Eileen's alarm rang around 7:15 AM, waking up a very tired mole.
"Mmmmmrn, I should't have stayed up so late" she sat up "I didn't know I'd miss that much sleep before work." She looked at the time with a groan, then over to her calendar which read "Lunch Shift" for the day. "…Oh! That's right…" She chuckled in relief 'must have forgot to set my alarm last night.' She gave herself a few more hours on her alarm and fell back on her pillow 'sweet relief, working on 5 hours of sleep wouldn't have been fun. Not to mention talking to CJ about-dang…I should probably text her to see if or when she can talk..' Eileen cracked an eye open to look at her phone on the end table, so close…and yet. Her pillow bade her stay. 'Alright Eileen…get up…now…now?' After a minute of mustering her willpower, she managed to slink over within arm's reach of her phone 'success…" She rolled back on her back and slowly started texting her cloud friend, hoping to get back to bed soon.
Hey, would you be able to meet me today and talk about something? About 10 minutes later, she got a reply.
Sure, my day is fairly open. How serious is it? I hope everything's okay
Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Just want your advice on something
K, when and where? I could come to the coffee shop for lunch or drop by your place after work?
'Hmm…I wouldn't mind her coming by, but Margaret may be a bit off put if she came home to us talking.'
Lunch at the coffee shop sounds good as long as you don't mind waiting a bit for the lunch crowd to thin out
That's fine cya then
See you and thanks
No prob
With that taken care of, Eileen went back to bed.
-Later at the coffee shop-
Eileen started her shift at noon as more people started coming in. Around half-past, Eileen spotted CJ walking in and taking a seat.
"Hey CJ, thanks again for coming."
"Hey E, no p." Eileen wondered if CJ actually talked like this sometimes or if she was just joking.
"Can I get you something while you wait?"
"Sure, thanks. I'll have a BLT and a tea."
"BLTT, gotcha." CJ wondered if Eileen actually talked like this at work or if she was just joking.
A little while later after most everyone was either eating or gone, Eileen took a seat with CJ.
"So what'sup?"
"Okay.." Eileen got her courage up "It's about Rigby."
"Oh? What about him?" CJ looked both deeply interested and a little hesitant.
"I'm sure you know I like him, right?"
"I picked up a little when we all started hanging out" CJ confessed. "If you don't mind me asking, how're things between you two? You guys look pretty close, has he dropped any Hints?"
"How does everyone know about 'the hints' but me!?" Eileen wasn't expecting CJ to bring them up first. "That's actually what I was gonna ask you. I wasn't aware they were a thing, so I have no idea what to even look for. So I was wondering if you had noticed anything."
"Hmm, I've not known Rigby as long as you guys, but I do know he's a bit protective of his feelings. I can't even get much from Mordecai and you'd think he'd know out of everyone." Eileen was a little disappointed at the lack of new information, but perked up a little as CJ continued. "However I'm mostly certain there's something there. He hasn't given any of the big Hints, but he's always happy to see you and seems to put more into something when you're involved. Case in point: your flat screen, that was nearly all Rigby and that's not even including Joanne."
"Joanne?" Rigby never fully explained what happened to her, just that she had family matters to tend to. Eileen was nervous at the thought of Rigby possibly doing something reckless to make her leave. "What did he do?"
"He never told you?" CJ asked, a little surprised. This sent Eileen into a sweat, this was gonna be bad.
"When she saw us touch her TV, she ran off with your flat screen. We chased her to a bridge and she nearly threw it over."
Eileen started bracing herself. What did he do? A TV wasn't worth anything too rash and Rigby could be rash when he wasn't careful.
"But then Rigby picked up a megaphone and talked her down. He almost lost his cool when she started throwing around insults about you."
Eileen was stunned, half in relief, half moved.
"So then what happened to Joanne?"
"Her TV accidentally fell off the bridge and then her lawyer's ghost—long story short: she's bound to the life of a business exec."
"Goodness…just wow, I don't know what to say."
" We hardly did too" CJ assured "So what are you planning on doing? I assume that's what you wanted my help with."
"Oh, yeah…well I was wondering if you could be a lookout for any 'Hints'. You hang out with us the most."
"Huh…I think I can do that" CJ smiled.
"Thanks" Eileen said.
"Have you thought of maybe giving him a few hints of your own?"
"…what?" CJ opened her mouth to answer but was cut off. "First I'm supposed to spot subtle signs, now I can send them!?" Eileen was just a little flustered. It made sense, it just never occurred to her.
"Don't worry, it's not too complicated. You just gotta be a little more…honest here and there. Open up your feelings."
Eileen was reminded of the night before when she did just that when Rigby helped bring her things in.
"Oh, okay. That sounds doable. Are there any others?"
"Well, you can always give him something to look at" she winked "but don't do it too big or too much, keep your dignity. Just something little like a cheeky grin or if you're wearing something cute, strut your feathers-" CJ had the face of an epiphany that snapped into a mischievous grin "or~ you could give him a peek of you without your glasses~"
"You know about that?" Eileen remembered when she first overheard Rigby's confession. It wasn't the full "I'm in love!", but it had given her some confidence, which she found was very helpful in getting to know him better.
"You kidding? That's the only thing I can get from Mordecai! I think it could be effective."
"I hope you don't mean walking around with them off. I've tried that one, it didn't work out" Eileen leaned into the table and pretended to have ran into it.
"You don't have to do that, you can just be playful like sliding them down and a wink. Here, lemme show you."
Eileen handed her glasses over and took note of what she could make out of CJ's poses which looked effective, but also a little silly in the current context.
-Also at the coffee shop-
Rigby froze for a second, it had been a while since he had seen her without her glasses. 'Okay, don't worry man. She's still the same sweet, easy-to-talk-to girl…just looking sexy as opposed to her usual cute. Wait, did I just say 'sexy'?" His thoughts were interrupted by Mordecai walking into him.
"Yo, what's the-" Mordecai then spotted what had caught Rigby's attention. 'Checkmate.' He resisted the immediate urge to tease his friend and chose to play the long game. "Oh hey! There's CJ and Eileen. C'mon, let's go talk to them." He said, giving Rigby a nudge.
Rigby walked towards the two trying to keep his cool. He then noticed where Eileen's glasses were.
"You guys swapping places for the day?"
"Nah, just curious what it looked like through these" CJ took a genuine moment to play out the lie. Mordecai took the seat next to CJ.
"You look good in them, you should keep them" Mordecai said in the hopes of extending his friend's nervousness.
"I dunno about that" CJ took off the glasses and rubbed her eyes "I'm sure you guys don't wanna walk around with us stumbling around." She handed the glasses back to Eileen.
"Hello again world" Eileen blinked a few times. "So what brings you two here? I would have thought you came earlier for your break."
"We've actually been pretty productive today, Rigby here's been in the zone" Mordecai said to draw attention to Rigby who had been quieter than usual.
"That's great! I'm glad you've hit a good rhythm." Eileen smiled warmly at Rigby. After hearing the flat screen story and now his work trouble cleared, she was swooning.
Rigby was half-sure Mordecai had planned this setup. But there was no time to think of that. He almost played it off as nothing, but he didn't want Eileen to think he was brushing off her praise. He wasn't sure what his game plan was but he knew he wanted to open up to her more, like he had last night.
"Thanks, I guess something yesterday got me motivated" he returned her a smile, hoping she would understand his reference to their hug.
Eileen wasn't sure if he meant yesterday in general or specifically their moment, either way, it made her happy. Meanwhile CJ and Mordecai took the moment to watch the two. CJ was glad to see her job as lookout wouldn't be too tough and Mordecai was certain he knew what was up with Rigby.
After lunch, Mordecai and Rigby returned to the park and CJ left to run errands. Before she left, she assured Eileen she would keep an eye out and she was certain there'd be something to catch.
Mordecai and Rigby walked into the house to get their litter bags to finish up their work for the day. They were met in the kitchen by Benson sitting at the table eating a bowl of Honey Bunches.
"So the Chuckle Brothers finally decide to clock in. Where have you been?!"
"We just took a quick lunch break" Mordecai explained "we were steaming through work so we figured-"
"You picked up the litter at the front gate?"
*Mm-hmm* Rigby answered.
"The fountain?"
*Hm* Mordecai answered.
"The statue? The woods? The yard around the house?"
*Hm. Hm-hm. Hm.* they both confirmed in unison.
"These bags aren't empty" Rigby revealed.
"Huh…well okay then. Just make sure you finish up" Benson returned to his bunches. Mordecai checked the clock that read 1:24 PM.
"Hey Benson, not for nothing, but cereal in the afternoon?"
"It's been forever since I've had some. I forgot I even had a box here. Someone left it out, so I'm taking my own lunch break. There better not be any missing. Now, that I know it's here, I'm gonna have it for lunch every day."
Mordecai and Rigby just exchanged a nervous glance.
"Welp, back to work, let's go Rigby." The two left the house to where they left off.
"Hmm…" Benson glared after them in suspicion as he ate another spoonful.
-That Night-
"Okay…let's do this" Rigby sighed. It was late at night and Rigby sat at the computer, about to do something he didn't think he'd ever do. The day hadn't proved helpful in brainstorming what to do so he decided to look for advice on the internet for asking a girl out. He had learned a lot after helping Mordecai with Margaret, but there was still the experience factor. "Maybe I should just ask Mordecai" he stalled "He's had plenty of experience, even if they weren't all successes… But I can just hear him not shutting up about 'I told you you liked her dude. You can't hide anything from me dude! You shoulda just listened to me DUDE!'" He exhaled deeply 'Nope, I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way."
He found a good many "How to make any girl weak at the knees"'s, "What girls want"'s, and "Become a chick magnet in X steps"'s, all worthless. He also found a couple good sites, giving him all the good advice…he already knew. Rigby sighed as he realized he wasn't even sure what he was looking for. He felt confident he knew how to ask her out, it was just how he wanted to do it that stumped him. Something like over text wouldn't be right with how much they see each other. On the other hand, going way over the top may be obliging or give off the wrong message.
"Rigby leaned back and gave his eyes a rest from the screen. 'Hmmmm, what to d-" he froze as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They went off to the kitchen. 'Pops getting a snack?' He waited for the sound to go back upstairs. He held his breath as it stopped at the door. There came a knock.
"Yo dude, you in there?"
'Crap!' Rigby jumped for the mouse to close the incriminating window. 'Wait…what will I tell him I was doing? Staring at the home screen?!" He scrambled to type something that would make sense as he heard Mordecai knock again.
"Rigby, you there? I've checked everywhere else, he's gotta be in here." As he opened the door, the page Rigby opened just finished loading.
"Don't get too close now, Pop." As the rest of the video they had both seen so many times played out and the ostrich kicked the poor man's groin, Rigby let out a chuckle both at his tactic working and the video's humor.
"Really dude? The ostrich thing with the balls? This late?"
"Just had to see it again. Couldn't sleep so I figured I'd watch something" he lied.
"You too, huh? I figured you were awake when you weren't snoring, but after talking to your clothes pile for a bit, I figured you came down for a snack or something."
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"Well, something's been on my mind all day."
"Yeah?"
"Is anything up?"
"Huh?"
"You've been acting a little weird today. You looked like something was on your mind."
'Dang…what now? If I tell him, I'll never hear the end of it. How to get out of this…'
"Well…it's about Eileen…"
"O-oh?!" Mordecai was surprised at Rigby's sudden openness.
"Yeah remember when I told you about how she was bummed out about CJ and Margaret? I've just been wondering how that'll play out."
"Oh…yeah, me too.."
'Looks like that did it. I feel a little bad, using that on him, but for now that oughta get him off my back.'
"Well…I'm feeling tired already…g'night, try not to stay up too late."
"I'll try" and with that Mordecai left for their room.
"Phew…" Looking at the screen, he knew it wasn't the answer. "Who would know how to ask Eileen out? Someone who knows her like like I know Morde-duh! Who else?" He nearly slapped himself for not thinking about it earlier. Now the question was merely how to get ahold of Margaret.
