Pan squeaked as the bones in the back of her neck popped. "Ow, damn," she cursed, stretching a little more. She glanced around the room, a smile lighting her face when she saw the gorgeous blue and purple stained window. For a guy, Trunks had good taste in design. The room was homey, and done in calming blues and greens, with splashes of purple. Most of the furniture was made out of a dark, warm wood, including the huge canopied bed that dominated the room. It was made to laze about in, Pan thought to herself before lying back onto the suede and crushed velvet pillows. She turned her head, ready to doze off again and get rid of the nagging hangover, when her eye fell on the only bright object in the room. Pan groaned and covered her eyes.
"Damn dress." The only brightly colored thing in the room stood out like a sore thumb. It brought all the bad memories of last night rushing back, and the headache came on full force. They hadn't argued last night, but Trunks got the idea that he wasn't welcome when he discovered the bedroom door locked and a pile of blankets sitting outside it. Pan, of course, was thwarted when she remembered that she couldn't get out of the dress without some kind of help. She struggled with the zipper for a full five minutes before her frustrated shrieks brought Trunks to the door.
"Pan, are you alright?"
"No, I'm not alright! I can't get out of this straightjacket your mother has the nerve to call a dress!"
She unlocked the door, her make-up smeared and her hair half framing her face. Trunks gave her a congenial smile and unzipped her dress as impersonally as her could. He almost followed her back into the room, but the hardwood door was slammed in his face. "You're not getting any special treatment just for helping me!" Pan yelled back over her shoulder as she climbed out of the dress.
He slammed his fist so hard into the door that a crack traveled from the knob to halfway across the door. "Well, there's gratitude for you." He muttered, backing back down the corridor and into a guestroom.
Now the door was unlocked, the dress hanging up, and the night was over. But she'd still have to deal with him this morning. Pan groaned and played with the picture frame on the bedside table. Her parents smiled back, as serene as ever, but her dad's eye seemed to hold a malicious I-told-you-so glint. She pulled the frame down to cover up her parents, determined to make her decisions on her own. "I'm an adult now." She told herself, "I can't always depend on my parents."
But she was beginning to think she couldn't even depend on herself. She'd gotten illegally drunk last night, and then that… crap, with Ray. Was she flirting with him? The memory was too fuzzy to tell. Was it safe to take a vacation, all by herself? Maybe she was becoming a danger to herself. Pan had almost talked herself out of leaving when Trunks knocked on the door.
"Pan? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, the doors open."
Trunks poked his head in, like he expected something to be thrown at him. "I brought you a present." He stepped the rest of the way in and Pan noticed he was cradling a small fluff of fur.
Trunks plopped the baby onto her lap and sat on the bed next to her. "I found her out by the woods behind the house… isn't she cute? "
A pointed ear perked up out of the fur and scanned the room. Pan cocked her head, a small smile on her lips as she watched a little pink nose pop up and twitch, sniffing the room for an idea of what was going on. She put a hand in front of the nose and a small, clawed paw swiped at her, pouncing and holding a finger down so that the creature could sniff it some more.
"Ow! What the heck is she?"
"No idea, really… I found her in the woods out back… she must have been dropped off one of the transports that run along there. I just had them blocked off a couple hours ago."
"Hours? How long did I sleep?" Pan asked, waving her hand and giggling as the little monster chased it. "What did I miss?"
"Well, its almost one now… I heard some rumbling around nine that would have woke the dead. Went out to see what it was, and there were a bunch of trucks riding across my back yard. Talk about a surprise, ne?"
"Yeah, well, she's most certainly surprising. So if you don't know what she is, why didn't you turn her into the Humane society, or even wildlife. She looks like some sort of wild cat."
"Well," Trunks' eyebrows drew together and he looked down at his fidgeting hands, "I thought you might want to keep her… maybe she'll keep you home more often."
The headache came roaring back. "Trunks…" She decided to avoid that last comment, "We can't keep her… it'll hurt her more than anything else. Plus, its illegal." She waved her fingers in front of the kitten's nose and its butt wiggled into the air in preparation to pounce.
"Oh, since when have we ever cared about the law anyways?"
Pan glared at him. "We're not above the law Trunks, no matter how powerful we are. Ouch!" A claw caught Pan's finger. She stuck the small cut in her mouth and grabbed Trunks' tie from beside the bed so the cat could play with it instead of injuring her.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"Well, I wouldn't have given it to her if you didn't leave your clothes lying around."
He gave her a rebellious scowl and watched the cat chase the silky bit of fabric around. "Well, it wasn't one of my favorites anyways." His face softened into a small smile as he watched Pan and her newest pet play. "You haven't gotten to play with Bee lately…. Maybe it'll be good for you to have a pet."
Pan shrugged. "Grandpa is getting too old to drag that dog around just to visit his granddaughter…. Besides, Satan is supposed to be in retirement. And she's not a pet! She's a wild animal who needs to go back where she belongs!"
She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself, and Trunks knew she was losing the battle. "Alright."
'Are you ill?' her glance seemed to say at his calm acceptance. Her wary expression hurt his feelings a little bit, but he'd seen it often enough in their childhood when she was coming upon one of the practical jokes/traps that Goten and him would occasionally set. She always ended up falling into them anyway, no matter her caution.
Her eyes lit up with an idea, and Trunks knew this was one trap she wasn't going to fall into. "I'm going to take her on a vacation with me."
"WHAT?!" He didn't bring Pan the cat so that she could LEAVE. She was supposed to stay. With him. And if he needed the cat to make her do that, so be it.
"I'm going to go camping… somewhere. It's been a while since I've spent some time just training and being by myself… I need to write…" Pan stopped. If they were married, then maybe she'd already graduated and given her speech, and that'd give her away. Then Trunks' memory would be lost forever, and it'd be all her fault. And she'd be stuck in this charade.
"Write? You can write here." Trunks had the sexiest frustrated look on his face.
Pan looked away from him in an attempt to hide her drool. She shrugged it off, "Its not like its written in stone, flyboy… it was just an idea. But its something I'd like to do. Until I make a decision though," Pan held the kitten up above her head and smiled as it swiped half heartedly at her nose, "She'll stay with us."
"Damn dress." The only brightly colored thing in the room stood out like a sore thumb. It brought all the bad memories of last night rushing back, and the headache came on full force. They hadn't argued last night, but Trunks got the idea that he wasn't welcome when he discovered the bedroom door locked and a pile of blankets sitting outside it. Pan, of course, was thwarted when she remembered that she couldn't get out of the dress without some kind of help. She struggled with the zipper for a full five minutes before her frustrated shrieks brought Trunks to the door.
"Pan, are you alright?"
"No, I'm not alright! I can't get out of this straightjacket your mother has the nerve to call a dress!"
She unlocked the door, her make-up smeared and her hair half framing her face. Trunks gave her a congenial smile and unzipped her dress as impersonally as her could. He almost followed her back into the room, but the hardwood door was slammed in his face. "You're not getting any special treatment just for helping me!" Pan yelled back over her shoulder as she climbed out of the dress.
He slammed his fist so hard into the door that a crack traveled from the knob to halfway across the door. "Well, there's gratitude for you." He muttered, backing back down the corridor and into a guestroom.
Now the door was unlocked, the dress hanging up, and the night was over. But she'd still have to deal with him this morning. Pan groaned and played with the picture frame on the bedside table. Her parents smiled back, as serene as ever, but her dad's eye seemed to hold a malicious I-told-you-so glint. She pulled the frame down to cover up her parents, determined to make her decisions on her own. "I'm an adult now." She told herself, "I can't always depend on my parents."
But she was beginning to think she couldn't even depend on herself. She'd gotten illegally drunk last night, and then that… crap, with Ray. Was she flirting with him? The memory was too fuzzy to tell. Was it safe to take a vacation, all by herself? Maybe she was becoming a danger to herself. Pan had almost talked herself out of leaving when Trunks knocked on the door.
"Pan? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, the doors open."
Trunks poked his head in, like he expected something to be thrown at him. "I brought you a present." He stepped the rest of the way in and Pan noticed he was cradling a small fluff of fur.
Trunks plopped the baby onto her lap and sat on the bed next to her. "I found her out by the woods behind the house… isn't she cute? "
A pointed ear perked up out of the fur and scanned the room. Pan cocked her head, a small smile on her lips as she watched a little pink nose pop up and twitch, sniffing the room for an idea of what was going on. She put a hand in front of the nose and a small, clawed paw swiped at her, pouncing and holding a finger down so that the creature could sniff it some more.
"Ow! What the heck is she?"
"No idea, really… I found her in the woods out back… she must have been dropped off one of the transports that run along there. I just had them blocked off a couple hours ago."
"Hours? How long did I sleep?" Pan asked, waving her hand and giggling as the little monster chased it. "What did I miss?"
"Well, its almost one now… I heard some rumbling around nine that would have woke the dead. Went out to see what it was, and there were a bunch of trucks riding across my back yard. Talk about a surprise, ne?"
"Yeah, well, she's most certainly surprising. So if you don't know what she is, why didn't you turn her into the Humane society, or even wildlife. She looks like some sort of wild cat."
"Well," Trunks' eyebrows drew together and he looked down at his fidgeting hands, "I thought you might want to keep her… maybe she'll keep you home more often."
The headache came roaring back. "Trunks…" She decided to avoid that last comment, "We can't keep her… it'll hurt her more than anything else. Plus, its illegal." She waved her fingers in front of the kitten's nose and its butt wiggled into the air in preparation to pounce.
"Oh, since when have we ever cared about the law anyways?"
Pan glared at him. "We're not above the law Trunks, no matter how powerful we are. Ouch!" A claw caught Pan's finger. She stuck the small cut in her mouth and grabbed Trunks' tie from beside the bed so the cat could play with it instead of injuring her.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"Well, I wouldn't have given it to her if you didn't leave your clothes lying around."
He gave her a rebellious scowl and watched the cat chase the silky bit of fabric around. "Well, it wasn't one of my favorites anyways." His face softened into a small smile as he watched Pan and her newest pet play. "You haven't gotten to play with Bee lately…. Maybe it'll be good for you to have a pet."
Pan shrugged. "Grandpa is getting too old to drag that dog around just to visit his granddaughter…. Besides, Satan is supposed to be in retirement. And she's not a pet! She's a wild animal who needs to go back where she belongs!"
She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself, and Trunks knew she was losing the battle. "Alright."
'Are you ill?' her glance seemed to say at his calm acceptance. Her wary expression hurt his feelings a little bit, but he'd seen it often enough in their childhood when she was coming upon one of the practical jokes/traps that Goten and him would occasionally set. She always ended up falling into them anyway, no matter her caution.
Her eyes lit up with an idea, and Trunks knew this was one trap she wasn't going to fall into. "I'm going to take her on a vacation with me."
"WHAT?!" He didn't bring Pan the cat so that she could LEAVE. She was supposed to stay. With him. And if he needed the cat to make her do that, so be it.
"I'm going to go camping… somewhere. It's been a while since I've spent some time just training and being by myself… I need to write…" Pan stopped. If they were married, then maybe she'd already graduated and given her speech, and that'd give her away. Then Trunks' memory would be lost forever, and it'd be all her fault. And she'd be stuck in this charade.
"Write? You can write here." Trunks had the sexiest frustrated look on his face.
Pan looked away from him in an attempt to hide her drool. She shrugged it off, "Its not like its written in stone, flyboy… it was just an idea. But its something I'd like to do. Until I make a decision though," Pan held the kitten up above her head and smiled as it swiped half heartedly at her nose, "She'll stay with us."