Work Text:
Morty wakes up gradually, like something was pulling him back. He stares at the ceiling, blurry eyed, wondering if he could get away with just going back to sleep.
He sighs and turns his phone on, squinting at the light to check if anyone messaged him even though he knows there’s no point.
“Come on Morty!- eugh- up an at em’, we have bugs to catch!”
He let his eyes slip closed for a moment before he forced himself up, getting dressed in the same outfit as always.
He rubbed at his eyes and didn’t stop in front of the mirror like he usually did, figuring it didn’t matter.
He stepped down the stairs, not bothering to mask his tired expression, ignoring how his thin hair was a mess around his head.
He joined Rick in his ship, leaning back against the seat. He didn’t try to decipher his grandpas glances as they set off through space, letting his eyes slip half shut.
“Alright, what did I do this time?”
Rick sounded exasperated, like this was another chore on his mission to gather materials.
“Nothing, why?” He yawned, staring out into the empty void.
“Well usually you’re yammering on about where we’re going or if it’s ethical or some crap” he dragged out the words mockingly.
He didn’t bother saying it was because there was no point. It would put him in danger like it always did.
“Just tired, you woke me up” he leaned against the window, eyes catching on a turtle wearing an astronaut helmet.
“Right, right” he drummed his fingers awkwardly on the steering wheel, not saying much else and speeding up to their destination.
It didn’t take long for them to land and start catching bugs, which he correctly assumed were giant and ugly and pissed. Probably because they were stealing their babies, but still.
Morty wanted to question if they should really be stealing the baby bugs, taking them away from their parents and planning to kill them, but he couldn’t be bothered. Rick would just mock him, or maybe humour him and stop stealing babies, but then they’d try to find an alternative which would probably just get the entire planet killed.
So, instead of stammering on about nothing, he stayed quiet as they rounded up the bugs, sighing when he was the one made to carry them.
They got off the planet without much incident, and were home before long. He could probably still make it to a lesson or two of school if he wanted to, which he didn’t.
Instead, he turned to Rick.
“Can I go see Evil Morty?”
Rick looked at him judgementally, “seriously? You want to see him? Is that why you didn’t say anything today? I mean I thought you would be complaining about the stolen babies all day, but is that what that was? You’re trying to copy the cooler version of yourself?-“
“Shit, fine, Nevermind”
Morty glared at him and got out the ship, slamming the door as he left, running a hand through his already overly messy hair.
Rick sighed and opened a portal, sitting at his desk and ignoring him, like a ‘there, happy?’.
He stepped though the portal hesitantly, ending up in some kind of dome in the middle of space.
Evil Morty was already standing there, arms crossed as he waited to see who would step through.
Morty shifted where he stood, portal closing behind him.
“Um, hey”
His counterpart looked him up and down, before heading back to what he was doing, prompting him to follow.
“You look like a mess”
“Ha- yea, um. I was wondering if I could stay here awhile? Or- something.”
They ended up at one of his workstations, and EM raised an eyebrow at him.
“Trouble in paradise? Must’ve been one bad fight if you’re coming here”
Morty shook his head, leaning against the table.
“Me and Rick are cool. I was just hoping I could stay here for a bit.”
EM narrowed his eyes at him.
“Why? Is this some spy thing?”
“No! Aw geez, is it really that hard to believe I want to stay here for awhile?”
EM shrugged and turned back to what he was doing.
“Do what you want.”
“Thanks.”
He took the chance to explore, arms hugging himself because of the cold.
He wanted to ask how Rick knew where he was but didn’t bother. EM might’ve told him, or maybe Rick was tracking him, who cares.
He glanced at the inventions scattered around but walked past them. If there’s anything he’s managed to get in his brain it’s to not touch random shit.
He kept walking until he saw what he assumed was EMs bedroom. There weren’t many decorations, unless you counted a single empty bookshelf.
He flopped into the wrinkled sheets and rolled until he was catepillared in the blanket. It was technically his bed in a way anyway. Kind of.
He buried his face in a pillow that smelt faintly of raspberry shampoo and let himself lose track of time, until EM found him.
“You know that just because we’re both Morty’s it doesn’t mean my bed is your bed, right?”
He didn’t reply, face still buried.
The bed shifting made him glance up just to see EM sighing and sitting next to him, leaning against the headboard.
“Alright, what happened?”
Morty wriggled a little further into the blanket, face half hidden.
“I took most of my memories back. Kind of like a Morty’s mind blowers I guess.”
“Some?”
“Well some were like, long term. Like when Rick put me and summer in the matrix and we were both adults by the time we got out. I skipped those”
He hesitated, “when I get back I’m probably gonna ask Rick to erase them again.”
“Why get them back at all then?”
He shrugged as much as he could with the blanket wrapped around him.
“I just wanted to feel them, I guess. Like when you listen to sad music because you just want to be sad for awhile, Yknow?”
He could hear EMs nod, hair brushing against wood.
“Want to talk about them?”
“..did you ever have a king jellybean? This like, blue jellybean who ruled a village?”
He glanced up to see EM narrowing his eyes in thought, before shaking his head.
“Well, um. Basically, it was my turn to pick an adventure, and we ended up in this tavern, and um.”
He glances up again, and EM nods at him to keep going. He swallows, struggling to get the words out.
“T-turns out he was, like, a giant perv. He like followed me into the bathroom and tried to, um, Yknow.”
He buries his face in the pillow to avoid EMs gaze. When he finally speaks, he almost sounds angry or something.
“Your Rick killed him right?”
He nods into the pillow.
“Yea, he blew him up. Anyway, after that I guess I asked for the memory to be erased. Honestly that’s not even the worst memory but it still.. I dunno”
“I could erase him from existence? I still have the technology Rick Prime used to get rid of Ricks wife.”
He let out a quiet laugh into the pillow.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. It was.. a long time ago. I don’t know why it still affects me so much. It’s stupid.”
“It’s not. Some things just feel crappier than others. I get it.”
“Did your Beth not hesitate to sacrifice you for summer too? On Titan?”
Em nods, “I had that too. She couldn’t even pretend to hesitate? I could barely look at her after.”
”Exactly! I mean, I can see why I asked Rick to get rid of that one, I haven’t been able to talk to her since I got the memory back.”
They both end up talking about various memories for awhile, not even noticing how dark the room was getting. It didn’t take long for him to drift to sleep.
When he finally wakes up he notices how he’s longer in his blanket caterpillar, instead curled up on his side, one hand curled into EMs shirt and his face buried into his side. He tries to bring forward the embarrassment he knows he should feel but finds he can’t, instead letting his mind drift off again.
He wakes up again at some point to movement, and he asks before he can rethink it.
“Do you think I could stay here for a while? Just for like, a few days? It’s not like my family would even notice I’m gone.”
“What about your.. Rick?”
He says his name with disgust, voice still muted with sleep.
“He’s probably passed out drunk somewhere. If he really needs me he knows where I am.”
There’s a few seconds of silence before EM finally responds, getting up as he says it.
“Fine, I guess.”
He lets out a relieved breath into a pillow, finding himself falling asleep again.