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The thing was… Candace should have been asleep.
After all, it was late, and she had school in a couple of hours.
So standing in her doorway was not only impractical, it was, reasonably speaking, insane.
But her life was insanity wrapped in a pretty ribbon, so staying up past two a.m. was closer to average than she'd like to admit.
God knew her brothers considered time a relative thing when it came to surprises.
Hence, why she merely massaged her eyes and blinked upon seeing the relatively odd occurrence currently happening in her bed.
Perry was asleep on it.
Again.
Usually, it wouldn't have been strange. The platypus seemed to have developed an obsession with her mattress over the years, much to her chagrin.
But the fact that he was curled up into a tighter ball than usual...
His tail tucked close.
His bill partially hidden.
His paws folded beneath him—
She frowned.
That part was odd.
Perry never looked that pathetic.
Approaching carefully, she poked him.
He didn't so much as gurgle. If anything, he only curled up tighter.
Her hands tightened around her cup of water.
Then she glanced toward her shelf.
Then back at Perry.
Her grimace deepened.
She really hoped she wasn't going to regret this later.
Perry's belly rumbled as he yawned.
He'd had to help Heinz late into the night, making sure Vanessa had everything she needed for an essay, which meant he'd gotten home far later than usual.
Hopefully, his boys hadn't missed him too much.
His paws touched something soft.
Huh?
Blinking, he looked down.
There was a blanket draped over him and...
Why was he hugging Candace's Ducky Momo plush?
His tail slowly uncurled as he stared at it.
Then his paws loosened their surprisingly firm grip on the toy.
He glanced up, beak parting slightly when he spotted Candace brushing her teeth in the adjoining bathroom, still dressed in her pajamas.
She spat into the sink and turned toward him.
The secret agent tilted his head.
"Krrr?"
Candace froze for half a second.
Then she narrowed her eyes.
"...This never happened."
She pointed a toothbrush at him for emphasis.
Then she immediately shut the bathroom door.
Perry blinked.
Once.
Twice.
He looked back down at the plush.
Then at the blanket.
Then at the closed door.
...
Looks like some things the agent was simply never going to understand.
He hugged the plush again, a small smile crossing his bill.
That was fine with him.