The Smith Residence; Dimension FH-001; Early Friday Evening [09/17].

[somethingwithturquoise]

Dinner that evening had gone...surprisingly well. There were no explosions, no alien attacks or bizarre side-character that would never make another appearance again causing mischief, the glares had been kept to a shocking minimum and no one even fell asleep while trying to pretend to actually be interested in beekeeping, horse surgery, or documentaries about migrant workers.

Which of course meant that everyone's eyes shifted immediately over to Beth when her phone started to ring, with the bated-breath anticipation that came along with something having gone just a bit too smoothly. "Hello?" Beth answered the phone, the hyper-focus of everyone in present in the room was palpable, as was the rush of disappointment and frustration that followed when she pushed back her chair, stood up from the table, and walked into another room to take the call out of earshot.

Jerry	"It's fine," Jerry decided as attentions went back down to mostly empty plates. "Probably just an emergency over at the hospital, or something."
Summer	"Yeah, right," said Summer. "Because there's just so many horse emergencies to be had."
Morty	"A-actually?" Morty offered. "You'd be kind of surprised…."
Beth	Which was just going to earn him a confused sort of look from Summer, a look that was going to press for more details, but it was then that Beth returned to the dining room, slipping her phone back into her pocket. "So, that was Dr. Wong," she explained. "She just wanted to let me know she had a cancellation this evening, if anyone's up for a session."
Morty	"I...I'm down to clown," said Morty.
Summer	"Hard pass," countered Summer, glancing over to Barry with a small smile. "We should probably get headed back to the island soon, anyway."
Barry	“Yes,” Barry said, nodding slowly. “Can’t leave that place alone for a minute really.” Though honestly anything that got them away from the subject of bees and honey.
Jerry	"Ooh." Jerry's response came with a frown. "I'm not sure my new therapy puppet will be done in time."
Barry	Barry slowly turned to look at Summer because that bit of information was new to him. “Seriously?” he asked in a sotto tone. “Puppets?”
Summer	Summer just looked back, wide-eyed, shaking her head, because, yeah, he was much, much better off just not asking.
Barry	“Jesus Fucking Christ,” Barry muttered. “Puppets.”
Beth	"Great," said Beth, in a tone that seemed to match Summer and Barry's expressions, "because she specifically asked you to stop bringing puppets."
Summer	"Yeah, Dad," said Summer, "that one you brought last time was, like, super awkward...Also, the fact that we made it through an entire meal unscathed is kind of a miracle. We're definitely getting out of here before anything starts getting weird..."
Beth	"Well, obviously," said Beth patiently, "you get a pass on this one, Summer." But her patience seemed to fade when her eyes went to her father. "Dad? What about you?"
Rick	"I love therapy," Rick responded, with extra emphasis and the biggest grin he could muster in possibly the world's weakest attempt at sincerity. "Family therapy most of all, but..." The smile dropped from his face, though, expression going serious, perhaps even mildly distressed, as he knitted his eyebrow, "I'm...actually..." There was a pause. A subtle slip of his hand, somewhere low underneath his lab coat. "...disintegrating..." Just like that, with a shimmer in the air, Rick disappeared completely.
Jerry	"What the--?" Jerry's startled response was just one around the table, and then he blinked into the blank space where Rick previously had been, almost unwilling to believe his eyes. "Is...is that really it?" he gawked, a tone of marvel and awe in his voice. "Did we do it?"
Barry	Barry looked over at Summer and rolled his eyes before finishing his vegetarian lasagna. Wow. Jerry really was clueless.
Morty	"It's the invisibility belt," Morty explained, his own tone bored and unimpressed, as he took a swig from his soda.
Jerry	Cautiously, Jerry reached out, his hand colliding with something solid despite the empty air in front of him.
Rick	"Whoawhoawhoa," Rick groaned, flinching back into visibility, leaning over with his hands over his groin just a little too late.. "He grazed them. That's gonna hurt in, like, ten seconds...Thanks, Morty."
Morty	"Why should I let you use it?" Morty complained, folding his arms in front of himself petulantly as he leaned back in his chair. "You never let me use it."
Summer	"Can I have the belt?" asked Summer, in a burst of inspiration. "It would really piss off Morty."
Rick	"Fantastic idea," Rick decided, grinning maliciously across the table at his grandson as he unlatched the belt, whipped it off, and held it up to fall into Sumer's eager hands..
Morty	"What the hell!" Morty complained, his ire shifting from Rick to Summer. "You jerk! Give it!" Sparing not a second more, Morty launched himself over the table toward Summer, crashing into the plates and empty dishes, as Summer, naturally, slipped the belt on as she pushed away from the table, and activating the belt as she slipped out of his reach and out of his sight. "Hey!" he called out, scrambling to push himself up, slipping on to stand on the chair Summer had been occupying, falling, smashing his face into the table. "Ow! N-no fair! Get your own! Have your stupid boyfr--"
Beth	"Share the invisibility!" Beth interrupted, reaching over to help Morty up, and turning her attention toward her husband for help. "Jerry?"
Jerry	"Oooh!" Where had Jerry procured a sock puppet from? It was anyone's guess. There was a good chance he'd been working on it ever since they started eating and no one bothered to notice. Either way, he had a handcrafted sockpuppet in his hands now and was lifting it up importantly. Proudly. "This looks like a job for Mr. Nibbles! Let me just glue one more eye on--"
Morty	The front door opened and was quickly slammed shut, giving Summer's position away and setting Morty into action to go chasing after her, screaming out, "I'm gonna to kill you!"
Rick	"Woof." Rick was not going to let a good opportunity to escape like this pass him by, slowly meandering the opposite way toward the garage. "Looks like you two have to fight about why you can't control your kids and be awkward with Summer's loser boyfriend that she is way too quick to just leave behind for basic bitch technology like invisibility belts. Good thing Dr. Wong's got an opening. Bye."
Beth and Jerry	And as Rick disappeared around the corner, Beth and Jerry sat there awkward looking at each other before their attention shifted over to Barry, who was still sitting there, although the whole thing transpired almost as if he hadn't even been there at all. And now that they seemed to remember that he was, in fact, there at all, there was something distinctly expectant in their glance.
Barry	Honestly the most disturbing thing about this family dinner thus far was Mr. Nibbles. At least Summer never met Jamie Madrox because that’s shit she really didn’t need to deal with. He made a mental note to look into developing some new antidepressants for Jerry along with a note to have the lab produce another personal stealth device for Summer before sighing and pushing back his chair. "Thanks for a lovely dinner. I'll go find her," he said.
Beth	At least Beth waited until the front door closed again before looking straight at Jerry and declaring, "You're a bad father."
Jerry	"Don't let him divide us!"

[[ NFB for distance, NFI for TBC, OOC ok! Part one of....several! Taken and modified from Rick and Morty S04;E10 "Starmort Rickturn of the Jerri" with a little badassprodigy slipped right in there. SURELY, there's no way this could possibly go pear-shaped, riiiight? ]]