A/N: I wrote this short oneshot for /co/ right after watching the episode "Mordecai and the Rigbys". I've been wanting to see some character development for Margaret for awhile, but this episode has only proved to me that her purpose for the show is to be used as a running gag. After some contemplation, I wrote this little story. Enjoy.

Written: November 22nd, 2010. Word Count: 1371. Genre: Drama. Title: We Laugh Indoors


He was fed up.

He couldn't take it for another day of his life. The miserable existence he had chosen to live was tearing the very fiber of his being completely apart; and it was due to that one person who tormented his dreams, his nightmares… all because he lacked the courage to step up and ask her out on a simple date - a movie, dinner, whatever it could've been. But in his eyes, it wasn't all his fault.

For every time he wanted to work up the guts to ask her, to approach her… she'd be with someone else. And he felt like she was dangling him on a rope, as if he was her own little plaything, and that his torture and pain was her amusement. Why did he let such agony rage inside of him when he could have easily set it to rest by simply setting the record straight? He didn't want to be embarrassed; he knew that if he asked her out when her boyfriend was standing right by them, he would become a laughingstock. He lived in fear for so long.

But it was time to take a stand.

Time to make the pain end.


The Coffee Shop was full of people. The place was bustling heavier than during Sunday brunch. It would seem that an event or party was going on at the moment. However, since it was much later in the night than it had been when the ceremony had begun, the amount of patrons were beginning to dwindle. A few guests, though, important to this point which would soon unfold, still remained.

"Margaret!"

The tone was not a friendly call of the name, as it had so often been. She turned to find the blue jay marching toward her with a determined yet anxious look on his face. She smiled at the sight of her good friend, yet was a bit confused as to why he was acting the way she saw him. "Mordecai!" She called back cheerily. "I thought you and Rigby had gone home."

"Rigby's on his way back," he replied, arms crossed as he stopped directly in front of her. "I told him I'd catch up later." Margaret nodded understandingly as she nudged a young human male near her. He turned and faced the two birds.

"Mordecai, have you met my new boyfriend, Ja-"

"Yeah, we've met," he said, cutting her off. "Look, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Mordecai. Of course you can." The two looked at each other for awhile, with the robin wearing an expectant look. The human male went back to talking with others, having grown bored of the exchange.

"…In private?" Margaret nodded after several moments passed, and they disappeared from the shrinking crowd.


They stepped out into the cold open air that the nighttime winter brought along. They shivered as the icy touch hit their feathers. "Okay," Margaret said, her breath visible. "What did you want to talk about?" Mordecai rubbed his arms, trying to warm up. He was going to stay calm, cool, and collected. He was going to tell her what was on his mind, and why he was about to do one of the most drastic things he'd ever done in his life. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. "Well?" He opened his mouth to speak.

Nothing came out. It was as if some unknown force had taken his voice away from him, not willing him to make the step he was about to take. 'No!' He thought. 'I have to do this! I have to tell her!' He took another breath and made another attempt to talk as Margaret looked at him in confusion. "I… I…" He shook his head, bringing his feathered wings up and smacking it. 'Come on!' He let out a loud groan of frustration. "Why is it so hard for me to talk to you?" He cried out. Instantly, his wings covered his beak, and he started walking several steps away, not believing what he had just said.

"Mordecai?" The voice from behind him asked. "Are you okay?"

'No, I'm not okay, dammit,' he thought. 'And if you really cared, you'd know that.' "Why do you always lead me on, huh?" He asked, finally standing up tall and turning around, facing the red-breasted robin.

She was taken aback, flabbergasted. She could only look onward as the blue jay made his query. "Wh… what?"

"You heard me!" He replied aggressively, walking forward. He began to grit his teeth. The other took several steps back, afraid of what her friend was becoming. "Why do you do this to me?"

"What are you talking about, Mordecai?" She asked, desperately.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" He exclaimed, looking down into her eyes furiously. She shook her head in despair.

"I don't!" Her eyes had begun to well up with tears, as she was fearing what could possibly happen next with the unstable bird in front of her. "But please, tell me. I… I want to help!" Silence consumed the two for several seconds, as Mordecai pondered this. After the moment had passed, he backed off, looking at her blankly.

"No." One word. One word that gave Mordecai a sense of achievement. One word that sent the other's mind spiraling into the ground. "No," he repeated. "You don't. You don't care about me. You've never cared." She began to break down. Mordecai remained stoic. "But I wanted you to. I wanted you to know. To care. But I've given up. I'm through."

"But Mordecai…" At this point, she was looking frantically at the one in front of her, trying to find some remaining essence of the bird she had known. She gave up when the blue jay continued to give her that blank stare. "What… what's wrong with you?" She asked, bringing her wing up to her beak, terrified at what was happening to her outside her workplace. The other laughed an empty cackle, and this frightened her even more, her feathers standing on end.

"Me? What's wrong with me?" He smiled without any happiness or malevolence behind him. "Me? Are you serious? Dude; you're the one who's been tearing my life inside out, and … and you're telling me that I've changed?"

"What did I do?" Margaret asked, still feeling as trapped as ever. "How have I ruined your life?"

I loved you, Margaret, I loved you, Margaret, I loved you-

Mordecai returned to his soulless gaze. He looked at Margaret, trying to find an answer. She looked at him, wanting to know what she had done wrong. They were on completely different wavelengths, unable to become compatible. He came to a realization. "You don't know," he whispered, slowly raising his shaking right wing, pointing an accusing finger at the robin.

And I've always fallen fast with too much trust-

"…What?" She asked, trembling slightly, moreso out of emotional anxiety than the deathly cold that had begun to numb both of their bodies. He kept his wing still.

"You don't know," he repeated. His voice echoed hollowly with a mixture of fear and understanding. "You never knew." He regained his confidence, his tone becoming stern once more.

"Mordecai, you're scaring me, please."

"Don't get me started now," he said, pointing his wing at her once more. "Not again. Don't… don't get me…" He trailed off, but did not lose his nerve. He kept eye contact with the robin for an eternity, as time stood still. They were confused. They were afraid. One showed it. The other hid. Time resumed as snow began to fall on their still bodies. It coated the streets and the sidewalks; the buildings and the trees. He turned and walked away.

He wanted to feel happy and accomplished. He wanted to see himself as if he had just climbed to the top of an unconquerable mountain, on top of the world and invincible. He wanted to be able to convince himself that this would be the start of a new day, a new him; and that tomorrow, he would wake up, and his life would be completely renewed. He wanted.

He was hollow. He was alone.