Let The Ricks Fall Where They May
Written by Kat_Aclysm
Beta Read by Unlvcrjchick
Rated: - T for language
Disclaimers + Copyrights: I don't own any of these characters, this is a work of fanfiction. Rick and Morty is an Adult Swim animated comedy created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.
NOTE: Some artistic liberties were taken with some names in this chapter, but they're fairly minor and easily ignorable. Grammar + repeats fixed + Beta Read by Unlvcrjchick. Thank you so much!
Chapter 6 – Wubba Lubba Dub Dub
November 21st, 10:05am Local Time, 2001
Birdperson's Tree House
Bird World, Dimension Unknown
Rick simply couldn't understand himself right now; he had just woken up feeling absolutely amazing without even a trace of nausea or fever. Considering where he had been the night before, the amount of contrast between then and now was absolutely unbelievable. There was no logic or sense behind it, but he sure was happy to feel somewhere towards normal so soon. His back was itching like crazy, which he took as a good indicator; it meant that he was on the way to healing up. He decided to chance the risk rolling onto his back to test it out, quickly discovering that it still hurt. However, it was far more tolerable and would change how he slept; he had missed not being able to do it.
None of it was making sense, though; why was he feeling so damn good? Was Birdperson's medicine really that effective? He did discover something that wasn't good though; he absolutely reeked of vomit and booze. At least THAT was normal for him.
Rick got to his feet and stripped down, tossing his clothing into the odoriferous pile that was accumulating in the corner. As he reached under the cot for another set of clothes, he discovered that he was only down to one lab coat, one shirt, and a few pairs of pants; laundry would have to be done soon whether he wanted it or not.
He wasted no more time thinking about it as he moved out of the room; the good mood and overwhelming sense of wellness had also come with ravenous hunger. He was so preoccupied with how he felt that he didn't even think to take a look at the room around him.
Rick had a bounce in his step as he went all the way to the kitchen. After filling up a cup with ordinary water, he downed the entire thing in one go. A loud rumbling burp escaped him as he began scanning the kitchen area for food; he was so hungry that he was willing to eat anything.
Birdperson drifted into the kitchen, having been alerted to the sound of Rick's burping, taking it as a signal that he was up again. He simply stood back at the doorway, his arms folded across his chest, observing. As he watched Rick, he was completely silent as he tried to work out if his friend was putting on an act or genuinely happy.
Rick rediscovered the block of sugar in the cupboards he had found last time and wasted no time biting into it, chewing through the raw crunchy texture. "Hey, BP." He said casually as he took another bite out of the sugar brick, chewing for a moment before swallowing. "What's hangin'?"
"Greetings, Rick. I am quite glad that you are well enough to be up." Birdperson told him. "However, I would like to express my disappointment. Even after being given the medicine, you still found the time to play with your portal gun. I saw the light from under the door in your room last night after I had instructed you to go back to bed."
"No way, BP." Rick bit off another huge chunk of sugar and chewed on it, talking with his mouth full. "You must be seeing shit because the portal gun's not even started. I'm going to get out the chemical kit and start etching the circuit boards today." He swallowed what was in his mouth, adding to his statement. "Got any more of this? It's really good."
"Why are you eating my pine sugar, Rick?" Birdperson raised an eyebrow. "I can obtain more with relative ease but I must say that I am surprised that you would rather eat a single ingredient than an actual food."
"I ate it because it was there. And hey, what the hell are you talking about? Sugar is a food. I can eat it, therefore it's food." Rick stuffed the last portion of the sugar brick into his mouth as if to demonstrate. "See? It fits the very definition of the word." He licked the remnants off his fingers, having decided he really liked it. "Besides, people eat sugar all the time, but they call it 'candy'. Eating sugar by itself is simply eliminating the manufacturing process. P-pretty efficient if you ask me." He turned back towards the cupboards, wanting to resume his search.
"I don't understand, Rick," Birdperson continued to watch the other closely, "you have not even started your new portal gun?"
"Nope," Rick shrugged as he grabbed up a jar of grain, "it's still on paper. I haven't finished the entire design just yet, but at least I can actually construct the first part of it today." He put his ear to the jar as he shook it, then took the lid off to sniff, clapping the lid back on afterwards, disgusted by what he had found. "Why do you keep so much useless shit around? Seriously, what the fuck is this even supposed to be?" He glared hard at the jar and returned it to the cupboard, muttering, "So impractical... back on Earth, we used our kitchens for, you know, actual food..."
As Birdperson continued to observe, he finally reasoned in his mind that Rick was actually being genuine. He certainly was in a good mood to say the least, which he knew wouldn't last very long once he started speaking about the most pressing subject on his mind. There was no way to delicately approach it, not that he had ever been particularly good at that anyway.
"You are legitimately hungry, Rick?" Birdperson found that information a little surprising, but said nothing further about it; he needed to say what had to be said. "You are not behaving like this for any other reason?"
"What?" Rick grunted suddenly, turning his head back to glare at the bird man. He already had a good idea about what Birdperson was about to get into, but he still didn't want to discuss it. He made an attempt at turning the conversation back in the way he wanted, wanting to be the one in control of it. "It's a kitchen, w-what the fuck do you think I'm doing here?" He resumed rummaging through the cupboards. He wasn't even looking for anything anymore, he was just making himself appear busy and distracted. "Let the man feed himself. Holy shit."
"Rick, we need to talk." Birdperson continued to watch the other, figuring he was definitely deflecting now; he was wise to this strategy and wasn't going to tolerate it any longer. "You are expressing behaviors of great concern and you will need some coping strategies to help you through your situation."
Rick narrowed his eyes at that statement and slammed the cupboards shut with a loud bang, his expression turning dark in an instant. "Oh, not this fucking bullshit again..." He stared at the closed cupboard space ahead of him, completely unwilling to look at the other. "Look, stop asking about it. I'm fine!"
"You are not fine, Rick. And you can dismiss this as many times as you like, but you cannot deny what happened last night." Birdperson stood there and watched him carefully; he knew he was going to strike all the wrong chords and that it was going to make his friend very angry, but it was imperative that he discussed it. "What would have happened if you had been allowed to go further? What would have happened to Morty if you had been successful?"
"Look, BP," As Rick gritted his teeth, it was taking all his power of will not to explode into another wild fit of rage. "Full disclosure, I was in a bad place yesterday. But that's done with... done and dusted. Y-you... you don't need to worry about it again." He narrowed his eyes even further before moving away, intending to retreat back to the spare room. "If you want me to get out of your kitchen, fine. I'll go forage somewhere else. Either way, I'm done talking about this."
"Rick. I am sorry for this, but," Birdperson hesitated for a moment, "your guns need to be confiscated from you until further notice. Until I have some kind of guarantee indicating otherwise, you have proven that you cannot be trusted with them."
"What!?" That one made him stop dead in his tracks. Rick swung around to face the other finally, wild eyes glaring. "Why?! Don't do that to me, Birdperson!"
"I am sorry, Rick. It has to be done." Birdperson's tone was simple and resolute.
"Fuck, no!" Rick quickly shook his head. "No-no-no, no! Don't do this to me! You already know I don't like being told where to go and what to do, besides, I'm a wanted felon, same as you! How the hell am I supposed to defend myself if the goddamn bureaucrats come back to Bird World and find me stranded here?! Th-they found me on Earth somehow, and you know how fucking far away it was from everything else. Chances are th-they... they're already out there looking for me again!"
"It can be dealt with accordingly, Rick." Birdperson told him simply. "We won last time, and we can do it again."
"Because you had me!" Rick growled back in his sudden reply, poking at himself in the sternum with a pointed finger; it sounded incredibly self-important but he didn't care. "Don't you get it, BP? Who the hell do you think designed all those guns and supplied them? Why do you think it was such a success? You're not thinking logically about this, y-you... you're not making any sense." He exhaled sharply as a means of keeping himself from losing it. His back was itchy beyond reason, which wasn't adding to his mood. "Point is, you can't take my guns away from me, Birdperson! That's what I do! Or used to, at least..." He placed a hand behind his back and began to scratch one of the many itches. "Look, this is completely irrational. Come on! At the very least, I can pull them apart and salvage the components inside."
"I understand where you are coming from, Rick." Birdperson continued to stand there and watch, seeming content that although his friend was upset, he was still managing to reason his way through it for the most part. "But understand that what I am doing right now is entirely for your benefit. Even you should be able to see the logic behind that."
Rick twisted his mouth into a seriously unhappy expression, turning his attention back towards the door of his room. He wanted to escape and go back to work, and part of him just wanted to make a break for it and start running. He didn't want to admit it, but Birdperson wasn't wrong, and he wasn't entirely certain he could trust himself either. There was no way in hell he would say that out loud, however.
Birdperson just stood there and watched Rick's body language, watching his eyebrows twitch and his mind at work. He figured it could go either way at the moment, and he was interested to see the outcome.
"Fine!" Rick finally said with a wave of his hand as if to dismiss the issue entirely, outwardly seeming suddenly very calm all of a sudden. Instead of dealing with how he was feeling, he had decided to just suppress it along with everything else. "I'll take the batteries out and start pulling them apart." He turned back to face the other, pointing at him, his tone turning very sharp and aggressive. "But I need the circuit boards, you have no idea how valuable they are to my work! And know that what you're doing is completely pointless... I can easily make a bomb and blow myself up, o-or or bludgeon my eyes out with a screwdriver!" He hesitated for a moment as he realized how bad that had just sounded, then quickly added to his statement. "Which I wouldn't do! I'm just saying... I'm not stupid, and you know that. Take something away from me and I'll just find another way around it. Don't fuck with an innovator, yo."
"How long will it take you to dismantle your guns?" Birdperson ignored most of his rambling; he wanted to get to the point.
"Possibly an hour or two, maybe three at most," Rick shrugged, answering with blunt honesty, "which means you're asking me to waste even more of my time! I'm still supposed to be making a portal gun, everything I do from here on out is riding on that one single design being finished. Y-you... you DO know that, right?"
Birdperson simply shrugged back in reply, not saying anything this time.
"Stupid-ass motherfucking bitch..." Rick muttered loudly as he headed back towards the spare nest room. "What a complete fucking waste of my time and resources..."
Birdperson watched him go and resumed what he was doing; he didn't need to interfere any longer. He trusted Rick's word and knew that he would bring the gun parts out for him to take. He also knew that the conversation would likely be a sour point for a long time to come, and that perhaps it might even put a serious dent in their friendship. But Rick's life was more valuable than that and he had won. He wasn't about to go and rub it in.
Rick managed to contain his anger just long enough to head back into the spare nest room. However, once back inside, he wasted no time unleashing the full extent of his rage onto the guns that sat on top of the work table. He picked up the first three he could get his hands on and threw them hard at the nearest wall, only to have to shield his eyes with an arm as they smashed apart, sending broken shards flying back at him and across the room.
He tore open the drawers on the side of the work table and cleared out the top one entirely, launching five more guns and several failed prototypes straight through the open doorway of his room, grabbing up a couple of partially finished ones to discard with them. Next, he grabbed up an old voltmeter box; while it wasn't actually a gun, it had been used to test them so it went out as well. Rick launched it into the hallway as hard as he could; it made a loud smashing sound as it hit the wooden wall opposite the doorway and bits of it skittered everywhere across the floor outside.
"Fucking hell! I'm not wasting any more time on this bullshit, so just take the damn lot right now!" Rick was yelling, his anger having essentially escalated into a full-blown temper tantrum, and entirely directed at the conversation he had just had with Birdperson despite the fact the other wasn't in the room. "Where the HELL DO YOU GET OFF TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!? You want to take my shit away from me!? Fucking TAKE IT THEN!" He started throwing screwdrivers and books out the doorway next. After another moment, he didn't even know what he was throwing anymore, as whatever ended up in his hands met the same fate; straight out into the hallway and onto the floor outside.
Then his anger turned towards the very table itself; he grabbed at the edges, struggling for a moment as he tried to flip the entire thing. When he was unsuccessful, he swept a hand across the desk, aggressively flinging off all the electrical components within reach. He sank heavily into his chair and slammed a fist down onto the top of the desk. It hurt, but at least it expressed a little of what he was feeling.
"Fucking hell..." Rick gripped the edges of the table with both hands, and he was so angry that his arms were shaking. He just simply couldn't believe that his best friend, a person he trusted with his own life, a person he had fought alongside and won so many battles with, was telling him what to do as if he was a child, and taking away an important aspect of his life. Designing guns had been a huge part of his younger life and at one point it was all he had been doing. It made him feel powerless. It also felt like an act of betrayal rather than a means of keeping him safe. Of course, he was still thinking logically enough to understand where Birdperson was coming from but didn't agree with it in the slightest. He knew the other had his best interests in mind, but that certainly didn't do anything to make him feel better.
As Rick finally did begin to calm down again, a strong sense of sadness and regret began to wash over him; he had spent years of his life designing some of the guns he had just thrown away. The scientist had poured countless hours of his time into diligently constructing those weapons and making sure every solder point, contact, switch, trigger, wire, and every connection point was absolutely precise and perfect. Now they were just trash and broken debris outside his door.
He lowered his head, thumping his forehead down onto the table in front of him. He suddenly didn't feel welcome in the house anymore, and he certainly didn't want to be there if the situation with Birdperson was only going to continue or escalate further.
He just sat for a while and allowed his temper the time to simmer down again, his mind returning to the next steps of his portal gun design process; the chemical pots he needed to use in order to etch his circuit board designs were harmful and toxic, and the etching process needed to be done in an area with good ventilation, all of which could be done outside.
Rick got to his feet, figuring he could do it far away from the tree house; he felt well enough to risk climbing down the tree and his back would probably tolerate it by now. He began going through the boxes in the back corner of the room, remembering that he had tossed a backpack back into one he had filled with unwanted stuff. Once he found it, he wasted no time cramming it full of supplies as well as the pots of chemicals he had stored on the desk after unpacking them. He snatched the blueprints up off the desk and rolled them up around his half-finished bottle of whiskey, stuffing them down into the side of the bag. He dropped his battery-powered ionic soldering gun on top of everything else and tightly zipped the bag shut.
"I'm probably going to get bitched at for leaving, but I really don't give a shit at this point..." He muttered to himself as he hauled the bag over his left shoulder. The scientist carefully slipped out of the room and into the hallway, stealthily moving over the broken voltmeter and gun debris on the ground. He moved down the hallway, his pace speeding up as he saw Birdperson sitting on the couch in the living room; he had been intending to sneak out, but he had already been seen. He really didn't want to talk right now.
Birdperson rose to his feet at once; he had seen Rick approaching and had been sitting quietly in the living room the entire time, patiently waiting for the other to calm down again.
"Rick," He said in his usual flat tone as he picked a cup off the coffee table, "I have brewed another batch of medicine for your stomach. I know that you are feeling better but I would like you to drink this. It is merely a precautionary measure at this point." He held it out for the other to take.
Rick stopped in front of Birdperson, shooting a death glare at him. When he saw the cup being offered to him, he very deliberately moved his right hand out, smacking the cup up from underneath, knocking it out of Birdperson's grasp and upending the contents all over him. "Fuck you!" His tone was cold and harsh as he spoke. He resumed his brisk pace towards the front door, shoving it open by slamming his shoulder into it. Once it swung open, he stepped outside.
Birdperson just stood there as the contents of the cup splashed all over him; although he had just spent hours brewing it, it didn't matter. He watched Rick move out the front door and promptly moved to follow him outside, stopping as he saw the other peering over the edge of the landing. "Rick, what are you doing? Come back inside. You were sick yesterday and you still need time to recover."
Rick wasn't going to have a word of it. He held onto the backpack strap with his left hand and raised his right arm up, extending his middle finger back at Birdperson before jumping straight off, falling in a rough heap into a pile of bushes at the bottom. Once on the ground, he scrambled to his feet and broke into a run; he knew that Birdperson would probably follow him so he wanted to get as much of a head start as possible. He really didn't want to be found right now.
Birdperson decided to let him go. Although he was vaguely impressed that the human had just jumped off the landing of his tree house without so much as a hint of hesitation. He knew the height from the landing to the ground was easily twenty feet and a fall like that wasn't going to be any good for him. As he watched his friend running away on the ground below, he was torn; he wanted to give Rick his independence and to make him feel like he was still in charge and in control. However, he didn't want him to be alone until his mind was in a better place. Regardless of how he felt, the situation had officially escalated out of his ability to manage it anymore.
He spread his wings and in two powerful thrusts, he was high in the air. However, he didn't follow Rick and turned in the opposite direction. He knew somebody who had better ideas about this sort of thing than he did.
Rick continued running, though it didn't take him terribly long to slow down again; he hadn't eaten anything besides the sugar brick from the kitchen and didn't have anything else in him. He tired out reasonably quickly and slowed to a brisk jog, then a casual walking pace once he was out of breath. He simply kept moving, wanting to get as far away from the tree house as possible. Soon enough, he recognized one of the paths he had taken many times before over the years. He turned onto it and kept going.
After a while, his travels took him to one of the many hot springs in the area; he knew the area well because he used it quite often during his last long-term stay on Bird World. As he sat down under the shade of an enormous tree, he set the bag down beside him and took out the blueprints, the whiskey bottle, a scratching tool, and a pair of clippers, and immediately got stuck back into his work. Although he was still sour over what had happened with Birdperson, he liked being outside; he'd been cooped up in the tree house for far too long and needed the change of scenery.
Now that he didn't have any distractions to worry about, Rick's mind was entirely focused on what he was doing and the rest of the world around him had been completely zoned out. He followed the blueprint designs exactly as he had marked them out and was calm again, content to be doing exactly what he was good at, finding comfort in the familiarity of making something. After he had spent a couple of hours meticulously scoring out both circuit boards with the scratching tool, he opened up one of the chemical pots and dropped both of them in; they needed to soak for a couple of hours until they were completely saturated and couldn't absorb any more. He set the second pot aside next to it, ready for phase two.
After making sure both jars weren't going to tip over, Rick stood on his feet and pulled the cork off his bottle of whiskey, taking a few chugs from it to celebrate his progress; he was finally getting somewhere. He had time to kill now, and although he was very hungry, he was near a hot spring. He figured he wouldn't be able to immerse himself completely while he still had the stitches in his back, but anything was better than nothing. After setting the bottle down again, he stripped his clothes off and dumped them onto the ground next to his bag. He headed straight into the warmth of the hot spring and initially stayed in the shallows because he hadn't expected it to be so warm. As he got used to the temperature, he ventured in deeper and finally allowed himself to relax, and his mind to wander again.
He had no idea how to deal with what Birdperson had brought up with him; there was absolutely no graceful way to come back from that. He didn't regret how angry he had been either, as Rick needed to let Birdperson know that he wasn't going to tolerate being stepped on. Although he didn't know what to do and how to resolve the issue, he knew that he would have to apologize at some point and make it up to the other. Somehow.
"Fuck... I'm such an asshole..." He muttered aloud to himself.
Rick sighed as he moved even further into the spring; the water was now at the line of his butt, but it was about as far in as he could risk going. He bent over and began to splash warm water down his front. Even though he didn't have soap, he was in serious need of a wash; he'd been sick yesterday and smelled vaguely of vomit and dried sweat. Any attempt at washing that off had to be better than nothing at all. He splashed water over his hair and rubbed his hands vigorously through the thick mass of spikes, flicking the water out again once he figured he'd done a good enough job.
He stood up again and idly picked at one of the pieces of gauze padding stuck to his butt; it was itching like crazy and he kind of wanted to know how the injury was doing underneath. He carefully peeled it off and ran a finger across the line of the sutures, immediately frowning when he recognized the shape of the injury, its curved line completely unmistakable; it had the exact diameter of the portal gun bulb after it had broken and cut into him.
As he leaned forward to splash more water over his chest and under his arms, he realized that he had no idea where to get another bulb that would be strong enough to contain the energies the portal gun emitted when it was on. He vaguely considered making one from scratch; the people of Bird World already knew how to make all kinds of glass.
Before he could think too much more, he heard a large flurry of powerful wing flaps overhead. He looked up, then all around him, only to jump in surprise when he saw a particularly large-bodied female bird-person land with an abrupt thud right next to his stuff; he certainly hadn't been expecting that. He watched her for a moment, waiting to see what she was going to do. His first observation about her was that she was huge; very round and fat. He wasn't about to judge her for that, though, as he was far more concerned that she would touch or knock his stuff over. He also had no idea who she was.
"H-hey!" Rick hurriedly called out to the newcomer, standing up tall, not seeming to care that his nether regions were exposed and very visible for her to see. "Get away from my science stuff! Don't touch that, y-you don't know what it is!" He began rapidly waving his hands as if motioning to shoo her away.
The female bird-person just looked back at him and began to laugh; the sight of the naked, spiky-haired, wingless human flailing his arms about was amusing all on its own, but she found his abrasive gravelly voice to be positively hilarious. Her wings fluttered around her shoulders and her blue-green neck feathers shook as she began to roar with screechy laughter. After a moment, three tiny hatchlings crawled up her back to get a look at what their mother was laughing at and they promptly joined in.
Rick's eyes widened at that; was the sight of him naked really that funny? He suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious and moved both hands to cover his private parts. "D-did you seriously come here just to laugh at my ding-dong?! You're fucking disgusting! I'm gonna puke!"
"Language, tut-tut-tut." She waved a pointed finger at him before returning her hands to cuddle the bundle of blankets at her chest, which were supported around her with a cloth sling. "Whatever will the hatchlings think, my friend?"
"Friend? I have no idea who the fuck you are!" Rick growled as he moved out of the spring and hastily moved the distance across the ground to pick up his lab coat, wasting no time to cover himself up with it despite the fact he was still dripping wet. It immediately clung to him.
"Oh, I am indeed sorry," the female's tone suddenly seemed very genuinely apologetic, "do you need a moment? I did not mean to disturb you."
Rick glared back at her, holding his lab coat closed with a hand, scowling as his wet hair stuck to his face in cold wet dripping clumps. "Oh I'm disturbed enough already without you being here... go away!" He told her, his tone firm and angry.
The female bird-person grinned at him and resumed her loud screechy laughter, her whole chest seeming to shake with it.
Rick narrowed his eyes, his expression completely flat and unimpressed; he hadn't meant for it to be interpreted as a joke. "Seriously, w-what the fuck do you want from me? Can you just... go away and leave me alone?" He decided he already didn't like this person - he found her far too loud and annoying for his liking. Female bird-people and their personalities were always kind of strange and erratic to him; males often tended to be far more predictable and tolerable. They were either monotone, stoic, or very neutral, kind of like Birdperson. Birdperson was good most of the time – Rick found his personality very tolerable and the guy could absorb his sour moods and explosions of temper without even the slightest hint of offense. However, this woman's personality was a complete polar opposite to Birdperson's. She was also being very, very annoying simply by being there.
Even though the ambient air temperature was warm, the water on Rick's body had already gone cold and he began to shiver. "S-seriously, j-just f-fuck off already!"
The large female watched him for a moment and began to step back. "Oh dear, you are cold. I am sorry, I did not mean to disturb you in the middle of bathing. You should take a moment to get dressed again, yes?" She turned around to walk away down the pathway in an attempt to grant him some privacy. "Come children, give the human his space."
Rick stared at them and scooted behind the large tree, out of sight. He quickly took off the lab coat and used it as a towel, rubbing himself down with it as quickly as possible. He threw it over his head and vigorously rubbed his hair down. Once dry enough, he tossed the lab coat aside and grabbed up his pants and shirt, hastily pulling them back on. There wasn't much he could do about his hair for the time being and it would probably be damp for a few hours; it was also an incredible mess, more so than usual.
As he sat down to put his shoes back on, his attention returned back towards the strange bird woman and he scowled; she had three tiny hatchlings who were very confidently holding onto her back and he still had absolutely no idea who she was. She wasn't going away either, which meant she most probably wanted to talk to him. Rick groaned at that assumption; he absolutely did not want to talk to anyone right now, let alone some random mother and her kids, who would very likely be just as annoying as her. He shook the jars of chemicals beside his bag, half tempted to shove the lids back on and pack them up so he could slip away before she could notice.
The female bird person must have heard the sound, because she immediately turned around, looking back in Rick's general direction. "Are you decent?"
Rick had to bite his tongue this time. He did not want to answer in his typical sarcastic manner and risk having her laugh at him all over again; he really wasn't in a sociable mood. He said nothing and simply stood up again, walking back out into the open. His only reply was a singular grunt in her direction as he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets; the conversation had barely begun and he was already done with it.
"Such a strange choice of attire. But then again, you are not of this world, are you? No." She said as she looked him up and down. "One would never think that such a tiny little thing would be responsible for so much on this planet."
"Hey, watch it, I'm not little!" Rick snapped back, his brow twitching momentarily at that one; he knew he wasn't the tallest person around, but he certainly wasn't short either. "Seriously, just get to the fucking point already, why the hell are you even here? I have important science shit to do and then things to test after that. Y-you don't even need to know what it is, it would be totally beyond your comprehension anyway."
The female gently tapped the bundle of blankets in her sling and smiled. "You know, Ricksanchez," she pronounced the first and last name as if it was one word, "You are quite hard to find when you do not want to be found. I followed the description that was given, but you did not match it. The only way I found you from the air was because the plumage on your head is an unmistakable giveaway."
Rick was openly glaring hard at her now; she knew his name and he still didn't know who she was. "Get to the fucking point already! And my name's just 'Rick' – not 'Richard', not 'Mr. Sanchez', and NEVER 'Ricky'." His left eye started twitching at the mere pronunciation of the last name he had given her. "God, if you ever call me that, I will rip out your flight pinions and fucking stuff them down your throat!"
"Again, language," she shook her head, "what will the children think? What will they grow up learning? You need to be a better influence on your family, Ricksanchez."
Rick folded his arms as he turned his attention away, glaring hard at his bag and chemical pots, finding them way more interesting to look at than her. There hadn't even been any point in explaining his name to her, and it took him every ounce of will not to yell out that his family was dead and that it didn't even matter anymore. He also didn't want to do that because even mentioning it would risk opening up a difficult conversation he didn't want to have with anyone right now, let alone a total stranger.
The female tapped the bundle of blankets again, making very soft gentle tuttering and chirping sounds down at it. "Come on, little one. Wake up." She looked back up at Rick and smiled. "So, you want to know why I am here, yes? I have something for you, Ricksanchez."
Rick gritted his teeth, his arms stiff at his sides now, his hands balled into fists. "What could you possibly have that I wan-"
He never finished his sentence. The bird woman pulled the bundle of blankets out of the sling and moved the distance across to him, gently pushing it against his chest.
Rick's expression visibly softened and his anger practically disintegrated as he took the bundle into his arms. Morty was inside and under a number of layers, very comfortably wrapped up and very much asleep. All that was visible was part of his face, his nose and his mouth. Rick shifted him onto one arm and took a moment to pull some of the blanket away from his eyes, figuring it would make him more comfortable.
"He is still sleeping," she smiled as she watched them, "be kind to him, Papa. He needs you right now."
"Aah, no no no," Rick shook his head quickly, "I'm not his father, I'm his maternal grandfather." He looked back up at her and narrowed his eyes. "Why the hell didn't you just tell me who you were in the first place? What was the point of screwing me around like that?" He scowled, suddenly feeling incredibly silly over the whole conversation. If he hadn't been so riled up, he probably would have been able to deduct who she was right away simply by looking at her; the three hatchlings on her back suddenly seemed like a dead giveaway. "What's your name again?"
"It's Gresharak," she chuckled at him, "and I did not tell you who I was initially because I wanted to see you for myself, Ricksanchez. I have heard a great deal many things about you and I wanted to find out what kind of person you are. You are indeed a strange one and very bad tempered to say the least. Totally unlike the males of my species." She smiled, nodding once. "However, you are honest and blunt, which is a quality to be admired. Would you like to come back to my house for some food? You look like you could do with something decent in your belly."
Rick looked down at the jars of chemicals, then up at Morty, then back across to the woman nearby. He had to admit, the idea of food sounded very appealing right now, but he needed to finish the etching process. "I have too much to do," he shrugged after a moment, "besides, how the hell would I climb your tree? I could do it on my own, but not with a kid like this."
Gresharak stepped forwards again. She pulled the cloth sling off her body and then stepped in to place it around Rick, carefully adjusting it so it would fit him. She reached forward to pull open the front, smiling at him. "Put him in there."
Rick gritted his teeth as he reared his head back instinctively, feeling very uncomfortable with the other being so close to him. He wasn't a sociable person by nature and didn't like unfamiliar people so close in his personal space. He did what she said anyway, because he knew it would make her go away faster. He carefully tucked Morty into the open portion of the sling, raising his eyebrows as he noticed how easily he fit and how snug and secure he seemed in there. The youngster didn't even move an inch when he was reshuffled and kept sleeping.
"I actually don't need this," Rick said quickly after another moment, "I have something like it back up in the tree house at Birdperson's house."
"You can keep it as they are not hard to put together." Gresharak stepped back from Rick, seeming pleased. "Your hatchling has never been able to hold on during flight so I fashioned this alternative for him. It is best if it stays with him."
"You took my grandson flying?" Rick had to huff at that; he had wanted to take Morty out for his first flight for a while but had been waiting until he was old enough to actually remember the experience. Now he had just learned that this complete stranger had already deprived him of the privilege and he was incredibly cranky about it. He knew it was a ridiculously stupid thing to get so worked up over, but it still angered him anyway.
Gresharak smiled back at Rick as she extended her wings; her wingspan was positively massive, and much larger than Birdperson's. "How do you think we get around?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was a stupid question..." Rick scowled further. "Touché." His attention returned to the chemical pots on the ground. "Look, I'm glad you're enjoying talking to me because I know I'm interesting as all hell. But I still have shit to do, and I can't climb your tree while these things are still open. It's really important that the saturation process finishes without any interruptions." He pointed to the jars on the ground as if to emphasize his point. "So go away already a-and leave me to it."
"How long will they take to finish?" Gresharak seemed genuinely curious now. She peered around him and down at the ground, not having a clue what the strange things were. However, if the smaller human was saying they were important, then they must have been. "Do you want to sit down and talk?"
"No." Rick grunted; it was an immediate response with no thought needed whatsoever.
Gresharak was chuckling at him again. She stepped away to sit down near Rick's bag. "However long it takes, so be it. I need to ask you about your grandson anyway, that is also important. If you wish to keep leaving him with me, then I will need information."
Rick stood there quietly, his left eye twitching; he wanted to scream so badly right now. Part of him also wanted to just run away, but he couldn't just abandon his portal gun circuit boards as they were far too important and he didn't have any more etching chemicals. He released a heavy sigh and begrudgingly sat down on the other side of the pots, keeping a safe enough distance away from the bird woman so she couldn't grab at him, touch him, or do anything else.
"Don't sit too close to my science stuff. And definitely don't breathe that shit in," Rick's tone was harsh as he spoke, "you wouldn't like the outcome."
"So," Gresharak's smile faded, her expression turning more serious, "I have been told that you are not well. How are you feeling now?"
Rick made a sharp irritated sound and folded his arms. "Yeah, no, don't even try to bait me. You said you wanted to ask shit about Morty, and you're asking about me right away? You don't get to do that. Instead, here's my reverse-ask - what makes you think I would have fallen for that? And how dare you even ask me that?! Seriously, NO."
Gresharak chuckled softly and began picking at the satchel attached to the belt on her side. After a moment, she pulled out a seed-cake that had been glued together with sugar syrup. She held it out for the other to take, not saying anything.
Rick stared at the food being offered to him and wasted no time snatching it up so he could bite off a huge chunk with his teeth. As he began chewing, he immediately decided that he didn't like the texture or the fact that the seeds still had their husks on them. Still, he wasn't about to turn down free food, especially when he was so hungry. "So you think the way to a man's heart is through his stomach? That's a pretty cheap tactic, you know."
Gresharak watched him for a moment before taking out more of the same seed blocks to feed to the hatchlings that were still very much attached to her back feathers. "No ulterior motive. You just looked like you could have done with some food. That should keep you sated until we are in my tree house."
"Thanks." Rick grunted, but it didn't come out politely. "So just get to the point already. What did you want to ask me about my grandson?" His mind began to race with all kinds of possibilities, but he decided to just shut up and let her talk.
Gresharak sighed this time, seeming a little sad. "I need to ask you, how difficult is it for your little one to settle while in your care?"
Rick was silent; he'd never really thought about it. However, he chose his answer carefully because he didn't want to risk getting into an involved discussion. "It's not a problem. W-why do you ask?"
"The one you call 'Birdperson' has brought him along to my house twice now and both times were because you have been completely incapacitated. I cannot fault you for that, but it would be beneficial to know what you do differently. Both times he has arrived in my tree house, his cries have been completely insatiable," the bird woman shook her head sadly, "he spent well over half of yesterday crying. He is a miserable little boy. We managed to calm him down and he was perfectly happy to play once he was quiet, but my spirit mate does not like him and finds him to be entirely disruptive to our family." She reached back to nuzzle the head of the first child she could reach. "But we don't think that of our little friend, now do we? No, we do not."
Rick watched her carefully, finding himself looking away and avoiding her eye contact after a short amount of time had passed. "To be completely honest with you, I don't really do anything differently. He just... does his thing." He shrugged, not really having any other way to explain it.
"I must be honest with you here. The one you call 'Birdperson' has told me of your situation in detail, so I will not pry. I do not want to make you upset." Gresharak's expression turned to one of sympathy. "But know this - I am no substitute. I am more than happy to take your hatchling when you have need of me to do so, but he needs you as he loves you dearly. Sometimes he cries like his life depends on getting back to you. He needs to stay with you for as long as he can because you seem to be one of the only happy fixtures in his world right now."
"I know." Rick's voice had become quiet as he lowered his head, his attention down on Morty. She wasn't telling him anything he already didn't know, but hearing it certainly wasn't making him feel any better. He sat there quietly, unwilling to say any more as he didn't want to participate in the conversation any longer. He looked over at the chemical pots and narrowed his eyes, wishing they would hurry up and finish so he could pack them up.
"If it makes you feel any better," Gresharak was watching Rick's face carefully now; his sadness was open enough to be obvious and she wanted to turn the subject back in a positive direction to cheer him up, "he has made great friends with my brood already. When he is not crying or asleep, he is more than happy to play with them. Even though he does not have feathers or wings, it does not slow him down. He does not even seem to think about it."
"Humans are adaptable." Rick forced himself to sound bored as he reached over to pick up his whiskey bottle. "If you're not born with it, y-you tend not to think about it." He pulled the cork off and a long swig from the bottle. "I have to s-stop you there because it's really impo-URRRPPtant - my name is Rick - just 'Rick'. Got it? I'm not telling you again." He would have added more to the statement, but the bundle of blankets had started to twitch in reaction to the loud burp he had just made. He moved his free arm around Morty and began to gently pat him, not really wanting him to wake up before he was ready to.
"Very well, Rick." Gresharak nodded as she watched him, and couldn't help but grin a little as she watched how gentle he was being with the sleeping child. "You may actually wish to wake him up soon. He has been asleep for most of the day, he is still recovering from the illness he had when he was handed over to me."
"He can stay down for all I care," Rick grumbled in reply, "I don't particularly want him jumping all over my science shit." He set the whiskey bottle aside and reached over to place the lids back on the chemical pots. "Speaking of which, where's your tree house? Fuck this shit, it's nearly done. I'll just follow you there and climb up. I assume you have an open area outside your front door, yeah?" He moved to his feet and began to pack everything back into the bag, noting that his lab coat was still damp from being used as a towel. He stuffed it down the bottom, making a mental note to dry it out later; it was his last clean one.
Gresharak watched him silently, a sly and devious grin coming over her face. Her flight pinions ruffled behind her back as she watched the small human pack up his things, and then she moved to her feet, extending her wings as if preparing for flight.
Rick glared back at her, not understanding what had come over her. Then he decided that he didn't care. He made sure that Morty was secure in the sling at his chest as he hauled the bag over his back. "W-well?" He huffed in irritation. "The reason I'm asking is because I can just finish the rest of the process there, p-provided your stupid-ass kids don't touch it, that is... if they drink the chemicals, they'll be dead within the hour." He made sure everything was secure one final time before glaring back at her again, not seeming to understand why she wasn't responding to him anymore. "Well? Say something. Give me some directions here, woman. I'm ready to go."
Without any warning whatsoever, Gresharak took two rushed steps at him, grab-tackling the smaller human around the chest, holding him firmly in both arms as she extended her wings to launch herself into the air. Within in three powerful flaps, she was soaring high above the trees.
Rick did NOT like what was happening to him; the tackle had also taken him entirely by surprise and she was holding onto him so hard that he could barely breathe. The moment he left the ground, he started yelling, flailing his legs in protest. "W-what the fuck, woman!? Are you fucking crazy!? P-put put me down! Some fucking warning next time, y-you crazy bitch!"
Gresharak only replied with another round of loud screechy laughter as she used her wings to pick up one of the many updrafts in the sky, soaring even higher. In almost no time at all, she had covered the entire distance back to the community of tree houses that her kind lived in. In another couple of sharp wing flaps, she landed down onto the landing of her own tree house. She wasted no time letting go of Rick, who stumbled back from her simply to get away again.
"Y-you're fucking crazy!" Rick snapped at her. "Just for that, you can deal with Morty while I set my shit up on your porch! He smells pretty bad so you can already guess what that means." He carefully pulled the cloth sling off his chest and handed it over with the bundle of blankets, though he was surprised that the youngster still hadn't woken up even through all the noise. "You owe me one for not telling me what you were going to do!"
Gresharak was laughing all over again as she took Morty into her arms, readily accepting him from the human. "Oh, that was worth it just to see your face." She cradled the sleeping bundle as she pushed the door open to her tree house, stepping inside.
"Stupid crazy-ass motherfucking bitch..." Rick muttered as he dumped his bag down on the landing. He wasted no time unpacking it again and pulled out a pair of blue nitrile gloves along with the two chemical pots. After pulling the gloves on with a rubbery snap, he unscrewed the first jar and very carefully removed the saturated circuit boards, checking them over to see if they were finished. Once he was satisfied with their progress, he dropped them straight into the second pot of solution. He clamped the lid on and shook it up, then set it off to the side.
"If anyone touches these things, I will fucking kick their ass..." He yanked the gloves off his hands and moved to his feet again, tossing them back into his bag. He kicked it out of the way and headed in the front door.
The scene inside had already erupted into pure chaos; the three hatchlings were now flying around the living room and using the furniture as launching pads. Their mother was already busy in another part of the house so they were taking advantage of the fact they had no supervision whatsoever.
Rick glared at them, already hating the amount of noise they were making. Part of him wanted to yell at them to shut up, but they weren't his responsibility or even his problem to deal with. He quickly decided he didn't care and stood near the front door, keeping out of their way.
One of the hatchlings landed nearby and reached out to grab at the leg cuff of his pants, pulling on it. "What is this? You wear funny clothes. You look funny." He told him very bluntly as he stared up at him. "You do not even have feathers."
Rick bared his teeth down at the male hatchling. "H-how would you like to play a game? It's called 'Your Ass, My Foot'. Touch me again and I'll let you play as many times as you want, you little piece of shit!" He folded his arms. "Now go away and leave me alone."
The hatchling didn't seem in the slightest bit phased and ran across the floor to resume chasing his siblings.
Gresharak came out of the back room a few moments later, carrying a very sleepy Morty, who was now awake and resting comfortably against her, snuggled into her feathers. She carried him straight into the kitchen and began to finish cooking the food she had started hours ago, stirring it with a spoon in her free hand. Although it was nearly finished, it needed some final touches.
Rick observed the scene closely and stayed out of the way; he seemed content that Morty was so quiet in her company. Although it annoyed him that he had been dressed in traditional bird-people clothing, he supposed it had to be expected by this point. He didn't stay at his position near the front door for much longer, though; Morty would see to that.
Morty had already seen Rick and started making loud noises as he called out to him. He began flailing his limbs and trying to climb right over the top of the bird-woman, wanting to be in his grandfather's company over hers.
"Hah," Gresharak said in amusement, not bothering to look up, "somebody wants to say hello to you."
"Y-yeah, it would seem that way." Rick moved off the wall and headed into the kitchen. "Hey there, little buddy, how are you feeling?" He reached out to pick the youngster up, firmly yet gently holding him in his arms. "You were asleep all day, right? Does that mean you're going to keep me up all night with your bullshit?" Despite his words, he was grinning. "Just kidding, I don't have a sleeping pattern anyway."
Morty squealed with happiness and hugged onto his grandfather's arm, holding onto it as hard as he could, indicating he wasn't about to let him go again anytime soon.
Without looking up from the stove, Gresharak smiled as she listened to the conversation taking place. "It would seem that somebody has missed you." She was quiet for a moment. "Remember what I told you."
"I know what you said, y-you you don't have to repeat it." Rick frowned back at her. As he stepped back from the kitchen, he could already smell the aromas coming from the pot on the stove and his stomach reacted by growling at him. He retreated to the couch in the living room and just sat there while the bird woman's children jumped all over the room around him. He simply kept his attention on Morty, not even seeming to flinch when one of the flying children crashed straight into his shoulder.
Now that Morty was calm and in the company of his grandfather again, he was confident enough to let curiosity begin taking over. He clumsily wiggled out of Rick's arms and pushed himself off the couch, landing with an abrupt thump onto the floor below. It didn't seem to worry him, though, and he got to his feet, clumsily chasing after the nearest hatchling he could get his hands on, squealing to get her attention. He liked trying to grab their feathers and pull them out if he could get close enough. He had no concept of the idea that doing something like that would hurt, it was just another fun game to him.
Rick just sat back and watched, rubbing his forehead. Although he was happy to see his grandson running around and playing with the other children, he didn't appreciate the level of noise in the room at all. His back was still itching like crazy and his hunger had developed past the point of starving; he started to feel dizzy and fatigued. None of these factors were helping his mood and he put his head down, closing his eyes, sighing. He didn't want to be there; he wanted to get back to work. But he needed food badly, and Morty was having fun so he didn't want to deny him that. It had been too long since he had seen the kid so genuinely happy.
"Your little one has already been fed, you do not have to worry about him right now. Take care of yourself." Gresharak stood over him, holding a large bowl of soup she had just made. She set it down on the table in front of Rick, offering him a smile. "Here, eat this. Are you OK?"
"To be perfectly honest with you," Rick opened his eyes again and sat up to pick up the bowl, his voice quiet and resigned, "I-I'm pretty fucking far from OK." He picked up the bowl and took the spoon out, taking a moment to examine what he was about to eat. It was soupy mush and fairly close to what he had been fed the other day. He knew he would get sick of eating the same thing before too long, but right now, food was food.
Gresharak simply stood back. She had felt the pain in that statement and looked back at him with gentle sympathy on her face. Part of her just wanted to pull him up into her arms and hug him, but she had already figured out that he was the stand-offish type and likely wouldn't appreciate it. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be distracted by the sound of books falling out of the bookcase at the other end of her living room.
"What are you doing, child!?" She hurriedly stepped away to begin chasing her children, her tone swinging to motherly and authoritative in an instant. "We do not jump on the furniture, children! Get off that at once!"
Rick was quiet again as he watched the others. He wasted no time shoveling the food straight into his mouth; this time it had grain and a few other ingredients that he couldn't identify through the mushy texture. He didn't know what they were and didn't even care if they were bugs or worms this time; he was hungry enough to eat anything.
"Oh, how rude of me. I never did introduce my children to you." Gresharak turned around in the sudden realization of her words. She picked up the first one and walked over to the couch with him, smiling as he tried to climb up onto her head. "This is Flitarak, my eldest. He's turning three in the next complete moon phase."
"Don't care." Rick replied with his mouth full, swallowing after a moment. He shoved another spoonful into his mouth and resumed eating. He was already starting to feel better.
"The other two are fraternal twins," the bird woman continued, pointing down at the others as she indicated to them, "we were fortuitous enough to have two eggs that breeding season. They are Parsharah and Lakkarah and are male and female, respectively. Keep a close eye on them if you see them in your travels, as they like to escape the tree house and go missing. They are not strong fliers yet and they are still small enough to risk being eaten by predators."
"Again, d-don't care." Rick dropped the spoon on his lap and picked up the bowl with both hands, drinking the rest of the contents. He set it back down on the coffee table and a loud burp erupted from his mouth. "Well, it isn't what I'm used to eating, b-but it will fill the hole for a while. T-thanks, I guess." He moved to his feet, his attention on the door.
"You do not wish to stay here any longer?" Gresharak watched him carefully, her attention glued to his face as if it would give away anything of what he was feeling right now.
"Nope." Rick replied with a shrug, seeing no reason to lie. "I still have too much to do." He jumped slightly as Morty crash tackled his legs and he bent down to retrieve him from the floor; it was convenient because it meant he didn't have to go chasing after him. "Once I have that stuff outside finished, we can do anything we want to... the multiverse becomes my plaything." He headed out the front door and set Morty down so he could pack up his things again; the lid needed to stay closed on the second chemical pot, so it could be done anywhere he felt like it.
Gresharak followed him outside and stood in the doorway, her huge frame almost blocking the space entirely. "Where will you go?"
"Away from here." The answer was blunt and short as he scowled back at her. She was asking too many questions for his liking. He didn't want to be there anymore and now that he had food in his belly, he had no reason to be there any longer.
"You know, you can come back to the house anytime you wish," the feathers on the bird woman's head were ruffled again, and although her tone was gentle and motherly, she seemed concerned; she didn't want him to leave. "Bring your little one back anytime; it is a privilege to care for him in your absence."
"Whatever..." Rick grunted as he placed Morty into the sling, checking him a second time to make sure he was secure. He hauled the bag onto his back and peered down over the edge of the landing, spotting a rope ladder nearby - perfect. "Thanks for feeding me, by the way. I'll have to stop taking advantage of your charity at some point, and..." he paused, his voice tired and fed up, "I kind of owe you now, f-fuck it. So I'll build you some science shit or something, whatever you want. If you need anything done, you already know how to find me." He stepped off the landing and then began to climb down the rope ladder. After a moment, he had disappeared out of sight altogether.
Gresharak watched him go, completely silent. She shook her head sadly; she hadn't wanted him to leave so soon, but he had been so adamant about it. She simply lingered on the landing, listening to him climb down the ladder, making sure he was safely on the ground before heading back towards the door.
She didn't get much further, though.
After another moment, Birdperson landed hard on the landing. He had been watching vigilantly from his own tree house and now that Rick was gone, he wanted to talk. His attention was immediately fixed on the bird woman and he waved a hand to get her attention. "I see you found him out there. Thank you for retrieving him from the wilderness and thank you for feeding him for me."
"It is no problem." Gresharak said dismissively as she turned to grin at her neighbor. "He has a very abrasive personality and his language is positively embarrassing to listen to, but his heart is genuine and I enjoyed finally getting to meet him. I can see why you would consider him to be such a dear friend," she quickly added, "also, his child is adorable."
"Yes, well," Birdperson shrugged, not wanting to chat. He wanted to know the answers to his most pressing questions. "Did you get the chance to talk to him? Did he say much to you? Did you get him to listen?"
"He didn't seem to want to talk, and I did not want to push him because he is in great pain. You can see it in his eyes. He also gives himself away." Gresharak said, her tone becoming sad. "But I think he will be all right. He needs time."
"I will be much happier to leave him on his own once he returns to normal." Birdperson said in his calm monotone voice. "I am not sure what to think at the moment."
"You were right to worry. But he seems driven like he still has purpose. As long as he still has the child with him, he will have something to focus on. See that they stay together, yes? He may never fully recover from what has happened to him, but he needs contact with friends and loved ones." Gresharak's tone had become thoughtful as she expressed her opinion. "He also needs time alone."
"I am not willing to give him that at the moment," Birdperson replied simply, "I have damaged our friendship, but his life is worth more than that."
"You need to give him the chance." She told him. "Nothing will fix itself until you give that back to him."
"I do not want to leave him out there by himself." Birdperson explained his feelings with no emotion whatsoever in his voice. He knew he was repeating himself, but there was no other way he could put it.
Gresharak shrugged at him. "You have to be willing to try."
