2012 – Going Slow

Don't own a thing

Penny walked into 4A, peeking around the door. The thought had crossed her mind that maybe she could catch up on some TV before she had to go in to the Cheesecake Factory for the evening shift. She was a "little" late on her bills this month and the cable company had seen fit to cut her off once again. Seeing no one in the immediate area, she let herself in and sat down in the middle of the couch. Much to her dismay, the sun was coming through the window on the landing to her right. It was shining toward the TV screen and the glare made it a little difficult for her to really get a good look at the show she was watching. The show she had settled on was about techniques on applying makeup to maximize the effects of afternoon, evening and night making seeing the nuances in the makeup shading difficult to see.

Penny thought that a quick slide to her right would take care of the problem, so she just glided over to the seat nearest the door and continued on with her viewing. Unfortunately, the angle of the screen created a parallax that to her amazement made the image a little worse. This problem was getting more interesting and just a tad infuriating.

Penny then got off the couch and navigated the space between the couch and the coffee table until she came to Leonard's chair. As she sank down into the comphy cushions, she smiled and thought of how happy she actually was that Leonard had asked her out on a date again. It wasn't that long after that disastrous Movie invitation she gave him where he had basically called her stupid. Although, if she was perfectly honest with herself, she treated Leonard pretty badly by flirting with that guy writing the play… even if he was cute. She just didn't have any choice. He actually drummed up enough courage to talk to the girl…. Nancy…. Or… Cheryl or whatever. She certainly wasn't about to lose Leonard to another girl again… the eight months he was with Priya were absolutely miserable. So she started telling all of Leonard's quirky habits and stuff that she actually loved a little about him.

Anyway… they were dating again and this time she wasn't going to get all freaked out by being with Leonard. Sure she was scared and didn't really know how she could commit to a real serious long term relationship that Penny knew Leonard wanted… Marriage, Kids, and House all wrapped up in a neighborhood with good schools. So, this time, they were going to take things slow.

Penny sank down and wiggled her butt to snuggle into the chair with her legs brought up under her after she kicked off her flip flops. Unfortunately, she noticed that there was actually what felt like a breeze. She looked around to see if there was an open window either… "there" or over "there"… Nope, that wasn't the problem… Penny then giggled a bit to herself that this must be the reason that Leonard always wanted to change the temperature on the thermostat… and maybe why he always wore his hoodies and Jacket. She got up and went to Leonard's room and found his blue Snuggie. There were some pretty powerful memories sunk into that thing. She made her way back to the living room and sat in Leonard's chair wrapped in the Snuggie. It was a little bit better, but still… where was that breeze coming from? She never felt it before… certainly not when she was all snoodled up with Leonard. Not only was the breeze bothering her… she had already lost watching a pretty big part of this show.

Reluctantly, it occurred to Penny that there was only one spot left in the room to try. She was hesitant, because she was perilously close to that dreaded third strike. Penny put a finger to her mouth and started to bite her nail then her lower lip. Penny finally let out a sigh "Oh What the HELL…" She then got up and sat in Sheldon's spot, propped up with the stripped pillow behind her. Looking around to see if anyone could see that she was in fact sitting in Sheldon's spot with a somewhat guilty feeling to it all, Penny couldn't think of feeling like this since High School and bumming a cigarette off one of the older girls… Hopefully… if Sheldon ever found out, she would meet with a better fate than when her Dad smelled smoke on her breath mixed with the rather distinct odor of Tequila.

Although this was certainly not the first time she had sat in Sheldon's spot, it was rare that she was ever completely alone in 4A. She never really concentrated on how the sitting arrangements in the room were actually affected by what Sheldon must have considered as climate and weather patterns. Penny smiled as she realized that she could see the Television perfectly from this vantage point. There was also absolutely no sun shining on the screen. The picture looked almost 3D! She couldn't remember when the TV looked so good… and she spent a LOT of time over here… There was no draft… yet she felt cool but with no breeze… she wasn't hot either…. This was absolutely AMAZING! Sheldon was right all along… His spot was the most perfect place to sit in the apartment.

Penny wrapped herself in the snuggie and came to the realization that the program was almost over. Too bad… she was planning on putting some of the techniques she might have learned to good use on her date with Leonard. He had gone from one extreme to the other in his date planning of just sitting in the apartment watching Dr. Who to the opposite end of the spectrum by taking her out to the shooting range. As much as she loved that little foray into what she liked to do in her youth, Penny wasn't really sure if she wanted Leonard to try things that were clearly out of his comfort zone just to impress her. There was no telling what body part could come to harm when Leonard's genius side was left to mucking about. No… She was just going to take him out for dinner at a nice Italian Restaurant and then go for a twilight walk on the beach…

But, right now, she was getting a bit tired and decided to take a little nap. Penny reached behind her and took the stripped pillow and fluffed it up, put it against the arm of the couch and proceeded to rest her head on it curling up beneath the blue snuggie. It was mere minutes before Penny fell into restful sleep.

Leonard had just dropped Sheldon off at the comic book store telling Sheldon that he needed to get back to the apartment and get ready for his date with Penny. After securing transportation back to the apartment from Raj and Howard Sheldon reluctantly agreed and Leonard left for Los Robles Avenue.

Leonard reached the fourth floor and took out his keys and reached for the door knob realizing the door was not locked. Quietly, he walked in to find Penny asleep on the couch. It was an amazingly cute scene that lay before him. Penny was scrunched up into a ball beneath the blue snuggie she had given him with one bare foot poking out, her hair messily splayed about her face. Leonard smiled to himself sitting next to her coiled form and then ever so lightly brought his finger nail across the sole of Penny's exposed foot.

Penny immediately woke with a dazed sleepy confused mind. Not knowing just what was tickling her foot and quickly remembering that she was in 4A laying id Sheldon's forbidden spot. In her sleep addled state, Penny thrust her limbs out straight, pulling the snuggie towards and covering her head while kicking her legs straight out. The result was not expected by either of them. Penny fell onto the floor between the couch and the coffee table wrapped in the snuggie blocking her view of the intruder to her nap. Leonard was the recipient of a rather sharp kick to his solar plexus.

Leonard let out a rather loud and somewhat disturbinh "OOOOFFFF" as he fell back onto the unoccupied end of the couch nearest the door. He immediately knew hid diaphragm was in spasms and could not catch a decent breath. The resultant gasping for breath turned quickly into a sort of whooping.

Penny was tangled into the snuggie as she tried to gather herself and stood up finally discarding the snuggie onto Leonard's easy chair. The first thing she focused on was Leonard grasping his stomach and whooping while starting to turn a disturbing shade of pale. Penny immediately knew what she had done. Leonard was not able to get a normal breath and in a panic. She remembered what Leonard had told her about Sheldon when all his imaginary stuff was stolen by that Zarnecki guy she kicked in the balls. Frantically looking for some sort of bag, Penny raced into the kitchen and found a stash of paper lunch bags. She grabbed one and brought it to Leonard who was desperately trying to get his inhaler out of his right front pants pocket.

Penny kneeled at Leonard's side and calmly spoke. "Sweetie please calm down, you need to breathe into this bag… slow deep breaths… Penny then curled the edge of the bag over and crimped it closed a bit so it would cover Leonard's mouth and nose.

Leonard looked up into Penny's assuring eyes as she held the bag to his face and rubbed his chest with the other hand. He started to feel the spasms start to go away and took the bag from Penny.

Penny then reached into Leonard's pocket and took out his inhaler, handing it to him as his breathing became more regular. "That's it Sweetie… just breathe… in… out…in… out… that's it." She continued to rub Leonard's chest.

Leonard put the bag down and smiled for Penny before he took a puff from his inhaler just for good measure. "Remind me to NEVER sneak up on you EVER again". He then took a few deep breaths and coughed once or twice.

Penny giggled… "Poor Baby…Come here." Penny lifted Leonard's head up by the chin and smiled into hos big brown eyes. They had a predictable effect on her and she leaned in kissing him gently.

Leonard had no choice but to deepen the kiss. He moved his hands to Penny's waist as she put both arms around Leonard's neck. Leonard then gently leaned over lowering the two of them onto the couch. It wasn't long before Leonard's hands found their way beneath Penny's shirt and he was gently massaging her breasts. The feel of her lace bra was having as much of an effect on him as his hands were having on her. Leonard moved to Penny's neck, placing kisses just below her left ear as she threw back her head and moaned. Penny started to breathe heavier. As her chest started to heave, she reached for Leonard's belt.

Just before things progressed further, the door to the apartment started to open. Leonard and Penny quickly rolled off the couch and found themselves in a heap between the couch and the coffee table. Penny quickly stood up and straightened her hair and brushed her shirt down. Leonard clambered up to the couch and sat in the middle. As Sheldon walked in with Raj and Howard, Penny smiled to Leonard and held out her hand. "Sweetie… why don't we go down to the Cheesecake Factory for some dessert?"

Sheldon sighed. "Penny… please… I don't have to have you filling Leonard up with fuel that will ignite the odiferous functioning of his large intestine." Raj and Howard laughed at the comment.

Leonard sighed… "C'mon Penny… you can have some cheesecake… I'll have a cup of coffee". When they left the apartment and shut the door, Leonard looked into the smiling face of his green eyed girlfriend. "Mark my words… that high school make out session in there is NOT over…"

Penny smiled and took Leonard's arm in hers as they went down the stairs. "Who said I wanted it to stop?"