Arnold Rimmer has always woken up slowly. There are a hundred thousand million gazillion other incarnations of himself out there, but he is unique in this way.
He likes to savor it. Enjoy the warmth of post sleep before suffering the discomfort of Really Having to Pee. He is of the opinion that it's a lot like cuddling after sex. Of course, noone but Dave knows that, since noone else thinks he has sex at all. Arnold has no desire to destroy that illusion, inaccurate though it may be.
This particular morning, the first thing awake is his nose. This isn't unusual, but it's not exactly brimming over with normal-ness either. His nostrils flare slightly as he takes in and his mind processes the smell of eggs and other breakfasty treats, including, he notes happily, mushrooms. The rest of him slowly jolts into wakefulness, and he realizes someone is very, very near him. He cracks open an eyelid.
An overly familiar gerbil-like (why gerbil-like? oh bugger it, he can't remember, why not) grin floats over him. Connected to it are the face and body of Dave lister.
Arnold mumbles a good morning, turning a it to face Dave properly. He reaches under his pillow and procures an object wrapped in brightly coloured gift wrap. It is, quite obviously, a gift.
Today is their anniversary. Yes, anniversary. For three hundred and sixty five whole days Arnold Rimmer and Dave Lister have been 'together'. Yes. Like that. And in several other ways I'm not talking about.
Dave does not open his present, he puts it on his bunk for later. Judging by size, shape and weight, it's probably a movie. Good. He likes movies. They can watch it later tonight.
After he puts down the parcel, he swoops down to deliver a good morning/thank you peck on the cheek. And then, and then he asks The Question.
"Breakfast?"
A/n: I wrote this after waking up. Except my ears always wake up first, which makes remaining blissfully out of it very hard.
