Summary: On a snowy winter day, Benson tries to spend the night with someone special. However, Mordecai and Rigby ask for something in return in order to leave him alone.

Warnings: Alcohol use, characters getting drunk, some mildly sexual romance.
Characters: Mordecai, Rigby, Benson, and a nameless girl who isn't really an OC. She's just... whoever you want her to be, really.
Pairings: Benson / His Girlfriend who has no name, and is not another gumball machine.
Author Notes: This might be the first real fanfic I've written in maybe three years. So why Regular Show? ... Honestly, just because I got this really amusing idea after talking to my friend Genaleah about Benson's character, and because I feel bad for him, especially after he was essentially raped in the recent episode "The Unicorns Have Got To Go". The poor guy needs some love. Special thanks to my beta readers, Azerune and Kasushinbai.

Feedback is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

11/9/2010: Title changed to avoid confusion due to the episode "Don". For those who see this in the future, this story was written about two weeks before the episode "Don" aired, and the original title of this story was "Sugar" ... Yeeeeah... Have an innuendo title now instead of a confusing one.

"Cherry"

By Tora Yakari

Mush... mush... mush...
The sound of Benson's feet against the fresh, white snow, as he walked across the cold, powder covered park, back to his home.
For once, the living gumball machine was wearing shoes. Not just shoes, but clothes too. Real clothes, not like that silly Hawaiian shirt he'd sometimes wear in the summer. Black jeans covered his long, lanky metal legs. He kept his hands in the pockets of his blue jacket. A long, striped, red and pink scarf around his neck covered his mouth on his round, glass head, and flowed behind him in the chilly winter wind.
He'd just gotten done checking in with Skips, who was working diligently in shoveling the snow out of the roads and walkways in the park. Being a Yeti, Skips worked best and most in the winter, which Benson was thankful for. He could barely handle being out in the cold, let alone shovel snow. It was difficult being made of metal. Lots of things were difficult. More difficult than they should be, for just a regular guy like him, who ran a regular grounds-keeping service for a regular park, in a regular city...

Upon returning to his tiny home, Benson shut the door as soon as he could. He shivered badly and rubbed his own arms for warmth as he slowly slumped into his kitchen. He needed his coffee.
Dripdripdripdrip...
The coffee machine on his kitchen counter poured the hot liquid into the pot. Shakily, the gumball machine removed the pot from the machine and poured it into a mug. He brought the cup to his mouth, blew on it, and slowly drank.
The warmth... the caffeine... It was Heaven. He felt much better now.
"Ahhh..." he sighed, somehow blushing and flustered despite having a head made of glass and no blood to speak of.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a red light beeping on his answering machine also on the counter. He had a message.
He turned to it and pressed the button before going and sitting down on his kitchen table to further enjoy his coffee.
Beep. The machine began to play his familiar voice and message.
"You've reached Benson at the Park Groundskeeping Service. I missed your call, but leave your name and number. Thanks."
Benson continued to sip and enjoy his hot drink as the machine beeped again.

Beep.
Suddenly, a woman's voice...
"Hey, Benny. It's me..."

"MORDECAI! HEY, MORDECAI, CHECK THIS OUT!"
Rigby called to his roommate upstairs, the little raccoon bouncing anxiously with his eyes glued to the TV.
"Wait what? What's going on?" Mordecai called back from his room on the second floor.
"JUST GET DOWN HERE, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" Rigby continued to call excitedly.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming..."
The tall blue jay quickly walked down the stairs and joined his friend on their sofa. Rigby bit his lip in anticipation as they both began to watch.

"It came from the deepest, darkest depths of outer space... a terror so horrifying, so sinister, so SLIMY...
And it's here to kill our men, and take our women!"
It was a trailer commercial for a cheesy, b-grade schlock science fiction horror movie. It showed a cheap octopus monster special effect about to attack a screaming woman. The title splashed on the screen in dripping, bloody letters.
"Revenge of the Tentacle Beast from the 9000th Planet! ONLY ON PAY-PER-VIEW!"

The two animal roommates looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces, and then back at their TV.
"Oh. My god." Rigby muttered.
"Dude." Mordecai replied. "... We gotta see that movie."
"H YEAH! How'd we never see it before?"
"I dunno dude. It's got tentacles in it." The blue bird groaned. "But it's Pay-Per-View. We don't have the money for that!"
"Yeah, and we don't have anything to drink while watching it... uuugh!" the raccoon groaned with his friend.
The duo moaned and slumped back in the couch disappointedly.

Suddenly, their doorbell rang.
"I'll get it..." Mordecai said as he got up in a slump. The jay walked to the door and opened it. Standing there was their boss, Benson, in his winter clothes just like before.
"Hey, Mordecai. What's up?" Benson said, actually sounding kind of friendly for once.
"Uhh... hey, Benson." Mordecai replied. This was unexpected. Benson never just... came over. Unless him and Rigby were in trouble. And it didn't sound like they were.
"Mind if I come in for a bit?" the gumball man asked.
"... Uh, yeah, sure. Come on in."

Benson walked inside their house as Mordecai closed the door. Rigby didn't notice him until he walked by the couch.
"Benson? What're you doing here?" the raccoon asked, sitting back up.
"Hey Rigby. Um, listen... can I talk to you both in the kitchen for a sec?" their boss asked, unusually neutral and calm.
"Uhh..." Rigby only sort of replied.
"... Y-yeah, sure. Just a sec." Mordecai finished his friend's sentence for him.
"Thanks, guys." Benson said, actually... smiling a little? He walked into their kitchen as the roommates looked at each other.
"What did you do this time, Mordecai?" Rigby glared at his friend while pointing at him. "ME? I didn't do anything! You must've done something!" the jay replied accusingly.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING EITHER!" the raccoon said defensively.
"Well... maybe neither of us did anything. Maybe we're not in trouble. Benson actually didn't seem upset." Mordecai said.
"... Maybe." Rigby said, unsure.
"Well, let's go see what this is about..." said Mordecai as they walked into the kitchen to join their employer.

The three sat Rigby and Mordecai's kitchen table. Benson had made some more coffee from his employee's machine. He sipped it out of one of their mugs as Mordecai and Rigby sat there, still and somewhat nervous. What was going on?
Finally, Benson spoke. "Look... I need a really, really, really huge favor from you two."
"Well... what is it, Benson?" Mordecai asked.
"I have... someone coming over tonight. Someone really important. I need you guys to, no matter what you do, DO NOT come to my house disturb me tonight." Benson said. He sounded serious.
"Uhh... sure, Benson! No prob-" the jay tried to reply, but Rigby interrupted him. "Whoa whoa whoa WAIT. What's in it for us?"
"Dude, what are you doing?" Mordecai said to his roommate.
"I'm getting us our tentacle movie!" Rigby muttered to his friend.

"What do you mean, 'what's in it for you'? It's a favor." responded the gumball machine, sounding a bit annoyed.
"What I MEAN IS you scratch our back, and we scratch yours!" the raccoon said, folding his arms and sounding smug.
Benson rubbed his temples and groaned quietly. Great. How'd he know this was going to happen? "Look, what do you want? Anything just to keep you away from my house tonight."
A pause.
"... Anything?" Mordecai asked.
Benson shrugged. "Yeah, sure. What do you want?"
Rigby at Mordecai looked at each other, with blank expressions, as if they were reading each other's thoughts.
Then, suddenly, they turned back to their boss and said in perfect unison:
"Beer."
"WHAT?" Benson nearly spat out his coffee.
"AND SOME MONEY FOR A MOVIE ON PAY-PER-VIEW!" Rigby added excitedly.
"Uuugh..." Benson groaned again and put his hand on his face. "I can give you some money for pay-per-view, but I'm not letting you two near any alcohol!"
"But Benson, you said anything!" Mordecai reminded him.
"Yeah, maybe then we'll just have to come over and bother you tonight..." Rigby remarked.
Benson rubbed his temples again. He was stuck. "FINE. So... you want me to give you beer, and money, so you can get drunk while watching a movie? And you PROMISE you won't bother me tonight AT ALL?"
"Hmm, hmm, hmm!" the two roommates nodded excitedly.
The gumball machine sighed. It's not like he had a choice in the matter.

"Okay, fine." Benson said, taking his wallet of his blue jacket. "Here's twenty dollars, that should be enough for your movie. I'll bring you over a six-pack later." He took out a bill and handed it to the ridiculously excited Mordecai and Rigby. "But remember, we have a deal, my house is OFF LIMITS TONIGHT. Got that?" he strictly reminded them.
The roommates nodded with stupid grins on their faces.
"Good..." Benson sighed again, as he put down his coffee and left his employee's house to get ready for his guest.
As soon as he left, Rigby and Mordecai began to cheer wildly. This was going to be the best night EVER.

Snap!
Mordecai and Rigby popped open their beers and clinked the cans together in celebration as they watched their movie.
"To Benson, and whoever it is he doesn't want us to meet!" Mordecai said, taking a swig. "Ahh..."
"Man, screw Benson, to TENTACLE MONSTERS! WOO!" Rigby cheered, guzzling it down.

By the time the movie was half over, to say the jay and raccoon were a bit tipsy might get you the Understatement of the Year Award. The two friends were slouching back on their couch, their practically glazed over eyes locked onto their schlock fest, where the cheap octopus monster was assaulting a panicking crowd.
"Ehehe... eheh... dude... " Mordecai slurred, giggling like madman. "Dude, look at that chick's ladypecs. They're huge."
"A-aha..aha... oh my god," Rigby drunkenly replied. "That's a dude..."
"N-no it's not... I totally wanna suck on 'em."
"You're so effing gay, man."
"YOU'RE GAY!"
The drunken bird offhandedly punched his friend, causing him to fall off the couch and onto the ground with an "Oomf!"
The tipsy raccoon looked back up at his equally inebriated roommate with a stupid grin. Mordecai had a similar look on his face.
"H-hey... dude..." Mordecai whispered. "Punchies~"
The two of them burst into idiotic laughter.
Rigby wobbly climbed back up to the couch. "I l-love you, man. I love you so damn much." he slurred. "Let's make out."
"No dude, let's make out with the beer."
The intoxicated duo grabbed two more cans of alcohol and proceeded to suck on them as they drank.

"M-Mordecai... hey, Mordecai..." Rigby muttered. "How'd we get booze, anyway?"
"D-dude, Benson gave it to us..." Mordecai chuckled.
"Oh y-yeah... I LOVE Benson." The raccoon hiccuped. "I... I wanna go over... to his house... and TELL HIM how much I love him..."
"Ehehehe... you wanna suck his gumballs..." the wasted jay replied.
"I bet his gumballs are delicious..." Rigby whispered.

Mordecai dizzily looked down at their floor and picked up a discarded empty can. He awkwardly shook it. "Dude... we need more beer..."

Chopchopchopchop...
Benson swiftly but carefully chopped the lettuce on his kitchen counter cutting board for salad, still wearing his now open jacket and jeans. He had a steak broiling in the oven and mashed potatoes already sitting on the dinner table. The table actually had a tablecloth and fine china set on it, as well as a candle and a bottle of wine in the center. It was definitely a special occasion.
The gumball machine man finished chopping the lettuce and placed it into a salad bowl. He quickly added some cherry tomatoes, shredded cheese and dressing. He tossed it the salad and placed it on the table. She'd be here any moment.
He looked out the window at the snow blowing in the evening wind. He was glad he didn't have to worry about her being late due to the weather, it was only lightly snowing. She'd called not that long ago and said she was on her way.

Just like that, his doorbell rang. Benson's heart nearly skipped a beat in excitement, but stayed contained. Still, he immediately rushed to the door, not wanting to keep her waiting a second.
He opened it...
And there she was, covered lightly in sugary snow.

"Benny...!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. She rushed inside and immediately hugged him, before even taking her coat off. "I missed you so much!"
Benson blushed and smiled. "I... I missed you too." he said, as he hugged his girlfriend back tightly.

Soon they'd sat down to dinner, the candle in the center of table now lit. Benson had poured wine for him and his girlfriend, and the steaks had just finished broiling.
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble." she said. "I could've just picked up some food for us."
"N-no, I wanted to do this." he replied. "I haven't seen you a while."
She smiled. "Thanks, Benny."

"So how's work been going?" his girlfriend asked as she cut her steak. "How're those new kids you hired?"
The gumball machine sighed. "Still screwing everything up half the time."
She laughed. "Aw, don't be too hard on them, Benny. They'll learn."
"They found this keyboard that sent us to the moon, and we had to fight off this crazy moon monster!"
She laughed again. "Sounds exciting!"
"They nearly got us all killed!"
"But it was an accident right? C'mon, I bet they're good kids. They do good work most of the time, right?"
"Well... yeah, sometimes, I guess."
She smiled. "Cheer up, grumpy gumballs~"
Benson blushed. "... So, is dinner okay? How's the wine?"
"It's all wonderful, Benny. Don't worry about it. I'm just happy to be here with you."
Benson smiled back at her. "... I'm... glad you like it..."

The couple continued conversing through dinner, catching up and enjoying the wine.
"Here Benny, I'll help you clean up..." she said, getting up out of her seat with her plate.
"W-wait!" Benson stopped her. "Uh, I have dessert..."
He got up from his chair and walked over to the fridge...
"Benny...~"
Behind him was his girlfriend, suddenly putting her arms around him and nuzzling the back of his glass head.
"Let's just go sit on the couch, okay?" she said sweetly, while blushing and fidgeting with his knob above his slot.
"Y-you... don't want dessert?" he replied, looking back at her, blushing also as she touched him.
"I'm holding him..." she smiled, holding him tightly.
Benson turned around and hugged her in return, close to his metal body...
She pressed her lips to his mouth..
And he kissed her lovingly, without any hesitation. She returned it, a sweet, wonderful cherry flavor on her tongue.

Benson loved her, more than anything. She was everything to him. It'd been hard for them lately, she'd been moving around a lot trying to find a steady job, but neither of them ever gave up on each other. Every time he was upset, frustrated, angry, or whenever anything went wrong, he'd think of her. It kept him sane. She kept him from going crazy from all the difficulty and madness from his seemingly regular job.
The reason he was so grumpy all the time was really because she wasn't around. She was beautiful, kind, considerate, supportive... and loved him as deeply and truly as he did her. She didn't care he was a cold, metal gumball machine either. She loved him with all her heart.
And tonight, they could finally be together...

Soon they were making out on the couch. She'd kicked off her boots and gently caressed him, while he stroked her soft body.
"I love you, Benson..." she muttered in-between a cherry-flavored kiss.
"I l-love you too..." he replied as he tenderly moved her hair from her face.
She moaned delightedly as her fingers trailed down to his jeans, which she unzipped and slowly pulled them down. Of course it didn't matter much, he normally didn't wear any clothes at all, but he still found it a sensual sentiment. She let him remove his jacket as well.

"B-Benny... baby...?" she whispered to him.
"Y-yeah...?" he replied, completely flustered. He couldn't remember how long it'd been since he was so happy.
"C-can we... go to your room...?" she asked, intimately.
"Sure..." he replied, clinging to her.

He'd waited so long for this...
They held each other in the sheets of Benson's bed, as she kissed him all over his metal body, which was so much warmer now... as she did, she tenderly played with his knob, careful not to twist it too much and let his gumballs dispense before he wished...
Benson moaned in pleasure, delighted... he wished he could stay like this with her forever. He'd never felt so wonderful in his entire life.
He knew it was time now.
"H-honey..." he stuttered to his lover...
"Y-Yes... Benny... darling...?" she replied, nuzzling him.
"I... I w-want... you to have them..."
"... R-really...? You... mean it...?"
Benson nodded. "Y-yeah..."
There was something most people didn't know about living gumball machines: Their gumballs aren't for just anyone. Only the person closest and most important to them are allowed to take them... it was the ultimate declaration of love.
"B-Benny..."
She felt like she was going to cry from happiness. She kissed him once more, long and sweet, before reaching her hand back to his knob...
She trembled slightly, about to twist it...

Suddenly,
WHAP!
The door to Benson's room was flung open, catching them both off guard.
In the door way were a completely hammered pair of roommates.
"BENSON!" Mordecai hiccuped, stumbling. "Where the H is your beer? There's none in the fridge!"
"MORE BOOZE! MORE BOOZE!" Rigby cheered, having absolutely no idea what he just interrupted.

Benson's girlfriend, taken by surprise, jumped back a bit and covered herself in the bed sheets.
NO NO NO! This was not happening!
Benson turned red, as he normally did when he was mad, but redder and more furious and enraged than he'd ever been before.
"YOU GODDAMN DRUNKEN MORONS!" he screamed at his inebriated employees. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING! I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"S-so no more beer...?" Rigby slurred.
"GET OOOOOOOOOUT!"
Benson took the nearest object he could find, which happened to be the clock radio on his nightstand, picked it up, yanked it out of the wall, and threw it at the bird and raccoon. They closed the door and got the hell out of there in time before it hit them, and it crashed into the door and fell to the ground.

"... Okay what the F just happened." Rigby asked, outside of the gumball man's bedroom.
"... D-dude, I think Benson was just getting laid." Mordecai replied.
A pause.
The two then burst into laughter.
"C'mon man, let's go crash on his couch." Rigby said, drunkenly wandering with his roommate back over to their boss's living room.

Moments after his outburst, the gumball man curled up and shuddered, hugging himself and burying his flustered head in his knees.
"... B-Benny...?" his girlfriend stuttered, worried, and wondering what just happened. She edged back over to her lover.
It was quiet, but she could hear it... sniffling... choking up.
It sounded like Benson was crying.
"Benny..."
She did the only thing she could think of doing in this situation; hug him.
"T-those freaking idiots... they promised... they PROMISED if I gave them beer they'd leave me alone tonight..." Benson sobbed. "Everything was perfect... and they ruined it..."
The gumball machine's girlfriend smiled sadly for the man she loved, hugging him closer... and pulling him into a sudden, loving kiss.
Though not expecting it, Benson kissed back, tears still in his eyes.
His girlfriend held his hand and squeezed it tight.
"It's okay, Benny. I... I still want them. ... If you still want to give them to me. I love you."
Benson looked at her, at her sweet, loving, sincere face...
He hugged her back.
"I... I d-do..." he said to her, still slightly choked up. "I love you too..."
She smiled at him. Through his tears... he smiled back.
Even after what just happened...
He still felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

She kissed him once more, and gently, she turned his knob all the way.
Out popped three little red cherry gumballs from his slot.
She took and held them in her hand, and close to her heart, before nuzzling under the covers of the bed with him again.
Soon, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

"Ugghhh..."
Mordecai and Rigby groaned in unison, holding ice packs on their heads, ridiculously hung over that next morning.
They slumped on Benson's couch, curled up in a blanket, while their boss and his girlfriend had breakfast.
She brought them a tray of two hot drinks over to the coffee table. "Here, have some tea. It'll help."
"Thanks..." Mordecai replied weakly, taking the tea and drinking it slowly. Rigby just groaned again.
Benson walked over to them. "NOW do you see why I didn't want to give you two alcohol?"
"Y-yeah... we see... unngghh..." Rigby responded weakly.
"Dude, Benson, why didn't you just tell us you had a girlfriend?" Mordecai asked.
"Because I didn't want you two bugging me about it and we just wanted to be left ALONE..." Benson replied.
"Oh... yeah..." Mordecai remembered. "Sorry about that..."
"It's okay, we forgive you." Benson's girlfriend said. "Though, it was kind of an awkward way to meet you two, Mordecai and Rigby."
"Y-yeah... it's nice to meet you, though. So are you and Benson like, really serious?" the blue jay asked.
The gumball machine and his lover looked at each other, blushing. They held each other's hands.
"Yeah... it's pretty serious." Benson smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Aww... well that's good to hear." Mordecai said, happy for them. Rigby just groaned again.

Suddenly, Benson's girlfriend looked at her watch. "Oh crap! I didn't realize what time it was... I need to get to work." she said, putting her coat and boots on.
"Hey... can I walk you to the bus station?" Benson asked, already dressed in his jeans, shoes and jacket.
She blushed and smiled. "Sure."
The gumball machine man picked up his scarf and wrapped it around his neck. "I'll be back in a little bit, you two."
"Bye Mordecai, bye Rigby, nice meeting you guys!" she added.
Mordecai waved goodbye, Rigby just groaned once more, as his boss and girlfriend headed outside, holding hands.

Together, they walked, hand-in-hand, across the park, on the fresh, sugary white snow.