The Forever Land: The Frog Prince and the Town Musicians

 

"The Forever Land"

Route 1: The Frog Prince and the Town Musicians


Zarbon stirred from his slumber. One lid rose to reveal a golden eye, then the next. As his vision became increasingly focused and his mind aware, he was hit with the realization that his quarters were… extremely muggy, if the dampened tendrils of hair that clung to his face weren’t enough of an indicator. Sighing, the Azureman turned his head slightly to look for his scouter. On top of the nightstand, as he had left it. With an arm that felt heavier than it should have, he tapped his machine’s buttons for the clock function. 0437 hours. He would definitely need a shower, and if he expected to be on time for Frieza’s morning briefing at 0600, he would have to do it soon. He resolved to put in a repair request to maintenance on his thermostat later and made his way to the showers.

Sometimes, I genuinely hate dealing with this hair.

For all its beauty, those tresses took forever to dry. It could be moved along with a blow dryer, but Zarbon wouldn’t hear of it. A damp mop of hair he could tolerate; split ends were something else entirely. In that world of fear and ugliness, he could at least ensure one thing of beauty: himself. Wringing out the last of the excess water into his towel, the golden-eyed gentleman threw the cloth into a nearby laundry chute then proceeded to wrap a fresh one around his waist. There was a point in his life - he was sure - that he had his own bathing chamber, none of this shared locker room business. The fact that he knew the water was recycled was enough to make him cringe. The last thing he would needed was one of those Ginyu fools to come in and decide to be funny while he was indecent. But then, would those clods even be up this early in the day? He smirked.

Thankfully, none had entered while he was showering, and he quickly proceeded to his locker to retrieve his armor and trinkets. He always felt a small wave of nostalgia when he adorned himself with his jewelry. He always kept them well-polished - the stones in question were similar to pearls - and he was never without them, save to bathe and when he slept. There were a symbol of those in service of the court, in the kingdom of the land of mirrored lakes. That place and that planet had been dead for years, but the only time he ever smiled genuinely was when he thought of those days. Back then, he had only been a captain of one of several platoons. He was no stranger to court politics, though, and when the time came, the transition from serving the conquered to the conqueror was not much of  a hurdle to overcome.

He checked his scouter’s clock again. 0501 hours. Right on schedule, and with enough time for a bite to eat. Having suited up and thrown his hair into its usual braid - looser than normal but still presentable - Zarbon made his way to the mess hall.

The Azureman already knew what was ok to eat and what he should stay away from at this point in the game. His usual was a citrus fruit with a starch or a grain to avoid an impromptu trip to the facilities, and usually a small amount of coffee or tea, caffeinated. This morning would be no different, at least with the food. Needless to say, it came as a bit of a surprise to see that the Ginyu clods were up this early in the day.

Recoom was the first to notice his presence, and with all the friendliness in his heart, called out to him. “Pantywaist!”

The other Ginyus erupted in laughter and Zarbon looked to the ceiling and sighed audibly. Pantywaist. Right. That nickname. Refusing to acknowledge their antics, Zarbon made for the table farthest from the five and sat facing away from them. Not picking up on the body language at all, Recoom made his way over and slumped into a seat facing the Azureman. “Whatcha doin’ sittin’ here all alone?” The behemoth rested his hand on his chin and put on his cheesiest grin.

“Trying to eat, if you don’t mind,” Zarbon closed his eyes and scooped a bit of pulp from his fruit, doing well to hide his annoyance. “That is what people generally come here to do…”

“Eh, don’t mind that guy there,” Jeice began, slinking into the chair to the Azureman’s left. “He’s just a little too excited about today.”

Zarbon paused. “'Today'?” He took care not to sound too interested.

“Yeah!” Recoom chimed in again. “Today is the day Frieza gives us a new assignment!”

“I think you’re assuming too much, Recoom,” Berter chuckled, smoothly easing his way to the empty seat closest to Jeice. The two exchanged smiles briefly before the saurian continued. “Frieza is going to brief our force directly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be shipped off someplace.”

“Ehhh, you’re no fun,” the behemoth groused, further slumping into the crook of his arm. “We haven’t been called out to any assignments for a while now...” He righted himself and rotated his shoulders, and with a partial pout added, “I’m bored.”

“Well,” Jeice chortled, shifting to stand. “Don’t get too bored, mate.” He poured himself a cup of java, working his way around Guldo, who was in the process of loading up his tray. “You’ll catch holy hell from ol’ Cap if you’re caught yawnin’ during this morning’s briefing.”

Zarbon stopped mid-sip. The insufferable Ginyu clods… would be at the six o’ clock briefing? Had he not been such a master of the cool-and-collected façade, he’d have buried his face in his palm. Instead, he exhaled slowly into his drink, somewhat enjoying the resulting back draft of steam on his face. These Ginyu are barely a step above Saiyans, but not even they would act foolishly when Frieza is to be heard. I’ve gotten through much worse in this job, I can surely get through being with them for an hour. He checked his scouter’s time again. About fifteen minutes until he needed to be at the central tower. Taking one final sip of his beverage, the Azureman rose and backed out of his seat. “Well, gentlemen, I wish I could say it’s been fun…”

And then, at the moment, perhaps it was fun for some. For Zarbon, however, who had missed Guldo under his line of vision, and Guldo, who was too engrossed in the thought of breakfast to notice Zarbon’s sudden movement, it was far from fun. In fact, it was downright embarrassing.