Cyn returned to Fyralog, feeling dejected and miserable. He had wanted to get the fuel source back from Rick, but it...hadn't worked out so well. Rick proved quickly how powerful, agile and aggressive he could be. But he wouldn't give up, he'd try and try until he got it back.
When he told Pyri about what had happened, she did not seem impressed. "You failed." She stated blankly.
"M-Maybe at my f-first sh-shot Your Imperial Highness…" Cyn stuttered. "But I won't do it again! I promise! Give me another chance!"
She thought about it, and gave in. "You've succeeded in catching criminals in the past...so I suppose I'll give you another shot, if you fail that one, I'll give you one more shot. But if you screw up all three? I won't let you help catch Sanchez anymore. Got it?"
Cyn nodded, then he remembered seeing Julie and decided to bring her up. "Hey, Your Imperial Highness? I saw a girl with Rick, and she wasn't mentioned in the info about him. Do you have any idea who she could be?"
Pyri was surprised. "That's...interesting...maybe she's his new girlfriend or something? Regardless, I wouldn't worry too much about her, unless she too proves to be a threat. If not, don't do anything, it would be pointless."
He grumbled, but accepted this anyways. "Fine."
At the back of his mind, her mere association with Rick made him distrust her, but he figured it was probably best to trust Pyri's advice. She had been alive for centuries, and him, only one. At the end of the day, he had a mission to complete, and he wouldn't let anyone interfere with that mission.
Julie had decided it would be nice to tell Mark the theory he had came up with about Rick was true, and also mention the fact she'd seen an alien of all things! She knew it would make Mark really excited to find out.
When she did tell him at her place, Mark grinned and pulled out a newspaper, the article at the front had the title Possible Alien Aircraft Discovered in big bold letters. Underneath the title was a black and white photo of the ship Cyn had been in, someone must've captured it while Rick and Cyn were fighting.
"Julie, I can't believe it! You're hanging out with a guy who has not only met aliens, but fights with them too! This is amazing!" Mark exclaimed. "You should ask him to take you to space with him."
Julie blushed nervously. "Ah...I don't know...I mean...he was acting a little rude yesterday and I...I.."
"It's okay Jules," Mark assured her. "You can just get him to apologize, maybe taking you to space can be his way of apologizing."
Well, she thought he was most certainly right there. "That's good, the next time I see him, I'll see if he'll apologize, maybe I should too...I left without saying anything."
Before he could respond, Rick walked in. He initially had a smile on his face, but it soured as soon as he saw Mark. His eyes narrowed and he growled. "Who is he?"
Mark got up from the couch and walked over to Rick, reaching out his hand for a handshake. "Hiya! I'm Mark Norris, professional hippie."
Rick groaned at this. "A hippie? Seriously?"
"Mark..maybe you should go." Julie suggested. "I need to talk to Rick..alone.."
Mark winked at her knowingly, and walked out the door.
Julie took a deep breath and turned to face Rick. "I'm sorry about walking out on you yesterday without saying a word. It's just...you..umm.."
"You don't need to apologize for shit. I know I'm an asshole." Rick grumbled.
She gasped. "No! You...you're not..please don't talk about yourself like that."
"Don't, I am an ass a-and y-you k-know it. I was being harsh with you yesterday when I shouldn't have been." Rick insisted dismissively.
Julie crossed her arms and looked down, unsure what to say. Rick noticed he seemed to have upset her, making him feel worse. He wanted to make her feel better, and soon, an idea popped into his head. "Hey, I wanna show you something."
Her interest was peaked as she watched him pull out his portal gun. "What is that?" She asked.
"This is what I use to generate portals, I call it my portal gun. With this b-baby, I can travel across the universe itself, along with other d-dimensions and universes that are out th-there." Rick explained.
Julie let out a small gasp. "Really? You can do that?"
"Well I did say I'm the smartest man in the universe did I not?" Rick winked.
She giggled and blushed a little, he did have a point there. "Can you take me to...another planet at least.
He grinned. "I was just going to do that actually, I have a place in mind where we can go."
"Really? Can you take me there now?" Julie questioned hopefully.
"Y-You bet we can." Rick said as he created a portal. He then proceeded to grab her hand and go through it with her.
The other side of the portal led to a rocky world, that had a river flowing through it and dotted with mountains. Julie looked around, thinking Rick would bring her somewhere beautiful, but still, she was on another planet and that was amazing anyway. "What are you going to show me here?" She inquired.
Without warning, he shouted out "Go go Sanchez wings!" And then out of nowhere, a pair of steel faux wings sprouted out of his arms.
"Wha..huh?"
"Come on my back, I'm gonna show you something."
Julie was hesitant for a moment, but quickly decided to go along with whatever he wanted, so she did as he said, gripping onto his shoulders. "What are you going to do?"
Wordlessly, Rick jumped and started to glide with his arms stretched out. Julie was in awe, watching as they flew together over planet's surface. She was so amazed, but also a little scared of falling down, so her grip on Rick tightened. "This a little ridiculous don't you think?" She laughed nervously.
"Sure it is, but you're having fun aren't you?"
"Of course! I just.."
"Scared of falling?" He guessed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let it happen. And even if you did fall, I'd catch y-you."
This comforted her, but she still had another question at the back of her mind. "How are we able to fly here?"
"Thick atmosphere combined with low gravity." He informed her. "Found out one day while fucking around, I thought coming here and doing this would make you feel better."
Julie's face went red, she was touched he had been thinking of her, and how to cheer her up. She stayed silent as they continued to fly, admiring the view as best she could. Slowly, her eyes began to close and she nestled her head against his neck.
Rick blushed and he became nervous, unsure what to feel. He started to sweat, trying to figure out what he should do. He decided they should go to another planet, one he had just remembered and thought she would like. Rick landed on the ground and gently put her beside him before shaking her to wake her up.
Julie fluttered her eyes open and looked up at him, a smile on her face. "Oh Rick..it's you.."
He laughed a little. "Y-Yea...it's m-me…" Then, he pressed his lips together. "I have another place in mind we can go, do y-you wanna see it?"
She got up at this, a big smile on her face. "Really? I'd love to!"
The expression on her face was so enthusiastic, she radiated with this purity and innocence...and admittedly...he was a little jealous...once when it came to the universe, Rick had this curiosity and innocence about the whole thing too, but it didn't last very long; it was then and there he decided he'd try and preserve hers.
When they arrived, Julie found herself in awe of this planet too. She could see various flowers comprised of nothing but crystals or gemstones, the grass was light purple, the rocks sparkled in the light of the sun, and the sky was a soft blue, reminiscent of the sky on Earth. She also spotted a waterfall that was a tangerine-orange shade. Seeing this place had her heart racing in excitement, and she had a big grin on her face, which Rick found amusing.
"Follow me." He said gently, walking towards the top of a nearby grassy hill. Julie cheerfully followed behind him, and they sat on top of the hill together, taking in the view.
"Oh Rick, this place is so beautiful! Thank you for taking me here!" Julie exclaimed, then proceeded to hug him.
Rick blushed furiously at this. "Gahh! D-Don't hug me, g-get off!"
She moved away a little, feeling hurt, her expression clearly showing this. Rick felt bad, and looked away momentarily. "I'm just...not used to being touched at all really...not like that I guess.."
Her face softened, and she gave him an understanding look. "That's okay, maybe...you'll get used to it eventually?" She spoke that last part in a shy voice, and Rick looked a little surprised.
There was some silence between them, until Rick decided to break it. "Hey, I have an idea, come with me."
Julie watched as Rick began to roll down the hill, she laughed and followed after him, doing the same thing. When they reached the bottom of the hill, Julie ended over top of Rick, both blushing like crazy. She slowly got up and inched towards the field of flowers. Rick was still in a bit of shock, but he managed to get up too and follow behind her.
She picked a few flowers up, admiring their beauty, the crystal and gemstone composition made them gleam in the sun, adding to their beauty. Rick watched her, and an idea popped into his head; he headed off for a brief moment, and picked out a flower resembling a red rose, made out of crystal, thorns and all. He picked the thorns out and headed over to Julie, who smiled upon seeing him.
He pulled out the rose from behind his back, and her eyes widened as he handed it to her. "Rick, it's so pretty! I love it!" She said gleefully.
He just grinned, watching how happy she seemed to be here. A few small creatures approached, and while Julie was eager to see alien animals, at the same time, she was a little unsure about something. "Are they dangerous?" She asked Rick, slightly nervous in tone.
"Naw, those little guys are harmless, y-you'll be fine." Rick responded.
Julie nodded her head in acknowledgement, and watched as one resembling a butterfly landed on her finger, causing her to giggle.
Rick watched her with the corner of his mouth rising, gazing at her from afar. He wasn't sure why, but his heartbeat became faster in his chest, and he felt a warm feeling within him. She looked so joyful, innocent and...beautiful. Rick snapped out of his thoughts, and eyed her again, he really needed to stop thinking like that or else it would get out of hand.
He sat down, just sitting away from her, feeling oddly nervous about getting near her. Julie took notice of this and walked up to him. "What's the matter Rick? Is everything okay?"
"Umm..y-y-yeah...everything is fine..n-no need to w-w-worry a-about me.."
Julie gave him a concerned look, and was about to hold onto one of his hands with her own, but stopped. "Is it...okay if I touch you this time?" She asked shyly.
Rick's eyes widened, and although he still a bit unsure, he decided to let her to avoid upsetting her. Wait...why I am so concerned about making her upset? He thought in annoyance to himself.
"S-Sure...I-I-I g-g-guess sooo.." He agreed.
With his permission in mind, Julie locked their hands together and helped him up. "Is there anywhere else on this planet we can go explore?" She wondered.
"Yep," Rick confirmed. "Come on."
He led her to a cave, and when they went inside, it was covered with glimmering crystals sticking out of the walls, and even the floor of the cave was sparkling too. Julie jumped up and down and clapped her hands in excitement. They spent some time exploring the cave, until they left it, and saw the planet's sun begin to set.
"Should we get going now?" Julie asked.
"Y-Yep." Rick replied, watching the sunset.
"Everything about this planet is so beautiful..hopefully we can come back here eventually.." She murmured in awe.
"I'll make it happen, just y-y-y-you wait." He winked.
She beamed at this, and the two soon left through one of Rick's portals.
With the red rose in hand, Julie watched as Rick left back for his apartment. She gripped onto it, feeling a sense of sorrow as she watched him go. She wondered if she was starting to get a crush on him, and that wasn't a problem for her, Julie was more than happy to admit if she was starting to gain feelings for someone.
She went up to her room, and placed the crystal flower on the dresser, tomorrow she would get a vase for it. As happy as she was feeling, her insecurities were biting at her too. Julie remembered hearing Rick fighting that alien, and she had peeked at them too through the lab door. He was so strong, brave and confident, she could tell, and she wasn't like that at all. Julie couldn't fight, nor did she want to, and she saw herself as weak, passive and lacking in confidence. She admired Rick's strength and courage, and hoped her weaker personality wouldn't turn him away from her..
Rick was sitting in his apartment, feeling annoyed and aggravated with himself, he was frustrated that he couldn't get Julie off of his mind. He hoped he wasn't getting a crush on her, he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he stooped so low as to get a crush on someone of all things!
He grunted, trying to get some sleep, and eventually managed to do so. But once he woke up the next day, he realized he had ended up dreaming about her.
a/n:some more q and a:
julie is a redhead, where did beth's blonde hair come from?
rick is a natural blond, nobody is born with blue hair
julie is such a nice person, why is beth the way she is?
this will be answered as soon as beth enters the picture
doesn't rick burp?
he's not an alcoholic yet
also, if y'all wanna bitch about the romance tropes...eat my ass!