So in June 2012, Twitter user Lorainy_D25 asked Dan Povenmire: "Exists or will exist Ferbnessa? (Sorry, i don't speak English)"
Dan's response was "Probably when Ferb is in college and Vanessa is working at a coffee house, then their eyes meet and..."
If that isn't a story prompt, I'll eat my hat.
Ferb had finally gotten a free weekend after getting caught up in the beginning-of-semester rush for his first year at Quad-State University. He'd wandered into the city of Marshwood surrounding the campus to see what delights he might find. It had been an extremely productive day so far. He'd found a small comic/gaming store, where he'd spent a pleasurable hour chatting with the woman who owned it as he set up a pull list. She'd pointed him to a marvelous little deli for lunch, where he'd had an excellent reuben sandwich. He'd found two thrift shops with things that could be useful for cosplay supplies for the campus anime convention later in the semester. And then, best of all, he'd stumbled into an excellent used bookstore, where he'd spent far too much of the afternoon looking through the stacks in the company of the bookstore cat, a one-eyed calico that had taken to him on sight.
A grumble from his stomach reminded him that it was tea time, so he picked out a few books to purchase. The grey-haired Korean woman who ran the bookstore smiled at him as he came up, and said, "I see Babe likes you," nodding her head toward the cat who had followed him.
Ferb nodded and paid the requested amount. "It appears so," he said.
"Oh, I love your accent, dear," the woman said. "Maybe I should introduce you to my granddaughter. A nice young man like yourself would be a change from the boys she usually dates. Babe hates them on sight, and he's an excellent judge of character."
Ferb nodded politely. "Thank you, but not right now. I'm still getting settled in at Quad-State. I don't know that I really have time for a girlfriend."
The woman laughed. "Once you get settled in, then." She put his books in a paper bag and slid it across the counter to him.
"Is there anywhere around here I could get a spot of tea?" he asked.
"Peter's Coffee and Tea around the corner, dear."
"Thank you."
He exited the shop, wrapping his coat around him against the late-September chill. A quick stroll around the corner found Peter's, a small independent coffeehouse. Inside it was warm and filled with the delicious smell of coffee. If only it tasted as good as it smells, he thought, and looked over the tea list. Making a quick decision, he stepped up to the counter where a thin blond man with a receding hairline stood at the cash register.
"A large Darjeeling tea and," Ferb looked into the pastry case, "a blueberry scone, please."
"Certainly. Name?"
Ferb sighed. Not worth the discussion right now. "Fred."
The man marked a cup and set it back where a young brunette woman stood with her back to him, busily pulling espresso shots. He took Ferb's money and handed him the scone, telling him the tea would be up in about five minutes. Ferb nodded and took up a seat at a table, pulling out his phone. Another email from Phineas had arrived while he was in the bookstore; he was having a good time at Stanford with Isabella, but the last thing Ferb needed was to hear Phineas complaining about being unable to find private time with his girlfriend. Both of them had roommates, so they'd been far more celibate than they'd hoped. Phineas, why do you tell me these things? Rub it in, why don't you. You've got a girlfriend, and I...don't any more.
Sighing, he put his phone back in his pocket and flipped through one of his new books.
Vanessa pulled up the newest cup; somebody had ordered a cup of Darjeeling. At least this was easy. It had been a busy day, but the afternoon rush seemed to be dying. She scooped out some tea and put it in the infuser, then set the infuser in the cup and poured hot water in. She set a timer for three minutes, then busied herself working on the next cup in the queue, a mocha.
The timer went off, so she pulled the infuser out and set it aside to be cleaned. Looking at the cup, she called out, "Darjeeling for Fred?" as she carried it to the counter.
A hand was reaching toward the cup as she set it down; she looked up...
Oh.
She recognized him instantly. The green hair was a giveaway, even if the eyes - those deep blue eyes - hadn't riveted her immediately.
"Hey, your name's not Fred," she said.
He grinned. "It's easier than trying to convince someone to call me Ferb. It's been a while - how've you been?"
She shrugged. "Been better. Busy. Can't really talk, unfortunately, got coffee to make." She pointed back at the line of cups awaiting her.
"When's your shift over?"
"4," she said, and they both looked over at the clock on the wall, which read 3:15.
"Mind if I hang around until then?"
She shook her head, and said, "Not at all. See you then?" as she turned back to the next drink she had to make.
"Old friend?" Pete said as he poured decaf into a cup.
"Something like that," she said, pouring ingredients into a blender. "I've mentioned the guys who did all those incredible inventions back in Danville? He's one of them."
Pete's eyebrows went up. "Huh. Where does he get that green dye? It looks great. Almost natural."
"It is. That's just his natural hair color."
"Really?" Laughing and shaking his head, Pete turned back to the customer just arriving at the register as Vanessa made drinks. Her thoughts kept bouncing back to Ferb, and she found herself glancing over to where he'd taken a seat. He was flipping through an old paperback, and occasionally glancing up at her. Their eyes met, and they both looked away quickly.
Her cheeks felt warm for some reason. What? I can't be interested in him. He's just a kid. He's...well, I suppose he must be eighteen now, but still. She looked back up at him. Nice to look at, though.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the most recent customer came back up to the counter, a displeased look on her face. "Excuse me, miss? I asked for a hazelnut mocha, and this is caramel."
Vanessa glanced over at the syrup bottles and realized she'd used the wrong one. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll make you a new one."
She started prepping another mocha as Pete came over to help. "A bit distracted, are we?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"I don't remember the last time you messed up an order, Vanessa."
She glanced up at Ferb again; he looked away quickly, and didn't look like he'd made any progress in his book.
"Vanessa?" Pete said, catching her wrist.
"Hm?"
"You were about to put peppermint in it. He's that distracting, eh?"
She looked over, pulling her wrist away. She had, indeed, lined up the cup under the peppermint syrup. With a deep sigh, she slid it over to the hazelnut. "Maybe. Last time I saw him, he was thirteen. He was a lot less..."
"Hot?" Pete said, eyeing Ferb. "Because...he is. If you don't want him, can I have him?"
"No!" Vanessa said, glaring at him. "Besides, your boyfriend would object."
"Girl, a guy like that, Bill's fine as long as I'm willing to share."
Vanessa laughed. "No. You can't have him."
"Good. Go get him. Sarah just got here," he said, nodding his head toward the blonde woman who'd just come through the door.
"You sure?"
Pete looked over at Ferb. "Yes. Yes, I am."
"Thanks, Bill. I owe you one."
"I'll add it to your tab. Go clock out. Hey, Sarah," he called out, "wanna punch in early?"
Ferb set the book down with a sigh. He'd read the same page three times, and had no idea what it said. His brain refused to focus on it, even though he'd been looking for this book for months.
He took the last bite of his scone and washed it down with the last of his tea. Memories of a long-ago crush washed over him. I thought I'd gotten over this when we helped her out with that party for her boyfriend.
He glanced up at her, and saw her talking to the man at the register. He wondered what they were talking about. The man glanced up at him, then looked back at Vanessa.
Why would they be talking about me? Must be the hair. Freakshow again. Story of my life.
He poked at the other books in his bag, but none looked likely to distract him for the twenty minutes until Vanessa's shift ended. His phone showed no new email, and he was even less in the mood to respond to Phineas's message now.
Movement toward him caught his attention; Vanessa was approaching with a cup in each hand. "On the house," she said, setting another cup of tea in front of him as she sat. "Looked like you used two sugars and whole milk, so hopefully I got it right."
He took a sip; it was perhaps a bit less milk than he would have used, but was otherwise perfect. "Exactly right," he said. "I thought..."
"Pete let me off early because Sarah's here." She took a sip of her coffee. "So what brings you to Marshwood? Going to Quad-State?"
He nodded. "Just started a month ago. I'm technically a junior, with transfer credit from the community college. And you? Last I knew you were just heading off to college."
She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I lasted about two years at Quad-State. Mom insisted I work on a business degree, with the plan to go on for an MBA. After a year, I knew it wasn't what I wanted, but I stuck it out another year until...well, I dropped out. I'd been working part-time here on weekends, and Pete took me on full-time. I'm thinking about trying to go back, work on a degree in architecture. Just need to get the money in order."
"Decided not to go back to Danville?"
"God, no. My mother radiates enough disappointment when I see her, I don't need that every day. I go back for Christmas and that's about it."
Ferb nodded and took a sip of his tea. His mind whirled madly. What do I say to her? Hello, I used to have a crush on you when I was ten? I believe you're percolating my hormones?
She spoke up first. "How's your brother? Did he ever get together with that girl who had the massive crush on him?"
Ferb sighed deeply, rolling his eyes.
Vanessa chuckled. "Sounds like a yes?"
Ferb laughed despite himself. "Yes. They're going to Stanford together. I get emailed complaints about lack of privacy."
Vanessa stifled a laugh in her hand. "Sounds like Phineas. No concept of too much information."
Ferb nodded sadly.
"I can understand, though. I started dating this guy Kirk freshman year, and we had the same problem. I can send him suggestions if you'd like."
"Please don't. Then he'd tell me exactly how well each of them worked."
She winced. "Okay, yeah, good point." She took a sip of her coffee, and said, "So last I recall, you were just starting to go out with...the girl with the glasses, I can't remember her name. How'd that go?"
"Gretchen. We dated for a year or so, and then..." He shrugged. "It didn't work out. We were kids, we didn't know what we were doing. She got some bad advice from Isabella...didn't realize that I'm not Phineas."
"Anyone now?" Vanessa asked with what seemed like a very forced conversational tone.
Ferb shook his head. "No. The girl I dated senior year decided she was more important than my community college courses, and wanted me to choose. So I did. How about you? Still seeing...Kirk?" he asked.
Her mouth curled like she'd just bitten into something distasteful. "Ew, no. As soon as I wasn't MBA-track any more, he dropped me like a hot potato. I dated a couple other guys, but...nobody I really connected with." She looked around. "Hey, I spend all day here. Let's go for a walk?"
He nodded and, taking his cup, followed her out the door.
Vanessa led him to some of her favorite haunts around the area; he said he'd found some of them already. Jensen's Hardware turned out to be good for half an hour as Ferb reverently ran his hands along the shelves full of vintage materials. A little music store had just gotten in some new vinyl; Vanessa picked up an album by Scrambled Debutante she'd been looking for.
"Hey, you up for dinner?" she asked as they came out of the record store, her breath fogging in the chilly evening air.
Ferb nodded enthusiastically.
"Hogan's Deli is a couple blocks over. They've got the best reubens I've ever had."
"I went there for lunch, actually," Ferb said sheepishly. "Anna at Four Color Comics recommended it."
Vanessa laughed. "Great minds think alike, I guess. How about Mongolian Barbecue, then?"
"Not familiar with it," Ferb admitted.
"Oh, you're in for a treat. Let's go!"
She led him to a small restaurant on a side street, then walked him through picking ingredients for his bowl. He poured two ladles of kung pao sauce on his, and she raised an eyebrow. "Going spicy, eh?"
He nodded and handed his bowl to a cook, who placed it on the giant iron griddle. Hers followed, across the griddle, and they watched as the cooks circled the heat, pushing their food along. Finally, their meals were slid off into clean bowls and handed to them.
Ferb picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of his meal. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he casually picked up a cup of water and drank some. Vanessa smothered a laugh.
"Sorry, a bit spicier than I expected," Ferb said.
"The sauce sneaks up on you," Vanessa said.
After dinner, Vanessa had said she needed to stop by her apartment before they did anything else. He'd certainly had no problems with the idea.
"Hey, Ness!" a dark-skinned young woman sitting on the couch said. "Who's your friend?"
"Lou, this is Ferb, an old friend from Danville. Ferb, this is Louisa, my roommate."
"Pleased to meet you," Ferb said quietly.
"Oh, I love the accent," Louisa said with a smile. "So where'd you run into each other?"
"Ferb happened by Peter's for some tea," Vanessa said. "I need to go change - be right back!" She walked into a bedroom as Ferb stood awkwardly by the door.
"Oh, come sit down," Louisa said, turning to take her feet off the couch. "I don't bite."
Ferb sat cautiously on the couch, smiling hesitantly at Louisa.
"So what'd you two do after she got off work?" Louisa asked.
"Stopped by a few places, then went to Gobi for dinner," Ferb said.
"Sounds like a blast," Louisa said. A phone rang, and Louisa pulled out her cell phone. "Excuse me," she said, then answered it. "Yeah? What, tonight? Really? Sure, give me five minutes." She put the phone away and stood up. "Sorry, this guy I like is playing in a band and they got a last-minute gig. I need to go get ready."
Vanessa had just come out, dressed up a bit in a knee-length black skirt and a cream-colored blouse. "Rick got a gig?" she asked.
"Yep. They'll be playing until at least 2, so don't wait up," Louisa said as she headed into her bedroom.
Vanessa shook her head as she took the seat on the couch next to Ferb. "So what would you like to do tonight? I was figuring we could go out somewhere, but with Lou going out, maybe we could just hang out here, if you'd like?"
Ferb nodded. "That sounds fine."
Louisa bustled out of her room, waving at them as she ran out the front door. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said as the door closed behind her.
"That doesn't narrow it down much," Vanessa muttered.
Ferb sat back with a smile and cautiously put his arm around Vanessa's shoulders. She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. "Thinking we should give up on subtlety?" she asked wryly.
"It didn't seem useful anymore," he said.
She leaned into his arm. "Works for me."
Ferb woke up to the front door opening. Early morning daylight streamed in through the windows. Louisa came in, saw him on the couch, and laughed. "She made you sleep out here? That wasn't what I expected."
Ferb shook his head, trying to remember what had happened. They'd snuggled up and kissed on the couch a bit. Rather more than a bit, actually. They'd put some mindless movie on the TV and curled up together. And...that was the last thing he remembered. Evidently he'd gone to sleep during it. He assumed Vanessa had provided him the blanket that covered him.
The door to Vanessa's room opened, and she came out wearing a nightshirt. "Oh, hey, you're awake. Sorry, you passed out so I figured I'd let you sleep."
"Wore him out, Vanessa?" Louisa asked.
"If I'd done that, he wouldn't be on the couch," Vanessa said.
Stifling a yawn, Louisa said, "Whatever. I'ma get some sleep. You two have fun." She walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Vanessa walked over to the couch; Ferb sat up to give her room to sit. "How you feeling?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I need a shower, clean clothes, and some breakfast, probably in that order," he said.
"Me too, actually. Tell you what. Why don't you head back to your room and grab a shower, I'll do the same here, and we can meet at the diner at 5th and Elm for breakfast?"
"It's a date," he said.
She grinned. "First of many?"
"I certainly hope so."