Disclaimer: Nope, hasn't happened yet. I still don't own Red Dwarf. Keep on the edge of your seats, though.
Author's note: I am aware that this story is moving rapidly, and this will change after the next few, but if I take these any slower you will be so bored by the end.
The next week, Nicole had fully recovered and was beginning to find her way around the ship, and Lister, Rimmer and Cat were always happy to be the tour guides. Her wariness of all the crewmates had deteriorated. At first she had found them quite forward and intense, but as she got to know them she learned that they were in fact an interesting, endearing and engaging little group of misfits. Over the next fortnight, she was beginning to discover more about their relationships with each other, about their characters and personalities, and about their pasts. With every new piece of information she gained the knowledge of, she felt that bit more enlightened. She even began to feel privileged that fate had chosen for her a lifetime with these five. The others reassured her that in time, that feeling would fade.
It was Lister's turn to take her for a walk that day. He had insisted on privacy and Rimmer was not happy about it.
"That's not fair! You tagged along the last time I took her!"
"I did not!"
"Well, there was no way you were going to the library of your own free will."
"I was!"
"You weren't!"
"I was!"
"OK, what book did you read?"
"Er..." Lister hit a snag.
"I knew it! You were just ogling her like some Page Three girl!"
"How dare you accuse me of that! I would never do that to her!"
"Well, you did."
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
At that point, Nicole entered. "What's going on?"
Rimmer and Lister froze. There was a healthy silence before one of them spoke up.
"We were just arguing," Lister said, "over who changed the loo roll before it was used up." He cringed. So did Rimmer. So did Nicole. Nicole was excellent at sniffing out lies. She didn't have to spend long with people to work out what they did when they were lying. In Lister's case it was tugging at his left earlobe with his right hand whilst digging into the ground with his foot as if stubbing out a cigarette.
"Is that right?" She asked in general. Rimmer rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor.
"Er, yeah. Yeah, it is." He lied. Nicole smiled and shook her head.
"It doesn't matter. Come on, Lister, let's go," he led her out of the door with a smug glance in Rimmer's direction.
A/n: Aaah, poor Rimmer. This chapter is just building up the tension between R&L. Ho hum.