[Red Dwarf - fic] A Spinning Fan - Part 10 - WIP (discontinued)

Lister/Rimmer, PG.
One day Lister woke up in a psychiatric ward and a doctor told him it was all a dream brought on by excessive drinking.
Written August 21, 2007 by Zekkass.

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Dwayne pulled Rimmer into the nearest janitor’s closet and locked the door behind him. Rimmer raised an eyebrow. “You swiped the keys again?”

“Yes. We need this space more than ‘Bastian does. Now, to business.” Dwayne pulled out a bucket and sat down on it. “What are we going to do about Lister?”

Rimmer leaned on the door and considered. “I don’t want him to leave.”

“He upsets you. I want him to go.”

“I’ll be fine. Seriously, Dwayne. I like him.”

“Of course you do. He listens to you. Even if you’re telling the most boring story, he listens. For me, that’s proof he needs to go.”

Rimmer crossed his arms. “Don’t say that. He stays.” They stared at each other for a long moment, then Rimmer averted his eyes. “Damnit, Dwayne. He’s crazy. He believes that he’s from the future. We aren’t helping him escape.”

“You’re just trying to keep him.”

“Yes.”

“Selfish.”

Rimmer didn’t say anything, and Dwayne grinned. “Oh, very well. Do you want me to talk to the doctors, or do we just stay quiet and let things play out?”

Rimmer nodded. “Thank you. Let’s stay quiet. You know Crane’ll want to keep him. After she gets to him, he’s here forever.”

Dwayne shrugged and stood up. “I know. I know.”

“He named that other one Cat.”

“He..what?”

“You know the other one. He called him Cat.”

“Cat?”

“Yes.”

“Good name.”

“Yes.”

“I think we’re finished, here.”

“Yes.”

“You can stop the broken record impression, Rimmer.”

“Yes.” Rimmer grinned. Dwayne was a fleeting thing, a person who surfaced to say things to Rimmer, only to wiped away by that idiotic Cat. He liked talking to Dwayne. Dwayne liked talking to him. It all worked out. Someday, they would leave together.

Only, Lister had to stay, too. He listened to the things Dwayne wouldn’t. The long stories. The early stories. Rimmer liked that.

“Rimmer, one last thing before we rejoin the world.” Dwayne broke into his thoughts.

Before Rimmer could protest, (not that he would want to) Dwayne hugged him and licked his ear. Then he opened the door, and held it open for Rimmer. At Rimmer’s pleading look, he only said, “Later.”

There was another reason as to why Rimmer liked Dwayne. When he said later, later was soon. Not forever.

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The bunkroom was unchanged when Lister returned to it, except for a few mussed sheets. He sat on his bed and considered playing solitaire again. Before he could make up his mind, the door to the bunkroom opened.

“Oh, hello!” Lister stared. It was Sebastian Doyle. Only it wasn’t.

“Er, hello..” Lister offered. “Who are you?”

“I’m Bastian, the janitor. You new around here?”

“Yeah.” Lister fiddled with the sheets. Bastian looked like Sebastian, but only vaguely. Just enough to remind him of when he had been a Doyle.

“Nice to meet you.” Bastian waved and began to sweep the floor.

Lister watched him sweep for a moment, then said, “Sebastian?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a brother named Bill?”

“Yeah. What, did you meet him or something?”

“I’ve seen him around.” Lister put down the sheets.

“So how did you know we were brothers?”

“…lucky guess?” Lister sighed. He could have handled that better.

“Right.” Bastian looked at him oddly, than backed slowly out of the room.

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By the time Rimmer and Dwayne returned to the bunkroom, Lister was almost finished building a house of cards. Unfortunately, opening the door began the short, yet incredibly effective demolition of the house of cards. “Smeg!”

“What?” Rimmer asked before he noticed the cards. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll pick ‘em all up.”

Dwayne shrugged and stepped over to his bed as Rimmer bent down to pick up some of the cards.

Lister stopped picking up cards. Rimmer wasn’t supposed to be helping. He was a bastard, right? “Rimmer.”

“What?” Rimmer looked up.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes.”

Dwayne laughed. “And there’s the broken record again!”

Lister ignored Dwayne. “Then why are you helping me?”

“Why are you asking me why?” Rimmer absently picked up another card.

“It’s…oh, never mind. Thanks for the help.” Lister tapped his small deck into a manageable pile, then picked up another card. Several minutes passed before he spoke again. “Does anything happen here? I mean, is there a daily exercise run, or a doctor visit?”

“There’s a dorm check at eight, but that’s about it.” Rimmer said. “Dr. Crane might be visiting you soon, though. You’ll need meds for your recovery.”

“I don’t need meds.”

Dwayne laughed again. “’course you don’t! Nobody here needs meds, right?”

Lister glared but didn’t refute him. “So when do I meet her?”

Rimmer glanced at the clock. “Anytime, now. Here’s the rest of your cards.” He handed over the small deck.

“Thanks.” Lister put the deck together. So he could be meeting Crane soon…he didn’t know what to feel. He wasn’t afraid, but definitely nervous. What kind of meds would a doctor prescribe for him? Anti-depressants? Ritalin?

Nothing?

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