17’s gaze sharpened. “His name is CJ1, not creature. They understand you, you know.”

Vegeta’s glare intensified. “I don’t care what they’re called, they’re an abomination.”

“They’re just kids.” 

“They were your enemy.” 

“They were from my enemy,” 17 corrected. “Also, that’s big talk for someone hanging around with theirs,” he couldn’t resist adding, gesturing to where Goku was.

“It’s not the same,” Vegeta defended. 

17’s jaw tightened a little. He wanted to argue, but he’d learnt by watching Goku that Vegeta reacted better through persuasion than coercion.

“CJs are blue,” 17 pointed out, wondering if the visual differences might help. “Cell was green.”

Vegeta gave him a look that told 17 exactly why everyone had been so terrified of him once. “I see being a cybernetic human hasn’t eroded you of the ability to state the obvious.

Well, that was rich coming from Vegeta, who was supposedly a genius among his kind but was completely blind to the way Goku looked at him, so. 17 shrugged.

He pointed out another difference. “They don’t have the stingers Cell does, so they can’t hurt you.”

“Please. They can’t hurt me even with the stingers,” Vegeta scoffed. 

“So they’re harmless, yes?”

“Harmless doesn’t mean innocent.”

“Innocence is overrated.” 17 said, and smiled when Vegeta acknowledged the point with a nod. “Those who look the most innocent tend to be the most wicked. Look at Marron.”

Vegeta snorted. “Look at Kakarot.”

They both looked. Goku was currently making silly faces at CJ5 , while Goten tried to sneak up behind him. His hair was lit in super saiyan gold, so the contrast of Super Saiyan brilliance against his increasingly comical expressions was jarring to watch.

“He is a curious one,” 17 allowed.

“Understatement of the century.”

Goku was now play-fighting both Goten and CJ5 off. “I thought he did it on purpose,” 17 mused. Vegeta raised one eyebrow. “The whole ‘keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer,’ that kind of thing.”

Vegeta actually chuckled out loud at that one. 17 mildly wondered  if he knew how much fondness had slipped in that laugh. “And now?”

“And now I know better. Goku doesn’t really think of things like that, it seems.”

“Hn.” Vegeta took a sip of his own drink in turn. “Kakarot can be manipulative in his own way, but his intentions are hardly, if ever, malicious.”

17 glanced at Vegeta, just in time to catch something in his eyes. That same look Eighteen had when she looked at Krillin.

Aha. So this thing 18 called heart-eyes was indeed two-way, not that 17 had ever doubted it. But evidence was required for any extrapolation of data. 

Vegeta turned his head and caught 17’s calculating expression, immediately turning on the defensive. “What?” 

17 raised an eyebrow. Where 18 might have said something to roast the prince, 17 chose to just go back to his beautiful cup of coffee. Silence was more powerful than words, sometimes. 

Vegeta looked utterly wrong-footed. 

-snippet from @kakavegeweek fic that @engineerdz and myself are collaborating on, about the androids patching up their relationship as siblings and bonding with the Saiyans,  who are slowly realising the depth to theirs :3

little heartwarming, a little fluff, a lot funny, a little sad, this one