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Sunlight spilled in through the window, casting light to the shadows of Heinz's room as his eyes flickered open.
He groaned, reaching up to rub the grit from his eyes and feeling idly at his left side, where Perry usually slept. Usually, he liked to cuddle a bit before they started their day, and he was looking forward to his nemesis' warmth in the chill of morning. He did not find, however, the habitual warmth or a touch to match his own. Instead, the bed was cold, covers thrown haphazardly aside and absent of its normal occupant. Heinz frowned, blearily glancing around the room as he yawned, but ultimately found nothing.
Where was Perry?
"Perry the Platypus?" he called, fairly stumbling out of bed after he pushed the covers away. It was unlike Perry to leave the bed without waking him alongside; they woke up together in order to get things started for the day. But it was the weekend — Heinz had no class to teach, which meant Perry had nothing to look out for. Perhaps Monogram had sent him on an early mission, he thought. "Schatz? You're not making breakfast again, are you? I've told you, I'm perfectly capable of cooking after I wake up. We only had the one fire..."
But Perry was not to be found in the kitchen, either. Heinz scratched the back of his head, frowning to himself. "Norm? Have you seen Perry the Platypus?"
Norm, who in Perry's place was making his customary crunchy eggs, glanced over his enormous shoulder. "YES! PERRY THE PLATYPUS TOLD ME NOT TO TELL YOU WHERE HE WENT."
"What? Why not?" he asked, moderately more alert than before. That was odd. The idea of an early mission played at the forefront of his mind again, but he was a light sleeper. It happened often enough that he woke up to the buzzing of Perry's watch vibration, so that seemed a little off. "Did he say why he was leaving?"
"LIKE I WOULD KNOW, SIR." Heinz raised an eyebrow at Norm for his attitude. Perhaps he was spending too much time around Vanessa's friends; some of them were a little rude. He'd have to reprogram that bit of his code unless he wanted to deal with two moody teenagers in the house. "BUT HE DID SAY THAT YOU SHOULD CHECK YOUR PHONE. MAYBE THAT WILL HELP."
"'Check my phone', huh?" Well, that was novel. Heinz ignored the plate set in front of him in order to grab the phone from his bedside table, then collapsed on the couch to view the list of texts that Perry had sent him.
There were quite a few; some pictures and some phrases that seemed like a jumble of a mess. Heinz frowned, flicking his finger upward to start from the top. Five photos awaited his perusal. One of a map, one of a piece of paper, one of one of his old inators, a picture of a tree, and a picture of Perry himself.
The top message read: Time for me to trap you.
"'Trap me'?" He pondered, scrolling through the messages again. The map denoted five numbered locations circled with marker, in which he identified as Danville. That seemed an obvious enough hint — Perry wanted him to visit the spots he'd circled. He wondered if he'd potentially find clues to whatever game his nemesis was playing or if he was being led into a wild goose chase. That didn't seem like the Perry he knew — he must have had a reason to be this cryptic, though Heinz couldn't imagine what that reason might be.
Alright, Perry the Platypus, he thought, leaving the couch in favor of slipping on his clothes. I'll play along.
The mild autumn air proved enough to wake him even without his morning coffee, which he'd forgotten in favor of pursuing the pictures. Heinz scrolled through them again before he hopped into his car, then headed straight for the local DMV.
"What's so special about the DMV?" He asked aloud when he got there, glancing around at the growing crowd. On a Saturday, the place would be busy, and he was sure he wouldn't be allowed to simply snoop around and find whatever clue it was that Perry had waiting for him. There was nothing obvious around him, and no sign of Perry either, so Heinz scrolled until he found the picture of the piece of paper and read the caption beneath.
I wrote this during your driving test.
"What is this thing, anyway?" He zoomed in on it, squinting to see if he could read the writing. Fortunately, Perry had captured it with a decent enough camera that he could make it out. The top few words read Last Will and Testament.
"A will," he mumbled to himself, and glanced at the DMV again. He could remember that day: he'd been scared of his driving test, and Perry the Platypus had held his hand until it was time to hop into the car. Had he been writing then? Heinz couldn't recall — he'd been a tad too focused on anything but the road. "A will, I — that arschgesicht, I didn't drive that badly..."
What he did know, however, was that Perry's hand in his had felt right. That day, his confidence had been inordinately low. He hadn't been expecting to have to retake the driving test, either, and it only served to debilitate him until his nemesis' hand fit into his own. He remembered feeling somewhat vulnerable, admitting his fear, but he'd never had any doubt that Perry the Platypus would take his words to heart. He proved, time and time again, that he would be there for him; that calling him his rock was one truth he could hold above all else. It was one thing Heinz loved about him.
Shaking his head and satisfied that there was nothing left for him at the DMV, he turned to find his next clue.
His next stop so happened to be Doofenshmirtz Evil, Inc., which annoyed him to a degree — he could have stayed home and saved himself the trouble. Rolling his eyes, he looked down at his phone again, scrolling to the second picture and reading the caption.
Rotate 90 degrees. Think alphabetically.
The picture was of the Magnetism Magnifier that he'd built the summer two years ago. Or had it been three? Heinz had lost count — they'd been together for some time now, and it always felt surreal to think of a time when he hadn't been a part of Perry's life in such an intimate manner. It felt as though they'd been together all this time, from his adult life onward. Like he'd known him forever.
Heinz turned his phone until it rotated the picture. The magnet bent into a curve, but he couldn't see anything special about it.
"Alphabetically, huh?" Well, he supposed that it looked like a lowercase letter N... or was it a U? If he tilted it to the other side, it became even more confusing. "A will and the letter N. Or, U. I mean, it-it could be a U, I guess. A will and a letter. Man, Perry the Platypus, you can be such a headache."
He drove again, this time following the directions to the Danville Botanical Gardens. As he passed through the check-in he breathed in a soft sigh, taking in the scenery and scent of the various flora. The last time he'd been here... Heinz shook his head. The last time he'd been here, he'd involved himself with a rogue bounty hunter and a man he'd all but forgotten.
Heinz glanced at the directions again, then looked at the brochure he'd brought from check-in. The directions were specific to one spot on the map, which took him a few minutes to find until he found himself standing before an enormous tree.
His eyebrow quirked. A tree? He pulled out his phone. The caption this time read: This tree is Australian.
"So what?" he queried, barely huffing back an incredulous sigh. What did the nationality of the tree have to do with anything? He glanced at it again. There was nothing truly remarkable about it, save for a notch in its bark.
... Come to think of it, he bet he knew where that had come from.
"I really screwed up that time, didn't I, Perry?" He rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed by himself, smiling a little. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Trap Perry the Platypus with a bounty hunter far more capable than he could ever be at apprehending him. But McCraken had gone rogue, and subsequently given him the biggest heart attack of his life. He could remember hearing trophy room and trying to stem the feeling of mounting dread; could remember wondering where Perry the Platypus had gone while he ventured around with Stephen, and worrying that he had been hurt or worse. No, that hadn't been his finest moment, but Perry had persevered as always, heightening Heinz's respect for him even more.
"Okay, so..." he shook himself out of his reverie, not wanting to relive the memories beginning to plague him. They were whole and happy now; that was all that mattered. "Will N-slash-U Australian tree. No, that... that doesn't make any sense."
Heinz cast about for some kind of hint and alighted upon the tree's bronzed description. Corymbia calophylla. His frown only deepened.
"Will N-slash-U Corymbia cal — doesn't this tree have an easier name or something? Let's see here..."
He bent to read the plaque again. Corymbia calophylla, it read, also known as the Marri tree, is an impressive forest tree with a solid trunk and dense canopy famed for its large gum nuts. It was previously classified as...
"Huh," he mumbled, glancing at the pictures again. "The Marri tree. Will N-slash-U Marri tree... No-no-no, wait. Will N tree — Will N Marri... verdammt, Perry, I'm going to kill you."
He could feel a vein throbbing at his forehead and used two fingers to massage it away. What was Perry playing at with this little game? Heinz heaved a sigh, thumbing through the photos and resting when he found the last one. It was a simple photo this time — Perry under a tree, pointing at himself with an outstretched thumb and fist. He was smiling in an oddly impish way, and his eyes seemed to hold some sort of mischief in them. Heinz narrowed his eyes at the photo and wondered at the expression. Perry rarely looked like that...
"Will N Marri Perry," he tried again, looking at the picture of the Magnifier. "No, it-it has to be a U. Will you. Will you Marri tree Perry. Will you tree — Will you... Oh Scheiße."
Will you marry —
Frantic, he scrolled back to the bottom of the texts and read the last caption. Jefferson Park. You know which tree.
Heinz sprinted to his car, his heart thudding wildly and his body numb with shock. He'd figured it out. At least, he hoped to high heaven he'd figured it out, and that he wasn't absurdly, horribly wrong.
Heinz naturally gravitated toward the tree in question. They had sat under it, kissed under it, slept under it so many times over the past few years that he could find it by memory. It was special to them — the tree where it started; where Perry had offered Heinz complete trust and given him the photo that he treasured every day, where he had asked him to dinner and set in motion the evolution of their relationship that would define them so fully.
He stepped into the glade where Perry was waiting, leaning against the tree with his fedora tipped over his eyes. He looked to be thinking, and Heinz could hardly blame him.
"I can't believe you," he said, covering the distance between them in a few quick strides. "Setting all this up, making me drive all over town, those pictures, those memories, you..."
Perry quieted him with a soft smile, so fond and loving that he had to still his tongue. Instead, he watched as his nemesis bent to one knee, breath caught in his throat and his eyes beginning to prickle with the beginnings of tears. Could Perry be this happy? Could he really want him this much?
He presented him with a ring that glimmered in the sunlight, black-rimmed with a single diamond surrounded by glittering purple stones. It was a simple band, but one that Perry had clearly put some thought into. He recognized the purple as his color, and couldn't help but swallow an incredulous laugh as his hand covered his mouth.
「I've been thinking of this for a while,」Perry signed, that adoring expression never leaving his face. 「And I want you, Heinz. Just you. For the rest of our lives. Please.」
Heinz blinked. There came the tears; he sniffled a bit and wiped at them with the sleeve of his coat, finally letting that laugh escape. "Perry th -- "
Perry quirked a brow at him and smiled a bit. Heinz knew that look. Just Perry, it said. Just you and me.
"Perry, I — I..." He felt lightheaded, like he'd lost the ability to breathe entirely. The world had constrained itself to the two of them. Here, in this moment, where he could memorize Perry kneeling before him, imploring him to accept. Accept the utter bliss of the love they shared. Accept them, and all they had become. A small sob escaped, and he reached to cover his mouth again while Perry reached forward and wiped the tears from his face with his free hand.
"Well?" he prompted softly. His voice was a rasp, barely audible, but he could tell. He could tell that Perry was scared, terrified that he would say no. But he read hope there too, hope and promise and a beautiful vision of a future that they could build together. His words tumbled forward, choked out desperately.
"Dummkopf, of course I'll... Yes, yes, Gott, yes — "
Perry let out a breath and grinned so beatifically Heinz was blinded by it. He plucked the ring from the box with shaking fingers, and reverently took his nemesis' hand to place it on his finger. For a few moments he simply held it there, staring at it, loving its presence and the premise it held, before he stood and wrapped his arms around Heinz's neck.
「We'll be happy,」 he promised, a tear falling from his eyes too. Heinz took his shaking hand in his own and kissed his palm, then twined their fingers together to hold them over his heart.
"I know," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss him. "I know, Liebling, and I can't wait."