(Open) ♪ Doofenshmirtz's Day at the Hardware Store ♪

Doctor Doofenshmirtz was not the only notable individual at the hardware store that day. Now that Ron Stoppable had spending money, he had many ideas on how to use it. Yeah, the job at Bueno Nacho had eventually fallen through, but he hadn't let that discourage him from getting another job, finding that was the kind of responsibility he was actually comfortable with. And just yesterday he had decided, a treehouse would be the perfect thing to spend some time and money on; he was sure Kim would agree it would make a nice hangout if they ever both wanted to get away from their families for a while, when there was no mission to be had. Of course, that would mean he would have to build it. His father and mother were both far too busy, and probably wouldn't even care, so he definitely couldn't depend on them to help, and K.P. was always so busy despite him urging her to slow down sometimes, that she probably wouldn't be much help either. Besides, he thought it might be a nice surprise for her when he just...showed it to her later. And Rufus agreed when he'd talked it over with him, too.

He had even brought a pretty detailed, lengthy list with him, looking at the top, while the bottom hung just above the top left pocket on his cargo pants, where Rufus was poking out reading as well. "Let's see...plywood for any interior walls," he muttered slowly to himself and Rufus, just as a reminder on what they were there for, more than anything. "And...from my painstaking research--" A couple hours on the internet had yielded a wealth of information that he had tried to condense into this list. "--cedar or white oak will be good for the outer walls and floors. Especially if it's been treated properly."

As he muttered to himself reading from the list, with Rufus occasionally chattering a reminder up at him, his tongue protruded from the corner of his mouth in concentration, and he was shuffling slowly along, though he did start to turn down one aisle when Rufus tugged on his pant leg, seeing a sign above the aisle that read it had some of the tools they would need. However, that failure to look up led him to, just as he was making that turn, bumping into a cart and letting out a cry as he stumbled and had to catch himself on said cart.

That only made the situation worse as naturally, the list went flying, Rufus jumping out of the pocket to roll the long paper up before it could go too far--and the cart tipped over, spilling all kinds of things from its interior onto the floor, and on top of him as well. Chips, metallic objects, duct tape, and several other things Ron could only guess at. And at the end of it all, Rufus stood back at the corner Ron had turned at, with the paper rolled up above his head, while Ron lay flat on the floor. All Ron could say or do in that moment, was stare straight up at the store's ceiling, blink a couple of times, and say, "Ouch." One thought did briefly flit through his head as he recovered from his momentarily stunned condition and slowly sat up, a hand to the back of his neck as he looked at the mess around him--at least he hadn't lost his pants.

He hadn't quite yet noticed whose cart he had spilled the contents of.

Ron blinked again as he heard a very distinct voice speak to him, one he absolutely knew he'd heard before, and he turned his head to see the toppled form of...Doctor Doofenshmirtz? He blinked again, and pinched his cheek just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. OUCH! Yep, not hallucinating or dreaming. "Yeah well, you shouldn't..." Ron struggled to find a response for a moment. "You shouldn't park your cart right in the middle of the aisle." Yeah that sounded lame even to himself as he said it--he wasn't even sure if Doofenshmirtz had been moving or standing still, much less if it had actually been the middle, but he didn't look, or feel, the least bit sorry for saying it.

He did give a derisive snort and lifted his nose in the air, arms folded over his chest, when the Doctor asked him what someone as young as himself was doing. "Hmph. For your information I run around doing far more dangerous things with her all the time. I've even been plenty of places without her!" he protested, in that moment, sounding every bit the child Doofenshmirtz said he was. At least he felt a small sense of satisfaction that he got his name right. So many people didn't manage that--so he couldn't keep up the pretense of being annoyed for long.

Especially when he felt obligated to quickly add, "Oh, and her name is Kim." Rufus, at the corner of the aisle, nodded in an almost comically exaggerated fashion, and said "Uhuh, uh-uh, Kim," though it might be hard to make out the words, not only because he was a little further away, but--who would really expect an animal to talk? The moment he did that, Ron's nose dropped, his lips turned up in a smile, and he held out a hand for Rufus to hop back into, and from there, he slipped the small, furless rodent back into his pocket with one hand, tucking the rolled up list into another, and slowly, he finally climbed back to his feet as well, a couple small screws falling to the floor that had gotten stuck in his hair.

And then unexpectedly, he set the cart back to rights, and then bent back down again, to start helping pick up the mess. It might not be clear why he was helping do it, perhaps he just believed in picking up messes he caused? What was clear, however, was he started chattering excitedly, seeming unconcerned with having run into a villain in such a place. "I'm actually here to get what I need to make something for Kim and I. I'm gonna make us the best treehouse there's ever been, in the woods behind our houses! You might not know this, but I'm actually very good with wood." He was wearing the biggest smile as he dumped a small pile of the spilled items, back into the cart, and then kept right on picking up more things. He even thanked Rufus when his pet pointed out a few he'd missed that had slid partially under either edge of the aisle.

The truth was, he was excited enough about this project, and Doofenshmirtz never really felt like a major threat, so he was quite willing to talk his ear off about this little project, if he let him--even once everything had been picked up, if he wasn't interrupted, he would be going into detail about how many rooms he planned to make, and that he'd use the limbs of several trees that were clustered fairly close to one another to make the best use of space, and so forth, all the little things he was excited to make, and furnish it with. Though if the 'Evil' Doctor felt like commenting he might notice some of the things Ron planned to put inside the treehouse, like a whole gaming system or a large couch, might sound impractical to get up there and inside such a structure, at least for someone of Ron's limited means. Then again, being who he was, he might not. Depended how observant he was, and how genuinely interested he was in what Ron was talking about.

Ron snickered just for a moment, when Doctor Doofenshmirtz unintentionally said Kim's last name, but he was too excited to be chattering away about this project to really bother saying anything about anything else. His eyes did widen, though, and his jaw drop in awe, as the Doctor described a treehouse of his own he'd apparently made when younger.

"That sounds amazing!" he exclaimed. "And so, SO wrong that you lost to a baking soda volcano. How is that even possible? The judges must have had no appreciation, no passion for the craft, if they gave the win to something so mundane! You deserved that win even if there had been no prize at stake! It's the principle of the thing!" By the end of his little rant, he'd raised his hand, finger raised as he sounded almost...indignant, on behalf of someone who was supposedly supposed to be someone he opposed. But in that moment he wasn't even seeing Doctor Doofenshmirtz as a villain. Merely a fellow craftsman who had been slighted by the world! 

"You know what, Doctor Doof?" he said, giving the man a nickname that was easier to remember than his full name, and if such things actually happened in real life a light bulb might have appeared above his head as he got an idea, and he smashed a closed fist into an open palm as he got the biggest grin imaginable. "We should collaborate! Make a treehouse so big and fantastic that no one can deny it's the best thing ever made! Prove to all those doubters and naysayers that no one can do it better!"

Ron gave Doofenshmirtz a sympathetic look, even a nod, agreeing that it was all completely unfair. But, now they could do something about it! Show those people who had looked down on them, who were still looking down on them, that they were not the laughingstocks!

When the man agreed to his proposal, though, his face lit up as if he was a kid on Christmas morning. "Online is definitely a good place to get things--it's how KP and I got into the crime-fighting business, you know. Why do you want to take over the Tri-state area, anyway? Most villains we meet want to take over the whole world," he asked, as he brought out the rolled up paper from his pocket, and showed it to the Doctor.

However, Ron didn't really leave him much time to answer, already babbling away again as he pointed to different items on his list. "I already had some ideas, and this is a picture of where I want to build it," he added, bringing out a photograph of a rather dense clump of trees. Perhaps seeing the location would serve as inspiration for the blueprints, which he definitely did not have--yet. "They are very tall, enormous even! We could definitely build big and wide for this one!" His voice rose higher as he got more excited, and even Rufus was poking his head back out and chattering his agreement.

Ron nodded as if everything Doofenshmirtz said made perfect sense to him, pausing in reviewing the list as he gave Doofenshmirtz a comradely pat on the back. "You know what, Doctor Doof? I may not agree with your goal, but I respect your decision to keep it more achievable. If I was a villain, I would decide exactly what you have," he declared. "I can't even blame you for wanting to stick it to your brother," he added, back to his grinning self as he returned to the list.

It was already decently long but clearly the Doctor had more than a few ideas how to make it even better. He'd prove more than willing to let his new friend take the list and make his additions. "Your ideas are excellent. I do want it to have that home away from home feeling, ya know. I have a good feeling this collaboration is going to be amazing!" Rufus nodded enthusiastically from Ron's pocket. "Amazing!" he agreed. Both of them had gone a little starry-eyed by now just picturing it, and then being able to introduce Kim to it!

Ron never once after that moment doubted he'd made the right decision here, not hesitating to follow as they finished their shopping that day, not scoffing as Doofenshmirtz gave him professional advice, even agreeing that it seemed a shame that people assumed so much just because of what Doofenshmirtz did sometimes, not all the time.

Even later, when they got to the scene they intended to build the treehouse at, he was filled with enthusiasm, though he had wanted to pay for at least some of the material. But Doctor Doofenshmirtz had insisted, and when he really stopped to think about it, he realized on his salary he couldn't afford even a quarter of what was needed for the size of treehouse he wanted. So he acquiesced and let his current partner pay for it.

He did give the question due consideration, however, cupping his chin as he looked up at the trees, then down at the drafting paper, his expression very serious when he answered. "I kinda dig the secret lair vibe," he finally admitted. "Why should villains be the only ones with secret lairs?" It didn't seem quite fair, to him. Of course, villains kinda needed them to stay in business, else heroes like he and Kim would come along and ruin their day when they started planning something, but still! It was the principle of the thing!

"A secret agent's secret lair sounds perfect!" he confirmed after just a little more thought. There was nothing secret about what they did, but it still sounded cool to him. Plus being the envy of someone like his neighbors, or even the Possible twins just...sounded amazing to him, stroking a bit of his latent ego. "Of course, to be a 'secret lair' the outside needs to look like something else; we can make that just look like a normal treehouse, aside from its size." He might seem a buffoon at most times but really, he could prove insightful when he was motivated to do so. and right now, he was exceptionally motivated.

There was so much to mentally unpack with what the man said, and Ron wasn't sure what to reply to. In the end, he patted Doofenshmirtz on the shoulder. "I think we would have been friends if we grew up in the same neighborhood," he said, expressing some empathy. His own parents weren't the most active presences in his life.

A moment later, however, he shifted back into work mode and looked at his partner's suggestions. "Perhaps this one," he agreed, one tree needing to come down to make more room. "We can even use the trunk as a base for a supporting pillar, like this," he said, marking what he meant on the plans. He'd taken a light pencil, so it could be erased later and only what they eventually settled on being left.

After considering the foundations, he glanced thoughtfully at the ground at the edge of the little grove, which would be where they'd need to make their connection to the grid, and he simply nodded, those just being a matter of course, he thought. However, his eyes lit up again at the mention of a watchtower. "That would be awesome!" he agreed, enthusiasm coloring every word, even the moments where his voice was more quiet and contemplative. And Wade might even want to add some subtle gadgets in when this was all done, to aid in the surveillance, he thought, though he doubted any enemies would come here, they'd probably go for their homes, first--but if the tower was high enough they could see that happen from here, too. "We can put the top in the canopy, and add some camouflage nets to help it stay hidden," he added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.