A/N: Wanted to make something simple and sweet cause I haven't written for 6-ish years :P Artwork for the cover was made by j_ioioioio on Twitter, make sure to check 'em out 'kay? Their stuff's all real cute :D Don't own nothin' but my own soul either, so don't come for me Toriyama.

Also, this entire thing was not only written in one sitting, but was also proof-read by me. Didn't edit too much since I wanted to keep the rawness that I was feeling when I wrote this. Any mistakes are my own. This includes potential OOC-ness cause it's some pre-slash and a lot of Vegeta Reflection Time. Also kinda plotless, because again, one sitting.

Just note that this is an attempt at fluff with smidges of angst and language, 'cause seriously guys it's Vegeta. But damn if my man ain't tryin-

If someone had asked Vegeta what was it like dating Kakarot, he would've punched them in the face. Because honestly, that's what it was like.

Kakarot, in Vegeta's eyes, was like a storm. A mix of constant sounds, movement, and thunder. It was honestly interesting, albeit in a grotesquely fascinating way. Despite all of Earth's people's attempts to smother him, Kakarot was still very much a Saiyan. At the end of the day, the happy, bubbling idiot that everyone referred to as Son Goku could easily destroy everything they held dear. Hell, if he wanted, he could blast down this dirty mudball with his Kamahameha.

(It took him a long time to admit that, but Vegeta knows when he was bested. He knows this and many other things now; Kakarot has taught him that much.)

The way they got together was a whirlwind. It was hot and humid and raining everywhere, and despite the fact that he absolutely hated having mud and grime in his suit he agreed on Kakarot's idea to spar. Some days Vegeta wonders why he accepted. He might've blamed it on how Kakarot was gone for two weeks after his divorce and that he was itching for a good workout. Maybe it's because after everything, none of the younger Saiyan's friends came looking for him save for the woman and his sons. Or maybe after everything, after all that Vegeta had put him through, Kakarot ran back to him, eyes puffy and red like bulbous tomatoes.

Again, grotesque. Grotesquely fascinating.

They did the usual, tumbling across the grass as if they were animals. In some sense, they are, only instead of bites and snarls they duked it out with punches and kicks. But even under all of that, with the constant rain and their faces looking more brown than human, Vegeta couldn't help but think that Kakarot looked absolutely magnificent. A part of his mind, screaming out at him that yes, this is it, this is the Saiyan you were looking for.

It probably helps that the dumbass kissec him too, pinned down and looking straight at him, dark eyes somehow looking a little blue.

Everything kinda just continued after that.

.

It was only weeks later, after their intense sessions of intimacy, that Kakarot opened up to what happened in those two weeks.

"I kinda just stumbled." He said, body pliant on Vegeta's bed like he had always belonged there. "I mean, I know that I wasn't around much, and I know that Chi Chi wants me around, but it-it's kinda hard, ya know? Just, givin' up everything to stay at one spot. I-I just can't."

He couldn't help but raise a brow. "I really doubt it works that way dumbass." Vegeta replied. He didn't sugarcoat anything because there was no reason to. What's done is done and the idiot needed a more straightforward view for his whole mess. "Neither of you were honest with each other. You both wanted things that the other couldn't provide. In the end, you crashed and burned. There's nothing else to it."

Kakarot then turned to him and gave him a surprisingly unreadable look. As if he was shocked that Vegeta could give relationship advice. (Yeah, it surprised him too, but he gets surprisingly talkative after sex.)

And then Kakarot's mouth curve into a smile. Not those big ones that he gives to the monk, nor the wide ones he gives to his children. No, it was small, soft, and surprisingly, very vulnerable.

It was like seeing Kakarot, nay, Son Goku, for the first time.

It was at that moment that Vegeta couldn't hold back, couldn't stop the emotions that erupted from the depths of his soul. Him, the callous, rude prince of a dead race, feeling things for a third class ingrate. And yet here he was, being entrusted to hold Kakarot's heart with his own two hands, being entrusted to do anything he wanted with it.

And so the next kiss he gives was not one of passion, but of love.

.

Everything and nothing changed after that.

For one, he finally left the blue woman's compound for a simpler home of his own. Vegeta remembers rolling his eyes constantly at the woman's gibbering, her saying things like Finally took you long enough! He shoots her one last middle finger before heading out, before stopping 'cause Kakarot was giving him That Look again for 'being mean to his friends'. Hell knows why the man was offended, but since Bulma actually bothered to look out for the idiot during his Two-Week-Leave he stops.

They chose a tiny hill that wasn't too far off the city nor Mount Paozu. The city bit was so that Kakarot could always visit his sons, and the same goes vice versa. And while Vegeta didn't understand why that was necessary, what with his whole Instant Transmission trick, it only took seeing seeing Kakarot's gaze mist over for him o shut his mouth.

(He secretly feels proud of Kakarot despite this; not everyone can quiet The Prince of All Saiyans after all.)

As for Mount Paozu, it was for multiple reasons. At first glance, it was the peaceful atmosphere that caught his eye. At another, it was because that in spite of everything, this place was Kakarot's home. It was the one place that remained, constant despite being ever-so-changing over the years, and Vegeta knew just how important it was to have something grounding with you.

Of course, it was also just because Vegeta wanted to learn. Wanted to learn what makes this dirty mudball worth protecting. Wanted to learn what made Kakarot's friends worth protecting. Wanted to learn what Goku sees here, in this tiny and cramped place. And he felt that looking at where it all began is a good start.

There was much to understand, and despite all of his pride and bravado, Vegeta knows when he's out of his depth. But for Kakarot, he's willing to try.

A/N: Apologies if the ending is lackluster; I wrote something else initially and it felt like I was going on a tangent far beyond my initial idea. And since I wanted to keep it simple, I just kinda stuck that in there. Hope it was worth a read anyway :)