Fic: Never - R/L (imp) - PG
Feb. 25th, 2008 02:03 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
kahvi.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
reddwarfslashTitle: Never
Pairing: Rimmer/Lister (implied)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Red Dwarf, or any of the characters thereof. I make no money from this.
Spoilers: Legion.
Beta:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
smaych
Notes: Forroadstergal, who found one of the things Lister is describing here. :)
"That's it – you just know." Lister swirled the beer around the stein, watching the amber waves flow back and forth, occasionally obscuring Rimmer, who was staring back at him in annoyance. It was past Lister's bedtime, which meant it was also past the time Rimmer claimed to get up every morning (though he, in actual fact, Lister knew, got up at 10 and pretended to have been up for hours). There had been drinks, for reasons which had become increasingly obscure as the evening had worn on. Lister suspected that, in Rimmer's case, the novelty of being able to drink at all was reason enough to do so. And as the thought of Legion could make anyone want to drink, they had a fair few good reasons, between them.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lister," Rimmer slurred, with that particular sort of diction that comes only after excessive drinking. "Apart from anything else, there's no such thing as 'love'."
Lister rolled his eyes, waving the stein expressively, aiding some of its contents in a daring escape. "Oh, here we go again…"
"I know what you think about Love Celibacy philosophy, but it's not just about that. It's simple logic; there can't possibly be a perfect match for every human being. Even if there were, how could you possibly find him or her? I mean, say one of you were born in Calcutta, India, and the other on Ganymede? What are the odds that you'd ever meet?"
Shaking his head, Lister placed his drink more or less safely on the table. Trust Rimmer to try to bring logic into a discussion about love.
"It's hard enough finding a person you can more or less get along with without wanting to kill them half the time," he gave Lister an eloquent glance, "but someone whose interests match your own to the point where you want to spend the rest of your life with them? It's just not possible."
"It's not about shacking up with a copy of yerself. You of all people should know that doesn't work out" Rimmer glared, but Lister ignored him, cheerfully. "What I'm saying, right, is that when you've found the person that's right for you, ye'll know. It's not about…" he gestured vaguely, "love at first sight, or one true soulmate, or any smeg like that; it's about what you feel," he tapped his chest, "inside." Rimmer was leaning across the table, swaying slightly, his
eyes phasing in and out of focus. Lister snorted. "I'm talking to the wrong guy, aren't I? Have you ever been in love?"
That got Rimmer's attention. He straightened in an instant. "Of course not! There's no such thing as…"
"You know what I mean," Lister insisted, waving a hand dismissively, and banging his boots sluggishly up onto the table between them. "Did ya ever think you were in love?"
Something in Rimmer's face changed. "No," he said, a little too quickly.
Lister shrugged. "All right. If ya don't want to tell me, don't."
"It's not that. I'm not hiding anything. I just haven't ever been in love. I'm beyond that."
"If you say so. It can sneak up on ya, love can. Sometimes ya don't know it's there 'til it's staring ya in the face." It had been like that with Lise. They'd just been friends; not even that. But they'd seen one another every day, and one day it had just hit them, like that clichéd bolt of lightning from a clear sky. It was as though something had been building up between them all the while they had been busy ignoring one another.
Rimmer's face clouded. "You're thinking about Lise, aren't you?"
Lister groaned. "I didn't mean…"
"I've never been in love, all right? Outside of your sodding imposed memories, that were never really mine, I don't even know what it's like. So stop smegging blathering on about it!"
Nodding, Lister picked up the stein again, emptying it in one long pull. With the liquid gone, there was just Rimmer's distorted face left, blinking angrily at him through the bumpy glass. Lister licked the last remnants of lager from his lips, and slammed the glass on the table, all the while keeping his eye on the other man. No reaction. Well, as far as Lister could tell, which admittedly wasn't terribly far at all.
They sat there for a good long while, staring at one another. It took about half an hour for Lister to realize that Rimmer had fallen asleep with his eyes open again, still coming to terms with the functions of the hard-light drive. Lister laughed in quiet amusement, then carefully leaned over, and, with as gentle a touch as he could manage, pulled Rimmer's eyelids shut. Then he walked around the table, wedged his arms under Rimmer's legs, and lifted him out of the chair. As usual when he got into this state, he was somewhere between soft and hard light; solid, but weightless. It was like carrying a slightly damp feather. Lister dumped Rimmer on one of the bunks, then kicked his boots off and crawled into the one opposite. "Lights," he mumbled, watching as everything turned dark around Rimmer's glowing form. His eyes had slid open again, apparently peering at Lister with undefined accusation. There was no way Lister could sleep with something like that staring him in the face, so he didn't.
It was a long night.
Pairing: Rimmer/Lister (implied)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Red Dwarf, or any of the characters thereof. I make no money from this.
Spoilers: Legion.
Beta:
smaychNotes: For
roadstergal, who found one of the things Lister is describing here. :)"That's it – you just know." Lister swirled the beer around the stein, watching the amber waves flow back and forth, occasionally obscuring Rimmer, who was staring back at him in annoyance. It was past Lister's bedtime, which meant it was also past the time Rimmer claimed to get up every morning (though he, in actual fact, Lister knew, got up at 10 and pretended to have been up for hours). There had been drinks, for reasons which had become increasingly obscure as the evening had worn on. Lister suspected that, in Rimmer's case, the novelty of being able to drink at all was reason enough to do so. And as the thought of Legion could make anyone want to drink, they had a fair few good reasons, between them.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lister," Rimmer slurred, with that particular sort of diction that comes only after excessive drinking. "Apart from anything else, there's no such thing as 'love'."
Lister rolled his eyes, waving the stein expressively, aiding some of its contents in a daring escape. "Oh, here we go again…"
"I know what you think about Love Celibacy philosophy, but it's not just about that. It's simple logic; there can't possibly be a perfect match for every human being. Even if there were, how could you possibly find him or her? I mean, say one of you were born in Calcutta, India, and the other on Ganymede? What are the odds that you'd ever meet?"
Shaking his head, Lister placed his drink more or less safely on the table. Trust Rimmer to try to bring logic into a discussion about love.
"It's hard enough finding a person you can more or less get along with without wanting to kill them half the time," he gave Lister an eloquent glance, "but someone whose interests match your own to the point where you want to spend the rest of your life with them? It's just not possible."
"It's not about shacking up with a copy of yerself. You of all people should know that doesn't work out" Rimmer glared, but Lister ignored him, cheerfully. "What I'm saying, right, is that when you've found the person that's right for you, ye'll know. It's not about…" he gestured vaguely, "love at first sight, or one true soulmate, or any smeg like that; it's about what you feel," he tapped his chest, "inside." Rimmer was leaning across the table, swaying slightly, his
eyes phasing in and out of focus. Lister snorted. "I'm talking to the wrong guy, aren't I? Have you ever been in love?"
That got Rimmer's attention. He straightened in an instant. "Of course not! There's no such thing as…"
"You know what I mean," Lister insisted, waving a hand dismissively, and banging his boots sluggishly up onto the table between them. "Did ya ever think you were in love?"
Something in Rimmer's face changed. "No," he said, a little too quickly.
Lister shrugged. "All right. If ya don't want to tell me, don't."
"It's not that. I'm not hiding anything. I just haven't ever been in love. I'm beyond that."
"If you say so. It can sneak up on ya, love can. Sometimes ya don't know it's there 'til it's staring ya in the face." It had been like that with Lise. They'd just been friends; not even that. But they'd seen one another every day, and one day it had just hit them, like that clichéd bolt of lightning from a clear sky. It was as though something had been building up between them all the while they had been busy ignoring one another.
Rimmer's face clouded. "You're thinking about Lise, aren't you?"
Lister groaned. "I didn't mean…"
"I've never been in love, all right? Outside of your sodding imposed memories, that were never really mine, I don't even know what it's like. So stop smegging blathering on about it!"
Nodding, Lister picked up the stein again, emptying it in one long pull. With the liquid gone, there was just Rimmer's distorted face left, blinking angrily at him through the bumpy glass. Lister licked the last remnants of lager from his lips, and slammed the glass on the table, all the while keeping his eye on the other man. No reaction. Well, as far as Lister could tell, which admittedly wasn't terribly far at all.
They sat there for a good long while, staring at one another. It took about half an hour for Lister to realize that Rimmer had fallen asleep with his eyes open again, still coming to terms with the functions of the hard-light drive. Lister laughed in quiet amusement, then carefully leaned over, and, with as gentle a touch as he could manage, pulled Rimmer's eyelids shut. Then he walked around the table, wedged his arms under Rimmer's legs, and lifted him out of the chair. As usual when he got into this state, he was somewhere between soft and hard light; solid, but weightless. It was like carrying a slightly damp feather. Lister dumped Rimmer on one of the bunks, then kicked his boots off and crawled into the one opposite. "Lights," he mumbled, watching as everything turned dark around Rimmer's glowing form. His eyes had slid open again, apparently peering at Lister with undefined accusation. There was no way Lister could sleep with something like that staring him in the face, so he didn't.
It was a long night.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2008-02-25 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-26 09:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-25 05:48 pm (UTC)Well done.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-26 09:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 08:17 am (UTC)Oh, bless you; yes! This is such a central part of his character for me, but not everyone agrees. He tries to do good, but oftentimes, that desire messes things up. Thanks for feeding back!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-22 09:14 am (UTC)The eyes open thing kept cracking me up :D Lol!