500 words. Part one of two, maybe.
Rodney looked at his watch for the fourth time since being imprisoned in the Mess and actually whimpered. Fortunately for him, the party was in full swing, complete with music loud enough that no one could hear him.
The worst part of it was while he would much rather have been in the lab, he couldn't find it within himself to begrudge the festivities to anyone. It had been a trying time to be sure, with tempers flaring and nerves fraying.
His eyes moved up as a particularly shapely set of bare legs danced by. He couldn't help but follow them, and as they danced by in the other direction a small part of his intellect deduced that he was being teased. When the legs came to a stop before him and kept moving in place to the music he knew he was right.
Rodney's eyes fell to her toes peeking out of the open-toed white shoes, then slowly moved upward along the flawless skin of her shins and her smooth knees.
Definitely a scientist, he surmised as his eyes kept moving upward. Definitely not a grunt with those legs.
The lower edge of her thighs came into view, and Rodney kept slowly looking upward. He involuntarily gulped as his eyes hit the mid point of what were turning out to be nicely sculpted thighs and he sighed- though in relief or displeasure he couldn't tell- when the hem of a dress obstructed his view.
Rodney's eyes moved onward and upward over what turned out to be a white dress that covered a flat abdomen. The spaghetti strap dress also had a generous plunge in the neckline that showed more than an impressive amount of cleavage. Rodney was about to gulp again when he finally noticed the strawberry blond hair about her shoulders. An odd feeling developed in the pit of his stomach, the feeling he figured he'd get if he bit into a delicious juicy apple and found a worm inside.
When his eyes finally reached hers all he could say was, "You own a dress?" His eyes widened, lowered down and back up her body and he declared with great shock, "And you have legs!"
Laura put her hands on her hips and glared at Rodney, not that he was paying attention with his eyes moving up and down over her body like an adolescent teenager gawking at the pretty substitute teacher.
She didn't know what was worse: the fact that he was doing it, or the fact that she was enjoying it. Knowing she couldn't pass up the opportunity, she took his hand then pulled him out onto the dance floor.
"Come on, Rodney," she said as she gave her head a gentle flick so that her long locks left her shoulders. "I hate dancing with myself."
Rodney didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. "Cadman I…" He stopped when the music stopped and was replaced by the unmistakable beginning of a waltz. "Crap!"
A/N: "Dancing with Myself" was written by Billy Idol and Tony James for their band Generation X and released on their 1980 album Kiss Me Deadly. In 1981, Idol released it again as the version I know and listen to.