After Perry's meeting with Doof, the two went their separate ways. Now Perry was standing near the entrance to OWCA's HQ, his arms crossed as he reluctantly stared at the door. Doof was right, he needed to talk to Jordan if this team-up was going to get anywhere, for better or worse. Would Jordan be at OWCA? Maybe. He might also be with his host-family or anywhere else in the Tri-State Area because agents weren't tied to the HQ on days they took off. Too bad Perry didn't know where any of those other locations might be- OWCA was his only choice.

Perry straightened up, letting his arms fall to his sides. If Jordan wasn't there, then no one could say he didn't try. And he wasn't likely to be at OWCA anyway. If he just hurried up and went inside, doing a quick search for Jordan, then this would all be done sooner and he could go home and relax before finding Doof again on his date.

With that knowledge, Perry inhaled deeply and stepped into OWCA. Time to get it done and over with.

After about ten minutes of walking around the building without any sign that Jordan was around, Perry was getting ready to call it quits. He just had one more place left to look, the gym, and then he could go home. But as Perry entered the gym, he felt his heart begin to sink. Already he could see the easily noticeable bright red pelt of Jordan, even against the darker red of the punching bag he was pummeling.

Perry crossed his arms and huffed. Time to be responsible, I guess. With that thought, he began to reluctantly approach the red platypus. "Jordan?"

The agent stopped and turned around, a scowl immediately coming to his face. "Perry. Wonderful to see you." He resumed punching the bag. "And here I thought canceling our schedule for the day would keep you far away from here."

Perry bit the inside of his bill, resisting the urge to scowl back. "You know, I don't make my main goal in life to be openly hostile to you all the time. I'd appreciate it if that was reciprocated."

Jordan stopped punching again and faced Perry, crossing his arms and laughing bitterly. "God, I hope you don't actually believe that. Apparently you don't like me being nice or mean to you."

Perry sighed, refusing to meet Jordan's eyes. "Look... I'm sorry." He nearly felt nauseous just saying it. "I took things too far yesterday, and I really don't have as much against you as I make it seem. I'm just having issues...trusting you, and the last person I want to be led by is the person I trust least."

Jordan's bitter smile faded into a more neutral frown. "Is it because of my uncle's reputation? How he killed multiple agents and has completely vanished?"

Perry fell silent, finding a sudden interest in the gray floor beneath their feet.

Jordan's movement, as he rested his paws on his hips, brought Perry's gaze back to him. "So even though it's basically not my fault and I had practically nothing to do with it, you're treating it like a personal vendetta?"

Perry crossed his arms, again resisting the urge to scowl. His uncle was a murderer who might still have been alive, and his parents abandoned the agency only months later- did he not have a valid reason to distrust Jordan? "I'm just being cautious."

"No." Jordan clearly didn't resist a similar urge to scowl. "You're just being a bastard." His scowl faded, and he sighed. "I get why you don't trust me, but how do you plan to give me a chance if you keep treating me the way you have been?"

"I know." Perry sighed. "And I think things went too far yesterday. If you can promise me you won't murder me or my sister in our sleep or something, I'll...try to get along. With all of you."

Jordan raised his eyebrows and stared at Perry in surprise. "This a genuine apology?"

"N-No." Perry crossed his arms. "I want you to be aware that I still feel the same way about you, I just can recognize when being open about it is too damaging. It's a call for a truce, is what it is."

The red platypus paused and stared into Perry's eyes for a minute- he shifted uncomfortably under his black gaze. "I can't apologize either, but you're right. Okay." He held his paw out. "I'll agree to a truce."

Perry reluctantly shook Jordan's paw. "Alright, cool. So we meeting up again tomorrow?"

"What do you think?" Jordan snorted. "I mean, we were supposed to meet up today. But yeah, and I think we're going to have to look for Rodrigo."

"Alright." The two fell into an awkward silence that lasted for what felt like hours. Eventually, although unsure how much later it was, Perry cleared his throat. "I'll...see you then, I guess."

"Yeah, see you." With that, Jordan turned his back on Perry and resumed his attack on the punching bag.

(...)

On his way home, Perry padded down the sidewalk on all fours. For all he knew, Phineas and Ferb were still out looking for their caveman friend and might run into him at any moment. Or someone else in his host family. Or even one of their friends or their families. Sometimes Perry risked maneuvering through the town without his cover as a mindless pet, but he just had an uncomfortable gut feeling that today he'd regret it- probably just 'cause he knew a lot of his family was more likely to be out and about with his knowledge of Phineas and Ferb's planned activity.

To his surprise, as he walked past the park, he did see a familiar face, although it certainly wasn't the face he was expecting. "Maxwell?"

The olive green platypus was on all fours as well, although unlike Perry he had a red leash around his neck and was surrounded by two blonde girls in matching blue outfits, as well as an older woman in a casual black dress with dark brown hair tied back in a bun. Perry almost instantly felt bad for speaking aloud, since that was probably Maxwell's host family with him, but it didn't stop Maxwell from making eye contact with him on the sidewalk and completely stopping in his tracks. "Perry?"

"S-Sorry." Perry blinked, feeling his fur tingle with awkwardness, fully aware that three strange pairs of eyes were on their conversation. "I was just surprised to run into you. I was on my way home."

"Who's your friend, Maxwell?" the brunette asked in a friendly tone, bending down to take a closer look at the two platypuses. "You're awfully chatty."

One of the blondes got onto her knees. "He's so cute!" She reached forward to pet Perry, but as the latter backed awkwardly away, her mother grabbed her wrist. "Angela, you can't just pet random animals you see on the street, whether Maxwell likes them or not."

"Wait." The other blonde, presumably Angela's twin sister, bent down as well. "Mom, can I check and see if he has a collar? I think I recognize him."

Their mother hesitated before shaking her head. "No, but I will. Move out of the way and let me check."

Perry shifted awkwardly on his legs as the stranger got close enough to him to lift his collar out of his fur. "What do you know, he does have owners." She squinted closer at the tag. "The...Flynn-Fletchers?"

"I knew it!" The blonde fist-pumped the air. "He is their pet!"

"Oh, yeah!" The other blonde, Angela, nodded and clapped her hands. "Phineas and Ferb's!"

Perry glanced over at Maxwell, who smirked just slightly enough for Perry to catch it. "Your boys get talked about a lot in our household. The girls have always wanted to meet them."

"Well, I'm sure they'd be honored." Perry risked mirroring his expression, offering a similarly subtle smile in return.

"Well, it's probably no good for him to be wandering the street." Their mother frowned, standing up. "Do you know where his family lives, girls?"

"Yeah, they're in our neighborhood!"

"Alright, then. Let's get this little guy home." Their mother hesitated before leaning down again and picking Perry up. Perry resisted the urge to struggle out of her arms- he didn't like being held by strangers, but she was Maxwell's family and he wanted to go home anyway.

He heard Maxwell chuckle. "Have fun up there."

"Shut up."

Just like that, the group of three humans and two platypuses maneuvered their way through Danville until Perry could see it in the distance. As well as this, he could also see a large...pterodactyl...floating above the house, but on further examination it looked to be 2D. "What is that?" Clearly the family could see it, too.

"Awesome!" Angela- at least, Perry assumed it was Angela- squealed. "See, Mom? We told you Phineas and Ferb make awesome things! And we finished all our homework. Can we please meet them?"

"Well..." Perry could just barely hear their mother's- wasn't their last name Bridges? so Ms. Bridges- heartbeat as she held her breath to think. "I did say I wanted you to wait until I could get to know their parents, and I suppose we do need to drop by anyway... Alright, if they're okay with it."

"Yay!" The twins cheered and high-fived each other.

"What are the boys doing?" Maxwell asked as they continued to walk, glancing up at Perry.

Perry resisted the urge to shrug, aware that Ms. Bridges would feel it. "It might be something related to their history project. I think they're going to give a presentation about the Prehistoric times?"

"Huh."

"Mom, Maxwell and Perry must be best friends!" one of the twins said. "They're both platypuses, and Maxwell's never this chatty!"

"What do you say, Perry? We best friends?"

Perry bit back a laugh. "Sure, let's go with that."

A few minutes later, Ms. Bridges was holding Perry- rather awkwardly; how often did she hold Maxwell?- with one hand while knocking on the door with the other. Linda opened the door and blinked in surprise. "Hello?"

"Hello, my name is Esther Bridges- I'm one of your neighbors." She held Perry out to Linda with two hands. "We found him near the park downtown, and the collar said he's yours."

"Oh, there you are, Perry." Linda took him into her arms, and Perry settled more comfortably in them. She knew how to hold him. "Thank you." Her gaze drifted down to Angela and...whoever her twin was...who were squirming excitedly on their feet and trying to look into the backyard. "And who are you two?"

"I'm Angela!" the twin on the left chirped. She elbowed her sister. "And this is Andrea."

"Angela and Andrea, how cute. How old are you two?"

Andrea puffed out her chest proudly. "Ten and a half."

"Oh, have you met Phineas and Ferb? They're not much older than you." Linda gently set Perry on the ground, probably expecting him to pad away, but, curious to see how the conversation would play out, Perry nonchalantly settled himself on the floor near the doorway.

"Actually, that's one of the reasons I was hoping to talk to you." Esther cleared her throat. "My girls have been wanting to meet your boys for a while, but I wanted to make sure I met you first. Is it alright if they visit?"

"Absolutely." Linda smiled at her. "A lot of kids around Danville visit the boys. Typically during the summer, when there's no school or homework to take up their time, but the boys are usually free in the afternoon on weekends anyway. In fact, I'm sure you can go into the backyard and meet them now, if you like."

"Yippee!" Angela jumped, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Come on, Andrea!" She picked up Maxwell, who made brief eye contact with Perry, before rushing to the backyard. Andrea quickly followed.

Both moms chuckled. "Is it okay if I get to know you more?" Esther asked curiously.

Linda nodded, stepping aside. "Come on in. Do you like tea?"

"That sounds great, thanks."

Perry bounded away from the entrance- doing his best not to trip up either adult while doing so- to the backyard. Sure enough, Phineas and Ferb were outside, with a giant pop-up book of some kind depicting volcanoes, dinosaurs, and similar topics. They must have been inspired by the giant scrapbook they made for Candace the year before- it reminded him of that.

As Perry felt his feet settle in the grass, he saw Maxwell, the leash no longer attached, pad up beside him. "Well, this was definitely a twist to the day's plans."

"Definitely." Perry sat in the grass and looked over at him. "Surprisingly fun, though. You have a sweet family."

Maxwell grinned. "The girls are great, aren't they? They're a bit excitable, but sometimes that energy is just what I need."

"It's the same with Phineas." Perry glanced up at the redheaded boy who was climbing down a ladder to meet the two twins. "He's way more optimistic than I've ever been, but it's a nice balance that I need sometimes."

"So is this often what your day looks like?" Maxwell nodded to the giant book taking up most of the backyard.

"After work?" Perry shook his head. "Actually, usually whatever the boys have created goes away by then. But I typically get a good glimpse into what their plan is before I leave, and even if I don't, I like to check the security cameras in my lair to see what they got up to. It's always something impressive like this."

They fell silent for a few minutes, simply watching Phineas and Ferb introduce themselves to Angela and Andrea. Soon the two girls were glancing around the backyard, until their gazes settled on where Perry and Maxwell were, when they began to point and run over. "Looks like we've caught the attention of the kids."

"So who's your friend, boy?" Phineas grinned and picked Perry up off the ground, stroking his head. Perry snuggled into it, always welcoming of affection from the boy.

"This is Maxwell." Angela- or at least, one of the twins- sat down next to the olive green platypus and scratched his back. "We think he might be friends with Perry."

Phineas set Perry back on the ground, and Perry reluctantly pulled out of his arms. "That would be awesome! Perry does vanish every day, so that might be the case."

The two twins made eye contact before gasping in unison. "Really?" Andrea- or the one who wasn't sitting on the ground- exclaimed. "Maxwell vanishes almost every day, too! Today was the first day he hasn't gone in a long time!"

"It's possible they meet up for some type of platypus social event," Ferb offered. "Danville appears to have a lot."

"Good point, bro." Phineas glanced between the two platypuses. "Is it true, boy? You been disappearing to meet up with him?"

Perry coughed. "No, but you can't understand me, so you'll probably take this as a yes."

Maxwell chuckled. "Risky move."

"Hey, they don't have translators for a reason."

"Well, that would definitely be cool." Phineas gave Perry another gentle pat on the head before turning back to the other three kids. "C'mon, guys! Ferb and I can show you what exactly we've been up to, if you'd like."

Andrea and Angela exchanged an excited glance, their bright brown eyes going wide, before they both, in unison, cheered, "Yeah! Let's go!" And just like that, the four kids raced off.

Perry yawned and settled onto his stomach, resting his head on his paws as a smile enveloped his face. "Sounds like the boys have some new friends."

Maxwell laid down next to him. Perry glanced over and felt a weird shiver down his spine when he noticed that the olive green platypus was closer than he had been before- only a few inches away. But Perry looked away and closed his eyes, ignoring it. "Penny was right yesterday," Maxwell said suddenly. "She may have been more aggressive than usual, but she said that she had never seen the...somewhat dislikable side to you." Clearly Maxwell had a stronger opinion than that, it was obvious in his tone, but Perry chose to ignore it. He probably kept quiet for good reason.

There was a pause. Then, "To be honest, I didn't really know what to think when I heard her, because, while growing up around you in OWCA, seeing you interact with others from the sidelines, hearing the stories others told... I had never heard of a different side to you." Another pause. "That's not to say that I didn't like you personally," he added quickly. "I never really formed my own opinions. In most cases I agreed with you, actually. But it was still just who I thought you were, but... I guess that was only at OWCA, wasn't it?"

Perry opened his eyes and looked over at Maxwell, but the green platypus didn't notice and kept talking, his eyes fixed on the twin girls riding the platform above the giant book. "I mean, OWCA was probably just a small part of your life. You spent most of your time- before our team-up- here hanging out with your family, or at Doofenshmirtz's taking care of him- in...one way or another."

"I care about them a lot." Perry made sure no one was watching him before risking a smile at Maxwell. "Even if most of them don't know as much about me as they think. They're my family...even Doof." He rolled his eyes, although the smile remained on his face. "That doesn't mean they never get on my nerves, but... It doesn't bug me the same way a lot of agents at OWCA do."

"Speaking of which..." Maxwell looked over at him. "Will our team be able to function tomorrow?"

Perry snorted. "I have no idea. But assuming this is a roundabout attempt at checking to see if Jordan and I have talked... We have. Called a bit of a truce. I don't think we'll ever get along, but at least now we have an agreement to stay out of each other's way."

"Sounds like that might be hard since he's literally your leader now."

He flinched. "Don't remind me. But I mostly mean that the plan seems to be for both of us to try and...refrain from being openly hostile at the other. The fight-starting needs to stop."

"That's...awfully mature of you," Maxwell said slowly.

"You sound surprised." Perry grinned at him briefly. "But I don't blame you. I purposely make myself difficult to like, so it's not really surprising when people come to that conclusion about me."

"What about Penny? Have you talked to her?"

Perry hesitated before shaking his head. "Haven't seen her all day. I've mostly just been giving her her space. I'm hoping the current setup with Jordan will make it easier to patch things up with her."

"Well... Good luck with that, I suppose. Hopefully it won't make tomorrow too awkward."

They fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence, their eyes resting on their kids who were chatting animatedly. Perry wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but eventually Esther came outside. "Girls, we need to get going. Your father will have dinner ready soon."

"Aw." The twins ran over to her, Phineas and Ferb not far behind. "Okay." The two girls turned around and waved at the boys. "Bye, Phineas! Bye, Ferb! It was nice to meet you!"

"You, too!" Phineas and Ferb waved back.

Maxwell got back up on all-fours and stretched. "Sounds like I need to go. See you at OWCA tomorrow, I assume."

Perry nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you then."

As the family left the backyard, Perry heard one of the twins- maybe Angela? Her voice might have been slightly higher- say, "Mom, can we play something together after dinner tonight? We haven't played Kleptocracy in forever."

"Not tonight, sweetheart. I have another work meeting."

"But you always have-" Perry struggled to continue picking up on their conversation, as by this point they had walked down the driveway and out of sight. But what she had been going to say was rather obvious.

"Well, that was fun." Phineas and Ferb walked up to Perry, and Ferb bent down and picked him up. "And we got our History project recording to show it to our class on Monday!" They began to enter the house. "It's too bad we couldn't find Conk."

"Well, it has been almost a year since he left," Ferb said. "He could be anywhere by this point. The chances of him remaining in Danville were awfully low."

"Yeah, you're right." Phineas reached out to Perry and rubbed the top of his head. "But at least we made some new friends today. All of us, apparently."

Perry held back a smile as he thought back on his conversation with Maxwell. Maybe they weren't friends yet, but there might be a chance in the future. In all the years he had known the fellow platypus and lone wolf, he never expected that they might get along so well.

But now wasn't the time to think about his own relationships. Perry glanced at a clock on the wall as Ferb carried him up to the boys' bedroom, Phineas in tow. He had less than an hour to sneak away from the boys, find Doof, and help Doof with his own date. This... Rebecca chick or whoever. And he probably needed to get a bit of a game plan for how he was going to help Doof with her down, too. This was gonna be fun.

(...)

After a quick dinner with his family, Perry snuck out of the house and carefully made his way down the streets of Danville. He would have totally used one of his vehicles...if he hadn't left his hovercar parked in front of Doof's apartment. But he had, and now he needed to go back and grab it before meeting up with Doof at the restaurant. Oh, well, at least it was darker so he was less likely to run into people who knew him. They had agreed to meet at the restaurant instead of his apartment building, so he just had to run and pick up his car before heading over. Then he wouldn't need to worry about getting caught at all.

Soon, he hopped in his car and drove to the restaurant at the address Doof gave him. Thankfully, despite the brief excursion Perry had been forced to take, he still made it within the time allotted and met up with the scientist, who was standing on the sidewalk near the building. "Perry the Platypus, you made it!"

"Sorry, trip took a bit longer than I expected." Perry parked his car along the street and hopped out. "Is she here yet?"

"No, she shouldn't be for another ten minutes." Doof nervously wrung his hands together.

"So then what do you want me to do?" Perry crossed his arms. "I could do what they do in movies and pretend to be a waiter, because some of the people in Danville are actually stupid enough to buy that I'm a human if I wear the right clothing. Or I could do something similar and pretend to be a fellow customer while giving you tips from a different table." Frankly neither of those options sounded good, but he was here to help Doof, even if that meant doing something he typically might not want to.

"Wow, that's...more options than I expected." Doof thoughtfully placed his hand on his chin. "But neither of them sound very good." He held a finger up and his eyes brightened. "Oh, wait! I've got it! Perry the Platypus, what if you stood outside the window, here-" he pointed at the sidewalk, where a large window looking into the restaurant was positioned- "and frantically signaled to me?"

Seriously? Perry crossed his arms. "I mean, it's your date, so I could, if you want. But I might not be able to hear anything you two say."

"Not if we get that seat." Doof pointed through the window to the table directly on the other side. "Then you could hear me, and maybe I could even hear you."

Perry sighed. Did he still not see the issues with this? "So you and your date would be right on the other side of the glass? So she'd see me frantically waving to you and think I was a stalker or something. Or she'd realize something's going on because of how often you'd be turning your head to look directly at me for my advice. Plus anyone else in the restaurant, as well as any people walking by on the street, would see me. It's, like, the furthest thing from me subtly helping you in the background."

"Oh." Doof dejectedly stared down at the sidewalk. "I suppose so... Well, then, what do you suggest, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. "I already-"

"Oh, that's right." Doof hesitated. "But wouldn't it look weird if you were the only person sitting at your table?"

"No, people go to restaurants on their own. The weirdest thing about that plan would be me trying to pass as a human." Perry couldn't help an amused smile from playing at his bill. "Not everyone only leaves the house for a date, Doof."

"What?" Doof crossed his arms. "I don't do that."

Perry mirrored his position and stared firmly into the scientist's gaze. "Are you sure?"

"I..." Doof rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I...leave the house occasionally. For...groceries...and stuff." His arms fell to his side and he hung his head. "You're right."

Perry chuckled and gently patted his knee. "Just don't worry about it. I'll take care of that." He crossed his arms again and smiled up at Doof. "You just enjoy your date, alright?"

Doof nodded. "Alright, Perry the Platypus." He returned the smile. "Thanks."

"It's no problem, what are friends for?" Perry glanced around. She wasn't there yet, it didn't seem. "Before your date arrives and spots me, I'm gonna go grab my own seat. See you inside." He turned to enter the restaurant before pausing and looking back at Doof. "Good luck."

Doof smiled- nervously, it seemed- and waved. Perry turned away and entered the restaurant. No one had noticed him yet and kicked him out, which was good. Now he just needed to find a costume to blend into the surroundings. Glancing around the restaurant, Perry's eyes soon fell on something resting in the far back corner. A random...mannequin was set up, positioned in a standard male suit with a beret. He was next to a mannequin dressed like a women, wearing a pretty sundress and sunhat. Weird.

Perry glanced over at the sign next to it. In collaboration with L'Enterprise de le Mannequin, we are modelling their specialized mannequins in our restaurant, for one week only. Happy anniversary, EM!

"Excuse me, sir," Perry heard a woman say from somewhere else in the restaurant. "I thought I saw some type of animal in here a few moments ago. This restaurant has a no-animal policy, right?"

Shoot. Perry dove behind the pair of mannequins and watched as the waiter being spoken to apologized to the customer and made his way around the length of the small restaurant. A moment later, he returned to her. "Ma'am, I'm not seeing any sign of an animal in here. I'll let the other staff know, and we'll keep an eye out."

Perry exhaled. That was too close, he needed to start blending in really quickly. From his position behind the mannequin, he noticed Doof finally enter the restaurant, side-by-side with a woman wearing a purple dress. He had his arms hooked to hers and everything, and she didn't even seem uncomfortable. Good for him, I guess. Perry blinked. She didn't seem ready to turn tail and run yet, which was always a good start.

He looked around the restaurant again. What could he use? Doof would need him really soon. His eyes landed on the beret on top of the mannequin. Oh, duh. Perry took one final glance around, making sure that no one's eyes might land on him, before awkwardly climbing up the back of the mannequin and pulling the beret off the top. Hopefully no one would notice it was missing.

He switched his fedora for the beret and inhaled deeply before stepping out from behind the mannequin. No one said anything as he casually walked down the aisle of tables and settled at the empty table by the window. Wait, he didn't have anything to hide his table. Then a waiter might show up and try to take his order... That wouldn't end well. Perry looked around the restaurant again before spotting a random newspaper lying on the sidewalk outside. Quickly, Perry hopped off his chair, ran outside, grabbed the paper, and popped back in his chair, casually pulling the paper out like he had been there the whole time.

Finally able to relax, Perry glanced around the paper to where Doof and his date- Rebecca was her name, right?- were settled not far away. "So... I need to tell you something." Doofenshmirtz cleared his throat awkwardly. "I...can't actually speak Japanese. I was worried you may not want to meet me if I couldn't."

"Oh... Well, that's a shame." Perry watched with narrowed eyes as Rebecca began to speak. "But I understand. Finding a date can be a fragile thing, especially if you want to take things seriously with someone else." She...smiled at him. "It's no requirement for you to speak Japanese. It would have been nice, but not necessary." She hesitated before gasping. "In fact, I may even be able to try and help teach you!" Her smile turned into a large grin. "I had never even considered that before, that might be fun!"

"O-Oh, well, I'm glad you feel that way." A smile spread across Doofenshmirtz's own face. "I suppose I could try. I was never a great student, though."

"Oh, come on." Rebecca waved her hand in the air nonchalantly. "You said you're a scientist, right? I'm sure you weren't that bad."

He failed basic climbing, lady. I think at one point he even mentioned that he never got his diploma. Perry couldn't help the grin from coming to his own face, though. She seemed nice enough, and they actually appeared to have a solid amount of chemistry. That was more than could be said about any of the other dates Perry had seen Doof on.

"Well, I am a scientist." Doof awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "Although none of my recent inators have been very successful. I used to make ev-"

Perry quickly set his paper down and waved his paws frantically, doing his best to get Doof's attention. Don't go into how less than a year ago you were evil, that's not a date one thing...!

Doof seemed to notice him and cleared his throat. "I mean... I... I've been working on trying to build inators that could, you know, corner the market!" A smile briefly lit on his face before flickering out. "But none of them have worked yet. Most companies have turned me down."

Rebecca leaned forward. "Inators? You mean, like, you invent things? What kind of inators have you created?"

"Oh, no one's...ever shown interest in my inators before..." Doof cleared his throat. "Well, it's not directly an inator, but last summer I tried to create a product that I thought a lot of people would be buying, but I gave up with it after just a couple days. I decided I should try getting it sold again. It's called 'Get Back Hair' and it's an instant miracle worker for people who are losing hair." He frowned down at the table. "It's still not selling well, though, and I'm not sure why."

"You know, my father would love that." Rebecca paused as a waiter arrived at their table and handed them two drinks. "Thank you. And... I may have a suspicion as to why you're not making any sales."

The name's crap and misleading?

"The name...could use some work," Rebbeca said slowly. "But I think getting involved in business can be hard if you start later in life and don't know anyone."

Doof sighed before taking a sip of his drink. "So there's no point, then?"

"I didn't say that." Rebecca grinned. "I just said that you need to know the right people." She cleared her throat. "For the record, my little brother just happens to be a marketing director. Specifically, the CMO for a large company."

Doof stared at her, his blue eyes blank. "That's cool for him, I guess. And your point is...?" Perry sighed. That man wouldn't take a hint if someone wrote it on a piece of paper and threw it in his face.

Rebecca just giggled, luckily for him. "I mean..." She reached her hand out and rested it on his. "I might be able to pull some strings so you can start pitching some of your ideas to him and the rest of the company. Would you be interested in that?"

Doof's gaze remained blank for what must have been another thirty seconds before he finally seemed to process what she said, letting out a large gasp. "Y-You mean, I might actually be able to start making some money off of my inators?"

"Maybe." Rebecca shrugged nonchalantly, her gaze wandering up to the ceiling. Perry didn't have the greatest view of her face, since she was facing away from him, but he thought he could glimpse a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. "I can't promise anything, but I do know they're trying to find new products to sell right now and need some extra help..."

"Wow, that would be wonderful!" Doof paused. "But I couldn't possibly ask you to do that, this is only our first date."

Rebecca's gaze returned to him, and her smile grew. "You're right, this is only our first date. But... Right now, I'm hoping it'll only be the first out of many."

Perry's eyes widened. Wow, so she actually did like him. He really stood a chance that time around. Was there even any need for him to stick around longer? He'd hardly done anything.

"You...want to go on another date?" The scientist's own eyes widened as well.

"Well, I certainly can't think of the last time I had this much fun ten minutes into a date." Rebecca giggled. "But it really depends on what you want. Obviously if I'm not your type we don't have to meet again."

"No, I-" Doof developed a grin as well. "I'd love to. This is the best date I've had in a long time also."

"Great." Rebecca took another sip of her drink. "Let's see how this goes, and then maybe we could schedule another date soon?"

"Y-Yeah, that... That sounds great...!"

Perry hesitated before setting his paper down again. Was he...good to go? He caught Doof's eye and gave the scientist two thumbs up. You good?

Thankfully, Doof seemed to understand the question and nodded briefly back, smiling. Perry grinned and hopped off his chair. So not only could he leave early and spend more time with the boys, but Doof might finally have a new girlfriend. Probably the best outcome Perry could have hoped for for the night, whether expected or not. Now it was just time to head home and start thinking about how to deal with work the next day. Maybe he'd be lucky and that would have an outcome just as great and unexpected.

Who was he kidding? Of course he wouldn't.