Chapter 3

Ferb's eyes were drooping as he rested his head on his purple bedspread. He had been lying here for a few minutes as Phineas cleaned up from dinner.

"You tired?" Phineas asked gently when he came back in the room from dropping the plates off in the kitchen.

"Yeah," Ferb replied. Then he shook his head, and his translator rattled around on his ear. "I think I should take this off before I fall asleep. It's itching me."

"Sure," Phineas answered, coming to sit beside him. Ferb stood up on his paws so Phineas could reach the device on his head. After lightly situating it, Phineas slid it off of his brother's head and neck, to place it on the nightstand.

"Good?" Phineas asked. Ferb gave him a nod, before making his way to the top of his bed and falling down onto the pillow.

After offering a caring glance to the now-sleeping Ferb, Phineas stood up from the bed. He snatched up his pajamas that were folded neatly on the bed across from him, and he headed to the bathroom to finish up getting ready.

Once Phineas had brushed his teeth and returned, the lights were turned off with a click and Phineas slipped comfortably under his covers.

The night was still dark, and the house was still quiet, when Phineas was awoken by some sounds and a movement that he felt by his feet. He pulled the covers off of his nose and peered sleepily down to the bottom of the bed.

"Awww," Phineas said with a smile when he saw Ferb curled up on the corner of the comforter. When he heard Phineas' voice, Ferb tipped his eyes up and looked at him through the darkness.

Phineas kept his grinning. "Did you get all lonely over there by yourself?"

"Not exactly, but it was a bit chilly… I'll never be used to this fur…" Ferb answered back to him.

"Ferb," Phineas opened his mouth, choking on a chuckle. "You do realize that all you just said was 'woof,' right?"

"Oh… oh, yeah," Ferb responded quietly, putting his head back down.

With a glance over to Ferb's bed, Phineas looked at the still-folded bed sheets, then back to Ferb by his feet.

"Couldn't figure out how to get under the covers, huh?" Phineas inferred. Ferb's tone of a whine said it all.

Sitting rather quickly up from the bed, Phineas pulled his hands forward with the declaration, "You need a hug."

Ferb yelped in surprise when he felt himself get grabbed up suddenly and snuggled by Phineas. At first he impulsively started to squirm, but then Phineas hugged him tighter and Ferb resolved to stop resisting. Phineas was right; there was nothing wrong with a hug.

Phineas released him and pulled back for a second, while Ferb leapt down to the floor. Then Phineas looked at him with a little concern.

"Though I was sorta expecting to see you as you sleeping there on the bed when I woke up," Phineas mentioned, putting his hand on his chin in contemplation as he examined Ferb. "Do you feel any different?"

Glancing down at his furry chest and feet, Ferb looked back up at Phineas with sad eyes, and shook his head.

"Well… It hasn't been a full day yet," Phineas tried to explain. "Though it is strange it's lasting this long for only the purple core."

Grabbing the covers off of Ferb's bed, Phineas kept talking. "We can figure it out more tomorrow. For now though, you'd probably like to get some sleep?"

With a jump onto his mattress, Ferb took the open spot in the now-uncovered bed and situated himself once more on his pillow. Phineas smiled at him again, while he returned the covers.

At first, Ferb felt funny under his sheets when he woke the next morning. He was not expecting to feel a tickling all along his back and feel the abnormal shape of his body as he drifted up from sleepiness. But, as he opened his eyes and remembered the happenings of the previous day, he realized that there had still been no change.

He popped his head out from under his covers, and found Phineas sitting on the bed across the room, already in the process of getting dressed.

"Heya…" Phineas greeted, but he was mirroring the unenthusiastic look that he saw on Ferb. Phineas finished pulling on his shoes and came over to sit on Ferb's bed.

"Hey, I know we kinda thought it would fix itself overnight," Phineas started to talk to him. "But all the other cores wore off, didn't they? You'll be fine in no time."

Reaching over to the nightstand, Phineas grabbed up the translator that had been strewn there. He pulled it over Ferb's willing head, saying, "Though right now you probably want this back?"

With careful hands, Phineas rested the metal device on the disheveled fur of Ferb's neck. Ferb gave him an appreciative look, when Perry entered in through their bedroom door.

"Oh, there you are, Perry," came Ferb's voice through the little speaker.

Ferb hopped down onto the wood floor and sat in front of his pet platypus. Perry gazed distantly up at him.

"Grrr."

Ferb opened his mouth, and let out a bark.

Perry paused for a moment. "Grrr."

Ferb gave a second bark.

"Grrr."

"Hah! What are you talking about?" Phineas asked inquisitively as he watched the scene in front of him.

After a delay, Ferb returned his attention to Phineas standing above him. "Wha, huh? I can't speak platypus."

"Oh," Phineas said with a giggle. "Well that translator doesn't translate those barks, only your thoughts. What are you saying to him?"

Looking over to Perry again, Ferb turned back to Phineas and a small grin came through. "I'm saying 'Bark'."

Amused, Phineas dropped down to the floor next to Ferb, and crossed his legs. He leaned forward and looked at Perry, before saying his own "Bark!"

Perry stood up, returning with a "Grrr," as he walked off, uninterested.

"Well," Phineas started after a moment, getting back to his feet. "What should we do today?"

At this, Ferb drew his glance down to the floor, and after a pause said quietly, "You can do something if you want. But I can't very well do much of anything."

Sad eyes looked back up to Phineas. Ferb asked timidly, "Are you mad at me?"

"What! No, of course I'm not mad at you!" Phineas reacted, looking Ferb back straight in the eye. He smiled and pointed at himself, saying tenderly, "Do I look mad at you?"

"No…" Ferb made the observation.

Phineas bent down and scooped up Ferb, placing him on the bed. Though Ferb was not expecting it, he made no expression of surprise and just kept his nose tipped downwards. His brother jumped to sit next to him.

"You're being all mopey," he said factually.

"It's because it's all my fault," Ferb revealed with no delay. "This is all because of my own stupid decision."

"Don't say that," Phineas tried to console, but Ferb wouldn't listen.

"I'm not going to lie to myself. There's no denying that this is all my doing, and no one else's."

"But that's alright, Ferb," pointed out Phineas. "Everybody makes mistakes. It was just an accident."

Ferb refused to look back up. "An accident that I should've been smart enough not to make. And now I'm suffering from it."

"Hey," Phineas addressed directly. "So you turned yourself into a dog and you didn't mean to. So what? You're gonna get better."

"Am I?" Ferb said bleakly.

Countering it with his own optimism, Phineas leapt off of the bed and responded, "Yeah! Now lets go downstairs and get breakfast. I'm starving."

This made Ferb feel at least a little better, and he got up to follow his brother out of their bedroom to head down the steps.