#but i do wish there was some alternative route. bc it doesn't feel like there's any real choice but to fight predathos

[pocketgalaxies]

thinking about if/how the loss of opal as we know her will affect at all their perception of protecting the gods, especially compounded with fcg's death. when you reunite with someone you've missed so much and all he has to tell you is that his brother was killed by a god and his friend was forcibly surrendered to serve that god in the name of self-protection from predathos. when your best friend found so much hope in their god and went on this journey with you feeling like they were doing the work of a god who helped him find purpose, and all there is to show for it is a pile of scrap metal. how do you reconcile the idea that your mission is to defeat this entity that threatens the gods, when the gods are relentlessly demanding sacrifice and death from the people you love in order to protect themselves. how can you not think for at least a moment that maybe the gods deserve to be destroyed

[loregoddess]

6,11,12,26 and 35? :D

6. Who's your favorite lord/protagonist? Hnngh, technically Alear bc I think they were handled really well as a protagonist character and I adore their characterization and personality, and also as an "avatar-esque" character they fix a lot of issues I personally have with "avatar" and "avatar-esque" characters and also offer the solution to a very specific bone I have to pick w/ an entirely unrelated series that I won't get into bc it's not FE. But mostly I just, adore Alear, what a kind and sweet character, despite all the horrors.

Also I don't talk about it ever, but I really like Ike as a protagonist bc he's. Just some guy. Not royalty, not nobility, not secretly anyone special or of some sort of crazy bloodline (and we all know Tellius has some weird stuff going on with bloodlines), he's just a guy who gets caught up in things, and does his damned best to keep his friends alive through it all.

11. A character that deserved better? Answered here!

But for some more characters, I've got so many thoughts about Subaki (there are a lot of interesting implications about his past, but lack of any proper characterization beyond his joke trait of being a snooty perfectionist means I am literally grasping at straws; fandom likewise ignores him which is wild bc he's our first canonical male pegasus knight, but I mean, large cast so I get it), and Izana having a paired ending with Corrin for Revelations (in both the Japanese and localized versions) despite dying will haunt me forever (also rip that localization, I swear my love for this character isn't as random as it seems, I just happened to follow all the Japanese-release stuff before the localization dropped a year later, and have a really confusing impression of all the Fates characters as a result).

For Echoes, despite my ignoring him every run bc Sonya pretty, I think Deen should have had more...just more everything, I guess. In the actual game, since all his backstory is hidden in the artbook/records book project. He's actually a really cool character overall, but Sonya feels like she has so much more narrative relevance bc of Jedah and Marla and Hestia.

For 3H bc I have a whole lot of thoughts about all sorts of characters, I actually really wanted Sothis to get more...I dunno, narrative relevance as well. I wanna know what her regained memories were, her thoughts about Fodlan as it is. About Rhea and Seteth and Flayn. Three Hopes doesn't count bc the writers kinda butchered Sothis's characterization to the point of hardly being recognizable, and she deserved better than that.

12. A game that deserved better? Hmmmmmmmm, Engage and Fates for sure, at least as far as fan reception goes. Engage's was at least a bit better, but I still see people recycling the old arguments over Fates even all these years later and it's like, listen it was Fine, it was a good game, leave it be. (Also wildly unpopular opinion, but I think 3H--both Houses and Hopes--deserved better writing. What we got was okay, but it could have been so much better. For all the complaints it gets, at least Fates has consistent and completed worldbuilding with little to no questions about lore things at the end of all the routes and DLC. Like I love 3H, I really do, which is why I wish I got More and also Higher Quality writing and worldbuilding and lore and everything).

26. Come up with a pitch for a new FE title, no matter how silly it is! Let's blend fantasy with horror bc it's spooky season. Two nations are fighting each other over [insert some stupid excuse for a war to get people to enlist, but it's actually a scheme to get the people in power more power], and each nation has access to various weapons and things that seem normal at first, but slowly become more sinister and horrific the more the protagonist learns about them (i.e. maybe one of the armies has access to seemingly humane homunculi soldiers as an alternate to sending citizens to war, but it's later revealed that they can only be manufactured with parts of the dead, and the nation using them harvested their own population to make the homunculi army).

I dunno who this protagonist is, but I want them to be just some random person who gets caught up in things bc I love random people who get caught up in things. Anyhow, eventually the protagonist and friends figure out that both nations are harvesting their "technologies" from some sort of eldritch horror buried deep beneath the earth (which is NOT an evil entity, I feel this is important to note, but like I think it should be how the nations are using the being that's malicious, and the being is just a thing that exists), and I dunno, instead of fighting god or the being (which can be a dragon of sorts for the purposes of this being FE, and also be we don't have enough weird dragons in fiction), the protagonist and friends have to find a way to root out the corruption in both nations' rulers or something, although how balancing taking out two different final bosses would work who are also very much trying to kill each other, without doing split routes (which I'd like to avoid if possible) would be a task. (Maybe have the protagonist start off as part of an uprising/rebellion in one nation and then after throwing out the corrupt rulers, have to turn around and somehow fend off invasion from the other nation? I dunno, I'd have to think on this plot point a bit).

Oh but, hm...I've written all this, and now I kinda like the idea. Might let it stew in the back of my head for an original project later on.........

35. What's something you wish IntSys would just stop doing? I will sound like a broken record, but I think gender-locked classes are stupid, I want them vanished. Fates had it right (although I think I should have been allowed to stick men in maid dresses and women in butler suits. As a treat). If I can have nothing else, I want the gender-locked classes removed forever.

I'm also not a fan of split-routes (although again, Fates handled them better than 3H, in my opinion, but they're still a lot of work to get through). I was so relieved Engage was just one route. It's not like they're bad per se, it's just that FE has been kinda messy with the narrative trying to span that many routes. I'd rather have solid, consistent characterization and worldbuilding in a single route, than a flimsy attempt to explore various "what ifs".

EXCEPT for whatever the fresh hell FE Heroes is doing--the multiverse can continue to exist in that with all its weird "characters from this alternate universe you didn't even know existed now exist and can be summoned to fight alongside you in this incomprehensible Norse-themed story". Whatever FEH is doing is hilarious, I will never play it ever in my life, but I love seeing all the character art and pretty animated cutscenes. (And sometimes we get tidbits of interesting characterization for wildly underdeveloped characters. Sometimes).

[menalez]

i would really, really like to fund a group of researchers to develop a few new models for an asylum system for the current age. the present one was developed on the situation after wwii - lots of displaced individuals were given the right to seek asylum in the country where they had already ended up. however, right now that means it's encouraging people to go on long, very dangerous trips (which puts them in close proximity with human traffickers, and which place women and children in more danger than men) in order to invoke their rights. i personally don't know enough about it to propose an alternative, but i know there are smart people out there who can probably come up with something which doesn't encourage human trafficking and is easier to use for women and children (who are often the most vulnerable too).

hmmm yeah i feel like the system is definitely not perfect both to live under as a refugee and for escaping as refugees as well. it’s really sad how many people died going through extremely dangerous routes & as u said how human traffickers often take advantage of it. the thing is more recently the ppl escaping conflict have mostly been MENA & african ppl, whereas historically a lot of europeans where the ones fleeing. and in terms of MENA at least, a lot of countries already have millions of refugees, to the point where some have refugees nearly making up half the population. the countries of course can’t handle that and so refugees there often end up continuing to struggle so they often try to go to a safer country instead of staying in countries like lebanon, jordan, uganda, etc. i do wish there was an easier way tho and also a way to ensure that the terrorists trying to come in via the same route as refugees don’t actually succeed bc that’s also unfortunately been an issue.

[spiceroll]

silly funney event stories are fine and all, but I wish there's more of the ones that are more grounded and maybe explores a bit more of nasuverse lore, which is supposed to be the main draw of nasu's works. I'm getting kinda tired of the absurd jokes relying on the audience's acceptance towards constant crazy shenanigans that randomly happen in chaldea bc reasons. There's no lore in there, stuff just happens because writers think it would be funny, which gets kinda boring honestly. Why do so many events start with mc sleeping and waking up in a completely out of there setting if not because those event stories don't belong in the FGO setting at all? At this point it feels more of a cop-out justification to create a backdrop to easily feature a sizable amount of cast all at once where they often become one-note grossly flanderized meme characters. On top of that, with this whole servantverse thing, these historical and mythological figures become even less of the figures they're based on, where I thought the fun of Fate series is the concept of heroes and heroines from the past being thrown into more modern setting they don't belong in.

It doesn't even have to be really serious all the time and integral to the main story like Ooku event does, just make it be more grounded. Take advantage of the premise of 'hundreds of mythological and historical figures summoned to a present day time traveling star observatory facility ran by magi', there's so much stuff that could have happened, yet they just don't take advantage of that. Why make them, all 300ish (?) of them unanimously complaint towards Chaldea and the master for no good reason? No, 'master is so awesome, charismatic, kind, tolerant, and lovable they can make it work and win the cooperation of even the most chaotic and evil of servants' is not a good reason. It's just another expression of waifu collector gacha game's inherent writing flaw.

They can easily create an interesting, and more importantly, grounded story where maybe some servants become rogue, misuse the rayshift tech to fix their past mistakes, come into conflict with enemies from their life that they meet in Chaldea, or experience cultural and moral shock with Chaldea's modern sensibilities or other heroes from different eras or something like that, but maybe treat it as more of a point of conflict and not just brush it off with 'the servants inexplicably become open-minded and go along with the way things work in present time' (the only servant I can remember that doesn't do that is Columbus in hiw interlude, and I love that, but I guess it's not enough make him likable for most folks), and lastly don't try to cram as much of the casts as possible into one event, bc it only leads to character flanderization.

I guess this is simply the route the devs choose, they want to name their ocs with the name of historical and mythological figures and weave alternate universe where these people are space aliens instead of those historical and mythological figures so in the end they're not those figures they're supposed to represent at all

TL;DR they don't take advantage enough of the nasuverse setting and Fate premise, which is kinda disappointing

[thecrazylady10]

DEVILMAN OC

(EDITED BC I CHANGED MY MIND FOR BACKSTORY)

They come from an alternate timeline where devilmen are on a faraway planet that live in peace (as close as peace as you can get, there's unfortunately conflict anywhere you go). Tama was born human from a devilman who was on earth before it was destroyed, their father was the last human on earth, who sacrificed himself for their mother.

Devilman are not very fertile and if they do have offspring they either birth a demon or a human, never another devilman. However if a devilman born human/demon fuses into a devilman itself, it tends to be stronger than a normal devilman. But its not always the case.

~~🐰PERSONALITY AND BACKSTORY IN READMORE😈~~

PERSONALITY:

They are nonbinary, although they really dont self identify as anything other than "im tama/buun". They also like both girls and boys (bi bi bi).

They highly respect akira and ryo, but this doesn't mean they would always try to do anything to please them.

They are a bit of an enigma, one moment quiet and calculating, the next absolutely erratic and jester-like.

They love to cook and are a great cook, they also like gardening and have an affinity for small animals. They like dogs too but they also like to eat dogs

They aren't very violent for a devilman, they're more of a scavenger Although they're certainly not helpless or weak. In fact its bc of their ability to be that rational as a devilman to strategize and use human tools efficiently is what makes them deadly, physical capabilities aside. They also can turn bits of their body into hands, that can travel anywhere a thin strand of hair can go. They can manipulate their own body in such ways a demon would be envious of, but it is a painful and laborious process that requires focus.

Very optimistic, shy, and has a tendency to seem absent minded. But these are not qualities that should be taken advantage of. So dont even think that makes them easy prey. They have every escape route and weak point considered in every room they walk into

But they do lose control with their emotions and that is when its obvious they are a demon, but it's "easy come easy go" with them. They become more agitated the more they go without eating meat (or pleasuring themselves in some way)

Has a dark, surreal, and childish sense of humor.

BACKSTORY:

Tama was the only human that lived in their village after the elder human died from a demon attack when they were 5 years old. But tama as a human was too trusting and kind, and befriended a rabbit like lesser demon (buun) who begrudgingly accepted their friendship as to not die from their village.

A reincarnated older ryo asuka met tama when they were 13. Tama and buun then traveled with ryo across the devil-lands (for now i call this world "devil heaven" until i can think of a better one) to stop a city of humans who were trying to war with the devilmen (again).

Unfortunately they eventually get ambushed by demons and buun is trapped under rocks, getting crushed to death. Tama begs buun to fuse with them, buun refuses as they wish tama to stay human. In that moment as a demon they feel the emotions of love, consideration, and sacrifice for the first time. Abd ultimately to save tama from being killed by demons they give up their will so that tama could have a successful chance at being the dominant consciousness. Thus making tama a devilman.

Along the way they meet a reincarnated amon, who is now human and no less feral and aggressive. But ultimately is bested in combat by ryo via strategy and trickery, he is swayed by ryo's words and joins them in a journey to find god's corpse and take it's power before the wicked humans and demons find it. Unfortunately it's too late as a devilman finds it first and ascends to destroy all demons and humans and rule as a god amongst devilmen.

In one final effort, ryo gives tama the feather of an angel, a sliver of holy power for tama to fuse with to be able to travel through time and space and find the devilman of devilmen. And the angel who the feather belongs to, so that they can come together to go back to this world and defeat the god infused devilman

[lilhemmo]

may seem weird but... i've seen you reblog a decent amount of vegeta so i feel comfortable asking you this hehe. would you be willing to write a vegeta x reader story?? maybe of how he's not used to affection but the reader just kinda is forceful about it??? like doesn't get fazed when he rejects her kisses bc she sees him blushing, etc. and then maybe eventually she stops and he gets frustrated and is like "excuse me why did you stop???" please and thanks! love your writing!

a/n: i’ve been holding onto this one bc i’ve never written for db and i’m totally scared i’ll prob lose a bajillion followers, but may as well start now! i appreciate the ask :) fem!reader for, well, because vegeta frequently uses the term “woman” 

ps. apparently this is just me word dumping. not sure if the story even makes sense??? but hey, first time is first time. hopefully you like it!

tw: blood, language, etc. the usual for db

It was normal for you to tag along when Goku and the gang got caught up in some sort of crazy scheme with a new bad guy to defeat. You were their healer, after all.

Sensu beans could heal the combatants, but it was not always healthy if they were given an alternative route should the time arise.

And today, after fighting a huge, man-turned-monkey, everyone was worse for wear. Including the superhuman in question.

It took a while, but somehow, Goku convinced him to return to Earth and train together. Given that they were the last of the Saiyan race, you swear you saw some sort of light flash in the Prince’s eyes before he mellowed and spat out some retort akin to a thank you.

“You can shack up at Capsule Corp if you need a place to stay,” Bulma offers to him on the ride back to base. She smiles over her shoulder and he bristles, “You’re basically homeless now anyway.”

“Bulma!” you snap, turning to her in the driver’s seat. “The man has lost his race, have you no filter?!”

You see that his shoulders vibrate with tension, “I do not need you to defend me, woman! I am the Prince of all Saiyans, I can speak for myself.”

“Prince of Nothing, if you ask me,” Bulma mutters.

Vegeta growls in the backseat, but he’s too wounded to do much of anything towards the billionaire mechanic. Instead, he closes his eyes and evens out his breathing, and eventually you believe he falls asleep.

-

It took much time to seal up the Prince’s wounds. No one thought he was yet worthy of a sensu bean, instead opting to have you stitch him up and provide medication to help numb the pain.

You noticed as you stitched up the various gashes on his body that he whimpers in his sleep. His body moves strangely at the waist, but you realize that he’s searching for a tail long since cut at the base. Even though it shouldn’t, it saddens you for the Prince. So much lost in such little time. It can drive a man mad.

Apparently, it has.

Your body freezes as he groans and his eyes flit around behind closed lids. You instinctively reach out and cover his hand with your own, “It’s okay, it’s just me. You’re in the med bay, on a heavy dose of narcotics. You need to settle.”

“Damn Earth-woman,” he mutters, shaking his head and willfully pushing his eyelids open, “I won’t listen to your drivel. Where is Kakarot?”

You press firmly on his shoulder and he winces but falls back into the bed with little struggle thanks to the medication. You knew he’d need a large dose given his Saiyan metabolism.

“Goku,” you correct snidely, “is eating outside with the others.”

His upper lip curls and you’re ready for some spiteful drabble, but it never comes. Instead, he turns his head and scowls off in the distance.

You’re not sure what comes over you, but you reach up and push your hand over his hair, brushing the sweat-laden tendrils out of his eyes. Before your hand can come into contact with his skin, his right arm juts out and secures your wrist in his grasp.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asks, glaring deep into your eyes.

You don’t back down, and you’re not sure if it’s because you’ve finally found someone to rival your stubbornness, or if it’s purely out of spite, “I’m trying to be kind. Is there no kindness where you’re from?”

“The world is unkind, woman,” he barks, tossing your hand to the wayside. Vegeta takes a breath and tilts his head, “I do not expect it to change now.”

-

You’re not sure when it happened, but at some point you quite liked it when Vegeta would show up to the medical bay for patching up. Even now, months later, he’s not entrusted with the sensu beans because there is such a small supply of them and he’s still not proven his loyalty.

“Damn Kakarot,” he winces as you stitch up a split on his bicep. You notice the puckering of pink scars all along his chest and back as you’ve walk around his body. There’s no telling where they’ve all come from.

You run your thumb over the edge of the last stitch, swallowing thickly, “You’ll get better, now that Bulma’s designed the anti-gravity room.”

Vegeta clicks his tongue against his teeth and looks away from you, “It shouldn’t take special training for me to defeat Kakarot in our sparring matches. I shouldn’t have to try this hard.”

“But you do,” you emphasize, “so just work with the tools you’ve been given.”

Vegeta rolls his eyes, “You’re so dense, woman. It should not be this way. I am Prince Vegeta, and Kakarot is…not. He wasn’t even raised on our home land.”

You shrug and find that while he’s distracted with his inequities, he’ll allow the gentle brush of your fingers against his scars, old and new alike. You swallow, “I think that everyone here has a role to play. I, for one, am glad that you’re not their main target.”

His head cocks to the side at this, and your finger stills against his shoulder, “And why would you say that?! Are you seriously so dense that you would want me seen as weak just so they would point the finger at Kakarot? That miserable excuse of a Saiyan?!”

You grip his bicep so hard your nails bite into his flesh. He grits his teeth but you don’t let him speak, “I’d rather them go after Goku, yes! Now shut up and let me patch your eye.”

In the heightened argument, Vegeta’s brow begins to bleed again, trickling down to his chin before dripping into his lap. You reach out with a cotton pad and brush away the crimson liquid, never missing the way his lips quirk when you touch him.

“You humans are a strange race,” he mutters, licking the corner of his mouth. “I’m not sure I’ll ever come to understand you.”

-

It’s been too long, you think. It’s been far too long.

You swallow thickly, your eyes hot with the thoughts of what could be keeping them away. You curl up in the corner of the bench stationed on the patio, wrapping your arms around your legs and holding tight. The stars in the sky, blinking brightly, make you wonder if maybe that’s their power spiking and ebbing as they fight whatever force it is so far away.

“They’ll be back soon,” Bulma speaks soothingly, offering you a bowl of soup.

You wave your hand, your eyes never breaking away from the constellations. You roll your lips together and wish the blush away from your face.

As if the universe senses your distraught heart, a bright white flash of light appears down on the ground and two broken fighters crumble into the grass.

You’ve never sprinted faster in your life.

Your knees buckle underneath you as you join the Saiyans in the dirt, your hands roaming over the broken chest plate to touch raw flesh, blood pulsing under your fingertips.

“Woman,” he speaks weakly, “get your filthy paws off me.”

You scoff and duck your head into his neck, uncaring to the smell of blood and sweat radiating from him. You laugh through tears and he bristles under your touch, hands stilling at his hips.

“I thought you’d died,” you murmur, leaning back and taking in all of his injuries. You swallow thickly, “I-I thought I couldn’t feel your energy for a moment.”

“Oh, you think so little of me,” he winces, grasping at his side. “If Kakarot were to arrive home, so would I!”

“I know,” you speak slowly, fighting a smirk. You put your arm under his shoulders and he fights you for a moment, but practically passes out against you.

“Stupid Saiyan,” you mutter, dragging him to the med bay where you have a stash of sensu beans. “I’m always cleaning up after your messes.”

-

It took a while before Vegeta would spend time in the common rooms of Capsule Corp with the others, but once he did, you couldn’t help but to gravitate towards him.

You start with touching him on the shoulders from behind, brushing fingertips against the muscle of his back to ask a question in quiet.

“What?!” he snaps, turning so his lips brush your cheek by accident. Your entire being turns beet red, but you repeat your question anyway, “Would you like something to eat?”

And then it turns to sitting too close on the couch, knees brushing while watching the news and drinking your protein shakes and coffee respectively. When your knee strays towards his, you watch as his body tenses, and in spite alone, you press your thigh against his own and relax further into the couch. You bring the cup to your lips as a bright red tint paints his cheeks.

And then the inevitable occurs - you fall asleep against his shoulder.

You’re fully expecting him to punt you off the couch and back to your apartment room within Capsule Corp. You’re surprised when the only thing that occurs is his body completely seizing up on the couch cushions.

You flow in and out of sleep, drifting from one plane to the next. You feel heat radiating against your body, but it only brings you back to your slumbering state.

The feel of an arm around your shoulders jolts you awake but you barely pry open your eyes thanks to the darkness of the room. The television is still playing some mindless channel, but Vegeta’s arms have scooped you up and he’s started towards your room.

You try to murmur something, but your head lolls to the side and you find your nose nuzzled against his neck. You can feel his pulse hammering against your skin, but it only lulls you back to sleep.

The last time you wake is when you feel your body laid down in your bed, covered by your sheets. You reach out and grasp him by the wrist, pulling him close enough you can speak in your sleep-ridden voice.

“Stay.”

After you’ve said it, you regret it. Where did that even come from?

Vegeta’s forearm pulsates with muscle as his body tenses. A strangled noise comes forth from his throat and you swear you hear him crumble down to one knee.

You can now touch his cheek, and so you go for it. You know that in the morning you can pretend it never happened if he rejects you - you can blame it on sleep. Maybe you were dreaming? He’ll never have to know.

Your palm spreads over the expanse of his face, cupping his jaw so the tip of your index brushes his earlobe. He’s hot to the touch, both thanks to his Saiyan blood and his blushing body.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he spits, tearing his arm away from you.

Angry tears flood to your eyelids and you try to hold back a sniffle but it’s no use. You roll over and curl into yourself, digging your head into the pillows.

It’s okay, you think, I’ll save myself from the nightmares.

You must have said it out loud, because Vegeta gasps next to you. It takes a moment, but you feel the bed dip beside you. Instantly, your body warms. You smile and curve your body backwards, sucking in a breath.

“You’ve come a long way, Saiyan Prince,” you murmur, reaching behind you to grasp him by the wrist. “From trying to destroy my world to saving it. From being my nightmare to making your way into my dreams.”

A grunt puffs breath onto your neck, hot enough to send a jolt down your spine, “Don’t get used to it, woman. I won’t be kind a second time.”

“I know,” you try not to be chastising. You turn your head to catch his dark eyes, glinting thanks to the moonlight filtering through your window. You repeat his words from so long ago, “The world is unkind. I don’t expect it to change.”

He is silenced by your words, thought drawing his brow and wrinkling his forehead. You take advantage of the silenced Saiyan to curl into him and savor the warmth.

For it is gone when the sun rises. As if he were never there at all.

-

You weren’t surprised that it was you to kiss Vegeta first.

Apparently, no one was surprised. Except Vegeta.

Whis returns with both Goku and Vegeta in tow, dragged behind him like sacks of flour. Their bodies are riddled with bruises and cuts, eyes swollen shut and knuckles battered beyond recognition.

“I came as soon as I could,” the angel sighs. “It appears they were badly injured prior to my arrival. I assumed a sensu bean would make things better?”

Bulma sprints off in search of the bag of sensu she keeps locked away for emergencies, but you’re focused on the Saiyan in Whis’s left hand.

“I-Is he?” you stutter, unable to feel his energy.

Whis’s face hangs low, his usually pastel skin a deep blue color. He sighs, “I grabbed them as soon as I could. You know how Lord Beerus can be. I will likely be chastised when I return to our world.”

“Thank you,” you manage. You drop to your knees and spread your hands out over his chest, looking at the bleeding wounds protruding from under his cracked chest plate. You thought Bulma had reinforced this one, but it appears you will have to make some adjustments. Perhaps a healing patch where his heart would be?

“We’ll have to chew them for them,” Bulma tells you, “they’re both unconscious and won’t be able to swallow the bean whole.”

You take the sensu bean from her hand and crush it between your teeth, forcing yourself to keep it between your molars instead of swallowing it as you’re used to doing. You lean down and take Vegeta by the cheeks, pressing your mouth to his and transferring the bean to his tongue.

After a moment, the color returns to his face and you can’t help the tears that well up in the back of your lids and threaten to spill over.

“Wh-What happened?” he croaks, trying to reach up to touch his battle wounds but unable to move his arms just yet. He looks up at you and his entire body goes hot, realizing at once just how close the two of you are.

He barely has a second to react when you thread your fingers into his hair and pull him roughly by the head to crush your mouth to his own. Vegeta’s left hand barely grazes your thigh when he comprehends what is going on and snaps away from you.

“H-How dare you?” Vegeta spats, eyes widening. His hair begins to glow at the tips, his Super Saiyan form threatening to overtake his body.

You don’t care, though, and instead you drag him so you’re hugging him around the shoulders, your shaking body sagging against him as you cry. “Shut up,” you mumble, gripping him as tightly as possible. “I thought I lost you.”

“Gross, Bulma!” you hear from across the courtyard. “I haven’t even kissed my own wife, why would I want to kiss you!?”

“It wasn’t a kiss, you oaf!” Bulma shouts back at her lifelong friend. Her eyes are bright and wide as she pokes her finger into his damaged chest, “I was simply transferring a sensu bean from my mouth to yours, nothing else! Gee whiz, for a pretty simple guy you make things too complicated.”

“I-I’m so-” Vegeta starts, your head still buried into his neck. You feel the heat of his hand hesitate before pressing flat against the small of your back. A grunt breaks up his words, and you don’t press him. You’re just thankful he’s still here.

-

“Saiyans show affection through their tails, Kakarot,” Vegeta explains over dinner one night. Bulma ordered in a ton of food, and they were both exhausted from a particularly long training session. “We do not do the human rituals of mating.”

You tilt your head, stabbing a shrimp and putting it between your lips. You listen, never giving input, but allowing the words to sink in as you understand how the past years he’s done nothing but recoil at your affections. You, as a human, are not sure how else to communicate how you feel, given that the Saiyan is not very articulate either.

“That explains so much!” Bulma giggles. “No wonder you don’t know what to do every time she touches you.”

Your face goes red as everyone at the table looks at you and Vegeta, sitting too close because it’s too comfortable. His foot hits yours under the table and you want your body to melt right then and there.

Instead of bowing down, you sit up straighter and try to keep your features even, “It isn’t my fault that Saiyans are incapable of understanding human affection. Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

Vegeta’s ears perk at this, and a smirk paints his lips.

And from that day forward, you vow that you’re going to keep your distance. In fact, you do so for three months before you start to notice the cracks in Vegeta’s metaphorical emotional armor.

He begins to lean in closer to you when he speaks. He always makes sure no one else sits near him on the couch to watch television. He always passes the med bay after training, wondering if you’re available with a sensu bean. 

For some reason, his body feels cold at the lack of your presence. He tries fighting more with Kakarot, but that does little to fill the void. The Saiyans were a proud race, with strong women who held the families together. He’s not sure if he’s missing that, or missing you.

You’re curled up on the couch the next time you feel his touch. It’s hauntingly familiar, and a heat shoots up your spine.

Even so, in your slumber, your senses become groggy and you reach out and deck him in the jaw with a left hook.

Vegeta stumbles back and you jolt forward, profusely apologizing and fussing over the incident. You don’t miss the smirk as he stands back to his full height, fists curled by his side.

“I knew you were strong, woman,” he grits his teeth and you swear he’s in his battle stance. “I just never knew how strong. Of course, you’re nothing for a Saiyan, but for a human, you’re remarkable.”

You hide the tint on your cheeks and cross your arms over your chest.

“However,” Vegeta begins, mimicking your position, “it’s not how I would have liked to feel your touch.”

The both of you stare at each other then, and you’re unable to produce words. After the conversation about Saiyan mating rituals, you assumed Vegeta wanted nothing to do with you, given your lack of tail.

He swallows thickly, his throat bobbing. Even still, his voice sounds more like a bark than the typical man, “I did not realize how-accustomed I had become to you. I may not understand how humans show affection, but I think that’s what you’ve been doing. Am I wrong?”

You step forward, your lip between the bite of your teeth, “This entire time you’ve been rejecting it, recoiling from it. I decided to take the hint.”

Vegeta’s eyes squint shut and his fists tighten in front of him, knuckles turning white under the strain. He looks at you and you see the faintest of blue eyes threatening to come to the surface should he express any further frustration.

“I am not used to touch,” he admits, voice hollow. “The only touch I receive is from battle, and I did not realize how comforting it could be to have someone else’s hands tending your wounds and touching your skin. I’ve only ever had those who touch me try to harm me.”

You reach out and tentatively frame his cheek with your palm, “I do not wish to anger you, Vegeta.”

“I know that now,” his voice is still proud despite the admission. 

“Carry me?” you ask, raising both arms to rest around his neck.

Vegeta smirks, eyes closing for a moment before sweeping you up by your knees and your shoulders, cupping you close as he flies to your apartment. It isn’t far, but the wind in your hair and the stardust in the sky makes the short flight worth it.

This time, when he puts you into bed, you do not have to ask him to stay. He simply curls up behind you and waits for you to come closer. Your body is like a magnet, drawn to him in the dark. Your ankles thread together and you touch his chin with your thumb.

In an instant, your lips are on his, but the moment is short as you pull away with a small smile.

“Ah, a sneak attack,” he mutters, his free hand reaching up to touch his lips. “Not sure how I would feel about that in front of the others.”

“In front of the others?” you echo.

Vegeta nods firmly, “Hm.”

You’re not sure what overtakes you next, but whatever it is, Vegeta is impressed. Your body rolls flush with his, your lips slotted firmly against his own as your hands touch his face. It takes a moment to find some sort of rhythm, but once you’ve found it, you don’t let it go.

“Now I have to let them know that you’re mine,” he grunts against your mouth. “Can’t have that nasty old pervert of a man looking at you anymore. If he does, he’ll have to deal with me.”

You giggle, tucking your head against his neck to press a featherlight kiss there. He lets out a strangled noise from the back of his throat, so you do it again, but harder this time. His pulse thumps against your lips and you smirk, “I can’t wait.”

When the both of you arrive to breakfast the next morning with bedhead and hickeys, everyone starts passing around money to pay up on their bets. Turns out, you and Vegeta were inevitable.

a/n: hope you liked it! that was fun to write! prob won’t get a ton of notes, but i appreciate the ask anyway :)