Disclaimer: I make no claim to DBZ. I'm just funnin' with the characters for a while.

Notes: Another excerpt from "The Posing Blues". The follow-up to this will be posted once I'm done writing it.

"Hello, My Blue"

By Son Rhandi

"Earth flowers are great… Earth really is the best for flowers…"

The blue planet really had changed him and his crew. Who would have thought -- who really would have thought -- that the ne'er-bested wild man would be out and about, picking flowers for a woman? But, it had been a dog's age, maybe even the ages of several dogs, since he'd last laid eyes on a human female. Well, there had been instances of humanoids, like Jeice and his ilk, but they came in every color imaginable and even if the desire to try his luck with a rainbow woman existed, the time to go a-courting' didn't, what with the whole planetary purging thing…

But still, he knew a good-looking woman when he saw her and being cooped up with a bunch of guys all the time (though to their credit, ones that showered regularly) was positively stifling at times. He also knew that it would take more than a handful of lilac to impress the likes of Bulma. It was what it was, though, and once upon a time, in a galaxy long since dead, he had been a simple man with simple values.

"So, today's the day, innit?"

The behemoth looked over his shoulder, and Jeice grinned back at him. Recoom simply returned his grin and brought his attention back to the flowers. "Yeah, I'm gonna tell her."

"Man, now ain't that something', eh?" The red one knelt beside him, plucking a few choice daisies. "Never woulda pictured you would chase after anythin', 'sides your soaps guide, that is," he ended on a bit of a chuckle. "Here." Jeice handed him the flowers of white. "It'll spice up your bouquet a bit."

Recoom raised an eyebrow and with a simple "Hmmph," accepted the flowers.

"Man, Jeice… You sure know what not to say," Burter called out, coming up over the hill. "You may be a regular ladies' man…" He lowered his mammoth frame to meet Recoom. "But when it comes to real love, you don't have a clue." He plucked a few red wildflowers gently in his fingertips.

Jeice flipped his hair in defiance. "Oh, and I suppose you'd know?" He asked with an aggressive little smirk.

Burter closed his eyes. "Of course. I had a wife at one point." He breathed deeply the scent of the flower, and exhaled a wistful sigh. But… that was a long time ago… Here, Recoom." He offered his chosen flora to the behemoth, almost lost in his massive paw. "On this planet, red is the color of passion, or so I've heard." The saurian ended with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Burter." He accepted the gift with tender care.

"Oi! He gets a 'thanks,' and I get a 'hmmph?'"Jeice huffed. Recoom poked out his bottom lip, preferring to examine his nicely-developing bouquet. "It's 'cause you were makin' fun of me."

Jeice moved to sit on his rear, leaning back and propping himself up by his elbows. "Aw, I wasn't makin' fun. I was just surprised, is all. But I am happy for ya, mate."

"We all are, Recoom," said Burter, opting to lay on his side. "I hope things work out for you."

"Pfft. Not with that piddly handful o' weeds, it won't."

Red and Blue rolled their eyes. "Guldo…"

The little toady waddled past his more colorful comrades and scoured the grass. All four eyes lit up, and he picked his flora of choice. "Pink flowers, you've gotta have pink flowers. Ties it all together."

"And what would you know about givin' a girl flowers, Frog Wonder?" Jeice chortled, plucking a dandelion seed stalk and blowing it in Guldo's direction.

"Hah! Are you kidding?" He paused to swat away the few seeds that made it over. "I'm hot stuff by my race's standards. The ladies couldn't keep their hands off me!"

"Probably because they were too busy slappin' ya."

Even Burter had to laugh at that, but he was sure to follow up with a twist to Jeice's right ear. Jeice countered with an unsuccessful attempt to stuff grass in old Blue's auditory craters. Guldo just razzed the both of them with gusto and passed off his flowers to add to Recoom's posy.

"The most illustrious fighters in the universe… sitting around picking daisies?"

The boys turned. There stood the good Captain Ginyu, hands squared on chiseled hips, looking slightly irritated. Wordlessly, he strode past the quartet and walked a few feet ahead of them. He paused and turned his head a bit, as though surveying the area. Then, confidently and assuredly, knelt to pluck a single, yellow daffodil. Turning back to his four, he made his course straight to Recoom, and extended his hand.

"A yellow one for an accent," he smiled warmly. "As long as you're a part of the Ginyu Force, everything you do, you do with style! Are we clear on that, Recoom?"

The behemoth blinked, then chuckled and accepted his captain's contribution. "Yes, sir!" HE beamed, a goofy grin for all to see. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck, Cap'n, guys!"

"Get 'er, 'coom!"

"Do your best."

"Get on it, big guy!"

"And remember, with style!"

He smiled, that behemoth, with bolstered confidence. Recoom waived his goodbye to them and made his trotting pace back to the Capsule Corporation compound. The remaining four waved even as he disappeared over the hill. One at a time, each lowered his arm, but continued to look on silently.

"Sigh…" The Captain was the first to break the silence. "In all my years with you boys, I never thought Recoom of all people would get himself a woman in a way other than grunting and a whooooole lotta tears…"

"This planet's changin' us, Captain," said Guldo as he idly scratched his warty head. Ginyu placed a hand on his own head. "Maybe so, but I never saw us becoming… becoming…" He paused for thought.

"Boring?" Guldo chimed.

"No, not that."

Burter cocked his head. "Better people?"

"No!" Ginyu threw up his hands in frustration. "I just didn't think we'd ever become--"

Jeice curled his lip in disgust. "Pussies?"

"Pussies! That's it!" The Captain socked a fist into an open palm, but his smile quickly faded. He gained a shining new one after giving Jeice a good smack in the back of the head.