Top of the World

Chapter 1

He never stayed long. Goku sighed. He knew Vegeta couldn't stay long; nowhere near as long as he wanted him to. For simple reasons: Goku was dead, Vegeta wasn't. Simple as that.

But simple facts didn't help Goku any. He wanted Vegeta with a burning passion. He wanted to glimpse that flame of dark, spiky hair cresting Snake Way as the prince dashed for him at the speed of sound. He wanted to stalk up to him in a brutal sneak attack and pin him to the ground, laughing and kissing. He wanted to spar recklessly; beating each other within an inch of their lives before eating the senzu the prince always brought with him. But most of all he wanted what came after that. He wanted the prince to attack his mouth and body with senseless, animalistic violence, he wanted to be fucked senseless – never being the one doing the fucking as Vegeta said it "wasn't the way things worked"; he wanted be bitten, having his blood drawn and being tasted. He wanted to sweat and shake and moan in the way only Vegeta could elicit from him.

Then he wanted to lie in the vibrant orange clouds with Vegeta and talk about nothing whatsoever as they curled around each other, tails twining and harmonizing purring.

But that last part never happened. Vegeta always left before Goku had a chance to ask. The prince always showed up, fought for a while, healed, performed a quick fuck, and left without another word. It drove Goku crazy.

He was alone up here, in Otherworld. Sure, he had King Kai and countless other dead folk to keep him company, but he was the only Saiyan in Otherworld. He'd asked King Kai about it once and his old master had simply replied that all the other Saiyans were in Hell because they were evil. When he said this Goku tried to hide his disappointment and surprising flash of anger. But his drooping tail and narrowed eyes may have given him away. He didn't like to think of his race as evil. Somehow it was just short of calling himself evil, of calling Vegeta evil. And while plenty of people thought Vegeta was evil; Goku certainly did not.

He ran a hand through his own silky blonde spikes. They were always blonde now. His hair used to be black, until he'd trained with Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and made Super Saiyan his natural form. Gohan had been able to power back down after defeating Cell, but since Goku died in that battle, he was stuck as a permanent Super Saiyan now.

Goku sighed; it had been over a year since Cell had been defeated. He was tired of being dead. It was boring and he got so tired of everyone's happy-go-lucky attitude; as if being dead was the best thing to happen to someone. I've been dead once before this, it's nothing special. Goku thought, sitting on the edge of Snake Way and letting his feet dangle over the edge. Same old, same old. Sometimes people asked him why he spent so much time on Snake Way, just sitting there, waiting. "For what?" they'd asked. For Vegeta. He thought his true response and instead answered a dishonest "nothing" and changed the subject. Pikon had pressed the subject more often than the others; he genuinely seemed to care, and it pained Goku to lie to him every time. But the only times Goku felt happy were when the prince was there. He couldn't risk losing the only thing that made being dead bearable.

Vegeta had found a way. Of course he had. Goku had no idea how the prince had found out how to come to Otherworld at will. But the prince visited at night. Not wanting to be caught. Of course, night was the only time they could see each other anyway, as Goku was just as likely to be caught as Vegeta, and there were more dire consequences if the younger Saiyan was caught having sex with one of the living. Vegeta stayed for a short while; an hour or two at most, then he'd leave and it could be nights, weeks, even months before Goku saw him again.

The hardest part to explain away was the dark, circular scar that marred the right side of his neck. The result of being bitten over and over; of the prince's fangs sinking into his skin over and over and draining his blood into Vegeta's royal throat. There was a perfect ring of teeth marks there; nestled in the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Usually it faded a little by dawn, but it was a dead giveaway if anyone found out. So Goku wore collared shirts – kind of hard to come by in the world of the dead, he'd had to do anything from asking Vegeta to bring them with him, or ask King Kai to materialize one for him, which was infinitely harder – and passed the mark off as a childhood injury if anyone saw. He knew someday he'd be caught; keeping secrets from the gods wasn't exactly easy or possible, but as long as Vegeta kept showing up, he'd keep deceiving his fellow angels and covering the prince's – and his own – tracks.

"Hey Goku," Pikon said cheerily as he passed by, his dark green skin reflecting the pink sky a little. Goku glanced at his fellow fighter, nodded to show he'd heard, and turned his attention back to watching the clouds.

"You look kind of down, what's up?" the warrior pried.

"That doesn't make any sense Pikon," Goku couldn't resist pointing out the older warrior's sentence flaw, "What's down can't be up, that's impossible."

Pikon stuttered something and fell silent, cursing the Saiyan's wit. Whoever said Goku was an idiot obviously had the wrong person in mind. Goku might not be a scholar, but he was sharp as a dagger and tricky enough to rival the Kais. That and his unfathomable strength made the young warrior practically a god.

"So…" Pikon avoided asking for the tenth time why Goku was sitting alone on the edge of Snake Way in favor of remaining in the tall Saiyan's good graces, "…Do you wanna spar?"

Goku considered refusing, but his muscles could really use the stretch and it might take his mind off counting the seconds until dusk. Maybe Vegeta would return tonight. Maybe he wouldn't. Either way, Goku figured he could spend his time in a better way than moping.

"Sure," he said eventually, getting to his feet and lashing his tail to get the kinks out.

Pikon smiled. He'd expected Goku to say no, but, he figured; no Saiyan could resist the allure of a good fight. He launched the first attack, going on the offensive instead of giving the battle-honed Saiyan a chance to strike first. Goku blocked his punch with almost lazy ease, tail tip flicking with the thrill of the fight as he retaliated, slamming his knee into the older warrior's midsection. Pikon doubled over and Goku elbowed him to the ground, making an effort not to hurt him, only to bring him down.

Pikon stood up, shaking dust from his clothes. He'd almost forgotten this was the same Saiyan that had nearly given Cell a run for his money. Pikon felt foolish challenging an almost unbeatable opponent to spar. Well, he thought grimly, He's got to have some weakness, otherwise he wouldn't be dead.

Goku sighed, dusting himself after the pitifully short spar. He missed Vegeta. The prince hadn't shown in almost two months, so Goku made up his mind. If he didn't show up tonight, Goku would go to him.

TBC

Goku: I'm gonna getcha, Vegeta!

Vegeta: *snorts* good luck, idiot.

Pikon: Ow.

Goku: Oh, hush, I didn't hurt you.

Pikon: That's what you think. Oh well, that's what I get for challenging a Saiyan.

Vegeta: You should count yourself lucky you didn't challenge the Prince of ALL Saiyans!

Goku: (interrupting sarcastically) No really, go on. Tell me how you defeated Cell again… *smirks*

Vegeta: Shut up.