Chapter 2

Ferb trudged through the raised garage door behind Phineas. He still could not bring himself to raise his head any further than a few inches.

"Hey, hey," Phineas said, coming down to get his attention. He gave an inviting grin. "Why don't you go inside and get yourself comfy, and I'll go and grab the translator?"

Grasping the door handle, Phineas opened the way into the house for him. Ferb reluctantly, yet gratefully, nodded at Phineas and slipped upwards over the two or three steps.

The house was quite empty for that time of day. Candace was still in town for a class, and their dad was working late tonight. Ferb thought he could hear his mom shuffling around in the kitchen, but he came over to the living room couch without bothering her. He really saw no point in making himself known; after all, he would be fine in an hour or two, right?

Coming over to the big couch, Ferb hopped up onto it and sat down, preparing to wait for Phineas. The repositioning sound of boxes could still be heard from the garage area, and Ferb just lay over sideways to get a better look around the corner.

A couple of minutes passed by, and the grandfather clock in the corner kept its ticking. It had been ten minutes, then twenty. Soon, Ferb had rested his head upside-down on the cushion and peered at the clock's face. Now it had been a whole thirty-eight minutes since he had left Phineas in there.

It shouldn't have taken Phineas too long to find one of their projects. Sure it was from seven years ago, but the Flynn-Fletcher garage was surprisingly organized for a garage.

Ferb resolved to attempt to stumble off the cushioned edge. He ended up tumbling down by accident and landed hectically onto the carpet. He was sure the loud thump he made probably woke up Perry, wherever he was.

Popping his head through the open doorway and into the garage, Ferb found Phineas sitting on the concrete with the knees situated around a cardboard box.

"Oh, hi Ferb!" Phineas called out in welcome when he saw his company. Then he looked down at the box between his legs and seemed to have realized something.

"Ah yeah, you were waiting for me, weren't you?" he started. Then Phineas pulled out a few metal devices in his two hands.

"So I found the old translator right where I thought it was. But then I found a couple prismatic wire connectors next to it and it got me thinkin'..." Phineas held up a new-looking contraption, and slid himself and his box over to make a space beside him.

"Sorry, but then I got carried away and lost track of time. I wanna show you this, c'mere!" he said while ecstatically patting the ground next to him. Curiosity growing, Ferb trotted over and sat in the spot where he could peer over his brother's shoulder.

"See, I made a new one and gave it an upgrade," Phineas explained as he showed Ferb in detail what he had done. "'member the other one you had to bark into it and then it replayed the words translated? Well now this one sticks on your head and you don't even need to bark anymore."

Ferb was interestingly watching as Phineas turned the device around to show him. It had a curved piece that looked like it would fit near his ear, and another resembling a speaker that was joined by a single wire. Ferb expected this could fit easily over his neck.

"So we can pretty much toss the old one," Phineas mentioned, gently throwing the almost-rusted box onto the full trashcan. Then he turned back to Ferb and held up his new creation.

"Wanna go inside in the light and try it on?" Phineas asked suggestively. Of course, Ferb replied with a smile and a nod.

Their room provided the best lighting, and Ferb had hopped up onto his own bed to give Phineas a better angle.

With steadily adjusting hands, Phineas lifted the little device and placed it onto Ferb's head. Then, he circled the speaker part around and rested it on his neck.

After Ferb had lightly shook his head in a test, the reader resting behind his ear jostled around loosely. Then a tiny light lit up on the collar, and the speaker crackled on to emit Ferb's voice.

Does it work?

Phineas grinned widely and nodded. "Yep!"

Then Ferb lowered his eyes again. "I'm sorry, Phineas. I was trying to fix it for you and I thought I could reach back there. It was a dumb, stupid mistake and I shouldn'tve-"

Phineas had interrupted him with a reassuring 'shh' sound and smiled. "Hah, you're gonna wear the battery down on that thing."

He just repositioned to make Ferb look back at him again. "What's there to be sorry about?"

Ferb glanced up timidly. "...It was your birthday. And I ruined it."

"Naaaa! You didn't ruin anything," Phineas assured him. "And it's not my birthday anyway. We made it to have fun, right? Are you having fun?"

"Not particularly," Ferb answered. "It wasn't supposed to be used on people."

"Well, I'm sure we can find something fun about it," Phineas suggested. He came to sit right next to Ferb, and almost let their sides touch. He wrapped an arm around his fluffy neck as he looked at him.

"Why do you have brown fur, anyway?" Phineas asked. "Isn't it supposed to be green?"

"I honestly have no idea," was Ferb's reply. He had been wondering that, too.

But Phineas was not finished in his poking of Ferb's side as he ran his fingers through his fur. Then, Phineas had grabbed the bottom of Ferb's jaw and was looking in detail at his teeth.

Though he was somewhat surprised at Phineas' investigation, Ferb just rolled his eyes and went with it.

"You have really pointy teeth," Phineas said. Though Ferb couldn't see what Phineas was doing, he thought he felt Phineas poking them as he opened his mouth wider.

He then grabbed Ferb's paw in one hand, and was lifting it up in a circular motion. He moved it in and out.

"You know, that purple core did a pretty convincing job," Phineas said as he continued to test out Ferb's paws. "Cause you look just like a dog."

"Boys!" came their mom's voice as she was heard walking up the steps. "Your dad's working late tonight, so I'm using the kitchen table for papers. You can eat dinner in your room if you want-"

She came in the doorway, holding two plates of food in her hands. When her eyes fell on the two of them sitting on the bed, she responded with an, "Awww."

Coming over, she brushed behind Phineas to put his plate on the nightstand next to him. Then she looked at Ferb, who was still sitting curiously on the bed. When she spotted Phineas holding his paw, their mom gave a seemingly understanding smile with a laugh, and patted Phineas' back. She commented, "There you are, Phineas. Always being so helpful."

With a confused glance down to the second plate in her hand, their mom looked back up, gazing perplexedly at the rest of the room.

"Well, I brought up a plate for Ferb, too," she explained, before pausing for a moment and making her way to the small table in the corner of the bedroom. "But I'll leave it on his desk for him so he can eat it when he gets back."

Phineas and Ferb gave a strange look to each other, as their mom proceeded to exit the room. Then, she turned around for a second to warn gently, "I want you to be careful with that dog though, Phineas. You never know when they might bite you."

When their mom had left, Phineas looked over to Ferb and giggled at him. "Are you going to bite me?"

"Ew, no," Ferb responded. "I have just as much of a desire to bite people as a dog as I had a desire to bite people as a human."

"...Aaaand how much of a desire do you have to bite people as a human?"

"None!" Ferb explained quickly. "I was saying that I have no desire. What possible reason would I have to run around biting people?"

"So you don't mind if I keep poking your teeth?" Phineas requested as he bent down to peer under Ferb's chin.

"Actually, I kind of need those to eat my food," he said, curling his lip.

"Oooh yeah, I almost forgot Mom brought those up!" Phineas realized, bending around to snatch up his own plate from the nightstand. Then he looked over to Ferb's desk on the other side of the bed.

"Though I'm not really sure why she put yours way over there," Phineas mentioned as he brought his plate and set it on the surface beside Ferb's. Then Ferb stood up to follow him over the bed covers to that side of the room, and jumped into the wooden chair that was situated at the edge of the table.

Paying careful attention, Phineas watched with helpful eyes as his brother looked at the plateful of food in front of him.

"Do dogs like broccoli?" Phineas put forward.

"Well, I don't know about dogs," Ferb replied, turning his head in investigation. "But I like mom's broccoli. Though right now I'm trying to figure out how to eat it."

Putting his paws on the table, Ferb bent down a little, before pulling back. "But just licking it off the plate is so... uhh, unsanitary."

"Here!" Phineas suggested, taking some of Ferb's chicken with the fork on the plate's edge. "I'll hold it here and you eat it."

Tilting his head sideways, Ferb gauged it a little, then opened his mouth and took the piece in his teeth. After some difficulty, he chewed it and swallowed.

"That looks like it's hard to do," Phineas noticed.

"Yeah," Ferb responded with a breath. "Maybe smaller pieces."

Phineas ate some of his own food as he continued to provide forkfuls for Ferb. It took Ferb considerably longer to finish his meal than it did Phineas.

When both plates had been emptied, Ferb went and sat on the bed again. He looked, almost concerned, at Phineas. "What time is it?"

"I think we ate dinner late tonight cause Dad's not here," Phineas thought. "So by now I think it's like 8 or 9."

"The day's almost over..." Ferb moaned, putting his chin on his paws. "I thought it would only be a few hours."

"Yeah..." Phineas said distantly. "I guess maybe it's different cause it's on a person and not just a thing."

Ferb just whined through his nose.

"Aw, cheer up, Ferb," Phineas comforted as he jumped beside him. "It probably just needs a little more time, is all."

"Hmf," was Ferb's response. "I just hope I don't have to stay this way for too long."