"Death, you're not serious, are you?" Skips exclaimed, almost wanting to laugh.

"Don't ask me why, but it's always worked," Death replied with a sigh. "As soon as it happens, the strong effects wear off."

"So, to cure Rigby one of us would have to… uhm…"

Skips couldn't even speak it into existence.

"Just to make sure I 100% heard you," Mordecai interjected. "You're saying the cure is…"

"Do you have to make me say it so many times?" Death huffed. "It's an orgasm."

The three stood still in contemplation. Skips looked at Mordecai in concern. Mordecai looked at Death in shock. Death tried not to look either of them in the eye, uncomfortable with where he was forced to take this conversation.

"Does your friend not have a girlfriend or something?" the reaper asked, interrupting the silence.

"No," Mordecai responded abruptly.

"You sure there's no one he's seeing?"

The blue jay shook his head. He wasn't about to blurt out what had only just recently happened to alter the dynamic between him and his best friend.

"Even if he was seeing someone..." Skips butted in. "That doesn't factor in the idea we would have to call them here in the middle of the night and ask them to - uh - do the deed. It's just wrong on so many levels!"

"I knew there was no point in telling you," Death said. "This is why I wanted to leave."

"Are you sure there isn't a kind of magic spell of some sort that would make him… y'know?" Mordecai asked with a squint.

"Don't be ridiculous," Skips remonstrated. "We are not making Rigby… blow a load… hands on or hands off! It's just not something I'm comfortable with."

"Best thing for the little bugger is for you guys to just keep trying to talk to him and don't leave him alone," Death explained. "So, this right now isn't helping."

Skips hesitated but decided to submit to Death's wishes to end the conversation and then the three made their way back into the house. Mordecai knelt down by Rigby's side to try and filter some comforting words through to the raccoon's 'poisoned' mind. The yeti and the reaper stood by the door.

"Can I go now?" Death asked, annoyed at the predicament he'd been roped into.

"Yeah, sure. Nothing you can do," Skips replied.

"And you'll invite me to the next bash?"

Skips hummed and nodded. Death smiled and bid his farewell, hopping onto his motorbike, revving the engine, and zooming away through a black portal back to the underworld. The yeti turned back to Mordecai, who was talking quietly to Rigby.

"I'll help you look after him," Skips said. "He should stop hallucinating by the time the morning meeting starts."

"We have work today. We're not gonna have had any sleep," Mordecai complained.

"A small price to pay for throwing parties. I'll try and help you with your chores, to cover for Rigby while he recuperates."

"Thanks, Skips. Hey, Rigby, you hear that? Skips is going to do your work tomorrow."

"I mean, not all of it. Some of it."

Rigby turned to look at the blue jay and the yeti.

"Can I go outside?" he mumbled. "I need some fresh air."

"Sure, dude." Mordecai responded and helped his friend up off the mattress to stand. The raccoon's mind seemed to be clear enough that he could walk without an aid. They headed out into the park and found a patch of grass to sit on. Skips brought out a striped rug and a pillow for the raccoon and placed them down for him. They were in a secluded part of the park that was obscured by groups of trees all around them but above was the glistening expanse of a clear night sky. Rigby laid on his back comfortably while Mordecai contently sat cross legged next to him.

"Hey, Skips…" Mordecai said as the yeti was about to sit down with them. "Why don't you go back to the house and get some sleep? I've got this, I promise."

"As long as you're sure?" Skips said.

"I'll manage."

"Come back if you need any help."

"You got it."

The yeti nodded and left, leaving the two alone. Mordecai smirked… Skips didn't suspect a thing. The very faint sound of Skips closing and locking his front door could be heard from behind them, which prompted Rigby to speak up.

"Why did you make me do that?" Rigby asked the blue jay.

"We had to get away from Skips," Mordecai replied.

"It is nicer out here though. The stars are beauuuutiful."

Mordecai tilted his head up to see what was indeed true. There must have been less light pollution than usual on this particular night, because the blue jay only ever saw as many stars as this on his camping trips.

"Mordecai," Rigby spoke timidly, the blue jay returning his attention to the raccoon. "I saw something earlier and it was so horrible. I've never been so scared. I… I just want you to tell me you're alright."

"I'm alright," Mordecai answered softly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. But I'm with you now. You don't need to be scared anymore."

He placed his right hand on the raccoon's left, and their fingers interlocked with one another forming a bonding hold. Rigby smiled as Mordecai's reassuring touch filled him with warmth.

"So why are we out here?" Rigby asked.

"I have to finish something I started," Mordecai murmured lowly.

He looked down at Rigby, staring deep into the raccoon's eyes as a means to intimate what his words meant. Rigby's expression changed as he caught onto the stare. His jaw hung slightly open in the midst of awe at the handsome appearance of his feathery companion. Mordecai placed his other hand on Rigby's chest to feel his friend's pumping heartbeat.

"Are you okay?" Mordecai had to ask.

"I'm good… relaxed…" Rigby assured with an added nod, and stroked Mordecai's left arm with his right paw. The two took a moment to soak up the energy of each other's presence until Mordecai boldly leaned forward and locked lips with Rigby. Their first kiss had been an intense catharsis of pent-up feelings, but this second kiss was a long, slow burst of romance. They took a chance to explore this newfound connection, feeling each other's bodies as they internally sung to one another. Mordecai finally leaned so far in he was pressed up against Rigby's lower half and he could feel something stirring. The raccoon continued to engage within their physical intimacy, wiggling his tail out from underneath him and wrapping it around Mordecai's bottom. Rigby then started to lightly thrust his hips upwards into Mordecai's body. Pleased at his friend's enjoyment, Mordecai lifted Rigby up off the rug and the two held each other tightly, listening to each other's breaths.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to hold me like this," Rigby whispered.

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting all my life for you to wrap your tail around me," Mordecai said.

"Do you like it?" Rigby grinned and tightened the grip of his tail around the blue jay.

"It feels good, dude. But you don't have to worry about pleasing me right now."

Mordecai stroked Rigby's face gently and slowly laid him back down on to the mat. The raccoon blushed as he felt Mordecai's hand push his body down. Rigby lay with his body tilted slightly to the left so that his tail was not squashed. The bird laid down on his side, opposite facing the raccoon. Rigby bit his lip at the thought of what Mordecai was about to do to him. The blue jay laid one wing around Rigby's head, almost cradling it, then with his other hand, tiptoed his fingers down Rigby's torso. Rigby's heart fluttered as he felt Mordecai's presence dominating him. His friend was about to do something which he'd been waiting to happen for a very long time, and it felt beyond exciting. Rigby almost squealed as Mordecai finally made his way to the very point where he was standing to attention.

"Are you ready?" Mordecai spoke deeply.

"Yeah," he breathed…

Rigby lay with his eyes closed, his legs and arms out, breathing heavily as he recovered from the past few minutes. Rigby didn't know if it was because he was high but that might have been the best moment of his entire life. In fact, his mind now felt completely clear, like he wasn't high at all. Mordecai flopped back down beside him and the two laid side by side in complete bliss, staring at the sky which was beginning to brighten as dawn approached. The look of the stars meant something different to them now. What was once a melancholic vision of distant hopes and dreams that felt impossible to achieve, was now a vision which echoed tranquillity. Mordecai and Rigby had come one step closer into loving their lives, and of course, each other. It was a shared resonance that signified belonging, which made the two identify a more comfortable sense of their place in the universe.

Mordecai let go of Rigby and wiped his hand on the grass next to him.

"Do you still feel high, dude?" he said.

"Actually… no. Do you?" Rigby replied.

"A little bit, maybe."

"I don't even feel like I'm coming down either. It's just gone."

"Weird…"

Mordecai figured he wouldn't tell Rigby, at least not tonight. It was too bizarre to admit that fate had brought them together, and that their love had been the cure.

"Do you want to go back to the house?" the blue jay asked.

"Just five more minutes. I like it out here." Rigby replied.

"We can stay as long as you like, dude."

"Can we stay forever?"

"Well, we still have our jobs to do. We have to eat too. And go to the bathroom–"

"Stop talking!"

Mordecai chuckled.

"I don't want to spend a single moment of my life without you," Rigby said sincerely.

The blue jay blushed, speechless. Rigby really did love him. It was the first time he had ever felt this loved.

"You mean that?" Mordecai asked.

"With every bone in my body, man," Rigby said.

Mordecai laid a hand on Rigby's chest, feeling his friend's beating heart.

"I love you, Rigby," Mordecai said.

Rigby cracked up and began to cry, his snout sniffling in and out and his face swelling as his eyes formed tears. Mordecai raised his sobbing friend up off the rug and brought him into a tight embrace. They sat for a moment as Rigby cried into Mordecai's breast. As he did so, Mordecai shed a couple tears of his own. The raccoon let himself calm back down as the blue jay hugged him, feeling an essence of safety within his friend's embrace. When Rigby had reached the end of his sobbing, Mordecai let go and spoke gently to him.

"Come on, it's warmer in my bed."

The End.

a/n: Thank you to everyone who wrote lovely reviews on this! I didn't know if anyone was going to like this since Morby is so old but it appears to be making a little resurgence on the fan-art side as of late which is great to see. Apologies again for the wait on this one, since this was only a short story. I might do a longer one in the future, we'll see.. but until then, thanks for reading.