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6 years later
Rodney's lips pursed, "Save me from idiots, religious fanatics, and dog owners." Slumping further into his couch, he turned up the volume on his television in an attempt to cover up the barking coming from next door.
Why did Mrs. Allistor have to move? She was the perfect next door neighbor: partially deaf, quiet, and willing to cook for him once a week since he reminded her of her grandson. The same grandson that just put her in a nursing home. The bastard.
Growling, he marched to the wall that separated his apartment from his neighbor's and banged three times. A muffled 'sorry' reached him a few minutes before the dog finally shut up. However, it wasn't fast enough for Rodney, because the barking interrupted the Doctor flirting with Captain Jack Harkness.
Usually Rodney thought of himself as a reasonable man, only given to rudeness when provoked by co-workers, stupid people, and…well…people in general. But when something came between him and watching two hot guys flirting, it was war. Making a mental note to talk to the apartment office in the morning, he turned up the volume again.
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Rodney glanced at the apartment door next to his while he locked his own. As if on cue, the dog-owning-neighbor, a man wearing jeans and a black turtleneck, strolled out. Rodney wasn't sure where from, but he remembered the man. Something about that wild head of hair…that housed a pair of sunglasses he instantly recognized.
Snapping his fingers, Rodney pointed at his neighbor. "You!"
The man seemed to finally notice McKay standing there, and instantly, a smug smirk spread across his face. "Good to see you too, Rodney. Also nice to be recognized for once," he said, closing his door.
"Those are my sunglasses!"
Turning back to Rodney, the man's lips lifted even higher. "Were your sunglasses. Thanks, by the way." The man winked at Rodney before pulling the sunglasses over his eyes and walking down the hall towards the stairs.
Rodney followed down to the first floor, racking his brain for the man's name. "Wait! You said 'recognized for once'…you've known me every time?"
"That's right, Wodney," he said over his shoulder.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Stopping just outside the building, he smiled at Rodney's accusatory tone. "Where would the fun be in that?"
"I want my sunglasses back."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but possession is nine-tenths of the law," he said, tapping his finger to the side of the sunglasses. "See you around, Rodney."
-tbc-