Title: The Beginning of Something New

Length: 2,935 words

Rating: M (For Future Chapters)

Pairing: Benson/Mordecai

Genre: Slash, Angst, Romance

Summary: Benson and Mordecai's first date and it's consequential aftermath.

Author Notes: Wow, my very first piece of Regular show fanfiction. I wrote this as sort of an offshoot towards something else that I wrote quite awhile ago. I should warn readers that it contains a few well, steamy paragraphs and sentences here and there. It's all alluded to, but it's implications are nevertheless somewhat obvious.

This is also the beginning of an Alternate Universe series that I've been wanting to write for quite some time now. I may or may not continue this, I'm still not sure. I still consider this to be a "One-Shot", but that might change. And yes, it features one of my favourite pairings ever, Benson/Mordecai.

It's also been awhile since I've written anything this length, so I'm NGL, I'm a little nervous. Nevertheless, I bring you my first attempt at fiction in ages. I hope you enjoy.

The two of them walked down the hall of Benson's apartment complex in silence. Mordecai felt his shoulders beginning to sag and the weight on his chest returned when he noticed the angry gait steaming off of Benson as they turned another corner.

"Well, i-it wasn't all bad, right?" Mordecai weakly smiled,

"We're soaking wet, we barely made it out of that dimension alive, and to top it all off, my wallet is gone!" Benson finally saw the door to his apartment and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Tonight had been a terrible ordeal and all he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and forget any of it had ever happened. What was he thinking? He should've listened to his instincts and just ignored Mordecai's incessant pleas over the past few weeks. Benson felt himself beginning to feel feverish, god- the entire evening had been nothing but one big nightmare. When they finally stood outside his apartment Benson turned around to give Mordecai a good piece of his mind but suddenly faltered when he noticed the look of abject misery on the bluejay's face. He swallowed the impending harangue he was about to dish out and instead did a double-take. Over the years, he had seen many sides of Mordecai and while there was that one time he had seen him sad, after his break-up with the girl who worked at the coffee shop, Benson had never seen him this upset before. Against his better judgement, he gave a small huff, opened his apartment door and muttered "Come on, get inside."

The two of them shuffled into his apartment and Benson shivered when a sudden draft drifted in behind them and reminded him that he was still damp from that sudden tsunami Mordecai had accidentally summoned earlier that night. He folded his arms and felt another slight tremor overcome him before he turned around to face Mordecai, "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Mordecai watched Benson disappear into another room and let out another heavy sigh. Tonight had been his one chance at finally getting some "One On One" time with Benson and because of some random arrogant drunk idiot they ran into outside of the movie theatre, everything had gone to hell. How was he supposed to know that the guy would turn out to be a warlock from another dimension? Mordecai frowned and stared at the floor beneath his feet. He knew that Benson didn't even want to go out with him in the first place, but he thought that maybe if he played his cards right and threw caution to the wind, then maybe- just maybe things might turn out for once; but with his luck and the fact that he seemed to be a lightening rod for every supernatural force within a hundred mile radius, they just...didn't. Mordecai felt silly, he shouldn't be this upset and yet, he could feel the inside of stomach turning itself inside out and the look on Benson's face when they started walking home had told him more than he needed to know.

He knew that he shouldn't, but it was too late; he felt the heat rising to his face and Mordecai couldn't help but think back to the strange dreams of Benson that he had been having over the past few months. He didn't know why they started, or how to stop them, all he did know was that had awakened feelings in him that even he didn't know were there. In fact, in many ways, they were the reason behind his unexpected courtship. There was a lot about Benson that Mordecai didn't understand, but was it so bad that he wanted to...

Benson let out another harsh sigh as Mordecai continued his gentle onslaught, carefully placing kisses around the seam of Benson neck until he finally found that one spot and Benson gasped "Mordecai?"

He knew they shouldn't be doing this and yet- he ran his hands down Benson's sides, and buried his face into the soft fabric of Benson's housecoat before urging the older man to lay back on the bed behind them. He guided Benson's lithe form onto the sheets and carefully climbed on top of him. With Benson trembling underneath him, Mordecai sought out his lips and gently stroked his lovers cheek as his other hand quietly slipped inside of Benson's robe and began caressing his metal crank.

"M-Mordecai..." Benson shivered and wrapped his arms around his lover, running his fingers through the soft azure plumage and letting out another soft whimper when he felt Mordecai beginning to slowly turn the metal bar across his chest. He sighed and reached up for Mordecai's face, locking their eyes together before he let out another faint mewl and wrapped his legs around Mordecai's waist, "More..."

"Mordecai? Mordecai? Hello?"

At the sound of Benson's voice, Mordecai gave a small cough and raised his head to offer some sort of reply but his mind suddenly stammered at the sight of Benson standing in front of him, wearing the same white robe from his dream last night. He faltered, swallowed hard and let his eyes drift to the side. Despite the fact that it all been a dream, it was so vivid. He could almost feel the soft fabric against his face and hands and with Benson only a few feet in front of him, it all just seemed more like a memory as opposed to the actual dream it really was. This was bad...

Benson tightened the drawstring of his robe before folding his arms in what seemed like a gesture of both annoyance and concern, "So, do you want to tell me why you're so upset? I mean, it's...it's just not like you. In fact, it's kind of- it's kind of weird."

Mordecai bit his lip and felt his mind going into overdrive as it searched for a plausible lie to tell to his former boss. He swallowed hard and gave a nervous laugh, trying to find a way to segue their conversation into safer territory, "Oh well, you know. I mean uh- it's just...it's nothing really. You know...?"

Benson narrowed his eyes and focused on the stammering bluejay that was blocking his doorway. He frowned and fought back the impending headache that was now beginning to rapidly form in the back of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't care, in fact, despite the fact that he hadn't seen Mordecai for a couple of weeks Benson liked to think that he had known his former employee long enough to know when Mordecai was hiding something from him. And that look of absolute hopelessness he saw in the hallway earlier didn't fare well with him either but that still didn't deter from the fact that there was still a stack of invoices waiting for him on his kitchen counter; plus he had yet to go through everyone's hours and tackle payroll. And then there was the long and arduous process he was going to have to go through in order to replace all of his missing ID and credit cards. With Mordecai still babbling on in the background, Benson gave a heavy sigh, pinched his nose and just wished that this whole night could be over and done with already.

"I mean, that whole thing with that guy. I just, I mean, I thought he was trying to hurt you and then he pulled that whole vortex thing and-"

Benson felt his teeth begin to slowly grind together before he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly, for the slightest split of a second, he managed to briefly lock eyes with Mordecai and, much to his surprise, Benson felt his words falter before they even left his mouth. In all honesty, he hadn't really been paying much attention towards Mordecai for the majority of the evening. He had been under the assumption that everything up until now had been part of some hair brained scheme on Mordecai's part and yet-when he caught a glance at the look in Mordecai's eyes and the slight flush Mordecai was trying to hide, Benson suddenly didn't know what to think.

"No, no I'm just imaging things," he thought to himself. For the second time that night, he opened his mouth, ready to put an end to both the conversation and the entire evening when he saw yet another reason to hesitate. Again, it was only for a split second, but there was no mistaking it, Mordecai had been checking him out. His legs to be more precise and normally he wouldn't of even gone there but it had happened on so many other occasions, with other people, that there was no mistaking that look for what it was.

And he didn't want to say it.

"So, anyway, the whole thing was just...just crazy," Mordecai rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh, hoping that Benson would just accept his half-assed explanation and spare him the humiliation of giving the real reason why he was so upset. With his eyes still focused on the floor, Mordecai gave a small cough before muttering, "Yeah..."

Benson cleared his throat and held onto himself a little tighter. He couldn't help but start to feel a little uneasy, in fact, if his suspicions held any weight at all, then maybe tonight hadn't been just a friendly outing like he initially thought. Maybe it had been, maybe it was-

"Benson?"

He tore himself away from his thoughts and looked towards Mordecai, who suddenly began to look more nervous than upset. Benson swallowed hard and let out another heavy sigh, thinking quietly , "I'm probably just over-thinking things...I mean so what if-" Benson inwardly cringed, wanting nothing more than to just get this whole ordeal over with, but seeing Mordecai in such a state...it didn't sit well with him. "You know, I never did thank you for saving me from that drunken idiot tonight." Benson's heart slightly warmed when Mordecai instantly began to smile, thinking that he did good, "Despite the fact that it nearly got us killed."

Mordecai's smile quickly dissolved into yet another apprehensive look. He cleared his throat, before replying "Well, when I saw him reaching for your, uh, chest, I couldn't just-"

"It's fine," Benson huffed, hoping to keep this particular part of their conversation as short as possible, "But still, thanks." He unfolded his arms and felt another wave of exhaustion roll over him. There was still so much to be done before tomorrow. "Look Mordecai, I've got a lot of paperwork to go through before tomorrow, so do you think you can..."

"Yeah, I mean it hasn't been that long. I know how busy you are...," Mordecai brought his hands together before swallowing hard, trying to muster up the courage to ask another question that had been on his mind the moment they started walking home. He absentmindedly began to rub the back of his neck and fought to control his nerves before he quietly asked, "So...so, do you wanna do this again sometime?"

"Are you insane!" Benson snapped before flinging his hands into the air, "This- this was a disaster! I- I just-"

"I know! That's why I'd like a chance to make it up to you!" Mordecai held up his hands in defense, "You know, like a way of apologizing for tonight," He took note of the exasperated expression on Benson's face and felt the inside of his stomach drop, "...you know?"

Benson gave a heavy sigh and narrowed his eyes, "You know, I wasn't going to say anything, but everything about tonight has just been," He rolled his hand in the air, trying to find the right word, "...weird."

"Come on, we've dealt with weirder stuff when I was working at the park. I mean, I kind of thought that you'd be used to dimension hopping by now." Mordecai gave a small chuckle, "Like remember that one time-"

"That I'm used to," Benson interrupted, still not quite sure where this conversation was heading, "You on the other hand, you're the one I'm talking about."

Mordecai instantly paled, "Wh-what do you mean?"

Benson's mind raced through the events of the entire evening. The proof had been there the whole time, but he had been too tired and distracted at the time to really notice. He thought of the shy over-the-shoulder glances Mordecai had been casting his way, how he had offered to pay for Benson's ticket and drinks, and the look of absolute heartache Mordecai radiated in the hallway moments ago. Up until now, Benson had almost thought that Mordecai had been trying to butter him up the whole evening. For a moment, he even thought that all of this might have been an elaborate ploy and by the end of the evening, Mordecai was going to ask for his old job back, but now- now there was no denying it. Benson's eye's fixed on a random spot on his wall and he braced himself. He could feel the words sliding up his throat like vomit, and before he could stop himself, he spat out, "Was- Was this a date?"

"What!" Mordecai felt like his chest was going to explode. Was he really that transparent? He swallowed hard, "No, I mean, why would you say something like that?"

"Because I'm not an idiot," Benson clipped, still avoiding eye contact. He was really beginning to feel uncomfortable and sorry for even bringing up the notion in the first place, but it weighed heavily on his mind and when Mordecai mentioned the possibility of going out a second time, he just had to know.

Mordecai's face suddenly became ashen and for a moment he pictured himself running out the doorway, down the hall, and through the nearest window just to avoid the embarrassment of having to answer Benson's question. However, maybe this was good...maybe this was where they needed to go, despite the fact that the reality of the situation made Mordecai want to do nothing more than curl up into a little ball and die. He braced himself, "Well...what if it was?"

Benson's eyes widened tenfold, his mouth suddenly went dry and he felt himself slowly beginning to back away. So he was right. The sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he felt something inside of him quietly break. He did his best to control his breathing and find something to say, "I-I, I...I-" "Paperwork, invoices, bills, payroll, you need to take care of these things first before you can even think about trying to sort through this crap" Benson thought to himself before he suddenly burst out, "I don't have time for this! Just please, go!"

The moment the words left his mouth and he saw the look of absolute sorrow wash all over Mordecai's face he immediately regretted his tactless approach. He felt as if he should say something else, anything, but all he could do was watch as Mordecai hurriedly collected and excused himself before quietly shuffling out his apartment. As soon as the door closed behind Mordecai, he stood still for more than a moment and silently wished that the floor would magically open up and swallow him whole. While Benson had done many things in his life to warrant himself as a full fledged jerk, for some reason, everything else he had ever done somehow paled in comparison to this. A part of him wanted to run after and console Mordecai, another part of him wanted to jump out the nearest window, and another part of him just wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and deal with this whole mess in the morning. He slumped forward, curled up his fists and began walking towards his room, knowing that there was absolutely no way he was getting any paperwork done tonight. He untied the drawstring around his waist, flung his housecoat onto the floor and tossed himself into bed. He gave a heavy sigh and quickly wrapped himself in the surrounding blankets, trying to urge himself to go to sleep. His mind was racing but his body was so tired. He tried reminding himself of all the paperwork and chores that needed to be done before Monday; and how the park would fall to pieces if he let himself fall behind and yet...for some reason, the only thing that he could really think about was the look on Mordecai's face as he left the apartment. Why did he feel so terrible about it? It wasn't like there was that much substance between them in the first place...right? Benson rolled over and stared into the ceiling, wondering why he was trying so hard to convince himself that everything would be fine. Things would eventually work themselves out, everything would go back to normal and everyone would go back to living their regular old lives...Right? Benson closed his eyes and finally felt a welcome wave of sleep slowly begin to envelop him into a deep slumber. He fell back into a familiar world of dreams, full of memories that had long since past and memories of things that had yet to be: the smell of hot dogs cooking in the park, the sound of music filling the air as he made his way through another crowded room, and the soft feel of blue feathers beneath his fingertips as he felt himself crying out in ecstasy.