ballseeker | IC INBOX

[ Merry Christmas, Bulma! A letter in a bright green envelope will arrive via messenger bird at her residence early Christmas morning, addressed to her on the front. Inside is a card with a silhouette of a man and woman on a bench leaning against each other, overlooking a child with a sled. The card is blank inside, save for this handwritten note: ]

To Bulma,

Wishing you a happy holiday.

From, Videl

[ Perhaps the message is a little generic. Videl still feels like she’s in the dog house with Bulma.

Inside the card is a VIP pass to the Jade Dragon Bathhouse and Spa. This weekend-long getaway package includes unrestricted access everywhere in the spa, all expenses paid. It also mentions that separate billing arrangements have been approved. What could that mean? ]

Mom, I found some of your lab equipment from home. I guess it's from whatever weird stuff is going on this month.

[ Color Bulma excited. If her tone of voice isn't enough to convey it the little happy bubble feeling coming through in her next message will surely do the job - ]

Oh, really!? That's amazing!

We should gather it up - what all is there?

Your computer, part of a machine--not sure which. It's not from my timeline, and I don't know what you've been working on.

[She's going to be really mad when it disappears, isn't she? :(]

My computer?! Amazing! [ Hey, she's pleased as punch she might get some schematics back that she won't have to actual write out again, honestly. But yeah - she'll definitely be wrecked when it all goes poof again. ]

What are you near? I'll come take a look to make sure we don't miss anything.

[Sorry Mom :(]

I'm near the library down the street from the bakery--Sweetie Pies. It's all kind of on the side of the street--on a table at least.

[It's just the name of the place but he still thinks he sounds kind of ridiculous saying it.]

Well a table is better than the ground. [ And damn it she’d be mad if they put it on the damn ground!! ]

I’ll be there soon! Maybe we ought to look around a little too!

Just in case there’s anything else around.

I'll wait til you get here. Stop people from messing with it.

[He'd had to channel his best Dad glare to get a couple young kids away from it earlier.]

[ it doesn’t take long for Bulma to show up, especially since Trunks said the magic word “computer” - she practically arrived at light speed if a human could move at that. ]

Well would you look at that! It is my computer!

[Well, if anyone could figure that out it's her.]

Everything looks intact, but we need a power source...how's that project going?

I'd say figured out enough I want to start installing it in my place to test it. [ She's probably decided this just now at the sight of her beloved computer, but with how much of a perfectionist Bulma is it's no wonder she'll want it installed with them first. ]

I think it's stable enough to bring out to the farm too for some of the systems. I'd rather test it out with us first instead of rolling anything out outside of maybe me, you, and the other you for now.

Well, this is a good reason to test it. I'll load up and head home with this, if you want to hang around and make sure no one else pokes at it until we can get everything out of here.

Yeah that’s probably the best way to attack it.

You’re faster than me, anyways! [ Bulma laughs a little to herself, shrugging her shoulders since, well, she can’t change it. ]

Goku ought to stop being a hog and teach other people instant transmission.

Yeah, that would be...really useful, actually.

[He carefully grabs the monitor and tower, loops a few cords around his shoulder.]

Other me would have to be at the house to lock onto though. I'll be right back.

[He takes off, going...pretty slowly actually, for him anyway. He doesn't want to drop anything. He's back in about 20 minutes.]

Well. We’ll have to see if he and your father ever show up. [ she nods as Trunks says he’ll be back, helping to pack up his things as necessary. He’s pretty good at it as it stands, but she’s just that hovering Mom it would seem.

Bulma busies herself with making everything as packed in as possible so that Trunks has less trips to make, occasionally shooing off a curious child or five. ]

We’re attracting a lot of attention today, hm?

Yeah, well, it's not exactly a common sight around here.

[And kids are just naturally curious. He loads up one more time.]

I think one more trip after this...most of the interesting and small things are gone, maybe you could start heading back?

[The voice would come abruptly. Sound almost out of breath, despite being a telepathic communication. With the slightest hint of panic behind an otherwise attempted calm.]

Bulma? It's Mai. I found Trunks. He's alive. But...he's not doing so well. I'm bringing him to your lab as soon as I can.

Trunks? [ Okay. There's three ways to get Bulma's attention for sure. Say any of her family's names in some sort of fashion - but even more so after what's happened with one Trunks recently.

Of course, they'd known he would come back, but it didn't make it any easier.

Bulma's up from what she's doing almost immediately and moving. ]

Not to the lab, bring him to the apartment. It's more comfortable and we'll get him tucked in to heal.

In the mean time I'll reach out and see who's a doctor around here in case he needs anything past what we can do.

[The last time they'd spoken, things had...not gone well. To say the least. But right then? Mai was so focused on the moment, she was not only ignoring any lingering animosity that should have existed between them...she'd forgotten altogether.]

If you can find someone, relay the fact that he doesn't show any signs of physical injury, but his energy is almost completely depleted. He can barely sit up on his own.

[ Bulma's mind hasn't even strayed to the insults tossed back and forth not that long ago - it's all kind of null and void so long as she has Trunks and is bringing him back to her. She knows what's involved with almost having no energy to use or spare, and nods even though Mai can't see her, already practically jogging around her little space and making sure everything is ready and as comfortable as she can make it. ]

Then I don't really know if a doctor can do much for him. [ At least a normal one, anyway. ]

Damn. The one time I could really use a sensu bean...

[That response was...not promising; Bulma may or may not be able to sense a growing concern on Mai's end. She frowned. Deeply.]

That bad? Have you seen him like this before?

Not Trunks, but Vegeta. [ She's thinking away, trying to calculate out the best ways to attack this kind of thing. But with a lack of sensu beans, or anything like that.. well. It's just going to have to be one of those long haul things. ]

He'll just have to rest and eat. He'll regain the energy eventually with time.

Do you need help getting him here? I can meet you.

And Vegeta is fully Saiyan, while Trunks is half human...

[The first thought came out much softer, with hints of an echo. Almost like she were "thinking" to herself, rather than intending for it to be broadcast to Bulma.]

[Irrelevant? Perhaps. There were very few instances Mai could cite in which Trunks being half human affected him more than his Saiyan blood...but, in this instance, concern was enough for her to at least keep it in mind.]

[Her next sentence, on the other hand, came out much stronger:]

Giru and I are managing, but meeting us halfway might be the smarter idea. At the rate we're going, you'll cover more ground than we will, so you'll get to him sooner.

Alright. I'll see you two soon. [ If anything Bulma's driven for her family - no one could deny that much, and soon she's setting a pace toward Mai, Giru, and Trunks. She's near on jogging at some point, and once they're spotted ..

It's a full on run, though she doesn't come crashing in to them, for once a bit prudent about her reactions.

Again she's at least all business, not even bothering with what is probably still a very active beef with Mai. ]

Here, let me help.

[On Mai's end, there was nothing but relief the moment Bulma appeared. She even smiled a little.]

I think I've mostly got him on this side, so see if you can just balance him out on the other. Otherwise, it's nothing but de--

[Dead weight is nearly what she said. A common term used to describe someone being carried who could offer no support of their own. But in the context of the moment, it didn't feel right.]

...but the two of us and Giru holding him up.

[ There's a bit of a look at that almost slip. She knows what she means, and yes, she knows it's a legitimate turn of phrase, but it's bad enough to hear the term 'dead' in relation to your son once, and honestly? She's not too keen to hear it again at the moment.

Thankfully Mai is smart enough to change courses here, and she nods, putting herself under the boy's other arm to help Mai get him the rest of the way there. ]

Well, they're both heavier than they look. [ Says the woman who has way too much experience hefting saiyans, but here she is anyways. ]

Let's get him back.

[The look went...not so completely ignored, per say, but Mai gave it very little thought. For the same reason why she'd corrected herself mid-sentence.]

I'd figured as much. Even now, he still weighs a little more than my Trunks.

[A weight she was far more accustomed to carrying. Mostly in the heat of battle, when her adrenaline was high.]

Do you have a plan for when we get back? What happened to Vegeta when he was like this?

We'll have to fix that. [ Look - she wants him to be hearty and healthy. They're living a better life, here, so there's no reason to stay lean in that way, like they don't have more than enough to go around for the moment. ]

He's going to lay down, sleep, and rest until he's back in moving condition. [ That's the short term plan - and if things didn't improve she'd go from there. ]

Before Trunks, when Vegeta destroyed the GR and could barely get out - that's how he recovered. With a lot of cajoling, of course, but... sometimes it's just down to rest. Especially since he doesn't seem to have any external injuries.

[Oh, don't think Mai hasn't been trying, Bulma; it was technically part of her job to make sure he ate, even before they...well...]

I can imagine how difficult it must've been for Vegeta to be told it lay still. And even harder for him to actually do it.

He didn't do it for long, trust me. And bitched the whole time about being taken care of. [ But then again a lot of that was more than likely just blustering for the sake of it. Knowing Vegeta he was trying to swat his feelings away and that meant shoving Bulma away too.

Not that it had worked, obviously. ]

You would think the Prince of all saiyans would've liked having food brought to him and all, but no.

He seems more like the kind of Prince who would find it an insult. Having other people do things for him he's perfectly capable of doing himself.

[From what she knew of the man and his Saiyan Pride.]

For Trunks, it was a little different. He wouldn't always eat or sit still because he felt there was more he could be doing for others.

Well, other than the perfectly able part.. [ There's a little laugh, there, though she shrugs at the memory. Vegeta then had been such a different man than the one she knows now that it's sometimes a bit.. stunning. In all of the best ways, of course. She never would have thought the man who hardly wanted anything to do with Trunks would be so hands on with Bulla, But there's not a chance she minds. ]

Sounds about right... though you can't keep saving people if you're tired or run down.

A brief but sincere note tops the box:

From Arden & Naminé,
We were thinking of you, so please enjoy these cookies, since you're one of our friends.

Inside is two of each variety of cookie, some more pristinely decorated than others, but all sugar cookies with roughly the same flavor of frosting on all of them, differentiated only by shape and decoration:
- Tropical Beach themed
- As-Seen-From-Above Flowers or From-The-Side Flowers
- Hearts with a Floral Motif or More Abstract Patterned Hearts
- Brightly Colored Cupcake or Classier Colored Circles
- Simple Sprinkles

[A messenger bird has dropped off a badly wrapped gift box. In it is a mug with the stylized text 'Guess my age. I dare you.'

And a note 'It's still Christmas somewhere. -Jecht'

IC INBOX

12/25 - messenger bird (super backdated orz)

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Box of Cookies delivered [Mid-Sept]

Jan 1st