AN: Long title is not only long, but also unoriginal…
So, I know that I actually have a lot of other stuff that I should be working on right now, but my muse was like "I wanna do this now!"… Bad muse! Bad! -_-
Warnings: Rick/Morty, slowburn; none major warnings for this chapter though
Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 1: A Bad Influence?
"Beth, I'm telling you that he is a bad influence on our son." Jerry started one of their arguments again.
His wife only sighed. "Morty's grades were already bad before he started to spend time with Rick, Jerry. The only influence that I can see is that Morty finally has a friend. You should be happy for him."
The brunet still looked unconvinced even if Beth did have a point.
"Maybe you're right." He finally resigned with a sigh.
The house telephone started to ring and Beth went to answer it.
"Of course, I'm right. I'm an intelligent woman. You should know that by now."
Jerry actually scoffed at that statement while his wife was too busy to answer the phone to notice it.
"Hello Mrs. Smith. Principal Vagina here. The name is real." It chimed from the other end of the line. "I need to talk to you about Morty. Do you have a moment to come by?"
Beth looked a little shocked at what she heard, but agreed to come over to the school in half an hour nonetheless.
"I'm glad that you could come on such a short notice." The principal greeted both parents as they entered his office and took a seat. "Sorry that I actually used my private mobile phone to call you, but there is something wrong with the line of the school phone today."
"So what did you need to talk about? Is our son in trouble?" Beth didn't have the patience to deal with the old man beating around the bush.
Principal Vagina got the hint and decided to shoot straight to the topic. "Morty had been attending a total of 10 lessons within the entire last month and he also had been absent without excuse the months prior to that. On top of that, his grades had dropped so low that he's going to fail all of his classes."
"What? Why are you only informing us now about this?!" Beth was furious.
What kind of school was this? You would think if her son was absent without excuses from school this often that they would have called them sooner.
"I did. Didn't you get the messages that I left with Morty's grandfather?"
Now both Smiths looked confused.
"What grandfather?" Beth asked.
Even Jerry finally got a word in. "I'm sure that you don't have the number from my parents. And why would you even call them? They live in Michigan."
"No, I mean his other grandfather. He always answered when I called your home since I couldn't reach you over your mobile phones no matter when I tried." The principal explained.
"We don't have anyone living like that with us and there were also no missed calls on our phones. Or did you have any on yours, Jerry?"
The brunet shook his head, currently as confused as his wife.
"That is weird." Mr. Vagina said. "I could have sworn that I got the right number and this man did introduce himself as Morty's grandfather. Doctor Richard Smith."
"Richard? Isn't that the name of Morty's friend…?" Beth instantly realized.
"Hah! I knew it! He's ruining our son!" Jerry instantly jumped up at that. "Wait. Why am I celebrating?"
Jean Vagina cleared his throat before he continued. "Well, it is true that Morty's friend Rick is as equally absent without excuse."
"Then shouldn't you have called his parents as well?" Beth asked.
"Yeah. Where are they?" Jerry also asked and looked around.
"Well, I have informed his parents, but that's about it. Unlike Morty, he isn't in danger of failing. In fact, he is at the top of all of his classes."
"How is that even possible?!" Jerry called foul play.
"The kid is a genius." Beth and the principal replied simultaneously.
Everyone knew that already and Jerry should really know that, too, by now.
There was a long silence in the office in which the adults looked at each other questioningly as if mentally debating what to do now.
Eventually Beth sighed. "We will talk with Morty about this and see to it that he won't skip classes anymore and pick up on his grades. Thank you for informing us."
It was already evening when Morty came home. He quickly rushed upstairs to discard his backpack that he had left to school with this morning and then dashed back down to join his family at the dinner table since they were about to eat.
"Morty, we need to talk after dinner." His mother declared while she put the food on the table.
"Um…okay." The boy mumbled, having a bad feeling and suddenly losing his appetite.
If his mom wanted to have a talk with him, it could only mean that he was in trouble. Something, which had happened decidedly more often since he had become friends with Rick…
The meal was spent mostly in silence, only the scraping if cutlery on porcelain and the noise of Summer occasionally tapping away on her smartphone could be heard.
Morty pushed his peas from one side of the plate to the other, the awkward atmosphere threating to squish him in his chair.
It was just weird that not even his chatty father tried to start one of his boring or embarrassing conversations like usual, though he did occasionally open his mouth as if there was something on his mind only to close it two seconds later again.
After dinner was finally over, Morty felt like his parents were about to declare his death sentence. They were taking this whole thing to the parlor and as he made his way towards the sofa, he felt like he was walking towards the executioner's block.
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating, but this felt serious enough that it might as well be the case. Besides, he had stuff to do.
"Can we just get this over with quickly?" he asked, refusing to actually sit down. "Rick is waiting for me. Tonight is a meteor shower that we wanted to watch and it only occurs once every 300 hundred years."
"Well, that's too bad. Looks like your little friend Rick will have to watch it alone." Jerry began with his arms crossed over his chest.
Morty's eyes widened. "What?"
In disbelieve he looked at his mother, who looked like she was actually agreeing with his father for once.
"I'm sorry, Morty. I know that you like to spend time with your little friend and that you always do your little science things together, but we got a call from your school today and they told us that you've been skipping classes and are failing the grade. So, you're grounded now and won't be seeing Rick for a while." She stated sternly.
Oh, crap! As soon as his mom mentioned the call from school, Morty knew that he had messed up.
"For how long are we speaking here?" He asked reluctantly.
"You're grounded until you're not in danger of failing your classes anymore."
That was just great! Not only was he grounded for an undetermined amount of time now, but he also wouldn't be able to see Rick tonight. His best friend was going to be so pissed if he didn't show up.
"Um…can I still go and meet with Rick now and we start the confinement to my room tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.
"No. It's starting now. We want you to go to your room and do your homework now, Morty." Beth wouldn't let herself be swayed.
Morty sighed in defeat and slunk up to his room. If it had been his father, he might have had a chance to plead his way out of this somehow, but if his mother was the one who said it, then there was no way to get out of it.
When he entered his room, he didn't bother flipping on the lights and just fell on his bed.
Even if he had been told to do his homework, he was rather busy sulking now.
Before he could even think how he was going to explain all of this to Rick, his phone suddenly started to beep and vibrate, signaling that he received a message.
You coming or what? It read.
Can't. Morty typed quickly back.
Why?
I'm grounded.
Why that?
School called today and my parents found out that I was skipping.
That can't be!
Unless Vag called from something else than the school line.
I only made the jammer and the call divert for that line.
My bad.
Morty sighed. That was no surprise. For being a genius that could come up with the craziest inventions, Rick actually messed up a lot…even when he would always claim that it almost never happens.
Just sneak out then.
Morty blinked at the screen.
Rick couldn't really mean that.
What?
Sneak out so that we can meet up.
How am I supposed to do that?
You know that my bedroom is on the second floor!
I can't just jump out the window like that!
Get a little creative, Morty.
The boy curled his lips and then looked around the room. The whole idea sounded insane to begin with. If his parents found out that he just snuck out of the house, they would totally flip out.
Aside from that, he didn't think that he had anything inside his room that would help him with the task. Or had he?
What should I do? Tie my bedsheets and clothes together and climb out of the window?
At least that's what they did in the movies, right?
No. Forget that.
Your mom buys cheap off brand stuff. That's going to rip as soon as you put your foot out the window.
Aside from that you suck at tying.
Remember two weeks ago? You can't even tie your own shoelaces.
Morty's brow furled.
He knew what event Rick was referring to. Two weeks ago, his shoelace was untied and he hadn't noticed, which resulted in him tripping over it and bashing his head against the lockers.
That accident left a deep, bleeding cut on his head, but the only thing that Rick had done was laugh his head off at him, instead of asking if he was okay or helping him.
It was one of those moments where he wondered why he was even friends with the jerk.
So, he had gone to the infirmary on his own.
However, after his stiches were done, Rick was there and actually walked him home. So, he wasn't really such a bad guy after all even if he sometimes was acting like a bully.
Morty rubbed with his finger absentmindedly over his temple. It didn't hurt anymore, but there was no doubt that it would leave a permanent – albeit faint – scar behind.
Another beep ripped him out of the memory.
Just stay put. I'll come over and pick you up.
Morty let the hand that was holding the phone fall to his side.
He had no doubt that Rick would bring another crazy invention with which he would get him out of the house undetected. Maybe it would be something like an invincibility cloak? Or he finally completed the modification on his motorbike so that he could actually fly with it and would just hover in front of Morty's window, asking him to get on?
The possibilities were always endless when Rick was involved.
As he laid on his bed and waited for his friend to show up, he wondered once more why Rick was even bothering with him.
Morty had actually always been an unpopular kid. He was socially awkward – since as far as he can remember back – and tended to stutter when he got nervous or excited, which always happened when he interacted with someone. People thought that he was retarded because of that and how could he blame them when even his own parents told him that he had some kind of mental disability.
The boy never had had any friends and used to be holed up inside his room, reading sci-fi books or watching movies on his laptop.
Rick was the complete opposite of him. He was one of the most popular guys in their school, always the center of every party, love interest of countless girls and also feared by many who had been witness of his uncontrollable anger.
Luckily, Morty had never been on the receiving end of that, but apparently, his bullies had been. Which was also the reason why Morty's bullies had been backing off ever since Rick became friends with him. Meaning that they at least left him alone as long as Rick was around. Frankly, he hadn't been to school that often lately so he had been avoiding the usual guys like Frank and Brad for quite a while in general.
However, it wasn't like Rick had put a stamp on Morty to declare to all of the school bullies that he was off limits now. In fact, Rick kept telling him that he needed to stand up to guys like that or he would only get constantly pushed around in the future as well.
Still, being friends with Rick helped him even though the whole fact still made no sense to Morty.
Why bother being friends with a loner like him if Rick could be friends with anyone that he wanted?
However, aside from the shy brunet, the only people that Rick was close to was a calm and tall boy, who went by the name Brandon Parsons. Rick nicknamed him B.P. though, probably because he thought that name was too boring or something. Morty thought that it did fit the dark-haired teen who had a really obnoxious way of talking.
Rick's other best friend was a short, ginger boy whose name was Sammy, but everyone called him Squanchy because he had a weird speech impediment that caused him to say the word "squanch" randomly in his sentences.
Now that Morty thought about it, maybe Rick actually preferred to hang out with weirdos who had speech problems instead of popular cliques. At least the brunet also fell into that category with his stutters – though he did improve and not stutter as much around Rick anymore other than when they were in a critical situation, which did happen more often than he liked.
Rick himself was quite an eccentric one and had a stutter, but somehow no one was bothered by it – or they just didn't really notice because Rick somehow managed to speak normally around other people most of the time.
Morty didn't really know the story behind how Rick became such close friends with B.P. and Squanchy. The story how he and Morty got to know each other was a weird one though.
Basically, Morty had started out as an errand boy for Rick.
With the reputation that the blue haired genius had, Morty had been scared of him – more than he had ever been scared of any of his other bullies – and so he had just followed with whatever requests Rick came up.
The first time was probably even only a coincidence as their science teacher had asked Rick to carry some stuff from the preparation room to the classroom and Rick had looked around and his eyes just landed on Morty.
He had briskly told the brunet to do it since he couldn't be bothered and Morty, scared that the other boy would hurt him if he disobeyed, had hurried to complete the task without any complaints. The equipment had been pretty heavy and Morty wasn't really the strongest guy – not like Rick, who looked like he must be working out even though Morty had never seen him doing that once even up to today – but it was still better than having his bones broken or something equally painful like that.
The times after that, however, Rick had been deliberately approaching him and giving him tasks like standing in line for him to buy his lunch or other mostly mundane tasks.
While it was nothing that Morty couldn't do, he had felt very miserable and bullied by Rick in that time, since he just came back and constantly asked for more and more, starting to take up every bit of free time that Morty had in school – and sometimes even after school.
Morty felt like their relationship had started to change when Rick involved him more in his private life. One day, he had just asked the brunet if he was good at keeping secrets.
Morty had been so scared at the question and the face that Rick had made that he had been close to wetting his pants. For a moment, he had wondered if the other wanted to make him an accomplice to a crime that he had planned like robbing a bank – or even worse, help murdering someone.
Still, too scared of being the one that would end up being murdered, he agreed nonetheless.
Imagine his surprise when Rick had led him to a garage park and had shown him what was inside the garage that he had rented.
While it was a known fact that Rick had only top grades despite barely paying attention in class – or most often not even attending – he didn't come off as a nerd.
However, what was inside the garage was something that could only be described as nerdy. There was an old car that was in the midst of either being repaired or converted and several gadgets were stacked on the shelves and workbench while almost every bit of free space on the wall was plastered with blueprints.
Morty loved it.
While he wasn't doing all that great in school, he really loved science and everything sci-fi. And this, what Rick had here inside the garage, was like all the books that he had read and all the movies that he had watched coming to life.
…well, at least many of these strange inventions looked like they came straight out of a sci-fi novel.
Ever since Rick had introduced him to his nerdy hobby, Morty had been promoted from a simple errand boy at school to his personal assistant.
Apparently, this was a side of Rick that rarely anyone else go to see of him. And knowing this made Morty feel special.
Special in a way that no one else had ever made him feel…
His mobile suddenly beeped again and ripped him out of the past.
I'm here.
Morty swung himself out of his bed and went to his window, opening it.
Indeed, Rick stood in the backyard, but he didn't seem to have any sort of invention with him that would help him getting down. This was just confusing and the brunet was about to say something, when the other suddenly threw something small on the ground.
The "thing" inflated rapidly and proved to be some kind of airbed.
Morty got the feeling that it wasn't actually something of Rick's creation but seemed more likely to be something that he had just picked up along the way. And he doubted its safety.
Yet Rick motioned towards the mattress and then tapped on his wrist, indicating his impatience.
"I-I-I'm not going to jump on that!"
"Shh!" Rick put his pointer finger in front of his lips, signaling Morty to lower his voice.
Then he replied in a whisper-shout, "Keep it down, will ya? Not much point to this if your parents hear you."
Morty bit his lip. Of course, he knew that the other was right, but that still didn't mean that he would jump on that small unsafe inflated thing and risk breaking his bones. It wouldn't be the first time that he had broken legs thanks to Rick…
"I'm not going to jump on that!" He repeated also in a whispered shout now.
"Don't be such a chicken, Morty!" Rick looked a little pissed off, but then he sighed and said, "I'll catch you if you gonna miss. Promise."
Morty couldn't believe that he was really reconsidering it now. Just because of what Rick had said. Promised.
He trusted Rick even though he knew that it was a bad idea. It was insane. But he trusted him.
With a sigh, he gave up and nodded.
However, before he found heart – and the guts – to really jump down, he remembered something. "Hold on a second!"
He ran to his closet and pulled out a bunch of his clothes, which he then threw on his bed and stuffed under the blanket.
Normally, his parents never bothered checking on him. If anything, it was something that only his dad did and that usually when he was really bored – much to Morty's dismay.
However, knowing his luck, his parents would actually decide to check up on him tonight when he was out, so he needed a decoy.
Critically he looked at the construction that he had built. The lump didn't really look like it could fool anyone into believing that he was laying under the covers and sleeping.
But it always worked in the movies, right? So, Morty could only pray that this would work, too – or better yet, that no one would bother coming into his room while he was absent.
Morty returned to the window and climbed on the sill. His heart was stuck in his throat as he looked down again.
Somehow, it looked higher than it should be.
However, there was no time to stall anymore for him because Rick look so impatient that he was sure, he would climb up there and throw Morty out of the window without any concern for his safety or health if he kept waiting even a second longer.
Taking one last deep breath, Morty jumped down.
The air-filled mattress cushioned most of the impact from his fall, but right after his landing he rolled off.
"Ouch." He commented and rubbed one of his legs even though it only hurt a little.
"Took you long enough." Rick seethed.
Without waiting for an explanation, he went over to the air mattress and lifted it up. "C'mon. Help me with this."
Morty got up and together they carried the airbed through the backyard and tried to stuff it behind the small toolshed in order to hide it from sight. It made the brunet actually wonder why Rick didn't just threw it away now, but figured that he was planning something for it later.
Then they wandered around the house, crouching low underneath the windows to stay undetected. As they got to the front, they continued down the street for a bit and Morty was tempted to ask if they would be walking when Rick's motorcycle came into view.
Obviously, he didn't park it right in front of the Smith house. He might as well could have run around the house with a megaphone, shouting that they're crapping all over Morty's grounding.
They both climbed on the vehicle and put on their helmets, but like always when they did this, Morty felt nervous.
Rick didn't actually had a license to drive a motorcycle (or any kind of motorized vehicle in fact) and he also wasn't old enough to do it. However, Morty knew that he had a fake license and id, which was why Rick wasn't worried at all.
Luckily, Rick seemed to know what he was doing – like most of the time – and hadn't gotten them into any accidents. Yet.
Morty wrapped his arms tightly around Rick's middle as the motor came to life. While his grip wasn't as cramped and vice-like as the first time that Rick gave him a lift, he was still a little scared to fall off. And knowing the other, the spiky-haired boy would probably not even stop and come back to pick him up again.
…At least it seemed likely that Rick would just continue to drive off without Morty.
As they drove through the city, the streets were mostly empty since it was already pretty late. Eventually, they left the outskirts behind.
After a while, Morty asked – shouting over the engine of the bike, "Isn't this far out enough already? How much longer are we going to drive?"
"Just wait, Morty."
Rick didn't pay him any more attention, his focus on the empty, gray street ahead.
Several minutes more in silence passed before Rick steered the vehicle to the side of the street and parked there, seemingly at random.
As both boys got off, Morty took a look at their surroundings. They were in the middle of some forest now.
"Wha-what are we doing here?" He asked confused.
Rick had told him that they would watch the meteor shower, but how were they supposed to see it from here, in the middle of the forest.
"Can't you just shut up for a while, Morty?" Rick replied gruffly. "You'll see."
While something in the brunet's gut told him that it would probably be a bad idea, he followed the boy in the blue t-shirt through a small and dark path that only seemed to lead deeper into the forest.
It was so dark that he barely could see anything in front of him and he occasionally stumbled over a protruding root or something other in the underwood.
Morty had no doubt that if he lost Rick here, he wouldn't be able to find his way back home again. He was completely disoriented and had no idea how the other was even able to navigate through this.
Wherever it was they were going, it was quite a hike though, Morty could tell.
It took quite another while of continually walking uphill until the thicket gave way to a clearing.
There were right at the top of a hill that provided a beautiful view of the fields down below. Morty was even able to faintly see the city lights in the distance from here.
That wasn't the only thing that was perfectly viewable here though.
When Morty looked up into the sky, he was amazed at the sight. It was a clear night and not a single cloud was to be seen.
The stars looked so bright and so close that Morty thought he would be able to touch them if he just reached out. He'd never been able to see this from home because of the light pollution.
It was truly a beautiful sight.
"Come over here, Morty." Rick called out to him and ripped him out of his wonderment.
The blue-haired boy had walked over to a telescope that he must have brought here earlier. Morty joined him and Rick took a look through it before making place for Morty to also take a look.
The sight through the telescope was certainly better from here than from home, too.
"This is the perfect spot for stargazing. I found it a few months ago. It's also super-secluded so we're the only ones here." Rick explained.
"This is really a great a spot, Rick." Morty agreed and turned his attention towards him again.
He wasn't sure if was just mistaking it in the darkness, but he thought that Rick looked embarrassed. "W-well, you're the f-fi-first one who I've brought to this place."
"Really?" The brunet was genuinely surprised. "You haven't even showed B.P. or Squanchy?"
"Nope. Just you, Morty."
That was unusual. Even if Morty knew that Rick didn't let just about anyone see his garage and inventions, he knew that at least Rick's closest friends had also gotten to see it.
If not even those two had been here before, then it was really something. Morty already felt so special that Rick had chosen him to assist him with his personal science projects and that he had invited him to spend his time with him and watch this event together tonight, but knowing that he was the first one that Rick took to this place was some next level shit.
It made Morty feel all warm and his heart was beating a little faster. He was sure that he was probably blushing now and only hoped that it was too dark for Rick to notice.
"It should start any minute now." The spiky-haired boy commented after he checked one of his three watches that he always wore on his arm.
As if on cue, the first shooting star rocketed through the sky. Soon more joined them.
Both boys sat down in the grass and watched the miraculous spectacle.
"Just soak—take it all in, Morty. This is a phenomenon that can only be witnessed every 300 years." Rick commented.
"Wow, Rick. It's amazing!"
Morty could feel Rick's hand suddenly land on his own and he briefly looked over the boy next to him. Rick still looked up into the sky as if he hadn't registered what he had just done and the brunet figured that it might have been unconsciously.
However, Morty did notice that the other looked strangely content right now. Something, which was actually rare for Rick.
Morty ripped himself away from the sight to look back into the sky again, too. The thought of the unusual gesture was soon forgotten even if he could still feel the other's warmth as he was once more mesmerized by the meteor shower.
After the event was over, they made their way back downhill and to the parked motorcycle again. The ride home was a silent one, much like before, but this time Morty felt strangely content as he leaned a little against Rick's back.
For some odd reason, he didn't feel as nervous anymore as before. Though, he couldn't figure out why that was.
However, as soon as they came to a stop in Morty's neighborhood the jitters were back again.
He had almost completely forgotten that he was grounded and shouldn't even be out here right now. If his parents were going to find out that he had actually snuck out of the house there would be hell to pay…
"Well, see ya tomorrow, Morty." Rick said after Morty got off.
"Wait! Aren't you going to help me get back into my room?"
"Nope." Rick replied unbothered. "Can't you do it own your own?"
"How am I supposed to do that?" Morty asked back.
The spiky-haired boy rolled with his eyes. "You just walk through the front door and up the stairs, duh."
He didn't wait for any more retorts and just drove off.
"Rick! Wait!"
Morty's protests fell on deaf ears and he could only watch how the motorcycle rounded the corner and was out of sight again.
Someone tell him again why he was friends with this asshole?
With slumped shoulders, he made his way back to his house and not coming up with any better ideas, ventured in through the front door just as Rick had suggested.
As soon as he stepped foot inside, the hallway lights flickered on.
"And where have you been?"
Morty found himself face to face with his angry parents.
Needless to say that his decoy obviously hadn't worked and fooled them.
Boy, he was in so much trouble now…