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reddwarfslashTitle: Falling into you. 3/4
Pairing: Rimmer/Lister
Warning: Fluff, minor angsting
Timeline: Series 8, before “KrytieTV”; mentions of past events, so spoilers.
Summary: Rimmer misses the ‘old’ Lister, but doesn’t know why; and Lister must use all his skills to rebuild a relationship he never had with the old Rimmer with the new Rimmer…
Disclaimer: They’re not mine, they belong to the BBC and Grant / Naylor. More’s the pity.
Words: 1.475
Rating: overall NC-17
Beta by the lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
missflibble
~ Falling into you ~
~ Three: Everywhere I am, there you’ll be
It was five days until the Prison Spring Ball and Rimmer was running out of excuses of why he hadn’t heard about it, which, in his world, meant one thing: he had to come up with a semi-plausible reason why he didn’t want to attend that he could tell to people.
Rimmer hated social events, no matter what the dress code. People made even more fun of him then than usual. So he did his best to behave like a complete smeghead, because then at least he knew why everyone laughed at him. It gave him a glimpse of control. But it was aggravating and he was tired of it, if he was honest with himself.
With these thoughts he walked down a corridor in Level 13, looking for Lister to tell him it was their duty to do the laundry this week.
He found him in one of the quieter corners, glued to a window, watching the universe fly by.
“Ah, Listy, there you are. I’m not doing the laundry all by myself. If you don’t get your backside to the laundry room this instant, I may have to drag you there like a worm on a hook.”
Lister turned to look at him, but didn’t reply. Instead, he let his gaze wander up and down Rimmer, making him squirm uncomfortable. He knew he was out of form. He knew he had ridiculous hair. He knew his eyes had no actual colour, but were sort of grey-ish blue with a touch of colourless green. He didn’t need Lister, or anybody else, to remind him of his inadequacies by staring him down.
“It’s funny how you’re totally different in some ways.” Lister finally stated.
“Ah,” replied Rimmer, because he felt like he had missed part of the conversation.
“And then in other ways you’re so much alike it almost hurts.”
Something made sense and Rimmer nodded slowly, “You’re talking about my other version again, aren’t you.”
Of course. The version of him that had died and become a hologram. The version of him that had travelled the universe with Lister and those other two gimboids. He sometimes had the feeling Lister preferred that version to Rimmer as he was now. It sat heavy in his stomach, although he didn’t really understand why.
“I see.” Rimmer replied, although he didn’t. And he didn’t quite succeed in keeping an annoyed aloofness out of his voice. Although he did manage not to sound hurt.
“He must have been quite the guy, since you can’t seem to stop talking about him. Me. Uhm.” Right. Overlapping lifelines. Confusing.
“You still are.” Lister softly replied, turning his head away from Rimmer to look at the stars again.
“Who, me? This version of me?”
“No. My Rimmer.”
Rimmer furrowed his brow, “What do you mean? Kryten told me he died a while ago.”
“That’s the story, but he didn’t. He’s still somewhere out there, I hope. Saving the universe and stuff.”
“Right.”
His other version was a smegging hero. No pressure there. Rimmer wasn’t sure if it was possible for a human being to feel any less significant.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” He queried to stop the silence in his head.
Lister just shrugged. Then he suddenly asked, “Do you want to come to the Spring Ball with me?”
As if Rimmer would fall for that! Surely Lister’s precious new friends were hiding somewhere behind a panel, barely containing their sniggers, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump out and make fun of him. Surely this was a prank, and a horrible one at that! Rimmer took a deep breath to tell Lister to smeg the hell off. But somehow, on the way to his mouth, the words refused to cooperate and to his surprise Rimmer heard himself say, “Yes.”
Lister grinned. Then he clapped his hands together, “Right. Let’s get to the laundry, then.”
Rimmer followed him two steps behind. He eyed their surroundings warily, waiting for someone to pop up, point their fingers and laugh at him.
Curiously enough that didn’t happen.
~
“What have you two clowns done now?” asked Captain Hollister in a voice that clearly showed how displeased and distressed he was.
Rimmer and Lister stood in front of the captain’s desk, saluting. And even though Rimmer had come up with a new, even longer salute, reserved for emergency butt-kissing situations, the man didn’t seem impressed. How odd. He was usually quite interested in Rimmer’s salutes and hearing about how he had developed them.
Before Lister or Rimmer could say anything, Hollister held up his hand, “Don’t say it. Please, don’t try to explain it! I honest to God do not want to know why the Candy Dispenser exploded and how a toilet seat was involved in the destruction of an entire corridor. The corridor on which my sleeping quarters are!”
“May I just say, sir, that it is completely my fault.”
It was only when Rimmer noticed Captain Hollister’s facial reaction to his words, that he realized what exactly he had said. Weird. He had wanted to say that it was not his fault at all, but Lister’s.
He tried again, “Lister had nothing to do with this.” Smeg!
“Yes, I did.” Lister interrupted, “It was my idea. Rimmer’s innocent.”
Hollister’s eyes turned to tiny slits. He breathed, “Get out. Never come into my office again, unless as corpses. And even then only if you’re really, really dead. The Hole. Two weeks.”
Rimmer’s eyes widened, “But, sir, the Spring Ball…“
But Hollister interrupted him, and rather rudely, by yelling at them, “Well, you’re just going to miss it, aren’t you! Out! Now!”
Rimmer didn’t know why missing the Prison Spring Ball suddenly bothered him that much.
~
Lister sighed deeply and leaned against the metal wall of the Hole.
“Sorry, man.”
Rimmer shrugged. He listened to the sounds the guard made as he walked away to leave them to their own devices until supper.
“We can still pretend.” Lister offered, an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes.
Rimmer looked at him, “Pretend what?”
“That we’re all dressed up and at a really huge ball.”
“The Prison Spring Ball is neither huge nor actually a ball, Listy. It’s just a gathering of forty-odd inmates who get to drink large quantities of non-alcoholic beverages before they use ‘dancing’ as an excuse to slit each other’s throats.”
Lister chuckled at the thought.
“Would you?” he asked.
“Would I what?”
“Dance. With me.”
Rimmer knew about dancing. Theoretically. He had never actually tried it. Not with a partner, anyway. He vaguely remembered it had something to do with moving your body in a rhythmical and graceful manner – movements his own body was far too ill equipped to perform. So he replied grandly, “I’ll have you know I’m a natural dancer. I’d sweep anyone off the floor.”
It came somewhat as a surprise to him when Lister stepped towards him and announced, “Good. You can show me, then.”
He held out his hand and Rimmer automatically took it. Lister let himself be drawn in and even snaked an arm around Rimmer’s waist. That felt better than it probably should, Rimmer mused. But then coherent thought left him for a while, when they started to dance slowly to imaginary music.
Rimmer was so astounded, he didn’t even notice how Lister moved closer until they were swaying chest to chest. But there was still something bothering him, something that tainted the moment. Something he needed an answer to right now, or all the changes he had allowed to happen these past weeks were meaningless.
“If he came back for you, would you go with him?” He dimly registered that his voice sounded… concerned. His throat was dry, too, all of a sudden. He felt too weird for words.
Lister looked up to treat him to a wide, affectionate beam.
“You know what’s great about you, Rimmer?”
Rimmer shook his head, honest for once. There was nothing great about him. He had learned that a long time ago and since then nothing much had changed.
“You can grow old with me.”
He needed a moment to fathom those words. Then a smile crept on his face.
His other version might be a hard-light hero. But he was alive.
“Grow old, huh?!”
“Yeah, why not? We already have a cat. All we need is a farm and a sheep and a cow. And if we get tired of travelling back to Earth, we can find a nice planet and settle down there.”
“We can call it Fiji.” Rimmer grinned, involuntarily drawing Lister closer.
They smiled.
It was Lister who bridged the remaining distance between them and softly placed his lips on Rimmer’s. Which was when Rimmer’s life stopped making sense for a couple of days altogether.
Pairing: Rimmer/Lister
Warning: Fluff, minor angsting
Timeline: Series 8, before “KrytieTV”; mentions of past events, so spoilers.
Summary: Rimmer misses the ‘old’ Lister, but doesn’t know why; and Lister must use all his skills to rebuild a relationship he never had with the old Rimmer with the new Rimmer…
Disclaimer: They’re not mine, they belong to the BBC and Grant / Naylor. More’s the pity.
Words: 1.475
Rating: overall NC-17
Beta by the lovely
missflibble~ Falling into you ~
~ Three: Everywhere I am, there you’ll be
It was five days until the Prison Spring Ball and Rimmer was running out of excuses of why he hadn’t heard about it, which, in his world, meant one thing: he had to come up with a semi-plausible reason why he didn’t want to attend that he could tell to people.
Rimmer hated social events, no matter what the dress code. People made even more fun of him then than usual. So he did his best to behave like a complete smeghead, because then at least he knew why everyone laughed at him. It gave him a glimpse of control. But it was aggravating and he was tired of it, if he was honest with himself.
With these thoughts he walked down a corridor in Level 13, looking for Lister to tell him it was their duty to do the laundry this week.
He found him in one of the quieter corners, glued to a window, watching the universe fly by.
“Ah, Listy, there you are. I’m not doing the laundry all by myself. If you don’t get your backside to the laundry room this instant, I may have to drag you there like a worm on a hook.”
Lister turned to look at him, but didn’t reply. Instead, he let his gaze wander up and down Rimmer, making him squirm uncomfortable. He knew he was out of form. He knew he had ridiculous hair. He knew his eyes had no actual colour, but were sort of grey-ish blue with a touch of colourless green. He didn’t need Lister, or anybody else, to remind him of his inadequacies by staring him down.
“It’s funny how you’re totally different in some ways.” Lister finally stated.
“Ah,” replied Rimmer, because he felt like he had missed part of the conversation.
“And then in other ways you’re so much alike it almost hurts.”
Something made sense and Rimmer nodded slowly, “You’re talking about my other version again, aren’t you.”
Of course. The version of him that had died and become a hologram. The version of him that had travelled the universe with Lister and those other two gimboids. He sometimes had the feeling Lister preferred that version to Rimmer as he was now. It sat heavy in his stomach, although he didn’t really understand why.
“I see.” Rimmer replied, although he didn’t. And he didn’t quite succeed in keeping an annoyed aloofness out of his voice. Although he did manage not to sound hurt.
“He must have been quite the guy, since you can’t seem to stop talking about him. Me. Uhm.” Right. Overlapping lifelines. Confusing.
“You still are.” Lister softly replied, turning his head away from Rimmer to look at the stars again.
“Who, me? This version of me?”
“No. My Rimmer.”
Rimmer furrowed his brow, “What do you mean? Kryten told me he died a while ago.”
“That’s the story, but he didn’t. He’s still somewhere out there, I hope. Saving the universe and stuff.”
“Right.”
His other version was a smegging hero. No pressure there. Rimmer wasn’t sure if it was possible for a human being to feel any less significant.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” He queried to stop the silence in his head.
Lister just shrugged. Then he suddenly asked, “Do you want to come to the Spring Ball with me?”
As if Rimmer would fall for that! Surely Lister’s precious new friends were hiding somewhere behind a panel, barely containing their sniggers, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump out and make fun of him. Surely this was a prank, and a horrible one at that! Rimmer took a deep breath to tell Lister to smeg the hell off. But somehow, on the way to his mouth, the words refused to cooperate and to his surprise Rimmer heard himself say, “Yes.”
Lister grinned. Then he clapped his hands together, “Right. Let’s get to the laundry, then.”
Rimmer followed him two steps behind. He eyed their surroundings warily, waiting for someone to pop up, point their fingers and laugh at him.
Curiously enough that didn’t happen.
~
“What have you two clowns done now?” asked Captain Hollister in a voice that clearly showed how displeased and distressed he was.
Rimmer and Lister stood in front of the captain’s desk, saluting. And even though Rimmer had come up with a new, even longer salute, reserved for emergency butt-kissing situations, the man didn’t seem impressed. How odd. He was usually quite interested in Rimmer’s salutes and hearing about how he had developed them.
Before Lister or Rimmer could say anything, Hollister held up his hand, “Don’t say it. Please, don’t try to explain it! I honest to God do not want to know why the Candy Dispenser exploded and how a toilet seat was involved in the destruction of an entire corridor. The corridor on which my sleeping quarters are!”
“May I just say, sir, that it is completely my fault.”
It was only when Rimmer noticed Captain Hollister’s facial reaction to his words, that he realized what exactly he had said. Weird. He had wanted to say that it was not his fault at all, but Lister’s.
He tried again, “Lister had nothing to do with this.” Smeg!
“Yes, I did.” Lister interrupted, “It was my idea. Rimmer’s innocent.”
Hollister’s eyes turned to tiny slits. He breathed, “Get out. Never come into my office again, unless as corpses. And even then only if you’re really, really dead. The Hole. Two weeks.”
Rimmer’s eyes widened, “But, sir, the Spring Ball…“
But Hollister interrupted him, and rather rudely, by yelling at them, “Well, you’re just going to miss it, aren’t you! Out! Now!”
Rimmer didn’t know why missing the Prison Spring Ball suddenly bothered him that much.
~
Lister sighed deeply and leaned against the metal wall of the Hole.
“Sorry, man.”
Rimmer shrugged. He listened to the sounds the guard made as he walked away to leave them to their own devices until supper.
“We can still pretend.” Lister offered, an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes.
Rimmer looked at him, “Pretend what?”
“That we’re all dressed up and at a really huge ball.”
“The Prison Spring Ball is neither huge nor actually a ball, Listy. It’s just a gathering of forty-odd inmates who get to drink large quantities of non-alcoholic beverages before they use ‘dancing’ as an excuse to slit each other’s throats.”
Lister chuckled at the thought.
“Would you?” he asked.
“Would I what?”
“Dance. With me.”
Rimmer knew about dancing. Theoretically. He had never actually tried it. Not with a partner, anyway. He vaguely remembered it had something to do with moving your body in a rhythmical and graceful manner – movements his own body was far too ill equipped to perform. So he replied grandly, “I’ll have you know I’m a natural dancer. I’d sweep anyone off the floor.”
It came somewhat as a surprise to him when Lister stepped towards him and announced, “Good. You can show me, then.”
He held out his hand and Rimmer automatically took it. Lister let himself be drawn in and even snaked an arm around Rimmer’s waist. That felt better than it probably should, Rimmer mused. But then coherent thought left him for a while, when they started to dance slowly to imaginary music.
Rimmer was so astounded, he didn’t even notice how Lister moved closer until they were swaying chest to chest. But there was still something bothering him, something that tainted the moment. Something he needed an answer to right now, or all the changes he had allowed to happen these past weeks were meaningless.
“If he came back for you, would you go with him?” He dimly registered that his voice sounded… concerned. His throat was dry, too, all of a sudden. He felt too weird for words.
Lister looked up to treat him to a wide, affectionate beam.
“You know what’s great about you, Rimmer?”
Rimmer shook his head, honest for once. There was nothing great about him. He had learned that a long time ago and since then nothing much had changed.
“You can grow old with me.”
He needed a moment to fathom those words. Then a smile crept on his face.
His other version might be a hard-light hero. But he was alive.
“Grow old, huh?!”
“Yeah, why not? We already have a cat. All we need is a farm and a sheep and a cow. And if we get tired of travelling back to Earth, we can find a nice planet and settle down there.”
“We can call it Fiji.” Rimmer grinned, involuntarily drawing Lister closer.
They smiled.
It was Lister who bridged the remaining distance between them and softly placed his lips on Rimmer’s. Which was when Rimmer’s life stopped making sense for a couple of days altogether.
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Date: 2011-02-15 04:37 am (UTC)Cuteness factor. They have it.
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Date: 2011-02-15 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:04 am (UTC)Thanks!
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Date: 2011-02-15 07:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:05 am (UTC)Thanks for the nice comment ^.^
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Date: 2011-02-15 09:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 12:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 09:27 pm (UTC)I'm happy you liked it and that it moved you!
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Date: 2011-02-16 07:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 10:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-14 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-14 06:08 pm (UTC)You are luck to have someone like your life partner to say things like that to you.