The Smith family car rumbled gently down the suburban street, sunlight flickering off its half-clean windshield. Inside, the smell of cheap air freshener wrestled with the lingering scent of yesterday's fries, and the radio hummed a soft, uncertain static that Jerry pretended was music.
Viktor still Morty in body, voice, and reflection sat in the backseat, arms folded, eyes tracking the neighborhoods like he was mapping a warzone. Summer sat in the passenger seat, legs crossed, scrolling through her phone with the calculated boredom of someone who'd already mentally checked out for the day.
Jerry, bless him, whistled as he drove badly. Off-key, tuneless. Desperately pretending this was just another normal morning.
But Viktor was watching. Quiet. Composed. And when the moment stretched long enough to feel unnatural, he cut into it with a voice that was just a little too calm.
"Hey, Dad," he said.
Jerry jumped a little in his seat. "Y-Yeah, bud?"
"Shouldn't you be at work right now?"
Jerry blinked. "Uh… well… today's kind of, you know, an administrative reassessment day."
Summer didn't even look up from her phone. "Is that the new term for 'you got fired again'?"
Jerry's hands gripped the wheel a little tighter. "No. No, it's it's more like a, uh, strategic professional pivot. You wouldn't understand. It's corporate talk."
"Uh-huh," Viktor replied, his tone flat.
"You know," Jerry said, trying to regain some footing, "sometimes companies like to re-evaluate where their employees are best placed, and, well—"
"You mean like outside the building?" Summer cut in.
Viktor smirked.
Jerry floundered. "That's not—okay, yes, they… asked me to take some unpaid leave. It's fine. It's all part of the plan."
"What plan?" Viktor asked, genuinely curious.
"The plan where I… reassess my value and come back stronger," Jerry said, nodding as if the words made sense.
Summer finally looked up. "The only thing you're coming back to is the couch and that half-empty tub of mint chocolate chip you cry into when Mom gets home late."
"Summer!"
Viktor leaned forward slightly, resting an elbow on the armrest between the front seats. His voice was quiet, conversational.
"You ever consider doing something meaningful? Just once?"
Jerry blinked. "I—well—I provide emotional support!"
"Whose emotions are you supporting?" Summer asked. "Because I guarantee it's not ours."
Jerry sighed, clearly wounded, but unable to defend himself with anything that wouldn't make things worse. Which, of course, meant he tried anyway.
"You know, I don't see either of you paying the mortgage or fixing the sink!"
"There's still a towel under the sink, Dad," Summer said. "It's been three months."
"That's... water containment!" Jerry shot back, triumphant.
Viktor actually laughed. A short, dry thing. He leaned back again, shaking his head.
"If you were any more fragile," he said, "you'd shatter from a compliment."
Jerry stared at the road like it might swallow him whole.
Summer was silent for a beat.
Then she burst into laughter.
Not a chuckle. Not a polite smirk.
A full-bodied laugh, sudden and sharp, like someone had pulled the pin from a grenade and just let it roll across the floor.
"Okay, who are you?" she said, half-turning to look at him. "Because that was actually funny."
"I'm just tired," Viktor replied smoothly. "Tired of pretending you're not all completely insane."
Jerry blinked into the rearview mirror, confused, trying to catch Morty's expression but all he got back was a pair of unreadable black eyes.
"You feeling okay, son?" he asked.
Viktor gave him a smile. Not warm. Not cold. Just… deliberate.
"Never better."
They pulled into the school parking lot a few minutes later, the engine wheezing like it hated mornings just as much as Jerry did.
Summer hopped out, slinging her bag over one shoulder. "Well, try not to roast any teachers," she muttered, glancing back at Morty with a smirk.
Viktor stepped out after her, pausing just long enough to lean against the door and look back at his father.
"You should take today to really think about what you're doing with your life," he said. "Not for us. For you. Because right now? You're not even a supporting character. You're background noise."
Jerry opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Started the car again and drove away in silence.
---
Yo guys today you are getting two chap the second is a lil short maybe to short but hey kinda feeling under the weather
So
Love ya ❤️