Chapter Text
Phineas woke up, feeling the absence on his bed.
It was dark now, the lights in the house had gone out a few hours ago. Everyone in the house was soundly asleep.
Everyone but Perry, it seemed, who still hadn’t come up yet. His absence from the S.S. Phineas was palpably felt.
Phineas frowned, sitting up on the cushion. Slowly, he looked over to see Ferb was still asleep, his brother lying on his back and slowly breathing in and out.
With soft feet, Phineas quietly crawled out of bed, feeling the cool wood floor beneath the soles of his feet as he slowly tiptoed out of their room and down into the hall.
Wincing every time his feet creaked on the staircase, Phineas came down into the darkened living room, the air quiet and chilly.
And sure enough, as Phineas’ eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see Perry lying quietly on his pet bed by the back door window.
He could tell Perry noticed his presence as the platypus raised his head to look at him as soon as he entered the room.
“Hey.” Phineas spoke quietly.
The silence that followed felt deafening, the boy and his pet staring at each other for what felt like forever. Phineas hesitantly shuffled his feet, kneeling down in front of the platypus.
“You, uh… you didn’t come to bed.” Phineas said awkwardly.
Perry tilted his head inquisitively, sitting up on his knees. “I…” He paused mid-signing, looking down sadly, “I didn’t think my presence would be welcomed.”
That broke Phineas’ heart.
He was still getting used to that, seeing his platypus who supposedly didn’t do much now thinking and acting like a person. Which had sent his brain spiraling into a whole other flurry of questions.
Could he even still be called their pet given his sentience?
Was it okay to even pet him? Pick him up? Feed him worms and insects?
It made Phineas feel guilty as when Perry had initially revealed himself, he was furious.
Now Phineas was generally a very welcoming and friendly guy, but when someone hurt him, boy did he get mad.
And that was exactly how he felt when Perry had first revealed himself to them. He remembered yelling at him and seeing the way Perry shrunk under his gaze, as if his whole world was crumbling down.
Even when Perry tried to explain himself, Phineas still felt that lingering sense of anger. Anger at Perry for not telling him that he was an agent sooner, anger at OWCA for sending Perry on dangerous missions that risked his life, and anger at himself for still feeling this way at Perry.
He knew Perry had a good reason for not telling them. He knew Perry couldn’t tell them since he would get relocated.
So why did he still feel this way? Why did he still have this feeling of resentment?
Now that his anger had mostly blown over, the guilt was seeping in like a tidal wave.
“I… uh, I know I was angry and… and I yelled at you…” Phineas looked down, rubbing his arm sheepishly. “And… and I’m sorry…”
He felt his eyes beginning to well up. “I’m not gonna ignore that you… lied to us for so long… but I know you had a good reason and…” He sighed. “I’m just… so tired of being angry…I—”
He felt a soft paw touch his hand, forcing him to look up.
Perry’s eyes were soft, sitting up on his knees with a forlorn smile on his bill.
While Perry knew that it was important to keep his cover identity intact, there were many days when he hated lying to his family. Before, sometimes he even briefly considered walking into the backyard with his hat on and let the kids see him.
But he knew that if he did that, OWCA would have him permanently separated from his family.
That was until his identity was eventually revealed.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, Perry was free to roam about the house as himself. He still had his regular missions against Doofenshmirtz, only now the Flynn-Fletchers were fully aware of his job. The family had gone through many emotional hurdles getting used to this new status quo.
Phineas’ case was the most emotionally difficult for him.
It brought back memories of the second dimension, when Phineas and Ferb had found out the first time. Rather painful memories at that.
He understood Phineas’ anger, which was why he tried to keep his distance for a bit. Hoping that doing so would give Phineas time to cool down.
He let out a comforting chatter as he gripped Phineas’ hand tightly.
“I’m sorry…” Phineas murmured, a stray tear slipping down his cheek, “I’m sorry I yelled at you, I’m sorry I said you didn’t care about us, I…”
The tears began to flow as he let out a strangled sob.
Perry quickly threw himself at Phineas, wrapping his arms around the young boy and holding him tight. He nuzzled into the boy’s chest with a comforting purr.
Phineas quickly returned the hug, silently sobbing into the platypus’ fur.
The two sat there for a few minutes, holding each other tight.
“Phineas? Perry?” The two jumped as they released each other, turning to see Linda standing at the edge of the staircase, a concerned look on her face.
“Are you boys okay?” She asked, her motherly concern kicking in.
Perry quickly nodded his head, “We’re okay.” He signed.
“Y-Yeah, we were just… talking.” Phineas said, wiping away the remainder of his tears.
“Okay,” Linda whispered, kneeling down in front of the boy and his platypus, “just be sure to go to bed soon. I’m sure you both need your sleep.”
With that, she gently kissed Phineas and Perry on their foreheads before heading back upstairs.
Phineas glanced at Perry, the two sharing a look before they followed the matriarch of the family upstairs.
The two ended up snuggled together on the S.S. Phineas.
And as he drifted off, Phineas couldn’t help but feel that even though his view of Perry had changed, his love for him hadn’t.