I am so, so, so, SO late with this and I blame my tardiness and horibble-ness. *sighs*
But! Since I finished it, and it's here, I thought of putting it up, anyway! Cause, you know, why not? Plus, like Risknight said, share the shenny!
Credits to Taco Bell and their packages.
Words: 1,488 - without this A/N of course.
Penny isn't entirely sure why she's at Cal tech—even when she told herself she wouldn't—watching Sheldon teach, but she is.
She's standing at the third row, behind the class know it all that reminds her so much of the man teaching in front. The physicist pours an unknown green liquid into a glass filled with a yellow one, and sees that the students are interested. The man then straps on his goggles—they do too—steps back, and a resounding BOOM fills the room followed by a trail of smoke.
"Now that that's done," Sheldon says once the smoke clears, "are there any questions?"
The class know it all raises his hand and Sheldon gives him permission to speak. "Doctor Cooper, with all due respect, we are supposed to have a physics class, not chemistry." She wonders why Sheldon would teach a chemistry class instead of a physics one, but, it doesn't really matter to her. It's almost the end of the class—the time to pick him up. "That's true, but I asked for questions." She can see Sheldon's face twitching- that never means anything good. "Thus, I shall ignore it. Any more questions?"
No one dares to raise a hand, and she notices that Sheldon is unnerved by this.
"I have a question!" She yells, waving a hand up in the air.
"Penny?" He doesn't sound surprised, but she can tell that he didn't notice her before. "You're not in this class, or any class for that matter. What are you doing here?"
"Date—slash—comic book night?" Sheldon frowns as he glances at his phone before realizing that it was, indeed, the second Wednesday. Ever since she agreed to the relationship agreement, the second Wednesday was date night. "Can I continue with my question?" She doesn't really intend to stay long, especially with some of the students staring at her like she was meat, but she wants to see how boring Sheldon's class really was. She thinks of kissing him in public, but that was scandalous. Twitter will be full of tweets about the stranger that kissed the teacher.
"Proceed."
Penny furrows her eyebrows at the lab equipment spread out on the table. Beaker, large beaker, wide beaker—ooh! She takes up the item of interest and thinks of a comment that would make Sheldon finally leave this class. They have other things to do- like pick up food for tonight, and he'll scold her if they're off-schedule.
"Doctor Cooper," Sheldon nods in acknowledgment, and she lifts the dish for everyone to see. "If you throw this, would it be a flying saucer? Like those UFOs?" She swooshes the dish around—the students laugh along—and Sheldon gives her the sourest look she has ever seen. Milk, cheese and ice cream would get sour with his expression. She's getting three strikes for this, she's sure, but he can't resist his girlfriend. So, one strike.
"Penny," he drags out, hands behind his back and a glare directed at her. "Are you mocking me?"
"Yes?" Some of the students gasp—their phones in their hands ready for social networking—and it confuses her why they're staring at her like she's crazy. Then she looks at Sheldon, who is closing his messenger bag, a grim look on his face. Five strikes and no kissing, she tells herself as her boyfriend walks towards her. He doesn't scare her, all she has to do is ignore him or maybe call his mother on him. "I mean come on, that's a saucer—it could be a flying one, and that could attract UFOs to prove that they're real!"
The tall physicist stops in front of her, and only the table is separating him from her. "Penny, if there was a definite way of proving that aliens do exist, it will not be of you waving that saucer around. Aliens might even retreat back to their planet because of that asinine idea of yours." He's insulting her, and she should be offended, but she isn't, cause it's four-ten and that means that it's past the time to go to Stuart's store.
"You're no fun," the blonde crosses her arms and smirks up at him. Sheldon's eye twitches—his hand gripping the strap of his bag—and the class goes silent, save for a few 'oohs.' They need to leave, go to the store to get his comic books, pick up the food and return to their apartment in time and enjoy date night. "This has nothing to do with fun. I am appalled that someone who isn't enrolled in this university has the audacity to attend and question this class."
Oh, if she could hit him in front of everyone she would, but she brought this on herself and so she must deal with it. "And I am shocked that a teacher has the nerve to pick on a lowly student when he himself can't tell the difference between chemistry and physics." When she sees how he's clenching his teeth, she knows she's hit a nerve and that meant no cuddling. Darn. "Even the aliens wouldn't choose you as an experiment to observe humans like you always wanted."
"Why wouldn't they?" He shrieks, his eyes wide and angry. "They would be lucky to get me for observation! I would supply them with more than what they need to know!"
"Is your definition of more than what they need to know teaching a physics class, chemistry?" Sheldon is fuming and then his alarm goes off, which means overtime, but no one is moving. They do, however, bring out their phones to take videos of him. "What's the problem, Doctor Cooper? Finally realized that aliens would find my joke funny?" Sheldon's face drops—his anger disappearing in an instant—and raises an eyebrow. "It was a joke?"
"Yep."
"Oh!" Sheldon lets out a small breathy laugh that sounds like he's choking and smiles at her. Whackadoodle. "You should have said that it was a joke, or added bazinga at the end." He glances at his watch and shifts his messenger bag. "We'll resume tomorrow. I expect a thousand word essay on why Barry Kripke's research is wrong, and stupid." The students mutter and one even throws a crumpled piece of paper at the know it all as if it was his fault. "It is comic book night and my ride has arrived. Class is dismissed." He doesn't wait for the students, and leaves before anyone registers what had happened. She shrugs when the students look at her questioningly, and goes after the physicist.
"Great class, huh?" Penny asks as she unlocks her car.
"Next time, inform me of your presence, and that you made a joke." He closes the car door and sends it a look of disgust. "I shall not be held responsible for trespassing."
"Trespassing?" She repeats, raising an eyebrow at him. "I just wanted to see how your class went."
"Hmm, an outsider's viewpoint of my new approach at teaching would be suitable." Sheldon turns to her, curiosity in his blue eyes. "What did you think of my class? I had also applied those acting advice you gave me, years ago. I pretended that I cared, and they believed it." She senses pride in his tone and she grins at the memory of their acting class. "It was great! But, when I told you to mix things up a bit, I meant something like turn the class into a game—not into a different subject."
The realization dawns to him and she lets out a small giggle. "I suppose there's misunderstanding in my part, but I believe that they enjoyed it. Do you agree?"
"Yeah, I heard some students saying that my attendance made the class fun, and that the spontaneity was great. Check the tweets." Sheldon nods beside her, scrolling through his twitter feed. "Very well, it seems that your advice turned into something rather serendipitous, and I thank you for that. What do you suggest I do for the next one?" Her grin widens and she tells him all of the fun things he could do—and surprisingly, he agrees.
"I see. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, you must attend the class, as well. Just to make sure that everything goes according to plan."
"I thought that someone who isn't enrolled in the university can't go to the class?"
Sheldon snorts, "I'll make an exemption, but only cause you thought of it."
Penny isn't sure what he means by that, but she just laughs and kisses him before telling him about her other ideas.