451 words. Still don't own SGA.
"I've got this… thing, I guess, coming up on Earth," Rodney said as he and John walked towards the transporter. "An old acquaintance is doing a thing and, well, I sort of…"
When Rodney stopped sputtering John gave him a sidelong glance. It was impossible for him to keep the humor out of his voice when he spoke. "Spit it out, Rodney. How bad can it be?"
Rodney sighed and said, "It's not bad at all!" He thought about it for a second and his shoulders sagged. "Oh crap… it is that bad."
John stopped and put his hand on Rodney's shoulder to get his friend to do the same. "Okay, Rodney, calm down," he said when he saw that Rodney's face had dropped and turned slightly red. "What is it?
"This thing, it's a physics presentation, and I invited Jennifer to go with me," Rodney said, his voice strained as though he was just now realizing the gravity of what he'd done.
"You asked Keller out on a date?" asked John, his voice a mixture of surprise and happiness. "About time!"
"Yes!" snapped Rodney with wide and wild eyes. "To a physics presentation!"
"Easy, Rodney," Sheppard said with a soft voice. "Did you tell her what this thing is?" When Rodney nodded Sheppard asked, "So she knows that it's a science… whatever?" Rodney nodded again and Sheppard smirked. "And she agreed to go with you anyway?" Rodney nodded for a third time and Sheppard shrugged. "What's the trouble?"
"Our first date, John!" exclaimed Rodney with a frustrated thrust of his arms to his side. "Our first date is going to be to a… whatever the hell Tunney is doing!"
"If you play your cards right, Rodney," said Sheppard as he started walking towards the transporter again, "that won't be the whole date." When Rodney fell into step beside him he turned to give Rodney a grin. "If you really play them right, there'll be other dates."
"I can't believe I asked her to go to a physics presentation," moaned Rodney with a roll of his eyes.
"I still don't see the problem," John said as they neared the transporter. "She wouldn't have agreed to go with you if she didn't want to. And if it's really bothering you that much, just make it up to her."
The door to the transporter slid open and the two men stepped inside. "And how do I do that, Colonel Romance?"
"Listen to your heart, Rodney" said John as he reached over to touch the destination panel. He pressed the appropriate area and said as he turned back to Rodney and the doors slid shut, "I'm pretty sure you've got one in there somewhere."
A/N: "Listen to your Heart" was written by Per Gessle and Mats Persson, and was released by the group Roxette in 1988 in Sweden and 1989 worldwide.