547 words. With apologies/compliments to theicemenace.
For the umpteenth time since Rodney put the cursed thing on, he wondered how he'd been suckered into wearing it. It's not that he disliked bowties per se, but this particular one seemed to have been invented with the sole purpose of slowly choking him to death.
It's all Sheppard's fault, he thought to himself as he slipped the index and middle fingers of his hand underneath his collar and contemplated taking the damned thing off until it was time to go.
"Don't you dare take that off," admonished Sheppard as he walked in.
Rodney dropped his hand to his side and glared at his friend. "Easy for you to say! You're not being choked to death by an evil piece of cloth."
"Calm down, McKay," said Ronon as he ambled into the room via the same door Sheppard had used. He walked over to Sheppard and both of them turned to face Rodney.
Rodney studied them both for a second and sighed at their immaculate appearance. "How come you two look like super models on steroids?"
Ronon and Sheppard eyed each other for a second and turned back to Rodney.
"You know how it is, Rodney," drawled Sheppard with an unmistakable smirk on his face and a playful tug on his bowtie, "when you got it, you got it."
Rodney rolled his eyes and was about to offer a brilliant and painfully profane retort when a soft knock on the doorframe stopped him.
The three men turned their attention to the door to find Chuck leaning around the frame. "Sorry to interrupt, sirs," he said, "but it's time."
"Thanks, Chuck," said Sheppard with a smile. As the gate tech disappeared he looked first to Ronon then to Rodney. "Well, you heard the man… it's time to go."
Rodney nodded at his friends and walked through the door and turned left. It only took a few seconds to get to their destination.
The Mess had been converted into a pseudo chapel, with rows upon rows of chairs and a small section near the front of the room where the ceremony would take place.
Rodney surveyed the room as he walked to the altar area and internally whistled in appreciation. It's a full house. Not that I expected anything less.
Rodney took his place at the front of the room as did John and Ronon and before he knew it a soft tune was playing. He looked up to see Teyla walking down the aisle towards them. She smiled as she veered to her left to take her place. The music changed and his heart fluttered when Jennifer appeared. She gracefully walked up the aisle, and when she reached them she stopped for the briefest of moments, smiled and followed Teyla.
The music changed again and the first notes of 'Here Comes the Bride' wafted through the room. As Amanda Cole appeared with Richard Woolsey on her arm, John leaned over and said to Rodney, "It's amazing how far we've come."
Rodney leaned forward and looked past John to catch a glimpse of his wife proudly standing next to Teyla. The index finger of his right hand reverently touched his wedding band as he replied, "No kidding."
A/N: "How Far We've Come" was written by Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, Kyle Cook and Brian Yale of the band Matchbox Twenty for their 2007 album Exile on Mainstream.