Brain paused in his calculations. Something wasn't right.
He pulled up a little black calculator sitting near him; typed in a jumble of numbers - equations that would seem like nonsense to Pinky, but that made perfect sense to him. He checked and rechecked. Scribbled a note here; an integer there. No. Everything seemed all right. It did add up. And yet, something still seemed... off.
Sitting back, Brain sighed and set the pencil down. He turned to look at the digital clock set high on a wall of the lab room. 1:25 AM. My land, it was late. Too late. But an idea had come to him at the peak of midnight and he absolutely had to get it down. Still... none of it was right. It was all in place, and yet horribly wrong.
Pinky mumbled a little in his sleep. "Narf...," he whispered, a goofy smile painted on his face. Brain blinked at this... and pondered. Usually there was a "poit" to go with these nightly grinds; a "troz" to punctuate a plan. The quiet atmosphere didn't often remain so for very long, as there was always some sort of white noise in the background - the incessant squeak of a wheel, or the occasional shrill laugh to accompany a mindless t.v. show. And if a sharp bop on the head of his cohort didn't follow, it meant that Pinky had actually voiced something intelligent for once.
Brain frowned, eyes set on his sleeping companion. And, suddenly, it came to him.
Pinky. Of course. That's what was missing... Pinky.
N + a/r = f
No equation was complete without it. There hadn't yet been an experiment without this simple ingredient, and he couldn't imagine such a routine deviating from its course. Annoying as he could be, Pinky was always around - and awake - when Brain's plans came into fruition. Doing so alone felt... wrong.
Pushing aside the pencil and sheet of paper on which he had been writing, Brain stood up and made his way back to the little sponge bed on which he and Pinky slept. He crawled under the makeshift covers, his back to Pinky. He could hear his friend breathing softly in his sleep. Brain sighed...
As softly as he could without waking him, Brain slowly sidled up close to Pinky. Yes. It was much warmer here. Not as cold. Less... alone. Subconsciously, Pinky wrapped an arm around his cage-mate. Brain rolled his eyes. The saccharine-ness of it all... And yet, despite himself, he smiled.