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Even from his private chambers, Prince Vegeta could hear the sound of thundering drum-beats and voices singing, echoing distantly from the palace grounds. A hot, evening breeze blew through his open window, carrying the chorus in with it, and Vegeta could only sneer at the noise.
The thought of his subjects gathered around the palace in celebration for such an occasion—drunk and revelling—made him want nothing more than to burn his entire wretched kingdom to ash.
Vegeta leaned next to the open window and lifted his wine goblet to his lips, taking a long drink as he surveyed the glimmering, red horizon. The first sun was already beginning to set, and the second wouldn’t be far behind. Vegeta grimaced at the sight, rage and apprehension bubbling up his throat no matter how much wine he tried to drown it with.
It was only hours now until the ceremony.
Vegeta reached for the decanter of wine to his side, and refilled his goblet to the brim. The cup was halfway to his lips when a sudden knock at his chamber door interrupted him. He hadn’t called for any servants, and wasn’t expecting his escort of guards for some time yet—when the door swung open without invitation, Vegeta immediately leveled a glare in the direction of his visitor. He should have known.
Kakarot swaggered in with a confidence that bordered on offensive, and Vegeta could only marvel at his fucking nerve.
“Really, Kakarot?” Vegeta said from around the lip of his cup. “This is bold, even for you.”
Kakarot smiled—that infuriating, devilish smile—before closing and locking the heavy door behind him.
“Are you drinking?” he asked, chuckling as he approached Vegeta. “This close to the ceremony, Vegeta?”
“Oh, spare me the lecture,” Vegeta spat, but he had already grabbed the decanter again, this time filling a second goblet. “Hardly comparable to your behaviour—sneaking into the Prince’s quarters, hours before his wedding? A much more grievous breach in protocol, if you ask me.”
Kakarot accepted the second goblet from Vegeta’s outstretched hand, moving to stand on the opposite side of the window.
“Couldn’t help myself,” he chuckled. “Had to see the groom up close for myself.” He paused, taking a moment to swirl the cup in his hand before taking a sip. “You look good, Vegeta.”
Vegeta had donned his ceremonial armor for the occasion—he was dressed head to toe in pristine white and burnished gold, the scarlet symbol of House Vegeta emblazoned on his chestplate to match the red length of his cape. Vegeta felt like he was wearing a costume.
“Don’t,” Vegeta hissed, taking another drink from his goblet.
Kakarot winked, and his smile turned into something more devious. “I bet the bride looks even better.”
“I should kill you where you stand.”
“Ah, you won’t though,” Kakarot laughed, waving his hand as he downed the rest of his drink.
Vegeta watched Kakarot set his cup down as Vegeta took another sip from his own. “Did anyone see you come here?”
“Nope,” Kakarot said, and tapped a few times at his scouter. “Raditz was on lookout. He says the whole wing is clear.”
“Good,” Vegeta muttered before swallowing the last drops from his cup and setting it down next to Kakarot’s. “The last thing I need right now is one of my father’s spies lurking underfoot.”
Kakarot crossed his arms. “Do you really think spying on you is the King’s top priority right now?”
Vegeta’s glare was cutting. “The bastard probably thinks I’m a flight risk—he knows exactly how I feel about this insult of a marriage.”
“Come on, Vegeta—what do you have against the Earthling? Not gonna lie, I actually like her—you could've done worse.”
“She’s not Saiyan.”
“There’s plenty of cases of Saiyans mating outside our people—”
“But not the Crown fucking Prince,” Vegeta snarled. “This is unheard of, it’s—it's beyond fucking belief, Kakarot. Of all the Saiyans who would have made a suitable Queen, it’s an insult to our entire House that my father chose her.” Vegeta turned away, gesturing towards the open window with a gloved hand. “Listen to them out there, cheering and celebrating—how can any of them cheer for this? They can just readily accept their Prince marrying into an alien race of weaklings—but meanwhile a single rumor about the two of us was all it took to unleash months of political scandal-”
Vegeta cut himself off, nearly choking on his words as heat flushed across his cheeks. Kakarot looked away, smart enough to avoid looking directly into the blinding light of Vegeta’s rage.
“Some traditions die hard,” he shrugged.
“Fuck tradition,” Vegeta said, turning away from the window. “We should just steal a ship and run away from this whole fucking charade.”
Kakarot let out a deep-bellied laugh at that. “You know you’re kinda hot when you’re this dramatic?”
“You’re lucky I don’t have time to take you to the sparring arena,” Vegeta said. “I’d have that idiot grin wiped off that smart mouth of yours before you could land a punch.”
Kakarot’s grin only widened. “There are other ways to shut up my smart mouth, you know.”
The effect of Kakarot’s words was immediate, and before Vegeta could stop himself, he had Kakarot trapped against the wall, his hands pressed against the pauldrons of Kakarot’s armor as he crushed their mouths together.
Kakarot’s tongue found Vegeta’s easily, pushing past Vegeta’s snarling lips to give him a better taste. Vegeta’s hands roamed down Kakarot’s arms, his touch hard and rough against the curve of Kakarot’s muscle, and Kakarot pulled away with a gasp when Vegeta’s hands moved suddenly to his body, his fingers digging under the edge of his chest-armor.
“Hey,” Kakarot panted, his tail lashing out suddenly for Vegeta’s wrist. “We—we shouldn’t—”
Vegeta’s eyes glimpsed away, narrowed at the appendage wrapped around his glove.
“Why not?” he growled, his breath hot against Kakarot’s lips as his own tail whipped back and forth in a frenzied figure-eight behind him. “Why else did you show up in my quarters just before my wedding? To taunt me?” Vegeta leaned closer, his tongue scraping up Kakarot’s neck to his ear, forcing a hard shudder through Kakarot’s body. “So I could taunt you? ”
Kakarot said nothing, but his strained breathing spoke loud enough. His tail’s grip on Vegeta’s wrist loosened.
“I just—” and his breath hitched as Vegeta grabbed Kakarot’s tail before it could pull away, Vegeta’s fingers running through the fur as he dragged his mouth across Kakarot’s throat, “I just wanted—”
“Spit it out,” Vegeta hissed, his free hand suddenly pressing against Kakarot’s throat, just firm enough to push the back of Kakarot’s skull against the wall. “What do you want?”
Kakarot let out a strangled moan, his entire body going slack in Vegeta’s grip. He didn’t have to say a word—Vegeta had known the moment he stepped through the door what Kakarot had come for.
And he had just enough time to give it to him
They tore each other’s armor off in a quick, frantic blur, and by the time Vegeta had Kakarot on his bed, spread and ready and throbbing, Kakarot was stripped down to nothing but his arm-warmers. Vegeta considered ripping them off with his teeth, but just as his lips mouthed a kiss against Kakarot’s palm and wrist, he was distracted again by Kakarot’s smart mouth—this time some flippant comment about “desecrating the marital bed.” Vegeta’s patience was waning faster than the suns setting behind them—the sooner he had Kakarot moaning, the sooner the clown would shut up.
It didn’t take long. Soon, Vegeta was moving inside Kakarot at a relentless pace, fucking him hard enough that Kakarot could barely do more than gasp beneath him. Kakarot clutched him tightly, his tail coiled and bristling around Vegeta’s forearm, his fingernails digging into Vegeta’s shoulder-blades until Vegeta was sure his skin was bleeding. Vegeta groaned at the sensation, and his strokes became harder and deeper, Kakarot clawing him harder with each thrust.
Vegeta felt grateful that he had Kakarot on his back—this way, he could watch Kakarot’s face as he took him. The light from the twin sunset spilled in through the windows behind them, Kakarot’s skin shining with sweat and painted in fire under the light. A powerful ache swelled within Vegeta at the sight of him, starting as a dull throb behind his ribs that rose into his throat. Soon, Vegeta’s veins were burning with it until his ears rang, and his teeth ached with it, and before he could stop himself, his lips found their way to the base of Kakarot’s throat.
Vegeta’s teeth hovered across Kakarot’s skin, scraping his flesh hard enough to bruise but not enough to break the skin. Never to break the skin—no matter how loudly Vegeta’s blood howled for it, no matter how hard Kakarot writhed beneath him for it—
“I want you,” Vegeta panted against his throat, his mouth salivating at the feeling of Kakarot’s pulse thundering beneath his lips.
Kakarot’s voice broke into something like a shaking sob as Vegeta moved slower, but harder, inside him. “I-I know.”
“I want you,” Vegeta repeated, thrusting deeper into Kakarot, his body desperately trying to spell out what his words failed to.
Kakarot’s nails continued to dig long welts into Vegeta’s back, leaving trails of stinging ichor in their wake.
“Vegeta, we can’t—” Kakarot moaned, pulling his neck halfheartedly away from Vegeta’s hungry teeth. But his body spoke differently—his hands and tail gripped Vegeta tighter with every movement, his whole body trembling now beneath Vegeta’s.
But Vegeta knew Kakarot was right. The weight of the taboo was simply too much—no matter how badly Vegeta wanted to claim him, no matter how badly his jaws ached to bite down into Kakarot’s inviting neck—he couldn’t.
It was one thing for a third-class to be the Prince’s closest guard—but for the Prince to take him as a mate—
It was simply unthinkable.
Vegeta swallowed the impulse, forcing it back down into the dark, feverish place it had risen from. Instead, he dragged his mouth away from Kakarot’s neck, settling on Kakarot’s lips instead, and Kakarot’s moans were drowned against Vegeta’s mouth as he came suddenly beneath Vegeta.
Vegeta followed him with a harsh cry, powerless against the way Kakarot’s body rocked and shuddered beneath him. Kakarot’s hands had released their hold on Vegeta’s back, moving instead to Vegeta’s neck until his fingers were buried and shaking between the spikes of Vegeta’s hair.
Kakarot whispered something into Vegeta’s ear, something that sounded like Vegeta’s name, but Vegeta was too distracted to hear. Far beyond Vegeta’s quarters, the distant crowd gathered around the palace was growing steadily louder. They didn’t have much time left.
Vegeta ignored the dull pain in his chest as he pulled away from Kakarot’s warm body
Kakarot barely had his own armor on before he started to help Vegeta slip back into his own.
Vegeta watched him as he went to work clasping Vegeta’s breastplate into place and reattaching the cape to his gleaming pauldrons. It didn’t escape Vegeta how Kakarot’s fingers shook as he fastened the pieces together.
“Once you’re married,” Kakarot said, feigning a sort of casual indifference that didn’t fool Vegeta for a second. “Do you—do you ever intend to mate her?”
Vegeta snorted as he slid his golden arm guards over his gloves. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kakarot. She will bear a child to unite our Houses, and that is all.”
Kakarot gave a quick nod as he turned away and grabbed his scouter off the bed, quickly slipping the emerald lens into place over his eye.
“Right. I guess that makes sense.”
“Not that she comes from a royal House, per say,” Vegeta muttered. “But the dimensions of her planet’s politics are so fucking incomprehensible that it doesn’t matter.”
Kakarot’s mouth quirked into a faint grin as he tapped a few times at his scouter.
“Well, we should be going,” he said. “Raditz says they’re ready to receive you. Your bride is waiting.”
Vegeta nodded, but he didn’t move from where he stood. He looked again to the open window, watching as the suns burned low on the horizon, the sound of the gathered crowds roaring like an approaching storm. Soon, the red landscape would be awash in silver as the half-moon rose to take the place of the twin suns, and Vegeta and his bride would begin to exchange their vows under moonlight, before the High Priestess.
“I want you to come to Earth with me,” Vegeta said suddenly.
“What?” Kakarot said, his hand dropping from his scouter as he turned to face Vegeta. “I don’t—”
“After the wedding. I’m supposed to visit Earth with her—a sort of diplomatic tour.”
“No, I know that, I just don’t understand—”
“If I’m going to have visit a foreign world, you’re the guard I want closest at my side.”
Kakarot glanced away. “Nappa’s still head of the Royal Guard, you’ll have to—”
“Nappa answers to me,” Vegeta snapped. “Unless you’re refusing?”
“No, of course not, I—” but Kakarot bit his lip, and Vegeta watched as a fierce color spread across his cheeks. “You know I would follow you anywhere in the galaxy, Vegeta.”
Vegeta looked away again, his jaw clenching as his tail twitched behind him. He still couldn’t bring himself to move.
“Hey,” Kakarot said, moving away from the door until he was close enough to catch Vegeta’s hand in his own. “I know you hate this. But you’re a good prince, you know. You’re doing what’s best for all of us.”
“I know that,” Vegeta managed to hiss, his throat tightening. He looked down to where Kakarot's hand fit over his glove, and didn’t pull away as Kakarot's fingers slipped between his own.
“Allies like Earth might be our best chance against Frieza.”
“Power is our best chance against Frieza,” Vegeta countered, and he raised his free hand to cup the side of Kakarot’s face. Vegeta closed his eyes, imagining he and Kakarot where they belonged—together, back to back in battle, steeped in blood and ash and crackling ki.
When Vegeta opened his eyes, a familiar, roguish smirk tugged at Kakarot’s lips. “Lucky for all of us you just might be powerful enough to be the Legendary, then.” He leaned in and kissed Vegeta softly on the mouth. “You’ll make a great King some day, Vegeta.”
Vegeta pulled his lover closer, his tail reaching out to coil around Kakarot’s. He didn’t want to be King. He had no use for titles, or politics, or wealth—he would trade the whole kingdom in an instant for what he truly wanted.
“Only with you by my side,” he finally said, before kissing Kakarot back.