Work Text:
intimacy, n. the state of being intimate
intimate, adj. associated in close personal relations
Lister gets down the dictionary one afternoon when Rimmer is in the shower and looks up the word 'intimacy'. The meaning is, at best, unenlightening. Lister has always thought of intimacy as being a very special, loving word, defining a proper, close relationship, the sort he's not having with Rimmer.
The only reason Rimmer's in the shower is that he has a hard-light body and delights in the sensation of the water slipping over his body. That, and the fact that not a few minutes ago he was in bed beneath Lister, the two of them moving, moving, then crying out, Lister's pleasure peaking, his whole body stopping except for his helpless thrusting, that part of his body seeming to have a mind of its own when it comes to sex.
This definition of intimacy, Lister's personal one, seems to be kind of like what the dictionary is obliquely explaining. Yes. He's definitely not having an intimate relationship with Rimmer. Oh, it's a mutual agreement kind of thing -- Lister wasn't the only one who came just then -- but there's no emotion behind it. The spoken agreement, made no more than three days after their escape from Legion, was that they would do this only until they found other people alive somewhere. It's a matter of convenience, nothing more.
'What are you doing, Lister?' Rimmer is out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, rubbing a second towel over his hair. 'Reading?'
'Lookin' up a word,' Lister says. He has already showered, very briefly, in an attempt to conserve the little water they have remaining. He takes the towel out of Rimmer's hands, sits him down, and starts drying the droplets caught in the fine brown curls, rubbing from Rimmer's forehead back, his fingers grazing against the raised H, running through Rimmer's hair, stroking down the side of his neck. Rimmer's hair smells herbal, outdoors.
'What word?'
Lister bends his head to kiss the side of Rimmer's neck, tongue flicking at the water drops. Rimmer sighs and tilts his head to the side, giving Lister free access. Lister takes it, at first trying not to, but then leaving a red mark on Rimmer's skin that Kryten will see later and try not to comment on.
'What word?' Rimmer insists when his voice has come back.
'Never mind. It doesn't mean anything anyway.'