The Penny Quandary
Saturday Night, 8:15pm
Sheldon was a creature of habit, this morning he had had his usual cereal with a specific amount of milk and a specific type of milk, he had eaten his breakfast whilst watching Doctor Who; like he did every Saturday morning.
The events that followed would often change, depending on who was about and what was happening in the world.
Today Sheldon had had a fairly relaxed day, working on various projects, beat Leonard at a game of chess and had read a couple of comic books; it wasn't as eventful as last Saturday. Last Saturday Sheldon had been dragged around a supermarket with Penny, which he found immensely tedious; but he had been rewarded for accompanying the woman, she had cooked him spaghetti with cut up hotdogs for lunch, his favourite, and to his surprise Penny cooked wonderful spaghetti. Whilst eating the two of them had a discussion latest Star Trek movie, Penny hadn't seen the movies, nor had she seen much of the original series, but said that she had been researching the latest version of Star Trek and Sheldon had been giving her a very detailed description of all the main character, Penny had listened and asked appropriate, intelligent questions and the meal had gone exceptionally well, Sheldon had even broken his 'no alcohol' rule and had had a tiny sip of Penny's wine before going back to his diet coke.
Tonight the boys had arranged to watch the latest Star Trek movies, dressed as characters from the movie; this of course had Sheldon excited as he had been the one to suggest the idea, after his talk over lunch with Penny, besides he loved dressing up, and as usual he was dressing up as Spock, it was only logical.
Before the films could commence however Sheldon had to deal with his laundry, and as 8:15 approached the physicist picked up his basket and headed for the door; the others we getting changed into their costumes and making all the appropriate adjustments and alterations, it had been awhile since they last wore the costumes, Sheldon had already adjusted his costume earlier in the week, not that the changes were drastic in any way, Sheldon hadn't gained any weight and was still as tall as he had been the last time he had worn the costume, at the renaissance fair.
Penny walked out of her apartment as Sheldon had exited his, holding her basket of dirty laundry.
"Hey Sheldon, do you mind if I join you?" Sheldon was momentarily stunned before giving Penny his best smile.
"I don't see why not." He stepped aside to let Penny down the stairs first, noting how little laundry the woman had to do. "Did you forget half your laundry?" he asked, making an effort to talk about something, although he was actually intrigued to know why she was about to waste water on such a small amount of dirty clothes, clothes he hadn't seen her wear recently, but this was Penny, they had probably been lost in the mess she calls home.
"Um…no, I need these clothes…for tomorrow," she said, smiling; she should have grabbed more clothes. "Can we share a washing machine?" she suddenly turned around, causing Sheldon to stumble into her, he quickly grabbing her arm to stop her falling over, his basket of washing slipping from his hands as he pulled Penny close to him.
"Penny I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Penny frowned, blinking at him as he pushed her back slightly. It wasn't like Sheldon to blame himself for an accident like this; he was always quick to point fingers and insult people for been so stupid…usually everything was Penny's fault.
"Why are you apologising? I'm the one who made you drop it, I'm sorry." They both looked at each other, Penny's heart fluttered as they stared, the silence stretching; Sheldon was the first to move, beginning to pick up his washing, a slight blush on his cheeks, Penny bent down to help, roughly folding the physicist's clothes for him as she placed them in her basket; the two of them stood up, looking at each other. Another awkward silence passed between them before Sheldon spoke.
"In response to your request Penny, I will allow you to share my washing machine, just this once as I hate to waste water." The woman thanked her neighbour, following him into the laundry room. "And we have to use my washing powder." Penny rolled her eyes agreeing.
The washing machine was on and the two neighbours left it running, heading back upstairs, the timer on the machine said the wash would only take thirty minutes, the two had decided that the clothes weren't particularly dirty, and Sheldon was in a hurry to get dressed for the movies.
"Say Penny, what are you up to tonight?" Sheldon asked as they were walking back up to their apartments. Penny thought for a moment.
"Well I have a date with my couch and a bottle of wine!" she smiled, clapping her hands together. She had nothing interesting planned, no dates, no friends, no nothing…she sighed as she thought about it.
"Well how about, you come over to my place and watch Star Trek?" Penny looked up at Sheldon, who was swaying, his hands behind his back. "But you have to dress up as a character," Sheldon smiled, for once he was making an effort.
"You're inviting me over to join you?"
"That's what I was asking…do you want to join me?" Penny laughed.
"Of course, I would love to Sheldon, thank you!" Penny smiled, patting the man on the shoulder before running up the rest of the stairs, tripping as she hurried, leaving Sheldon to look after her before continuing to his apartment.
Penny quickly shut her door, locking it so no one could come in, running into her bedroom to find her Starfleet Uniform she had brought off the internet a few days ago; she had originally brought it because she wanted to surprise the guys at the next fancy dress party, and she was excited to show off her new found interest in their movie obsessions, of course this was after her long discussion with Sheldon.
Penny tied her hair up in a high ponytail, slipping the dress over her head before concentrating on make-up, nothing too fancy; once she had finished with her make-up she began looking for the boots the dress had come with, maybe the boy's geekiness was rubbing off onto her because she was genuinely excited about watching the movies, hopefully she would be able to stay awake throughout the two movies.
When she looked back at the clock it was 8:50, and she quickly jumped up, unlocking her door, sprinting down the stairs and into the laundry room. She stopped when she saw Sheldon in his Spock uniform, she could tell from the way his ears were pointed, and his blue, tight uniform. Penny lingered in the doorway, Sheldon hadn't realised her presence yet and she watched the man folding her clothes with his clothes folder.
"Shacha Spock!" Penny finally said, hoping that Google had given her the correct translation. Sheldon jumped, turning to look at the woman, doing a double-take, staring a little too long. "Dif-tor heh smusma, Spohkh." Penny held up her hand in the 'Vulcan salute' position. Sheldon continued to stare, before doing the hand salute himself.
"You look lovely as always, Uhura." Sheldon attempted a wink in Penny's direction, smiling at her; the woman was flattered that he knew who she was, although Uhura was the only female character Penny knew of, after Sheldon had gone on about Spock and her been in a relationship. "When did you decide to research the Vulcan language, I thought you had no interest in our childish ways." Only then did Sheldon notice the scribble of black ink across Penny's palm, she had written down how to pronounce what she had just said, he smiled, before continuing to fold Penny's things.
"If I had no interest in them I wouldn't have agreed to tonight." Penny smiled, walking over to Sheldon. "Thank you for folding my clothes." She reached out, stroking his arm, he seemed not to care.
"You're very welcome, I didn't want them to get creased, and besides, we have eight more minutes before we watch Star Trek."
Sheldon continued to fold the clothes, he even showed Penny how to fold his clothes using his clothes folder, Penny found this very amusing, annoying Sheldon on purpose by tucking his socks into one another, watching him huff as he separated them and lay them out ready to fold.
"Do you think I look ok?" Penny finally asked as they placed their clean washing into their baskets, ready to transport upstairs.
"As always Penny you look very beautiful, the outfit suits you." That was the biggest compliment Penny had ever received from Sheldon and she smiled all the way up the stairs, quickly dropping her laundry off in her apartment, dumping the clean clothes on her bed, grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge; she was in such a hurry that on the way out she nudged her key bowl and in a clumsy attempt to save it she helped it hit the floor, and despite the small space between the table and the floor the bowl smashed into several large pieces of china; Penny looked down at the bowl sighing, she really liked that bowl, but there was nothing she could do about it now, she'd have to go shopping and buy another one. Penny pushed the pieces of pottery to the side with her foot before going over to 4A, making sure she locked her door. She hesitated before knocking.
Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon!"
Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon!"
Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon!"
Leonard was the one to open the door, stepping back when he saw what Penny was wearing and as always Raj and Howard stared at her too, also shocked to see her in a Starfleet uniform.
"Hey guys!" Penny smiled at them all. "Can I come in?" she asked when Leonard was still holding the door, the man shuffled to the side, letting her past before closing the door.
"May I say that you look ravishing in that outfit?" Howard approached her, about to put his arm around her waist, Penny quickly swatting his arm away.
"Hey Penny, how come you're here? And dressed up," Leonard asked, staring, twiddling his fingers.
"Sheldon invited me over." Penny looked at Raj who quickly ran over to the fridge, opening a beer, taking a couple of swigs before turning back to her.
"Hey Penny." He smiled his goofy smile, taking another sip of beer. Penny walked passed Raj, placing her bottle of wine in the fridge, keeping it cool until she needed it.
"Ok, my clothes are neatly away, should we proceed?" Sheldon asked, emerging from his bedroom and entering the living room. Penny smiled as 'Spock' took his place on the sofa, looking at the others, frowning.
"Who are you all meant to be?"
"I'm Jean Luc Picard," Leonard said, setting up the movie. Penny looked at Raj.
"I'm Worf."
"And I'm a Borg drone." Howard said; his outfit was just creepy and weird in her opinion. Penny knew none of them, so she assumed their costumes were accurate, she thought Raj's costume was the best, although seeing Sheldon in his Spock costume made her realise what muscle was hiding under his usual thermal and t-shirt, today he was wearing just the one shirt and it was tight against his chest. Howard went to sit next to Sheldon; but the man stopped him.
"That's Uhura's seat," he stated, Howard frowned turning to look at Penny, before rolling his eyes and shuffling, Penny smiled, skipping over to her comfy spot on the sofa, trying to ignore Leonards uncomfortable stare. "Press play Leonard, we have two movies to watch before the night is up." Leonard looked down at the remote, aggressively pressing the 'play' button, throwing it onto the coffee table; as usual Raj was sat on the floor, but he didn't protest.
Halfway through the first movie everyone stopped for a toilet and drinks break, Penny had managed to follow the story so far, but began questioning Sheldon on aspects of the film, Leonard had spent most of the film watching every move Penny or Sheldon made and when Penny when to the toilet Leonard took the opportunity to mention his displeasure at how Sheldon was acting regarding Penny, which of course Sheldon did not understand, frustrating the man further.
The bottle of wine was opened and Penny ran back to her apartment to retrieve some snacks, emptying them into a bowl and upon returning to 4A she placed them in the middle of the coffee table before taking her seat back on the sofa next to Sheldon, the physicist raised an eyebrow at Leonard when he saw the twitch of the man's eye, and Sheldon, in a very bold move placed his arm on the back of the sofa, bringing it around Penny, turning to the woman, reaching for her glass of wine.
"May I have a try?" he asked, Penny was completely bemused as she watched the man raise the glass to his lips, taking a swig of the liquid, swallowing, passing the glass back to Penny, winking. "It's very nice." The whole room stared at the man; Howard's fingers hovering over the light switch, Raj turned to the TV, pointing the remote at it.
"Hit the lights," Raj said, pressing play, Howard launching himself onto the sofa, pushing Penny closer to Sheldon, the physicist's arm rest on her shoulder, his thumb stroking at the bare skin of her arm. At first Penny was unsure, but she knew what Sheldon was like and recently been more relaxed regarding physical contact, he was just exploring that, and Penny in response slowly lowered her head onto the man's shoulder, the glass of wine limp in her hand; and occasionally throughout the second half of the first movie the two of them would take sips in turn, Penny generously refilling the glass, surprised that Sheldon was suddenly consuming alcohol, although she had stated the other night that drinking alcohol was sort of a none optional social convention when there are at least five people present; yes she had lied, but it worked, although she did limit the amount he was having before his body could properly get use to it.
By the end of the first movie Penny was a little more that tired, but she felt bad if she just stood up and left, she looked at the half full glass of wine, shrugging and reaching over, pouring the last of the wine into her glass; knowing that Sheldon would probably help her drink it, he was enjoying the wine so far, and may also be a little bit tipsy.
Another toilet break was called before the start of the second movie, and Raj needed another beer. Leonard was slumped in his chair, glaring at Sheldon who seemed not to notice. This time it was Howard to tried to have a word with Sheldon about how he was acting with Penny, Howard explained how it looked, as if Sheldon was flirting with Penny when he knew Leonard liked Penny, of course Sheldon laughed, explaining that his feeling towards Penny were mutual and that he was only been her friend; pointing out that Sheldon is hardly Penny's type and that he was merely trying to make her comfortable in a setting she isn't use to; she barely ever joined them for movie nights, especially when dressing up was involved; even Howard saw Sheldon's point of view, but it still annoyed Leonard, who crossed his arms, frowning at the TV as Raj set up the next disk, making sure the first disk was placed in its case and placed in the right DVD spot; not wanting to get a strike from Sheldon.
Penny wobbled back from the bathroom, walking over to the light switch and flicked it off before flopping back next to Sheldon.
"Lights, camera, action!" She shouted, getting a laugh out of Sheldon, Raj obeyed, and pressed 'play'.
The second movie seemed to move faster, Penny was now getting to grips with who everyone was and their relationship with each other, including Spock and Uhura's relationship and she blushed; hoping it was dark enough that no one realised.
Eventually the inevitable happened and Penny drifted off to sleep, Sheldon realised this and removed the glass from her hand, placing it on the coffee table as gently as he could, trying to keep his shoulder still as he did.
Penny was almost reluctant to move, she was so comfy, but she could hear someone whispering her name, and as a result she slowly opened her eyes, the room was still dark and the movie still playing.
"The movie has almost finished, though I should wake you," Sheldon whispered in her ear so the others couldn't hear him. Penny nodded, thanking him with a 'thumbs up'. She rubbed her eyes, sitting up slightly; as she did the credits begun to roll and Howard was up on his feet to switch the light back on, making everyone squint. Penny slowly stood up, wobbling, holding onto Sheldon's shoulder for support.
"Well thank you for tonight guys, I had fun." Penny smiled. "We should do this again sometime; maybe make it a weekly thing." The boys seemed to be quite enthusiastic about that suggestion but they would discuss it another day when they weren't tired. Penny quickly went around the room hugging everyone goodnight in her slightly drunken state, heading for the door once everyone had had a hug.
"Let me help you back to your apartment Penny," Sheldon offered, grabbing hold of Penny's arm to keep her stable, opening the door for her.
The two of them walked slowly over to Penny's apartment, the woman fumbled around with her keys before Sheldon offered to open the door for her, opening her door and letting her inside, staring down at the broken china that was shoved into a small pile by the door.
"How did you break your bowl?" he asked, looking at the beautiful pottery that was now on the floor.
"I knocked it when I was coming over to yours." Penny sighed, she had forgotten about her broken bowl. Sheldon was in the doorway holding Penny's keys, unsure of where to place them, without a key bowl Penny was bound to lose them. The woman stood up, walking up to Sheldon, removing the keys from his grip, throwing them onto her kitchen island, she would eventually find them in the morning. "Thanks again for inviting me over, I had fun." Penny reached up and hugged the physicist again.
"Yes, it was very…interesting." Sheldon smiled as she pulled away. The two of them stood staring at each other; Penny had a silly drunken smile plastered across her face. Sheldon swallowed, his tongue darting out to when his lips before he reached down and planted a kiss on Penny's forehead.
"Goodnight Uhura, sleep well." Sheldon then left, closing the door behind him and headed back to 4A, Penny wobbled to her room, giggling, flopping onto the bed, not even bothering to get changed.
Back at Sheldon and Leonard's apartment the three boys were waiting for Sheldon, Leonard was a little more than pissed off, he was sure that Sheldon was just flirting with Penny to annoy him, and at least half an hour was wasted on useless bickering that got them nowhere, eventually Sheldon had had enough, insisting that there was nothing between him and Penny and there never would be before storming off to his room, getting changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed, unable to sleep due to his frustration that the others were picking on him, but eventually exhaustion got the better of him and he fell into a deep sleep.
That night he dreamt of Penny.