#Red Dwarf Holly | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

spookybunnybabe · 1 month ago

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stars by the pocketful chapter one.

Summary: A week before her wedding, a girl puts herself and her best friend in stasis on a cruise ship after a drinking session. Upon waking up, she send out a distress signal which attracts the attention of an unlikely dysfunctional crew. With options limited (and a fleshy monster after them), they both find themselves part of the Red Dwarf. They don't know what they've missed out on but they know friendship, and an unlikely romance, are on the horzion.

Relationship: Arnold Rimmer/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Arnold Rimmer, Dave Lister, The Cat (Red Dwarf), Kryten (Red Dwarf), Holly (Red Dwarf), Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Episode Related, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Attempt at Humor, Not Canon Compliant, Original Female Character, Slice of Life, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

authors note: listen,,, i'm partially writing this for fun (and therapy) so if it's bad, eh. I'm trying my best to match the vibe of the show but writing humor isn't my strong suit. I actually had a lot of fun writing this first chapter so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

link to ao3

When Madeline cracked her eyes open, she didn’t know what to expect. It felt as if last night had been a wild one by the looks of her best friend, Olive, sprawled across the floor. She didn't know how long they had been out but judging by their smudged makeup and the dust that had started to collect on her Doc Martins, it had been a very long time.

The voice of the ship's computer, a male one, voiced something about a stasis pod being open but honestly, Madeline felt so hungover that she didn’t even know if that was what the man’s voice was saying. She looked down at Olive and decided to kick her gently once, just to make sure she wasn’t dead.

“You dead there?”

Olive, who was still sprawled on the floor and had one boot missing, sat up and brushed out her blown out hair. “Dead? Nah, if we were dead, it would be much better. No hangover...but,” She looked towards the door, “It’s quiet outside. What’s going on? No Jazzercise robots...or drunk tourists singing karaoke.

Madeline pushed herself onto her feet before pushing at the massive doors. She tried to remember last night. She remembered that they were both currently on a space cruise. She remembered it was a week until she was getting married, and Olive was trying to bring her up to calling it off. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to get married... it was just that she just...well, actually it was that. She didn’t want to get married.

“I don’t know what happened,” She looked down the hallway to see...chaos. Things were strown across the hallways. She raised her eyebrows. The once luxurious ship looked as if it had been hit by a space tornado if anything could be said about the half empty cocktail glasses rolling across the floor, a pair of tied shoes dangling from the ceiling and what looked suspiciously like an inflatable flamingo wedged into an out of commission service droid’s compartment.

“Hm. Olive?” Madeline picked up a cocktail glass, “Think we might have slept through something rather...big,”

Olive stepped out of the cupboard and then turned to Madeline, “What? Did we miss the karaoke finals?”

Madeline shot her a look for a second before shaking her head, “No, more like the end of the world,”

As they walked down the hallway, they reached the restaurant they would often have their meals in... whenever they were able to because Olive was vegan and sometimes the options were...atrocious. Olive looked inside and whistled, “Someone really went all out at the buffet,”

Madeline didn’t respond. Her brain was still trying to understand what was going on right now. If everyone was gone, how were they still alive? They fell asleep in the closet so...did someone come in and miss them? Were they protected by the closet walls? She sat down on a table that was covered in a white ashy type of dust.

“I... don’t understand. How are we still alive?”

Olive leaned against the table, picking up the half-eaten...what looked like a croissant, sniffing it curiously before quickly chucking it, “What if we were cryogenically preserved by some alien life form who thought we were space royalty and then left everything else to rot?”

Madeline just stared at her blankly, “But...why would they leave us?”

“Okay. Maybe they got bored. Or maybe someone had a good party and didn’t clean up. Look at the place,” Olive gestured around her, “The place is trashed,”

The ships voice came back to voice.

“Stasis pods. Release. Time elapsed...”

“Stasis pod?” Madeline looked around and then back at Olive, “Wait, I... Maybe that wasn’t a cupboard we fell asleep in...”

“Makes sense,” Olive said, giving the room one more look, “Was beginning to wonder why there were no coats in the cupboard,”

Madeline blinked, rubbing her temples as the ships voice droned on in the background, “So... let me get this straight...we’ve accidentally stasis’d ourselves,”

“Sounds like it,”

Madeline sighed, “Brilliant... just fucking brilliant,”

Olive didn’t say anything for moment, “Could be worse. You now don’t have to get married,”

Madeline groaned, slumping back in her chair, “I don’t know if ‘accidently cryogenically preserved’ is going to be a valid excuse for missing the wedding,”

Olive smirked, “Oh, I don’t know. ‘Sorry, honey. I’ve been in stasis for who knows how long and might have missed a few centuries��”

Before Madeline could respond, a loud buzzing came from the far end of the room and a monitor flickered to life as the two women jumped up onto their feet as the ships AI – an overly cheerful host in a tuxedo began playing.

“Welcome back, passengers of the SS StarGuzzler. I’m delighted to inform you that you have been in stasis for...” The Ai began to glitch out and then suddenly resumed, “Stasis time is unavailable. But fear not as most systems are, mostly operational. Please enjoy the rest of your cruise,”

The girls exchanged looks.

“Mostly operational?” Olive echoed, “I don’t know how I feel about that,”

That was when the ship’s AI continued to glitch, “Rest assured, there is no immediate danger at the current moment except for, minor small low-grade chance of radiation exposure. Please enjoy the rest of your stay,”

“Radiation exposure?!” Madeline muttered, beginning to rub her temples, “Well, isn’t that just the cherry on top,”

Olive shrugged, “At least we don’t have screaming children in the pool,”

“True,” Madeline sighed, approaching the panel that the AI was on, trying to tap it to see if it could give them any information but the AI head just kept glitching, “We need to figure out how long we’ve been asleep,”

Olive went over to Madeline and tapped the panel, “Come on, it can’t have been more than a few days, tops,”

Madeline shook her head, “Olive, this place looks like a complete disaster. It’s definitely been longer than a few days,”

Before Olive could even say something, a loud abrupt thud echoed through the ship which threw them off to the side slightly. The AI flicked once more.

“Don’t worry about it. Just a minor...hull...But don’t panic! If anything happens, we have plenty of escape pods...I think”

Madeline groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Brilliant. Now, we’re not only lost, but potentially floating in a giant radioactive tin can. Olive, if we don’t die of radiation poisoning...”

“Don’t panic,” She was trying to be the optimistic one in a very bleak situation, “We don’t know how long we’ve been out for. We could be out for a few days. Maybe someone is coming to find us,”

“Or, we’re two idiots that fell asleep in the stasis pod because we got drunk crying about me getting married,” It was at that moment that Madeline hit the panel for not being helpful.

“Come on Maddie. We’ve survived hangovers and questionable vegan space buffets. We can survive this,” Olive said.

A loud sudden beep from the control panel startled them both. Madeline froze for a second, staring at the screen as it quickly flashed SEND DISTRESS SIGNAL.

“Holy shit. Let’s send out a distress signal,” Olive said clicking it.

“We don’t know what’s out there,” Madeline said, “We could reach contact with space pirates or cannibals,”

“Space pirates? Really Maddie?”

Madeline crossed her arms, “Look, I used to go to the cruises movie nights, and they used to play Attack of the Shirtless Stripper Space Cannibals, and they very much exist,”

Olive rolled her eyes, “You’re probably a bit too touch and gristly for space cannibals, what with all the sarcasm and existential dread hardening you up,”

Madeline glared, “Great. Thanks Olive,”

With that said, Olive pressed the record button to record the signal, “This is Olive Smith and Madeline McDonald of SS Starguzzler. We appear to have accidentally put ourselves into stasis and have avoided an attack. There is a radiation leak so it would be nice if someone could pick us up...thank you!”

And that was it sent out.

Madeline couldn’t argue with that. She sits down at one of the tables, “Well, it’s out there now. Fingers crossed it’s not space cannibals,”

Olive grinned and joined her, “Relax, Maddie. We could get rescued by some big hunky space pilot,”

Madeline rolled her eyes, “Or cannibals. How are you so calm about this?”

“I’m not calm. I’m just hungover enough not to care,” She tapped her fingers against the table top, “Besides, isn’t this a little freeing? No wedding, no responsibilities... just you and me in space,”

The monitor flickered again, the AIs distorted voice chimed in once more, “Distress signal sent. Response time is...indefinite. Thank you for your patience and enjoy the rest of your cruise.”

Madeline stared at the screen, “Indefinite. Cool. So, we’re stuck here until someone answers,”

“Or ten minutes. You don't know. Life is full of surprises,”

Just as the words left her mouth, another loud thud reverberated through the ship and knocked both off their chairs. The lights flickered, and for a moment, the ship’s AI seemed to glitch out again before cutting a low hum.

“What was that?” Madeline tried to pull herself up as the ship began to rattle, “That...That wasn’t my imagination,”

Olive stood up, holding her arms up to keep her balance, “Uh, no. Definitely heard that. And unless the yoga instructor droids have finally woken up, we might have company,”

There was another crash that threw the ladies against the floor again, but they tried to get up by holding onto the wall.

“I think most definitely,”

There was the sound of something being forcefully opened from above them. Madeline pushed herself up as she grabbed onto the panel for some support.

“The distress signal worked. Too bad it’s attracted like...something that one’s to kill us,”

“You don’t know that Maddy!!! Maybe he’s the hunk we want but maybe he’s...shy,”

“Shy?!?” Madeline stared at Olive for two seconds.

“Yeah, shy! You know, like those tall brooding types from my favorite novels,”

“Focus!” The ship threw them both against the wall again. There was a grinding noise from above that sounded very much like a door being removed.

Madeline ducked, “I hope that’s the hunky pilot and not-”

The ceiling vent exploded downward in a cloud of debris, and a figure, clad in a patchwork of mismatched armor dropped through the hole landing with an audible thud. The figure’s eyes immediately fell on the girls, and it could only be described as not human and more... fleshy.

“...”Madeline didn’t know what to say as she started shuffling backwards. She instinctively started shuffling backwards to try and get away. The creature tilted its head, emitting a low, guttural growl that sounded like a little too close to something that was ready to kill both of them.

“That’s not a space hunk,” Olive whispered.

“I am aware,”

The creature snarled again then started advancing slowly towards them, it’s body jerky with each movement it made.

“Right... then, what’s the plan?” Olive muttered, clearly not in the mood to take charge in this situation. Madeline didn’t respond at once. Her eyes kept looking around the room for something that could be used as a weapon. This was the same as Olive as she turned and saw a croissant on the ground. She picked it up and threw it at the creature to which Maddie shot her a look.

“Really?”

“Do you have any better ideas?”

The creature looked at the two women before looking at the ground at the rather sad looking croissant. There was a beat of silence...then it roared.

“Maddie. I think that was a mistake...”

“What makes you say that?” But there was no time for sarcasm before she grabbed Olive’s hand, “We need to run. NOW,”

“Attention. Attention. There has been a distress call received from a cruise ship nearby.”

Holly’s voice spoke through the ship. To which brought the crew’s attention to the cockpit to listen to the message. It had been a rather slow month on the Red Dwarf, which was either a good thing or not. This, the distress call, was the first time in a while they had even contacted something in a while.

“Great, we have...what, a month of nothing interesting happening and now suspicious cruise ship just happens to be floating innocently across space,” Rimmer, who was ever the optimist was trying to convince the others to ignore the distress call. Afterall, everything had been relatively calm recently.

However, Lister heard cruise ship, and his mind went to one thing, “I don’t know Rimmer. I wonder if they have any Margaretta mixes on board. We are starting the run low,”

Rimmer rolled his eyes, “Holly. Do you know if this distress call is even genuine?”

Holly nodded her head, “The distress call is genuine. They appear to have recorded it on an internal panel. I’ll play it now.

As Holly played the distress call, the grainy footage of the two unknown women played on the screen.

“This is Olive Smith and Madeline McDonald of SS Starguzzler. We appear to have accidentally put ourselves into stasis and have avoided an attack. There is a radiation leak so it would be nice if someone could pick us up...thank you!”

“Wait... Wait,” Cat, who hadn’t cared previously, seemed to somehow perk up, “There’s two women on board and we aren’t immediately running to their help?”

Lister scratched his chin thoughtfully, “Well, I reckon we should go and help them. Can’t leave two people just stranded with radiation leaks,”

“Great idea, Listy,” And naturally, Rimmer had his objections to the rescue mission, “Let’s go waltzing into an irradiated death trap because two women who, may I remind you, accidently put themselves into stasis,”

“Accidently,” Kryten interjected, “Which is quite impressive, sir. I would love to personally meet them. It takes a special kind of lack of foresight to do that,”

Cat, who was already flicking his hair back, “The ship could be falling apart for all I care. There’s two women on the ship. Two of them,”

And Lister clearly wasn’t listening to Rimmer’s objections as per usual because he was strapping his boots on, “Holly, what’s the chance of the cruise ship irradiating us?”

“Anywhere between 30% to.... 90%?”

“Wow. That precise,” Rimmer, who clearly still wasn’t convinced, didn’t move an inch to jump into battle.

“Quit your whining,” Lister said with a grin, “Think of it like...an adventure. There might even be vindaloo mix or two on board. The radiation might just give it a little extra kick,”

As Rimmer was about to protest further, Kryten stepped in with his usual logic, “Sir. If we don’t aid, those women may suffer from irreversible damage due to the radiation. As a noble and caring crew, I suggest we act with swift valor and precision,”

“Yeah. Valor and precision,” Lister through his arm into the air in a fist pump motion, “Valor and precision,”

“You think this will hold it off,”

Olive and Madeline placed a heavy jukebox in front of the door. Now they couldn’t see past the door as they were locked in what seemed to be a cockpit. The ship had been functioning using the barely functioning AI system and autopilot. Which...makes it surprising how they were still floating then. Madeline tried to jump to see over the chairs but unfortunately, they were both under 5ft3 and couldn’t see anything.

“No. However, maybe they will get distracted at all the croissants you insisted on throwing at it,” Madeline said as she tried to frantically look at the panel to see if there was ANYTHING that could help.

“It was the only thing I could think of!” Equally frantic, she was adding more and more chairs so they could build up a good barricade. She even tried to wedge a tiny coffee table into it while Madeline was tearing her hair out at the buttons.

“I don’t know how to save us. I was a nurse at home, not a damn pilot,” she said, feeling incredibly frustrated by the upcoming doom. It was then, the AI’s head appeared on the screen.

“Hello ma’am. There are communications from the SS Jupiter Mining ship Red Dwarf. Would you like to open the communication comms?”

Communications? Finally!

“Yes! Patch them through...”

When the monitor lit up, she was faced by... a bizarre group of people. A human who looked...sloppy. A hologram, a cleaning droid and a sharply dressed...human? Either way, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“Hey! You must be the ladies from the distress call!” said the sloppy one who was more lounging than anything.

Madeline frantically pressed buttons to get herself through, “Hello! This is Madeline McDonald. We are in desperate need of help,”

Olive waved frantically in the background, “Yes! We’ve got a bit of a situation in here. There's this...fleshy thing trying to break in and I think it wants to eat us?”

“Wait, no. Nobody mentioned big fleshy thing!” The hologram spoke up in the background. “No. This is why we should have stayed put. I’ve had quite enough of-”

The cleaning droid cleared his throat politely, “If I may interject, Miss McDonald and Miss Smith, could you describe the fleshy thing in greater detail, so we know what we are talking about,”

Madeline threw a look towards the door, which kept rattling from the sheer weight of the creature, “Uh...big and humanoid. But...not at the same time. It has...flesh but it looks like it’s peeling off and it’s...really pissed off,”

Olive nodded, “Oh! And it sticks! Like really bad,”

The human who had addressed them first nodded, “Fleshy and angry...sounds like an ex of mine,”

Madeline blinked, “Excuse me?”

He waved her off, “Nothing. Just my luck with women. Alright. We’ll be down there to get you both out. It will take some time. Just what’s the situation? It’s not like, in the room with you?”

Olive laughed nervously from the background, “Not yet but it’s trying... we’ve blocked the door with everything. Tables, chairs, inflatable flamingos...”

“Well, isn’t this fantastic,” The hologram spoke again, “We’re seriously rescuing too women who have barricaded themselves with children’s pool toys,”

The droid spoke again, “Miss McDonald, Miss Smith, is there an air vent that either of you could travel through to get to another part of the ship? There may still be operational systems in other parts of the vessel?”

“That’s...not a terrible ideal?” Madeline looked behind her to Olive and gestured to the vent that was at the side and buried under all the debris. “Thoughts?”

Olive gave her the thumbs up, “I’m game. It beats being eaten alive,”

Madeline turns back, “Okay. We’re going to try and get out of here. Meanwhile, it would be great if we could be picked up somewhere convenient,”

“Yup. We’re already plotting a course to land. If you know where the landing deck is, head to there but if not... we’ll meet you there,”

Madeline signed off and turned to Olive before looking at the vent. “Alright, we better start moving then,”

“Hols, set a course for us to land on the docking bay of the cruise ship,” Lister leaned back as everyone was ready to investigate this ship. Holly immediately got to work with plotting a course. Cat had disappeared entirely, something about needing to put on the most dazzling suit to impress the ladies on board. Rimmer was...well, brooding.

“Come on Rimmer,” Lister knocked his shoulder, “They seemed like nice girls. We can’t just leave them there,”

But nothing could get rid of the scowl on his face, “Nice girls or not, it’s a giant irradiated party ship with a fleshy…thing. I don’t see why we must be the ones who save them. Can’t we just leave a polite note and wish them the best of luck?”

Lister chuckled, leaning back on his chair, “Where’s your sense of adventure? You never know. One of them might take a fancy to you and you’ll finally get a girlfriend,”

Rimmer shot him a look, “Sorry. I don’t think a girl who accidently puts herself in stasis would be my type,”

Lister grinned, leaning in closer, “Oh come on. You cannot be picky at this point. If you wait for perfection, you’ll be waiting another lifetime...or in your case, holographic lifetimes,”

Rimmer stood up, pacing a little to the side crossing his arms, “Look, all I’m saying is that our survival shouldn’t hinge on two women who think inflatable flamingos are a legitimate defense strategy!”

And Cat returned, dawning an incredibly bright sequin suit with all the accessories while he was combing his hair, “None of you will have a chance with these ladies not after they see this,” He gestured dramatically to his glittering suit, “I mean, they are going to be fawning over me so badly just by looking at me,”

Lister chuckled, shaking his head, “Oh yeah mate, because nothing says ‘rescue party’ like a disco ball in a suit. You are going to blind the monster before it even gets close,”

Cat was now too busy combing his hair in the panel that he waved Lister off, “It’s called Strategy, Lister. I’m going to be so dazzling that they will forget all about their fleshy problem,”

Rimmer groaned, rubbing his temples. “I think it is us that will have the fleshy problem. We might as well just have signs next to us saying...fleshy thing food,”

“I’m sure Miss McDonald and Miss Smith would be more...appreciative of a more organized approach,” Kryten chimed in.

“Organized?” Lister responded, “Come on, Kryten, where’s the fun in that?”

“I do believe our best chance of survival would involve avoiding any unnecessary confrontation with the creature, perhaps something...subtle?”

“Subtle,” Rimmer spoke in disbelief, “With him glowing like a Christmas tree?”

Lister stood up, “Relax, Rimmer. We’ll be fine. We’ve dealt with worse – like that time you got us into a mess with those psychotic GELFs?”

Rimmer glared, “This is madness. Why can’t we leave the flamingo women to their fate?”

“Sir if I may,” Kryten said, “It’s our moral duty. After all, they didn’t choose to be trapped in stasis with a deadly creature and I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that we are their only hope,”

“Exactly, Rimmer,” Lister spoke up, “We’re their only hope...or something like that?”

Just as Rimmer was about to speak up, Holly’s head popped up on the screen, “Alright. Docking procedure is complete. Just...try not to get yourself killed,”

On the other side of the ship, a vent came off the wall after Madeline kept bashing into it and they crawled out. They ended up in the restaurant that they had originally been to before. Madeline and Olive climbed out and brushed their outfits off.

“Now what?” Olive asked.

Madeline looked around, “I guess we have to find the docking bay from here. Let’s keep going and try not to attract attention to ourselves,”

The overturned tables and scattered debris from their earlier chaos only made the silence more unsettling. Madeline began to move quickly and quietly as Olive moved to keep up, “Let’s hope our fleshy friend isn’t in the mood for more,”

They started moving quietly through the restaurant. The fluorescent lights overhead flickered occasionally which added to their unease.

Suddenly, Madeline’s skin began to crawl.

“Hold on,”

Olive stopped walking, “What?”

Madeline said nothing. She narrowed her eyes and looked around, “Do you hear that...? The ship settling...”

Olive snorted, “Yeah right, since when do ships settle?”

Madeline shuddered as her unease grew, “I’m serious. Something is really off,” The faint echo of shuffling reached their ears.

Olive’s sarcasm faded as she strained to listen. The low, unsettling noise was moving. And it was getting louder and louder.

Madeline motioned for them to move quietly again, sticking close to the wall as they crept towards the next exit. They fucked behind a fallen table as the sound grew closer. Madeline peaked around the corner and... Well, there it was. Its skin, or what was left of it, glistened grotesquely under the lights and its uneven breaths filled the air.

Madeline pulled back, “It’s here. We need to leave now,”

Olive gave her a nod and together, they began to crawl towards the nearest exit, keeping as low and as quiet as possible. The creature was still shuffling behind them, but it hadn’t notice yet. That was until Olive accidentally knocked on a tray, sending it clattering loudly to the ground.

The women looked at each other.

“Sorry...” Olive’s voice barely came out.

The creature let out a deafening roar and it snapped it’s head around towards them. Without thinking about it, Madeline grabbed Olive’s arm and yanked her, “RUN!” which spurred them both into action. They bolted from behind the table and began sprinting through the wreckage of the restaurant as the creature’s roar echoed from behind them as its heavy feet thudded behind them.

“Why is it always me!” Olive cried out between breaths. The creature was moving faster than before as it’s grotesque farm barreled towards them with terrifying speed.

“Just keep running!!”

As they rounded the corner, Madeline’s eyes saw a sign that said Docking Bay: 50 meters. Madeline’s heart leapt at the sight of the sign. They were almost there. This was enough to make both of them push themselves harder as the adrenaline kicked in. The creature’s growl grew louder, they could practically feel it’s hot breath behind them.

The door to the docking bay came into view, and Madeline stretched her arm out and slammed her hand against the panel.

“Move!” She yelled, yanking Olive inside as the door opened. Once inside, she slammed her door against the panel which made the door slam shut. The creature pounded against the door, trying to force its way through.

It was just then, they turned around to see that the ship was docking. The door that the creature was banging on wasn’t going to keep up forever.

“Hey!” Olive raised her arms, “We’re here!”

“Hey! Look, it’s our ladies!”

Cat had been eagerly looking at the panel as the shuttle was about to land. Thankfully, all it needed was for the ladies to get onto the ship and they could disappear. It was a piece of cake...right.

“Alright alright, relax,” Lister raised his arms, “Let’s go down and collect them. Then we’ll be off,”

Cat adjusted his already immaculate outfit, flashing a grin at his reflection in the panel. “I’m telling you, as soon as they see me, they’ll be begging to leave that nightmare ship,”

Kryten, grabbing a box, “Oh I am quite excited to meet these ladies. I’ve got the first aid kit just in case,”

As the crew went downstairs, shuttle door hissed open, and the ladies ran into the docking bay platform. Despite the fact that the ladies looked haggard, Lister waved at them casually, “You two alright? Ready to get the smeg out of here?”

Before the ladies could even answer, Cat pushed himself to the front of the queue, “Don’t worry ladies. You’re safe with me! Nothing can touch us while I’m on the scene.”

“Not now Cat!” Rimmer yelled, as he noticed the fleshy thing was tearing the door apart, “Kryten, close the door now before we become lunch!”

Without another word, Kryten sealed the shuttle door. The loud crash of the creature breaking through the docking bay which made everyone freeze for a second as Lister punched the thrusters, sending them soaring away from the ship and the creature within.

For now, they were safe.

As the shuttle blasted away from the cruise ship, Madeline collapsed into one of the seats with her hand pressed against her forehead, “That was way too close,”

Olive too slumped in a seat letting out a dry laugh, “If we ever suggest a cruise again, slap me,”

Lister grinned from the pilots seat, “Don’t worry. We’re stick to something less fleshy next time...”

Madeline was quiet for a moment while she caught her breath before looking over, “Uh...thank you for saving us. I’m Madeline...and that’s Olive. We’re uh... best friends,”

“Attached at the hip,” Olive continued, “You’ll never find one without the other,”

“Madeline and Olive eh?” Lister said, “Well, I’m Lister. And this dysfunctional lot is the rest of the crew,”

Cat chimed in, excitedly, “You’ve probably noticed that I am the best dressed on here. Don’t worry ladies. You’ll be safe now that I’m on the scene,”

“That’s Cat. He’s like, you know how human’s desended from Apes. Well, he desended from Cat’s,”

“Oh!” Olive clasped her hands together, “I do love Cats!”

“Meow!” And Olive’s admission of how much she loves Cats sent Cat into a tangent that was interrupted by Kryten.

“And I’m Kryten. Your humble service droid. If there’s anything you need while you remain here, medical or otherwise, I’m at your disposal,”

Rimmer, who looked frazzled gave a half wave, “Arnold Rimmer. Hologram, former officer and apparently the only one here wondering why we’ve let two random women suddenly on the ship,”

“Oh Rimmer. Don’t make the ladies feel unwelcome. They’ve been through a lot,” Lister said, barely turning to look at him.

“There has to be someone with some sense around here,” Rimmer responded.

Ignoring that, Madeline looked at Rimmer curiously, “So... wait, you’re a hologram. Does that mean your...”

Clearly not thrilled by the line of questioning, Rimmer glared at her, “Dead. Yes. Thanks for reminding me,”

“Oh...” Madeline didn’t know quite what to say, “I’m...sorry?”

Olive, always one to lighten the mood, “At least you can’t get eaten by fleshy monsters them,”

Rimmer gave her a sour look, “Small comforts,”

“Well, I don’t know about you...” Cat began, “But I would have dazzled that monster so much it wouldn’t have came near us,”

“Yes sir,” Kryten gave an exaggerated nod of agreement, “Your impeccable fashion sense would have done the trick,”

Madeline could immediately catch onto the dynamic of the crew. She couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Being chased by a monster and now, sitting among an eccentric crew...it was almost comforting.

“Clearly, we are all in good hands,”

“Of course,” Cat replied with a flashy smile, “I mean, just look at me! The monster wouldn’t have stood a chance,”

Olive nudged Madeline, “See? We were saved by a fashion statement,”

Madeline shook her head, feeling herself begin to ease up as if they hadn’t just been running for their lives, “I... guess that’s one way to doing it,”

Cat was quite pleased with himself. He leaned back in his chair, “Trust me, ladies. Style is just as important as survival. A well-dressed man never runs out of luck,”

“Yeah well, luck or not, we’re glad you survived,” Lister said, “Welcome to Red Dwarf. The only thing crazier than the ship is the crew,”

Rimmer scoffed, “Speak for yourself, Listy. Some of us try to maintain order around here. Not that anyone listens,”

Kryten nodded, “You see Miss McDonald and Miss Smith, it’s a rather...unconventional way to approach survival but I assure you, we have our way of surviving chaos,”

Olive smiled, “Maddie. I think we will fit in, don’t you?”

Madeline looked at the rest of them and a small smile reached her lips. “Yeah, I suppose this will work,”

And it was then Lister gave them the thumbs up, “Fantastic. You both have the right attitude. Sit tight and relax. We’ll be back on Red Dwarf soon.

And that was that. The tension finally eased, and Madeline leaned back in her seat, looking at Olive, who flashed her a playful grin. There was still so much to find out. What happened to them and what happened to everyone else? All Madeline knew was that if they wanted answers, they would need to stick with this crew.

To a new adventure.

#red dwarf #arnold j rimmer #dave lister #kryten #the cat red dwarf #red dwarf fanfiction #red dwarf holly

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spookybunnybabe · 1 month ago

Text

stars by the pocketful chapter two.

link to ao3

Relationship: Arnold Rimmer/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Arnold Rimmer, Dave Lister, The Cat (Red Dwarf), Kryten (Red Dwarf), Holly (Red Dwarf), Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Episode Related, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Attempt at Humor, Not Canon Compliant, Original Female Character, Slice of Life, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

chapter summary: The crew debate who they would bring on a desserted island before setting off on an abandoned ship for supplies. However, they get seperated from eachother, causing some awkward conversations to form.

And that what how life seemed to go, the next couple of weeks. The girls found themselves on the crew ship for indefinite. They had nowhere else to go; with all that time now behind them it seems as if they really didn’t have much of a choice. The idea of leaving didn’t seem to really enter their heads.

Especially since they were already being established in the group. It took on a strange sort of normalcy. They had once been passengers on a luxery cruise ship. Madeline was this close to marrying an accountant for a company selling car insurance, and now here she was, being rudely waken at 5am by a ‘fire drill’.

It took Madeline at least 5 minutes to rouse herself from sleep, put her crocs on and then walk slowly down to the arranged meeting place. Rimmer had stressed how important knowing the fire safety drill procedure was, even if Lister called him a bureaucrat.

Still, Madeline didn’t want to argue was the laws of the land, so she stumbled tired through the hallways to make her way to the cockpit in which...

It was empty. Apart from Rimmer who was sitting there unimpressed.

“Six minutes. In an emergency, you’d be toast,”

“Good morning Rimmer...” Madeline said, stumbling to one of the chairs to curl up and fall back asleep. She didn’t hear anyone else getting up. In fact, she’d heard something from Olive’s room about hitting the shower before going to the meeting place. She yawned, barely registering the glare.

“This isn’t a joke!” And there he was, beginning a rant, “Fire drills are a matter of life and death. Six minutes is unacceptable... If this were an actual fire-”

As they were talking, Kryten was the next to walk in, “Sorry, sir. There was a lot of laundry that needed to be done before I could have came through,”

Madeline was thankful that she wasn’t burning under the glare of Rimmer and it was now Kryten’s turn, “Laundry? Laundry? Is that more important than a fire dril?”

Kryten gave a polite nod, “My sincerest apologies. I’ll make sure the socks are all folded before the next drill,”

“Anyway, where is Olive? I have absolutely no faith in Lister or Cat being on time?” Rimmer asked.

“Olive is...probably curling her hair as we speak. She just had a shower from what I heard,”

Rimmer’s face turned in frustration. Madeline was almost falling asleep, Kryten had priorities on the laundry, Olive was curling her hair and the other two...who knew what they were up to? Probably eating toast or something.

“Unbelievable. I’m trying to run a tight ship, and all of you are turning it into a joke,”

Madeline sat up a little, “At least Kryten and I appeared,”

“Great. How noble of you,” Rimmer crossed his arms, McDonald, you are barely awake and Kryten is more worried about folding laundry,”

“Sir. In all fairness, laundry is crucial to supporting the crew morale. Clean socks are the foundation our society is built on,”

Just as Kryten finished talking, Olive waltzed into the room, still fixing a loose curl, “Sorry! Sorry, I had to make sure I didn’t look gross before I came downstairs,”

“Gross?” Rimmer’s frustration began to boil over, “This is a fire drill, Smith!”

Olive joined the other two, sitting down on the chair next to Madeline, “You never know who you run into when it comes to emergency,”

Madeline tried to stifle a laugh, mainly because she was beginning to feel bad for Rimmer at this point. When Rimmer tried to keep some sort of order, it never seemed to go right. It just added to the charm of this place, “At least Olive turned up. I bet Lister and Cat are probably still sleeping,”

“Sir, perhaps next time we could arrange the fire drill for a more...convient hour?” Maybe around no one when everyone is more alert,” Kryten was trying to be helpful which cause Rimmer to throw his arms up.

“No. That defeats the purpose of a fire drill. An actual emergency could happen at 3am and no one would be prepared,”

“Ugh. Okay, if we are waiting for the other two to appear, I’m gonna make coffee,” Madeline stood up and noticed Rimmer was watching her leave as if she had just said she was going to set the food supplies on fire.

“In this situation, would you really go back inside a burning ship for some coffee,”

Madeline paused at the doorway and thought about it carefully, “I’d probably need more coffee than ever,”

Madeline got herself and Olive a coffee and returned to the cockpit where they listened to Rimmer talk about the importance of fire drills for the next 45 minutes. It was only then interrupted by the appearance of Cat and Lister who casually came in together.

“A whole hour?” If Rimmer had been annoyed for about 6 minutes, then imagine the look on his face when they waltzed in after an hour.

“Had to have breakfast. Can’t escape on a stomach, you know,” Lister said, taking his seat where he normally did.

“And I had to stop at ever mirror to make sure I looked good.” Cat preened, strutting across the room.

Madeline sat sipping her coffee, and exchanged a glance with Olive. This was their life now. They were in the middle of this highly dysfunctional crew. It was funny how one’s life can change so quickly.

“Anyway, if Rimmer is done with...whatever this is...” Olive gestured, standing up and looking at the rest of the crew, “Madeline and I are going through the house to talk about shopping and gossip about boys...” It was clear that wasn’t what they were about to do.

Madeline couldn’t help but smile as she stood up, holding her coffee mug close, “Shopping, gossip, you know...real important girl stuff,”

“During the fire drill?” Rimmer couldn’t look anymore appalled if he tried.

Olive shrugged nonchalantly, “I thought we passed your precious drill.”

“This isn’t a vacation! This is serious!”

Lister was still reclined in his chair, “Give it a rest Rimmer. Let the girls have their girl time,”

Kryten gave a small polite bow, “Well, I’m always avaliable if you need any assistance with your make up routine, Miss McDonald and Miss Smith. I have a vast knowledge of the best use of products,”

Olive snorted, “Thanks Kryten, I’ll keep you in mind,” then she linked arms with Madeline and gave the others a playful wave, “Catch you later, boys. We have got some important girl things to talk about,”

As the doors slid shut behind them, leaving the rest of the crew, they could hear the continued arguing on the other side of the doors as they began to walk down the corridors.

“Important girl things?” Madeline said, although it was more of a question.

Olive waved her off, “You know what I meant. I didn’t want the others to try and follow us...it’s been a while since we just spoke on our own,”

As they turned to the corridor, they reached Madeline’s sleeping chambers which were rather... plain. Neither of them had much stuff to decorate their chambers with. Madeline went over to her bed and sat on the side.

“I know right? It’s just...being a part of this crew means we’re always with one or the other,”

There was a beat of a silence before Olive suddenly grinned and sat next to Madeline.

“So, which one do you think is the cutest?”

Madeline blinked, “What?”

“You know...those four...who’s the cutest?”

“Are you being serious?”

Olive nodded enthusiastically, her grin widening, “Of course. Come on! How else are we going to entertain ourselves? It’s not like we have a lot of options so... who do you think is the cutest?

Madeline stared at her, clearly thrown off by the question, “Olive, we’re on a spaceship with a hologram, a humanoid cat, a service droid and... well, I guess Lister is a human. You can’ expect me to have an answer to that,”

“Oh come on!” Olive nudged her shoulder, “You don’t have to marry one of them. Just like, hypothetically, if you had to spend your life alone on a dessert island...who would you pick?”

“I need to think. Who would you pick?”

“That’s easy,” Clearly, Olive had been thinking about it too long, “Cat is the most handsome out of the four of them. Kryten is...well, Kryten is Kryten. I think he’d make a house husband than anything. Lister...I mean, I like a clean man and I don’t think that I’ve ever seen him wash. Rimmer...I don’t know what to say about him other than...I think he’d be boring,”

“Aw, come on,” Madeline tilted her head to the side, “Rimmer isn’t that bad. Can’t be easy being dead.”

“Oh?” Olive raised her eyes at her sudden defense of the hologram, “Is that your choice?”

“What?” Madeline was taken aback.

Olive leaned in with a teasing grin, “Come on, Maddie. You’re defending Rimmer now? That’s suspicious. Is he your choice?”

Madeline blinked, completely caught of guard, “What? No! I was just saying you know...it can’t be easy being dead and still try to keep control on the ship,”

Olive clearly enjoyed that hole that Madeline was digging herself in, “Right right. We are defending his honor now? Maybe you have a soft spot for him?”

Madeline groaned, rubbing her face with her hands, “Oh, give me a break. This is a stupid hypothetical question anyway,”

“You’re the one defending him. Makes sense now... you were the first one to the drill,”

Madeline threw her hands in mock defeat, “I am not taking this conversation seriously,”

Olive laughed for a little bit before sighing thoughtfully, “Hm. It’s making me wanna ask them the question about us...”

“What do you mean?”

“You know,” Olive said with a grin, “Ask them to pick between us and see what they say,”

“Wait...are you serious?”

Olive nodded, “Absolutely. Don’t you think it’ll be hilarious?”

Madeline stood up from the bed, “I think it would be awkward. I don’t know if I wanna hear what they would say...”

Olive leaned in closer, lowering her voice conspiratorially, “I say that we asked them and if anyone gets awkward about it then that’s their problem,”

Madeline sighed. She was being roped into one of Olive’s schemes, “Fine. But you are asking them. I’m not taking the heat,”

Olive stood, taking Madeline’s hands, “Deal. This will be hilarious,”

“Sorry to interrupt your thrilling conversation but I thought I’d let you know there’s an abandoned ship not too far in front of us,”

“Know anything about it, Hols?” Lister asked.

Her pixelated face appeared on the screen, “Not much. It’s old and looks like it’s been drifting for a while. No signs of life. It might have supplies... But it might also be a death trap,”

Lister perked up immediately at the sound of death trap. “Sounds great. We didn’t get to check out that cruise ship due to the creature on board so this might be a worthwhile adventure.

Obviously, Rimmer had not quite gotten over the fire drill fiasco and shot Lister a dark look, “No. I forbid this. This is the exact kind of reckless behavior that gets us all killed,”

“Or, more booze. Which I think is worth the risk, don’t you?”

“We barely got off that cruise ship alive and now you want to risk your life again for alcohol,”

Kryten interjected, “Sir, there is always a possibility of finding useful supplies – perhaps even more spare parts. This ship might not be totally devoid of value,”

Lister was now standing, stretching and looked back at the crew, “I’ll be getting ready to land,”

Just as they were getting up to prepare to land, Olive and Madeline entered the room. Olive had a huge grin on her face as she felt and looked mischievious while Madeline, felt mortified.

“Guys, we have the most important question ever?”

Lister paused in the middle of grabbing his jacket, eyein was regg Olive curiously, “Okay, shoot,”

Madeline was regretting every decision she had made and tried to slink into the background but Olive made having none of it as she nudged her to stay with her.

“Okay,” Olive began, “Hypothetically, if you had to choose between me and Madeline—like, say you were stuck on a desert island with just one of us—who would you pick?"

The whole room went silent ofr a beat as the question hung in the air. Everyone was caught off guard. Kryten was even unsure of how to approach this question.

Lister burst out laughing, “That’s your important question?”��

“Hey! We decided who we’d pick out of you four. Although we factored cuteness into it too,” Olive responded.

“I did not pick favourites. You were the only one who did,” Madeline sighed.

“You picked yours indirectly so that counts,” Olive corrected with a grin.

“Oh but you have to tell us your favorites first,” Lister said, momentarily forgetting they were away to go on abandoned ship as this now seemed to be more important.

Madeline blushed and awkwardly tried to go into the background. She hoped that Olive didn’t tell everyone about their conversation.

“I picked Cat. Obviously,”

“Cat? Seriously?” Lister laughed.

“Olive...” Madeline silently pleaded feeling horrified.

Cat was positively beaming, “Natrually, I’m everyone’s first choice. I mean who doesn’t want to be stranded with the more beautiful being in the universe,”

“Alright alright. What about you Madeline?” Lister turned to her.

Madeline shook her head, “I uh...I didn’t pick anyone,”

Olive wrapped her arm around Madeline’s shoulder, “Yeah but you did jump to someone’s defense which was kind of an admission-”

“Olive please,”

“Alright alright...” Olive let go, sensing that Madeline wasn’t going to divulge the conversation, “Come on guys. It’s your turn,”

Lister, cleary amused leaned back in his chair with a grin, “Alright...fair enough, so, let’s see... between the two of you...”

Madeline sat back down, feeling like she just wanted this conversation to end.

“Well...Olive seems more fun but... Madeline is more practical,”

Olive feigned offense, “What?! I feel betrayed!”

“I think you’d get distracted by something shiny and then wander off,”

Olive playfully smacked his arm, “Rude!”

Cat clearly was loving the topic of conversation the way he strutted around, “It’s obvious who I’d pick. Me. I don’t need anyone else on a dessert island. Just me and all my clothes,” But, he paused dramatically, “But out of the two of you...I’d probably pick Olive. She has a good taste in style which is highly important to me,”

Madeline raised an eyebrow. Somehow, she was relieved that she wasn’t Cat’s choice, “Good to know style triumphs survival,”

“Miss Smith, Miss McDonald,” Kryten stepped forward ever the polite one, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to choose, as I’m merely a service droid. But, I must say both of you contribute wonderfully to the crew’s morale,”

“Way to stay neutral, Kryten,” Olive said, “What about you Rimmer?”

Rimmer, who clearly also didn’t want to participate in this conversation, “I’m not getting involved in this popularity contest,”

“Oh no, you are not getting off that easily,” Olive said, “Come on, which one of us would you pick? We both have one each so yours would be the winning vote,”

“I’m not participating in this conversation,”

“Come on! You're the tiebreaker,”

“Olive,” Madeline started. She didn’t know why but she felt the need to step into Rimmer’s defense for the second time that day, “It really isn’t all that important. I’m happy enough to go for a tie”

Rimmer noticed her stepping in to try and end the conversation and the look on his face was removed from his normal prickly demeanor, “Well...I...Thank you, McDonald,” He seemed...clearly not sure to process her support.

Olive sighed, “Ugh. Fine. I’m taking that as a vote for Madeline,”

Madeline gave her a side glance, “Take it as a non-vote. We both win the competition,”

“Lame,” Olive stuck her tongue out.

“Anyway, if we are done with that, Hols was just telling us that there’s an abandoned ship and we were going to go and see it, if you both want to come,” Lister offered.

Olive’s eyes lit up and Madeline felt thankful. She didn’t might a little bit of banter but she felt too embarrassed when it came to these types of conversations. Out of the two of them, she always felt like Olive was the most popular. She was funny, outgoing and stylish where as Madeline was always the more quiet one out of the two. She had a good sense of humor but she never felt naturally funny, like Olive was. Olive always felt like the centre of attention in these situations and the boys played into that. She didn’t mind. But sometimes, she felt a little out of place.

“Count me in!” Olive’s energy was renewed as she clearly felt more excited by the prospect of their first adventure, “This will be much more fun than sitting around debating hypothetical desert island scenarios,”

Madeline nodded, “Sure. Sounds fun,”

“Might not be anything good, like. Might just be lots of dust but who knows,” Lister responded

“I think we learned from the last time that nothing fun ever comes from going on abandoned ships,”Rimmer said.

“Where’s your sense of adventure mate?”

“I lost it on that cruise ship,”

“That’s fair” Madeline admitted, giving Rimmer a small smile. Weirdly, she was starting to appreciate his cautious attitude which balanced out Olive’s approach of running into things head first.

“Finally, Madeline is starting see sense,” What was that? Rimmer was looking a lot more pleased with himself.

Olive looked between the two of them and rolled her eyes but smiled, “Since when did you two become attached at the hip? Finishing each others sentences? You will be running the fire drills together,”

Madeline groaned inwardly, feeling the familiar heat of embarrassment rising to her cheeks, “Olive, seriously. I’m not attached to anyone. I just… don’t want to die on some random ship,”

Olive laughed, “Fine fine, but I’m watching you two,”

“Olive, I was just…” She couldn’t win, “You know what, fine. Let’s go see what is going on,”

Lister chuckled, “Alright lovebirds, settle down. Let’s head on down to the shuttle. Who knows, we might find something interesting…”

As the crew boarded the shuttle, Madeline began to find herself feeling slightly more at ease even if Olive would occasionally give her weird looks to obviously try and tease her about the situation. Her jokes her made her want to crawl in a hole. She couldn’t look at anyone, let alone Rimmer. How embarrassing. She hoped he didn’t think she was making fun of him.

It was a bit of a bumpy ride for the crew but that seemed to be typical for something that Holly had organized. Plus, the ship was falling apart.

Stepping out the ship well looked…abandoned. The ship looked truly abandoned. Dark, cold and eerily quiet. Dust coated every surface and there was an unsettling stillness in the air.

“Well,” Lister said, stepping closer beside her, “It certainly looks like no one’s been here for a while,”

Kryten was already getting to work and scanning the area, “I’m picking up minimal power signatures- enough to keep basic life support running. Nothing else though. There are no other signs of life, at least nothing… biological,”

Madeline shuddered. The last thing she wanted was another fleshy monster so she thought it wouldn’t be good.

Rimmer cleared his throat, “Well, let’s make sure this quick and painless. Grab what we need and then get out,”

Madeline nodded, “I agree. Let’s not die in Olive’s and I’s first trip,”

“It’s our first outing! Don’t you want something exciting?” Olive asked.

Madeline shot her a look, “I’d prefer longevity,”

“Alright, let’s just stay sharp,” Lister said as they walked further and further into the ship, “Kryten, keep an eye on those readings, if anything unusual happens, let us know, yeah?”

“Of course, sir,” Kryten nodded, “So far, everything appears… quiet,”

Too quiet. Madeline thought to herself as they ventured deeper into the ship. The further they walked in, the more silence became pervasive. Dust clouded the air and made it clear that no one had been there.

Madeline was in her own world when she turned her head and noticed that Rimmer seemed to be walking with her which was slightly behind Olive. She didn’t know why but she took notice of it. As they rounded a corner, the group paused in front of a set of massive doors that looked like they hadn’t been opened in years. Kryten tapped on the panel. Her eyes lingered on the door.

“Sirs, ma’am’s I believe that this might lead to the rest of the ship, if I can get this open, we can get to the rest of the ship,”

And as Kryten worked, there was a growing pit of anxiety in Madeline’s stomach as Kryten worked on wires. She was worried that on their first ever trip, something bad was about to happen.

“Come on Kryten,” Olive moaned, “We might find something cool on the other side!”

“What is it with you and taking things recently?” Madeline laughed nervously.

“Hey, a girl can dream of finding £5000 across the other side,” Olive said.

“I don’t think that out be worth much out here,” Madeline responded. Just then, the door slowly opened which revealed a dark corridor beyond. There was a waft of stale air that threw in as if a window hadn’t been opened since people were there. A flashlight was beamed down to reveal the disarry of consoles, and chairs strewn haphazardly.

“Well...I suppose we should go in,” Madeline couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a trap but as the group stepped through the door, a loud bang startled them. As only Lister, Cat and Olive stepped through the doors, the door slammed shut and a light alarmed red. This left Kryten fumbling to the panel.

“Kryten! What’s happened?” Lister’s voice shouted through the doors.

“I believe sir that some sort of security alarm has been activated. While the readings are still showing no human life, I believe that they didn’t turn their security off before they all died,” Kryten explained as he examined the panel.

“There must be some way through,” Rimmer said, stepping forward to have a look at the panel as if he was going to understand what was going on.

“Unless we go back and find another door or corridor, it is looking like we may have to go to Starbug and figure out if there is another way onboard,” Kryten explained, “Unless the others on the other side can find another way of escaping,”

Madeline approached and pressed her ear against the sealed door to try and make sense of what was happening. Now, they were seperated.

“Wonderful,” Rimmer’s frustration was palpable but understandable so far. “We’ve barely stepped one foot on the ship and it wants us dead,”

Madeline couldn’t help laughing nervously despite the rising anxiety. She hadn’t been separated from Olive since they first woke up on the cruise ship and the thought of something bad happening.

“Olive is probably loving this,”

“Sir, I am working on bypassing the system,” Kryten said calmly even if his hands were a flurry of wires, “But these systems are rather...outdated. It may take some time,”

“Time that we don’t have,” Rimmer said.

Madeline could hear Olive’s voice and see that Lister was shining a flashlight through the crack in the door. She just hoped they were okay.

“We’re fine!” Olive yelled.

“Kryten, we are going to find another way out,” Lister then yelled out, “Hold on tight. We’re going to go ahead,”

Madeline pressed her hand flat against the cold metal door, as if she could somehow bridge the gap between them. Her heart raced, seperation making her feel uneasy.

“Be careful!” Madeline shouted back.

Kryten continued, “It might be worth if you both retrace our steps and see if there is another way around the doors while I work on the wiring here,”

Madeline blinked, “I...Are you suggesting that we split up from here?”

“Perhaps it would be the best course of action if yourself and Mr. Rimmer retrace steps and find an alternative route to reunite with the others,”

She felt a pang of something as she bit her lip. Her first ever outing and they were being split up even more. Her eyes darted to Rimmer who didn’t look all that thrilled but didn’t say anything,”

“What if we get even more lost?” She asked.

“I understand your hesitation,” Kryten began, “However, it is quite possible that with you retracing your steps, we may find an alternative route. If that isn’t the case, I’ll be here fixing the door but that may take a while,”

Madeline understood the logic. It was better to try and look for an alternative rather than stand there looking foolish. It did make sense. She looked over at Rimmer with a warily expression, “I’m happy to try if that’s okay with you,”

“Of course I’m not,” Rimmer sighed dramatically, crossing his arms and pausing for a moment, “But for once, the blob shaped head droid is making logical sense,”

“I try, Mr. Rimmer,”

“-Let’s just get it done,”

Olive, Lister and Cat were making their way further and further through the ship. The occasional crunch of electrical equipment at each step. The corridors seemed to go on and on forever as the three of them went down. Every step echoed through the eerily quiet ship. Olive, who was normally more lighthearted, felt her good mood had shattered. Since being stasis’d, her and Madeline had never been apart and now here she was, apart from Madeline.

She glanced at the other two who were slightly in front of her, “This place is like a maze,”

Lister was shining his flashlight around, “Yeah, but it’s full of potential things we might find useful. We might find something worth dragging back to Red Dwarf,”

“Or yet, a box of new jewelry...” Cat piped in, “Or some cufflinks. What’s a ship without cufflinks?”

Olive chuckled, although her nerves were fraying from the door slamming shut on them, “I think you will be lucky to find something decent here, cat,”

“At least there’s no fleshy monsters. Yet,” Lister said as he curiously shined the light on a panel, but it was broken.

“Why did you say ‘Yet’” Olive shuddered.

“Yeah,” Cat added, “Don’t jinx us,”

They reached what seemed to be the ships control room. The door was already slightly ajar, lights were flickering weakly from the inside. Lister cautiously pushed the door open and shined a light in, which revealed a room full of consoles that were covered in layers of dust.

“This looks like something,” he said as they stepped in.

Once they were at the panels, Olive rubbed the dust off one of them, “Do you think these might open the doors?”

“I don’t know,” Lister said, going next to her to look at the panel, “I guess we will have to find out,”

Cat was looking at himself in a dusty mirror but scowled when his reflection was obscured, “This place needs a makeover. Too dusty,”

“Focus,” Olive said, tapping away at dusty controls. A small beep emitted from the console and the lights flickered on. Olive’s heart jumped, “Is... Is that good?”

Lister stared at the system, “Maybe. You’ve either done something helpful or just turned on the coffee maker,”

“Let’s hope it’s more helpful than that...”

Madeline shined a light down the corridor. It had been five minutes since they left Kryten to look at the doors, and things had been...fine. Rimmer walked beside her, and the air felt tense. She was anxious as hell, and he was incredibly frustrated by the situation. Madeline kept thinking of conversation she could make to distract herself from the tightening feeling in her chest.

Only one question came out.

“...So, did you really not pick anyone when it came to Olive’s question?” She asked quietly, almost as if she wasn’t sure about what she was asking. She didn’t look at him, although she knew the moment his head turned to look at her. She could feel the discomfort. His uncertainty. She almost apologized for asking again. It was a dumb question, and she didn’t know why she cared so much.

“I...I didn’t think it was worth answering,” He finally muttered, his voice a little quieter than normal before he cleared his throat and returned to his usual bravado, “Olive is always asking stupid questions. I wasn’t going to indulge in her silly game,”

Madeline blinked, sensing some sort of defensiveness. She felt bad because she kept reading too much into that conversation earlier. Olive had always been more popular than her. Maybe she was hoping that for once, she was the more popular one. But Madeline nodded and said nothing.

The silence stretched on, the dim glow of her flashlight flickering across the cold, abandoned space. Her thoughts swirled because of the conversation. One thing was becoming clearer; she felt weirdly connected to Rimmer. They were both slightly out of place – herself being the less outgoing one of hers and Olive friendship, which meant she was used to less attention and him, the dead hologram who was mocked by the rest of the crew constantly. It was...a strange relatability.

They turned a corner, and Madeline shined her flashlight over the dark hallway. It was eerie and silent. She was about to say something, but Rimmer bet her to it.

“You don’t...care what they think, do you?” he asked suddenly, like a thought that he pushed out of his head suddenly.

Madeline was caught off guard, “What?”

“Like, Olive and the others,” He clarified, “Clearing his thought. You don’t care about their opinions, right? Not like...someone else might,” It was clear he was saving his ego by saying someone else.

Madeline paused before talking, “I...do. Just not in the way Olive does. She likes making people laugh and likes it when people respond positively to her. When we were growing up, all the boys in our friendship group wanted to go out with her. She’d just...so magnetic,”

Rimmer didn’t say anything. Madeline almost felt bad for saying something that could be perceived as negative about her best friend. It wasn’t a negative. She also didn’t want to seem like she was oversharing too much. He didn’t know her.

“I wonder if people see me when she’s there,”

The hallway seemed darker, more oppressive as they continued walking but the conversation felt grounding. It was sort of nice to vent.

“Try being dead and overshadowed. No one takes you seriously,” Rimmer cleared his throat, his attempt to connect with her. “I... understand what you mean though.”

Madeline let out a laugh, “I... suppose being alive is fortunate. I take you seriously. I was first to the fire drill,”

“Half asleep,” He couldn’t help but correct, “But I suppose you were the first. I do appreciate it,”

She smiled softly at his correction, “Half asleep is still better than nothing,”

Rimmer gave a small nod, “For what it’s worth, I’d rather have someone on a deserted island that takes things seriously than makes a mockery of everything,”

Madeline was quiet for a moment, trying to process his admission to Olive’s question. It wasn’t often she’d had these exchanges, but there was something oddly comforting about their conversation.

“Thanks,” She said after pausing, her voice now softer, “For listening. I didn’t mean to dump that all on you. I just never really meet someone who understands,”

He shifted uncomfortably, clearly not used to receiving such gratitude, “Well, don’t get used to it. I’m not known for deep meaningful conversations,”

Madeline chucked, “Don’t worry. I won’t. It’s still appreciated though,”

“Kryten!” Olive yelled as she seen a familiar droid saunter up the hallway. “You managed to get the doors opened,”

“Yes, Miss Smith. I managed to bypass the security systems,”

Olive flashed a grin, “Thank goodness, but where is Madeline and Rimmer?”

“They retraced our steps to see if there was any alternative way around the doors. However, upon reflection, I managed to bypass the doors five minutes after they had left so maybe suggesting that plan was rather unnecessary,” Kryten admitted.

“Oh, no harm. Maybe they’ll find something valuable for the ship,” Lister said, “Any reading Kryten?”

Kryten shook his head, “None so far. Still no forms of life but the security systems, as we saw, are rather unpredictable. Once we find the other two, I believe the best approach would be to stick together”

Olive nodded, “Yeah, let’s hope they haven’t wandered too far. Actually, we found some old technologies. We thought that maybe once we all got back together, we could all try and bring some back to Red Dwarf for Holly to analyze?”

Kryten nodded thoughtfully, “That sounds like an excellent plan, Miss Smith. Holly should be able to analyze the technology thoroughly and determine if any of it can be of any use to the ship,”

Lister seemed pleased with this, “Fantastic. Let’s load this stuff up once we find Madeline and Rimmer,”

Olive glanced down the hallway, “I just hope they haven’t found too far. I know what Maddie is like when she gets anxious. She’s probably telling Rimmer all about the time she threw me off a bunk bed during a fire drill or when she broke my arm playing basketball,”

Kryten smiled politely. "It appears Miss McDonald’s history with accidents may come in handy in high-stress situations."

Olive grinned, “Oh yeah. One time, she accidentally hit me in the face with a paddle canoeing. But I’m sure Rimmer is keeping her in check,”

“I doubt it,” Lister snorted, “Knowing him, he’s probably freaking out and Madeline is the one soothing him,”

Kryten nodded thoughtfully. “It’s quite possible, sir. Miss McDonald’s temperament may be precisely what Mr. Rimmer needs in a situation like this.”

“Rimmer and calmness? I’ll believe it when I see it,” Lister chuckled.

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from down the corridor, Olive turned her head, grinning, “Well, the first two people in the fire drill were last at the rendezvous,”

Madeline and Rimmer appeared around the corner. Rimmer looked irritated while Madeline had a sheepish smile on her face.

“Find anything good?” Olive asked.

“Nope,” Madeline shook her head, now feeling better that she was back with the crew, “Just dust. What about you?”

“Dusty consoles and some old tech,” Lister replies, gesturing towards it, “We’re thinking of loading them up onto the Starbug so Holly can analyze them,”

Rimmer turned his attention to Kryten, “What happened to this may take some time?”

“Sorry sir,” Kryten began, “I managed to unlock the door five minutes after you left but you were both too far away so I couldn’t alert you,”

“Typical,” Rimmer started, “We get sent on a wild goose chase and it turns out to be completely unnecessary,”

Madeline chucked, “At least we didn’t run into any issues. It could have been worse,”

“Well,” Lister said, “No use standing around. Let’s get this stuff back to Holly,”

As they got the last bit of technology onto the bay, Holly advised them it would take more than a few minutes to analyze so everyone went to do their own thing. Madeline was tired so was sitting in her bedspace, trying to process the events of the day. As she was, she heard a knock.

“Eh, who is it?”

“It’s me,” Olive’s voice shouted through the door.

“Come in,”

Olive came into the room. Already, she was in her pajamas which were basically the JMC uniforms but one the bigger sizes for extra bagginess. It was one of the shirts being used as a dress. Madeline hadn’t gotten in her pajamas yet. She was too busy lying on her bed and going through the existential dread of their situation. Plus, she was too busy thinking about her conversation with Rimmer. He basically told her that he would be stuck with her on a deserted island, and she didn’t know why she cared that much about that. Lister said the same thing, but it really mattered to her that Rimmer preferred her.

She didn’t know why.

“Hey,” Madeline said, sitting up.

“So, all and all,” Olive said, as she sat next to Madeline, “It was a good trip,”

Madeline nodded. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been left with this response. It wasn’t that she had wanted him to choose her. But for some reason, it felt a lot more important when he had.

“Yeah,” Madeline muttered, looking to the side, “I guess it was a good trip,”

Olive raised an eyebrow. She was always good at guessing when Madeline wans’t being herself, “You don’t sound convinced. What’s wrong?”

Madeline hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to explain what she was feeling. She shrugged, trying to play it off, “I don’t know...today has just been a really weird day today...”

Olive gave her a look, moving closer, “Weird?”

Madeline sighed, realizing there was no way on earth that Olive was going to let it go, “I mean...It’s just been really weird... Do you promise to keep a secret?”

“Of course. I know all your weird secrets. You know that you can trust me,”

Madeline paused for the moment, looking to the ground before back up to her best friend, “I... guess it’s about the conversation we were all having earlier. When Rimmer and I were alone, he...in his own way, admitted that he would choose me and I don’t know how I feel about it,”

Olive didn’t say anything at first, but she nudged her a little, “So, it is Rimmer that has you all twisted up,”

Madeline groaned, covering her face with her hands, “No. Don’t start. Nothing happened. We had a... conversation while we were away. It’s nice. He’s nice,”

Olive’s eyes widened, as if processing what she was seeing, “Nice? Are you serious? This is Rimmer we are talking about here,”

“I knew you’d say that...” Madeline groaned, “It’s not like that. He’s just...I don’t know. He’s trying. He tries and he’s complicated, and he picked me,”

Olive stopped looking amused and looked more... thoughtful, “Okay, I get. He picked you but...I’m just...trying to wrap my head around the fact you said he’s nice,”

Madeline sighed, “I know. It’s silly but when it was just us two, he was different. There’s something under all that pompousness...I feel like I see him differently,”

“So... you’re saying there’s more to him than the self-obsessed, rule-following hologram we know and... tolerate?”

Madeline sighed and leaned her head against the wall, “Yeah... I guess that is what I’m saying,”

They didn’t say anything for a moment. Olive seemed to be...processing what Madeline just said, and Madeline was just thinking about what she just said.

“...I guess it was nice to be seen, you know,”

Olive watched her friend for a few moments without saying anything. Madeline might not have realized it herself, but her best friend knew her well enough to know what this meant.

“Yeah...” Olive agreed, nodding her head, “It is nice to be seen. You deserve to be seen too,”

Madeline nodded, placing her hands on her lap although she was surprised by the sincerity in her friend's voice. For all the teasing and playful banter, the moments when Olive dragged her into these situations, she was reminded of how much her best friend really understood her.

“Thanks...Olive,” Madeline’s smile was genuine, “I didn’t realize how much I needed that till now,”

Olive’s eyes and smile were warm, “You mean a lot to me. I can’t think of a better friend to be stuck in space with. You’ve always been the one who holds things together, even when you don’t see it,”

And just like that, a warmth spread through her chest, “I... Yeah, I was so caught up with things today that I didn’t think about it...”

Olive gave her a gentle nudge, “I’m here to remind you of it. And to kick your butt for getting hung up on Rimmer of all people,”

Madeline laughed, the tension of the day just melting away, “I’m not hung up on anyone,”

“Hey, no judgement” She said, before standing up, “I should probably get to bed. It’s been a tiring day but remember, I’m here for you while you are here,”

“Thank you,” Madeline said, watching Olive leave. Madeline changed into her comfier clothes, getting ready for bed. As she fell asleep, the thoughts of today with on her mind. For the first time since this morning, she felt much more grounded than she had before. With a small smile, she pulled out the blankets and readied her mind to rest, wondering what the next day would bring.

#red dwarf fanfiction #red dwarf holly #the cat red dwarf #dave lister #arnold j rimmer #kryten

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