*beep beep beep beep beep*

"Oh," Edd mumbled quietly to himself as he leaned against a locker, "he's on the move."

In his hands was a device which beeped whenever a small red dot moved more than five squares on the grid. At first glance, it looked like just that- a grid with a speck of red light on it- but to Eddward it was more than just a red light. It was a target.

His thumb ran over the volume control as he turned the beeping down a few notches… nobody else in the hallways needed to know what was going on.

"Hey, Double Dee, what's goin' on??" Ed popped around the corner of the locker, causing Edd to flinch and nearly drop his expensive device. For the sake of Science, the boy flailed to keep it from falling, as he had just perfected the wiring that morning.

"Please, Ed," he shushed, keeping his voice low as his eyes fixated on the red dot again; "I'm trying to concentrate."

"What IS that thing?" Ed loomed over the smaller boy, excited to see some new gadget he had brought to school, "OHH! It looks like the mutant-seeker that the fugitives used in Submarine of Hades before getting gulped down into the belly of Neptune."

"It's a tracking device, Ed." Edd happily corrected his friend before pausing, realizing that it may have been best to keep that a secret. Before he could think of something to cover up the slip, Ed asked him:

"What are you tracking? Mutants?"

"Um," He started to sweat, "Well, no… Uh, birds! Err… strange migrations they're having this year, yes indeed-y."

"What kinda birds?"

The word "chickens" almost slipped through his lips, but he refrained, as it probably would have been a bad idea. He also considered "seagulls," but that may also further spark his friend's interest. "P-pidgeons." Oh, what, Eddward?? Pidgeons don't migrate! Edd warily observed his friend, hoping Ed wasn't aware of such a fact.

Ed remained silent for a few seconds, apparently thinking about what his buddy said, and then replied; "Like, for Eddy's scam?"

Edd sighed in relief. He had forgotten how Eddy constantly used the term "pidgeons" to describe the victims of his nefarious scams. "R-right, Ed! Pidgeons!"

"Oh look!" Ed exclaimed, thrusting a finger towards the flashing red dot on the grid, "there's one right above us!"

"Geh!" The back of Edd's sock-covered head hit the locker door as he fumbled to hide the tracking device behind his back when he realized Eddy was standing right beside them.

Eddy's curiosity was instantly piqued.

"What'cha got there?" He leaned in, trying to see behind Edd's back, "C'mon Double Dee, show me the goods!"

"Um, err," He stuttered, his hands shaking against the device as his fingers fumbled with a small latch on the back. A couple of batteries dropped into his hand and he quickly shoved them in his shorts pocket. "Ah, this stubborn contraption," he said nervously, giving in as he revealed the hidden object behind him. He gently tapped it with his wrist a few times, feigning disappointment, "hasn't been working for me lately."

"But, Double Dee," Ed interjected, "it was working just a minute ago…"

"Well, no, Ed, you see," a bead of sweat trailed down from beneath his hat, "pidgeons travel in flocks, correct? There would be more than one dot if there was a flock above us."

"Pidgeons?" Eddy was thoroughly confused… but then he jumped in place as if he were reminded of something of great importance. "AH! The scam!" He scrambled to pull out a crumpled piece of notebook paper from his pocket and quickly flatten it out against the locker, "I thought of this during P.E. Check it out!"

Edd held the wrinkled piece of paper in his free hand as he squinted to read the print. "Your shoddy handwriting is hardly legible, Eddy, I don't-… Love potion?" He peered disbelievingly over the top of the paper at a rather excited Eddy, "You're kidding, right?"

"NO WAY, DOUBLE DEE!" He shrieked loudly, despite their close proximity, "People buy all SORTS of crap on valentine's day; chocolate, flowers, cards… all sorts of cheap crap we can sell- it's so freaking easy! People are such suckers for that lovey-dovey junk."

"Lovey-dovey!" Ed cried out happily, suddenly wrapping his arms around Eddy in a tight embrace, "Happy Valentine's Day, Eddy! Huhuh… I forgot it was already April 1st."

The shorter boy glared at his tall friend with great intensity. "First off, wrong date Lumpy. Second… GET OFFA ME!" Eddy growled, struggling to slip out of Ed's grip, his small legs flailing above the floor helplessly.

"Oh but Eddy, love is all I have to give!" Ed replied, having nothing but his arms to offer on a day commonly known for its materialistic exchange. "And it's free."

"SSH." Eddy suddenly seemed to forget that he was in Ed's arms as he suddenly slapped a hand over his buddy's mouth. "Don't you DARE say that again. Love is NOT free; not until *I* am done with my scam."

"Ohoho," Ed chuckled knowingly against Eddy's palm. "Mum's the word, Eddy."

"Well," Edd started to say as he neatly folding the crumpled paper in half, and then half again, "I must say I'm rather disgusted to see you attempt to turn something as pure and innocent as the feelings of amore against the innocent for your own monetary gain. I won't help."

"But Double Dee!" Eddy exclaimed, somehow easily bolting out of Ed's grip to be right beside his disgusted friend in an instant, "It's the *perfect* scam!"

"I'm sorry, Eddy." Edd heaved a sigh of disappointment as he walked away, the powerless invention rattling against the books in his bookbag as he journeyed down the hallway alone.

Eddy watched him walk away for a few minutes… until he ran after him, "Look Sockhead, I don't got time for you to be all wishy-washy over this; we can only do it TODAY," after catching up to Edd, he grabbed his shoulder assertively, "nobody's gonna wanna buy chocolate and flowers n' stuff *after* valentine's day!"

"Ooo, you are trying my patience, mister." Edd turned around, removing the hand from his shoulder. He seemed to be very upset for some reason that Eddy couldn't identify.

"What…" Eddy looked confused for a second…

…But then grinned mischievously.

"So ya didn't get a valentine this year, didja."

Edd's eyes suddenly flared with annoyance, and he huffed loudly as he turned around again, his short friend in tow behind him as he stomped down the hallway.

"Man, that's hilarious! I got *two* valentines~ Heck, I think even ED got a valentine this year! So what'd ya have to do to be such a chick repellant this year; forget to floss after lunch? Oh no! AHahahaha!"

"I'm glad you think this is FUNNY, EDDY," Edd growled, stopping for the second time and stuffing his hands into his pockets, only to pull out two handfuls of valentines cards and throw them at his arrogant friend. The pink and red papers littered the floor below as Eddy, now baffled, stared at Edd with a newfound respect for the guy. "You… Oh YOU callous jackass!"

His eyes suddenly darted to two discarded batteries rolling along the floor and he hastily picked them up and shoved them back into his pockets. "I… apologize. That was rude of me, um...." He then steadily kneeled down and started picking up the valentines one-by-one, "Messy, messy, messy… where has my head been lately, Eddy? I tell you… I don't believe I've ever gotten so worked up over trivial things such as… well, silly emotions."

Eddy was staring down at his litter-conscious friend, wondering if they had just entered some kinda twilight zone. He wasn't sure what to say; the guy went from chill to pissed in a matter of minutes. Obviously he had struck a chord… Eddy grinned nervously as his foot kicked a few frilly-colored papers towards his friend's reach as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "Never heard ya cuss before, heh."

"Y-yes, well…" Edd blushed a little, realization dawning on him that he had actually sweared and abused the English language which he loved so dearly, "It slipped out."

Ed appeared from behind Eddy with exactly seven pigeons in his arms, all of them squirming and flapping erratically as he pushed past his friend and knelt in front of Edd, "Don't be mad, Double Dee! Here, plenty of pigeons for Eddy's lovey-dovey scam."

"Ed!" Edd exclaimed, backing away and stumbling to stand up, "My, those birds are filthy!"

"Any of 'em got a quarter in its mouth?" Eddy growled, examining each bird in Ed's arms, "Cuz it's mine."

Ed suddenly laughed and ran for the door in a flurry of frantic feathers, "No way, Eddy, finders keepers!"

"Why you little-" Eddy took off after him.

Now in a bit of solitude, Edd pulled the small contraption out of his bookbag and replaced the batteries; it beeped to life again, and he could hear the faint beeping noises as someone ran in circles around a large cluster of squares on his grid-like map. With a cautious look over his shoulder, he muted the device and carefully placed it in his pocket.

"Eddy?" He asked uneasily, seeing his friends roughhouse down the stairs outside the front door of the school. Edd ran to the doors just in time to see the small flock of pigeons fly away, leaving a cloud of dust and feathers swirling around Eddy and Ed.

The shorter, fatter one turned at the distant sound of his name being called and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Look, Double Dee, there they go! They're migrating!" Ed grinned, and then looked to Eddy and asked, "You think they'll get all the way to Mexico? OH! Double DEE, turn on your mutant-radar-tracker!"

Edd was about to say something to Eddy, but his attention was shifted to Ed, and his hand automatically rested on his pocket defensively, "Oh, well, it's not working very well at the moment, uhm… Anyway, Eddy, could you-"

"What're ya… trackin' pigeons?" Eddy glared at his friend judgmentally, waiting for an answer.

Edd flinched.

"It's for a project!"

"What project?"

A cheeky grin appeared on his face as Edd said, "One from an AP class." He was, of course, referring to a class of higher academics; one that he and Eddy did not share.

Eddy growled. It was bad enough he was failing a few grades, but to get it rubbed in… "Well whatddya want, an award? Or did ya just figure out you're nerdier than me?"

Edd pursed his lips, offended, and crossed his arms, "What I *want* is an after-school meeting to discuss the dynamics of your plan! I'll help with your scam; however… a few minor details are subject to debate."

~*

Author's Notes: This is extremely short... I apologize. I haven't written in a long time and I'm trying so hard to get the groove back. I'm going to have to write the Kankers in the next chapter, and I'm already skurred. It's different than the way I usually write, but I want it to be light and humorous, like the actual show, but it's hard because I've barely been getting any sleep lately... there's so much on my plate right now, but I don't want to turn away from art and writing... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed what I have so far; I'll try to write the next chapter asap... *yawn*