#the trio growing old together always makes me 🥹

[theperrylleluniverse]

I think sometime in the 70s, Della goes on the warpath trying to get Perry and Paul to stop smoking.

Perry is bemused but he only really smoked socially or during really stressful cases so he doesn’t have that difficult of a time.

But our poor chimney stack Paul STRUGGLES.

At first he kind of blows her off like “I’ve always done this and look at me! I’m strong as an ox!”

Then Della starts leaving articles on his desk about the research around cancer and smoking, and taking them to smoking-free restaurants, etc. but Paul just digs in harder

until one day Della bursts into tears and he’s horrified and she tells him between her sobs that she just can’t imagine losing him and he holds her close and promises he’ll at least TRY to cut back.

Cue Paul drinking coffee (even more than usual) and chewing gum and literally trying everything to wean off the cigarettes. He’s always sneaking cigs though (he’s not going to be able to go cold turkey no way) and Della refuses to kiss him when she can smell the tobacco.

Perry is supportive and will throw away Paul’s cigarettes every time he finds them (and he has an annoyingly accurate sixth sense for where Paul is trying to hide them). But he also sneaks a smoke with Paul every so often when he knows Paul is having a rough week.

Hamilton quits smoking when Della tells him it causes wrinkles 😁