Eviternity: Book 1 Jerry's World

Nine

Rick

It was all just so funny to Rick and he didn't even know why. The look on that pathetic man's face, the way he'd stumbled back when Rick spat on him, the way his stupid face went red he was so angry. Every time Rick tried to stop, the laughter would just rip itself free and he couldn't stop, didn't even know how to try.

His sides hurt and his cheeks were sore, but he kept laughing.

The men that hauled him ever closer to confinement kept giving him worried glances, like they thought his mind was broken. What a ridiculous thought. His mind wasn't broken at all, as a matter of fact, it was a lot better than most people's.

He only got it under control when he'd been hauled through the jail's doors, handed over to guards, marched down to the processing area, and the guards tried to strip him down. Biting down hard at the urge to laugh, more than a little aware of the maniac edge his laughter had taken, Rick slapped their hands away, growling, "I can do it myself."

Unzipping his jumpsuit, he pulled out his flask and drained it before it could be taken. Tossing it into a corner, he shrugged off the clothes and kicked them away, standing with his arms crossed.

"Oh, geez."

Morty's voice was high pitched and scared. When Rick turned, he saw the short guy standing with his hands over his eyes, blushing to his ears. The man that had carried Morty all the way here was trying to unzip Morty's suit, but the brunet kept whimpering and flinching away.

Rick sighed and went to him, going down on one knee and pulling Morty's hands from over his eyes. Morty kept his eyes shut tight. "Alright, Morty. I'm gunna have to-" he burped, much to the guard's obviously disgust, "-take this off of ya, okay Morty? J-Just take your arms outta the sleeves buddy."

He unzipped Morty's clothes and the boy obediently pulled his arms free of the cloth. Rick pulled the suit down and Morty stepped out of the it, immediately sitting on the floor and tucking his knees against his chest. Rick gathered Morty in his arms and cradled him close. The poor boy was shivering all over.

"Alright, j-j-just make this quick!" Rick barked at the guards and they jumped back to attention, like he was a boss instead of a prisoner.

They marched him through another set of doors into a plain concrete room with a drain on the floor. "Aaaand, here we go." Rick muttered, setting Morty on the ground.

The blast from the hose was unannounced and unexpected, the force of the water almost knocking Rick off his feet. Growling, he stubbornly stayed up, leaning against the blast and holding his breath. He heard Morty laugh and glanced to his left, seeing that his grandson seemed to be handled with much greater care. Maybe they realized Morty was just an idiot.

While Morty was gently being scrubbed clean, Rick was being blasted hard enough to physically rip off any dirt on him, and probably a good portion of the first layer of his skin.

There was the high-pitched squeal of unoiled metal against metal and the water shut off, leaving Rick cold and dripping.

Morty was quickly wrapped in a fluffy towel and dried off.

Rick was left to shake off like a dog.

His orange prison clothes were thrown at him, as well as a pair of shoes, and he caught the jumpsuit in one hand, pulling it on and grumbling as Morty was dressed carefully. The same man had been taking care of Morty the whole time, a mountain of a man with red hair. Rick wondered why he seemed so interested in keeping Morty from being scared.