Bulma Meets Raine
I realized I don't have a lot of drabbles posted so I'm working on fixing that. Here's me playing around with how Raine meets Bulma in her version of canon!
Bulma couldn’t help but think about how lucky they were, for one of the Dragon balls to be right there within the city! Normally they have to go on a scavenger hunt all around the world and search every wild nook and cranny. Not having to get her hands dirty while still being able to contribute to the effort to save the world from the Saiyans was a very welcome change of pace.
It was still strange, though, for it to be in the city. Perhaps someone managed to find it and was holding onto it, similar to how Goku had all those years ago? Or was it hidden in some bush in a park or a neglected plant pot? Somehow this dragon ball was gradually moving up on Bulma’s list of ‘strangest places to find a dragon ball’, purely from the sheer mundanity of it.
She found herself drawn from her thoughts when the radar in her hand indicated that she was close to the dragon ball. Very close.
“In the shopping district?” She mused to herself, looking around in confusion. The Dragon Radar had never been wrong before, but... here?
Continuing her search, she followed the radar until she stood in front of one of the many shops lining the street. A tattoo parlor, of all things. At this point, her curiosity is getting to her as much as her need for getting the dragon ball.
Slowly pushing the door open, Bulma took to looking around the building, not even flinching when the bell chimed above her to indicate her entrance.
A woman called from deeper in the building, out of sight behind a set of heavy dark blue curtains. “I’ll be there in a minute!”
Bulma didn’t bother calling back for now, too invested in her search. Directly ahead of the door was a simple black table with a computer with a few simple knick-knacks displayed on top of the counter. No Dragon Ball, though...
The far half of the room seemed to have been made into a comfortable sitting area. A plush couch under the tinted window, with a few chairs across from it, and a large square table in the center. The table was covered in binders and books with tattoo references, and Bulma found herself flipping through them, momentarily distracted from her search.
She’s not entirely sure how long she was looking through the binders before she heard footsteps approaching the front, making her lift her head, standing up from the couch- when had she even sat down?
A young woman with brown hair only partially tied back and glasses poked her head out from between the curtains, beaming when she caught sight of Bulma and came out properly to greet her.
Bulma admittedly had some preconceived notions about what a tattoo artist might look like. Usually men, relatively toned if not full on muscular, covered in tattoos and piercings to the point she’d almost expect their blood to be half ink.
Not... this.
The young woman was in a severely oversized blue jacket, with long shorts underneath, and some simple sneakers. Bulma couldn’t see a single tattoo on her, but the familiar wrist-rolling to ease the stiffness of a repetitive action was confirmation enough that she was an artist.
“Welcome to my shop!” The woman greeted cheerily, still giving Bulma space as she stood by the front counter. “My name is Raine, is there anything I can help you with?”
Bulma found herself glancing around the room again proper, looking for a familiar splash of orange and red, to no avail. “I’m actually looking for something, if you have a moment?”
Raine nodded in response. “I have a client at the moment, but I can try to help,” she offered, tilting her head slightly to show she was listening.
How to explain the Dragon Balls to someone who doesn’t know what they are...
“I’m looking for an orange orb, about this big, kind of like a marble? And it has a few red stars in it?” Bulma tried, looking to Raine hopefully.
The look of recognition across her face made Bulma’s shoulders sag in relief. Looks like she doesn’t need to recalibrate the Dragon Radar!
“I think I know what you’re talking about, if you don’t mind waiting a little while so I can finish up with the customer I have in the back right now?” Raine asked, putting her hands together in an apologetic plea. “You’re more than welcome to take a look around though, I have some snacks and drinks available as well.”
Bulma waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t mind waiting, take care of what you need to.” She reassured, even sitting back down on the couch to prove her point.
Raine let out a small, relieved sigh as she nodded. “Thank you very much!”
With that, Raine scurried off behind the curtain again, leaving Bulma to her own devices.
Once Bulma was bored of flipping through the binders, she started to wander around again to see if she might be able to find the Dragon Ball before Raine even gets back. The more she looked around, the more it made sense that the Dragon Ball might catch her eye. There was a wild assortment of various trinkets on shelves, each of them unique and distracting. Little sculptures, cool rocks, a ‘large orange marble’ would fit right in with this sort of collection.
About half an hour later Raine was coming back out with a muscular man in tow, a clear plastic film covering one of the tattoos on his leg. Must be the one that was getting worked on, based on what Bulma understands of them. For now she stayed where she was, listening as they scheduled another appointment and went through the basic pleasantries.
Once the man left, Bulma turned to Raine to see if she was ready to chat just yet.
“I need juuuuust a minute longer so I can finish cleaning up, and I’ll bring out some tea too.”
At this point Bulma’s getting a little impatient, but she can’t really blame her either. She’s got a business to run, after all, and Bulma did just drop in uninvited… So she obediently went and sat back down, figuring that the talk would be longer than a simple ‘yeah you can have it’.
True to her word, Raine didn’t take long to come back out with two cups of tea and some snacks on a tray, setting them on the table carefully.
“Now then! What’s the deal with that marble thingy that you’d come all the way here?” She asked, sitting down across from Bulma curiously.
Bulma took up the other cup of tea gratefully, humming as she debated how much to explain. It’s not like she expects Raine to suddenly go mad with power or something, and the guys could easily stop her if she tried to gather them herself, but… she also doesn’t know her very well and would rather not have more competition for gathering them in the future. “It’s… part of a collection I’m working on?” She tried
“So there’s more marbles like it?” Raine asked curiously, not seeming the slightest bit suspicious of how Bulma was dancing around the topic.
Bulma nodded. “There’s seven of them, and they all have a different number of stars in them.”
Raine’s eyes seemed to be sparkling with interest, simply holding her own tea for the moment. “Oh that’s neat! Is it from a show or something?”
“No...” Bulma hesitated, sighing as she decided that there’s no point in beating around the bush. “They’re magic, and gathering all 7 of them together lets you make one wish.”
Raine listened in a mix of awe and skepticism. She took a sip of her tea before setting it down and going into another room, coming back after a minute holding the five star dragon ball. “So there’s seven of these,” she started, sitting down again and looking Bulma in the eye, “and if you gather all seven, you get to make a wish?”
Bulma watched her carefully, nodding. “That’s what I said, yes.”
Raine turned her attention down to the dragon ball in her hand, and Bulma could almost see the gears turning in her head as she processed.
“What do you plan to wish for?”
A logical question, all things considered. But oh how Bulma had been hoping that she could avoid having to explain what’s going on. After some consideration, Bulma finally decided to start with “Do you want the long answer, or the short answer?”
“Let’s start with the short answer.” Raine decided, even as she settled into the couch again with the dragon ball safely settled in her lap.
Bulma sighed, taking a sip of the tea to calm herself down and also buy a little time to think of how to summarize everything. Especially to someone so... normal.
“The short answer is that I want to wish back one of my friends.”
“Wish them back?” Raine echoed curiously, tilting her head.
Bulma nodded. “From the dead.”
Raine clearly hadn’t been expecting that, based on how she snorted tea up her nose in her surprise. She was quick to set her cup back on the table, covering her face because hot tea hurts. Bulma almost felt bad, but also... that was a kind of fun response. She doesn’t get to shock people with the dragon balls anymore.
Once she had recovered some, Raine picked the ball up off of her lap. “These things can bring back the dead?”
Another nod, then a pause before Bulma did a so-so motion with her hand. “Well, the balls summon a magic dragon, and the dragon is what grants the wishes and can bring people back from the dead, grant immortality, that sort of thing.” She explained casually.
A lightbulb seemed to go off above Raine’s head at the mention of the dragon. “Is the dragon green?”
Now it’s Bulma’s turn to be surprised, nodding slowly. She jumped when Raine suddenly stood again, this time leaving the dragon ball on the couch, going over to the front desk. After rummaging through the paperwork on the desk she came back with a sketchbook, flipping through it before setting it on the table so that Bulma could see. There were multiple drawings of a long, thin dragon with multiple small legs. Some were colored, the colors matching Shenron’s near perfectly, even having a glowing effect around one of the more coiled designs.
“I saw that dragon in the sky once or twice, and I swore I thought I was hallucinating or dreaming it or something.” Raine explained, absolutely beaming as she watched Bulma look over the drawings. “I thought it was so cool that it ended up influencing how I design dragons.”
“This is amazing!” Bulma praised, looking up at Raine after taking in all of the drawings and the impressive accuracy for having only seen Shenron a few times from a distance. “There’s some stuff you’ve missed, like how his eyes are red instead of blue, but still!”
Raine laughed sheepishly as she sat back down, picking her tea up yet again. “Thank you! Honestly he’s a lot of fun to draw. I didn’t realize that he was magic though, or that he could grant wishes!”
Bulma nodded, much more relaxed now as she settled into the couch. “Mmhm!” Then she got an idea, beaming. “Hey, why don’t you tag along? Once we’ve gathered all the dragon balls, you can come with us when we wish our friend Goku back! Then you’ll get to see Shenron up close and personal!”
Raine beamed at the suggestion, her excitement reminding Bulma of a young child with how eagerly she nodded her approval of that idea. The oversized jacket probably didn’t help with the comparison, but she’s just going to keep that thought to herself.
“That sounds great!” Raine agreed, finally offering the ball over to Bulma. “I won’t be able to help much with the search, since I still need to be able to work, but I’d love to come see the dragon!”
Bulma accepted the dragon ball happily, putting it into her purse for the time being so she wouldn’t lose it or anything. “That’s totally fine! As is you’ve already saved us who knows how long in trying to find the five star dragon ball,” she reassured, waving a hand dismissively. “I was surprised to find that it was actually in the city, for once.”
Raine nodded with a small laugh, curling up in her chair. “I actually found it while I was out exploring some, looking for inspiration for some designs,” she explained, “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I like finding cool things.” She gestured towards the wall of knick-knacks playfully. “I found it just a few days ago, actually. I hadn’t figured out a way to display it just yet, which is why it was still in my back room.”
“Usually, we end up having to search the world for it, so the fact it ended up so close to home is honestly amazing.” Bulma laughed, shaking her head slightly in disbelief.
Raine was about to ask her more about the dragon balls when she was interrupted by another voice breaking into the conversation and startling Bulma.
“Raaaaaaine-” the new person started with a whiny tone, sticking their head out from the back room that Raine had been storing the dragon ball in. They froze, however, when seeing Bulma. “No way.”
Bulma and Raine both turned their attention to the new person, Bulma racking her brain to see if she’s supposed to recognize this person.
“Hey Andi, finished with your homework?” Raine greeted casually.
The new person, who Bulma noted looked pretty young, maybe early teens, waved a hand dismissively towards Raine even as they approached the two women. “I need help with one of the questions, but that can wait. Why is Bulma Briefs in the shop??”
At this point Bulma is kind of amused, but also realizes she never actually introduced herself. Based on the look of confusion on Raine’s face... she may not have realized who she is. Oops?
“She was here to ask me about one of my trinkets.” Raine explained casually, head tilted.
Andi deadpanned at Raine, seeming doubtful. “One of the smartest and richest people in the world, a genius pioneer in the world of technology and in charge of Capsule Corp, just happened to stop by to look at your little knick-knacks?” They asked, crossing their arms.
“Uh...yeah!” Raine laughed, and Bulma couldn’t help but be amused and shocked by the difference between how lightly Raine was reacting and the intensity of Andi’s explanation.
In true teenager fashion, Andi groaned and moved to plop into the chair next to Raine’s. “I swear you don’t know anyone cool or famous.”
“Hey, I know you, and you’re cool. So there.” Raine teased, sticking her tongue out at Andi before focusing on Bulma again, letting Andi get all flustered in peace. “Sorry about that, this is my cousin, Andi.”
Bulma nodded politely, trying not to be too openly amused by the situation. “I’ve got to agree with them, though. I’m a little surprised that you didn’t seem to have heard about me before, let alone recognized me.”
Raine shrugged casually. “Who and what is popular is always changing, it’s too hard for me to keep up. So I just focus on my little circle of interest, and only learn enough to keep up with my work.”
Bulma could honestly respect that, humming appreciatively. “That’s fair enough. Though I must say, I really appreciate such high praise~.” She teased as she turned her attention back to Andi, who turned deeper red and pulled up the hood of their hoodie to hide in. Similar to Raine they had a large jacket on, though it wasn’t quite as oversized in comparison and much darker, and they left their jacket unzipped so they looked less blob-like than Raine.
Raine beamed as she watched them, giggling into her cup. “I’m honestly not surprised they’re offended on your behalf. They live and breathe technology.”
“Raaaaaine!” Andi whined, curling up more into themselves in their embarrassment.
“Whaaaat, it’s the truth!” She insisted.
Bulma laughed easily as she watched the two, a little proud of herself for having flustered them so bad. She felt a little tiny bit bad... but mostly proud.
Raine turned her attention back to Bulma, once again at least attempting to give Andi a breather... for the moment. “But yeah, just let me know when you do the thing, and I’d be happy to join you!”
Bulma nodded, trying not to draw attention to the way Andi opened their hoodie just enough to give Raine an incredulous look, even getting her phone out to make a reminder to herself. “Of course! I’ll keep you posted about our progress with it too. And of course, if you find any more, don’t hesitate to try and get ahold of me, okay?”
Raine gave a playful little salute, grinning at her. “Of course! I don’t anticipate it, but if I do, I’ll let you know,” she reassured.
Bulma hummed approvingly and put her phone away, finishing her tea and standing up. “Well, I don’t want to take up too much more of your time, so have a good day!”
Raine stood as well, beaming happily. “Of course! Have a good one and stay safe!”