Fate is unavoidable. It's destiny. Most people don't mind, they rejoice when it comes for them, they yearn for the day they'll meet the person Fate has chosen for them.
But Phineas has forever dreaded the day his timer would hit zero, romance just i...
Though it was still early, Phineas went straight home.
He paused in the doorway of his apartment. Despite neglecting to turn on the lights, he could see from the light still coming in through the windows. The stillness in the place unsettled him. Glancing at the cardboard boxes still piled up in some places, he closed the door. Maybe once he unpacked the last one, it would feel like home.
Some part of him wanted to turn around and walk back out, go to Maple Drive and take up his mom's offer that he could crash in his old room if he ever needed to. But he was an adult. He needed to get used to this, not run home to his mom whenever he got lonely.
Sighing, he crossed the small front room and fell face-first onto the couch. Legs still hanging over the armrest, he folded one arm under his head. Maybe if things did move fast with his soulmate, it would be good for him. He wouldn't have to live alone. Or mostly alone.
At that thought, he raised his head and glanced around for his teal pet. "Perry?" he called out, when he didn't see the platypus. "Perry! Come here, boy."
His heart sunk slightly when no response came. Where Perry went every day, Phineas didn't know, it had always been like that, but the last few years, the fear that Perry would wander off and not come back had been creeping into his head. Platypuses didn't live that long, and Perry was up there in years.
Another sigh left him. This train of thought was no better than the last.
He dropped his head back down onto his arm, immediately flinching when it caused a spike of pain. Pulling his arm out, he sighed. He hadn't thought the scraps were that bad.
He'd dab some peroxide or something on it later.
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Falling asleep had not been his plan when he'd laid down.
Phineas' stomach growled. Slowly sliding his stiff legs off the armrest, he tried to ignore the pins and needles radiating through them. With a yawn, he sat up.
How long had he slept? He scrubbed a hand over his face as he blinked, eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness. Maybe he should have turned on a light, electricity bill be damned.
Squinting as his eyes began to pick up on the small amount of light leaking in from outside, he stood up and held his hands out in front of him. Not that it would alert him to the boxes on the floor, but at least he wouldn't walk into a wall. At least he didn't have to worry about tripping over or walking into any furniture.
Phineas felt his way around the couch before guesstimating where the light switch would be based off of where the windows were. After a few slow steps that didn't lead to him stubbing a toe, he continued with a little less caution. Maybe he'd already moved all the boxes out of the way.
As if to spite him, his foot kicked something. A muttered curse leaving his lips as he regained his balance. He didn't hear anything shattering with the light thud of cardboard on wood, or intimation wood really, so that was good. Did he even have any glass packed up? Maybe some framed pictures but those boxes should be over by bedroom.
Wherever it was, he could deal with after turning the light on.
After feeling around with his foot to make sure another box hadn't suddenly appeared in his path, he started walking again. Finding the wall, his fingers slid over several small dents and imperfections in it before hitting the cool plastic cover for the switch.
He slammed his eyes shut as a blinding amount of light flooded the room. The white that managed to sink in past his eyelids slowly faded, and he risked opening them. Spots still obstructed his vision. He blinked a few times before looking for the box.
The folded top hadn't opened up and nothing had fallen out. Nothing he had to deal with then.
Going around to the small counter that served both as that and as a table, he went straight for the refrigerator. Once he opened it, he groaned. Letting the door close again, he leaned his forehead against it. Of course, he had forgotten to buy groceries. Like his day hadn't been bad enough already.
He stepped back, straightening up to his full height as he rolled his shoulders before falling back into his normal slouching posture. Though not expecting to find anything, Phineas opened each of the five cabinets. The emptiness of them only adding to his sense of unhomeliness.
During college, he never got this feeling. Phineas frowned. Homesickness had been something he'd experienced a lot, but that had been more tolerable than this.
A chattering noise came from behind him a moment before something warm and soft rubbed against his legs.
Frown vanishing, Phineas bent down. "Oh, there you are, Perry." He scratched the platypus's head, causing Perry's unfocused eyes to slid shut as he leaned into his owner's hand.
"You're lucky," Phineas muttered, "you don't have to deal with soulmates or society's standards. You don't have to do to anything."
Perry made a sound that almost sounded like a scoff.
Was he so lonely that he was considering that his pet could understand enough to scoff at him? Pulling his hand away from Perry's head, Phineas picked the semi-aquatic animal up. When he was little, he liked to pretend that Perry could understand him but, after twenty years of seeing those unfocused eyes, he had grown to doubt it.
Or maybe he was growing disillusioned with the world. How disheartening was that?
"It would be nice if you could understand me." Phineas squeezed Perry to his chest as he walked back to the couch.
"I met my soulmate today... or yesterday, is it after midnight?" Sitting down, Phineas placed Perry in his lap. The platypus walked in a tight circle three times before curling up. "Anyway, he's not what I expected."
For a second, Phineas thought he saw Perry's eyes focus but dismissed it as his imagination deciding to resurface. He combed his fingers through Perry's thick fur.
"I wonder if he likes platypuses. He's gonna have to." A grin spread across Phineas' face. "And if he treats either of us bad, you can hit him with your spur." Phineas wasn't sure how he got away with not having Perry's removed. One would think poisonous ankle barbs would be a big deal. But apparently not in Danville.
Perry let a sharp, unpleased sounding chatter at the suggestion.
"Okay, fine, you don't have to." He moved to rub a hand over his face when his eyes caught something. After pushing his sleeve up a little, he stared at where the numbers had been.
