Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are owned by several people, including Akira Toriyama, Shonen Jump, Bird Studios, Toei, Viz, and Funimation. In other words, it doesn't belong to me. No money was made from the creation of this story, and in fact money was lost from the use of utilities needed to power the laptop I work on.

Plotting to Win
by Lady Lark

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Chapter 6 – Dinner and a Movie

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It was five-thirty and Goten was nowhere near ready. He'd realized belatedly, that he should probably pick up the apartment some before Bra showed up. Which led to him doing laundry, because he couldn't find anything that he wanted to wear. Which in turn led to him going clothes shopping. By the time he'd gotten back and showered, it was quarter after five and the apartment was still a mess and dinner was not even started.

Thank Dende he was a Saiyajin and could move at supersonic speeds. The bedroom was the first place he worked on, changing the sheets just in case. Then he moved to the bathroom. This took a little more time, since toothpaste seemed to have some unknown glue property and he didn't want to scratch the porcelain trying to remove the globs of the stuff that he had just left in there after brushing his teeth. He also made sure to extra clean the toilet taking care to put the seat down since Bra was likely to see this room and he didn't want to make a bad impression. He saved the living room and kitchen for last, since they were the easiest to clean and were likely going to be used the most tonight. He dusted and vacuumed the whole apartment then threw a load of dishes into the dishwasher. Now, with the apartment mostly clean he could start on dinner.

Wearing a ratty t-shirt and sweatpants, he began by making the salad. Chopped vegetables were put in a large wooden bowl and then tossed. He made a game of seeing how high he could toss the salad and still manage to catch all of the pieces. Once that was complete, he moved on to the pork chops. He'd gotten about three pounds of them at the store and wanted to show Bra that he could make them in different ways. The first pound he rubbed in rosemary, sage and thyme and then set them to one side; he would sear them later then finish them in the oven. Then he covered the next pound of meat in a homemade barbecue sauce and placed them into the oven to bake. Finally he took the final pound and placed them in a plastic bag. In the bag, he placed the meat along with a mix of soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar to marinate for a few minutes before he put them into the oven to bake.

With the meat and salad ready to go or cooking, he put a pot of water on to boil then pulled out the ingredients that he needed to make the pesto sauce that would go on his pasta. All that he needed to do now, was put the garlic bread in the oven and the fresh green beans in a pot to steam and he would be good to go. He didn't need to do anything for dessert, since he'd wisely decided that Ice Cream was not only safe but prudent. No burning the apartment down for him. With everything ready to go until Bra arrived he checked the clock on the stove – five forty-five. Plenty of time.

He ran to the bedroom and pulled out his new clothes. A nice black t-shirt with a dark blue button down shirt to go over it. A new pair of slacks that he felt flattered his well toned body. Then he got to work on his hair.

As a half-Saiyajin, he was both blessed and cursed when it came to his hair. Blessed that unless something happened, he wasn't going to go bald but cursed because his hair had a mind of its own. When he was younger, he didn't mind looking like a miniature of his father, but as he got older he started to want an identity of his own. And his hair wouldn't allow that. Eventually he got it cut, but found that he didn't have the face for a crew cut. Now, he kept it shorter than his father did but he still needed to slather tons of product into his hair in order to keep it from spiking out all over. Trunks was lucky that he inherited his mother's hair, Goten thought enviously.

He finished getting ready and went out to the kitchen to make the last minute preparations, pulling on an apron absently in order to keep any splashes of food from getting on him as he finished cooking. He placed a newly purchased tablecloth on his nicked and scratched table then set it with the only set of matching plates and flatware he owned. Finally, he set out two candles and lit them carefully with a concentrated bit of ki. Everything was ready, now he just had to wait for Bra to show up.

As if on cue, he heard a knock at the door.

Goten patted his head to make sure his hair was still in place and then went to answer it.

Bra was standing there wearing jeans and a pale gray t-shirt with her hair up in a high ponytail, a large cloth bag over one shoulder. "I did think it was a formal dinner," Bra said by way of a greeting.

"It's not," Goten assured her. "I just didn't know what to wear so I threw on whatever was clean."

"Uh-huh," she replied skeptically. Goten felt her eyes take in his outfit and felt a rush of satisfaction. He knew he looked good and now she knew it as well. Sure, it was a little over done for a night in, but Bra didn't need to know that. "I like your apron," she said after a moment.

"Wha-?" he exclaimed looking down at himself and then blushed. He'd completely forgotten that he was still wearing his old 'kiss the cook' apron. "Aw crap. You don't have to take it as an order," he tried feebly.

She laughed and stood up on her tiptoes to give him a swift peck on the mouth. "I know. But I don't mind."

Goten's mind whirled but he didn't have time to think about what she had just done because Bra had stepped past him out of the passageway and into the apartment.

"Nice place," she commented. "Cleaner than I expected."

"What did you expect?"

She shot him a look that he didn't know how to interpret. "Goten, I live with Trunks. I know what a bachelor pad looks like normally. This," she said, indicating the room with one arm, "is not it. You really went all out."

Unsure what to say, Goten decided on the truth. "Well, I didn't want to make a bad impression."

She laughed. "Oh you're making an impression all right, but it's not bad. Not bad at all." She paused for a few moments and looked around. "Where do you want this?" she asked patting the bag on her shoulder for emphasis.

"That's not your purse, is it?"

"No," she answered with another laugh. "I'm not one of those girls who needs to carry their entire lives with them when they go out. "I've got the movies, two bottles of wine, some soda, and some microwave popcorn for later."

"Oh. Cool. The movies can go on the coffee table in the living room and I'll take the rest to the kitchen."

Bra rummaged around the bag and extracted four thin cases and then handed the bag to Goten. "I'll be right back," she promised.

He took the bag and its contents to the kitchen and put everything away except for one of the bottles of wine which he uncorked to allow to breathe. Then he checked on everything he had cook. The pork chops in the oven were done and he turned off the appliance and opened the door a crack to stop the cooking. The water for the pasta was boiling nicely. If Bra was ready to eat, he could finish everything up in about seven minutes.

"Can I help?" she asked from the entryway to the kitchen.

"Are you as good a cook as your mother?" he asked.

Bra grimaced. "So you know about that huh?"

Goten smiled at her. "Bra, your mom's cooking is about as legendary as my mom's. Except hers is legendarily bad."

"Hey! It's not that bad! Mom just never had time to learn how."

"I'm not putting your mom down. She's got a whole lot of really great skills. Cooking ain't one of them. But you didn't answer my question, are you as good a cook as your mom?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I've never really needed to cook all that much. Mom's got the bots to most of the housework, including the cooking. I'm willing to learn though."

"Fair enough," he replied. "Why don't you take the salad out to the table and then I'll put you to work on the pasta."

"You're on!"

The two worked in the kitchen finishing the meal with Goten showing Bra how to test to see if the noodles were done and how to brown the remaining pork chops so that they got a nice sear on the outside so that they were ready to be put in a warm oven to finish. They worked companionably, chatting about inconsequential things until everything was ready to take to the table.

There, Bra dug into her food with the gusto he remembered from the coffee shop. "Mmm! This is really good!" she said after a few bites. "You're not a bad cook!"

Goten looked up from his own plate, and chewed his food carefully before saying, "Thanks! Do you think there's going to be enough?"

"I think so," Bra answered honestly. "You know, I'm probably breaking all kinds of girl code out there if I told you that I ate before I came over here so I didn't make a total pig out of myself."

"So don't tell me," he answered mischievously.

She gave him a grin. "Okay, then I won't." She cleared her plate and helped herself to more. "I'm surprised your mom taught you how to cook," Bra said after a few moments. I seem to remember your brother talking to my mom about how she didn't like anyone helping her in the kitchen."

"She doesn't like Gohan or my Dad helping her in the kitchen," Goten corrected.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because they spend most of their time eating the food and not actually helping."

Bra gave him a look. "And you don't?"

"Nope!"

"Why don't I believe you? Remember, I've seen you eat."

He waved his hands in front of him. "No, really, I don't," he protested. "It's not because I'm not hungry or wouldn't eat the raw food. But, it just tastes a lot better when it's cooked. So I learned to be patient. And when Mom saw that I wasn't sneaking food, she started teaching me how to cook for myself."

"Huh? Who would have thought that you'd be patient type."

"Can't always judge a book by it's cover, you know."

She smiled at him. "So I wonder what else I'll find between your pages."

That was as good of an opening as he'd ever heard. "So why don't you open me up and find out."

Arching an eyebrow, she replied, "Maybe later. I'm more in a movie mood tonight."

"So what'd you bring?" he asked.

Answering him in between mouthfuls, Bra gave him the list: Some Chick Flick he'd never heard of, the historical drama that won all the awards last year, a comedy from a washed up has-been, and Mr. Satan Saves the World. "So do you have any preferences?" she asked.

"Any you want to see in particular?" he countered, personally he'd go for the comedy. He really wasn't interested in the historical drama or the chick flick and as for Mr. Satan, well, it was Mr. Satan.

"I don't really care," she answered. "I haven't seen any of them and I admit I picked movies that I wouldn't mind seeing, because there are some things I really can't stand."

"Like what?" he wanted to know.

"Like superhero movies or martial arts action flicks. I mean, when you live with Daddy, the special effects just can't match up to the real thing."

He thought about it for a moment. It made sense, if he thought about it. It was part of the reason why he was a martial arts instructor and stunt man. It was easy. After all, he'd fought Buu and despite what his dad said about him being out of shape, he really wasn't. At least not by Chikyuujin standards. Saiyajin standards were another thing entirely. Then he thought of something. "What about the Mr. Satan movie? It's supposed to be a superhero martial arts flick."

Bra snorted. "Puh-lease, it's Mr. Satan. I think of it more as a comedy than anything else. I mean, have you seen the special effects? I could do better in my sleep."

"I thought you hadn't seen it."

"I haven't, but I saw the Cell Games one and it's done by the same company."

"Oh. So how about when we're done we watch that one?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me!"

Dinner finished, they cleaned up the dishes together although Bra insisted that since Goten did most of the work that she at least do most of the dishes. Not wanting to argue too much, he let her even though he could probably do everything in the time that she took to wash one dish.

She seemed to be aware of this and said so, "I could do them faster too, I just don't want to get all wet."

Goten very manfully did not indulge in the innuendo that came to mind. "You're probably right, I always seem to get soaked when I do them although it can be fun, too." He leaned over and splashed the water playfully.

Bra made a face. "Don't you dare."

"What will you do if I do dare?" he asked.

"Think that you're no better than Trunks. That's what brothers do to their little sisters. Not men to their dates."

"Ouch. The last thing I want is to be thought of as your brother."

"Then, you'd better not splash me."

He could tell that Bra was annoyed with him and thinking of his best friend and what they used to do when they were younger, he couldn't blame her for comparing him to Trunks. Together they were terrors. Still were, if he was honest with himself. He changed the subject. "Do you want ice cream or popcorn with the movie?"

"Popcorn," she responded. "You can't have a movie without popcorn. Well, you can, but it's not nearly as much fun."

"Okay!"

A few minutes later they were ensconced on Goten's leather couch, a bowl of popcorn between them watching the opening titles of Mr. Satan Saves the World. Bra was right, it was made by the same company that did Mr. Satan and the Cell Games.

"I can't believe they used the over sized heads like they did last time," he said, leaning over to whisper in Bra's ear.

"I know, right? Horrible special effects."

Goten considered that for a moment. "Are they special effects or costumes?"

"Doesn't matter, they suck either way," she whispered back, turning her head to place a quick kiss on the end of his nose.

Goten's heart sped up. "Do you think I could get another one a little lower down?"

"Not interested in the movie, huh?"

"Not with you around. I'd rather be doing other things."

Pulling away, Bra sat up straighter and reached for the remote. She paused the movie and turned to face him. "Goten. I know that you're an old hand at this and you're probably used to moving a lot faster. But I'm not and I need you to respect that."

Goten mentally smacked himself upside the head. What the hell was wrong with him? He was treating Bra like she was one of his one-night stands and what was worse was she knew it. Trunks was right, wooing her wasn't going to be easy. Knowing that he needed to say something, anything, he said. "I'm sorry. You're right, I forgot that you haven't really had a boyfriend before."

Bra's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

Shit! He'd messed up even more. "Um..."

With a sigh, Bra tilted her head back in exasperation. "You don't need to answer that, I should have guessed."

"You should have guessed what?"

"That Trunks told you that I don't date."

Knowing that she'd probably know if he were lying, Goten decided to answer her honestly. Well, as honestly as he could without mentioning the bet. "He did tell me, yeah. But I would have probably figured it out on my own, eventually. You don't act like a girl whose been there and done that. Sure, sometimes you flirt like you know what you're doing, but other times you're unsure of yourself."

Bra grimaced. "Shows huh?"

He nodded. "I'm really sorry about rushing you, I'm not going to deny that is what I was doing. Because it was, I just forgot for a moment you aren't like the other women I date."

"Experienced?" she asked, her tone dangerous.

"That's one word. Not the one I would use though."

"And what word would you use?"

"Jaded. You aren't jaded, Bra. I need to remember that this all new for you and do my best so that I don't screw up so that you don't ever want to date again."

"Sounds like you're doing a public service."

Goten looked at her and saw just how tense she was. "I'm not going to fight with you, Bra. Not over this. I screwed up. I'm sorry. I don't know what I should do to make it better, because what I'd normally do wouldn't work."

"What would you normally do?"

"Lie. Grovel. Flatter. Whatever I thought would work."

Bra laughed. "You're right it wouldn't work. I know you too well and I don't like to be lied to."

"Most people don't."

Bra seemed to consider that very seriously for moment, then checked her watch. "I should probably go. Raincheck on the movie?"

Goten's heart sunk. She was leaving. He'd obviously really screwed up and she was just being nice. Fuck! He might as well concede to Trunks now. Taking care to not let his disappointment show too much, he responded, "Sure. Just no Mr. Satan movies. Okay?"

"No prob," she answered, gathering up her things and getting the movie out of the player.

He walked her to the door, uncertain about what he should do. He opened it and Bra stepped out into the hall. "I hope I can see you again," he tried.

"Dinner was nice. You're a good cook and it was nice to see where you lived."

He nodded, not really sure what to say.

"Night, Goten."

"Goodnight, Bra," he replied, the sinking feeling centering in his chest growing larger by the moment.

"Oh and one more thing before I forget," she said, setting her bag down by her feet.

"What's that?"

"This," she answered, stepping close to him and pulling his head down until his lips met hers. She kissed him pretty seriously for a few seconds and then pulled away. "You're forgiven. But don't do it again."

The sinking feeling was replaced by one of burbling happiness. "I won't!"

"See you, soon!" she called, as she walked down the hall toward the stairs.

"Count on it!" Oh yeah! He was back in the game!

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AN:

Um... Hi! I'm not dead. It's only been I don't know how many years. I'd apologize, except I'm not really sure it'd mean anything at this point. I will say you can thank Otakon and the fact that I've been having to spend a lot of time in airports going to and from meetings for this chapter. About two thirds of it were written in various airports, airplanes, or hotel lobbies.

I don't even know where to begin, I've shifted my focus away from fanfic and have been writing a lot of Sims Stories, using poses and the like to achieve the look I want. Kind of like a graphic novel or a storyboard. I've been pretty prolific in that for the last four years and have become known for actually finishing things over there. I know, shocking! I will say that I did make a New Year's Resolution to actually work on my old fanfic. So I can say I'm doing that. This is a very long chapter for me, twelve pages and over 3,000 words.

This is unbeta'd since most of the people who used to beta for me are no longer in the fandom or I've lost touch with. I hope you can forgive me and let me know where I screwed up.

As always, let me know what worked and what didn't and if you liked! I have to say that your feedback is what keeps me writing this thing.

Until next time, whenever that is!