Sleep Troubles
Morty often fell asleep in the passengers seat of Rick's ship, but it never seemed to particularly bother his grandfather. Although Rick would never admit it, he would always be just a tiny bit more careful while driving as to not wake Morty up. He would go out of his way to smooth out the ride, even if that meant taking the long way home.
Tenderness had never been one of Rick's strong suites, and truthfully, he preferred it that way, but something about the way Morty looked when he was asleep - the way his face would relax and the way he would mumble during his dreams... Rick found it all quite serene. He would listen to Morty ramble and he would try to piece together what he might be dreaming about, and more often than not Morty appeared to be dreaming about his adventures with Rick.
One time, while the two were on their way back from an extraordinarily dull business deal, Morty dozed off, but instead of his usual senseless murmuring, he began to whimper. Sweat quickly collected on Morty's forehead and he twitched restlessly in his seat.
Rick watched silently from the drivers seat, debating in his head wether or not he should wake Morty up, or let him sleep. Morbid curiosity got the better of him, and he chose to wait, suspecting that it was only a matter of time until Morty began to talk in his sleep again. What did Morty have to be stressed about anyway? Rick snorted as he took a swig from his flask and turned his eyes back to the space ahead of him.
As if on cue, Morty began to gasp restlessly and his brows furrowed together,
"No... no s-stop..." he kicked a leg deftly and his breath hitched in his throat, "No... m-m-mr... bean..."
Rick raised an eyebrow as his memories began to click into place.
Mr. Jellybean.
He had taken care of the disgusting creature - and he had no regrets about that - but there was very little that he was able to do to help Morty forget about him.
Rick sighed and took a swig from his flask as Morty continued to mumble in the seat beside him. Roughly, Rick jerked the steering wheel to the side, tipping the ship abruptly and causing Morty to topple out of his chair and into Rick's lap.
"W-what?" Morty sat up, rubbing his eyes, "Rick? W-what was that?" he blinked sleepily and shifted in his chair to get comfortable again.
Rick burped crudely and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Asteroid."
He didn't spare Morty a glance when he continued,
"Go back to sleep, kid. We'll be home soon."