His eyelids slowly fluttered open, falling back closed as he sat up with a groan and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He blinked once or twice before looking around his still unchanged room, eventually his gaze landing on the window and the still rising sun. It was early - well, earlier than he usually woke up, which was in the afternoon.
          He scooted to the edge of his bed, his feet gently hitting the floor, sitting there quietly as he took the time to wake up. The prince nodded as he remembered what had happened only the night before: he had hesitated to apologize to Bulma, having gotten to the door and lifted his fist to knock before his worries set in, causing him to stop and step back. He had then taken the trek back to his room, deciding against even speaking to the blue-haired woman at all and instead laying in bed staring up at the ceiling as he thought before promptly falling asleep.
          Vegeta then stood and stretched, letting out a small yawn as he shook his head and stumbled over to the doorway. He stepped out into the hallway and made his way to the stairs towards the kitchen and living room, his stomach growling at just the simple thought of food; it had been about a day and a half since he last ate. Usually, he would just ignore the message and just move on with his day being hungry, but this time was different.
          As the kitchen came into view,he thought about what he could possibly eat. He wasn't a very good cook, and often times he would get too frustrated with it and end up destroying something - there was a faint memory that someone he knew long ago was an excellent cook, but sadly he wasn't as gifted as them. He could have ordered something, like take out, but he didn't exactly want to piss Bulma off further since he would use her zeni to pay for it. And, on top of that, he didn't expect anyplace around to even serve breakfast, especially at this hour.
          He looked around for a moment, opening a few cupboards to see what they had on hand for food. The prince took a step back and sighed, frowning slightly with a look of disappointment before his eyes landed on a box on top of the fridge. Cereal. That was what they had for breakfast if he wasn't willing to cook, or to order anything. Vegeta sighed as he took a step closer to the fridge and reached for the box, only to fail to grab the cereal and manage to push the box back a little.
          Vegeta paused, taking a step back to stand still and stare at the box he was previously reaching for. He narrowed his eyes, and the box stayed put as it sat proudly upon the fridge - like it was mocking him, in some way. He glared for a moment more before he grumbled about his height and moved closer to reach for the box once again, standing on his toes this time to give him a bit of a boost to hopefully make it easier to reach.
          "Ah-ha!" Vegeta cheered quietly as he managed to grab the cereal, giving a proud smirk as he stared at the box which he soon set on the counter and got himself a bowl from the drying rack next to the sink. Normally he would be picky about which bowl he used, but today he picked one at random - not really caring. He set the bowl on the counter next to the box of cereal and then moved to open the fridge and look for milk, as he felt it wouldn't be a full breakfast with just dry cereal in a bowl.
          He poured the cereal in the bowl, giving himself what he thought of as enough to fill his growling stomach, then the milk before he walked back to the drying rack to grab a spoon. Vegeta stared down at his rather unhealthy breakfast, seemingly deep in thought. He didn't know what had suddenly changed, but he had chosen to make himself food which was usually something he was opposed to - ever since he had sunken into the pits of depression he had been rather put off from eating in general, and it had only gotten worse as time went on. So what had changed for him now?
          He shook his head, chuckling to himself at the fact he was so worried about stupid simple things like this - and the answer was equally as simple and stupid: he was hungry. The prince picked up his bowl of cereal and made his way over to the couch, sitting down holding the bowl in one hand as he covered himself in a blanket and turned on the TV before he began to scarf down his breakfast.

          The bowl was gently set down on the small coffee table in front of the couch, Vegeta sat back and relaxed - his eyes fixed blankly on the TV screen as he curled up on the sofa. Since he woke up early, he had some time to himself without Bulma or Trunks there to bother him, so he would certainly take the opportunity to be out and about the house relaxing instead of being cooped up in his room all alone and gloomy.
          It wasn't long before Vegeta was pulled from his trance and thoughts by a loud knock at the door, flinching as he was startled by the sound. He soon tossed the blanket aside as he sat up, looking around for the remote and shutting the TV off before he placed the remote on the table then stumbling his way down the hall to the door. The prince sighed as he walked past a few family portraits, directing his attention elsewhere as a wave of sadness washed over him - all those pictures, they where all so happy and smiling then, and he had ruined it.
          He swiftly opened the door with a sigh and an agitated, "What?" He then looked up with an expression of slight annoyance and slight anger, which soon changed to one of surprise as his eyes met those of the very saiyan he had spent almost the entire day with yesterday. Goku.
          "Kakarot..?" The prince questioned, a slight smile forming on his face as he looked up at the saiyan in question, only getting a wave in response from the taller male. "What are you doing here?"
          "Ah, I just came to check on you." Goku replied, that normal smile bright happy smile taking it's place. That smile always fit so perfectly on the naive warrior's face, and it always seemed to brighten the mood no matter what - that alone made Vegeta smile, though of course he did his best to hide that. Goku then chuckled and scratched the back of his head as he spoke up again, "That and I kinda missed you, ya know?"
          Vegeta felt his face heat up as the words were uttered, a light shade of crimson covering his cheeks as he blushed. He only nodded and laughed awkwardly in response, looking away for a moment as he smiled softly to himself. There was something about hearing that Goku had missed him that made that warm feeling return once again, and he welcomed that strange emotion with open arms now.
          "Anyways, how've you been?" Goku asked, dragging Vegeta out of his little world. Of course, he had noticed that now - and in the past - that the prince had reacted positively when complimented or even told he was missed or that the taller male liked to spend time with him, and he liked to see Vegeta with that little smile.
          "W-Well, I'd say I've been good- oh! I ate breakfast today." The shorter saiyan stated, his voice soft; which was different from his usual pissed off or even depressed tone. "Other than that I've just been sitting around, it's nice to be able to relax in my own home without being ridiculed for the littlest things. Speaking of which, Bulma will most likely be up soon..." He sighed, looking down as his expression shifted back to one of sadness at the thought of the woman being around.
          Goku gave a slight frown before an idea came to mind, "Ya know, if you ever need somewhere to go where you're accepted and won't be questioned, then my house is always an option." He suggested with a slightly hopeful yet nervous smile, not wanting to seem pushy.
          "That's a nice offer but I don't know if it'd work as well as you say," Vegeta sighed once again, glancing up at Goku who looked confused before he looked away again. "I don't think that wife of yours likes me very much.."
          "Oh, I don't know about that. I think Chi-Chi would be fine with you stopping by when you need, when I told her you where feeling under-the-weather she seemed real concerned." Goku explained, his reassuring tone matching his smile as he looked at the smaller saiyan's saddened expression. "Plus, even if she didn't like you, I'm sure she'd get over it."
          Vegeta was quiet for a moment, giving the bubbly man a confused uncertain look before he finally nodded slowly in agreement. "If you insist." He mumbled quietly. Of course, he would normally just refuse an offer like this, but he did want a place to go when he needed a safe space.
          "Hey, why don't we go somewhere else that's not here?" Goku asked, that goofy grin returning once more as he looked at Vegeta for an answer - which was a simple nod and a 'mhm'. "What about the field? I know you liked it there."
         Vegeta scoffed and gave a slight smirk, "I did not. I merely thought it was an interesting place." He said jokingly, shaking his head as he looked up at the taller saiyan - who simply nodded and chuckled.
         "Uh-huh, sure." The smiling warrior said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he spoke. He had never really heard the prince joke around, so he figured he'd roll with it. He then laughed as he gently put his hand out for Vegeta, "C'mon, let's get going."
          The short saiyan smiled and carefully placed his hand in Goku's outstretched one, stepping outside as he closed the door before turning back to the naive saiyan. "Alright, lead the way." Goku only nodded in response before he pressed to fingers to his forehead like the morning before, and soon they were both on their way to that familiar location.

    ...To be continued...