Not remotely like planned.
Some vacation, thought Piccolo.
And then he reminded himself that he was above such things as vacations. After all, the human pretense of free time seemed to only encompass the times when the Earth was not on the brink of destruction.
Or the galaxy.
Or even the universe, for that matter.
Naturally, they'd take up tournaments or family endevours. Go to malls or on picnics. All a waste of time to the Demon God's perspective but...
Well, not quite that either. Tournaments *were* fun. And they counted for training. There was only so much one could learn on one's own. It built confidence to send one's opponents into the concrete stadium floor with newly created moved.
But the other aspects of vacation time...
Piccolo grunted, when he truely considered the depth of the topic. Yes, the humans wasted a great deal of time on their recreation, quote and unquote. But more and more, after each crisis, Piccolo could start to see why they'd immediatly jump to doing pointless things they called enjoyable. If they thought they were happy...
And family *was* important, if observing Son Gokou was of any indication. Piccolo was no fool. Gokou was at his best when he had something to look out for. And vacation/time-off, as much as Gokou seemed to impatiently and childishly bear, also tightened the bonds around what he stood for.
Also, Piccolo immediately accepted, it was good to see Gokou's own son not oblivious to such ties and nurturing.
So truely...some vaca--
The flying Namek frowned, directed at only himself.
Okay. So maybe he *had* taken some time to relax, quote and unquote, but now it was ruined.
Could the world ever stay safe for long?
Something was coming, and Piccolo knew exactly where he should be. And where Gokou *would* be.
"Ah!" called down Dende, aware of Piccolo's approach ahead of time. They were within earshot.
"Gokou is here already!"
And somewhere Gokou's wife will not be so pleased, the Namek thought.
Namek was quick to Piccolo's side upon landing. "He said you could come right in, despite the...ah, warning."
It was undignifying to roll his eyes, so Piccolo folded his arms instead, frowning deeper. "I will wait."
Dende looked both relieved and intimidated, but nodded regardless.
Perhaps Piccolo was letting his lost sense of free time get to him more than he had originally thought.
It would be worth meditating on.