Down in some dark area of the city of Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay was sitting in his lab, muttering various nonsense, mainly about stupid, incompetent scientists, a new mathematical system that he was close to devising, and continually informing his stomach that, no, he was not on a hunger strike and yes, he was almost done and then I'll get something real to eat.

He heard a tap on the door as John Sheppard walked in. "Hey buddy," John said by way of greeting.

Rodney kept his eyes glued on the monitor, raised his hand and said, "Hey John," and then lowered his hand and continued typing manically.

John shrugged, noticing that Rodney was intently focused on his work, and sat down in a swivel seat on the other side of the raised desk. Placing his elbows on the desk, he took advantage of Rodney's no-time-to-chat gestures and glanced around the lab.

There were at least 3 -- no, make that 4 -- powerbar wrappers on various surfaces. Unfortunately, John had seen them there at least two days ago. He spotted at least four empty coffee cups, posted at strategic points around the lab. Something that appeared to be an energy drink was sitting precariously next to Rodney's keyboard, and from the condensation on the outside, John could tell that he had just opened the drink and consumed more than half within the last five minutes.

And a graphic tee was laying over the back of another chair. Oh God, John thought to himself, Rodney hasn't left his lab all day.

"McKay," John suddenly barked, glancing at his fingers as they twiddled around each other.

Rodney glanced up. "Yeah?"

John sighed, and rolled his neck. "When was the last time you actually stood up, or left your lab or, oh, here's a good one, used the bathroom or those wonderful quarters that we gave you?!"

Rodney cringed a little, but quickly straightened up. "John, I've been extremely busy all day, and everything that's in here" -- he pointed to his head -- "is so close to coming out in here" -- pointing at the computer screen -- "so it's not practical to leave my lab to go and indulge myself in a bubble bath--"

"T . . . M . . . I, Rodney," John informed him, grimacing and covering his face with his hands.

"--And then while I'm enjoying myself, all of the disconcerting things that have been in my head decide to manifest themselves, and I have no way to record them because all my equipment is here! And yes, sometimes I do put the tablet in the bathroom, but last time when I laid it back down on the cart it teetered into the water . . . And the cord was plugged in."

"Very disturbing."

"Yes, well, these are the facts of my life. And you, John Sheppard," he retorted, standing, "have decided that you want to try and be my friend, which means that no matter how disgusting or superbly genius they may be, you have to listen to what happens to me!"

John shrugged again and stood. "Ok. Back to square one. When was the last time you left your lab?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe four hours ago, about dinnertime? I ran to get some food and -- oh," he quietly replied as he sat back down, crossing his arms on the table in front of him.

"'Oh'? What does that mean, McKay?"

"It means I ran into Jennifer."

John pursed his lips. "Last time I checked, that was a good thing."

Rodney's dark expression lifted, as did the corners of his mouth. "Oh, no, no, yes, it was a good thing! We made plans for tomorrow, and she already had the day off, but I didn't, so I went to Woolsey and asked for it off, and he told me the only way that he would grant it was if I finished enough research on that device we found on 483 last week to 'make it worth the IOA's while'. And then some incompetent scientist, one of the new ones from Daedalus, screwed up an experiment that Radek had been working on for the past month, so he asked for my help to get it back on its feet, and after rudely reminding me that I owed him a favor, I helped. That took two hours or so. So I've been sitting here, skipping dinner, which, you know me, John," he said, glancing at Sheppard looking for a sympathy vote, "missing dinner is likely to kill me."

"Along with ten billion other things in the universe, yes," John replied, nodding.

"And I cooped myself up here in my lab to get it all finished," he replied, typing on his keyboard and with a dramatic flourish, he hit the enter key. "And now I am done."

John looked around for a minute, then whistled. "All that . . . Just for a date with a girl?"

"She's not just any girl, Sheppard." He grinned. "It's Jennifer."

John smiled, then started walking for the door. "All right, c'mon, Rodney."

"Why? Where are we going?"

"First we're getting dinner. Then I'm grabbin' some beer and we're goin' to the pier." He paused and turned in his tracks, looking at Rodney next to him. "Hey, what do ya know? It rhymes," he announced, grinning proudly.

The faint giggles of two adult men were heard throughout Atlantis after the sun had gone down that night.