Disclaimer: All characters used belong to J.G. Quintel... cept Allan . _. Sorta. I guess he's /my/ little douchebag.
Prerequisites: None c:
Eyelids opened, and reality returned. The bird squirmed in his bed, attempting to find a position to restore him to his rest. He'd give anything for more sleep; last night had been a monotonous pain. The sheer cold had constantly continued to reawaken him from his slumber throughout the evening. The thought of retrieving a spare blanket had been brought up several times, but he had been much too lethargic at the time to even consider getting up. He would just have to endure it until the morning. Of course, now he wished that he had. He took a glance at his clock before forcing himself up, and making his way over to the window; cold wood floor pricking at his feet. Lifting the blinds gave new vision to the dreary sky that waited outside. Clouds lazily floated in the sky, discoloring it from its natural blue, replacing it with gray. The avian took a finger, and rubbed the frost from the glass.
"The weather has been awfully bipolar lately," Mordecai thought, taking in the view a bit longer before turning to make his way out of the room.
A nice, warm shower would be sure to wake him from his drowsy state. The stone tile floor of the bathroom was far more dreadful to stand on, so he turned on the water as quickly as possible, being sure to have the knob turned to as far on the 'H' side as it would go. Slipping past the curtain, the bird sat down in the tub, feeling the hot pellets of water impact against his feathered body. Time to think is just what the blue jay needed, and nothing seemed to help his train of thought more than the sound of water.
The avian was pretty proud of how considerably well he doing at dealing with all of this stress that seemed to piling him all at once. When he had realized that Rigby was gone, an unexplainable amount of remorse and grief was overwhelming him; although, as of right now, Mordecai was confident in his abilities to move on. Maybe replacing the raccoon would be easier than expected, but then again, maybe his friend was just testing his will. Rigby was bound to eventually return to his rightful place at the park anyhow. Someone as clingy as him wouldn't be able to just drop everything and leave, adaptation a seemingly impossible ability. Although, looking at his wing, none of that mattered. Regardless of how well he was doing, things were only going get worse if he didn't find the solution to Father Time's problem. The bird remained clueless as to how he was supposed to solve the dilemma, but decided to go along with Skips' proposal of fixing things himself. The blue jay had woken up around ten, give or take a few minutes, meaning that he had a good chunk of time before he even had access to the raccoon, his work hours proving to be an extreme inconvenience. Letting out a sigh, the bird took a bottle of shampoo and began to wash himself.
Once he was finished with all of his thinking and hygiene, the bird stepped out of the confines of the shower, and began to dry himself off with a towel. He did as best he could to fix his hair through the fogged up mirror, then exiting from the steamy bathroom and into the chilly hallway. On his way down stairs, the blue jay could smell the wonderful aroma of breakfast perfuming the house. Pops was already at the table, finishing off the rest of his waffles. Noticing the avian's appearance, he greeted him with a joyful, "Good morning, Mordecai!"
"Hey Pops, what's up?"
"Well, let's see. We have clouds, and balloons, and birds such as yourself!"
"…Yeah" The blue jay awkwardly agreed, deciding just to go along with it.
"I made some scrumptious blueberry waffles, would you fancy some?"
"Of course," Mordecai answered with a chuckle, making himself a plate, then taking an empty seat at the table. "So how's Benson? I haven't seen him in a while."
"He's been working with my father a lot more lately. They've been trying to get some financial paperwork filled out, as well as searching for some new help."
"New help?"
"Yes, I hope it doesn't offend you, but it's out of my hands honestly." The lolliman said with an apologetic look.
"No, I completely understand." Mordecai answered with a reassuring smile.
"He was awfully concerned last night though, seeing as how the gates to the park were left open. Benson was quite fearful of theft and vandalism, but it would appear that everything was fine." The blue jay thought back to last night; how he had chased that animal throughout the city, only to be returned to the park. It was still a mystery to him as to what had exactly happened, or for what purpose it posed.
"I dunno, sure saved my butt though, would've sucked to be locked out last night."
"Oh, that's right. You were taking a stroll last evening. I made sure to leave the house door unlocked on my way to bed. Although, when I did, the gates appeared to be closed. I was under the impression that you were still within the park."
"Yeah, I was in town, but that does sound pretty weird. They were just wide open when I got back," The bird said with a mouthful of food.
"Did you have business to attend to?"
"Yeah, I've been putting off this whole Rigby situation more than I should be."
"Well, you know what they say," Pops began, getting up from his spot to place his dirty dish into the sink. "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." The lolliman let out a giggle before leaving Mordecai to himself.
"I don't know anyone who says that..." He mumbled to himself, finishing up his food before following Pops' lead; laying his dirtied plate in the sink.
"Oh, Mordecai!" The other male called from the nearby room
"Yeah?" The blue jay asked, walking into the living room to find looking at the cuckoo clock placed atop the television. "Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind, kinda needed to borrow it so we have a clock in here."
"Oh not at all! It looks wonderful there!" Pops said, turning to reward the avian with a smile that quickly fell to a frown.
"What?" Mordecai questioned.
"Oh, goodness! What happened to your arm?" Crap. The bird had completely forgotten about concealing the countdown on his arm.
"Uh… I wrote on my arm with a marker, so I don't forget what time I need to go er- Visit Margaret!" The blue jay explained, his pitiful excuse for a lie sounding stupider out loud than it had in his head.
"But the numbers are changing," Pops pointed out.
"M- Magic! Magic markers!" Mordecai answered with a fake smile.
"Jolly good! You must share them with me some time!" The lolliman called out as the avian ran up the stairs and to his room. He went to his closet to find a garment to hide his wings. The bird was just lucky that it was Pops of all people, and not someone with a realistic perception. He came upon a plain red sweater, the one that he and Rigby had worn the time that they accidentally sent Skips to the moon. Mordecai couldn't help but grin in memory of all the chaos the duo had created together.
"I really miss him..." The avian thought with a frown before shaking his head."I guess going to visit Margaret doesn't have to be a lie. I can just say hi on my way," Work could wait.
The blue jay desperately grabbed at the door to the coffee shop, wanting to escape from the gruesome outside chill. Chiming of a bell was the first thing to greet him as always, and he began to search for an empty table. The shop was packed today, perfectly understandable that someone would crave a hot cup of coffee on a freezing day. Mordecai gave up on his expedition for a table, and just decided to go over to the counter where his robin friend was attending to a customer.
"Okay! I'll have that for you right away!" She replied happily, then noticing the blue jay. "Oh, hey, Mordecai!" She greeted.
"H-Hey!" He stuttered, immediately becoming flustered upon receiving Margaret's attention.
"So, what do you want to order?"
"Actually, I was just passing by, and decided to come in and say hi," The avian explained. "So... hi." The robin let out a giggle. "Oh, and I'm sorry again for bailing on you yesterday..."
"Oh God, it was probably for the best," She reassured with a disdainful look.
"Huh? Why?"
"After you left, things just went downhill between me and Allan." Mordecai had completely forgot about Allan, what was he going to do about that problem too? Did he even pose a threat? Or was he just a clone of Mordecai, and nothing more?
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." The blue jay apologized. "Maybe now's my chance…" He thought, heart beginning to speed up with fearful anticipation. "Maybe... uh…"
"Hmm?" The robin tilted her head in confusion.
"Well, I know that you kinda just got out of a relationship and all, so you might not be ready at the moment, so you can feel free to say no, I promise it won't hurt my feelings or anything, but w-"
"Do you wanna date me?" The robin simply questioned with a smile while Mordecai tried to recover himself.
"Uh, yeah. So, do you want to..?" The avian's heart was racing, his mind was numb and hazy, the bird felt like throwing up.
"Sure!" Margaret replied cheerfully, leaving Mordecai to just freeze, wide-eyed with shock.
"And this is the part where I wake up..."He thought to himself, silently standing there waiting for such a thing to occur. Yet, nothing happened, and he remained in the coffee shop while Margaret patiently awaited some form of feedback.
"R- Really?" Mordecai exclaimed, earning himself a few looks while reaching to cover his mouth upon realizing how loud he was being.
"Yeah, I don't see why not."
"That's awesome!"
"Haha, so..."
"So..." The blue jay repeated stiffly.
"You free tomorrow, I guess?" Margaret asked in a hopeful tone.
"Uh- yeah, I guess."
"Cool, I'll just call you then?" The robin suggested holding up her cellphone.
"Yeah, thing is, I kinda lost my cellphone. I'm trying to not let Benson find out, he'd kill me."
"Oh, well, I guess I'll just call the park then?"
"Yeah, I'll be sure to check it from now on." Mordecai answered replied, shifting around uncomfortably and rubbing at the back of his neck.
"'Kay, great! I'll see you again tomorrow then, I guess." The robin stated, walking around from behind the counter with a tray of coffee that she skillfully balanced in one hand.
"Yeah, so bye!" The avian said, taking this opportunity to depart before he actually did puke, or embarrass himself more than he already had. He felt someone grab his arm on his way out of the shop, beginning to blush when he turned to face Margaret.
"By the way," She said with a grin. "You look handsome in red." The robin placed a kiss on the blue jay's cheek before continuing on her way to a table where a customer waits patiently for their beverage. Mordecai stood there frozen, shifting uncomfortable a bit as his body heated up. Even as he left and entered the frigid outside air, the warm, tingling sensation on his cheek remained.
Walking around town, Mordecai felt like a king, striding proudly with the thoughts of his newly earned girlfriend. A blush was still plastered to his face, but he didn't care. Everything was right in the world, well, almost everything.
Finding his way back to the amusement park was much easier in broad daylight, although, the most difficult part was probably waiting outside for them to open, however, he wasn't the only one. Swarms of people began arriving outside the park, some faces recognizable to the blue jay. It was proving its popularity a lot more now than it had the previous day, appearing to attract a wide range of age groups. Massive lines began to form in front of the two ticket booths posted on each side of the parks entrance. Then, a thought came to mind.
"Damn it..." He muttered in frustration, having forgotten that he would require a ticket in order to enter. The bird had only been able to get in yesterday because of Allan and Margaret's relationship, a relationship that no longer lasted. Said 'raven' appeared at the front gates, beginning to unlock them while people cheered in approval, and began flooding in. Mordecai, however, began making his way in the opposite direction. There was no use, seeing as he hadn't thought of grabbing his wallet that morning, and had no money to spare on the ten dollar admission in the first place.
"Hey Mordecai!" The 'raven' called, running towards the bird waving.
"Oh, hey Allan..." Mordecai greeted weakly, ignoring the other male's request for a handshake.
"What's wrong? Why'd you show up if you aren't coming in?" The bird asked in confusion.
"Totally forgot to bring money," The blue jay said with a laugh.
"Were you actually going to do stuff, or did you just need to see someone?"
"I came to er-" The avian had no idea why it was so difficult to say this, "Talk to Rigby"
"What about?" The other male asked with a raised eyebrow and grin.
"Just stuff..."
"Listen," Allan started, placing a hand on Mordecai's shoulder. "I know you want him back, but he's doing just fine here." The blue jay flinched for a moment due to the physical contact before realizing that his sweater was preventing it. "What? Don't like it when I touch you?" He asked with a now sadistic grin. "Rigby does."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, are we getting jealous?" Allan questioned slyly, his green eyes focused on Mordecai's in an unbreakable gaze. The blue jay just turned, and walked off, leaving the 'raven.'
"What the fuck?" Mordecai growled to himself, utterly enraged by the situation. He wasn't jealous...was he? No. What was there to be jealous of anyways? There was no way that Rigby would even consider letting another guy touch him, and get that kind of enjoyment out of it. Although, Allan had definitely said it with the intention of causing envy; but why would he be jealous of something... like that?
It was a long walk home, Allan's voice echoing through his head, pestering his mind. He let out a heavy sigh as he made his way up the stairs of the house. He had given up so easily, and again accomplished nothing, and at what cost? He may have managed to take Margaret and his' relationship a step further, and it was definitely worth it.
Mordecai was hesitant about opening the door; the fear of an angry Benson assaulting him with words about how he ditched work to go and 'slack off.' Either way, he was going to have to face the music. The bird opened the door, and froze. While the gumball machine was there, another familiar stranger was alongside him. And upon recognition of the otter, Mordecai could only act, not think, and tackled Doug to the ground.