Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except Karen) or plot from Regular Show. I do, however, own this particular story.
Warning: This story contains homosexual (BOYXBOY/GIRLXGIRL) and mature material, including; sexual situations, misuse of drugs, underage drinking, law-breaking, foul language, and violence. If you are against any of those things then, please, exit without flames. Thank you.
Summary: Human AU. Benson has decided to hire some new help from the past, seeing as our two favorite boys can't seem to get it together. Naturally, the two decide it's time to step up and prove the extra hands are unneeded. But what happens when Rigby makes friends with the new recruits? How will Mordecai react? Especially when a rivalry spurs between him and a certain blonde, bringing forth feelings he never knew existed within himself, or his friends.
Check out animegirl1000 on deviant art to see my vision of all the characters, her art is amazing.
"Benson, come on, dude, I'm begging you!"
It had been two weeks since Mordecai and Jeremy had brawled in the basement. Mordecai's black eye had now faded to a sickly yellow with slight hues of remaining blues, everything else having healed by now, and he hadn't spoken a word to the albino, save for the occasion snide comment or snappy remark towards one another here and there.
Benson had been pissed.
Like, beyond anything either young adult had seen in their entirety of existence, and, frankly, Mordecai had been surprised when he hadn't fired them both right then and there. When Chad and Rigby had come home, the redhead was still screaming at them, earning many teases and laughs from the two tanned workers that sent Mordecai into a mini tantrum. But, just when he had thought that Benson understood that the red eyed cunt and he don't work well together, he decided it would be a brilliant idea to send the both of them to the store to retrieve some new supplies.
Alone.
Together.
'Fuck my life.'
Said redhead rolled his purple eyes and fixed the small golden clip in his bangs to hold properly, clipboard under his arm.
"Quit whining, Mordecai." He responded, pouting slightly when he had to redo his work once more, "You'll be gone for maybe an hour, tops. The store isn't far and I only need you to get a few things."
Lies, all lies.
"Benson." He snapped, "You're sending us to another town in the middle of fucking nowhere to get a few tools and planks of wood. Why can't we just go to the lumber yard in town?"
He took his time with his answer, lowering his arms as a thoughtful expression took hold of his features, before a simply shrug possessed his shoulders lightly.
"Because fuck you, that's why."
The employee flinched, the man before him had forbidden them from fighting and, judging by that colorful explanation, was most likely still upset by the whole ordeal considering he couldn't let a grudge go if it fucking killed him.
A small twitched flicked on inside Mordecai's head as he mulled over the situation.
Mother fucker.
"You're doing this on purpose!" He accused.
Smirking slightly, his boss flipped threw his clipboard with smugness, "And what if I am?"
This caught the blue jay off guard, he hadn't expected the man to fully confess so suddenly, without denial.
Pushing his sky blue glasses up, the ginger regarded Mordecai with a steady, serious expression.
"You two work together, Mordecai. Hell, you live together in the same house." He explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world, "You have to at least try to get along. You knew you'd be working together eventually."
The blue haired artist frowned, contemplating as he rose a pierced eyebrow.
".. Well, okay, I get that, man. But, why the hell do we have to go so far?"
"Oh," he said with an innocent grin, "It's a small test to see if you guys can actually handle being around each other."
You red haired, sadistic son of a bitch.
Cerulean and indigo narrowed in irritation, the little shit knew that they wouldn't dare cross him. Not after threatening them, their jobs on the line if they so much as plucked a hair from the others head while he was close enough to see.
Fuck you, Benson.
"Fine," Mordecai agreed, against his will, "But I could have just gone with Rigby."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Are we leaving or what?"
Turning to see the albino, Mordecai narrowed his eyes in disgust. The blonde hadn't received even a scratch and hadn't complained about his genitals being seriously injured, much to the artist's dismay. He was busy pulling his favorite red hoodie over his head one-handedly, the other too preoccupied with texting to give the task the time of day, wearing a simple black T-shirt underneath with pants matching the same raven shade, his scoffed Jordon's clapping lightly against the wooden porch, lumber creaking under his weight, as he descended the steps to meet the other two in the fine morning rays of sunshine.
Adjusting his glasses before settling an unwavering gaze towards his rival, Jeremy slipped his phone into his front pocket.
"Ready to go, Princess?"
The little bitch was stoic as ever, voice stripped of any lasting emotion as he regarded Mordecai with the upmost disgrace. Not to mention the absolute adoration put into the artist's new nickname for the albino.
And, despite knowing it was done to simply get a rise, it pissed the blue jay off to no end.
Though, he held his tongue in front of their boss, managing to swallow whatever insult he had ready and instead sighing heavily through clenched teeth.
This was going to be a long day.
"Whatever, man."
And, with that, Mordecai turned on his heel and headed towards the piece of shit truck that belonged to the newest members of the Park. Throwing open the passenger door and grumpily shifting into the semi-comfortable seat with a slam of the metal door and a click of the cursed seatbelt, sealing his fate as he was soon joined by none other than the man he hated most in this world.
The grounds keeper didn't chance even a glance towards Jeremy, too overwhelmed by his presence as it was and knowing that if he did, in fact, look at the hipster, the blonde would do something, minuscule towards others, but frighteningly obnoxious to Mordecai. This would result in a toss of insults and demands followed by tiny observations about the albino's nerve-grating driving habits, which, Mordecai was already analyzing from his stern seat, that would then transfer in a ways hat would get them in a wreck from the attempt to kill one another. Benson would find out and go to their funerals just to piss on their tombstone with a shout of 'You're fired!', the bastard.
So, Mordecai kept to himself.
And he was doing a good job, ignoring the gnawing tension that awkward silence seems to laugh about, until a swift turn to the left had his head bashing against the passenger window.
"What the fuck?!"
"I want coffee."
As the blonde put the truck in park, Mordecai rubbed his throbbing head in order to realize they were outside of the the Coffee Shop. Memories flowed through his mind that he was quick to push back, having rather not thought of.. Her.
"Well fucking warn me next time!" Mordecai snarled.
"Learn to be more attentive to your surroundings."
Mordecai growled in response, but was interrupted by the door Jeremy just slammed shut. Heated, multicolored eyes watched the blonde make his way to the entrance for a moment before he hurriedly freed himself from the confines of his damned seatbelt, struggling a moment or two with the wretched door before damn near falling onto the pavement.
"Son of a-" he grumbled, securing his footing with much difficulty before slamming the door shut with far more force than necessary.
Stomping into the all too familiar cafe, the blue haired artist glared all around until he spotted Eileen leaving a table the little cunt was sitting at, seeming to have already taken his order. The blue jay huffed and walked over, forcing himself to slip into the seat across from Jeremy, glaring hard at the freshly wiped table before him rather then meet the eyes of unforgiving crimson.
"Took you long enough."
"Shut up."
It was silent for a few minutes, the only sounds filling their lack of conversation were soft murmurs of customers throughout the shop, the smell of the sweet brewing coffee succeeded in easing Mordecai's nerves, even if just slightly, and the overall familiar atmosphere calmed him in a way he never thought possible when around the infuriating blonde. Hardly at all, but still, it was something. He felt himself ease back against the seat, his black pressed flush against the comfort it offered as he let his mismatched eyes slid close. Mordecai slouched a bit and noticed the cool air lightly brushing against his bare arms and cheeks, subconsciously noting how relieving the air conditioned environment was compared to the slowly increasing heat outside.
Jeremy observed the other, taking note how his body went lax once he managed to dig the stick out of his ass that seemed to always be present. He openly stared, not at all worried of getting caught as he took in the others facial features. Sun kissed skin, cerulean and indigo hair -much like his eyes that the albino thought outrageous, despite his own-, dark eyebrows, one being pierced by a golden stud, an angled nose, and admittedly plump lips. The piercing blatantly resting just under his bottom lip catching the blonde's eye as he absently thought back to when his fist collided with the golden accessory.
He didn't exactly hate the co-worker, that much Jeremy admitted to himself, but there was something about the way Mordecai looked at him that instantly snapped his control. He'd been insulted before, poked and prodded at for his condition. Being an albino wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but he'd managed to completely block out the hatred and judgment tossed his way so carelessly. Once he had learned to shut off his own anger, his other emotions followed in suit without his permission, though he knew it would simply be easier to allow such a thing to happen instead of getting hurt, so he allowed the mask to slip over his face entirely.
That is, until Mordecai showed up in his life.
That mask that had been so carefully crafted, having become so immensely important, a necessity for him to function correctly in society without completely losing his mind, was practically ripped away when the artist wormed his way into his vision.
He resented the blue jay for this.
But also admired him from afar.
He interested Jeremy. How a pathetic little punk like Mordecai could ruin the stature and control of the blonde was beyond his capability of knowing. Wondering how it is that years of practice could be washed away in an instant with a sudden look, an insult, or even just a nonchalant comment. Shattered as soon as Mordecai decided, having Jeremy wrapped around his ringed fingers without even the knowledge of such control.
And Jeremy hated that about the grounds keeper.
This was mostly the cause of all his anger, the blonde decided. Tensions are strung to their very limit when they're around each other, to the point that the albino fears of it snapping within seconds if Mordecai so much as opens his loud mouth to whisper even the smallest of observations. When they had fought, ruthlessly trying to dominate the other with their force, Jeremy had felt so alive. So free, like he was genie released for a bottle after centuries of being locked inside the cursed contraption. The pain was exhilarating, the overwhelming power he held over Mordecai in strength was sickeningly pleasurable, and the near begging state he'd put the other in was absolutely delicious. And, God, did it feel good to have the artist beneath him.
This scared the absolute shit out of Jeremy.
What could it have meant? He never was one for sadism, but, he supposed Mordecai had a way of unleashing something buried deep within him. A beast which couldn't be contained so easily with a few spoken words in apology. No, this required pain in exchange.
Maybe something even more.
"Are you gonna stare all day?"
Snapping himself from his own thoughts, a hand lifted to adjust his glasses. He hadn't realized Mordecai had opened his eyes and he had been caught red-handed, not that he cared, of course.
"Just thinking."
"Tch, 'bout what?"
Shrugging, the blonde answered with the upmost honesty.
"You."
He expected a fist to the face or a pitiful insult, but what he did receive, surprised the blonde. Scarlet sprouted throughout tanned cheeks, a look of shock overtaking Mordecai's features as he struggled to find words. He hadn't meant to embarrass or provoke the bluenette, Jeremy had simply seen no reason in lying or passing it off with a 'nothing'. Although, he had to admit, the reaction was a pleasant surprise, for whatever reason.
"B-bastard!" Mordecai cursed himself for stuttering, his face heated, "You can't just say stuff like that!"
Why would Jeremy be thinking of him?
An indifferent sigh escaped Jeremy as he leant on his hand, "Don't get too excited, Pretty Boy."
If his face hadn't been on fire before, it certainly was now.
Fuck you, Jeremy.
Just as the blue jay opened his mouth to retort, a tray with two coffee's upon it were set down in front of them. Already incredulous that Jeremy had ordered him anything, Mordecai took notice that there was a slip of paper on the tray as well. Upon further inspection, once he picked it up, absently hearing Jeremy mutter a thanks to the waitress, Mordecai realized that it was a card with elegant writing on it. A small bow the color of champaign rested at the top of the pristine white as the same color of writing was below.
He squinted to read the girlish print, having never been particularly good with cursive as it was, and read aloud with realizing it.
"...You have been invited to the wedding of... Miss Margret Dennison-" his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened, fingers tightening on the card as he read over the name over and over again. Not bothering with going on, not interested in going on as he slowly turned his head, meeting the smiling red lips, rich coral eyes, and a radiance of warm memories swimming in the unspoken hello.
'You gotta be fucking kidding me.'
"Margret..?"
"Surprise!" The oddly cheerful redhead exclaimed, tossing her hands halfway in a display of entrance.
Her hair was longer, he noticed, her layers having grown out some and laying in graceful waves around her shoulders, dyed the same deep, rich red Mordecai remembered. Her face had matured some, a light spray of freckles dashed across her nose and cheekbones from exposure to sun. Skin slightly tanned and eyes lacking the regular amount of dramatic makeup that seemed so fresh the the blue haired adult. Her stature was as carefree as ever, the smile gracing her lips one of adoration and fondness towards her old friend and ex lover.
She was beautiful.
Even more gorgeous than Mordecai remembered.
Which only made the sharp pain in his chest tighten further as he looked up at her in utter shock and longing.
"You're... How did- Why are you here?"
He asked, wanting so terribly to get up and take her into his arms. To kiss her with as much passion as he could manage. The passion he held for her all those years ago, the passion he still kept tucked away for her, even when she left. But, he could only sit there in stunned surprise, reminiscing the feelings held felt and shoved away for the past two years. He was so engrossed in the woman before him that he had failed to notice the confused look upon Jeremy's face, analyzing the situation and trying to figure out just what, exactly, was going on with his rival and the ginger. She hadn't been the one to take his order a short while ago. And, Mordecai seemed to hold a deep knowledge, perhaps she was an old friend, and painfully obvious attraction towards her. So, just who was this Margret? And what did she want with Mordecai?
She pulled a look of amusement before pouting, "What? You're not happy to see me? How awful of you, Mordecai." Jeremy took note how Mordecai was quick to defend himself in an almost panicked fashion. He would have made fun of the multicolored male, if it hadn't been for the way Mordecai's legs were trembling, having pressed unknowingly to the blonde's when Margret showed up. He instead took a sip from his coffee, watching, before the woman giggled.
"I'm just teasing you.~" she explained, "Calm down before you have a heart attack."
"Haha, y-yeah, right." The artist said lamely, scratching the back of his head in a nervous fashion before composing himself, "But, really, I thought you were going to University."
She nodded and leaned her hands on the table, "Yeah, but I came back for the summer so I could plan my wedding here." She smiled, as if the mere thought of her soon to be marriage was all she needed for her happiness.
The mention of her marriage seemed to smack him right in the face.
Why..?
They had been so in love. He had thought, just maybe, Margret had felt the intensity of their connection just as strongly as Mordecai had and, with the everlasting hope that the blue haired male possessed, was willing to wait for each other. For the day she would return to his open arms.
But, it seems that she had made other plans without him.
Mordecai struggled to keep up a good face at this, his heart swelling and trying to tear itself apart at he same time.
"Y-yeah-" he stopped and cleared his throat, attempting to tame the wave it possessed when he spoke.
"Yeah.~" she said, evidently not hearing the absolute dread dripping from the artist's voice, although, someone else was observing rather intently and managed to understand fully what was going on through Mordecai's head.
"I came in to hand-deliver my invitation to Eileen because she moved and, well, I saw you sitting here and decided to surprise you.~"
The albino watched the forced smile strain and falter on his rival's face, gathering that, if they didn't leave, and soon, the artist was going to have an embarrassing break down.
God damn it.
"I hope you'll come, Mordecai. It would mean a lot to me."
Holy shit, was this bitch blind or just fucking stupid?
Jeremy kept asking himself that as she finally seemed to acknowledge the fact that he existed in this world and made a show of being apologetic, asking him his name and prying information about him from a near sobbing Mordecai, causing the blonde's eyes to narrow the slightest bit. Mordecai was about to ball his fucking eyes out and, apparently, Jeremy was the only one who had the ability to see the saltwater forming in the mismatched eyes. Again, he would love to make fun of him, but this woman was really starting to piss him off with her ghastly excitement and total oblivious behavior. She was really making it hard for the albino to keep his face from contorting to obvious irritation, especially when she offered for Jeremy to attend the wedding as well.
'Bitch, fuck you and your wedding.'
"In fact, here," she said and pulled out a small stack of identical cards from her large purse before adding, "I always carry spares with me."
Conceited bitch.
Who are you going to spontaneously invite? The mailman?
He didn't know why, but this gut wrenching feeling was increasing the more Margret flapped her fat mouth. Jeremy simply wanted her to go away and leave them alone. Jesus Christ, he only wanted a damn cup of coffee before having to spend the day with the single more annoying person to him on this planet, Mordecai...Scratch that, he had just met the most annoying person on this hellhole they call Earth.
'Well,' he thought to himself, 'Kudos to you, Mordecai. There is someone I loathe more than you after all.'
She pulled a few out of the rubber band holding them together and offered them to Mordecai, "Could you hand these out around the Park? Everyone's invited but I don't have time to run over there."
Mordecai reached up and took the small stack with trembling fingers before that fire-crotch bitch had the audacity to turn and offer one to Jeremy as well.
A small vision of biting her fingers off helped ease the pinch his annoyance had on his nerves and Jeremy was able to reach up calmly and thank her, how he kept himself collected through that, he didn't know, taking the invitation with ease and sipping his coffee once more. Though, the usually calming, caffeinated beverage served to do little to nothing for his irritation, his grogginess already taken care of by the soulless ginger's insistent babbling about the little details Jeremy didn't give a fraction of a shit about.
He fingered the carefully printed card's edge, enjoying the small amount of texture against his calloused flesh as his red iris' scanned the location information and other bullshit that shouldn't matter to him, before his vision narrowed in on the other name-
"Karen.. Doherty..?"
Mordecai sounded out the name, the odd syllables rolling awkwardly off his tongue as he failed to notice, yet again, as Jeremy raised his head to glance at him, before a whole new transition of raw emotions raked through his pulverized heart. He glanced up at Margret's awaiting face with a mix of embarrassment and uncertainty.
"Oh, wow, Margret.. I didn't... When did you, uh..."
"When did I what?"
Oh, shit.
Mordecai, no.
Abort.
Abandon ship!
Jeremy tried to give him some form or gesture to shut the fuck up. Not that he wouldn't think it'd be fucking hilarious to see the artist get punched, it's just that there was the risk that he would have to listen to Margret screech in fury, a noise that would certainly drive the albino up a wall.
He gulped and cocked his head, subconsciously poking at his lip piercing with his tongue before continuing, "You know. When you.. Became, uh.. a.. lesbian." He whispered the last word, sending Jeremy a sharp glare when receiving a swift kick from the blonde underneath the table.
Son of a bitch.
He's done it now.
Jeremy could see it, the confusion before realization, astonishment before resentment. Margret was pissed off, even for something as minuscule as a misunderstanding on Mordecai's part.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Mordecai, clearly not knowing what he did wrong, tried to remedy the situation, "Oh fuck, I'm sorry. Is that, like insulting to you, or something-"
"I'm not a lesbian, Mordecai!" She snapped, and, even Jeremy was having a hard time keeping his shit together as the overly dramatic redhead unleashed her rage at something so simple and innocent.
And Mordecai, the poor sap, was on the receiving end.
"What? But- You're getting married to a girl named Karen-" again, he was cut off.
"Karen is a boy's name, too!" She growled and crossed her arms almost childishly, "God, Mordecai, I had no idea you were so sexist."
Mordecai was freaking out. How the hell did everything in the day go from bad, to absolutely shit-stink awful?! It was only eight in the fucking morning and, already, the artist wanted to bash his head against the wall until unconscious. Actually, he wanted to do that the moment he was in the car with Jeremy. Now, after pissing off the woman he's in love with, who, by the fucking way, is getting married, fucking married, to some tool that Mordecai hadn't even known existed until five minutes ago, he would much rather just go jump off a fucking building to escape the total shit hole he'd managed to dig himself, far too deep to get out, into. And, oh yes, there's a fucking and, not only all of this, but, upon looking across the table in just fucking helpless hopes for assistance, the grounds keeper could see his coworker smirking, fucking smirking, at him with the upmost humor he was getting out of Mordecai's dismay.
What a cunt.
Vowing to kill the albino once they were alone, Mordecai looked at Margret, desperately trying to apologize and soothe her exaggerated anger in hopes of her forgiveness. Only for her to hold a hand in his face to shut up his pleas.
"Whatever, forget it. Just let me know who all's coming when you get to the Park." She said and turned on her heel, "I'll see you guys later." And, with that, she was gone.
'Thank fuck.' Jeremy thought with relief, looking as Mordecai sunk back in his seat and dragged his hands down his face in frustration.
He knew he shouldn't, oh God, he knew he shouldn't, but, the albino just couldn't help it any longer and..
He laughed.
He laughed harder than he had in months, and, once he started, he just couldn't stop. Clutching his stomach, tears in his eyes, slapping his knee, the whole nine yards.
"Shut the fuck up Jeremy!"
And, this, only made him laugh harder.