An answer to the New Year's Resolutions challenge by ladygris. Darn it, lady g, I spent more time editing this piece than I did writing it! Thanks for the challenge. ;) 496 words.

Disclaimer

MGM owns Stargate: Atlantis

Little ol' Des owns little to nothin'.

Horizons

by

Destiny Brighthope

McKay eyed the stack of compact discs with trepidation. Each evening he sat in front of his laptop, loaded a CD into the tray, and devised an excuse not to listen. Inspecting the topmost disc, he found his thoughts drifting to an upcoming department meeting, the latest issue of Detective Comics, even those dreaded personnel evaluations.

"Stop it," he growled. "You promised her."

He drew the stack closer. Uncertain which to play first, he shuffled the CDs like a deck of cards until an album cover caught his eye. It featured a wavy-haired blond the insert identified as Jennifer Nettles. McKay smiled.

At first he criticized the song's grammar, the singer's regional cadence, and the inclusion of a word that simply did not exist. Absoluteable? When the song ended, however, he flipped through the remaining CDs in search of a full album featuring the band.

Bingo.

A few songs later, McKay decided the grammatical choices must be deliberate. And Nettles' pronounced accent became oddly endearing. Absoluteable still wasn't a word.

Over the next hour he sampled artists like Reba, Martina, and Faith. He enjoyed old, scratchy recordings of Loretta Lynn and grinned over the one artist in the stack who shared his name, Rodney Atkins. Yet McKay kept returning to that first single.

The lyrics spoke to him, recalling those days when nothing seemed to go right. For Nettles, it was flat tires and broken alarm clocks. For McKay, it was failed experiments, useless underlings, and an Air Force colonel who believed "head of science" was code for "plumber."

Checking his watch, McKay realized he was out of time. He stopped playback and returned the CD to its jewel case. Leaving the stack of albums where it lay, he picked up a second stack and left the room.

Minutes later, he triggered the sensor outside another door. He listened for movement inside, then answered the hail he knew to expect. "Yes, it's me."

Having confirmed McKay's identity over the radio, the inhabitant answered the door in her pajamas, a black tee shirt and pink drawstring pants patterned with hearts. He considered it a personal victory that she allowed him to see her dressed so casually.

Jennifer Keller smiled. "Well?"

"I listened."

"And?" She lengthened the word expectantly.

"And the genre isn't entirely without merit."

"Why, Doctor McKay, are you becoming a country music fan?"

He snorted. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Apparently not, since you're so eager to return my CDs." She extended a hand and stopped short. "These aren't mine."

"They're mine," McKay said. "I agreed to broaden my cultural horizons. It's only fair you do the same." He handed over the albums one by one. "Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Handel, and one of today's greats, Robert Avalon."

"Broadening horizons was your resolution, Rodney. I have my own."

"Such as?"

Fire rose in her cheeks. She lowered her eyes, pretending to study the album covers. "One condition," she said, meeting his gaze. "Stay and listen with me?"

The End