AUTHOR'S NOTE: I saw this done in one of those 100-word short things, and I really liked the idea, so I wanted to make this. It really was just for the fun of it, but if others get some enjoyment from it, that's great too.

This will actually be a multi-chapter story (though not many chapters), but might not be updated very soon, considering the mess I'm in right now school-wise.

Please read and review! I absolutely adore reviews. Even short ones!

A Dark and Stormy Night

Doofenshmirtz didn't like many things. In fact, it was the driving point for many of his musical numbers. But there was something to being indoors on a dark and stormy night that he couldn't help but love.

Don't get him wrong: he wasn't one for cliché's; the atmosphere was just remarkably likable for every reason other than that it sounded evil. Who would want to waste a thunderstorm on being wicked? It was just too peaceful and relaxing to him. The rolling thunder, distant lightning (which got a bit close for his liking sometimes, but still, it was neat), and pummeling, drumming rains made his rooftop apartment feel a lot more calm, warm, and relaxing place in comparison.

It was nights like these when he enjoyed relaxing back in his armchair and listening to it all with a cup of hot cocoa. He wasn't exactly a very "Zen" person, but with a life like his, he learned to embrace any shining moment of peace.

So the last thing he wanted was someone pummeling on his door at One AM, only minutes into his tranquility.

He growled to himself and sunk into his seat lower, muttering foully and sipping on his cocoa. He could take ten seconds.

Wow, they were persistent. But he could take twenty.

It was half a minute in when the door seemed like it might break if whoever was on the other side got any more dedicated to attacking it.

"FINE, FINE!" Doof finally yelled, slamming his cup down on a coffee table and pushing himself up. He shuffled his way through his apartment grumpily, wearing pink slippers and overly long pajama pants that matched the button-up top. He used the sleeves to rub his foggy eyes. "This had better be good! And if you're another bunch of 'volcano-side' kids or whatever, you might as well leave now, be—"

Doof cut himself short and yelped when he heard the sound of wood splintering apart around the corner. He turned it to see…

"…Perry the Platypus?" Doof blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing things right. But there Perry was, action stance prepared with the door ripped in two and lying on the floor. The doctor didn't pay the door any mind though (he was used to it, unfortunately), because Perry looked to be in a manner that Doof had never seen before.

He was sopping wet, shivering like a Chihuahua, and most shockingly, donning an absolutely terrified and panicked expression.

"Wh—what are you doing here at such a late hour?" He put his hands on his hips testily. "And was it really necessary to knock down the—hey!" Perry was obviously not paying much attention to Doof, wasting no time to sprint his way into the main room. Doof spun on his heels and followed after him, albeit sluggishly.

He turned a corner and scanned the room to see a Beaver tail sticking out from underneath the cushions of his old green sofa. "Perry the Platypus, have some manners! First you knock down my door and then you dry yourself off on my sofa?"

Perry turned beneath the cushion to look out at his nemesis, sheepishly chattering while clutching the padding above him with somewhat trembling hands. The apologetic expressions were cut short, however, as a blast of lighting lit the faintly lit room, followed by the roar of distant thunder. It was something that had been happening throughout the night, and by now Doofenshmirtz was unfazed by it, if not giving it the smallest of glancing recognitions. The only reason he noticed it now was by the surprising reaction from the Platypus, who had gone bug-eyed and skitterish, pouncing from the safety of the cushions to straight under the couch in one swoop.

Doofenshmirtz stared blankly, hands still on his hips, before laughing loudly at the ridiculousness of it all. It couldn't be. That would be too funny. "Perry the Platypus…" He bent down on his knees to try and see the upcoming expression on the mammal's face.

"…Are you afraid of lightning?"

Perry turned to look up at Doof and chattered with a furious expression, though if he was madder at his nemesis or at himself, there was no way of knowing. Doofenshmirtz fell backwards on to the floor from laughter. "You ARE! You're afraid of a storm! This—this is too good!" He wiped tears from his eyes. "I would get the camera-inator if you hadn't blown it up a couple days ago!"

Perry rolled his eyes before another boom of thunder caught him off-guard, making him squirm further back beneath the couch, shaking to his own annoyance. He just couldn't help it! It made his heart pound, his blood boil, his bones chill, and his hair stand on end! He could see a flash of light from the other side of the couch, and he tried to control a bristling spasm. Should he have come all the way out? Of course not! Doof couldn't understand, and the Platypus had already expected the Doctor to make fun of him. What a mistake this wa—

"Perry the Platypus, I got hot cocoa from the kitchen!"

Perry went wide-eyed before turning around and peeking out from under the couch nervously. Sure enough, Doofenshmirtz was kneeling down to him, holding a cup out to him and with another in his own hand, an honest and welcoming smile plastered on his face.

The Platypus couldn't help but feel a bit touched that his nemesis hadn't gone any farther with making fun of him. And hot cocoa too? He reached out for it tentatively before another wave of rumbling thunder sent him spinning and jumping right back beneath the couch, shivering beaver tail sticking out.

Doofenshmirtz huffed. "For petes sake, Perry the Platypus, it's just some thunder! Even I have to be at least a little more scary than that!"

Perry smirked in silent reply before he felt himself being unexpectedly dragged into the open by his tail. Chattering profusely, he shot an angry glare at the Doctor, who was looking a bit peeved himself. "Well can you blame me? You're acting ridiculous and I don't want to waste this hot cocoa! It's perfectly safe up here! Now take your cocoa and enjoy it!"

He pushed the drink into the shocked Platypus's fumbling hands before standing back up. "Oh, this'll be just like a slumber party! I've never had one before! Stay there, Perry the Platypus, I can get some movies and popcorn!"

He was off at an eager run, leaving the Platypus away with a still slightly surprised expression on his face, and a whole lot of heart warm. It was moments like these that he couldn't believe he had been so lucky to be assigned a nemesis like Doof.

This train of thought was of course cut off by another flash of lightning. Perry shook and took a large swig of his chocolate.

Funny how his supposed-enemy was helping him face his fears.