The Last Woman

New beginnings

It was 1 am. Zora was tired but she was finally done. Rimmer's light bee sat completely finished in front of her.

Currently, the green-haired woman wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep but she wasn't about to let poor Rimmer's light bee sit there on her desk all night. Not when Cat and Lister were on board. And not to mention she had made a promise.

Zora placed the light bee on the floor and sat down lazily on her bed eating a little more of an apple she had been snacking on.

"Activate," She spoke tiredly.

Slowly but surely Rimmer's image flickered back on and she hoped the upgrade had worked properly. Rimmer blinked rapidly a few times getting acquainted with the surroundings once more before turning to Zora taking in her messy hair and clothes and the small tired smile gracing her slightly chapped lips.

"How're you feeling?" She asked rubbing her eyes lightly.

"Pretty good actually," He shrugged. "But I'm still not sure what this surprise is..."

"Catch," She said and chucked Rimmer her apple which he instinctively tried to catch and managed to which made Zora's smile grow despite her desperate need for sleep.

"What do I want your half-eaten apple for?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"Arnie, you're holding my apple," She pointed out with a grin.

The hologram suddenly jumped when it clicked. He tossed the apple back and forth in wonder that he was actually holding something.

"I- I can touch!" He cried.

"You can eat too," Zora added and Rimmer spent no time in taking a massive bite out of the apple with no regard for the fact Zora had already eaten most of it.

He was ecstatic, buzzing with joy.

"You're made of hard light now. Which means you can interact with objects and people. You can eat and drink too. It's as close to being alive again as you can get," Zora explained before yawning and stretching her arms. "Though the work took me a little longer than I thought." She laughed lightly.

"So...so does that mean I can?..." He hesitantly reached a hand out to the woman sat on her bed.

Zora stood up slowly from her bed. She had always known how much it would mean to Rimmer to be able to touch and feel things again but she didn't realise how much it was starting to mean to her too. All those times when she'd wanted to hug him or poke him or hit him, depending on the day, were now realised. So when she was close enough she took his hand in her and dragged him into the first hug the hologram had had in an extremely long time.

Rimmer was absolutely stunned. For one he could feel her. He could feel how tightly Zora's arms squeezed his middle and where her head rested just below his shoulder. But more to the point, Zora was hugging him. It was not something he was used to but he definitely wouldn't mind getting used to it.

"I still can't believe it," Rimmer half laughed as he finally wrapped his arms around Zora. "Is this permanent?" He asked.

"I hope so. Because now I get to hit you every time you're being annoying," She teased scooting slightly closer as she yawned again.

Rimmer chuckled lightly as she stepped back and looked at the tired woman once more with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Zora."

"No problem." Zora smiled back and attempted to ignore the heat that began to edge into her cheeks.

"Now get to sleep, that's an order," He replied.

"Oh, so you think you can boss me around?" She raised an eyebrow as she practically fell onto her bed.

"Yes because you are not in a state to be in charge so as the second-highest rank on the ship. I am taking charge and I order you to go to sleep," He said as Zora kicked off her boots. Rimmer chucked the duvet over her.

"Good night Zora."

"Good night Arnie." She waved lazily before she buried herself into the duvet. She heard the hologram leave the room but it wasn't long before she heard his footsteps once more.

"Let me guess," Zora mumbled half into her pillow. "Listy is sounding like a trombone and the Cat has stolen your bunk?"

"...yep," The hologram sighed.

Zora half climbed half-rolled out of her bed. The green-haired woman rubbed her eyes tiredly before flopping onto the small sofa that sat against the wall opposite the tv.

"Take the bed," She said quietly flinging a blanket carelessly over her form.

"Zora, I can't just-"

"You can and you will Arn, that's an order," She cut off her friends protest. "Just go to sleep and complain in the morning. I'm too tired to argue.

***

Zora woke the next day and stretched dramatically. She gave a short cry when she rolled over and fell off the sofa forgetting that she had even gone to sleep on it in the first place.

She groaned loudly and pressed her face into the cold floor.

A deep chuckle filled the air which brought a small smile to Zora's face, not that Rimmer could see it.

"Are you alright there Zora?"

She could practically hear the wide grin that was plastered on his face just from the tone. After lying on the ground for a few more moments, Zora rolled over onto her back. She laughed when she locked eyes with Rimmer who was standing over her.

"Eh, I'll live," She replied with a short laugh. "Help?" Zora raised her arms towards the hologram her smile growing as she remembered that he was finally able to touch and feel again.

Wearing a similar expression to Zora, Rimmer reached down and grabbed her hands and hoisted her off the ground.

"Thank you..." He looked at her with the most sincere expression Zora had ever seen from him.

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear that," Zora said teasingly.

"You heard me." He crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow at the green-haired woman as he admired the way she playfully sneered at him and noticed how her nose scrunched up as she did.

"Yes, well it is quite a rarity to hear the Arnold J Rimmer saying thank you," She declared a little overdramatically.

"What on earth would Rimmer be saying thank you for?" Lister wandered into the room but stopped short. As if he was in a cartoon, Lister's eyebrows rose slowly as he stared at the pair who were still holding hands. "Ooo sorry looks like I'm interrupting here." The scouser had a cheesy grin on his face.

The couple coughed awkwardly and jumped apart.

"Honestly it's about time with the way Rimmer keep eyeing ya," Lister chuckled.

"Oh, he does now?" Zora questioned though her face was pink and despite the level tone of her voice she was still a little flustered though she wasn't sure why.

"He does it all the time when you're not watching and sometimes he talks in his sleep and-" A hand clamped over Lister's mouth before he could continue.

"Ew gross Lister!" Rimmer snatched his hand away when the scouser licked it.

"What the smeg!" With furrowed brows, Lister poked Rimmer in the chest. And Rimmer poked him back with superior force.

"You're solid!"