"Yes!" hissed Perry, slapping down his cards. "I got twenty-one! Beat that!"
Victor the Otter placed a hand to his forehead and dropped his cards frustratedly on the table. "Perry, we're playing Rummy."
"I know, but I have no clue how to play that so I'm playing Hit Twenty-One."
"How do you not know how to play Rummy?" Victor asked exasperatedly. "We've explained the rules to you more than ten times!"
"Cards isn't really my thing," Perry replied. "It's not energy-consuming like Double Dutch or exciting like training. I just play along because there's nothing else to do."
"There's planning who you're going to ask to the OWCA hundredth anniversary party," Christina the Bobcat said, rearranging her cards in her paw. "Karen or Maggie?"
"Who says I like either of them like that?" retorted Perry. "Besides…Maggie's going with Harry."
Victor snorted. "THAT'LL end well."
"Why won't it?" Christina asked innocently.
"Um…have you SEEN their team's training sessions?" Victor leant back in his chair and put his hands lazily behind his head. "They argue more than they train. And no offense to Peter, but if even OWCA's best agent couldn't whip them into shape, how can he hope to?"
"Thanks," Perry grinned.
"No offense to you. But you tried, didn't you?"
"Apparently "tried" is the operative word," Christina inputted, finally laying her cards down on the table. "Only Karen can calm Maggie down when she's angry…when she's not busy being mindless, that is."
"Who, Karen?" Perry leant back like Victor and rested his feet on the table, next to his cards. "Yeah, nobody knows why she acts so mindless. She could probably floor both Harry AND Maggie at the same time but she insists on playing mindless."
"How do you know it's just playing?" asked Christina.
"Because we've all seen her as she normally is," Perry replied. "She can be very normal, just like the rest of us. But's she's quite stubborn so the rest of us just roll with it when she acts mindless."
"So who are you thinking of going with, Christina?" Victor asked.
"To the party? I've already been asked," Christina said absently.
Victor sat bolt upright and stared at her in surprise. "What? By who?"
"Terry."
Victor scowled and muttered something about turtle soup as he leant back in his chair again. Perry stared at his friend in slight worry.
"Why do you care so much?" Christina asked. "Aren't you going with anyone?"
"No," Victor said quietly.
Perry felt sorry for his friend so he patted the otter on the shoulder. "Hey, how about the two of us go together as loners?"
"Sure," chuckled Victor. "The loners who can't get a date."
Christina stood up and stretched. "Well, I better go. Tess is taking me dress shopping."
"The party isn't for another ten days," pointed out Perry.
"But I need the perfect outfit," Christina argued mildly. "A girl's gotta look good for her date." Perry saw Victor scowl again at this. "And besides, you know how Tess can be."
"Do you mean Tess the Trowel or Tess the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever?" asked Perry.
Christina stared at Perry. "The…second one. What on Earth is Tess the Trowel?"
"A rather unkind prank that someone played on Tess the Toller last year," replied Victor lazily.
"Oh." Christina gave her friends an amused look. "Well, see you later."
"See you," Perry said.
Victor said nothing. He didn't move until Christina had left the recreation hall, then he stood up and swiped Christina's cards off the table, muttering angrily about something that Perry couldn't quite pick up.
"Why didn't you ask her to the party?" Perry inquired.
"Why would I?" demanded Victor, putting the cards away.
"Dude, stop acting." Perry raised an eyebrow. "It's painfully obvious that your sudden and uncharacteristic burst of hatred towards Terry is stemmed from jealousy."
"I'm not jealous."
Perry scoffed. "Yeah, and my fur isn't teal."
Victor turned his head on one side and looked at his friend. "Actually, in a certain light, it looks more of a green."
"Victor, just admit it. You like Christina."
"Well, sure I LIKE her…"
Perry rolled his eyes and nudged his friend. "You know what I meant. Actually, you know what? I'm not so sure you DO know what I meant. You like her. In that way."
"If you're saying I have feelings for Christina, forget it," Victor snapped. "I like her as a friend and that's all."
"Really?" Perry drew out the word, sitting back in his chair and regarding his best friend with a disbelieving face. "Then how do you explain your random burst of hatred towards Terry as soon as Christina said she was going to the party with him?"
Victor casually dropped his pack of cards on the table and said nothing.
"You can deny it all you want but I know. Nobody would react like that for nothing. You have feelings for Christina."
"Okay, I do!" Victor suddenly shouted. "I do have feelings for Christina! I don't know if it's love but I don't like the idea of her going to the party with someone else. There, happy?"
Perry gazed into his friend's angry face. "Yep," he replied. "I'm joking. But seriously, you need to tell her how you feel."
"What's the point?" Victor flopped hopelessly into his chair. "She doesn't feel the same."
"How do you know?"
Victor frowned, looking confused. "It's obvious, isn't it?"
Perry just rolled his eyes again and stood up. "I need to check in with Major Monogram and make sure I'm not needed on any missions. Then I'm going home early."
"It's only because you're OWCA's top agent that you get to go home early," grumbled Victor as Perry left, giving a backwards wave as he went.
...
Codename: Agent 13
Species: platypus
Skills: advanced strength, skill, speed, and agility.
Weapon of choice: scythe
Directive: destroy Perry the Platypus
*LE GASP*!