There were plenty of reasons why Rick usually avoided Earth. Any version of Earth. Some were deeply personal, linked to the past he pretended not to think about anymore, but that in truth constantly haunted him. Then there was his Earth, the one back in his original dimension, where he had sworn to never return. Fifteen years had passed since the day he had left it behind and he hadn't broken that vow yet.
However, there were also a lot of reasons that were dictated by convenience and by unwillingness to deal with useless nuisance. Humans weren't among the most advanced species, in any of the universes he had been to, and that at times led to plenty of misunderstanding. It was hard to remember how close-minded his species could be when you never had anything to do with your average human being.
The case at hand was a perfect example of it.
At first, when the woman had started to yell at him, Rick had found himself caught off guard. Her accusations made no sense, since his merchandise was legit. He never scammed his clients and business partners, not unless they had tried to screw him over first. Her getting mad because he had made a few modifications to the items she had asked for, bettering them, was beyond ridiculous.
However, her shouting was attracting too much attention and she had even pulled out a weapon. Under other circumstances, he would have pulled out his laser gun and shot her, but the last thing he wanted was for rumours of some alien disguised as a punk guy with light blue hair spreading around. It would have meant burning the business ground he had on that Earth completely. Not a big loss, but definitely an annoying one.
So, Rick discarded the impulse to fight and chose to make a run for it instead.
The events that followed happened almost too quickly for him to keep up...not that he cared much to do so. What mattered was that, for some reason, the guy he had bumped into was now running with him and that an angry salesman had joined the black market dealer's client.
God fucking dammit. This really wasn't his day.
"J-Just follow me," was the only curt answer he gave, before grabbing the younger man by the arm and forcing him to take a sudden turn into a smaller side alley.
The crowd there was thinner, which allowed him to speed up, to the point that he was almost dragging the other along, carrying half of his weight with unexpected ease.
After a few more apparently random turns, they reached the outskirts of the marketplace, and Rick shoved his unfortunate companion inside the doorway of an abandoned building, forcing him against the wall and slapping a hand over his mouth.
"Quiet," he ordered in a whisper, before turning his head and focusing on listening for their pursuers.
They should have moved past them, continuing along the street they had been running along. And if they didn't, well...The black market dealer's hand slid under the hem of his leather jacket, where he kept his weapon. Desperate times called for drastic measures.