drafts, missions, all the things that had no place for his daughter, but yet, he knew- one day they'd hurt her and he would be powerless to stop it.

And that makes him so unbelievably angry that it's hard for him to hold in screaming threats at the Malnosso right now. He's fighting just shaking in anger at the mere thought. But he's got to comfort his daughter right now.]

[He takes a hold of her arms, holding her out, so she knew he was being very serious on the matter.]

Bulla, everything will be perfectly fine, I promise you that. I've got wings too, the blasted things. [He flexes his own white wings, sticking out of the back of his jacket. He doesn't like to put them under clothing, it's just uncomfortable for him.] This world; it's nothing like home at all, and there's a lot for me to tell you and explain. But you have to trust me that I won't let any harm come to you, ok? [He knows that's not going to hold true, but he's a good dad and he'll make sure she feels safe.]

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[It's scary to think that they even got her father. Bulla doesn't truly believe that the Malnosso are that powerful, but their technology had to be fairly advanced in some ways if they could put wings on everyone's backs with actual functioning nerves. She might not be a genius like her mother, but she's learned enough about science in school to grasp just how much effort it would take to make something like this work. Creating a drug that would work on a saiyan would be easy by comparison.]

I know you won't.

[She firmly believes that he wouldn't unless he was unconscious and unable to. The Malnosso must have caught him by surprise the first time. She doesn't even remember arriving here, so she's assuming they're very stealthy.]

Some people on this journal thing told me the Malnosso are responsible for all of this. I'll help you find them so you can punch them all in the face.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He smiles at that response, that usual cocky Vegeta smile he bears, but it's got a lot of care and concern to it now too, because it's intended for Bulla. He even goes as far as to chuckle before he puts his arm around her shoulder, turning himself to face in the same direction that she stood at the moment.] Come, let's get you home. We can come back later and pick up more things for you if you need. I'll explain on the way.

[He starts walking to the apartment, expecting her to follow.] I'm afraid finding the Malnosso is a little harder than that. You see, this isn't exactly a vacation resort. [A beat.] Now I'm not going to lie to you about this. But we're prisoners here. There will be no leaving unless we are permitted to by our captors. [The look on his face doesn't look good at that statement either. It's got him bothered as much as anyone else here.]

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[Prisoners? Bulla looks crestfallen at that. At least she has her father. Everything will be okay. She has both of her parents...which reminds her.]

Mom is here, too. But...she's younger. Like, before you were married younger. I don't know if Trunks was born yet, but he might have been because she was only surprised by finding out she had a daughter.

[Something that was hard to deny, considering their strong resemblance. If her mother had been a teenager, they could have passed easily for fraternal twins. There are still a few differences - Bulla's shorter and her facial features are slightly different.]

She gave me an address and she wants me to meet her there in a couple of hours. I think she needed a bit of time to deal with everything. She was wearing one of those yucky little white sundresses, too, so she must have just arrived.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He sees her face fall. He knew that would be hard to digest but she had to know, she had to understand exactly where she was. That was information he felt was important for her to know. She'll be fine though, she's a strong girl. She is his daughter after all and he raised her to be tougher than those silly human schoolgirls she talked to.]

[But woah wait a second what?] Your mother is here? [Have a jaw-dropped Vegeta.] Bulla, are you certain she's from a different timeline than us? [That would be kind of bad. They had enough trouble figuring out their lives the first time, all the confusion and emotional pain, mostly on her part though. He had his own emotions to deal with but, he was so concerned with his own training and strength at the time, that he was able to brush it to the side...]

An address. Probably to that idiot Kakarot's residence. She would find him already. He's here too, and he's been here much, much longer than I. [He sighs, this is just insane.] As I'd love to see her right now, and if what you say is true, she's just gone through one of the biggest emotional break downs she's more than likely ever experienced. Let's just say your mother and I didn't exactly get along before your brother was born. So I think it's a good idea that I sit this one out and let her take it all in, if you don't mind.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

I'm positive. She didn't even know I existed, although she believed me after we talked about it. She did know about Trunks...so maybe she's from just a little after he was born? Her hair was longer than it ever was while I've been alive.

[She nods. It's actually kind of a relief to know that Goku is here, too, even if it means that he's also a prisoner. It means that her father had someone he could talk to that understood him right from when he first got here.]

She...had a sort of mini-breakdown but she recovered pretty quickly.

[Her mom was strong like that.]

It was a pretty big shock, but she seemed happy when I told her that you two got married and that you're a good father to me.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[It would matter greatly how Bulma would react to him depending on where in their timeline she was from, but it sounded most likely from sometime around the android attack or even later, but not before Cell was killed, from the sounds of it. That still wasn't ideal though, that was the hardest part of their relationship, if you could even call it that back then- and he's going to have to brace himself for that disaster soon enough.]

[He continues to listen to her, which brings a nice smirk to his face.] Did she now? That's just like her. Not letting anything keep her down for a second, no matter how large. [There was some solace in the fact that he was told that Bulma was happy to know about their future. He'll try to look at it from that perspective and try to block out the thought of the inevitable screaming later.] I'm...glad to hear that. She needs some time to let this sink in. You have to understand how much she's taking in right now Bulla, and it can't be easy on her. In fact, do me a favor and don't tell her I know she's here- it will just make her depressed that I didn't come right away to see her. I just think she needs at least one night to herself to really figure things out and do some soul searching.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

I won't, Dad. I promise. It can't be easy on her.

[And this is why she will argue that her father is a good husband until her face is as blue as her hair. Little thoughtful things like this.

Now that she thinks of it, it can't be easy on her father, either. It must be disappointing to know that his wife's here, but from a different timeline, not remembering so much of the life they've lived together because she hasn't lived it yet.]

Once Mom has some time to figure things out for herself...we'll figure things out as a family.

[It's her indirect way of saying she won't leave him to deal with the fallout himself unless he specifically asks her to. Family was supposed to support one another.]

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[It really isn't easy for him to digest right now, knowing that Bulma probably thinks he hates her and doesn't want anything to do with her except provide the right materials so he can train. That's all she was to him for the most part, and when he started to develop feelings for her he just fought it off, forgetting about it and focused solely on his goal at the time. Told himself she didn't matter. He wished he'd known then how much he was lying to himself. But that was in the past and it didn't matter anymore. He'd be able to handle this better than her, at least he knew what would eventually transpire.

It's going to be a lot easier though because Bulla is here. Life itself will be better just because they're both here, sort of- easier to live, but of course he's always thinking at the back of his mind about the experimentations. Even despite that though he is incredibly happy to have Bulla and eventually Bulma, despite the conflict that might happen between himself and his wife. He missed them a lot, he really did. He wonders if Trunks was here too, but he'd sense it if he was, and he wasn't getting any energy signal that belonged to his son.]

[He nods at her. He'll need Bulla eventually, but not yet.] I'll talk to her on my own first. Seeing and speaking with you is going to help put a lot of things in perspective for her. I can guarantee she'll be up all night thinking about it. In fact, if she asks you to stay wherever she is sleeping tonight, that's fine. [They were getting pretty close to Community House 3 now, where he lived at the moment.] If she asks where I am just tell her I'm training at the Battle Dome. [Which is true, that's where he'll be, doing his own thinking for the night.] That at least won't shock her. You can also tell her that the gravity only goes up to ten times Earth's gravity and how frustrated I am with it. [He laughs at that- that'll be no surprise to his wife. He kind of wishes he'd be there to see the look on her face.]

Make sure to let me know how everything goes. [It was going to be a long week. He pauses, thinking for a second.]

By the way, there really isn't much to do here, but that journal you got will let you speak to the rest of the residents of the village. You'll make fast friends here, there's enough irritatingly friendly people that you'll drown if you're not careful.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[For the most part, Bulla is on board with this plan and willing to listen to her father's wishes. However, when he mentions asking about where he is, Bulla blinks.]

I thought you didn't want me to tell her that you know that she's here.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He just gives her that typical glare. Didn't she understand what he meant?]

Yes, I don't want you to tell her I know she's here. But I don't care that she knows I'm here. Understand? [He lets out a pretty grumpy sigh after that. Women, they never listen.]

Now do you two have any plans for the afternoon? It's a little cold but there's a beach here too, and there's also a restaurant you can both go to if you wish.

: [Action] Aww, look. Their facial expressions almost match XD

[fashionably_strong]

But if I tell her that I saw you here, then I'll look like an idiot if I tell her that I didn't tell you that she's here. You know what? I'm just not going to say anything. That's easier than keeping track of what I can and can't tell her.

[Have an equally grumpy sigh back. Don't mind her. She's still reeling from her wakeup today.]

We didn't make any real plans. She just asked me to meet her...we already did some shopping so maybe the restaurant would be a good idea.

[Action] Like father like daughter, seriously XD

[misterbrief]

Sure, let's see how far that gets you when you inevitably slip up and let the cat out of the bag. [Vegeta is just partially giving her crap though. He ruffles her hair up a little bit just to get her going even more.]

Yes, I think that's a good idea. You're probably both starving, I know I was when I first arrived. And believe it or not the food tastes better than leftovers out of a garbage can.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla huffs at the hair ruffling, mostly because it's messing up her nicely combed hair, and because she knows he's teasing her.]

Or maybe I could just be totally honest and tell her that you wanted to give her a day to deal with everything before talking to her tomorrow. How about just telling her the truth?

[Because that's going to be less of a headache, in Bulla's opinion. At her father's comment about how the food tastes, she looks ever so slightly amused.]

How would you know how leftovers from a garbage can taste, Dad?

[Leftovers from the fridge are one thing...but that's an odd point of comparison and if he's teasing her, turnabout is fair play.]

[Action]

[misterbrief]

Sure, if you want to be the one to deal with her right away. You know perfectly well as I do that the minute she finds out I know she's here and I haven't made a move to say anything she will scream so loud that they'll send an entire force out to detain her. And I feel sorry for whoever's job that is.

[His mouth turns up at her jab, arms folding across his chest.] Just as much as you would know about owning a single pair of shoes! [IT'S SO ON.]

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

I'll deal with it just fine.

[Or rather, she'll deal with it in a way that doesn't result in her mother yelling at her. She did do her best to explain their familial situation.]

Hey, you're the one who made that comparison. You could have said fridge leftovers instead.

[Not that they had those around the house often.]

[Action]

[misterbrief]

You act as if those were a thing around the house, Bulla. I thought you knew me better than that. Your father isn't a fan of wasting food, you know.

[So what if he tries to be graceful about his appetite. He's proud of his Saiyan heritage, even if it's sort of...barbaric at times.]

Besides, I feel that saying garbage gets the point across better. I would eat leftovers in the fridge anyday. You'd have to hold a gun to my head to eat out of the garbage. Not that that would do anyone any good to try something like that with me, now would it.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

They've happened a couple of times.

[Only if they were preparing to have Goku and his family over and they cancelled. Even so, the fridge leftovers never lasted more than a day.]

Nah...it'd have to be a pretty powerful ki blast, and anyone we know who could manage a blast that strong either wouldn't do it, or is dead.

[Sometimes she's just as proud of her father's strength as he is.]

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He chuckles. How right she is indeed.]

Speaking of which. I'll have you know that there aren't any cars here so you're either going to have to suck it up and fly around or walk everywhere. Your choice.

[He's not going to force it but-] That being said it might behoove you to strengthen your energy a little more. There are dangers that go with living here and I think it would be best if you took a little time to at least put some effort into training.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

But I've got you to protect me.

[Her faith is almost absolute. The only thing that she can think of that she's scared of that could cause problems was that parasite, and it's dead and gone now.]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to practice flying...I did want to find that barrier and knock on it to yell at the Malnosso.

[That's about the closest she'll come to agreeing to training. Flying is at least fun and doesn't hurt like all the other kinds of training she could be doing.]

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[Sometimes, he wishes he hadn't spoiled her so much. But he doesn't like entertaining the idea of his daughter fighting. After all, this wasn't Saiyan society. She shouldn't have to deal with that, not like he did. He already did that to Trunks to a certain extent, even despite his son's slack attitude.]

Yes, I know Bulla. And believe me when I say if anything threatens you or your mother, I won't hesitate to blast it into oblivion. [He's not sure how to say this without freaking her out.]

But I'm also not going to be glued to your side every second of the day. [He sighs though.] I'm afraid going and 'knocking' on the barrier isn't going to do much good. I don't even know where to find those incomprehensible fools. And even if you could find them, they're not going to listen to the whining of a teenage girl.

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

Well, Goku is here, too. If I can't find you, he'd help me.

[Missing the point entirely. Denial is good. She'll just pretend that nothing could possibly hurt her as long as her father is here in Luceti. Still...he hasn't suggested that she train for a long time.]

Maybe you could train me to be better at sensing energy? Then I could find you if I was in trouble.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

Rely on Kakarot? Heh. You must be joking. He's about as reliable as a rotten staircase.

[He looks over to her, looking a little perturbed on the matter, but he softens up after a few moments.] We'll...start with that then, I suppose.

[He's in this inner turmoil of wanting to force her to learn to fight better, but at the same time...he really doesn't.]

[Action]

[fashionably_strong]

Well, I'd look for you first. But he wouldn't just stand back and be okay with me getting hurt.

[She wouldn't rely on Goku to be punctual about attending a social event without a lot of nagging, but he is a good person, and she honestly can't see him expecting her to deal with a dangerous threat herself.]

If I get better at sensing energy, then I'll know when to stay away from someone.