Fic: Massage

[sunny-bexster.livejournal.com]

Title: Massage
Pairing: Lister/Rimmer
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Alas, not mine.
Notes: Written for the lovely smaych , who I hope is feeling much better. I hope you enjoy this. Lister muses on his relationship with Rimmer over a massage. I will freely admit this is just a little sappy.

Pressing his body close against Rimmer, Lister could hear the gentle but persistent hum of his lightbee. The holograms electronically generated body felt warm beneath his fingers, the memory of his skin pulsing against the tips.

He leant close enough for their skin to touch, the brush of flesh against flesh.

“When you offered to massage me” said Rimmer, bringing the atmosphere Lister had worked so hard to create crashing around his ears with his sour tone “I assumed you’d be using your hands. Forgive me, but having you grate your Scouse-self against my naked body was hardly what I had in mind...”

Lister, knowing Rimmer couldn’t possibly see him, rolled his eyes and smiled. He sat back, kneeling atop of his lovers skinny calves and rested his hands on the holograms hips.

“For a guy gettin’ a no-strings attached massage, you’re really ungrateful, y’know that?”

Rimmer closed his eyes and groaned “I’ve had a hard day”

“And I haven’t? C’mon, we’ve all had smeg to deal with today and most of us aren’t lucky enough to have someone offer to give ‘em a good rub down afterwards!” said Lister, his fingers gliding up and down the holograms back, tracing the trail of his spine.

“Does the nagging come with the massage, or does it cost extra?”

“Oh, shut up” said Lister, his tone light and amused. His hands brushed up and down Rimmer’s back, thumbs pressing gently against the tense muscles, working out the various knots and kinks nestled in the holograms shoulders. With one last, lingering moan, Rimmer ceased his natter and nestled down into the mattress, content to let Lister loose on his tired and aching body.

With the bunkroom now completely silent, save for the buzz of the fluorescent light and the rustle of the bed covers, Lister found himself thinking about Rimmer. How he and Rimmer came to be a couple remained somewhat of a mystery. It was never planned or plotted, regardless of how much Rimmer insisted that it was – the pair had fallen into a relationship. An unconventional relationship admittedly, but a relationship nonetheless.

Neither of them saw it coming. Lister and Rimmer had, from the word go, been at constant logger-heads. Lister often joked that he and Rimmer had only ever had one argument...and it was still going. In the early years there had been a lot of animosity between them – they fought with the same ferocity and passion as most people would show making love.

To say that both Rimmer and Lister got off on annoying each other wouldn’t be too far from the truth. Yet, for two people who hated each other so much, Lister and Rimmer knew each other the best. The pair knew every weak-spot, every Achilles heel, every raw nerve of the other, and neither would be reluctant to exploit them.

When they were displaced to the Starbug, their small world shrinking even further, the tension between Lister and Rimmer became even more volatile. Neither pair would have admitted it, but they needed each other. They both needed to feel wanted - the knowledge that someone would miss you, even if just for the arguments, made them both feel better about being stranded millions of years away from the places you’d call home.

Their first time was frantic and needy. Fuelled by desperation, longing and an overwhelming urge to feel desired. It was quick and it was dirty. They didn’t meet each others gaze for days afterwards. They both knew the score – it was only a relaxation thing. A hasty screw every now and then to keep the urges at bay. There was real affection, no kisses or cuddles – just straightforward sex.

That was fine...for a while. Inevitably, one party wanted more. One night, Rimmer had reached out and held on. He’d grabbed Lister’s wrist, not being able to bring himself to hold the younger mans hand, as he’d gone to climb from the bunk. Lister had turned and looked. The holograms face was tight and for all that his eyes were imploring Lister to stay, his expression showed he was too damn proud to admit it.

Seconds passed with Rimmer’s slender fingers wrapped around Lister’s wrist, holding him in place, somewhere between freedom and entanglement. Rimmer wanted him so badly – it was a need greater than what sex could satisfy...but he just couldn’t let himself admit it.

Lister glanced at the bunk and the way Rimmer was curled around the space he’d just vacated. He had a choice – there was nothing to stop him climbing back into bed, just as there was nothing to stop him shrugging himself loose and walking away.

The human fell back into the bunk, collapsing as he did so into Rimmer’s kiss.

Even now, after many months had passed, Lister still smirked about that first kiss. It felt so daft – like a pair of teenagers desperate for a quick fumble. He’d expected things to change, to the point where he was bracing himself for the turnaround. Things did change, but only the little things.

Rimmer remained as pompous and paranoid as ever, perhaps even more so given he was getting it on a regular basis. He could still be cruel and callous; his sharp tongue and harsh words were in near-constant use. Mere sex and affection was too trivial to completely change Rimmer, but it did give him something to cling onto.

Lister wouldn’t have wanted to Rimmer to change anyway. The man he’d became so close to was a smeghead and would always be a smeghead, but it didn’t matter.

A sudden exclamation of exaggerated pain brought Lister back to reality with a jolt “Ouch. Lister, may I remind you I am a piece of very advanced, delicate machinery – not a lump of meat that needs tenderising!”

“Sorry” said Lister, lifting his hands away from Rimmer’s torso. To make amends, he placed a light kiss on his lovers back. The silence confirmed Lister’s assumptions that Rimmer was enjoying this way more than he was letting on.

With a cheeky grin, Lister moved his hands down to Rimmer’s thighs and let his fingers slide their way across the skin. He heard Rimmer’s breath hitch as his touch slipped between the holograms thighs, his fingertips firmly pressing into the muscles.

“You’re not being fair” moaned Rimmer, writhing slightly with each fresh contact.

“Nope” admitted Lister quite freely “Quite firm though...”

Rimmer snickered “Is that a bad joke about your massage technique or your erectile state?”

“Bit of both”

“I thought as much” sighed Rimmer, rolling onto his back. He fixed Lister with his best authoritarian look. The Scouser’s cheeks twitched with a grin as he crawled up the bed, collapsing onto the holograms chest. The pair lay, quiet yet content, safe in the world they’d made for themselves in this bunk. A world a million miles away from anything either of them could have imagined. A world that was happier than anything they’d have found anywhere else.

Comments

[lemmesay.livejournal.com]

I love slashy stories where Rimmer stays himself. Because then it's even more exciting to watch the relationship and those little nuances in his behaviour. And yeahh, I don't think Lister would have wanted him to change.
Very well done ♥.

[lady-carfax.livejournal.com]

awh, I hope smaych feels better too. This is a brilliant tonic! I love Rimmer staying himself. I do believe that love would change Rimmer, because a lot of his problems are due to feeling unloved, but he'd never stop being himself.

Btw,

Did you mean to write "There was no real affection..." rather than "there was real affection"? The way you've written it doesn't seem to fit

[smaych.livejournal.com]

I agree totally with lemmesay, it's wonderful to see fic where being in a relationship hasn't changed Rimmer. You write him SO well. I loved this line, “Ouch. Lister, may I remind you I am a piece of very advanced, delicate machinery – not a lump of meat that needs tenderising!”

It's genius. You're a genius. Thank you so so much for this :) If anything can make me feel better, it's some well written Lister/Rimmer! <3

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Any fic in which a relationship changes Rimmer would be, IMO, OOC (to a lesser or greater extent).

[laurenthemself]

It's Rimmer. Being in a relationship is OOC XD

(To be fair? With this fandom, that's so not true. He's the fandom's bike.)

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Fair point.

(This does not require him to be in a relationship! :D)

[laurenthemself]

Trust me -- I'm uploading my fics to AO3 at the moment and rediscovering just how many pairings I wrote the poor guy into, most of which don't involve a relationship (and two of which don't exactly involve consent, which is weird for me).

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

Awwwwww! That was very sweet, and just what keeps my addiction to this pairing going; thanks for sharing.

[artfullola.livejournal.com]

*echoes the above*

Opposites really do attract in their case, in a weird sort of way, doesn't it? And even though I'm not a fan of cliches, for them, it just...works. Really admired how you've written Rimmer. It's so him.

Love it. :)

[dauphkantus.livejournal.com]

It's adorable and fluffy in a totally believable way. Kudos! +1 <3

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen to much of your Rimmer, but I like him a lot. :)

No R/L relationship would ever be anything but exactly like this; just them, but with love and sex. It's like I once phrased it when explaining the pairing; it's not that they stop disliking one another; they just also fall in love. And that's how it is.

I like the 'here-and-now' scenes best; they're very real and slice-of-life-like.

It's funny; I'm also writing a R/L massage story... for smaych. Dunno what I'll do with that now. :p

EDIT: I wonder if I said, anywhere in there, how much I liked it? Let it be said here, then: I liked your story, clever writing lady.

[fearcat.livejournal.com]

oh I so love this pairing :)

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

Ah, our boys! <3 I love their playful bickering love.

[queen-fiend.livejournal.com]

I loved this. So in character, and yes, Rimmer's still himself which is perfect! :)

[kms726.livejournal.com]

>Lister often joked that he and Rimmer had only ever had one argument...and it was still going.

I found this line very striking--and true!

>In the early years there had been a lot of animosity between them – they fought with the same ferocity and passion as most people would show making love.

This makes me think of that scene from Waiting for God, where Rimmer and Lister are having a shouting match and Lister makes the kissy lips at Rimmer as he walks away :)

Very well-written, excellent characterization, overall a wonderful little slashy fic :D

[laurenthemself]

Beautifully done. Yay for keeping the boyz in character!