Burn in Hell | C137cest AU

Small Talk - Chapter 24

       Recently, Rick had informed Gene and Gary of the brunet's whereabouts, and the two seemed as though they couldn't be more elated at that. Though they deflated slightly at the realization that the kid still didn't know them, so any conversation could only be invoked through menial things or simple greetings, at least until they managed to befriend the kid. Which may be difficult, and weird, given the circumstances, but they would try, regardless.

       Rick had also found that he couldn't hold true to his self promise, knowing he just couldn't live without some sort of contact with the brunet. And if that meant spending cash on whatever he didn't need just to see him, Rick had no problem with that. Hell, the only thing stopping him from buying the store just to have Morty as his employee of sorts again was the fact that Rick didn't want to have to deal with ordering shipments and all the other jazz that comes with running a supermarket. Really, it was an annoying task, but almost worth it for Morty. Almost.

       So, the very next day, Rick found himself gathering Gary and Gene as they had shopping to do anyway, and were regulars of Jeff's yet hadn't seen the brunet before. Now they had a mission. Befriend the brunet through any means necessary. But flirting was out of the question. Rick had made that very clear, to Gene and Gary's humor, as they clarified that Rick would be the only one able to do that anyway. So, with a scowl, the trio made their way into the shop, hoping they weren't too early or too late as none of them knew the brunet's hours.

       It was just going on noon when the trio found Morty, the stock boy standing on a four step ladder to stock the top shelves, which only reminded Rick of the brunet standing on his counters to grab snacks the first time he was over at Morty's old apartment.

       Morty watched a group of men, one of which being the man with blue hair, talk about something at the far end of the aisle before they pushed their shopping cart away, Morty managing to hear something like 'don't be too fast'. Whatever it was, they sure were strange. 

       With a huff, Morty checked his watch. He had roughly half an hour before he was to go on lunch, wondering if McDonald's from across the street sounded good to himself. Honestly, he hadn't been eating too healthily, but he never did care about that. 

       "Hello, gorgeous," somebody purred from below Morty. The man looked down to find a red headed woman staring up at him, an evil glint in her eyes as she looked back at the shopping cart she'd left a few feet behind herself. "How much to take you home?" she joked, tacking a laugh to the end of her statement. 

       The brunet blushed lightly, continuing to stock boxed. "Well," he began with a chuckle, "no tag, no sale. S-S-Sorry."

       "Well," Morty watched as the woman pulled a tag off of a box in her cart, literally smacking it onto the brunet's bottom. "Whoa!" Morty exclaimed, watching as the woman's eyes went wide. Morty began to topple over, the woman hurrying away as though trying to pretend she wasn't the cause of all this.

       "Kid!" Morty heard as he went down, finding, surprisingly enough, that he didn't hit the ground. Instead, it felt as though five arms had caught him, a sixth having moved quickly from what was no doubt his butt. The brunet turned a darker shade of scarlet, prying his eyes open with a sheepish chuckle. 

       "Are you alright?" the darker haired man asked, from the trio, as Morty managed to get back on his feet again. "Y-Yea," the brunet responded, trying to remove the price tag. He wound up spinning in a slow circle like a dog after its tail, finally grabbing the price tag after a second to the obvious amusement of the men. They chuckled behind the brunet as he spun to face them once more, trying to soothe his burning face. 

       "What happened?" The other man, this one bald and lined with tattoos, questioned, earnestly waiting for an answer. "U-Uh," Morty didn't know if he should answer that or not, embarrassed by what had just taken place. These people were strangers anyway. But he had been looking for people to talk to, so, even if he may never see these folks again, he spoke.

       "W-Well, I wa-as just s-stocking the shelves, y-y-y'know, my jo-ob, and this woman c-came up to me a-a-and I guess she wa-was flirting or something, b-b-but she gra-abbed a price tag a-a-and smacked my butt, a-and I los-st my ba-a-alance." Morty rubbed his arm sheepishly with a lighthearted chuckle. "I gu-guess she got a-a-a little carried away."

       "Well, at least we caught ya," the bald man stated, smiling warmly. "Y-Yea. Th-Tha-anks for that." 

       "Hey, baby," Morty heard, wondering who the dark haired man was talking to as he grabbed a bottle of honey, shaped like Winnie The Pooh. "Can we?" Morty watched, almost astounded, as the bald man wandered over, laughing at the bottle before he threw an arm casually around the dark haired man's waist and grabbed a larger bottle in the same shape. "Sure," he replied to what had to be his boyfriend's amusement. Morty looked away when they shared a kiss, smiling to himself as he returned to the top of his stool and began stocking again.

       "Hey, Morty!" Rick turned slightly to find a man wandering towards the brunet, looking as though he was ready to go on lunch. "I was gonna go to that McDonald's across the street. Wanna join? It's our break now."

       Rick watched, trying to hide his anger, as Morty slowly agreed, climbing down from the ladder as though he was afraid. He didn't much care for the look of the other man, but he couldn't tell if he was actually into Morty or not. Whatever the case, Rick didn't like it.

       "Uh, s-sure." That stutter was so sweet. Rick had forgotten how nice it was, how adorable it was with the brunet. He must not remember his trick to getting rid of it.

       "Th-Thanks, ag-gain," Morty called down the aisle as he wandered further from Rick. "No hay problema," Rick called back with a smirk, watching as Morty turned back with momentary amazed recognition. Rick remembered that at this point Morty still knew Spanish, but that little bit was nothing in comparison to what he could say that would have the brunet's head turning even faster.

       "Until next time, baby," Rick whispered, turning back to join his friends, both of which were excited to have seen Morty again.

       Hopefully this went well.