Perry crawled through the pet flap and ambled into the living room. Phineas and Ferb were messing with the television remote.

"Look at that. Maybe we could use that button there and build a…"

"Nope."

"Aw."

Perry felt bad for them. They were desperate for materials.

He jumped into Ferb's lap. Phineas turned to smile at him, but suddenly froze, staring.

"What..." Phineas said.

"I got groomed today." Perry said. "To boost our winning chances."

Phineas nodded and bit his lip. "Yeah. Okay." He turned to look at the television, which wasn't even on.

"You don't think it looks good?" Perry asked.

"It looks fine, Perry." Phineas said quickly. "It's just different. That's all."

"I'll go back to normal in time." Perry said. "But normal doesn't win in the harsh, unforgiving world of beauty contests."

Phineas smiled, but he seemed to have tears forming in his eyes. "Thanks, Perry. I bet we'll win. Thanks for helping us out."

"I always will help you out, buddy."

"Want to watch a movie with us?"

"I may sleep through it. I'm exhausted."

"It's only seven o' clock."

"I worked in the morning, got back, was messed with for three hours and then had to walk home. I'm completely worn out. Do you know how many different things they put on my face? At least eighty-two different cleansers and five facials."

"Why?" Phineas asked. He still wouldn't look at Perry. "No one can see your skin. What's the point?"
Perry shrugged. "I have no idea. And Doof's teddybearinator… It was so hard to explode the thing. I tripped on his rug and fell on the self-destruct button. On my face." He curled up in Ferb's lap and gave a little satisfied sigh.

Phineas turned the television on and stroked Perry with one hand.

"Walk to the right."

Perry turned to the right. "How many steps?"

"Um, four. STOP! You'll crash."

Perry didn't really like the walking-in-pitch-darkness training. It was supposed to train an animal who didn't have night vision to follow directions given by an animal WITH night vision.

But Otis the owl was only just learning how to give good direction. And he didn't always take the training seriously.

"Okay, now reach out and give the object you touch a hug."

Perry obeyed.

"Hey, let go of me!" Carrie the cat shrieked.

Otis laughed.

Perry sighed. He hated not being able to see. It made him feel so vulnerable.

"How much longer until we turn the lights back on?"

Otis was silent for a moment, probably looking at his watch. "We have fifteen minutes left. But we'll be done if you find the chair before then."

"Dang."

"Okay, now turn around and start walking… uh… about ten paces."

Perry did and crashed into what felt like a table.

"Oops, sorry. I meant nine paces. My bad. Okay… um… I guess feel your way along that desk and… DON'T KNOCK THAT GLASS OVER… Uh… keep going… CARRIE! Don't lead Peter there, I'm trying to make Perry go there!"
"Why can't they both go there?" Carrie asked.

"Because they'll crash! Okay, follow the sound of my voice. The chair's right here. Follow the sound of my voice."

Perry could have sworn he was doing just that, but he couldn't find the chair."
"Follow my voice." Otis said.

"Otis!" Carrie said. "Quit picking up the chair and moving it around! You'll confuse him!"

Otis laughed nervously.

Perry jumped on him and started punching him.

"Ow! Ow! Don't assult your guide!"

"Some guide!"

"The chair's right behind me. Stop hitting me! Ow!"

Perry used Otis's face as a stepstool to get on the chair. "Found it. We're done."

"…And sit down." Carrie was saying.

Perry felt a fluffy object sit on him.

"Hello, Peter. Did Carrie help you find the chair?" Perry asked sweetly.

"Yes, yes she did."

"I'm worn out." Perry rolled over in his pet bed. "I want someone to pet my tummy."

"We're working on a blueprint." Phineas said.

"Blueprints aren't as important as my tummy."
"I don't really know how to respond to that." Phineas said.

"My tummy is fluffy. And soft. It wants to be pet. It is BEGGING you to pet it. Look, it practically has big puppy eyes going PET ME. PET ME."

"That's a disturbing thought." Phineas said.

Ferb came over to Perry and started rubbing his tummy. "Touch it, Phineas. It's much softer now."

Perry purred.

"Cute. But I'm trying to figure out how to size everything on this blueprint."

Perry aimed his eyes at Phineas, making them as big as he could.

"Fine." Phineas sighed. "The cute overshadows the blueprint." He went to join his brother.