Red Dwarf Fic ;; Red Eyed Friend Chapter 2
Chapter 2, I thought I'd post it now because I've just finished it, and... well, I actually quite like it! Anyways, enjoy!
Fifty minutes later, and all of Rimmer’s engineering books were scatted across the floor. Katie had gone to the trouble of sticking tiny pieces of card into the important pages of each book- colour coding them by importance, and topic. She sat in the middle of the floor, the books scattered in a circle around her. Rimmer hadn’t heard a word out of her, apart from a question about whether he had any coloured card (he had managed to shake his head, and so she had to run back to her own room to collect some), and occasional outbursts of ‘Oh, that’s important, you need to know that’. The learning drugs were slowly beginning to wear off; when Katie had left for five minutes, he had spent it lolling his tongue and trying to remember how to say ‘What the smeg do you think you’re doing?’ without introducing ‘goat vindaloo’ in the middle of it.
“I think I’m done,” Katie said suddenly, flicking the hair from her eyes and looking up at Rimmer, seeming seeking approval.
“It’s…” was all he was able to say.
“All you have to do now is read everything I’ve labelled,” Katie began to collect together the books. “If you memorise at least seventy percent of it, you should pass,” she looked up briefly and smiled. “That’s what I did.”
“This is ridiculous,” Rimmer said suddenly, his bottom lip quivering.
Katie stopped, a book still clutched in her hand.
“I-I’ve been totally silent for at least an hour and you’ve not even noticed! And, my lip! I thought you had broken my smegging face,” Rimmer stood up as suddenly as he had regained his voice, and peered down at the girl on his floor. “And another thing --“ he paused, and took a deep breath. “Thankyou.”
The room was silent; the only noise that was audible was slow beat of the bass from the disco two decks down.
“I-I’m sorry,” Katie muttered. “I noticed you were silent. I did. I just thought you were shy…”
A haughty laugh escaped Rimmer’s lips; “Shy? You should meet Lister. He would have you hung, drawn and quartered for believing that I was shy.” He moved forward a little, and the slowly reached out his palm. “Need a hand?”
***
The clock in the disco read 3.30am. Most of the parties had disbanded, apart from a few couple who were snogging under the damply lit tables, and Dave Lister, who was slumped over the back of a chair, a can of larger slowly slipping through his fingers. It clattered to the floor and he woke with a grunting start.
“What? Wait… what?” He grabbed the side of his head and groaned, feeling the alcohol seeping through his system. How much had he had? Obviously not enough if he was having this conversation with himself. Slowly (and with many hitches along the way) he got to his feet and managed to stumble towards the door leading out into a completely deserted- but utterly filth ridden- corridor. Somehow, he had to get back to the bunk, lie down, and have an argument with Rimmer about how he was supposed to clean the goat chunks from his timetable- Lister just didn’t have that much energy, arguments with Rimmer were hard work.
The entire ship seemed to be sleeping, Red Dwarf’s long night of slumber after partying hard and having a few too many tequila shots. However, for Lister, every sound that he made- every rustle, every bump, every footstep- was magnified ten times, and turned into a pounding beat that caused his head to spin.
Two decks down, standing outside the door to the room that he shared with Rimmer, the only sound that Lister could hear was his own breathing- rapid, and amplified. Just sit down and sleep. Don’t argue. Just sit down and sleep. Don’t argue, he thought, before pressing his palm against the small white panel against the side of the door, and it slid open in front of him.
What he saw was a surprise to say the least. The floor itself was covered in books, open at various pages, with tiny pieces of coloured card scattered between them like bizarre confetti. However, the even more surprising thing was happening in Rimmer’s bunk. A girl- at least Lister presumed it was-laying on her stomach across the small of Rimmer’s back, her head lolled over the side of the bunk, the long, auburn hair, covering her entire face, and brushing the floor occasionally as she slept. Rimmer himself- who was also lying on his stomach, although he was sleeping adjacent to the girl- seemed completely at ease. His face had a picture of utter delight on it, even though he seemed to be wearing no trousers, and his shirt was unbuttoned and only covered one of his arms.
“Smeggin’ hell,” Lister’s face broken into grin as he realised what must have happened. He ordered the door to close, and silently moved past the bunks, and across the mirror, just wanting to watch the scene, the smile never going from his face. The girl grunted a little in her sleep, and rolled over slightly, her hair falling from her face and showing that she mustn’t have been anymore than eighteen. How the hell had Rimmer managed to do that? The man had about as much wit and charm as a head cold. Lister laughed again; and said: “I ‘ate to say this, Rimmer, especially to you but… well done!”
Fifty minutes later, and all of Rimmer’s engineering books were scatted across the floor. Katie had gone to the trouble of sticking tiny pieces of card into the important pages of each book- colour coding them by importance, and topic. She sat in the middle of the floor, the books scattered in a circle around her. Rimmer hadn’t heard a word out of her, apart from a question about whether he had any coloured card (he had managed to shake his head, and so she had to run back to her own room to collect some), and occasional outbursts of ‘Oh, that’s important, you need to know that’. The learning drugs were slowly beginning to wear off; when Katie had left for five minutes, he had spent it lolling his tongue and trying to remember how to say ‘What the smeg do you think you’re doing?’ without introducing ‘goat vindaloo’ in the middle of it.
“I think I’m done,” Katie said suddenly, flicking the hair from her eyes and looking up at Rimmer, seeming seeking approval.
“It’s…” was all he was able to say.
“All you have to do now is read everything I’ve labelled,” Katie began to collect together the books. “If you memorise at least seventy percent of it, you should pass,” she looked up briefly and smiled. “That’s what I did.”
“This is ridiculous,” Rimmer said suddenly, his bottom lip quivering.
Katie stopped, a book still clutched in her hand.
“I-I’ve been totally silent for at least an hour and you’ve not even noticed! And, my lip! I thought you had broken my smegging face,” Rimmer stood up as suddenly as he had regained his voice, and peered down at the girl on his floor. “And another thing --“ he paused, and took a deep breath. “Thankyou.”
The room was silent; the only noise that was audible was slow beat of the bass from the disco two decks down.
“I-I’m sorry,” Katie muttered. “I noticed you were silent. I did. I just thought you were shy…”
A haughty laugh escaped Rimmer’s lips; “Shy? You should meet Lister. He would have you hung, drawn and quartered for believing that I was shy.” He moved forward a little, and the slowly reached out his palm. “Need a hand?”
***
The clock in the disco read 3.30am. Most of the parties had disbanded, apart from a few couple who were snogging under the damply lit tables, and Dave Lister, who was slumped over the back of a chair, a can of larger slowly slipping through his fingers. It clattered to the floor and he woke with a grunting start.
“What? Wait… what?” He grabbed the side of his head and groaned, feeling the alcohol seeping through his system. How much had he had? Obviously not enough if he was having this conversation with himself. Slowly (and with many hitches along the way) he got to his feet and managed to stumble towards the door leading out into a completely deserted- but utterly filth ridden- corridor. Somehow, he had to get back to the bunk, lie down, and have an argument with Rimmer about how he was supposed to clean the goat chunks from his timetable- Lister just didn’t have that much energy, arguments with Rimmer were hard work.
The entire ship seemed to be sleeping, Red Dwarf’s long night of slumber after partying hard and having a few too many tequila shots. However, for Lister, every sound that he made- every rustle, every bump, every footstep- was magnified ten times, and turned into a pounding beat that caused his head to spin.
Two decks down, standing outside the door to the room that he shared with Rimmer, the only sound that Lister could hear was his own breathing- rapid, and amplified. Just sit down and sleep. Don’t argue. Just sit down and sleep. Don’t argue, he thought, before pressing his palm against the small white panel against the side of the door, and it slid open in front of him.
What he saw was a surprise to say the least. The floor itself was covered in books, open at various pages, with tiny pieces of coloured card scattered between them like bizarre confetti. However, the even more surprising thing was happening in Rimmer’s bunk. A girl- at least Lister presumed it was-laying on her stomach across the small of Rimmer’s back, her head lolled over the side of the bunk, the long, auburn hair, covering her entire face, and brushing the floor occasionally as she slept. Rimmer himself- who was also lying on his stomach, although he was sleeping adjacent to the girl- seemed completely at ease. His face had a picture of utter delight on it, even though he seemed to be wearing no trousers, and his shirt was unbuttoned and only covered one of his arms.
“Smeggin’ hell,” Lister’s face broken into grin as he realised what must have happened. He ordered the door to close, and silently moved past the bunks, and across the mirror, just wanting to watch the scene, the smile never going from his face. The girl grunted a little in her sleep, and rolled over slightly, her hair falling from her face and showing that she mustn’t have been anymore than eighteen. How the hell had Rimmer managed to do that? The man had about as much wit and charm as a head cold. Lister laughed again; and said: “I ‘ate to say this, Rimmer, especially to you but… well done!”