When you live in a quiet enough area, you might be surprised as to how often you find yourself waking up at night due to the sheerness of the silence. It was on such a night that Rigby suddenly awoke in the small hours. This morning, however, was different. He didn't feel particularly well. He woke suddenly, and glanced quickly around the room. He started to feel extremely anxious and paranoid, as if a sudden and terrible fear had gipped him. He looked around the room, his eyes adapting to the darkness, and saw his sleeping friend, Mordecai, in the bed across the room. Scanning the rest of the room, and seeing nothing, he slowly slipped out of bed, and began nervously pacing the room. It was a strange sensation, but it felt as though he didn't belong there. Feeling like something was greatly amiss, Rigby continued his pacing, now subconsciously wringing his sweaty hands. He couldn't stop glancing around the room, and sensing danger, he backed himself into a corner of the, his heart pounding. He looked over to Mordecai's bed, and saw the bird still soundly asleep.
"Mordecai? Mordecai!" He whispered harshly, seeing if he would wake, but the bird was an infamously heavy sleeper, and continued lightly snoring. Feeling alone and frightened, Rigby remained in his corner, too afraid to move, for several hours. There he stayed, until the sun was rising from behind the hills, painting the sky a pale blue. With the faint light entering the room, Rigby finally felt safe enough to leave their bedroom and head downstairs. He crept out of the room, still wringing his hands together in front of him, and ever so slowly headed for the stairs.
Seeing nothing wrong, he climbed down the stairs and entered the kitchen. He took a seat at the table, unsure of what to do. After looking around the room for a while, he decided to make himself some coffee, having gotten little sleep last night. He could feel the familiar tired, heavy strain in his eyes, the kind you get after staying up all night, but yet the day was only beginning, and he would still have to work. The thought was tedious to Rigby, but he tried to keep himself occupied in making his coffee.
As he was pouring his drink, Mordecai stumbled into the kitchen, the evidence of deep sleep plastered all over his face.
"I thought I heard you get up," he said, groggily. Rigby, startled by Mordecai, jumped at the sound of his voice, dropping the coffee pot, and smashing it into a thousand pieces.
"Oh dude." Mordecai said, bringing his hand up and covering his face "Great. Now I can't have coffee." He said, slumping into a chair.
"You scared me," Rigby said defensively. Mordecai lazily waved a dismissive hand. Fuck, I'm in deep shit for that Rigby thought, thinking of his caffeine depraved coworkers who would be arriving in the coming hours. Feeling bad for breaking the coffee pot, Rigby slid his partially poured coffee over to Mordecai.
"You can drink this. I'm already awake" he said. Mordecai perked up a little, accepting the cup of coffee.
"Thanks… you should consider cleaning this up." He said, motioning to the coffee and glass all over the floor.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm doing it."
"What are you gonna tell Benson?" Mordecai asked. But Rigby's mind was in other places. He felt like there were more people in the room than him and Mordecai.
"Dude, let's go into the other room" Rigby suggested, as he dumped the remains of the coffee pot into the trash.
They both entered the living room, and Rigby turned on the TV, hoping it would calm him down. The news was on.
"Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Today's top stories: The USSR has refused to cancel a nuclear test despite widespread condemnation from Western powers. A statement from the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that 'the West should not fear a nuclear exchange from the Socialist Republics. If an exchange does occur, it will be the result of aggression from the United States.' A counter statement was released by the federal State Department saying that 'it is impossible not to view the upcoming Soviet nuclear tests as anything but an aggressive provocation, and deeply troubling. The Soviet Republics make talks difficult due to their liberal application of the concept of aggression,' more to follow.
Also in the news today, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have announced a breakthrough in the area of nanotechnology, we'll have the chief researcher behind the project in to tell us a little more about it shortly. Today's date is July thirtieth two-thousand-and-fourteen; you're watching World Today USA…
"Dude, can you change the channel? I can't stomach watching the news anymore" said Mordecai.
"Uh… yeah, I guess" Rigby said, changing the channel over to a morning talk show. Just then, Pops came down the stairs, and strolled into the room.
"Oh good morning Mordecai and Rigby! Aren't you two up at an early hour? Enjoying the sunrise, I presume?"
"Sure, Pops," Mordecai said "oh, and Rigby accidentally broke the coffee pot."
"Dude!" Rigby hissed, elbowing Mordecai in the side.
"Oh! Think nothing of it, Rigby. Everything is replaceable! It's never healthy to attach any significance to material possessions, I say!" And with that, Pops headed into the kitchen.
"Ugh, how can anybody be so cheerful in the morning. It almost makes me feel ill," Said Mordecai "and you're really quiet today dude"
"Uh, sorry. I didn't sleep so good last night" Rigby replied
"Aww that sucks man. Still you'd better do your end of the work today, dude. Last time you were to tired to work I had to mow, like, 3 acres of grass!" Mordecai said, throwing his arms up into the air.
"I know dude, I know, It'll be fine, I promise" Rigby said
"Yeah, it better be, dude."
The two continued to watch TV for a couple hours until their coworkers began shuffling into the park house.
"Good morning" Benson said passively, moving through to the kitchen. Rigby held his breath and, as suspected, Benson emerged from the kitchen seconds later.
"What happened to the coffee pot?" He asked, in his nasty, accusatory tone.
"It uh… dropped?" Said Rigby.
"Well you better thank your lucky stars that I had coffee before leaving the apartment this morning. And if that pot isn't replaced by tomorrow morning the cost of a new one is coming straight out of your next unearned paycheck!" Benson said, his voice quavering with anger.
"Oh Benson! It's fine. This gives me the perfect excuse to embark on an excursion to the town today! I will purchase a replacement coffee pot while I'm away" Pops insisted.
"Ugh. Fine. Just get through today without breaking anything else, Rigby" Said Benson
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine, I hardly break stuff"
"Uh, what!? You bre- actually, never mind… never mind," Benson said, pinching the bridge of his nose, and walking away.
"Dude, let's go kill one before we have to start" Mordecai said. The two headed outside and lit up a couple cigarettes. As the nicotine rushed through his bloodstream Rigby started to feel a bit better, and calmed down slightly. The edginess he had felt all morning faded.
But just as he was feeling comfortable, Rigby saw, in the corner of his eye, a dark shadow moving behind the tall hedges in the distance.
Fuck, they're actually here he thought, his heart pounding. Maybe they don't know I saw them yet. I can't tell Mordecai, they might kill everyone… I guess I'll look busy working while I think of a plan he told himself. Shortly after, Benson came outside followed by their coworkers. Muscle Man, not having a coffee machine in his trailer, thwacked Rigby round the side of the head.
"Nice going loser, now we have to work without coffee." He said. And with that, Benson loudly tapped the side of his whiteboard, and called everyone to pay attention to the morning meeting.
AN: Hey everyone, this is my first story. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. All comments and critiques are wanted and appreciated, no matter how harsh! Thanks!
Also, I know this first chapter wasn't hugely eventful, but the next chapter should be up very soon.