This fic was originally written for the 30kisses Livejournal community, and is based on theme #1: Look Over Here.

Thank you to the people at 30kisses for allowing me to claim the Vegeta x Bulma pairing!

I've finally decided to add to the ever-expanding mass of BxV fiction. I originally planned not to release any of my BV 30kisses fics on till I'd completed them all on 30kisses, but since I'm kinda stuck at the moment, unable to write any fiction due to a killer writer's block I'm hoping maybe getting some feedback from the wonderful reviewers here will give me confidence in my writing and help me improve so I can get back to my fiction from other fandoms, (And complete the 30kisses challenge lol) So please R&R...

Title: Look At Me

Pairing: Vegeta x Bulma (Dragonball Z)
Rating: PG13 / T
Date Completed: 30/7/05
Originally Published (LiveJournal): 31/7/05

The dark eyes followed her across the room, burning with lust. She noticed. How could she not? They were emitting a heat so fierce that she was flushing red despite him sitting all the way at the opposite end of the room. It was then she noticed her flimsy nightgown, thin white material sleeveless with a low neckline. The material stopped just above her knee.

She only came to get a glass of water. She never expected him to be there. Normally he was out training but today he just had to be there. Now he was eyeing her body, painstakingly slowly from her legs up to her sleep-disturbed hair falling out of it's pony tail in greeny-blue curls on her shoulders. He licked his lips, making Bulma shudder. The tension in the room was rising. It was dark, after all it had to be in the early hours of the morning, but his black eyes pierced the darkness.

He got up suddenly, never moving his eyes from her, and began to come closer. His bare chest now fully recognisable in the darkness. Instinctively she looked down to see what he was wearing on his bottom half. Finding him to be wearing his training shorts, she sighed, half relieved and yet half disappointed. He noticed her looking and smirked, Bulma looking back up, blushed.

Damn that smirk, she thought, why'd it have to be so darn sexy?

He moved closer, Bulma taking a step back, and nervously pulling her short night attire down past her knees in modesty, not realising that in doing so it pulled the neck lower and flashed Vegeta a shot of her cleavage. His smirk widened and he moved closer again. Now Bulma was up against the kitchen bench, her glass of water forgotten. She felt her heart pounding in her chest faster than it ever had before.

What was he thinking? She found her mind saying. She knew the answer. He was thinking the same thing as her. He wanted her, and he wanted her now. Who was she to deny him? She'd been wanting it too. She'd been wanting it for way too long.

He wrapped his muscular arms around her waist, moulding her to his body. She had no option but to snake her bare arms around his strong neck as his smirking face moved towards her, crushing his lips on her own. He licked her bottom lip, causing her to shiver and part them where he seized the chance and pushed his tongue into her mouth, roaming it around tasting her and teasing her tongue. Bulma's mind went through a torrent of emotion. She couldn't believe it was happening. It felt so good. Wave after wave of heat flowed through her and she began responding passionately to Vegeta's kiss, playing with his tongue in return. She moaned into his mouth causing him to put more passion into it. Her eyes couldn't hide her disappointment when he broke the kiss, but she suddenly moaned when Vegeta moved on to her neck and shoulder kissing and nibbling and licking her flesh. She held onto his neck tighter, before her hands decided to play with his spiky black hair, running through it and clenching it when he hit her sensitive spot behind her ear. His heavy breathing made her shiver and in a husky voice he whispered into her ear "I need you".

Her eyes widened. This was all too good to be true. She answered through her own ragged breathing, "I need you too" and he lifted her up, Bulma wrapping her legs around his waist, feeling the bulge in his shorts pressed up against her womanhood. He growled in anticipation, hitching up her nightgown before stopping and whispering into her ear… "I love you."

Bulma's eyes shot open. She was no longer downstairs in the family kitchen of her Capsule Corp home. She was in her own bedroom, in her own bed feeling very flushed, very warm and very embarrassed.

"Not again…" She sighed angrily, her breathing slowing back to normal. "It seemed so real.. Until the last part there." Bulma smiled sadly. It was just wishful thinking. Her dreams always seemed so realistic until the point where Vegeta declared his love for her. Then as if set on a timer, Bulma shoots awake realising all the passion she felt there was just her imagination and Vegeta still hated her and ignored her.

She'd never dreamt of going through with the act. It was as though her body realised that it was impossible and so as not to get her hopes up, it cuts the image off before then. Bulma kicked off the bed sheets which were now all messed up and sticking to her after her fantasy caused her to sweat with the heat in it.

Standing up shakily, Bulma looked at her alarm clock. The bright neon red digits read 5.58 for a moment then they blinked on to 5.59.

Bulma decided to go into the bathroom and shower to wake herself up and wash away any memory of the dream. A little while later she arrived back in her room wrapped in a fluffy towel. She dried herself off and got dressed opting for a loose t-shirt and some pink shorts she headed to the lab, her hair still wet.

Passing through the kitchen she stopped to see if there was any evidence to suggest her dream was real.. But finding none, not even the glass she got out, she sighed and was about to leave when she realised he was sitting there in the same place he was in her dream.

Vegeta didn't look up from his meal. He didn't seem to notice her presence at all. He just sat there his tall spiky hair moving a little when he bent down to take a chomp out of his meat-filled sandwich. Bulma noticed the sweat and blood on his face from his heavy training session but rather than risk embarrassing herself and talking to him she just walked away.

In the pure white sterile environment of the lab, Bulma tried to finally put to rest her passionate fantasies about Vegeta by concentrating on her work. She looked over her initial designs for the product trying to find flaws and trying to improve. It worked for a little while, but then every V shape reminded her of his name and when reading aloud she was sure she had read his name out a few times. Blushing she forced his name out of her head and went back to examining the plans.

It didn't work though.

Every time she looked up from her work, thoughts came rushing back to her. All about him.

Angrily she slammed her hands down on the desk and pushed herself up from her seat. Why? Why did she keep thinking of him? Why was she dreaming those kinds of dreams about him? She had a boyfriend for God's sake! It was like cheating on Yamcha having such thoughts about another man. Not only that but a man who everyone, herself included, seemed to dislike and who hated and probably wanted to kill everyone on Earth. He was arrogant, selfish, egotistical, rude, angry, nasty, snappy, bossy, determined, proud, strong and, damn it, he was good looking. Strange how the list of negatives she was thinking in her head turned into positives. Strange and annoying. Yes, Bulma had to admit that despite him being the biggest ass on the planet, he was most definitely good looking. Strong, well formed muscles, tanned, dark and he had a whole mysteriousness about him that came with him being a Saiyan. His look was almost primal and wild but at the same time he retained a high and mighty appearance that was thanks to his being a prince.

Good looking wasn't the half of it either. He was smart. Really smart. Cunning and skilful, and his occasional verbal spars with her he showed his wit and intelligence. Not that on those occasions it was any benefit to Bulma, since the only time he ever spoke to her was to tell her in eloquent words how she was a stupid human and that she should hurry up and fix the gravity machine and his training material. He was so smart but wasn't one for fixing things. DIY wasn't one of his strong points. It was, to quote him, "servant's work."

Bulma kept reminding herself that she hated him. He and his Saiyan friend came to Earth and killed her friends; killed her boyfriend even. The only reason he put up with her and her family was so he could use the high tech training facilities to power up and surpass Goku. He wasn't going to help them beat the androids that were supposedly coming in less than three years time. He was going to power up to Super Saiyan and beat Goku. That's all. He was evil and cold and he hated everyone.

She hated him. But she was most definitely attracted to him. No doubt about that. Maybe it was the whole "bad-boy" image he gave out. She did have a thing for those types, after all, Yamcha was a desert bandit when she first met him.

She still hated Vegeta though. Her butterflies when she was around him were just part of the physical attraction. Her dreams of love confessions were little more than too much romantic reading and chick-flick movies taking their toll on her unconscious mind while sleeping. They weren't real feelings. Or were they?

She felt like hitting herself when she thought that. Of course they weren't. But nagging at the back of her mind was the question that she feared answering in case it's answer was the one thing she didn't want.

Did she really hate him?

Could the dreams be her true feelings coming through when her mental barrier was at it's weakest? Were they trying to tell her something?

The fact these questions plagued her when she was doing nothing to keep her brain occupied was the reason why she tried to concentrate on her work. But lately it had stopped working, this little plan. Now keeping preoccupied wasn't stopping the thoughts from popping into her mind and torturing her.

Now, having tried to relieve a little of the burden by telling her mother of the dreams, it was getting even worse. Her mother making sly jokes about the dreams, even in front of poor Yamcha. Highly embarrassing and awkward. She had managed to hide most of it from him by saying that all the dreams showed was Vegeta kissing her, being very vague about it all. She could tell Yamcha wasn't happy. He'd never been happy with the living arrangements but as Bulma explained before, Capsule Corp was a big building and the only place Vegeta could possibly stay.

Sometimes she wished he would leave though. But then again she wished he would never leave. Ever. She was growing accustomed to his face and his presence in the house. Even though he hardly spoke to her, and never said anything nice, she still almost… liked him being there.

Hating being alone with her thoughts, Bulma headed away from the rather warm lab and back to the kitchen for some food. Vegeta was long gone, it now being almost eight o'clock, and was probably training again. Bulma sighed in relief discovering his chair empty but frowned seeing how his plate and glass were still there, left for someone else to clear up. Someone else, meaning her.

Frowning she picked up the plate and glass and put them in the dishwasher. Then, trying to forget about the fact that she's just touched something he had touched and acting like a complete schoolgirl, she made herself some cereal and went into the cool living room to watch some television.

"And today temperatures are expected to soar to their highest this year, so remember to wear plenty of sun block, stay in the shade and drink plenty of fluids…" The TV weatherman warned when the TV flickered into life.

Bulma sighed, realising that this morning's heat wasn't just her highly overactive imagination after all. They were in for a heat wave.

About time too.. Bulma thought, looking at her pasty white skin. I'm in need of a tan.

"No the wonder Vegeta hasn't noticed me"

Bulma's eyes widened and as soon as she registered what she had said she clamped her hand to her mouth. She seriously hoped that no-one had heard that, especially not Vegeta. She sighed once more, this time in relief.

She had to admit that she would love to get some attention from him. Even just eye contact would do. But he completely blocked her out unless he wants something from her, like upgrades on his precious gravity room, or repairs, or a towel and clean clothes. She was a servant in his eyes. That was all. Another glance at the television's weather report and an idea flashed into her head.

Vegeta was a man. She was a woman. Vegeta, being a man, obviously would react to flirting, right? Especially highly suggestive flirting. She smiled devilishly. If he wouldn't notice her normally she would make herself stand out so he would notice her, whether he wanted to or not.

Flicking off the TV she headed upstairs to get her plan into order.

The pool shimmered in the late morning sun as Bulma made her way out to it's side.

It was quite hot already and it was hardly even midday yet. Clear blue skies revealed the glowing gold of the sun in the sky, beating it's rays down without a care for whoever might be burning underneath them.

Bulma set up her white deckchair and a little white plastic table beside it to put her drink on. She stretched, looking over at the huge gravity pod that was located in the Brief's back garden not too far away from the pool. She could hear it humming as her target trained himself inside.

A shame that the windows are so small, she thought, her gaze fixed on one of the circular shaped glass holes in the side of the white Capsule Corp labelled machine, hoping for a glimpse of Vegeta.

Knowing him though, even if the damn machine was made of clear glass he would be too absorbed in his training to notice me here. She pouted angrily.

She'd gotten all dressed up, or rather dressed down, in her most revealing bikini just for him. The bikini top only just covered her breasts and was only actually held on by little ties that could easily come undone. Like with the bikini briefs, which were the same bright yellow colour as her top. Yellow is eye catching, she reasoned.

But of course all that doesn't matter if the target is stuck inside a room with little chance of seeing out into the garden. Sitting down on her chair feeling defeated, she pondered about how to get Vegeta out. It didn't take long for her to think of a pretty good way of catching his attention.

She walked quietly over to the pod and peaked inside a window, trying not to be seen by him. He was doing push-ups and the gravity inside must have been pretty high since he was only just getting off the floor.

She ducked away and managed to pry open an outside panel of the machine. She was soon underneath and able to reach some of the wiring. She pulled out a few wires and, as quickly as she could, got out from underneath and went stealthily back to relaxing in her deckchair.

She lay back, taking a sip from her cool drink, then heard the door to the gravity machine open and glanced over nonchalantly to see a rather pissed off Vegeta stomping over.

Even trying to look cool and innocent about the whole thing, she couldn't help but heat up a little seeing Vegeta coming over, his eyes almost burning, his bare muscled chest glistening with sweat and the fact he was coming in her direction made her feel so good about it. Resisting the urge to blush like a little girl, she simply put down her glass on the table and looked at him, feigning curiosity.

"Woman!" He yelled as he got over to her chair. His shadow covered her as she stayed lying on the deckchair. "Fix that damn machine again! I was almost at the next level of gravity and it blew out on me!"

Bulma's mouth flicked up into a little smirk for a moment before she stopped herself.

"Oh, sorry Vegeta. No can do. It's just too hot.." She stretched a little, her stomach muscles pulling taught, "And I'm busy relaxing here."

She looked at Vegeta's reaction. He looked as though he hadn't heard her for a split second, his eyes staring at her body, but he seemed to snap out of it as quickly as he got into it. Bulma loved having his attention. It felt so good. She decided to stop him from saying anything else by standing up, stretching again and unable to hide her smirk she said it was so hot that she was going to take a dip in the pool.

She stood on the diving board and tried her best to look alluring, diving her most gracefully into the shimmering blue water and on reaching the surface flicking her once curly hair back as though she were a mermaid. Taking a sly glance at Vegeta she hoped she had caught his attention, but almost boiled up when he seemed to be walking away, ignoring her, again.
He went into the Capsule Corp building, probably to find her father to get him to fix the machine.

Bulma eventually got out of the pool after a few minutes of disbelieving anger, flicking her wet curls of turquoise hair behind her ear. She stormed off into the house, dripping wet, feeling a mixture of anger, disappointment and embarrassment, but at the same time feeling butterflies over the way he looked and the feeling of his eyes on her. The feeling was most annoying.

She couldn't stop thinking about it on her way to the bathroom to find a dry towel.

"Damn him.." She hissed, That stupid, arrogant son of a..

She froze. Without thinking she had opening the bathroom door entered and went to grab a towel from the side bench only to turn and see a sight she never thought she'd see.

Vegeta was standing there totally naked as he came out of the shower cubicle.

Bulma's eyes widened and she felt her face heat up. Heck, she was pretty sure her mouth was open and she was most likely drooling too.. Or maybe not that far, but had she been able to register the sight she saw, she would have drooled. She got all flustered seeing him topless but this was unimaginable to her. An angry growl from the Saiyan Prince woke her from her trance and she turned and rushed out of the door, hugging her towel to her chest, shouted apologies down the hall.

Red faced and in shock, her former feelings of anger gone, she hid in her room for ten minutes, changing into something a bit more comfortable in the process.

No longer did she feel the need to grab his attention with skimpy swimwear. She figured he'd be pretty angry with her and if she caught his attention he might just vent that anger on her by pummelling her into the ground. Vegeta was a touchy guy, and if she knew one thing about Vegeta, she knew his pride meant everything to him. Being caught in the nude could have damaged his pride and that was a scary thing to do to someone as powerful as the Saiyan Prince.

Now wearing her pink shorts again and a white spaghetti-strapped top, she felt brave enough to venture outside in the hopes that His Royal Highness had gotten the machine fixed and gone back to his special training.

Her damp curls of green-blue hair now safely tied back in a ponytail and away from her face, she made her way carefully outside, where the sun was shining as brightly as earlier. She felt more nervous hearing nothing but the twittering of birds and the faint sound of the West City traffic out from the front of the building, with no sign of the hum of the Gravity Pod.

Cursing under her breath she got back to her deckchair and sat down for a moment, trying to ignore her pounding heart. To be seen by Vegeta now would be too much for her to take. It would be so embarrassing, and coming outside was a risk. A huge risk.

She noticed her glass was still half full from before, and decided to take a sip to quench the sudden dryness in her throat. A gulp of the lemonade revealed that the weather had remained consistently hot and had warmed the drink up. It tasted bad. Not as refreshing as she had hoped it would be.

Licking her thirsty lips she got up, deciding to change her drink and maybe get something to snack on while in the kitchen, but as she did so she dropped the glass onto the tiled poolside patio. The thick plastic didn't break thankfully but even if it had been glass and had shattered, Bulma wouldn't have noticed at that point.

She was too busy being on the receiving end of a death glare from the person she had feared being seen by.

Vegeta walked outside, donning nothing but a pair of his training shorts.

After initially getting the shock of her life seeing him, she zoned back to the situation, realising and then blushing and turning away, bending down to pick up the slightly scuffed plastic glass which had spilled the lukewarm lemonade onto the tiled floor.

She tried not to notice Vegeta walking in her direction. Before she could get away, Vegeta was in front of her, his eyes staring straight at her, mocking her embarrassment. Bulma suddenly felt very childish.

"Oi, Woman." He started, Bulma now forcing herself to look at his, fighting the redness rushing to her cheeks. "Why ever are you trying to avoid me? From that display earlier I believed you to be demanding my attention. Why the change of heart?"

Bulma blinked in response, feeling, if possible, more embarrassed than previously. She could have kicked herself. She was so obvious! She should have been more subtle about it, but no.. she went all out and made a complete ass of herself and that was something she knew Vegeta was never going to let her forget.

She mentally shook herself. She was not going to lose this. He was mocking her, but she was determined to get the last laugh. Pushing her embarrassment to the back of her mind, she smiled at him a comeback ready in her mind.

"Well?" He pressed, "Why then?" His smirk growing slightly.

Putting her hand on her hip she smirked back.

"I changed my mind because in our little encounter I saw something that made me a little disappointed." She answered stressing the words "little" and lying through her teeth at that. His reaction she couldn't have expected. At first he seemed shocked, then annoyed, then angry. His face growing red with what she hoped was embarrassment, but what she thought was most likely to be sheer anger. Then it went back to normal and he gave a little laugh.

"Ha, your cover up attempts are pathetic, Woman. I can tell by your reactions that you liked what you saw. Don't lie to me.." He said, his voice getting huskier as the sentence went on. His eyes were fixed back on her.

Confused Bulma struggled to think of another comeback. It came though.

"Pathetic, huh? You got one thing right. Something about this is pathetic, but it isn't my attempts to do anything. It's got something to do with the size of your.."

Her rather stupid comeback was cut off by a scream when Vegeta picked her up bridal-style, holding her in his strong arms. Without warning, before she could protest at her being handled in such a manner she felt his lips crash forcefully onto her own. She almost blanked out. It was like all her dreams were coming true. His kiss was every bit as powerful as her fantasies about him and there was a sense of longing that came through in them. She felt lost when he pulled away. He smirked again.

"Now that you have gained my attention and gotten what you wanted, maybe now you will let me train in peace."

Before Bulma could say a syllable in protest, he threw her into the pool.

She screamed and landed with a huge splash. Now completely soaked she coughed up water and rubbed her chlorine-irritated eyes and once gaining her sight back she tread water, glaring at him. He began to laugh and she angrily splashed water at him. It sloshed over the side of the pool hardly even touching him and he walked off, laughing his way backing into the Capsule Corp building, leaving Bulma shocked and cross.

After another trip to her room to get dry clothes Bulma sulked back on her deckchair, an alcoholic drink replacing her lemonade and every so often muttering about Vegeta under her breath. Her mind was consumed by thoughts of that kiss, and the sensations she felt during it. It was unreal. She had never felt that kind of passion from Yamcha. It was like a release of sexual frustration, edged with a deep lust. It was warming and cooling at the same time. But to be followed by those words and that act of throwing her into the pool… it made her feel stupid. As if he was playing her. It made her hit reality hard and realise that she had a boyfriend and Vegeta probably thought she was a loose floozy for even thinking that way about another man while dating someone. Maybe Saiyan's were really into loyalty to their spouses. Somehow, Bulma couldn't picture Saiyans being like that but she knew nothing about what they were like before Frieza blew up their planet and she'd only ever known Vegeta, since Goku grew p on Earth. Vegeta never once talked about life before he came to Earth with Nappa. All she knew was little snippets she'd heard from everyone else. Would he be the loyal type? Would he even go for a human woman? And why was she so bothered when she had a boyfriend?

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Vegeta storm out of the house.

She couldn't help but smile a little once she realised what must have happened. Her father told her yesterday that he had a series of meetings today. Vegeta must have wanted her father to fix the machine and just discovered this fact himself.

Serves him right. Bulma thought. This thought was quickly replaced when she noticed him coming in her direction.

Aww crap… she thought, mentally hitting herself for not escaping when she had the chance.

"Woman!" He called as he got closer, "Fix the machine!" He in front of her, casting her in shadow again.

Sighing in annoyance she refused.

"You must have enjoyed your dip in the pool before, since you seem to be after another go for refusing." He growled menacingly.

"Look, just leave me alone you stupid Monkey-man!" She spat.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then his lips tugged up at the side into that darn smirk of his.

"If you wanted to be left alone you should never have tried to lure me out by sabotaging the machine."

He had her there. She looked at him, trying to glare but failing, when she felt completely beaten. He was right. She should never have started this. It was stupid of her. She looked away from his gaze.

"I.. I only wanted you to notice me…" She said almost in a whisper.

Vegeta laughed.

"How the hell could I not notice you? With that luminous hair and shrieking voice?"

Bulma pouted, hurt by his cruelty. What did she expect from the Prince of a bloodthirsty race of apes? Embarrassed anger swelled up inside her and before she realised she was spilling her heart to him.

"Look, you Princely ass!" She screamed, "The only reason I did it was because I wanted you to see me as I see you in my dreams! I wanted you to see me as something more than a servant, more than just one of Goku's 'annoying Earthling friends', I wanted you to see me as a woman! Geez, why the hell am I even putting up with you!" She got up and tried to rush past the Saiyan whose laughing had long stopped and whose eyes had become serious. As she pushed past, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, solemnly and almost in a confused tone.

She blinked back tears of frustration, not in control of her body, her thoughts just rushing out of her mouth in her anger before she could stop and rationalise everything.

"I'm talking about how I feel about you! I see you in my dreams as, not just some bloodthirsty ape come to kill us all, not just some power-obsessed ego-maniac, but as a man! I see you as a person with feelings and with a capacity to understand me! I see you as some totally sexy guy I can feel happy with! God damn it Vegeta! Can't you see I have the hugest crush on you and yet you treat me like shit!" Tears fell before she could stop herself. She was saying things she didn't even realise fully herself.

She stopped shouting, too choked with sobs to keep her voice raised.

"Vegeta…" She whispered, "In some of my dreams I feel like there's gotta be more to us that this hate thing. I somehow see all this... all this crap you put me though whenever we actually talk as our way of saying we like each other and I have the stupid idea that you ignore me because you know too… and every night I set myself up for a huge disappointment in the morning when I find myself waking up to being some other guy's girlfriend and having you pay not one scrap of attention to me… as if I'm not worth it.."

Bulma's heart pounded the fastest she'd ever felt it. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. His emotion coming from her, even she didn't expect. It was as if her mind just had enough of her avoiding these things and wanted to get them out into the open. Bulma half hoped this to be another one of her dreams. She was almost fully convinced it was a dream when suddenly she felt Vegeta press his lips on hers once more. This time there was little force. It was more gentle, more warm and caring, but it was still passionate and it consumed her mind once more with thoughts of him and how right it felt. It was unbelievable. It had to be another dream. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist in doing so and she automatically wrapped her arms around his neck. She let go and fell into this kiss, pushing back on his lips and finishing her speech by transmitting her emotions through the kiss. Her eyes closed, she was sure she was dreaming. A feeling of loneliness swept through her when he pulled away. His arms unwrapped from her waist and he turned to walk off.

He stopped however and turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye.

"I hope that answered your question of whether I noticed you."

He then headed off back into the Capsule Corp building for a nap, leaving confused Bulma flushed with tear stained cheeks and a whole new thing to think about.

End

There is a partner fic to go along with this one, so look out for it…
Hope this wasn't too bad an attempt at writing. Review and tell me what you think please – it is most appreciated. Thankies!

- Buugirl xxx