Disclaimer: I don't own Regular Show or any of the characters.
Pops Maellard laughed happily while watching the snowflakes dance around outside in the frosty, December air as they gently fell from the sky, covering the ground with its sparkling, white powder.
He was always fascinated by nature, it had made him rather happy and calm, except for whenever Benson's constant yelling would interrupt his moment of peace and relaxation. Of course, that's what broke the peaceful silence.
"Great, just great. It's Christmas Eve, and there's still so much to do. Why must the holiday season always be so stressful? In fact, why can't we ever have a normal Christmas around here?" Benson grumbled as he laid back in his office chair with a frustrated sigh.
"I guess it's just one of those special family traditions that we share here at the park, my good man. Remember that Christmas with the evil present, or when Muscle Man pranked us with his awful pranks?"
"How could I forget? He gave us old Chinese food inside a tv box. And I thought those underwear gloves were the most nastiest thing he's ever given," Benson responded, still disgusted by Muscle Man's so called gift.
He was immediately interrupted by, an ear splitting scream that rang out from outside the office followed by a loud crash. The sound nearly knocked poor Pops off his feet, but luckily the gum ball machine was quick to catch him.
Once he saw who had caused the ruckus and the mess the living room area was in, Benson was fuming. "Unbelievable! Rigby, you destroyed the Christmas tree!"
Startled by his boss's angry tone, Rigby turned his head to face Benson with a sheepish smile. Glass shards from the ornaments were scattered all around him.
"H-hey, Benson. What's up?"
Benson signed while pinching the bridge of his nose-trying to keep his temper under control. The last thing he needed was to end up in a hospital bed on Christmas Eve all because of his uncontrollable anger issues.
"I heard a lot of racket coming from down here, so I came to investigate. What the heck is going on, Rigby?"
"Uh, a mouse scampered underneath the Christmas tree, and I was trying to capture it. But I knocked the tree over and broke most of the bulbs."
"You what?! Where's Mordecai?"
The little raccoon nervously pointed his thumb towards the big holiday decoration in response. He and Benson yanked the evergreen up off the ground. Mordecai was laying underneath covered in pine needles and tangled up Christmas lights.
"But it was Mordecai's fault that the rodent escaped!" Rigby quickly added, accusing his best friend for the massive damage that was all around them.
"No it wasn't," Mordecai retorted as he sat up on the floor, rubbing at his head covered in pine needles. "I was trying to untangle the stupid tree lights, but some idiot knocked it down on top of me!"
"Oh well excuse me for ruining your life, Benson junior!" Rigby shot back, his anger also rising to match Mordecai's.
"Enough, I'm sick of your nonsense! You nearly gave Pops a heart attack. Quit your bellyaching and get back to work right now, OR YOU'RE BOTH FIRED!" Benson bellowed before storming out of the room, and out of earshot. Just as soon as Benson left, Pops came down the steps.
"Oh, my. Mordecai, are you alright?" He asked in his worried tone as he carefully helped his friend over to the sofa.
"I'm fine, Pops," Mordecai reassured him as he staggered to his feet. "My head feels like it's about to split in half, but other than that I'm okay."
"Ugh! why is Benson such a hothead today?" Rigby groaned while he and Pops now began to sweep up the broken glass that littered the floor. "It's Christmas Eve, shouldn't he be happy?"
"Oh, he's been having a bad day, I'm afraid," Pops explained sadly with a shake of his head. "Not a good mood to be in on a jolly good holiday. All this stress is really not healthy for him."
"Frankly, I'm surprised that he's still alive from yelling at us so much." Rigby answered, picking the tree topper up off the floor. "You'd think the guy would have kicked the bucket by now from that huge meltdown he had from yelling at us one time."
"Yo Dudes, what did we miss...?" Muscle Man's voice trailed off when he caught sight of the living room as he, fives, and Skips entered.
"What happened in here? Where's Benson?" Skips asked after he placed his arm load of presents down on the coffee table, noticing Benson's sudden disappearance.
"Rigby destroyed the tree because he saw a freaking mouse chewing at the wires while we were decorating," Mordecai replied, wrapping his red scarf around his neck before darting towards the front door. The brisk, winter breeze greeted him as he stepped out onto the front porch.
"Benson got very upset with us after what happened with the tree, and went outside to blow off some steam. Geez, somebody needs to chill out and relax around here." Rigby grumbled, dumping the pieces into the trash can.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go check on him to see if he's alright. It's Christmas Eve, he shouldn't be out there all alone in these frigid temperatures. Later!" his best friend called out before slamming the door shut behind him.
"Anyway, Christmas is tomorrow and we don't have anything picked out for Benson. Do you guys have any ideas on what we should get him?" Skips then asked his friends once Mordecai had left the house.
"Fives and I can take him out to Wing Kingdom for some chicken wings," Muscle Man grinned at the idea. "The man loves his hot wings."
"He could use a nice, relaxing break from his job. Pops, could you ask Mr. Maellard to give Benson a day off tomorrow?" Hi-Five Ghost inquired in his ghostly tone.
Pops nodded in agreement at the poltergeist's request. "Of course. I'll mention it to Papa when he gets back from his Christmas party."
"How about a cat? He is a cat person." Rigby suggested before climbing up onto the sofa with a spare candy cane he found lying on the floor.
The yeti turned to face Rigby after he'd finished cleaning up. "Did he say anything about getting one recently, Rigby?"
"Mordecai mentioned it to me the other day that he'd love to have one, and that they're good for helping people who are stressed out," the little raccoon acknowledged.
"Then it's settled. We'll get Benson a kitty, good show!" Pops cheered happily; his voice slowly fading as he disappeared up the stairway
"Aw, what? I liked the wings idea better. C'mon Fives, let's bail," Muscle Man muttered. He and his little ghost friend left the house to finish their outside work, while Rigby and Skips began redecorating inside.
Meanwhile, Benson trudged through the snowy streets of the city on his way back to his apartment building. Even though it was Christmas Eve, he had no reason to feel joyful, and simply just forget about everything that upset him back at the park. Not even the cheerful, uplifting Christmas music that drifted out of the speakers in all the stores of the city could turn that frown upside down.
"Those two idiots, when will they ever learn their lesson and just do the work I order them to do? I mean, it's not that difficult! Heck, why can't they do any simple task right instead of just screw it all up?!"
"B-Benson...there you are...is..everything..okay?"
"I'm fine Mordecai, I just want to be alone right now and rant-" once he knew who he was talking to Benson turned around to find said blue jay on a bench trying to catch his breath.
"Mordecai, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be back at the house with the others in front of a nice warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows?"
"Oh, I was just getting started on my New Years resolution. You know? Since it's right around the corner," Mordecai responded with a nervous laugh. Of course Benson didn't buy it.
"Nice try, Mordecai. Why are you really out here? Did you and Rigby have another disagreement over something?"
"Alright, you got me. The real reason why I'm here is to check on you. I just wanna know if you're alright. You seem frazzled."
His boss smiled a little as he joined Mordecai on the bench. "Oh well, that's rather kind of you, but seriously, I'm fine. I just needed to get it all out of my system, and get some fresh air. I'm just lucky that I'm not on my death bed right now from all that yelling because of your foolishness."
Mordecai kept his eyes glued to the snow covered pavement while he listened to his boss speak. A wave of guilt washed over him as he remembered what happened back at Pop's house.
"I-Im really sorry for always screwing things up, Benson. Instead of slacking off, I should of been more responsible, and actually payed attention to the orders you've given us. At least then you wouldn't have to yell so much. When will we ever drop this stupid immaturity thing and just grow up?"
When he saw the mixture of sadness and anger in Mordecai's eyes, Benson gently wrapped an arm around him. Never had he heard the avian say such words before. Was this how his young employee had always secretly felt about his career as a groundskeeper?
"Hey, don't go beating yourself up over it, these things happen. If anything I shouldn't always have to feel the urge to blow my top at you and Rigby because of your childish ways."
Mordecai kept his eyes on the ground, avoiding eye contact. "You were just doing your job. That's what bosses do."
Benson nodded. "Still, Pops had a point. Just because you both mess up from time to time doesn't mean I should lose my temper. My Dad is the reason why I'm so uptight about anything. I don't know how you do it, but you both seem able to handle stress a lot better than I do."
"That's because I kept it all bottled up inside me. Believe me, I know just how much of a pain Rigby can really be. Sometimes I feel like I want to smash something over his head for his immaturity and stupidity. But I've gotten used to it over the years and now, unfortunately, it rubbed off on me."
"Well, I guess we really do have something in common after all. Seriously though, it's unhealthy to keep your feelings bottled up like that, Mordecai. Say, you seem to be pretty good with art, why not just quit your job at the park and become an artist? I mean, you're not actually thinking about working with Rigby forever."
"I don't know, Benson. I dropped out of art school because of my bad portrait skills. I just couldn't handle all the pressure it gave me. And I haven't been putting much thought into what I would rather do with my future once my time is up at the park."
"Whenever you're ready, give it some more thought; I'm sure you'll think of something that you would like to do for when the time comes. There are plenty of opportunities out there you just gotta be willing to try." Benson said calmly, giving Mordecai a gentle pat on his back before he stood up.
The blue jay sighed in defeat before he finally stood up from his spot. "Alright, I'll give it another shot. Thanks for the talk, Benson. You know, you should definitely talk about your problems more often instead of yell all the time. It would be a lot better for your health."
His boss smiled warmly. Luckily for him the conversation they just shared made him feel a little better about what he was so upset about in the first place.
"Don't mention it. And don't worry, Mordo. I'll try to keep it under control."
"So, now that you're feeling better would you like to go grab some coffee and a bite to eat?" Mordecai suggested, hoping Benson would accept his offer.
Benson nodded in return at Mordecai's generosity.
"Sure, why not?"
"Alright, no peeking," Pops instructed as he and Skips carefully guided a confused Benson into the living room the following morning. "We have something else in store for you."
"Probably just another one of Muscle Man's lame pranks," Benson scoffed as he finally sat down on the sofa. "I'm not falling for that again."
"I can assure you it's no prank, Bro. Trust me." Muscle Man insisted, grabbing the brightly colored pet carrier from underneath the holiday decoration. He placed it on the coffee table.
"Okay, Benson, take off your blindfold!" Rigby whooped as he tossed his arms up in the air, surrounded by an ocean made of wrapping paper.
Benson signed and did what he was told, bracing himself for another one of the master prankster's clever pranks. But when he finally saw what was laid out in front of him, those sudden dreadful thoughts had vanished.
"Now look towards the tree," Skips gestured as he placed an arm on his friend with a small smile on his face.
Again, Benson followed his employees instructions and looked over towards the Christmas tree where Mordecai now stood. In his arms was a little fuzzy, tan cat wearing a shiny red bow.
The room was filled with utter silence as everyone eyed the park manager quietly, waiting for his response.
"Y-you got me a cat?"
"Well, do you like it?"
Benson stood up, took the little cat from the avian's hands, and cradled it in his arms. Tears rolled down his face as he stared into it's little twinkling eyes. "I love it. T-Thank you, guys."
Mordecai smiled in return as he took his seat on the sofa next to Benson. "No problem, Benson. It's to make up for all the trouble Rigby and I caused yesterday, and throughout the whole year."
"We know how much you love cats, so we decided to get you one," Rigby added before a question popped into his mind. "But how are you gonna care for it when you're working here at the park?"
"I'll hire a cat sitter for when I'm not home," Benson informed as he gently scratched his cats chin, who then let out a soft purr.
"What are you gonna name him, Benson?" Pops cooed as he patted the kittens soft fur, giggling like a little child opening up presents on Christmas morning.
Benson pondered on this for a minute before finally saying the name of his new companion.
"Mc Fluffin."
Rigby raised an eyebrow in confusion at the name his boss had chosen. "Mc Fluffin, what kind of name is that?"
Mordecai gently elbowed his raccoon pal in the arm to get him to stop talking about Benson's odd pet name.
"I mean, it's a perfect name for a cat."
Benson laughed as the newest addition to the family gave him a wet kiss on the cheek. At the sight of their bosses laughter, the rest of the guys all gave a warm smile in return as they gathered around Benson and Mc Fluffin for a group hug.
Even though he clearly wasn't a fan of cats or hugs, Rigby smiled too as he joined in.
"Merry Christmas, Benson."