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 Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:57 pm
A week later, 6:48 AM
The fauns were always up before him. Which was, of course, explainable - they went to sleep at eight, or half an hour past - he stayed up at his desk past two in the morning, sometimes later. He had to admit, however, that the bouncing, furry creatures worked quite effectively to wake him up, combined with the shrill wailing of the alarm clock - and on some occasions, the neighbor's dog.
"I want cookies." Pan tried whispering in his ear - which only resulted in the young man falling off his bed, the soft breath in his ear ticking and startling him. The faun took a step away and watched wide-eyed as Sheridan sat up, then lifted himself to his feet, rubbing at his eyes and trying to make his way to the bathroom - where Piper was brushing her teeth, something she very much liked doing, for some reason.
"Don't brush your teeth 'till you eat..." Sheridan mumbled. "Your food will taste funny." He tried to nudge the toothbrush away from her (it was a sparkly orange one, her favorite color.) Piper looked up, and giggled, pointing to his hair. Puzzled, Sheridan looked at himself in the mirror - typical after-sleep mess. He didn't find it funny. Then again, maybe he wasn't quite awake enough.
After rinsing her teeth, Piper finally gave way, and skipped back out into the living room. When Sheridan joined them again, with better-looking hair and eyes opened winder, she had joined her brother in wanting cookies, and he was pushed into the kitchen to find the box of oreos he'd hidden from them.
"Have your cookies!" He moaned, tossing the box to them and stumbling to his table, to pack his things up.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:58 pm
6:54 PM
Pan was writing. It was, of course, were simple writing - things that Sheridan often could not comprehend, due to spelling and grammar errors in every second word he wrote. But still - it was quite interesting, watching the creature stop, look up at the ceiling and suck on the tip of his pencil, before he got down to work again. It was the way Sheridan had always envisioned a great writer working - not a tiny, wide-eyed faun.
Piper, on the other hand, was bouncing on the bed, and playing the panpipes. This, Sheridan had come to realize, was quite a feat - after all, playing the instrument was rather tricky, having to blow over the pipes just right. How the girl managed to do it while hopping about like she did - well, he couldn't even imagine. She reminded him of a circus performer, rather often.
Pan too was growing to be a rather good panpipe-player - for his age, especially. Whereas Piper made up her little happy songs on the fly as she danced, the boy seemed to be more of a composer, making up great masterpieces, then working on them, polishing them up as he played them over and over again. And although Sheridan rarely said it, although he was often too tired to praise them - he was proud.
A lot more proud of them than he was of himself... his marks were slipping. He didn't know what to lay the blame on anymore. Of course, it was due to the fauns that he didn't get as much time to study, that he didn't get as much sleep. In class, he could rarely concentrate, thinking over what they were doing at Meru's. But... Sheridan knew full well that it had been his choice to care for them. And no matter how bad his marks got, he'd never think of leaving them.
"Dinner!" Piper squealed, the exact second the clock his seven. Pan looked up, and pushed the papers off his lap. Sheridan looked up from his work as well - it was due tomorrow, and he wasn't going to get much done after dinner, when the fauns dragged him into their games.
Well, it wasn't like he was going to keep them hungry. Dinner it was, then.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:59 pm
Quite some time later, 12.32PM
Well, here was the summer. Sheridan rarely looked forward to summer. A break from school was a relief, of course - but then, when you'd rested and relaxed your full, there wasn't much left for him to do. And he'd never been able to afford anything but a spartan, skeleton lifestyle.
But his parents, a quarter of a world away, had caught wind of his unusual charges. It was a bit of an accident, really - his mother had called, and a cheerful Piper had answered the phone. And Sheridan's mother knew full well that the last time she checked, the boy hadn't told her anything about living with children.
He'd expected them to be mad, at first. Oddly, it turned out quite the opposite. They never seemed like that sort of people... but if anything, they were proud of him. Sheridan's didn't agree, of course. He barely had any time to spend with the fauns, and they were probably miserable more than half the time - he wasn't a good parent, wasn't something to be proud of - according to his standards, at least.
In any case - they had sent him an unusually large amount of money. And Sheridan, having grown so used to living carefully on what little he had, hadn't known what to do at first - when a friend ever-so-nicely suggested that since she was flying off to Spain for the holidays, perhaps he could take her car and drive the fauns somewhere nice for a week or two?
So here they were, the day before the trip, packing. Well, packing and arguing. Sheridan had first planned on brining just one big bag with them - but Pan wanted to pack his own things, in his own bag. "I'm not a baby, and I don't want my things with hers. She'll take something."
Sheridan had never expected Pan to become a rebel, watching him grow up. He was always quiet, shy, and polite. And really, he was still quiet and shy - but there was a bright, determined fire in those turquoise eyes. Pan didn't make much of a show of himself - but when he could, he made it a point to underline his individuality, his independence. It didn't quite fit onto a boy his age, and often amazed Sheridan.
Piper, on the other hand, had stayed very much the same. Perhaps she was maturing slower, and the change was yet to come - but for now, she was still a happy, outgoing girl - the sort of child who demanded that everything be fair, no matter what.
"If he gets his own bag, I want one too." She crossed her arms, and glared up at Sheridan.
"Okay, okay." The young man shook his head in frustration. But there was a slight smile on his face, as he searched for his spare bookbags.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:11 pm
The next day, 5:13AM
"Why are we up so early?" Piper protested as she pulled her tanktop on, sitting on the corner of the bed and yawning. It was barely past five in the morning, the sky outside a dark indigo lit only by the soft, faintest blue tinge on the horizon, that would grow into a full-fledged sunrise in a few hours. But Sheridan planned to be well on his way by then.
"We're not the only ones going on holiday." He shrugged, already dressed and setting breakfast out for the fauns. "The roads will be packed if we leave later. And traffic jams aren't any fun. trust me. You two will kill each other in the first five minutes." He shook his head and laughed softly. "Pan? Pan, wake up."
The other faun poked his head out of the blankets - why was everyone else awake? it took him a moment to remember what they had planned for the day - the start of their five-hour drive to the beach. Mumbling, he threw his legs onto the floor and got off the bed, sleepily click-clacking his way to the bathroom. The sounds of running water followed, and went on for a good ten-minutes, before a rather wet Pan stumbled back into the living room and took his seat by the table.
Twenty minutes or so after, they were finally ready. Well, aside from the fact that Piper had remembered her toothbrush while they were waiting for the elevator. But after that was settled - they were truly ready to go. The loaned car was waiting for them in the basement garage. (the parking space loaned as well) A plain, silver Honda - much like every other car on the road.
Still, the fauns explored it with surprising curiosity, opening everything that could be opened, pushing every button that could be pushed. When the inspection was finally over, Sheridan started the engine - which, for some reason, cased some giggles in the back seat - and the Honda rolled out of the garage, onto the lamplit roads.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:51 pm
12:32PM
Not much longer now. They drove past barn after barn, the countryside hills rolling this way and that, patches of bright greens and brilliant golds. The fauns had found it an amazing novelty at first, all the wide open spaces, the farm animals and machinery. Their faces pressed to the windows, they seemed ready tow watch the goings-on for an eternity.
However, the eternity had ended, and both were left grumpy, restless and annoyed. "I'm hungry!" Piper whined, for the seventh time in that half-hour. Sheridan sighed, watching her through the rearview mirror. "Just a few minutes left and we'll get there." He promised - this too, for the seventh time in that half-hour.
Pan was less bothered by his hunger than he was by his sister's demands. he didn't argue, not fight - but he did glare excessively in her direction, and Sheridan was beginning to worry if he might have to deal with a fight - and keep an eye on the traffic. No, he had to amuse them, somehow...
"Isn't there anything else you want to listen to?" He asked, desperately, gesturing with one freed hand towards the CD player, and the wallet that held their modest music collection. Too modest, perhaps - they must have listened to every CD twice, even with the faun's constant begging to have their favorites replayed another three times each.
"Play the one with the harp." Pan finally spoke up, looking away from his sister. Piper, however, wasn't' as willing to end the conflict. "No, I want to hear the other one."
Perplexed, Sheridan raised an eyebrow. "Which other one?"
"The one that doesn't have the harp." She raised her head defiantly, arms still crossed.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:22 pm
4:45PM
Piper squealed, seawater coming up to her knees. Somehow, even after two hours on the beach, the novelty still hadn't worn off. It had faded slightly, of course - for the first half hour the fauns couldn't drag themselves away from the waves, jumping, splashing and playing as if they were newly-hatched again. And Sheridan wouldn't be one to mock them - he too had gotten quite sick of constant, everyday torture at home - the cool, ocean breeze was a relief enough to tear a huge weight off his heart, and he found himself playing right alongside his charges.
But sometime later the headed back onto the sandy beach, spreading himself out on the sand and basking in the warm sunlight. He'd have liked to close his eyes - but even though the fauns were older now, he felt the constant pressure to keep an eye out for them, fighting the urge to bolt to his feet every time either Pan or Piper dived beneath the waves.
Half an hour ago Pan dragged himself up to join him, water streaming off his brown fur and hair. His turquoise eyes were reddened from the salt, the fingers on his hands wrinkled with moisture. He too fell onto the sand, rolling over to look up at the clear skies. This, of course , meant that sand was clinging to almost all of him, sticking to wet skin and fur. But tired, panting as he was, he didn't seem to care.
Piper, on the other hand, had found herself more playmates. A group of kids, thirteen or fourteen years old, playing with a beach ball. A game usually reserved for younger children - but one would often be amazed at what teenagers could amuse themselves with.
They'd been unsure of her at first, eyes always trailing down to her fulled legs and golden hooves. But soon it became clear that she was as energetic and ready to play as any of them, and the game heated up. Squeals, shouts and hollers reached Sheridan, who'd look up and cast a sleepy eye over the proceedings every once in a while.
By his side, Pan had sat up, shaken the sand off him, and begun arranging a collection of shells, humming softly as he worked. The glare of the sun reflected of his horns, making them flash every time he turned his head. Sheridan watched him for a while - but soon the figure began to blur at the edges - lulled by the sound of ocean waves, the man fell asleep.
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Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:55 pm
The next day, 10:31AM
The smell of breakfast had always made Pan sick. It was still too early to bombard his senses with the overbearing scent of frying egg and sausage, food dribbling fat as it was dropped onto his plate. The rest of the hotel didn't seem to be having this problem, for the most part - the buffet line grew long and noisy as guests lined up to serve themselves.
Really - where were all of the vegetables? There seemed to be nothing but meats and bread spread across the long table. He'd found a few spring rolls - but there had only been two left, and Piper had insisted on having fair shares. There was also a salad of sorts - but Pan wrinkled his nose at it warily. It gave off a rather odd smell, as if the vegetables hadn't been washed properly, or had been mixed with the wrong sauce.
Piper, on the other hand, was greatly enjoying the assortment of food. She'd never had this much of a choice in her life before this morning, and despite the fact that she too was craving something salad-like, had already heaped her plate with bacon and eggs and beans, and was on her second glass of orange juice.
Pan sat down with his plate, and took a sip of the drink - frowning, and pushing it aside. "This tastes like potatoes."
"No it doesn't." Piper giggled, tossing her long, brown hair. "Oranges taste like oranges."
"Well, these taste like potatoes."
"They don't taste like anything to me." Sheridan mumbled, yawning. This was true - he wasn't yet awake enough to be completely aware of such details. It had been so nice, getting to sleep in for a couple of hours, waking up in a clean bed, in a clean room...
"I don't think there's any real oranges in this, anyway." Pan muttered, hitting his glass with a fork softly, and looking out of the window. They could see a tiny scrap of the sea, among all of the buildings, hotels and casinos.
"Yeah, right." Piper waved him away, laughing. "It's got to be made out of potatoes."
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:22 pm
The next day, 2:43PM
"Pan! Sheridan said we're going on a boat!" The female faun raced over the sand towards her brother, hands raised int he air, golden hooves flying. "We're taking a boat to an island!" She stopped just in time, spraying Pan with a shower of sand, then falling to her knees and tugging at his towel, urging him to get up.
"But we have to hurry! The boat leaves in an hour, and we have to change!" Pan looked up from his book, and smiled calmly. He folded the corner of the page, then closed the tome, and got to his feet - almost falling as Piper gave the towel another yank.
"You barely take the time to change anyway, why the hurry?" He shrugged, dragged away from the beach. "I'm sure there'll be another boat. Lots of boats here, for all the tourists."
"But I want to go on this boat!" She protested. "Hurry up! It leaves in an hour!" Pan, sighting and knowing that there was no use arguing, followed her back to the hotel.
Sheridan was already prepared - not only for the boat, but for the fauns. They were older now, and could certainly do most of it themselves but if you left them to their own devices completely, they could wreck havoc on the room in minutes. He knew this from experience, of course.
The tow raced in - or rather, Piper did, towing Pan behind her - and proceeded to scramble for a shower, towels, clean clothes. He grinned and shook his head. "I'll be waiting outside, you too. Don't take too long." Best not to leave them alone - but a lot easier, still.
***
Forty-five minutes later, they were standing by the docks. "That's our boat!" Piper pointed out, gesturing at a neat white-and-green craft, bobbing up and down a few feet away. "When do we get on?" She was bouncing slightly, obviously rather excited. And Sheridan could understand - they'd never had the opportunity to sail before. And he himself hadn't been in a ship since he was 10... he was quite looking forward to it.
"How 'bout now?" He shrugged, and headed towards the boat.
Piper cheered, and Pan smiled slightly, trailing behind them, looking at all the crafts tethered tot he dock. Sailboats and tiny motorboats and an old-fashioned wooden boat - he rather liked these sea-going vehicles.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 4:07 pm
4:52PM
Piper had gathered herself quite an audience, playing on the deck of the ship. Tiny islands crammed with rocks and trees slid past them, and the wind blew about her, tossing her brown hair and tangling it about her golden horns. She danced about as she played, making a quick, clicking beat on the floor.
Sheridan watched from among the crowd, a can of coke dangling loosely from his fingers. He was proud, incredibly so - even awed at how easily the faun could perform, just whipping out her panpipes and picking up a quick tune. He himself had never been one to make a show of himself... He'd always wanted to be in the spotlight, but his several failed and embarrassing attempts had ended badly, and he'd been scared off the idea ever since.
Pan had promised to join her later - but for now, he sat at the stern, dangling his feet from under the railings and staring out at the waves of white foam the ship left behind as it cut through the water. He was thinking. Not about anything specific, really - simply letting his mind roam, skipping from subject to subject. And they did skip, as random as the arrangement of corals and shells and glittering fish, just barely visible behind the curtain of the waves.
Time passed slowly. Not the slowly of boring days when nothing happened, but slowly in the sense that barely a second seemed to pass, moments melding into each other as the boat rocked on the waves. Piper danced and played on the deck, joined a few times by Pan. Sheridan lazed about, taking in the sun and freedom while he could. Then, when the sun began to set and the sky above them darkened into a blue that reminded him of the curtains in their living room, a bell called them up to the deck.
There, a few plastic tables had been dragged out and set up. There weren't a great many people on the ship, and the whole thing looked to Sheridan like some sort of extended family reunion, passengers milling with paper plates and styrofoam cups. The food wasn't fancy, but disappeared rather quickly - both fauns pausing in their performance for a moment to eat. But there was plenty of noise and chatter to go around, and when they picked up their panpipes once more they had to play louder in order to be heard.
It was well past eleven at night when the ship pulled into dock, and the ex-passengers slowly walked out of sight. Piper waved them off, already knowing quite a few of them by name. Pan, on the other hand, lingered by the docks, skipping over the ropes and reaching out to touch the hull of the ship when the waves rocked it slightly in his direction. He looked, for a moment, a good few years younger - but when Sheridan called him away, he looked as quiet and thoughtful as he'd been earlier. Now, maybe, appearing older than he truly was.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:40 am
A few days later
9:45 AM
Early morning departures again. Piper, as usual, was the first up and ready, bags packed and sitting at the window, her eyes glued to the last few minutes of sea and Pan and Sheridan stumbled about the place, getting their things together. The finally, when the two were done, she was giggling and pushing and dragging their bags out to the car, oddly eager to get going. And she'd made such a fuss the other night, wanting to stay another day...
Sheridan didn't know how parents managed to say no everytime. He felt absolutely horrid after, knowing that both the fauns - and he himself - wanted very much to stay. Forget just a day - how about another week? But there was no choice, really. He had things to do back home, lots of them. Noone really wanted to get back to that cramped apartment, working and studying and sleeping in some horrid cycle. But life was strange like that, and despite their wishes they were heading home.
It was startlingly quiet for the first hour of the ride. Perhaps all of them had their heads full with sand and water and boat and seagulls, or maybe they were just sleepy - but as the car rolled past tiny towns, barns and gas stations Sheridan was finding the whole thing rather peaceful, and for a moment he forgot about the stress of returning home.
A few hours later, though, the squabble has begun once more, and the only way Sheridan could think of stopping it was lunch. So, at the next exit he pulled into one of the gas-station diners that had been littering their route for the last four hours. This one was called "El's flying beanstalk" and Sheridan had the oddest feeling that it had something to do with an inside joke. He hated inside jokes, having always been excluded from them - but the fauns simply cracked up at the sight of the name-plaque, pointing.
"Hey, you three." A middle-aged woman looked up from a glossy new magazine, smiling half-heartedly. It was lunch hour, and there was a scattering of occupants in the diner's seats - mostly alone, apart from one rather quiet family at the back. The woman stood to take a closer look at the faun's hooves and horns, then shrugged and pointed an emerald fingernail at the menu on the wall behind her.
When they had all figured out their orders, the woman scribbling with her nose in her notepad, Sheridan lead the two to a table by the window, not far from the other family. Pan began fiddling with his napkin while waiting, folding it into variously-shaped triangles. Piper, on the other hand, interested herself in the other family, stealing glances in their direction. Sheridan, for the lack of anything else to do, did the same.
They were certainly quiet, as he'd noticed before. And strangely tense, as if they'd never eaten in each others' company, as if they were strangers. The mother was a pale, artificial blonde. Nicely shaped, but there was something unhealthy-looking about her. A smoker, maybe. Or a druggie. The father was just as blond, but even paler and sicklier, a cigarette smoldering in the ashtray by his side. They had a teenaged son with them, and two younger daughters - the latter were the only ones making any noise, mumbling and whispering to each other.
Piper, sensing that something wasn't exactly right, looked at Sheridan questioningly. But what could the young man say? They themselves didn't make the perfect family either, a single father and two goat-legged young teenagers. As if on cue, then, their food was placed onto the table, saving Sheridan from the awkward response - and more awkward thoughts. For the moment, at least.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:01 am
2:15PM
Pan and Piper made enough noise to make up for the family's silence. Perhaps fauns aged differently as compared to humans, but the two seemed more like ten-year-olds than anything. Piper was talking loudly, gesturing with one hand while she held her burger in the other.
"Okay, so, I was outside the fries stand by the pier, and I was waiting for Anthony, because he said he'd show me this cool underwater cave." She giggled and tossed her brown curls, pausing to take a bite out of her burger. Sheridan felt a pang of some strange amused worry - he didn't quite like the idea of some near-stranger taking his charge out into a cave. Perhaps he should have kept a closer watch on the fauns?
"Okay - he was late, and I hate waiting - but I really wanted to see the cave, so I decided to wait. But I was bored, you know, so I started to play. The bunny-song." Another pause, this time for a drink. Sheridan knew which song she was talking about - it was one of her older ones, and when she was younger she had bounced about the house while playing, hence earning the tune it's nickname.
"And then these people walked past, and they kinda smiled - it was like a family or something. The mother took out her wallet and gave one of the kids a coin - I thought she was sending him to get fries. I hate fries, they taste nothing like potatoes, who wants to eat that?"
"So." Pan set down his cheese steak. "You're telling us all of this because a kid wanted fries?"
"Nooo!" Piper giggled - out of the corner of his eye, Sheridan noticed the other teenaged boy looking up from his table in her direction. Piper continued. "No, no. Instead, the kid like, came up to me and gave me the coin. Well, not give - my hands were busy, duh. He just put it at my feet and ran away, like shyly. It was like I was one of those guys who play the guitar in the subway, except I'm not a hobo."
Both Sheridan and Pan laughed, Sheridan barely avoiding choking on his coke. Piper beamed - it was, of course, just the reaction she had been looking for. She was a natural performer - whatever she did she did for other people to see. And like any performer, she loved seeing reactions.
"Okay, I have to go to the washroom." The faun stood up and fixed her hair, the sidled out behind her brother, click-clacking her way to the sign that pointed to 'Toilets'. She disappeared around the corner, and still a soft giggle could be heard.
There was a sudden mumble from the other table - the teenage boy who had been watching them had stood up and excused himself, stiffly walking past his family - hovering infront of the counter for an indecisive moment, then making his way around the corner as well.
A completely new, never-before-felt feeling made quick time to overcome Sheridan.
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:47 pm
Piper's Journal
15th August
Okay - it was weird, and kinda freaky. The guy at the diner, he was sixteen maybe. Kinda tall, longish black hair - or was it just really, really dark brown? It was just slightly wavy, the sort of hair that must be horrible to brush. But anyway!
So I was in the bathroom washing up, and I went out, and he was there. I thought h was waiting for something, maybe the guys' washroom was full (although it was unlikely, barely anyone was there) so I just kinda smiled and went to walk past him. It was a narrow corridor, so I had to sortof go sideways, and that's when he reached out and took my shoulder.
At first it was kinda sweet, like in those movies. Sweet in that odd messed-up way, like I'm mentally deranged and I'm in love with you. Anyway he pulled me back towards himself and pressed my back to the wall. Not hard, or forceful or anything, kinda half-heartedly even. And he was really half-hearted, moving slowly and everything.
I don't remember what he said, really, but it was something about me being very special. He actually looked kinda nice when he said it, not mean or sadistic or anything, just like, admiring. But I still didn't feel right, you know? So I tried to kinda pull away, and he just held harder and kept talking about something, then he started kissing me and I didn't want him to, but I couldn't do anything because he was strong and because you can't shout when you're got someone elses' lips on your mouth.
Okay anyway. I was scared, and then suddenly the guy pulled away - except he didn't pull away, it was Dad who pulled him away, and the guy like shrieked and cursed at him. And then The guy called Dad a *****, and I started laughing because that's funny.
Anyway, we let the guy go without telling, or anything. I didn't want to, and Dad just wasn't sure. He's never sure of anything, but that's okay. And then I even waved goodbye to him as we left. Yeah, he kinda scared me, but I think he scared Dad more for some reason...
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:23 pm
4:12PM
Piper had acquired a taste for rock music. Or more accurately, Grunge. She'd even managed to get a Nirvana CD off someone, and sat in the front passenger seat of the car with the volume up high, bobbing her head to the music and letting her brown locks whip and dance with her.
Sheridan had listened to Nirvana himself, before he virtually forgot how to enjoy things like that altogether. He had a few friends in high school, all of whom were into the grunge scene - and so he had dabbled in it too. There was a time when they'd actually persuaded him to dress like a grunge kid, hair and torn jeans and all - he'd actually enjoyed the attention, even if he had been a bit self-conscious.
But Piper had her heart set on becoming a scene kid - at least for the time being. She sang a line of lyrics here and there, and a few times Sheridan surprised her for adding a line or two of his own.
She seemed unaffected by the event at the diner. Sheridan didn't know what to think of that - should she be? He hadn't known what to say to her, and still had no clue. Did she want an explanation? Was she ready for it? But from the way she acted about it, even waving to the messed-up kid as they left the diner - it just seemed like it didn't matter to her.
Pan, now given plenty of room in the back seat, lay sprawled over both seats and groaned. "This music is old."
Piper whipped around to stare at him. "Hey, classical music is even older than this."
"Not always." Pan shrugged, staring up at her with his turquoise eyes. "There are still contemporary composers."
Sheridan thought he'd add his contribution to the conversation. "Just because it was here before you were born - that doesn't make it old. Then I would be old. And I don't care what you say, I'm not old."
Both the fauns giggled at this, and Sheridan shook his head, mocking frustration. But the two laughed on, the sun high above the borrowed car as it spend home over the highway.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:35 pm
10:36PM
"I forgot how small this place is!" Piper giggled, barging into the apartment and throwing her bags on the floor. She danced across the living room into the bathroom and locked the door, leaving Sheridan and Pan to inspect the state of their place. They hadn't seen it for two weeks - Sheridan wasn't expecting anything to happen, but it wouldn't hurt them to check.
Well, there was a leaf of rotten lettuce in the fridge, and it looked like something had gnawed away at the cereal box. "Rats?" pan asked curiously, holding the thing up and examining the hole. He looked rather interested - excited, even. "Do you think they live in our house?"
"Probably." Sheridan laughed, making a face as he threw the rotten leaf into the trash. "Or maybe they just came to stay while you two weren't making noise." Pan frowned, and set the box on the counter, getting on his knees to look under the fridge. "Where do you think they sleep?"
"God knows. Are you going to bed? It's past ten."
Piper peeked inside the kitchen. It didn't look as if she was thinking about sleep, no. "Are we going to eat?" Without waiting she click-clacked her way to the fridge and pulled open the door. "Eww! There's nothing but ketchup! And how come you're lying on the floor?" She poked Pan in the side with a golden hoof, and giggled.
Pan looked up. "I'm looking for rats." He paused, not explaining further when Piper cocked her eyebrow questioningly. "And there's nothing to eat."
Piper frowned, and turned to Sheridan. "Can we eat out? I'm hungry! I think Pan is too, he's hunting for rats."
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