sweet talk

i'm not looking for sweet talk

chapter twenty-six

"So... Skips said we have to fight the demon?"

"Psshh, yeah," Mordecai responded to his friend, and noticed how the raccoon's voice seemed to waver slightly, "But he said it should be easy, because we're so close? I don't know..."

The two were given the job to clean the fountain that day, but they weren't really working at all. They were chatting about the night before, about the whole situation they were in. Mordecai noticed how strangely humid the air was, thick and dark, and hard to take in. He wondered if that was the demon's work, and he knew by the look of Rigby's face, it was.

As the blue jay unraveled the hose, he gave Rigby a gentle look. "I think we're going to do fine, dude. Just try not to think too much of it," he assured.

"You're acting like we're fighting a tree or something! This is a demon, man! A demon! One that you've never even seen before!" Rigby exclaimed, exasperation laced in his voice. He crossed an arms, as he usually did when he was stressed. And his words still wavered.

Mordecai sighed. Because Rigby did have a point. And the demon had Margaret and Skips and who knows who else. This was risking everyone's lives, including their own. He had no idea how powerful the demon was. But it was frustrating when he knew that Rigby's negativity was only making it stronger. He opened his mouth to say this, but Rigby was already talking again.

"I just... I want him to go--" Mordecai understood he meant the demon, "--I want things to be the way they used to be. I want to joke around and piss Benson off and start something completely unexpected. And sleep. I want sleep." He looked at the blue jay, and Mordecai could see a trace of sadness behind his eyes. "Is that too much to ask?"

Mordecai wanted to snap then and there, and for no reason, too. Because this was all Rigby's fault for harboring anger and jealousy. For attracting this demon in the first place. But he stopped himself. It's not all Rigby's fault. All he was doing was feeling emotion. These thoughts only stirred more questions into Mordecai's pot of questions. And the blue jay looked at Rigby.

He seemed to get an idea.

"Its not, dude. Because we're going to do that. Forget about the demon. Let's do our normal thing and see what happens," Mordecai said.

Rigby looked at him, weirdly. "But--"

"No, dude. Come on. We have to clean the fountain."

Rigby groaned. "I don't want to."

Mordecai handed Rigby the hose, and walked towards the fountain, not replying. He seemed determined to see if this works, to see if it causes the demon to disappear forever. He could hear Rigby follow after him, lugging the big hose along with.

When the two came to the fountain, they started to get to work, until Rigby was getting bored. He was sitting on the ground, passing his fingers over the hose while staring, eyes dull, at the ground. "Man, can we stop now?" He asked, looking at Mordecai.

"What? We haven't even started, dude," Mordecai responded.

"Yeah, but I'm already bored," Rigby countered with a small huff. It was only partly a lie. In truth, the anxiety was rolling over him faster than he had expected it too. He wrung his hands, nervously, and glanced back in the direction of the pond.