This was the time. The game was finished, he took a deep breath, and spoke his mind.

"Rigby, I'm gay."

Rigby looked at his friend, his childhood friend, with a cocked eyebrow. He sighed, somewhat exasperated. They were both in their fourties, pushing their fifties, and after so long. It came out of the blue, but these kind of confessions usually did. Lucky for him, Rigby was relaxed enough with it.

He gently placed the controller down. "For how long now?"

Mordecai fidgeted about in his seat. His beard itched and he brushed his hand over his ring. He remembered his wife... his children. He felt guilty. "I dunno. Kind of all the time, I s'pose. I guess I was just afraid my parents woulda been disappointed."

Mordecai's parents passed away not soon after each other. It had happened about five years ago. He never really wanted to talk about it on the rare occassions that the two of them met up again. Life always seemed to get into the way.

Swallowing hard, Mordecai remembered his family playing outside. They were his family, his wife and children. But the feelings he had for them weren't as ideal as he had hoped to.

"That's the longest Mordecai you ever pulled." Rigby chuckled. "Dude, I'm proud of ya for being so bold - but what about the missis?"

"I was fooling myself. I hoped that starting a family like that would make me change. It's too late now. I don't want to hurt her - or the kids. I gotta sit this one out."

Rigby visibly winced. Mordecai used to be the sensible one so many years ago, but now he had to face the truth that his old buddy was making a lot of bad decisions. This one had to be the worst so far. His own flesh and blood, a mistake? A cover-up for a different identity? Rigby had a great life, with a great wife and a good relationship with all his living relatives. It all kind of fell on his lap, whereas Mordecai, well, pulled Mordecai after Mordecai while desperately trying to cling to his last shred of dignity.

Poor ol' Mordecai.

"All the money in the world can't change a person." The bird rubbed his temples pensively. His voice was hoarse and he sounded like he would cry. "It could'a been great."

Softly, Rigby bumped Mordecai's side. He figured he needed the reassurance. "Dude. I got your back."

"Thanks, dude."

Good ol' Rigby. Mordecai was jealous of how calm and collected he was. It used to be the opposite.

He found his mind taking flight, and remembered one particular incident from when they were still young adults and the world was big and inviting.

They had fooled around. Just slightly. He didn't ever want to bring it up again, because he was worried it'd make him look dumb. But it felt good. Like how it was supposed to be. It clicked with him and who he was.

Rigby noticed Mordecai lost in thought. A slight glance went down the bird's crotch. "Uh, Mordo, you might wanna put that away."

"Wha? Oh my gosh..!" Quickly, he scrambled to hide his lower regions.

When Rigby regained his cool, his voice was an awkward deadpan. "Are you thinking about boning me again?"

"Dude, no way! No, I- yes." Mordecai sighed, slumping back into the chair.

The silence was deafening. Numbing, even. They were both older now, and hairier. And fatter. Did this weirdo still think about his childhood crush?

Rigby flopped on to his side. Mordecai's boner grew at witnessing his friend's butt, even with all the scars. The raccoon cast a backwards glance and bobbed his butt up and down.

"Okay dude, just a quickie, but if Eileen finds out, I'll kill you."

Still, he made sure to lock the door just in case.

8888

Rigby smelled bad, like he hadn't showered for three days, but Mordecai really wanted to take in every little moment of them finally being together again. He took a deep sniff in his friend's nape, sighing forlornly.

"You know this is just prolonging the inevitable, which is my endless suffering."

"Oh, my God, Mordecai. You're killin' my boner with your whining."

What started as a quickie quickly got out of hand. Mordecai felt young again, despite his heavy beard. He felt he needed a shave again... for the first time in months. The banter between them felt even better than the actual act. Why couldn't it just have gone like this. It would've been better. They could've adopted a kid and travelled the world and earned money...

"Mordo? Mordecai!"

He snapped out of his daydream. It sounded like someone was calling him. A familiar voice that made him panic. He lost his balance, falling right on top of Rigby, who squealed in protest.

Mordecai gasped. "I'm sorry!"

"Wow," said Rigby, "take it easy, man."

"I-I'm sorry, Rigby." Mordecai wiped some sweat off his face, taking his hat off. "I have a bad conscience."

"Thinking about someone?"

"Yeah."

Slowly and awkwardly, for they weren't as flexible anymore, they untangled their bodies to sit next to each other. Soon the day would resume itself, and they'd have to go back to their regular lives. The controllers laid there, in front of the old game console. Gotta love the classics. They almost expected the now-balding form of Muscle Man to appear in the window and grunt something about ladies.

Mordecai gazed at his ring. It felt tight. Weird. He never noticed that before.

"I kind of screwed myself over in this lifetime, huh."

Rigby placed his tiny hand on Mordecai's to comfort him. "I'm still here." A grin appeared under his mustache. "I may be a married man, but I love you too."

"Hah. You became a sap."

"Then what are you, huh?"

"Shut up. Ha ha."

Though they weren't together in the literal sense, it was okay for now. It could've been great... but it also could've been a lot worse.

"It's getting late, dude."