The punch from thirty minutes ago still hurt. For someone who looked soft on the outside, Mordecai knew how to hide his true potential concerning his jab really well under all of those blue feathers on his hands. That was a lot to admit to, considering that he himself was a gumball machine, and his head was really good at taking punches to the face. Then again, only in the darkest parts of his mind, Benson admitted to himself why the jab may hurt more that what it seemed.

The words of Mordecai continued to run through his head.

"What's your problem? This has nothing to do with work! He just wanted to win a hat!"

"Yeah, take advice about friends from Benson, because you have so many of them."

"No you don't! Everyone only hangs out with you because you're our boss!"

The last thing he said was probably the most hurtful of all, and yet it he doubted that was his intention.

"... Because I made a promise to Rigby, and I'm going to keep it: that's what friends do for each other…"

Benson's hot head knew that someway, somehow, what he said and his actions were going to bite him in the butt one way or another like an annoying mosquito in those hot summer nights.

After Mordecai left, Benson was going to go after the bluejay and talk some what he thought was common sense into Mordecai. Benson was thoroughly convinced that he was right, and he was going to make Mordecai see that.

However, by the time he calmed his typical rage enough to get to the door, Mordecai had already left the humongous hospital and to wherever this restaurant was. He would have to go back and ask Skips about the place again. Ever since that one guy who used to work for him, Benson never really concerned himself to where Mordecai was going.

Upon turning around, Benson had to halt because not only was someone in the way, but Benson didn't expect anyone to follow him, thus shaking whatever many gumballs he still had. And, of all people, it was just the guy he was thinking about.

Benson knew things were immediately not in his favor when he saw the look Skips was giving him. Skips had his arms crossed, for one, and that alone was a dead giveaway that Benson had to prepare for some advice from him.

"He's right, you know."

The gumball machine was certain one of his veins was about to pop.

"What do you mean he's right!?" snapped Benson, "Mordecai can't even do the dishes, let alone keep whatever promise he made to Rigby!"

"What makes you think that he can't do it?" Skips protested, "You don't even know what the promise is."

"Oh, and I suppose you know," Benson replied, sarcasm clear in his tone.

"Of course I do," Skips began to explain, "If you weren't ranting in the car with Pops about how irresponsible Mordecai and Rigby are, you would have heard on the talkie that Rigby was trying to do the Eggcellent Challenge which caused his allergic reaction."

"They iare/i irresponsable," Benson stated, as if a fact.

"Yes, they are irresponsible sometimes," Skips agreed, "And it is true that Rigby will more than likely be making trouble for Mordecai, but above all of that, they seem to highly value their friendship."

"Where are you going with this, Skips?"

"I'm saying you should apologize to Mordecai about 'learning something'. If there is anyone that needs to learn, I'm afraid it's you."

Skips meant what he said, and Benson felt as if he had a gumball stuck in his throat.

"And what exactly am I meant to learn from this?"

"Mordecai wishes to live his life with Rigby because they are friends. Yes, they don't quite get the job done, but I'm pretty sure, one day, Rigby will learn from Mordecai, and narking on them all the time ain't going to speed up the process."

"Are you suggesting there is a way to do so?"

"By being a good friend to Mordecai, and supporting his decision by keeping his promise to Rigby."

"How? It's not like I can help him."

"You mean you don't remember?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll help you remember what we need to help Mordecai, if, and only if, you promise to apologize to him once to retrieve it."

Now that most of Benson's head was clear, they both knew how Benson was sensitive to promises. A promise from Benson was highly important to him. That was one thing he didn't realize until now that he might have in common with Mordecai.

Breathing in, and letting out a long sigh, he looked up at Skips again, knowing that smile was a smile of relief because he calmed down. The gumball machine allowed himself to close his eyes while a frown was still on his face, but eventually smiled a little to show that he was going to comply with Skips' terms.

"Alright, if he's going to keep a promise to Rigby, I might as well give it my best shot to support him."

"I'm glad you're agreeing to this. It will make you feel a lot better."

"Thanks, Skips; where do we start?"

"Two words, my friend: Johnathan Kimble."

Author's Comments

Once again, another one-shot. Surprisingly, even for myself, this is Regular Show. For what little I have watched (up to the rough beginning of Season 3), I find Regular Show very interesting. While I do not completely agree with everything Regular Show airs on the show, I do, however, find a few episodes pretty cool. Eggcellent (Season 3, Episode 17, according to the Regular Show wiki) is the episode that this fiction is based off of.

For a while, after losing count of how many times I've seen the episode, I started to wonder what Skips might have said to Benson to convince him to apologize, if Benson didn't want to convince himself to apologize. For the record, I think Benson would be seriously stubborn concerning to have to apologize to someone he keeps on barking at to work. With my perspective on Skips, and the fact he was there when Benson apologized in the episode, I thought it would be fitting for Skips to be the one to talk some sense into him. After all, I'm not completely sure about Pops doing it: he seems to be overly nice (and he's a sweet guy) and displays the impression that he will only give an order when it is absolutely necessary.

Concerning Johnathan Kimble, Google Docs (the place where I write my work) said that the way that I spelled his name was completely wrong. However, I will tell you that I have convinced myself that I have spelled Johnathan Kimble's name correctly because of how it is spelled on the Regular Show wiki. As a fellow fanfiction reader, and/or even a writer, I ask that if I am in error, and there is a more reliable website concerning information on Regular Show, then please inform me of such information.

Thank you, and may God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.