Chapter Text
Friday night found Rick and Morty slinking, naked, through the streets of an alien city.
“D-damn it, Rick, why are we always losing our clothes?” Morty grumbled, shivering as he snuck quietly behind Rick.
“Aliens loooove stripping humans, Morty, they love just having us walk around buck ass nude in their, their stupid little prisons.” Rick grumbled, pausing at the end of the alleyway they were in. After a moment, he straightened up and walked normally out into the street.
It was late at night on the planet they were on, and few aliens were out and about. Morty glanced around, huddled up with his arms wrapped around himself.
Morty followed Rick into a nearby store, the doors sliding open silently for them. It was an alien clothing store, with clothes of all shapes and sizes hanging in long lines from the front to the back of the store.
“May I help you?” A pig-like alien snorted, walking up to them. Rick waved them away in annoyance, already bee-lining for the human section of the store.
Morty mumbled an apology to the pig alien, and hurried behind Rick.
When they got to the human section, Rick swore in annoyance.
"Seriously?" He snapped, tugging at the closest piece of clothing, "only dresses? Whatever. Morty, find something your size."
Morty spluttered indignantly.
"I cant wear a dress, Rick! I'm a boy!" Morty denied, crossing his arms in discomfort as Rick browsed. Rick rolled his eyes.
"Morty, that is some stupid sexist bullshit. Find something to wear before I find something for you. And trust me, you won't like what I choose." Rick said, tugging a long sleeved blue turtleneck dress off the rack and studying it for a moment.
Morty slunk down the aisles away from Rick as they both grumbled to themselves. Morty didn't want to wear a dress, but he obviously didn't have a choice.
Finding the section of sizes that would fit him, Morty picked out something yellow at random.
It was a just under the knee length yellow dress with spaghetti straps, and a pattern of sunflower plants along the bottom. It was pretty. In a girly way.
Deciding to stick with his first choice, Morty wandered back to Rick, who had grabbed some panties for the two of them as well as socks and shoes.
"Really, Rick?" Morty grumbled, turning pink. "Isn't that a bit far?"
Rick rolled his eyes, as he walked back into the bathrooms with Morty. He ignored Morty's hesitancy to go into the public bathroom, throwing his blue dress and miscellany onto the counter and beginning to put them on.
"What part of no choice do you not understand, Morty? You saw with your own damn eyes there was only feminine clothes here. What the hell is your problem?" Rick asked, annoyed.
Morty said nothing, shuffling his feet nervously before setting his dress down and quickly pulling on the panties Rick had grabbed for him. It felt weird, but Morty ignored it and quickly pulled the dress over his head.
Rick had gone with the blue long-sleeved turtleneck dress, the hem just above his knees. He was pulling on plain socks and high top sneakers as Morty popped his head through the spaghetti straps of his dress.
"Wow, Rick. You look weird." Morty laughed, adjusting the dress on himself so it sat comfortably. As he went to grab his pair of socks and shoes off the counter, he froze.
Morty had seen himself in the mirror. His slight frame looked almost delicate, the straps of his dress making his shoulders look petite. His face which had never been very masculine looked almost androgynous on top of the cute dress.
Rick was next to him, suddenly, studying him in the mirror as they stood side by side. His face was unreadable.
"H-here." Rick said with a belch, pulling something Morty had not previously seen off of the counter. It was a hair band, and Rick carefully slid it into Morty's hair.
Morty was speechless, his chest doing funny swoops and swirls as he watched that other, different Morty in the mirror.
He looked… good? Pretty? Feminine?
"Put your shoes on, Morty." Rick said, finally breaking the spell. Morty quickly did so, feeling almost dizzy. What was going on?
The rest of the night was a blur to Morty. He knew that they had sprinted out of the store, stealing the clothes they had put on. They had re-infiltrated the prison, getting their stuff back and climbing into the ship to leave.
As they flew back, still in their dresses, Morty leaned against the window.
"So." Rick started, in a forced casual tone.
"What, Rick?" Morty asked, turning his head to Rick.
"You like wearing dresses, huh?" Rick said, leg tapping and fingers drumming against the wheel. His other hand held his flask.
"Huh? No!" Morty yelped, immediately embarrassed. Feeling exposed, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, leg bouncing.
"Don't bullshit me Morty. You had a fucking moment. You had a goddamn gender moment. You can't hide this shit from Grandpa." Rick grunted, looking like he was reluctant to continue the conversation but obligated to do so.
"Wha… gender moment? I'm a guy, Rick!" Morty said, "Guys don't wear dresses! I don't w-want to be seen as some, some weird person!"
Rick leaned forward and hit his head against the wheel with a 'donk!' noise.
"You're even more clueless than I thought. Great. Hold on. You're getting the lecture. Just wait until we get home." Rick grumbled.
The ride was silent for the rest of the way as Morty stewed on what Rick might mean. He just didn't know what Rick was trying to get at. Was Morty being made fun of?
Eventually they made it back to earth and Rick eased the car into the driveway. They didn't speak as they got out and walked into the garage.
"Alright, sit down Morty." Rick said, and pulled out the whiteboard as Morty carefully perched on Rick's chair.
What came next was a long, in depth conversation on the nature of sex, gender, and sexuality. On how people were born, how people were raised in a gender role, the reality of being transgender, hormones and surgery, Rick's own foray into being a woman, being a man, and finally just being Rick with a Dick.
"So… I could actually be a girl? If I wanted to?" Morty asked, stunned.
Rick rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Morty. So you need to go run your ass upstairs and really, just really think about what happened tonight." Rick said, wiping off the whiteboard. "Think loooooong and hard, Morty, about the goo-goo eyes you gave yourself after fighting so hard against wearing a damn dress."
Morty left the garage, his mind full of static. As he made his way upstairs to his room, he tried to really think about what Rick said. Going straight to his full length mirror, he looked at himself again.
The dress made Morty look slim and cute. He turned to the side, observing the way the dress swayed on his frame. It was his favorite color, and it had pockets. Morty could see himself wearing this in the future.
Morty thought about being a girl. He thought about being called 'miss', about being called a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter. He thought about how pretty he looked now and how average he looked every other day.
Morty spun slightly, watching the dress sway back and forth. It was nice.
Morty couldn't deny he was scared, though. He knew the way people would treat him. The way his parents would think he was a creep. But there was something in his chest that was burning hot and bright, shaking him to his core and telling him: I want this.
And that was the scariest part. Desperately wanting this wordless feeling of contentment, of awe that he could look like this, feel like this.
Shaking his head, Morty stripped and grabbed some pajamas. He would just think about this later. It's too soon to make a decision.
Even though he knew which one he wanted to make.