Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Naven walked up to the apartment door, unlocking it and looking behind to make sure Rick was still there, still following. Rick was indeed still there, and Naven opened the door to inside the home.

“Welcome! I know I could afford a house, but I much prefer living in these apartments where it's harder to track me down.” Naven Nuknuk said meekly.

Rick Shades nodded, cautiously stepping in and keeping his hands close to his chest. “Wow, what’s an apartments?” He said with his trademark smile, unsure if he even used the correct grammar.

“Oh, it's just a building where-” Naven paused himself, wanting to make this simple for Rick to understand. He takes a breath, snapping his fingers as he figures out what to say. “It’s like a bunch of rooms stacked onto each other to form a square tower. Is that easy to understand for you? I’m not sure if your people have those…”

Rick gave him a thumbs up, his voice getting louder again like when he was back at the toy store. “Ah, yes! I understand seaweed man!”

Naven chuckled, “Please, call me Naven.” He walked in and shut the door behind them. Now, Naven wonders where to start first, and how to describe all the things in his apartment without confusing Rick.

“How about a tour, Rick? Maybe it could help you get used to the structure of this home.” Naven offered politely with his usual ever-closed eyes.

“Yes, that would be great, friend Naven!” Naven did a small flinch, the word ‘Friend’ coming out loud. Rick’s eyebrows raised and he seemed apologetic. “I’m sorry, some people say I can’t control my volume well!” He added, a little less loud.

Wow, Naven thought. This guy is odd! He seems friendly though, so I shouldn’t be hard on him. Naven said this internally, as if he ever had the guts to be harsh on anyone in the first place.

“It is no trouble at all! Just be sure to keep it down, there are people living next to us after all.”

“Huh, so… can they hear our conversations through the walls?” Rick walked up to a wall, placing his left ear against the plaster and making conversation with the wall to see if anybody from the other side would respond. Naven chuckled seeing all of this, shaking his head.

This is going to be interesting, he thought.

Chapter Text

Day one.

Yesterday night, when Naven brought Rick home, Naven gave Rick a short tour. He had taught Rick some appliances and their functions as he showed him around. He expected Rick to not remember all of this in the morning, judging by his clumsy and forgetful attitude.

Naven woke up to a loud crash coming from outside his bedroom, quickly jumping out of bed and putting his glasses on which were previously laying on the nightstand by his comfortable sheets. Could there have been an intruder? Or worse, police?! Though Naven was a nice person, he was still a rich, tax-evading, CEO of a large company, what else did people expect?

He grabbed an apple- no. A ton of apples, and walked out of the bedroom with a wary expression.

The lights were off, all except the one in Rick’s bedroom. Oh, right, he took Rick in! Naven still heard a harsh clattering noise, a short shout following. Naven dropped his apples on the floor in a panic and rushed to the door, opening it to find…

Rick cowering in the corner of the room, holding a metal picture frame as a butterfly flew around the room. He threw the picture whilst staring at the winged bug wide-eyed, the picture frame missing the fly which made Rick sink into the corner even more. When the picture frame creates the loud sound when it drops to the floor, Rick shouts once more.

Naven walks in and Rick breathes a big sigh of relief, speaking, “Thank the dark magics you’re here Naven! Can you please tell me what this thing is?” Rick asked with a big, yet fabricated smile.

Naven is shocked with the scene in front of him. “It’s a butterfly, Rick. They are harmless.”

“Oh, haha! so… It's not going to kill me?” Rick slowly rose back up from the corner of the room, his movements still tense and a bit of black lightning zapping around him. Naven pondered to himself about this, I would need to ask him about his lightning eventually.

“There is nothing to be afraid of, it is just a butterfly, that’s all. They can’t do anything and they are one of the smallest critters on this planet, small- yet beautiful.” Naven reached his arm out and let the butterfly land on it. Naven seemed to attract small creatures like this often, and this was confirmed multiple times when he went for walks. Squirrels would climb onto him, and Naven would have to shake his leg a bit to get them to come off.

Rick squinted his eyes in confusion, though his smile was not falling.

The green-haired man decided to approach this differently, maybe compare the butterfly to something Rick would be more comfortable with. “Well, you see, it's just like a sea spider! You guys see those in your country, right?”

Rick blinks once before answering, his shoulders staying as stiff as obsidian. “I saw them wandering outside of the dome back in my country! I tried to make friends with one once, but I soon learned you can’t become friends with brainless creatures from the other side of the dome!” Rick said the words friends loudly again, quickly sputtering out an apology after his short story when he noticed it. He waited for Naven to continue.

“Butterflies are just like that! Harmless sea spiders. Go on, touch it.” Naven held the butterfly closer to Rick, walking up to him. Rick flinched when the butterfly got close to him.

“Haha, are you planning to kill me? That thing looks poisonous!” The ocean man said this as if killing your friends in the surface world as a prank was a normalized idea around here. He wasn’t sure if this was true.

He examined the butterfly with his eyes, a nervous smile flickered onto his face. Back where he was from, poisonous fish were always so brightly coloured in the trenches, which is why his people had brightly coloured hair to match the dangerous fish, to camouflage. He did not trust this bright yellow butterfly for this reason, but it was touching Naven so it couldn’t be poisonous, it just couldn’t, right?

Rick touched it with his finger for a split second, screaming and taking his hand back within a breath. “ HAHAHA, AM I GONNA DIE? ” He says in his cheerfully panicked voice.

Naven opened his eyes (which was a rare occasion) at the scream. He sighed, walking up to the window in Rick’s new room and letting the butterfly fly off. “I guess we could work on it.”

He turned his eyes to the man huddled in the corner. Rick dropped to the floor with a sit and waved his hand rapidly, like he was trying to get some gross food off his hand. “Naven, friend! You didn’t answer my question- hahaha, guess I'm dying! ”

Naven walked up to him and held his hand out for Rick to grab. “Come on, let’s get you some tea to calm down, hm?”

Rick looked up to him, his heartbeat starting to slow down to a normal pace. He found the green-haired man strangely comforting, like Naven was a barrier between all his troubles and himself. Rick’s smile began to seem more genuine, more real, more honest .

He took Naven’s hand and got up with the help of the grasp between them too. Naven didn’t let go because in all honesty, he thought Rick was going to trip or something and accidentally cause a fire, somehow. So, Naven led Rick all the way to the living room, carefully making sure there was nothing flammable in the man’s vicinity, and left to the kitchen to make some tea for Rick.

An odd man he was, that was for sure!

Chapter Text

Day Two.

Naven Nuknuk always had ingredients by his side. His pantry, ingredients. His fridge, more ingredients! His fruit bowl? Well, fruit. There were no cosmic brownies under the refrigerator or anything, it was all just ingredients in this apartment, which is why Naven Nuknuk has decided to teach Rick the art of cooking when he got home instead of buying pre-heated microwave foods for him to snack on.

He got off work early today because he can, and because he had a man back at home who could be a danger to other people and himself if he had the freedom. (and not on purpose)

When Naven unlocked the door to the apartment inside, he found Rick and Molly drawing together on the kitchen table.

Wait, Molly?

Maybe today wouldn’t be a cooking day afterall. Bummer!

Molly waved to the green haired man, a small smile growing on her face. “Hello Teacher! I decided to stop by, if you don’t mind!”

Naven blinked. “This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here, Molly. If you don’t mind me asking, how, uh, how do you- who gave you my address?” He struggled to find the words because he was so flabbergasted at this point, didn’t Molly work today?

“I dunno, I saw Rick being chased by a cat outside the shop earlier so I helped him get back home and we ended up drawing together! I didn’t want to keep him bored so I’ve just been here with him for the past hour, and anything is better than working at that boring ol’ toy emporium…” Molly responded with a quiet voice, wondering if it was a good idea to leave the shop in the first place. What if someone broke in? Or what if her DAD was at the register now!?

Naven wasn’t even going to think about how Rick figured out how to exit the apartment complex by himself.

As Molly silently panics and draws coarsely on the thin printing paper, Rick hums happily while drawing schools of fish, a rainbow popsicle, and the first twenty digits of Pi which was surprising because there was no way in hell Rick of all people would know the first twenty digits of Pi. But there was one specific drawing that caught Naven’s eye, it was a dome with fish surrounding the outside of it.

“What is that?” Naven asks. If he was curious, he wasn’t showing it. His voice kept at the same tone with its usual silky patience.

“Oh, that?” Rick used one hand to hold up the page and one hand to trace the outline of the subjects inside of the printing paper. “It’s my country, Ocean Country! This is the dome that protects it, and outside of it are the fish, and next is the country inside of it!” Rick pointed his finger to whatever he stated, guiding Naven’s eyes to the dome ,to the piranhas, and to the buildings inside the dome.

“But don’t you people breathe underwater, why would you need a dome?”

“Wow, a stereotype!” Rick said in his vibrant voice. He felt like he should've been offended, which internally, he was. Yeah, Ocean people live underwater, but when dark magic users migrated to the trenches they didn’t automatically gain the ability to breathe underwater. They had to build a dome.

“Well, I find this drawing lovely. It's been quite some time since I’ve seen a talent like yours.” he gently grabbed Rick’s drawing and held it up to his glasses to inspect it. Naven was saying that just to be nice, but this was decent for a man foreign to the world of crayons, as there were no colour spills and very few tangents.

Rick did a smirk, feeling proud of himself and cracking his knuckles.

A question popped into Molly’s head.

“Teacher, how is it like living with Rick? ” The girl asked this question with a pondering expression. She knew she couldn’t use Rick’s other nickname because that would bring up a lot of questions, so she’ll stick to Rick in public and Odi in private.

Naven didn’t hesitate.

He answered in a pleased voice which did not match his next words, one that would create pastel colours if sounds were visual. “Troubling!”

Predictable, she thought. It has only been the second day since Rick has moved in with Naven and the man already found the situation to be troubling. “Oh boy.” She said simply, scratching her curly and starry afro.

♡♡♡

“Bye Molly!”

“Bye, teach!”

Molly waved as she walked out the door, leaving Naven and Rick to clean up the large crayon mess. When the door shut, Naven checked the time. It was only 6:00pm, how generous! This left time for Naven and Rick to clean up the rest of the crayons. It was polite of Molly to be the one to pick up her own mess, but even without her mess the broken chalks scattered across the dining table like somebody had thrown a crayon box across the room and the crayons just happened to end up at the table.

“Want to help me with this mess, Rick?” He turned to the spectacled man.

“Anything for a Friend! ” Shades quickly got to work, scooping up the crayons into either the bin or a crayon box. Naven noticed his volume again when he said the word friend, and was about to point it out.

But he didn't.

Naven was fine with this.

Rick’s volume wouldn’t be that much of a problem unless he was out with other people, which is what Naven doubts would be a common occurrence.

He found his loudness to be a unique quirk about Rick, maybe it's just how he expresses himself? He wonders. Either way, It did not really matter to Naven anymore. Naven grabbed all the drawings from Rick and stacked them neatly into an empty cupboard, just in case he wants to keep them later on.

Rick can be as loud as he wants.

Chapter Text

Naven had no work today, which was a relief because he had planned something for him and Rick this entire day, something to help both of them get to know eachother better.

Naven sat Rick down on a couch, sitting across from him on another couch. This appeared to be a whole new room that Rick was unaware of, formal furniture sitting against the walls of the room such as shelves with neatly organized books, two grandfather clocks on one corner of the room, and a stack of chairs somewhere by the grandfather clocks.

It was Naven’s quiet room, but Rick didn’t know that there could be such a thing. He grew up in Ocean Country where he lived in a cell and fought for his life, so of course he had no idea what a quiet room would be.

“Rick, I think it's time we get to know eachother better. I have a few ideas for what we can talk about today!” Naven was truly curious about Rick. He has been living with him for a couple days and Naven still hasn’t figured out a clue to what his background was when he was younger, so he figured now would be the time.

“Well, what do we have here! Are you saying you want to be my 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡? ” Rick said the word friend as if he switched fonts during talking. (haha)

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Nothing.” Naven thought he heard the bold italics flowing out of Rick’s mouth, but maybe he was just tired and seeing things.

He adjusted his spectacles. “Anyway, I was hoping you would tell me about your life back at Ocean country today-”

“No can do, friend!” Rick states without hesitation. His grin did not fall, he really just said what he wanted to without a second thought!

Naven metaphorically deflated by the other man’s sudden rejection, chuckling nervously and scared about having to bask in the embarrassment the denial gave him later today.

Rick noticed this and smiled a bit wider. “But, I can tell you a few things about Ocean Country if that would make you happier! Afterall, we are friends… right?” Rick offered this information very generously, hoping that this would be enough to make his ‘friend’ feel better.

These words made Naven think. He never actually became friends with Rick, not verbally. He just kinda let him live in his apartment- he let this random twenty year old man with hair that looked like it belonged on a black widow spider halloween decoration into his home without a question, and he still didn’t make friends with Rick?

Maybe I'm the strange one, Naven said to himself quietly.

“Hmm, It would only make sense if we were friends, correct? So why not, I guess we are friends!”

As soon as Naven confirmed this newly discovered friendship to Rick, he felt a tingling sensation on his left hand while witnessing Rick laughing hysterically with lightning shooting through him. Naven saw as a string connected both of them by the wrists of their hand, the black string bursting with energy as Rick’s gaze became dark and oddly powerful .

Naven was a bit put off by this and was about to ask what the hell was exactly happening, but Rick spoke before Naven could. “ AHAHAHA ! Yes… YES ! I can FEEL a new friendship BLOSSOMING !”

After the lightning had answered its calling, it all stopped. Rick’s laughing, the lightning, the string, it all stopped. Rick brushed off his shoulders like he didn’t cause a wave of lightning to clutter Naven’s quiet room a second ago.

This new friendship has made Rick very happy, as seen by his real smile that revealed his genuine joy about this occurrence.

“So, as I was saying, I couldn’t tell you about my past, but I could tell you about Ocean Country in general! Like our food and the fish that lay in the trenches! What do you say, would this be enough to interest you?” Rick repeated his words but organized them in a different order, enough to be contrasting.

Naven blinked. What had just happened? Maybe it was better to not question it.

“That would be lovely! Please, enlighten me.”

Rick’s eyes (though covered by his sunglasses) lit up like the solar systems in the starry sky, the corner of his mouth curving to a smirk rather than his customary smile. He seemed really excited to talk about this topic, and this made Naven really happy for some reason. Naven had just guessed that he really liked to see him getting comfortable here, in his very own apartment.

But now, it was time for Rick to ramble on about his home country. (without spoiling the more graphic details, of course)

♡♡♡

It was a few hours later and it had just hit 1:00pm. How did Naven know?

In the middle of their deep conversation about how people were like in Ocean country, Naven’s phone started to vibrate in his pocket and call loudly, therefore interrupting their chat.

Rick’s eyebrows raised, watching with curiosity as Naven took out the phone to dismiss the alarm. “What is that?” Rick pointed to the cellular device.

“I predicted you would have asked the second I pulled this out. Oh boy, this thing right here is a cell phone!” Naven gave his phone a gentle little sway, handing it over to Rick.

Rick began to tap on the phone, pressing random buttons wherever he could. “What does it do? It looks like a box with a glass window on it… is it a portal?”

Naven chuckled at his response, a bit concerned about the apps the other man was pressing on his phone, but he was positive that Rick couldn’t get into any apps he didn’t already lock. “It is not a portal. It's a device that allows you to play games, set alarms, call your friends, the list goes on.”

Rick’s ears perked up at this information, “You can call your friends? Do you mean from anywhere?” He was starting to get excited about this information.

Naven nods, amused at the way Rick’s elfy ears perked up at anything he finds to be riveting. “Indeed!” Naven confirmed.

“How do you do that, do you have to press one of these buttons? Is it this one?” Rick did some investigating, pressing on the Photos app.

The Photos app, the only app Naven didn’t lock.

Naven’s life flashed before his own eyes, seeing memories of when he was young, slowly growing up to this one point in his life where Rick was messing on his phone. When Rick pressed this app, Naven got up and swiped the device from his hands with great precision and strength, it was almost like the strength of god was put into this one skinny, green-haired teacher.

“Haha! I, uhm- I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Naven said this sheepishly as he kept stood in front of Rick, slipping his phone into his back pocket and taking a deep breath to relieve some of the adrenaline that suddenly invaded his body.

Rick was confused, but he smiled and didn’t say anything. I guess everybody has their own secrets, especially seaweed man! Rick noted in his mind.

It was a good thing that Naven stopped Rick from seeing that photo before it was too late. He sighed.

“Are you in the mood for some brunch?” Naven asked calmly, putting a hand out for Rick to grab.

“Hell yeah!” Rick took Naven’s hand and got himself up. This moment was strangely familiar to him but he didn’t want to question it any further, he just didn’t have the brainpower left.

Naven didn’t learn that much about Rick, but at least he knew more about the mysterious Ocean Country! Perhaps more progress would be made another day, and there were more important things to focus on at the moment anyway.

They both walked to the kitchen, Naven setting up to prepare a classic breakfast-for-lunch meal as Rick sat down lazily at the dining table.

“No swearing by the way.” Naven added.

“For a friend of mine, you are quite the bummer!” Rick retorted jokingly.

Chapter Text

Day four.

“What are pancakes?” Rick asked as he reluctantly reached for the pancakes with his fork, poking at the vanilla flavored disc.

Naven chuckled internally, putting a hand to his mouth. “You don’t know what pancakes are? How funny! You make them with milk, batter, eggs, and more. They are enjoyed by lots of people around the entire world, why don’t you give them a try?” Naven said this as he pushed the plate even closer to Rick, wanting to see his reaction to trying pancakes for the first time.

Rick poked a pancake that was on top of multiple other pancakes and pushed it into his mouth gently, chewing for a few seconds before swallowing.

“Sooo?”

“Did you make these?” Rick asked, his smile softening.

Naven spoke proudly, straightening his posture, “ Yes , Yes I did!”

Rick did a soft ‘hmm’, closing his eyes and nodding in response to this information. “The last time I had food this good was when I was a guppy, and that was a LONG time ago. You have a gift, Naven!” Rick said this with an excited voice, stuffing another pancake into his maw.

Naven’s eyes widened, this compliment warming his entire body to a content state. Naven never had another person so radiant about his cooking, which was a hidden talent of his. He saw as Rick’s ears tipped up in satisfaction, his peculiar, long, lively ears.

Naven did a wee smile, clasping his hands together cheerfully and quietly. “Oh, just wait until you have them with syrup , I'd figure you’d enjoy it.”

Rick’s eyes lit up, his shades tilting a little downward which revealed his glowing pupils. He nodded, not having a clue to what syrup was but still excited to try it if it was as good as this delectable batter circle.

Naven grabs a syrup bottle, popping the cap open and pouring a good amount on top of Rick’s pancakes, “Don’t eat it too fast, okay?”

Rick completely ignored this recommendation from the man with the pastel green hair and started chewing the rest of the food at a quick speed, “Amazing!” he stated, like he wanted Naven to know how much he enjoyed this meal.

Naven sat down at another chair next to him, watching Rick eat in silence. Naven felt his entire stature relaxing, finding Rick’s positivity to be contagious and comforting.

It was nice to have someone in the house, Naven thought to himself as Rick stabbed the batter crepe. He had always been alone if you didn’t count the times he would talk with his chauffeur whenever she came over to check if he had been up to any “teachering” lately. Nobody took Naven seriously or saw him as a real person (except for Molly and her friends) because he was a CEO, he was born to inherit his father’s company and to have a successor for it, and that was the end of it.

But look at him now, 30 years old, single, and feeding a man who dresses like a hobo some pancakes.

Naven shook his head a little, remembering something that he forgot to tell him earlier when he first gave him the pancakes. “I was thinking, when we get you settled for a job at STEM we could give you a good apartment with our employee plan. How does that sound to you?”

It was bound to happen eventually, Rick couldn't stay here forever.

Naven swore he saw Rick’s chewing stop, his brows furrowed in confusion before he looked to the man next to him. “Aha, is this a joke? Please understand that I am new here so I do not understand your surface references-” Rick said this with a full mouth of pancakes, one of his brows raising before being interrupted.

“Nope, Not a joke.”

Rick looked down at his plate of pancakes from Naven’s eyes, swallowing before letting his smile rest. “Why? I was having such a great time here, friend! Was it-” Rick flashed a new smile flickering on his face that reeked horribly of timidity. “-Was it something I did?”

Naven did a small gasp, though it was inaudible. He shook his head rapidly for a short moment, his voice becoming more silkier than before, “Do not be silly, Rick! Do you think I would- I… I’m offended that you would even think that I would want you to go because of something you did! You have been nothing but a pleasant person to be around.” Naven said this all truthfully, Rick was kind and he was also a good friend, how could Rick ever blame himself?

It was silent. Rick’s smile was futile as he played with his food, and it was only until he decided to speak that the silence was broken.

“I’m going to be honest with you Naven, I’m afraid. I’m afraid of being alone because back at Ocean Country…”

Rick did not explain any further but Naven sat quiet just in case he needed some time to gather his thoughts. This was strange, he had never heard Rick say anything in such a tone of voice, a tone of voice that was so lively yet so pointless, like it did nothing to cover up the darkness behind those words.

Rick decided to speak up again, taking a deep breath before doing so. “Back at home, things weren’t so great. Now that we are friends I guess I can finally tell this little story to you! It's not so… Happy, but I can guarantee it won’t be boring for you! Haha, ha.” Rick’s laugh was so dry, it sounded burnt out and not like his usual over exaggerated laugh.

“When I was a guppy, I had all the friends one could wish for. I had a cool epithet and I would play with the others, just like what kids should do! But I had caught the attention of our Supreme leader and I was harvested not so long after. When you are harvested, you have to fight other opponents in a coliseum, and if you fight well enough and become strong enough, you get to fight the leader of it all, the man himself!” Rick’s hand twisted his fork around, his shoulders becoming tense so suddenly when he talked about it.

Rick didn’t know how to go about this. He was struggling to piece together the exact details of the memories, but what he could remember was that every second, every minute he spent in that cell trying to befriend other people was nothing but ineffective, a worthless attempt at staying powerful that would only end up with him having to watch his friends die. One by one they would expire, dropping dead the second they stepped their foot onto that cold stadium floor.

Right, the coliseum . It was so cold, so scary, so dark, and he had to lose and lose and lose all over again, it was a nasty cycle. It hurts so much, it hurts remembering all the battles he fought and all the scars he gained. He hates looking at himself whenever he steps into the bathroom because of it. Why did he have to make friends, why did he want to have friends? He should've shut them all out of his life, he should’ve ended all his friendships right then and there, never to be friendly again! He wishes he never met any of his friends, He wishes he could just…

“Forget it!” Rick said this in an optimistic tone again, his face brightening along with his smile.

Naven seemed extremely concerned, his brow twitching as he tried to examine Rick’s facial expression for any signs of distress. None. He was getting good at this, hiding his emotions, he meant.

Naven shook his head, giving a lazy smile and tired look to Rick. I guess Rick needed some time to come out about this, so the best thing he could do for him right now was to give him the greatest time he has ever had on the surface world. “I guess you could stay for a little while longer.”

The purple haired man flashed a smirk, “I guess you wanted me around after all, huh?”

Naven chuckled, raising both of his brows in a pleasant surprise that Rick was getting better at talking smug. Maybe it was the television that Rick has been watching so often ever since he got here? Maybe. Still though, Naven wonders what Rick was going to tell him. Supreme leader, Harvested? That sounds dark, but he should tell me when he is ready , he concluded to himself in a bittersweet manner.

Chapter Text

Day five.

Rick shades wakes up at 5:00am, thinking about what happened yesterday. Did he really almost expose himself? Was he really going to tell Naven about that time of his life, that time in his life when he wasn’t Rick Shades but someone worse?

Rick switched from laying on his left side to laying on his right side, looking toward the wall now. Why do I have to leave? Rick thought to himself. He was so confused, but at the same time he understood. I get it, I do. Sometimes people get bored of me, and that’s okay! His mind spoke to himself, His simple smile visible as it is. He doesn’t know what he is smiling for, but he does it anyway, even if nobody is there.

It was bound to happen- it's fine!

That’s okay.

Naven Nuknuk opens the door, causing Rick to jolt up immediately from his sudden appearance, “Oh, hey!” Rick scratches his hair, sighing and conceiving a half-smile that he has been practicing for so many years.

Naven chuckled at Rick’s messy hair. But to be fair, Rick’s hair was always messy so it might’ve been the way his eyes darted around the room that was humorous to Naven. “Pheonica came to bring you a present, would you like to come and say hi?”

Rick got out of bed, taking a big stretch and cracking his fingers, “Of course!” He began to walk out past Naven, a bit more faster than he would usually walk. “How could I not say hi to my first ever surface friend? So, where is she?”

Naven followed closely behind, making sure that Rick didn’t trip over the inconveniently placed stack of books again. He didn’t, thankfully, but man! Did those books do a number on his nose, Rick was bleeding for two hours straight the last time he did trip and at the one hour mark the toilet paper was starting to run out. This led Naven to theorize, did Ocean Country people have extra blood in them or something?

Anyway, Rick saw Pheonica brushing her own hair, sitting at a table with a large pink box to it. A large white bow was wrapped to it as well, like it was more of an aesthetic decorative piece that you would see on a podium inside of a rich person’s hallway.

Pheonica turned to look to her left, seeing Rick and doing a light gasp. “Rick!” She got up from the chair, rushing over to hug Rick shades like she was hugging a large teddy bear.

Rick was surprised by this, it felt nice but he was still surprised. Nobody back at Ocean Country ever hugged him, but that was probably because he was rotting away in a cell.

Rick hugged her back, both of them smiling at each other before Pheonica ended the act of affection. “So, Would you like to see my present for you Rick? Today is my birthday, and instead of my friends giving me gifts, I'm doing the gifting! Haha, it's because I'm rich!” Phoenicia said this like she enjoyed spending money on her friends for her birthday, which was not a lie. She was so excited for her birthday that she would wait until it would hit 12:00am, immediately starting to pack gifts for her friends.

What would you expect a rich girl to do for her birthday, let her friends spend all their money on giving her gifts? That would be downright disrespectful, she didn’t like taking things she could already buy herself. And plus, she was a person who likes seeing others get excited, so it was a win-win.

“So? Rick?” Phoenicia whipped around to grab the box, rushing toward the table and back, returning with a big present in hand. “Wanna see what’s inside?”

Rick grabbed the present, using one hand to hold it and the other to unwrap the box with one swift tug. The bow unraveled and he opened it, his eyes widening.

“How lucky you are, Rick! Tell me, what do you see?” Naven said, closing his already closed eyes somehow. Pheonica and Naven smile, curious for Shades' reaction.

Rick didn’t know how to feel, this was the most beautiful gift anybody has ever given him, it was like he was about to…

“ RICK? ” Naven said this, befuddled with his eyes shooting open when he realized that Rick Shades, the man who was always cheerful and happy and smiley, was crying, out of the blue.

Phoenicia took a step back, nervously clenching her hair as she heard Rick’s loud sob, not realizing it was a sob of joy rather than disappointment. “H-Huh? Did I do something wrong? Did I give you something that you are allergic to- not again! ” She started to panic silently. She hated disappointing her friends, she could die of embarrassment if Rick hated her present.

Rick shook his head, closing the box back up. “No, no! I-It's fine! Really, it’s fine-” He sniffled very audibly, continuing to sob. He couldn’t bear to look at the gift, it was too cute to handle.

Phoenicia had gifted him a cotton wool sheep that was intentionally made to be purple and red, just like Rick’s hair. Rick loved it, he loved it so much. How could anybody not love a sheep color-coded to the color of their own hair? Who could not love such a gift?

“It’s so cute… ” He said in a small voice. Rick lifted the shades off his face that he left on this entire day and night, only taking them off until now. Walking up to the table, he puts the box down, taking a deep breath as his tears slow down.

Phoenicia was so relieved when she heard he liked it. That was an exotic reaction, she thought. “Rick, are you okay? Do you need something to wipe all of that off your face?” She asked, generously offering a handkerchief to Rick. Rick grabbed it, dabbing it on his face.

Naven walked over to help, patting his back. “Well, it seems you like it!” He paused, looking at the box. “You must like it… A lot. Want to say thanks to Pheonica?”

When Naven mentions this, Rick turns to Pheonica. “Thank you, sorry for my absurd reaction, it's just- It's just a really good gift. It means a lot to me, back at Ocean Country we would’ve never done anything like this, Haha!” Rick grins once more, giving the handkerchief back to Pheonica. She gladly took it, shoving it back into her pocket.

Naven raised a brow at Rick. There it is again, his life back at the Ocean Country. Before Naven would go to sleep, he would think about how Rick’s life was, before reaching the surface. Was it fun? Was it depressing? He would think so, living most of your entire life in the cold dark trenches. But recently, he has figured that for Rick, it probably wasn’t good. It probably wasn’t good at all , actually. But who was he to speak for Rick’s life? It's not like he could pry into his backstory, that would just hurt Rick.

He didn’t want to hurt Rick, Rick was his friend.

“Oh, trust me, your reaction wasn’t absurd at all!” Phoenicia said with an animated chuckle following. She reached to pat Rick’s shoulder, having to go on her tippy toes to reach to pat him.

Pheonica backed off and checked the time. “Would you look at that, it's time for me to get going! I got another present to deliver to Trixie and Molly, they are both at the park.” She turned to Naven. “ Bye Naven! ” Then she turned to Rick. “ Bye Rick! ”

She began to pad toward the door, the clacking of her expensive shoes making a tap noise everytime they clinked with the polished wooden floor. She opened the door, grabbing her bike she left right by the door from the inside.

“Bye Feenie, thank you!” Rick said this, going up to the door to close it for her after she started to bike away. He closed the door when he was sure she turned the corner, and turned to Naven.

Naven smiled at Rick, giving a little snort to his previous reaction. “I think I saw a bit of black lightning flashing from you earlier, I see you’ve learned to control better, am I correct?”

Rick was embarrassed, remembering that when he gets excited, that happens. His face flushed out of humiliation, scoffing with a smile no longer on his face. “Never question a man’s side effects to his epithet, seaweed man!” He crossed his arms, rushing out of the area to the living room, his new goal to avoid awkwardness.

Rick hated when his lightning did that, it was very embarrassing.

Naven loved when Rick’s lightning did that, it was very endearing!

Chapter Text

Day six.

Rick Shades was finally given permission by Naven to visit one of his friends.

This didn’t come without a catch though. Naven gave Rick the freedom to visit and make friends outside of the apartment on certain conditions. One, Rick cannot go around telling everybody he is of ocean race unless he is positive they aren’t an undercover mad scientist - and two, Molly must be there to look after him.

Naven felt guilty about this rule he had set since he didn’t want to burden Molly, but Molly insisted that she’d look after Rick since she would feel bad if anything had happened to him if she wasn’t there. Naven agreed, but only because he knew Molly cared for her friends so much.

When Naven first told Rick, all he saw was a man dashing out of the door, out to meet his friend Molly at the Blyndeff Toy Emporium she works at.

Naven started to regret this.

~♡♡♡~

“Molly, Molly!” Said the scruffy man who was wearing sunglasses in weather as cold as a Victorian child with hypothermia. He waved as he entered the toy emporium, face planting and tripping over a rogue toy as soon as he stepped in.

Molly squealed of surprise in her usual fashion, instinctively scurrying behind Giovanni who was looking over to the source of the pound. Rick shades got up and dusted himself off, adjusting his shades right after.

“Molly, friend! I didn’t mean to startle you, but do you mind if I - oh!”

Rick shades didn’t recognize him at first, but he had seen that there was another person there, one with rose pink hair in an evil handmade costume. Rick felt like he knew him but it wasn’t until the pink-haired man had taken off his mask that he would realize. “Oh, evil guy!” Rick stated, tilting his head to the side.

“Look, fish guy!” Giovanni said, walking up to Rick and putting a hand to his chin as he observed the other man. Rick remembers Giovanni very clearly, but he doesn’t remember ever getting his name. He saw as the soup man circled him, giving him a poke in the back of the head.

“Wow, a touch? Is this a good touch or bad touch?” Rick says, flinching back and turning to face Giovanni again. Molly sighed, realizing it was just Rick.

“Hm, so he isn’t fake! Good to know.”

“Why would he be fake?” Molly asked, raising one of her thick brows to Giovanni as she stepped in between them.

Giovanni tittered, waving a dismissive hand. “Oh, it's nothin’. It's only the fact that every once in a while after taking those ten melatonin gummies at once on a Tuesday night, I have been seeing hallucinations of purple-haired men, constantly !”

Molly and Rick shared a glance, their eyes narrowing a bit. “Uhm, Purple-haired men, you say?” Rick says, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

“Yep!” Giovanni answered enthusiastically, wiping non-existent sweat off his forehead. “Phew, fortunately you aren’t a hallucination! Or paralysis demon… " Giovanni mumbled that last part, darting his eyes away momentarily.

Molly was about to say something, but she didn’t. She shrugged, giving an indifferent stare to Rick.

Rick cleared his throat, speaking through the thick air that smelt of wood and burnt marshmallows. This shop smelled weird. “Anyway, I was arriving to explore this entire city with Molly!” He did a twirl, chirping his words. It was rare to see a grown man so enthusiastic about looking through a boring ol’ city, but it was Rick.

“W-Wait!” She held her hands out, her face tainted with distress. She waved her arms around in outrage, positive she didn’t agree to this beforehand, “Why are you asking me? I have work!”

“Come on Bear Trap, it would be fun to take a break from your job. You basically wake up, work, maybe eat, and sleep. It's a cycle is what i'm saying, and… ” Giovanni gave a small smile, a comforting one that was full of warmth and reassurance. “You could go back to your job afterward, alright? One day off couldn't be bad.”

Rick didn’t say anything but he could feel that Giovanni was being honest, and this made him nod in agreement toward Molly.

“I’m not sure I should, I have work and bills and taxes and -” Giovanni shushed her telepathically and she somehow got the message, his pupils looking like they were about to roll.

“If that is all you’re gonna do, then I guess I'll come with the Fish guy. Maybe we could go on some cool adventures, just the two of us!” Giovanni looked toward Rick, and Rick nodded enthusiastically, giving a thumbs up.

~♡♡♡~

Molly came with Giovanni and Rick Shades on their tour. There was no way she would risk letting a combo like them loose, shivering at the thought. She already saw their personalities individually, so who knows what could happen if she allowed them to hang out by themselves, together ?

Rick kept pointing at random things on the sidewalk, like empty grocery bags and rogue egg cartridges. Every once in a while they would come across a shop and he would want to go in, touching the windows and staring inside longingly. She’s pretty sure he was creeping out a bunch of store owners so she tried to keep him away from windows.

While they were walking and Rick was staring at the blue sky, Giovanni tapped Rick’s shoulder. Molly observed them from behind like a protective parent making sure their kids didn’t run off.

“So, what was it like being in the ocean?” Potage asked, “Was it scary, any monsters?” his arms extending out and creating claws with his hands to exaggerate his question. Rick chuckled nervously, an unintentional sneer appearing on his face. Did surface people really think there were monsters underwater? There’s just a bunch of nothing, Rick thought to himself.

His mouth was open for several moments before he finally said something, “It was pretty dark. Which makes sense since we are thousands of feet underground, I'm not sure how we even survived but I guess our bodies were just - fine with it?” Rick scratched his left palm, unsure of himself.

Giovanni tilted his head a little, “ah, okay.” another question lit itself up in his noggin. “What do you guys even do there?”

Rick’s smile twisted itself into a more stiff version of itself, like Rick’s mask was falling off the more Giovanni questioned him about his home life. He didn’t like talking about his back home there, since most of what he remembers is him, sitting in his confinement, bored, cold, alone.

"Hah, we did things!” Rick sputtered out, his eyes looking out to somewhere else. Giovanni seemed unsatisfied with this, but Molly stopped Giovanni before he could ask anything more.

She came in between them again, walking on the sidewalk and looking toward Giovanni, no longer behind them. “I think i’ll stay over at your house tonight again, boss!” Molly singed, giving a small smile toward the evil man.

Oh yeah, since Molly’s family would definitely notice her going missing due to the lack of food in the pantry, She decided that she would sometimes go back to the emporium and sometimes visit Giovanni's. She stays for a certain period of time and switches between both places, making sure her family has enough food (because she still loves them) and making sure she could relax every once in a while and not be on an amber alert notification.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead Bear Trap. How could I say no, you are my number one minion of all time!” Giovanni said this, patting her curly afro. She snorted, the fact that she was labeled the number one minion of all time made her feel good even when it shouldn’t.

Molly looked around, seeing an ice cream shop nearby, “You’ve ever had ice cream before?” She said, looking up to Rick who’s attention was elsewhere.

Without looking, he responded with a simple “No.”

She could tell that something wasn’t right with him. He wasn’t as overly curious as before and was more secretive.

That wasn’t a Rick thing. As far as she knows , Rick didn’t share to her more than his past after that.

Giovanni laughed, each sound varying in volume. “Wait, no ice cream? - you’ve never had ice cream!? Oh, man! That’s the best thing I've heard!” he said through his laughter. Giovanni stopped in his tracks, giggling with one hand over his mouth and the other on his knee, “You gotta be kidding me, right fish man?”

Rick inhaled a small breath, pulling himself back to reality. He stopped walking along with Molly, looking back at Giovanni, “No, it is true. I’ve never had eyes scream, never in my life!” He states, putting a hand up like he had a question to ask. “Is it a cultural thing for surface people to consume screaming eyes?”

Molly shook her head, her arms falling to her side instead of to her yellow backpack straps. “Not eyes scream, Ice cream ! Like, the creamy stuff you put inside a cone.”

Rick just stared at her with that same big smile he always had, “Yes! Ice cream!”

He would admit to knowing it even though he didn’t. Molly sighed. He was a bit of a compulsive liar , she noted to herself. He lied even though he didn’t need to, but she never called him out for it because she was aware that maybe back at the ocean country, he did it because it was necessary to lie to make new friends, maybe that’s just how he did things. Her body tensed at the thought, and she looked toward the ice cream shop from far away.

“How about we get some ice cream then? Just you, me and Giovanni.” Molly offered, pointing to the shop now.

~♡♡♡~

They all stood by the counter, patiently waiting as the worker came out from the back, holding a notepad. “Hello! What ice cream would you all like today?” They said, the ice cream attendant holding a pen up to the notepad they held.

Molly looked at the menu that was on a board above, like the ones you see inside a burger king. There were so many options and her eyes were flickering back and forth between all of them. Which one did she want? Cherry, strawberry, or maybe chocolate ?

“I’d like chocolate, please.” Molly said, pointing to the chocolate item on the board. The ice cream attendant wrote it down, looking at Giovanni now.

Giovanni crossed his arms, trying to look serious, but failed due to his silly voice and strange vocabulary. “I would like to acquire a mint chocolate chip ice cream.”

The ice cream attendant turned to Rick, who was occupied with staring at the colorful decorations everywhere. The employee coughed, earning Rick’s attention.

Rick pointed to himself, mouthing me? The employee nodded.

“Hm, is it possible you could serve me some lanternfish flavored ice cream - and specifically the grown ones? ” Rick asked, Molly feeling her soul leaving her body. She remembered one of Naven’s rules: Rick cannot go around telling everybody he is of ocean race. Giovanni turned to Molly and noticed this, elbowing Rick and getting an ow in return.

Rick looked to Giovanni in confusion, before seeing Molly’s mortified face.

Oh. The rule.

Rick cleared his throat quickly, giving a worn laugh. Rick didn’t want to give away that he was an ocean person that fast, he already looked weird enough with his hobo-ish clothes and honed ears.

“Hahaha , a joke! I'm joking! I would like, uhm, grass ice cream? Cause there’s so much grass up here on the surface! Surely you must have -”

Rick felt a hand cover his mouth, only stifled words coming out. Giovanni looked to the worker, speaking for Rick. “He’d like a vanilla, - Yes! a vanilla ice cream!” Giovanni clarified quickly for the person who was just trying to do their job.

They blinked a single time, and wrote his order down. “Your ice cream will be ready shortly, just stay here.”

Giovanni let go of Rick’s mouth, all of them taking one harmonized groan of relief once the worker disappeared into the back. Molly looked at Rick, her look relaxing and letting go of all the tension that stuck onto her face muscles from before. “Rick, you can’t be asking for weird stuff like that! I know it's normal in your country and stuff, but people will get suspicious.”

Rick nodded apologetically, recognizing his own faults. “Yes yes, of course, forgive me!”

“You’re lucky you aren’t in a government cell, where they feed you medication and probe you!” Giovanni added, shaking his head and crossing his arms like a disappointed father.

Rick’s ears drooped down in response, his voice becoming unsteady. “Yes yes, of course, forgive me!” He said once more, a little more intensely.

“Like, seriously, do you want to get captured? I wouldn’t want that for you, not at all.” Molly spoke once more, more frustrated than angry if anything else.

Rick started to babble his words, incomprehensible words spoken in between repressed sniffles. “Forgive me!” He said, his vocals all wobbly. He looked like he was about to cry, it was almost comical how fast he dropped to the floor and began to bow and beg, stuttering repents.

Molly would take a large breath out. “It’s fine, just don’t let it happen again.”

~♡♡♡~

Molly, Rick, and Giovanni were out on the bench now, licking their ice creams. Molly sat to the far left of the bench to get a better view of the hazel leaves that would fall onto the bundles that had already accumulated earlier that fall, the sun giving the whole landscape an orange tint.

Rick took a big bite of his ice cream, chewing at it and making a moan of satisfaction. “This stuff is good ! A bit too sweet for my liking though, I prefer fish.” he said to Giovanni, taking another bite.

Giovanni glared at him, whipping his head around to look at Rick, who was biting his ice cream. “I’m just gonna ignore that you said you prefer fish over ice cream and point out the fact that you are biting it instead.” He gave a judgemental glance from the side, not even continuing to eat his ice cream anymore. “You’re making me lose my appetite.”

“Weren’t you the one who said I had to eat the ice cream? I’m eating it!”

“Not like that! You are supposed to lick it, like I'm doing.” Giovanni demonstrates.

Rick bites his ice cream again, which causes Giovanni to wince in disgust. “You’re making me gag here, Rick.” Giovanni says, saying Rick’s name for the first time. “How do your teeth not hurt, Is that an ocean thing?”

Molly spoke before Rick could, “Probably a Rick thing.” Rick gasped dramatically, offended in response to Molly’s assumption.

“You are absolutely right little Molly, but that is a disrespectful thing to infer.” He says, finishing his ice cream after the 6th bite. He ate the bottom of the cone, crunching it up and relaxing against the bench. “Delicious snacks you guys have up here, I must admit!”

“We got pizza up here too, it's great.”

They all finished their ice cream, the sun gleaming and just about to set. Rick just stared, his pupils being a bit jittery since he was still getting used to the brightness of the thing.

Giovanni noticed this, turning his head to Rick who was completely mesmerized by the orange light. “You shouldn’t be staring directly at the sunset, dude!”

Rick did not turn to look at Giovanni back, giving a faint chuckle, “Oh, right, thanks for letting me know! It's just the fact that -” Rick puts himself on pause, his vision taken by the scenery. It was like he was staring at a pocket flashlight.

He inhaled deeply, the realization that he didn’t have to fight anymore hitting him like a train wreck. He didn’t have to dread the upcoming brawls, he didn’t have to hurt his friends, he didn’t have to do anything anymore.

Where was this feeling,

What was this feeling?

Rick blinked, awkwardly looking at Giovanni, then Molly. “ - You don’t see stuff like this underwater, so…”

.

.

.

Nobody said anything.

Chapter Text

Day 7

The last day. The last day of the first week. It feels like a big milestone, but it all passed by so fast.

Rick sits on his new-ish bed, the bed in his new-ish room. The bed was comfortable and warm, way more comfortable than the concrete floor of the cell he had to sleep on back at home. His real home.

Rick was happy, but he wasn’t sure what he did to make Naven take him in so easily. Maybe it was because of their friendship! Their bond would only grow stronger each day they spent with each other, which was good. The stronger the friendships, the better.

Even with his new life being more relaxing than his last one, he feels a pit in his stomach. He doesn’t like admitting this, but he wants to go home, go home and make sure his friends are okay.

He hated thinking about it, in fact he despised the thought - but his friends were still in that shithole, battling and collecting more scars on their bodies like they were building a gallery of them, museum labels under each cut describing who gave it to them and how many centimeters deep it dug into their skin.

Rick remembers one of them, but not by very much. He remembers their bright blue hair and dotted face, dark freckles peppered above their nose and all over their skin. Unfortunately, they had died too. He remembers watching their limp body drag against the cold hallways of the cells, a long trail of blood marking itself onto the floor.

The staff never cleaned the blood up and it dried, forever immortalizing his friend onto the pavement.

Everyday he woke up in his cell, it was there.

He wishes he could go back to his friends and save them, he wishes he had a different epithet that could assist him in doing that, perhaps teleportation? But no, he had soulmates, the epithet that was only useful for letting him know how many of his friends died that day, and how many didn’t. He wishes he could do that one thing, save his sea buddies, but he can’t.

Why can’t he?

Why can’t he do anything about it?

He raised his arm and snapped his fingers in front of his face, blinking and giving his head a little shake to avert his grim mindspace to a more optimistic one. No, he wasn’t going to think like that.

He knows he doesn't have a choice in deciding whether or not his friends get out of there safely. He was settling nicely into the surface and he even made new friends, so what’s the point of looking back to the past, he should look forward to the future! There was nothing he could do, so he had no reason to feel like this.

He had no right to be sad.

Rick was even given a new home and a snug bed to sleep on every night. Not to mention, the food was way better up here than it was down there, it tasted like heaven on a plate! He was blessed to be eating delectable food like pancakes everyday, so he had no reason to feel this emptiness in his gut.

He had no right to be sad.

He could do so many things on the surface, the possibilities are infinite. And what if Naven found out how downcast he had been about this? He didn’t want Naven to think it was his fault or blame himself, he hated seeing his friends sad, he loathed it. So many good things were happening to him right now, he shouldn’t project his despicable emotions onto anyone else.

Rick Shades doesn’t have a right to be sad.

He has to stay positive. Rick smiled, nodding to himself. Yes, just keep that big smile on your face and you’ll be fine!

A moment had begun where Rick would stare at his lap blankly, sorting his thoughts.

.

Stay happy, just for now.

.

Please.

.

He shook himself out of it, his grin lighting up like a street lamp on a dim afternoon. There, problem solved!

Rick stood up, about to head out to the kitchen where he smelt food, yummy surface food. But just before, he checks the clock in the corner of the room. He was glad Naven had taught him how to read clocks, because now he was able to determine that the time was 10am.

Hm, it was much later than he had presumed, a bit too late for his liking. He quickly opened the door and exited out of the room, licking his lips at the possibility that there would be pancakes sitting on that dining table, butter on top with syrup drizzled and everything.

He shuts the door behind him, leaving the room that was supposedly his, quiet.

~♡♡♡~

Rick had taken a bite of his breakfast, sighing in delight and using his fork to take bits of the cut-up flat cake one at a time, savoring the foreign sweetness that tingled on his tongue. He was a little disappointed to have seen no pancakes with syrup and butter on top, but he was satisfied nonetheless when he was introduced to blueberry waffles and sausages with syrup. Close enough.

“Amazing as always, my friend!” Rick decided to announce, feeling that Naven deserves some praise for creating this filling surface dish. Naven chuckled, waving a hand dismissively at Rick and shaking his head.

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that good, can it? I just crafted a simple meal and nothing more.” Naven stated, internally bathing in the compliments. It was nice to have Rick around, he was a good roommate and a good friend. 

Good friend, of course! but,

He had his flaws. It was canceled out by his positive traits though, like how he was always willing to help around the apartment by cleaning, asking for tasks and doing them even if he was a bit clumsy. He seemed like a guy that was up for the job, dragging around that secure smile he used 24/7.

Naven had started to get the tiniest bit concerned though.

Rick’s smile was like plastic. Not the hard kind of plastic you found on cheap toddlers toys at the mall, it was more like a screen protector, polyethylene and feeble.

Naven’s brow curled, that smile wasn’t good. Something was buried behind it, digging deeper and deeper until it had drilled into Rick’s brain. It wouldn’t have been obvious to other people, but it sure was to the interpersonal communications instructor.

Naven remembers that day when Rick told him something about a harvesting, and how people that were harvested had to fight in a coliseum for… something. He hadn’t remembered if he was going to be honest with himself, a lot was on his mind since that day and he probably didn’t have space for it at the time. His brain could only hold so much, after all.

He felt a bit bad, unsure if Rick was ready to talk about it, but he wanted to know if his friend was okay.

He sat down next to him at the table, bringing his own plate over and sticking his fork into a sausage. He poked at the sausage with his fork even though he knew better than to play with his food. it was just one of those things you do when you are nervous, anxious, worried.

Rick was trying to eye at Naven’s plate secretly, but failed. He was stuffing his cavity with sausage and waffle bits, chewing improperly without noticing himself. It seems he had forgotten their lesson about table manners.

It's okay, it doesn't matter right now.

Naven sucked in a breath and exhaled, calming his nerves. “So, Rick.” he said, turning his head to Rick’s direction. Rick's ears perked up like a dog’s when it’s name was called, wondering as to what Naven looked so estranged for. He gulps down the chunk of food he just shoved into his gullet, tilting his head before responding.

“Yes, friend Naven? Is something wrong? - You should be smiling, the day is quite fintastic this morning!” Rick tried to joke around to avoid confrontation, his voice staying as loud as it was. He snickered cheesily to himself, continuing to stare at Naven and waiting for him to do the same.

His laughs slowly wavers down to a single chuckle when he notices that Naven wasn’t doing anything, just staring at him. Rick went silent, feeling a bit uncomfortable and putting his silverware down.

He felt his breath hitch when Naven spoke again, the glasses on Naven’s face glinting when a flare hit them. It was a sunny day outside so the whole kitchen was tinted with red, the window revealing the sky’s tangerine hue. This did not match the mood of the two men at all, it felt like everything around them was dark and cold despite the lighting.

“Rick, do you have anything to tell me?”

The dreaded question made Rick breathe out heavily, but it also relieved Rick. He was a bit tense, yes, but he was convinced he would be able to get out of this talk. Rick knows that he’s okay, Naven doesn’t need to know anything.

Rick’s mind was like a broken clock, repeating phrases to keep himself stable.

He remembers when he tried talking to Naven about Ocean Country’s supreme leader and their practices, practices that involved stripping children away from their childhood only for their supreme leader’s gain.

Naven didn’t need to know about that, and Rick wasn’t planning on telling him anytime sooner or later. It would just make things worse for the both of them, he didn’t want to shove his own negativity onto Naven.

Or, another reason - he didn’t want Naven to think of him in a different way when he heard what he had done back home.

Home?

“Nothing, nothing at all my great friend!” Rick says in his familiar fashion, his blinking getting a bit uneven. Blink, blink, pause. Blink, pause, blink. 

Naven seemed frustrated, looking back at his sausages. There was no way he was going to get to Rick. And this time Naven can’t tell himself that this was okay this time, because it wasn’t. It was unhealthy. He snuck a side glimpse to Rick.

“Rick.”

Rick was about to take a bite of his last sausage, his plate half empty now. He puts down the fork gently, the fork still penetrating the disk of meat, his eyes facing Naven’s.

“Yes?”

The silence was scratching at Rick’s eardrums.

“Tell me. It's unhealthy to suppress your own feelings, you know?” 

“Tell you what?”

He felt like the back of his throat was starting to burn. Rick is tired from all of these questions. Drop it. Drop it.

“What happened back at Ocean Country?”

Naven actually said it, he said the words exactly how Rick had feared, he said the words Ocean and then Country, more straightforward than ever. He knew that the question was inevitable, he knew that it would come up someday, but he didn’t expect it to be so early.

It was so loud, yet the only sound that was present was a quiet buzzing noise echoing throughout the house, the humming of the kitchen lights above the dining table louder than his own breathing.

It made Rick want to tear his goddamn ears out. The absence of sound was so unbearable to him, it just made everything more awkward. He’d rather tell Naven right now than go through this moment, but he couldn't. He couldn’t allow himself to.

“Rick!” Naven started to get a bit louder, putting a hand close to one of Rick’s that was already uncomfortably tinkering with the edge of the tablecloth just in case he needed it. Rick stripped his hand away from the cotton sheets when he noticed this, glaring at Naven.

His glare was not mean-spirited at all, he just didn’t want to be touched right now. It was too much, too much to process because processing it was too much. Rick thought that he would get better, that everything would get better when he left Ocean Country, his home.

Home?

“Naven, there’s nothing!” Rick responded back, reciprocating volume.

Naven crossed his arms now, his eyebrow twitching in distress. Naven could tell Rick was anxious and overwhelmed right now. Maybe he should stop. He thinks this but the interpersonal communications teacher in him was dismissed and thrown away, his instant thoughts taking priority instead.

He needed Rick to share what happened so they could both work on it together. He wants his home to be a comfortable place for Rick until he eventually moves out.

The teacher let out a lengthy sigh, the cogs in his head flipping and switching all over. He turned back to his breakfast, eating in silence. Silence.

Rick was so relieved, he was letting the topic die! He grabbed his fork once more and stabbed it into the eggs. 

“I’m sorry for what happened to you, Rick.” Naven spoke this in a near whisper, scooping the sunny side up eggs into his mouth.

Rick paused.

And then they both continued eating in silence.

~♡♡♡~

It was the end of the day now, 8pm. Rick marches back into the room he sleeps in, closing the door behind him and glancing to the bed he sleeps on. He never really considered all of this his, not really. 

On occasion he might refer to it as his room but he never believed that. He was a guest. That’s what he tells himself.

He walked over and sat on the bed, falling onto it backwards with his legs dangling off the edge. The shades that sat on his face were slipped off by his own hand and tossed to the side, finally getting a break from the dark world that Rick had gotten used to after wearing them for so long. The shades were dim once you put them on, like, really dim, so it was nice to rest his eyes every once in a while.

He groaned loudly to himself, putting his hands to his face and covering his eyes. He heard how beaten Naven’s voice was at the end of their conversation earlier, and he was too ashamed to talk to him for the rest of the day because of it.

Rick messed up. He messed up, he ruined it.

He took his hands off his eyes, laying them flat on the bed now. The ceiling was smooth and white and it was boring to stare at, but he stared regardless.

A ticking sound of a clock comes from outside the room, bothering Rick and making him moan in annoyance. He flips over, face planted on the bed. 

How long could he keep this up? He asks himself this everyday but no answers came his way, like he was ignoring his own question. Maybe he was ignoring it, or maybe he truly didn’t have any answers. He’s not sure if he will ever be able to answer his own questions, wasn't that funny?

He felt like moving around a lot, lots of energy still preserved in him because his body still wasn’t used to the calm days the surface had to offer. It was more underwhelming compared to Ocean Country, where there was a lot more combat involved. Rick flips over again and faces the flat, clear ceiling once more, smiling. He hadn’t practiced in a while and it seemed like a good time to try, so he did. He smiled.

It was his default response, it's what he did when he was attempting to stray away from harmful thoughts, but of course it didn’t work - it never did.

Smiling was starting to hurt. Rick had no problem doing it underwater, so why was he having trouble with it now? His life is significantly better after the escape, he was supposed to be better! That's how it worked, that’s how it's supposed to work.

No, stop, you're whining.

Rick didn’t want to be the person who complains all the time, he was supposed to make new friends and keep them happy, that was his purpose, and nobody would want to be friends with a complainer who whines all the time - that was being a complainer and a whiner, both at once!

The surface was full of friends, there would be no cell walls to separate him from simply getting them, he would be okay! Surface people weren’t like the people back at Ocean Country, his home , so this would be easier.

.

Home?

..

Was Ocean Country still his home?

…

Rick felt something wet fall from his face.

Before he knew it, more droplets came scurrying down his cheek, warm and constant. He was getting tired already, the energy from before leaving his body in a flash.

He didn’t mind the tears pushing their way out of his eyes and just flipped over to his side, pulling his knees close to his chest.

There were so, so, so many tears. It was like the dam in his mind had finally collapsed, the pressure of the water being too much for it to handle. There were too many things to be focusing on right now and he did not have the energy for them. He’s not sure if he’ll ever tell Naven, and he can’t imagine himself doing so in the future.

Rick and his watery eyes stayed there for the rest of the night, silently crying and patiently waiting for sleep to hug him tightly around his body, inviting him into a happy dream full of friends and pancakes.

This feels so familiar. Maybe if the bed was made of concrete and the scars on his body were still fresh, he’ll know why.

Rick shivered, his inner voice seething at his own sad and sloppy self. Rick spoke to himself in a whisper,

“Stop it Rick, you’re being out of character.”

Chapter Text

Day eight

He woke up.

It wasn't a pleasant dream at all and his eyes were sore from last night. Odi sat up, wiping his eyes and letting his legs dangle off the side of the bed.

He felt gross.

He puts a wrist up to his forehead, an annoying pain hitting him. "Ouch.” He mutters to himself, feeling as if a flyswatter mashed his brain into mush.

He rubs his eyes with his forearm now, blinking a few times before realizing he left the lights on the whole night which definitely explains why it was so hard to sleep. He pats the space on the bed next to him and tries to find his sunglasses, feeling one of the arms. He places them on his head and adjusts it to fit in nicely, eyes dimly lighting through like an eclipse.

And then Odi was Rick again!

~♡♡♡~

Rick sneaks out of the apartment without Naven noticing and steps out. He faces the flimsy railing and busy streets seven floors down, faint honking and ambience moving smoothly throughout the air. 

He mouths a woah, admiring the scenery before making his way down the flights of stairs.

He flicks a finger out as he makes it down his first flight of stairs, a string instantly showing the way to Molly - his friend!

He flicks another finger out just to peek at Giovanni’s string, seeing it's still there. He smiles, a breath of relief coming out of him as he continues to check if all of his friends on the surface had stayed. Fortunately, they have.

Rick was constantly anxious about losing friends and he hated seeing their strings disappear, even when there was a good chance they were just going out of range.

It was good that Molly had told him about his power’s range, otherwise he would’ve been left confused with the times his soul strings were blinking then so suddenly cut out. (turns out, it blinks consistently when a friend is about to go out of range, which is similar to the erratic flickering that happens when a friend breaks their bond with him)

When Molly had told him that, they were having a conversation about… what was it again?

Rick thinks. 

Oh, Right! Right.

He told her - Molly, his friend - his secret. He shakes his head, his pain was a thing of the past! Nobody would care anymore, right? It's been so long ago now, a little over a week he’d say.

A week was all he needed.

And even if it wasn't enough time, which it was, he could be nothing but grateful and at least try to move on.

The whole surface was so new for him, so it'd only be natural for these strange, new things to be first priority, and not the life he's lived before.

He has it so good now, he can't ruin this.

But he thinks hard again. When he told his story to Molly she looked so scared. He didn't want her to be scared, he felt bad for it, really bad. It felt good talking about it out but the horror in her eyes were just -

- In the middle of his thought, he fell down the stairs.

He slipped on a lone bag of chips and stumbled over like a cartoon character, rolling down the stairs with a shout of pain emitting from him each time he made contact with the next step.

It would've been comical if it wasn't this sad pathetic wet cat of a man falling down. Ouch. Ouch! OUCH!

After Rick finished falling down the flight of stairs he dusted himself off, smile standing strong. “Aha! But that was a good thing because it only made me go down the stairs FASTER!” He says. to nobody.

Rick took a step toward the next flight of stairs and immediately tripped again, his left hand slipping off the previously aforementioned flimsy railing. This time he fell face first, so that was new! Y’know, maybe all of this was a good thing, it was true that he was traveling down the stairs much faster and- oh, that's gonna leave a mark.

~♡♡♡~

Rick had a long cut on his upper forehead area and it was most likely that he broke his nose, but somehow he didn’t notice himself. He’s been through much worse, his pain tolerance being slightly more than others. 

That was a lie, it was not just slightly more than others. It was a lot, actually.

Anyways, He walked along the sidewalk and smiled the whole way, causing people to give him looks because of his very odd smile.

He became a bit concerned when he happened to pass by the toy emporium, Molly’s string leading to somewhere completely different. But he was only a little concerned. He walked and occasionally sped up, five minutes passing.

Soon those five minutes became ten and he had arrived at this… red building? With a logo?

Rick realizes he's never been to this part of town. Was it a good idea to leave the apartment in the first place? He shrugs and faces the outside of the building.

He hears a scream.

Rick’s jaw dropped, confused at the scene in front of him. He saw through the windows of the building that Molly was being chased by Trixie. Trixie held a fork, their speed being very very scary to Rick!

Their feet skidded to a halt when Molly stopped at the door, running out of it and looking behind her to watch out for the short twizzler-haired kid chasing her.

She ran directly into Rick and he stumbled a bit, Molly bouncing backward and landing on her back to the floor. “Noooo!” She wailed, Trixie catching up and raising a fork above Molly’s face.

Rick shouted momentarily, holding his face in shock. His glowing eyes widened from behind his sunglasses, he really wasn't in the mood to witness a murder. “Molly, NO!” He said loudly, taking a fast step forward before realizing… They were just playing.

Molly mocked fear, holding her hands above her face to cover herself from Trixie’s fork. Trixie tries to put on a serious murdering face but it falters, their lively laugh slipping out through the cracks. 

“Pfft- you're supposed to act scared, not constipated!" Their fork dropped somewhere off to the side as they held their stomach and balanced themselves back, raspy wheezes that could count as laughs coming out of them.

Rick felt the tension lift off of his shoulders, almost gasping in relief. He held his forehead, a chuckle escaping his throat. “Just what are you guys doing?”

Molly slowly got to her feet, wiping a joyful tear from her eye from her and Trixie’s little laugh session. “Oh, hi Rick! We’re playing a game of fork tag.”

Molly squints for a split second. He wasn't bleeding last time she saw him, right? Before Molly could ask about Rick’s forehead gash he spoke first.

He tilts his head with a brow raised to convey confusion. “...Fork tag?”

“YEP!” Trixie’s voice came rough and they stepped inbetween both of them. “It was my idea, right Molly Wolly?"

Molly blinked, a chuckle barely escaping her throat before she was dragged to the front door of the pizzeria by Trixie’s sleeve-hand. Trixie paused before entering, looking back to Rick. “What are you waiting for, ya purple dumpling?”

Rick’s ears pointed upward toward the near evening sky and he followed them. When he entered the pizzeria a smell floated its way into his nostrils. He sniffs and he smells something delicious.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Molly responds, slipping her hand out of Trixie’s grip and trying to look where Rick was looking.

“Molly, friend, tell me what this good smell is! It kinda smells like… what was it called? Cheese?” As soon as Rick described the smell Molly had gotten it, silently saying oh. Trixie, who was standing on a booth table, was eavesdropping.

Their eyes light up like stars when she sees an opportunity to talk about pizza, stomping on the table and pointing dramatically to the both of them.

“Come peasant, as I enlighten you and tell you a legends story, a story all about PIZZA!” Trixie practically commands them to sit like they were a general giving orders to the new recruits. Rick, being the unquestioning person he was, sat down instantly like an obedient dog.

Molly follows shortly after, a neutral expression on her face. She wanted to see where this would go.

Trixie cleared their throat, theatrically raising their arms up to the sky where an imaginary spotlight was casted. “It all started in Italy, where a genius named Raffaele Esposito made the first REAL pizza! After that many followed his recipe but only one of those many people were able to perfect the art of pizza. Don’t get me wrong, I don't want to give him any credit, but it's definitely Giovanni.” Trixie finished their paragraph with a sudden pose change, moving within the time inside one millionth of a nano second.

Rick’s eyes flashed, his eyes peeking a bit over his sunglasses that showed that aspiring twinkle in his pupils. “Giovanni?”

Molly looked at him, nodding with a content expression. “It's true, Giovanni even made me a bear pizza once!"

"A meal made out of bears, how SCARY!" Rick leaned back in his booth seat, a hand holding his chin whilst he looked up to the ceiling. “Huh, I want to have a taste of this Pitza.”

“It’s Pizza.”

Rick didn’t catch Trixie’s words and continued on. “Maybe the next time I see him I could ask him to cook me a pitza! Molly, do you think that’s too big of a favor? I mean, I don't wanna bother him - he's my friend.”

He looked back to the two of them, the red one still posed on top of the table and the starry one sitting in the seat across.

Molly did an expression that wasn't dissimilar to looking offended. “Rick, buddy, this is Giovanni we're talking about. Of course he’d cook for you!”

He smirks, refitting his red gloves. “Well I would want to try the pitza here first, if I didn't then what would I have to compare to Giovanni's pizza? N- uhm, not that im doubting my friends cooking abilities!"

“I don’t see why not. Molly, do you think he’s allergic to Pizza? Gosh, I hope so!” Trixie says casually, their little posing show over with. She takes a step, tripping off the table. 

They face planted into the floor. It made an audible smack noise, corresponding to the visible collision of Trixie’s soft baby face to the floor.

“O-Oh god! Don’t put your face there Trixie, somebody’s feet have been there!" Molly said worriedly.

Trixie spat, rubbing their tongue with their sleeved hands as if it wasn't common knowledge that restaurant floors were typically dirty. 

“The taste isn't worth the extra nutrients..” Trixie groaned with creased brows.

Molly laughed. She hadn’t had a good laugh in a while. Her laugh was contagious enough to make Rick laugh as well, though not as loud.

Rick watched as Molly got up from her booth to help Trixie up. “WELL! let's get into that pitza!” He says with the clap and rub of his hands.

~♡♡♡~

Trixie suggested they all eat outside because of the nice breeze picking up despite it being very, very cold.

So here they were, eating pizza on the only sidewalk where there wasn’t too much snow.

Trixie sat in the middle, Rick on their right and Molly on their left, their fingers mischievously fiddling above the unopened pizza box in their lap. Rick’s smile was curled at the points, enthusiastically waiting for this quote on quote “disc of heaven.” 

Trixie opened it, a wave of cheesy tomato goodness overwhelming his sense of smell. On instinct, he reaches for it.

Trixie gives a smack to his hand, clicking their tongue and wagging a disapproving finger. “Ay, back off fish boy! Trixie gets the first bite. Always.”

Rick’s beam does not falter as he watches Trixie roll a sleeve down, picking up the hot crust with a bare hand. They bite into it and the warm steam subsides and fills a small space of air above them. After that, Molly takes her pick and grabs the slice of pizza that had the most pepperoni.

As soon as he notices that Molly and Trixie took their piece he assumes it was his turn now, and if he wasn't feeling excitement right now then boy.

Rick’s hand zooms to a slice of pizza and he breaks the crust with his molars, absolutely demolishing that bready part like it was a lanternfish flavored ice cream. Worst of all he was holding the pizza by the cheesy part.

Trixie gave a hard side eye and Molly was visibly and rightfully, horrified. Rick, being as clueless as he is, continues on eating and finishes the crust.

“COOL! They should probably make the handle less melty though.” Rick says in rick fashion.

Trixie takes the crustless pizza out of his grip and throws it off somewhere into the snowy abyss, anywhere else than in their presence. “Are you INSANE!? I mean, I know my family is a buncha criminals, but cmon man! You commited the most heinous of crimes!”

Rick shouted in panic, holding the sides of his head with his hands. “Wait WHAT? A crime, which crime?”

“The crime of eating a pizza like a pyscho, you PYSCHO!” They stood up and they forced Rick off of the sidewalk, taking him by the collar and throwing him up into a standing position, pretending they wasn't shorter.

They stood in front of him and pointed to the floor, their loose sleeves dangling as they started to scold him. ”Why in the name of anybody living would you eat a pizza like that?! Say your sorrys before I give you the ol' strangle-and-run maneuver, shades!”

Rick Shades started crying dumb goopy tears almost immediately, dropping to the floor and praying for forgiveness. “Forgive me, PLEASE! Have mercy! I’M SORRY! I’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m-”

“Yah, you should be sorry! Keep em comin.”

Rick continued to sob while begging for redemption, probably thinking that he had just committed an actual surface crime.

Molly sighed, pinching her nose. “Oh jeez..”

~♡♡♡~

“I can’t believe I fell for that.” Rick mumbled to himself, kicking rocks while walking back with less of a smile than before. He didn’t even get to try the actual pizza part, nobody told him that he wasn't supposed to hold it from the melty side!

And nobody told him he was pronouncing it wrong.

Actually, somebody did tell him, Trixie, but he likes how he says it better anyway. Great suggestion Trixie, but NO thanks! His trust was lost the moment you made him beg because he broke a fake law.

Just kidding. The trust is thriving.

Despite this, he also laughs. It was kinda funny, and he got to hang out with his friends, so today wasn’t a complete embarassment. Quite the opposite, actually. His friends were there.

He looked up and he saw the still bright sky. It felt like it's only been about an hour max since Rick went out to look for his friend Molly, yet four hours had already passed, making the time 2:00pm now.

Sun hadn’t gone out quite yet but this was probably the best he was going to get out of his day, so he tries to treasure the recent memories of him, Molly, and Trixie at the pizzeria.

Rick and Molly and Trixie, three best friends eating pizza on the sidewalk.

Rick and Molly and Trixie.

…

Rick giggled, stopping in his tracks and snuggling his face down into his scarf comfortably. Rick and Molly and Trixie, three best friends. He pumped his fists in the air and then began to spin in glee, squealing and giggling like a little girl with a crush.

He stopped a few moments after, readjusting his glasses. His cheeks were lightly tinted with red, his smile a bit softer than his usual toothpaste eating grin. He felt very happy at this moment, it was like a ribbon wrapped around his heart, hugging it with its thin silky cloth.

The fact that Rick got to hang out with his friends excited him deeply despite it being the minimum, but you can’t blame him. This is the first time he’s been allowed to do all these things since he left the surface!

He can breathe and talk and joke and laugh and breathe, he can actually hang out with the friends he makes.

He continues walking, his heart warming at the idea that more memories will come along, and more memories will be cherished. 

Rick can breathe.

Chapter Text

I’ll be rewriting all of this because i want some other stuff to happen instead of what happened for the first week! And im hoping to make all the chapters longer and meaningful but also fun! (or angsty)

I am going to create an outline for this work so that it could be easier for me to write and faster for the chapters to come out, but i work off random bursts of motivation instead of consistency so it may go from two chapters in every week or one chapter every month

I plan on making it bigger with how much i want to talk about rick because hes COOL, but if i don’t update often its possible im working on another epithet related thing! (most likely neo trio stuff, + naven or rick sometimes)

The new version of this work:

Rick will be the main focus (obviously) but it will also be focusing on his relationship with Naven Nuknuk!! I hope to be a bit more accurate about their personalities after relistening to Prison of Plastic for the third time haha + I want to make sure theres a bit more background too, like what exactly happened after he left the toyshop and yoomtah & rick interactions i guesss! More Naven and Rick stuff that isnt just pure angst, ill have a little more buildup to the more sadder parts so that it appears more significant, so more happy moments and silly stuff, but those still carry a lot of importance too! Molly and Rick or Trixie and Rick would be in here but there will be more Phoenicia and Rick because they are so awesome and i LOVE THEIR DUO

In short, the new version ill be writing will have:

• Longer prologue/more background
• More pre-angst buildup
• Addition of Yoomtah (where was she in this version?!)
• More Phoenicia and Rick ^^
• Domestic and happy moments
• Subtle but still very there Rick Shades development

Btw i didnt watch anime campaign im a bit newgen! Im newgen im newgen 😢!! I only got into epithet erased in the middle of last summer so im not sure how accurate any of this will be but ill just write depending on if i think its silly and quirkyy and if i enjoy it 

Thank you lovelies, (anybody reading this) love you very much, ill be posting more stuff before ill get the new version of the story released so keep an eye out for my other stuff if ur an epithet erased fan

-p3ngv1n (im on twitter, chk out my art and maybe we can become mutuals! friends are cool)