reddwarfslash | Accidental Fairytale: Third and final chapter

I wasn't going to post this until the end of the week but I figured what the smeg? I've got it all typed up, I might as well post it. So here it is, for your enjoyment.

*does special 'I just finished my first Red Dwarf fic' dance*

Title: Accidental Fairytale: Chapter Three
Author: epic_rhythm
Pairing: Rimmer/Lister
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Rimmer is confused about Lister's reaction to his revelation.
Disclaimer: I don't own Red Dwarf. If I did, I'd have much more interesting things to do then sit here writing fanfic.

Accidental Fairytale: Chapter Three

Rimmer lay on his bed for hours waiting for Lister to return. He never did. Eventually the hologram gave up and fell into a restless sleep. When he woke he jumped up to check Lister’s bed. It was still empty. Rimmer sighed and began his normal routine with much less enthusiasm than normal.

Rimmer was finishing off his breakfast when Lister entered the kitchen.

“Mornin’ Rimmer,” Lister said, sounding his usual cheery self.

“Good morning Lister,” Rimmer replied, suddenly fascinated by the contents of his tea cup.

“You seen Kryten this morning?” Lister asked.

Rimmer shook his head.

“Afraid not,” he replied.

“I wonder where he could be?” Lister said, “Well, if you see him, let him know I’m looking for him would ya?”

Rimmer nodded.

“Will do.”

And with that Lister was gone. Rimmer had expected Lister to be pissed off with him; maybe even to yell at him or give him the silent treatment but Lister was behaving as if nothing had ever happened. The fact that Lister hadn’t made a fuss should have made Rimmer feel better but he couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened. He’d laid bare one of his most closely guarded secrets and Lister was treating it as if it were not worthy of his time.

Rimmer didn’t see Lister for the rest of the day. There was a lot of maintenance to be done, as usual, and Rimmer had been helping Kryten down in the cargo bay whilst Cat and Lister were working up in the cockpit. The mechanoid had seemed his usual self as well so Rimmer assumed Lister hadn’t told them. At least he’d taken some mercy on him then.

The work they were doing was difficult and boring and Rimmer was relieved when Kryten finally insisted they stop so that he could go and prepare dinner. Rimmer was exhausted and headed straight to the sleeping quarters to ask Holly for a hologrammatic shower and a clean uniform. When he got there he found a note on the table, scribbled in Lister’s untidy scrawl.

Meet me in the AR room after dinner.

Rimmer shrugged and headed for the shower.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Lister made no mention of having left the note for Rimmer, just ate his curry and occasionally glanced in Rimmer’s direction with an expression that the hologram couldn’t quite decipher. The moment he’d finished his lager he made his excuses and left the table. When he reached the door he turned to Rimmer, nodding in the direction of the AR room as he made his way out the door. Rimmer looked down at his empty plate and stood up, following Lister out of the room.

Rimmer stood outside the AR room for a full ten minutes before he decided to take the plunge and open the door. He had almost convinced himself that Lister wouldn’t be there; that this was just another one of his stupid jokes. As a result he was pleasantly surprised to find himself greeted by his roommates smiling face.

“Evening Rimmer,” Lister said cheerfully.

“Good evening Lister,” Rimmer said cautiously, still nervously looking around the room for any signs of a prank.

“Rimmer, you can stop being so nervous. I’m not pulling ye leg,” Lister said smirking.

“Nervous? Who’s nervous?” Rimmer asked.

Lister just chuckled.

“Come on,” he said, indicating to Rimmer that he should sit in one of the chairs.

“Lister, what is going on?”

“Just sit in the chair Rimmer. I promise it’ll be fun.”

“Lister, the last time you said that we ended up handcuffed together in a giant hole filled with green sludge and very little chance of escape.”

“But we did escape didn’t we? Besides, this won’t be dangerous at all. Just trust me ok?”

Rimmer sighed and nodded.

Lister sat down next to Rimmer and strapped himself in. He turned to the screen and instructed Holly to insert the disk. The last thing Rimmer saw before the blackness hit him was Lister’s chubby face smiling at him.

When he opened his eyes he was staring at a wall. He turned around and realised he was in an elevator. Glancing to his left he caught sight of Lister and gasped. The shorter man was wearing a pinstripe black suit. Perched on top of his head was a black fedora and he held a cigarette in his left hand. Lister must have heard his gasp because he turned around and winked at Rimmer, causing the hologram to blush furiously.

“You’re looking good Rimmer,” he said casually.

Rimmer looked over to the mirror that hung on the right wall and found, to his surprise, that he had to agree with Lister. He was wearing a simple dark grey suit with a back shirt and green tie that made his eyes look much greener than usual. He turned back to Lister who was watching him with what appeared to be…affection?

“So, are you going to tell me where we are?” Rimmer asked, willing his voice not to sound as nervous as he found he suddenly felt.

“Welcome to our first date!” Lister said with a grin.

Rimmer stared blankly at him.

“Our what?” he queried.

Lister sighed theatrically.

“Our first date smeghead!”

Rimmer raised an eyebrow.

“Date? You’re taking me on a date?” he paused before adding, “You dreamt that our first date was in an elevator?”

Lister chuckled.

“First things first. Yes, I’m taking you on a date. Why? Because you admitted you wanted to kiss me and I took that to mean you were interesting in expanding our relationship to more than just mates and seeing as how I’m definitely interested in taking things in that direction, a date seemed like a good idea.”

Rimmer nodded, still too bewildered to grasp the full meaning of Lister’s words.

“Secondly, the first time I dreamt about our first date we went to the football and had a curry but I figured you might not be as up for that as I was so I went through the disks and found this one.”

“And what is this one exactly?”

“You’ll see,” Lister said with a grin.

Rimmer found himself returning the grin and stepping closer to the younger man. The elevator shuddered to a stop and Lister offered Rimmer his arm as the doors opened.

“Shall we?” he inquired.

Rimmer looked nervous all of a sudden.

“Lister…where we’re going…are they going to be okay with…” Rimmer found he couldn’t complete his sentence but Lister seemed to understand him anyway.

“With two men you mean? Rimmer, it’s my dream. Everything will be fine.”

This time when Lister offered his arm, Rimmer took it gladly. As they stepped out of the elevator Rimmer felt his heart catch in his throat. They were in a restaurant, obviously at the top of a skyscraper, because they were looking out over the whole of New York City. The floor was slowly revolving so diners could enjoy an ever-changing view.

“Lister,” Rimmer murmured just loud enough for his companion to hear.

“Not bad hey Rimmer?” Lister said.

All Rimmer could do was nod as he followed Lister and the waiter over to their table by the window.

“Lister, how can you afford this?”

“It’s a dream remember. We can do anything.”

The waiter came back with some water and Lister ordered a bottle of their most expensive champagne. A couple of glasses later and Rimmer was beginning to relax. This whole dating business really wasn’t so bad. Lister had him in stitches with stories about his various drunken antics over the years and Rimmer had even shared a few stories of his own. The food was delicious, and Lister didn’t spill a single drop down his shirt. Rimmer felt this surely had to be a product of Lister’s dream and not a miraculous increase in his table manners. When they’d finished the last of the chocolate cake that they’d both ordered for dessert Lister stood up.

“Well, we’d best be off then,” he said.

Rimmer didn’t move.

“Rimmer, are you coming?”

Still Rimmer didn’t move.

“Is everything all right mate?” Lister asked, sitting back down at the table and studying Rimmer with concern.

“It’s just…this has been fun. I don’t know if I’m ready to go back yet,” Rimmer said quietly.

Lister’s smile reached right to his eyes.

“Is that it? Rimmer, dinner was just the start of the date. The night is still young, love!”

Rimmer immediately cheered up, standing up and following Lister whilst trying to avoid the warm feeling he’d got in his stomach when Lister had called him ‘love’. Lister paid the bill and the pair made their way back to the elevator.

“So where are we going now then?” Rimmer asked excitedly.

“Where any self respecting couple should go after a good meal – dancing.”

“Dancing?” Rimmer repeated nervously, “I don’t know Lister. I don’t do dancing very well.”

“You seemed to manage all right in your dream,” Lister said with a smirk, “And besides, this is a different kind of dancing.”

“How different?”

“You’ll see,” replied Lister mysteriously.

They exited the building and Rimmer stopped abruptly when he realised that they were no longer looking at New York City. He turned to Lister in shock.

“Dream-land remember?” Lister said with a smile.

Rimmer nodded.

By the time they’d reached the club Lister was looking for, Rimmer was feeling even more nervous. Lister had taken him through a maze of back alleys and dark streets and Rimmer wasn’t entirely sure they wouldn’t end up in some sleazy strip club. When Lister opened the door Rimmer felt that maybe a sleazy strip club would have been the better option. At least then he would only be expected to watch.

“What is that?” Rimmer questioned, eyeing up the writhing couples on the dance floor with a mix of curiousity and fear.

“That’s the rumba,” Lister replied, already starting to remove his jacket and head towards a free table.

“No way Lister. I can’t do that. It’s indecent!” Rimmer cried, but he followed Lister nonetheless.

They ordered drinks and sat at a table near the front, watching the couples on the dance floor and soaking up the atmosphere. When they’d finished their second drink Lister looked over at Rimmer with a mischievous smile and held out his hand.

“’Bout time we gave it a try don’tcha think?”

Rimmer shook his head.

“I don’t think so Lister.”

“Oh come on Rimmer. It’s just a bit of fun and it’s not like anyone will be watching us!”

Rimmer found that try as he might he couldn’t resist the way Lister was looking at him and he soon found himself being led onto the dance floor. Just like last time Lister wrapped his arms around Rimmer’s neck and guided Rimmer’s arms to wrap around his waist. They swayed to the music, getting used to being so close. Half an hour later Rimmer was beginning to enjoy himself, apart from that disastrous moment when Lister had gotten a little too confident, tried to do a fancy spin and ended up falling on his arse. But in true Lister style he’d merely picked himself up, dusted himself down and kept on dancing.

The music had changed now; the bassline was pounding in Rimmer’s ears and all around him couples were grinding up against each other. He and Lister still had a respectable distance between them but if the look on Lister’s face was anything to go by that wouldn’t last for much longer. Sure enough, Rimmer found himself being pulled closer to the smaller man, his hips brushing against Lister’s and bringing a faint blush to the hologram’s face.

“Just relax,” Lister shouted over the music.

Rimmer flashed him what he hoped was a relaxed smile and tightened his arms around Lister’s waist. It really wasn’t so bad, and he wasn’t as horrible a dancer as he’d feared. Rimmer allowed himself to glance around, smiling at the other dancers as what was obviously a popular song came on. So absorbed was he in the music that he’d failed to notice that his close proximity to Lister was beginning to have an effect on certain parts of his anatomy. Lister however had noticed. It was hard not to considering said body part was rubbing rather insistently on Lister’s left thigh. For his part, Lister stopped dancing and merely stared at Rimmer with a rather bemused expression. When Rimmer finally noticed that Lister had stopped moving he turned to his partner with a questioning expression. Lister glanced down at his thigh and back up to Rimmer, who had turned a deathly shade of white.

Lister could see that Rimmer was about to make a run for it so he wound his arms tighter around the taller man’s neck. Rimmer relented and stopped struggling, standing instead with his eyes closed, bracing himself for one of Lister’s crude jokes or even worse, rejection. Lister smiled, though he knew Rimmer couldn’t see it, and stood on his tiptoes. Rimmer shivered as he felt a hand cup his cheek and hot breath on his ear.

“Don’t be embarrassed Rimmer,” Lister whispered, “I feel it too.”

With that, he shifted so their hips were aligned, their crotches rubbing against each other. The moment Rimmer felt Lister’s hardness slide across his own his eyes flew open. The colour came back to his face and a smile graced his face. There was no pretending now. He wanted Lister and Lister wanted him. There was only one way to go from here. That thought should have made him nervous but standing there with Lister smiling up at him all Rimmer felt was content.

They left the club an hour later, their dancing shoes all worn out. The landscape had changed again and they now found themselves on a pier by the seaside.

“Fancy an ice cream?” Lister asked, pointing at where an ice cream van stood down the road.

“It’s on me,” Rimmer replied.

Ten minutes and two chocolate ice creams later, Lister’s hand slipped into Rimmer’s as they strolled along the beach. Rimmer smiled down affectionately at Lister and intertwined their fingers, not even caring that Lister’s fingers were sticky and covered with chocolate. When they came to the end of the beach Lister turned to face Rimmer, a sad smile gracing his normally cheerful face.

“This is it,” he said softly, “When we go back to the ship I won’t be able to touch you.”

Rimmer felt a sudden desire to be even closer to Lister and he pulled him into a fierce embrace.

“We have our dreams,” Rimmer said softly, surprising both Lister and himself with how soppy he sounded.

Lister looked up at him and smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right. We can work around this.”

Rimmer felt his nerves return as Lister slid his hands around his neck. He knew what was coming now and as much as he wanted to kiss Lister, he didn’t want to disappoint him.

He needn’t have worried because the moment Lister’s lips touched his it felt like the most natural thing in the world. The kiss was brief. Lister’s lips barely brushed his own before the shorter man pulled away and kissed Rimmer lightly on the cheek. Lister then proceeded to place a series of short, sweet kisses on Rimmer’s lips. When he felt that Rimmer was ready, Lister deepened the kiss. His tongue licked at Rimmer’s lips, gently forcing them open. Rimmer opened his mouth and let Lister’s tongue slide inside. He heard himself moan as their tongues brushed against each other and felt Lister smile against his mouth. He let his own tongue explore Lister’s mouth thoroughly before the need for air forced the two apart. They gazed at each other, both panting heavily, before everything went black.

Rimmer sat for a long time in his chair before moving. Reality seemed such a let down after what he’d just experienced. He finally opened his eyes when he heard Lister undoing the belt around his waist. He looked up into Lister’s sparkling eyes and smiled.

“Come on love, I think it’s time we went to bed,” Lister said, standing back and allowing Rimmer to stand up.

They two made their way to the sleeping quarters in silence, neither knowing quite what to say. They entered their quarters, undressed, and got ready for bed. Rimmer slid into his bottom bunk with a sigh and watched as Lister finished undressing. When he was done he turned to Rimmer, looking almost nervous.

“Rimmer, can I sleep down there with you tonight?”

Rimmer’s chest pounded so heavily he couldn’t hear himself think, let alone form an articulate response. In the end he settled for nodding and smiling in what he hoped was an inviting way. Lister seemed to think so, if the grin on his face was any indication. He strolled over to the bunk and flopped down, rolling onto his side so he could face Rimmer.

“Night love,” he said, pressing a kiss to his finger and placing it where Rimmer’s forehead would be.

Rimmer did the same to Lister before closing his eyes. He hadn’t realised how tired he was until he lay down. Falling in love can really take it out of you, he mused as sleep finally took him.