Eviternity: Book 1 Jerry's World

Three

                               Rick

Jerry is a piece of shit and Rick doesn't know why this is not a universally accepted fact. Grumbling and pissy, he nonetheless let Morty drag him away from an unfortunately unpunched Jerry.

He felt sore all over from when those people threw him down and if there hadn't been so friking many of them, there'd probably be a few more corpses to add to the global body count.

Morty was saying something in his squeaky little Morty voice, but Rick stopped listening around "Oh geez, Rick." With his free hand, he fumbled with the zipper of his jumpsuit, pulling it down and ignoring Morty's yelp of embarrassment. He reached in and pulled out his flask, unscrewing the cap and bringing it to his lips with the practiced ease of one used to drinking with only one hand available.

"Oh geez, Rick!" There it was again. "You r-r-really shouldn't do that in public! It's indecent, or something..."

Morty, the poor thing, looked about to just keel over from stress and agitation. Rick sighed and held his flask out to the short brunette. "Here ya go-" he tried to talk through a burp "- Morty. Drink it Morty, it'll, uhg, help ya feel better, Morty."

The boy eyed it with suspicion, releasing his hold on Rick's sleeve to take the flask and sniff at it. "Oh geez, Rick!" Did it ever stop? "This is alcohol! I-I-I'm not old enough to drink this!"

Rick raised the left side of his brow. "Your point is what exactly?"

"My point is, I can't drink it! I wouldn't want to anyway!" Morty grabbed Rick's hand and put the flask in it, forcing Rick's hand to close with his own smaller ones. "I've seen what it does to you and I don't want that!"

"Whaddaya mean Morty?"

Morty just shook his head. "Forget it. Let's just go home. Dad said we don't have to work anymore." Morty once again gripped Rick by the sleeve of his jumpsuit and tugged him along. A little bit later, Morty's brow furrowed and he bit his lower lip. "Hey, um... Rick?"

"Yeah Morty?"

"How did you get that stuff anyway? I didn't think they rationed drinking alcohol to workers of our rank."

"They don't Morty." Rick kept his eyes on Morty's face as his words unwound themselves in the boy's slow mind. His dark eyes widened and he looked up at Rick with a childish expression of surprise.

"Oh geez, Rick! Did you steal it? How would you even do that!?"

Rick pulled his arm free of Morty's grip, placed a hand on his head and ruffled the boy's hair with something resembling affection. "Don't you worry about it, Morty. You wouldn't like it if I told you anyway, Morty. Now move over, Morty, I gotta unlock the front door."

Nudging his grandson aside, Rick unlocked the door to their small government-issued home and led the way inside, tucking his flask away and zipping his suit back up before heading off to one of two small rooms that had been designated as his.

There weren't any doors on the inside of these crappy, low-budget houses, but Morty knew not to bother Rick without reason. Technically speaking, the room was Rick and Morty's, but Rick only tolerated the boy sleeping there and only if Morty didn't touch him or make any noise.

Walking past the standard cot that was far too short for the long-limbed man, Rick stood in front of a rickety table covering in bits and pieces of metals and wires that was shoved in the back corner.

With a harsh shake of his head to clear his thoughts, Rick got to work.