Work Text:
I got a bad cold a few weeks ago and decided to write this
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“Give me back my pencil!” Brain had shouted, less than menacingly as he stood there, wobbly and out of focus. He looked as if a slight wind might be enough to knock him over.
“No! Mm-mm. No,” Pinky fervently shook his head. He had taken his pencil mere moments ago and was holding it well out of his friend’s reach. Brain looked awful. He was unwell, and while Pinky knew just how important his planning was to him, he couldn’t just let him work himself to death. It was his job as assistant (and best friend) to make sure he didn’t go overboard.
“Stop fooling around. There is work to be done. Minutes ticking away. The longer you hinder me, the less time I have to enact my plan.”
“Brain. Just look at yourself. Zort! You’re a mess.” Pinky reasoned, but it didn’t look like it was working.
“I…Am. Fine.”
Brain said the words but the way he’d said them left room for doubt. Even Pinky could tell he was not his usual self, so he couldn’t give in too easily.
“Alright, you can have it back. No questions asked. Iiiiif you can come get it..”
“Excuse me?”
Pinky took a few paces backwards, but was not cowering by any means; rather getting into position. He was not often assertive, but he could be when it came to Brain and his well being. If Brain was truly okay, he’d be able to retrieve his pencil with no problems. “That’s right. If you can walk a straight line over to here, you can have it back. Poit! If not, no plans for you today, Mister!”
Pinky looked smug. Brain hated it.
“As if I would allow you to tell me what I can and cannot do. But fine..If it’ll get you off my case.” Brain took a step forward, a sheer determination to walk straight and make Pinky into a fool (the task wasn’t hard, though, since he pretty much did that himself) “There. See?” He had a confidence, but all of that went out the window when he took his second step and planted face first onto the countertop.
“Brain!” Pinky gasped loudly, tossing the pencil far away and running to help his friend. By the time he reached him, Brain had managed to roll onto his back. “Are you okay?”
Brain shook his head to clear the fog and Pinky was alarmed when he’d quickly sat up and pushed him out out the way as he attempted to get back to the work he had been doing before. Pinky lunged for him and managed to wrap his arms around his waist from behind, restricting any further movement. “Pinky! The plan–! I have to—The plan!”
Pinky made a strained sound, clenching his teeth as he kept a tight hold on him. Eventually, Brain stopped struggling but Pinky wasn’t prepared for it, so the both of them fell backwards with a brief shout in unison.
Brain rolled off of him and lay flat on his back. He seemed to be even more dazed than before. He could hardly form a coherent thought. So, even as he tried to look intimidating and angry, it came off as incredibly pathetic.
“Don’t you see? You can’t!” Pinky frowned as he leaned over him.
“Do…Do as I say or I’ll bop…all…all three of you…!” Brain replied, his eyes struggling to be open and shaking a lame fist.
Pinky looked confused and reeled back to glance over both of his shoulders a few times. “Oh dear…Brain really must be sick…Even I know there’s only one of me! Poit!” He looked again just to be certain, but yep, he was right, Only one Pinky. Brain’s brain must be all scrambly.
While he was out of it, he gathered the smaller mouse into his arms and carried him off to the cage. He would be much more comfortable there.
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Brain was more reasonable once he was in bed. Pinky doubled up his pillows and tucked him in, nice and tight. He sighed. “Perhaps you are right, Pinky. I may be…slightly under the weather.” He pouted about it. This was massively inconvenient.
“Cheer up, Brain. The world will still be there after you get better. At least it should be. I never really asked if it had any plans…” Brain would have normally given him a whack for such a comment but that required energy he just did not have at present. Pinky continued to adjust his blanket and pillow far more than was necessary. Then he gave him a good pat on the head, which Brain’s grimace showed he could have done without. “Are you nice and comfortable?”
“Quite..” Brain replied lazily.
Pinky gripped his cheeks and gave him a desperate look. He pulled Brain to sit up hurriedly.“Are you sure? Be honest with me Brain. How many fingers am I holding up?”
Brain’s face seemed to gain an even more tired expression at the obvious answer. “None..”
“Egad! Its worse than I— He paused and then noticed both of his hands were on Brain’s face. “Oh…right. Thats a relief." He snorted and let go of his face and Brain fell right back onto his pillow. Pinky noticed his carelessness and offered an apologetic grin. "Oops. Sorry, Brain" He fluffed his pillow again.
He hummed, but it was interrupted mid-tune when it occurred to him that Brain may need some tissues. So, he took off and snatched a box he’d seen over by the computer. He pushed it inside the cage and left it beside Brain’s bedside. The timing was astonishing, as he’d arrived just in time for Brain to have a loud sneeze. He yanked a tissue from the box. Brain opened his hand to take it but Pinky took it upon himself to clean off his face personally—and not so gently. It took him a moment but Brain eventually snatched the tissue away and held it out of his reach. He gave a glare of disapproval but Pinky seemed not to notice and just spoke up again.
“That was quite the sneeze, Brain.” Pinky commented, going off on a tangent. "You know. Just the other day I had a sneeze. It was huuuuuge. Sent me halfway across the lab!” He demonstrated this with a hand gesture.
Brain tuned out for a second, partially because his unwell state had him weaving in and out of lucidity and partially because he didn’t care to listen to the inane ramblings. So, when he was again alert, the next thing he heard was;
“There was cheese everywhere! Took forever to clean up the mess! Zort!"
“Please, Pinky….Spare me the details…of whatever it is you’re talking about…”
Brain wanted to hush him up but was too distracted by yet another few sneezes. The after effects had him dizzy. He was coughing soon after that, and once he was finished he sunk as deep in the sponge as he could, feeling beyond pathetic. He allowed Pinky to take the tissue once more to clean him up because he was too exhausted to do so himself.
“Gesundheit.”
“Thank you, Pinky…” Brain mumbled.
Pinky gave him a tiny nod and smiled. Soon after, he was frowning “Oh, you poor thing” He said with worry, placing the tissue aside.
He looked pained to see his friend so unwell. Brain may have been touched by this fact, but Pinky’s fretting got worse after that. Tucking him in for what seemed like the hundredth time, almost ensuring there would be no way for him to move. He could barely keep up with his words; he was talking so fast. All of Pinky’s incessant, and not to mention repetitive, questions and fussing over him were enough to give him a migraine on a good day, and now that he was sick, he found it absolutely unbearable! Even the part of him that appreciated the concern wanted to strangle him. Unfortunately, he hardly had the strength for a bop of any kind. So, with just barely coherent shout, he called for the mouse to leave him be. He wanted silence, which was impossible with Pinky around.
Pinky agreed to his demand quickly and turned around to go find somewhere else to be. Brain wanted his peace and quiet to rest. But, he only got a few steps away before he was being called back and spun on his heel to give him a curious look.
“Where are you going?” Brain said in a daze, suddenly feeling very confused and in his vulnerability, absolutely loathed the idea of not having the other mouse near.
“You told me to go.” Pinky reminded him, looking just as confused
Had he said that…? It certainly sounded like him, though it was a thought he no longer found appealing.
“Well, come back. I’ve changed my mind.” Brain said. He quickly came up with a valid excuse, otherwise he’d just look…needy. “If I am indisposed, I want you in my line of vision at all times. No telling what trouble you’d get yourself into.”
Pinky thought a moment and his face then showed a very knowing (and pleased look) It wasn’t very often, but he could occasionally see through Brain’s act. “Are you sure you don’t just want company? Narf!” Brain tried to argue this point, but his big words were interrupted by a loud, messy sneeze, followed by a coughing fit. He looked positively miserable. Brain narrowed his eyes at Pinky, but his glare looked more dazed than intimidating. “Aww, don’t you worry, Brain. I won’t go away!” He patted his cheek, “I’ll stay right here and nurse you back to health!”
Brain swatted his hand away in a moment of coherence, “Are you trying to get yourself sick? You are of no use to me if we are both ill” He blew his nose.
“Oh, are you worried about me, Brain? That’s so sweet! How thoughtful” Pinky replied dreamily, clasping his hands together and holding them against his chest as he stared upward. “Even when you’re the one who needs caring for” He sniffed.
Brain flushed, but was ready to blame it on the fever. Did he have a fever? Probably. He was not thinking clearly at all. This must be what it was like to be Pinky, he thought. Brain stayed silent, so no more of his words could give Pinky ideas. Not that it was such an outlandish thought. Pinky becoming ill would be undesirable, so naturally he had a worry about it.
But It stemmed more from fears of halting productivity, nothing more...
Pinky didn’t push the topic, much to his relief, so he relaxed... He had to relax. His body was giving him no choice. He felt pitiful. Pinky unexpectedly began rubbing his ears and cranium. His tired eyes opened as wide as they could in surprise. Brain made a sound of protest, ready to urge him to cease before he made his pounding headache worse. He was about to bring up his earlier argument…but then, he found the light, rhythmic movements were actually nice… His eyelids began to lower back down. He just barely acknowledged that Pinky was suddenly beside him in their bed. How long he been there? He let the question fade because he was too comfortable to care.
Brain fought but succumbed to the fatigue with the contented feeling of safety he felt in Pinky’s presence. He was being an absolute fool, that Pinky; holding onto Brain with how obviously contagious he was, but he wasn’t letting go, so neither was Brain.
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The following week was much better and so was Brain. He couldn’t believe he had spent all of that time locked up in the cage practically strapped in bed. So much idleness. He despised it.
Back to work! He had a world to win. Tonight would be their night. Brain had every ounce of his energy back and was adamant that there would be no more delays.
But then….
There was a loud sneeze from across the lab. And then another. And then another. Everytime the point of his pencil went to graze the paper, there was another one, accompanied with the thudding sounds of objects falling over. It was all too familiar.
When silence returned, it wasn’t for very long. He wanted to ignore it and press on but his sentimentality and memory of a whole seven day’s worth of care wouldn’t let him. The words ‘I told you so’ came to mind, but he’d fight the urge to boast.
With a sigh, Brain dropped his pencil, resigning himself to what he knew he must do. Planning would have to wait another night, he thought, as he gathered supplies and made precautions that wouldn’t cause him to make the same mistakes as Pinky and get sick again. He had meant well, but was not as clever. Brain would keep his face covered, for instance. He would keep his distance as he gave his care. He most certainly wouldn’t hold him close and pet him gently until he fell asleep. And he definitely would not smile down at him and be reminded of just how lucky he was to have such a kind, selfless mouse by his side.