theme: bedazzler

Shreds of ripped-up wrapping paper soiled the couch. Rigby took a handful of multicolored tissue paper in his fist and tor it out. Reaching inside of the small gift box, his hand made contact with something soft at the bottom. He peaked inside to find a neatly-folded piece of clothing underneath the remainder of the crumpled tissue paper.

Rigby held a cobalt sweater up in front of his face.

"What'd you get, dude?" Mordecai asked, straining his neck to get a glimpse. Gradually, Rigby twisted the sweater around so that his friends could see view the other side.

CJ put an arm around Eileen and howled, raising up a half-empty can of soda. "You made that?! I had no idea you were that crazy talented!"

Eileen beamed, her cheek color becoming rosy. "Oh it's not that big of a deal," she responded, waving her off. "It does have a few stitching errors in it! I'm not a bona fide seamstress, you know."

Rigby grimaced. The sweater displayed a zig-zag pattern, with a variety of different bedazzled jewels lined up along the sides. It looked like something his great aunt would knit for him when he was eight.

"Er, thanks Eileen," he said, trying his best to twist his face back into a smile.

"Not a problem. I was hoping you wouldn't mind me making something for you this year. I wanted to make you something that I could post about on my craft blog!" Eileen informed him.

Mordecai took a sip from his soda and chuckled. "Nice sweater, Rigby," he whispered, elbowing him in his side. Before Rigby could manage a 'stop talking', Pops entered the living room, his cupped hands together.

"The cake is ready for consumption!" he announced, followed by a fit of giggles. Everyone was ushered into the kitchen, except for Rigby, who bolted to get the first slice.

It was around one-thirty A.M.

Rigby held the sweater tightly against his hip as he sneaked down stairs. He scurried across the carpet and through the kitchen, frantically looking around for the garbage can. It was difficult to make out the furniture in the pitch black of the night.

Rigby put one arm out in front of him, guiding his way past the table, when he found it; his hand touched the plastic lid of the trash can.

The kitchen light flashed on and Rigby spun around, only to see Benson holding a cup of coffee.

"Benson!" Rigby shouted, hiding the sweater behind his back. "I thought you went home already."
Benson set his coffee on the yellow-splotched counter and narrowed his eyes. "You thought wrong. I went out to get something to help wake me up. I still have work to do before Mr. Maellard's next park inspection," he explained. "What'cha got there?"

"Uh, I was just up, um... taking out the trash," he answered.

Benson's expression was skeptical. "At one in the morning?" he questioned.

"Um..."

"In the dark?"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Rigby cried, throwing the sweater on the table. He hung his head. "I was trying to throw it away."

Benson obseved the front. His gumballs clinked against his dome as he made eye-contact with his employee. "Didn't Eileen make this for you?"

Rigby nodded 'yes' in response. Benson let out a sigh and took a seat. He pulled out the chair next to him. "Sit down, Rigby," he instructed. Rigby did as he was told.

"Look," Benson started. "I normally wouldn't get involved in personal affairs of my workers, but this is a special case."

He rubbed his temples before continuing on.

"I visit the Coffee Shop from time to time... Eileen's a really sweet girl. Sometimes she talks to me about Premium Cat Monthly, or the weather, or even you. Yeah, I can't tell for the life of me what she sees in you, but she really does... care about you. Eileen seemed pretty happy that you accepted her gift."

"I know!" Rigby said. "I didn't wanna hurt her feelings or anything!"

"So you thought trashing it would be an easy solution? What if she asks to see it, or if you've worn it yet?"

Rigby didn't answer.

"You're a grown man. What you do is your business," Benson stated, standing up. "If you want to break your friend's heart, that's entirely your desicion. Just keep in mind what you have to lose from that."

He pushed in his chair and swiped his coffee off the counter, then headed up stairs to his office; leaving Rigby to stir in his own thoughts and emotions.

"Alright dude, I'm impressed," Mordecai said, smirking. "I thought you were just kidding when you said you were gonna wear that thing around all day."

The bedazzled jewels of his sweater shone in the morning sun. "Yeah, yeah..." Rigby muttered, lifting his shoulders. The cart came by. It was Benson behind the wheel; his sunglasses and clipboard at hand. He slammed his foot on the break and handed Mordecai a green sheet of paper. "Here are your duties today," he told them. "Try not to slack off for too long: we've got a lot of work to do these next couple of weeks."

Before he drove away, he lowered his shades and glanced at Rigby. Benson gave him a semblance of a smile, then went off.

(A/N: i'm trying to mix things up a little; with rigby and benson's relationship being a primary focus for this one! just don't wanna get too repetitive, ehe)