carpe noctem// rick and morty

the calm before the storm

summer was confused. she did not know how to feel about her.... acquaintance? being able to bond with rick quicker than she had managed to get him to acknowledge her existence.

morty felt the same, it seemed, as he had been staring at the closed tv for too long.

summer did not mind too much though, if anything she had been able to gain ricks approval, even if it was through someone else. maybe bringing aster home more often would be a good idea.

"soo, did we just get outranked by what essentially is a stranger in terms of being acknowledged by rick?" morty spoke up first

"i...guess so? im not completely sure"

"oh hey, guys! so, what are we doing?" aster entered right at that moment.

the siblings looked uncomfortable, and they just looked at each other. aster picked up on this.

"oh. is everything alright?"

"well, yeah. i guess we just didn't expect you to be able to get along with everyone so well" morty said.

aster seemed to have understood what was happening, so she sat down with summer and morty.

" is this about mr. rick?"
they both stayed quiet, confirming aster's assumption.

"i take it that his opinion and recognition means a lot to you as a family, no? nevertheless, you needn't worry about who is more important to him between you and i. it became very obvious to me that he cares about you all a great deal, so don't worry."

"you don't know him well enough to say that aster, we have known him long enough to know that it is possible for him to come to like you more than he likes us. " summer retorted.

aster was in a bind. she did not want the siblings to continue believing that (no matter how much of a compliment it was), so she was trying to find a way to appease them.

".... would you like to go to the mall with me? maybe that will help you get your mind off of things, and i could also explain some of the concepts we discussed with mr rick, so you'll be able to talk with him more. im no genius but i think I'll be okay just explaining the theory of everything"

"would you really do that?" said morty

"if it helps you feel more confident in yourselves, although i still doubt your grandpa could ever like me more than his own grandchildren" aster says with a dry chuckle, her tone resolute.

"then let's do that" summer agreed. she did feel a pang of jealousy still that she had to be explained concepts by someone younger than her to feel better about her relationship with rick, but something is better than nothing.

----------------

morty's brain was hurting. maybe more than the time he had those world seeds dissolve in his rectum

aster had tried her best, but it seemed as though the gap between their mental capabilities had been far wider than she had originally thought (smartass much?). the siblings seemed a little less anxious though, so that was a win in her opinion.

"that was... surprisingly uncomplicated" summer said, although her expression did not really show that to be true.

"um yeah i tried to make it easy to understand, i think..." aster awkwardly chimed.

"i want to go home and crash" morty whined
aster silently agreed, she was about ready to head home and relax for the remainder of the evening. how would she get back though? she didn't know if jas was able to give her a ride home. just as she was thinking about asking the siblings if they could ask beth to drive her, her phone rang. 

she pulled it from her pocket and read the caller id

'jas ;P'

summer, who was right beside aster, smirked and, when aster picked up, got close so she could hear better. aster was kind of nervous, although she couldn't pinpoint why. 

"hey", his voice sounded raspy, like he had just woken up. summer was shocked, going by the look on her face.

"hi", aster replied, chuckling, "did you just wake up?" 

"yeah, the lectures today killed me so i took a nap. where are you now?"

"out with some friends, why?"

"it's getting late and it'll be dangerous for you to get home alone at this time. tell me where to pick you up when you're done, okay?"

 "yea, that'd be great, thanks jas" aster said with a smile

"anytime astie"

"ill send you a text in a bit, bye" with that, aster hung up. 

"oh. my. god! astie!??? JAS!???? dude what!" summer squealed excitedly, the previous tension disappearing as she leaned towards aster.

"who was that?" asked morty curiously

"that was jasper, the guy i was telling you about. also, what's wrong with astie and jas?" aster said, her tone coming off a little more defensive than she'd wanted.

"you call each other nicknames!"

"and?" aster could not see what was wrong with that.

"CUTE nicknames, like couples!" summer urged

" friends can call eachother nicknames too yknow" asper mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed without really knowing why.  

" right okay, whatever you say girl, but when you end up together married with five dogs don't go pretending i didn't tell you so!" summer semi-joked, although to aster it sounded more like a threat than anything. 

"I prefer cats, thank you very much" aster retorts with an eye-roll, crossing her arms although she can't hide the playful smile that is decorating her lips.