A Warm Night
Morty felt the cool trunk of the mossed tree on his back and breathed the equally as chilly, but refreshing air that carried an earthy pine scent to it. He drank in the scenery and opened himself up to all of the sensations of the forest. The soft chirping of birds, the earthy pine scent the gentle breeze carried, the ants lifting leaf fragments back to their nests.
He looked to his grandfather, who was resting his back on the opposite side of the same tree, staring up at the light gray clouds that invaded the sky. He had a relaxed smile on his face, and his body looked less tense than usual.
"You see over there, Morty?" Rick half whispered as not to disturb the tranquility, pointing to a log cabin in the distance. "That's mine. I built it here a long time ago." The cabin had a red roof, a green door with two small windows on either side of the door, and a short chimney on the top.
"You built that by yourself?" Morty questioned.
"Yep," Rick replied. "Took, took me about a month. Or maybe about a week in Earth time."
Morty admired how quaint the log cabin appeared. He also adored its location, in front of a small pond that reflected the overcast sky.
When he hadn't heard anything from Rick in a while, Morty looked to his side of the tree and found he had dozed off. His grandfather had managed to get himself curled into a loose fetal position, his chest rising softly and falling the same way.
Feeling chilly, Morty decided to lie down next to Rick, placing his arms under his head to act as a pillow. Eventually, Morty fell asleep and the two's breathing synchronized.
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Morty slowly opened his eyes to find the forest had gotten much darker. He sat and gazed into the darkness for a few minutes before the teen was startled by Rick speaking.
"Hey, Morty, wanna stay in the cabin tonight?"
Morty was curious about what the wood house looked like from the inside, and he was already so relaxed, he agreed. "Sure."
The two trekked the short distance to the cabin, when upon reaching the green door, Rick slid his hand in a small crevice by the door and pushed what sounded like a wood board out of the way and opened the door.
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The inside of the cabin was as cozy as could be. While the wooden floor was dusty, it was covered by a red diamond shaped rug. There was a cookstove in front of him which connected to the chimney and a small shelf with a cuboard in the wall above adjacent to the stove. Morty noted a bed in the left corner which had a wooden frame that held a very inviting, neat made appearance.
Morty watched Rick take three logs from a pile beside the stove and throw them in. He then walked over to the cuboard, opened it, pulled out a box of matches, and struck it against the box. He tossed the flaming stick into the stove, setting the whole wood pile ablaze. The entire room filled with a comforting amber glow coming from the fire in the bronze stove.
Morty sat criss cross on the rug directly in front of the fire and tried to absorb the warmth emanating from it. "Thanks, Rick."
"No problem Morty." Rick replied, surprisingly gleefully. He sat down to the right of Morty in the same style for the same purpose. The two listened to the gentle crackling of the fire and felt the soothing heat as both of those elements lulled themselves into each other's arms.
"This is nice, Rick." Morty said, not really caring what he said at the moment.
"I think so too," Rick replied. "M-Maybe we should do this more often, huh?" He softly chuckled, which made Morty smile.
Rick started gently rubbing Morty's back, a sudden wave of affection for his grandson overwhelming him. He didn't care. The peace of the situation was intoxicating.
Soon, Rick felt Morty get heavier on his shoulder. Morty had passed out in Rick's arms. The scientist first blew out the fire in the stove, quickly enveloping the room in ink black, delicately scooped up the sleeping teen and carried him over to the bed. Rick threw off the covers first with one arm, then gingerly set him down in the area he made available, slipped his shoes off, and draped the thick covers over him again.
Feeling sleepy himself, Rick removed his own shoes and climbed into the bed next to his grandson. He stroked Morty's back for a while, until he grew so tired he just stared at his dozing form in the silvery moonlight streaming in from one of the windows.
Finally, when Rick knew he was about to nod off, he reached over and planted a soft kiss on Morty's forehead. "Good night, Morty."