Random idea that came to me... Kind of a throw-back to the ep. where Penny asks the guys what Sheldon's "deal" is. And I ship Sheldon/Penny hardcore. So that's that.
Leonard found himself wondering lately... As a scientist, he was nothing if not observant. And he'd found much to observe as of late.
Physics and Stephanie took up most of his time, but even with all the time spent hypothesizing about one and being quite often confused about the other, he'd found himself left with surprising amounts of time to observe some new occurrences over several weeks.
He'd let her touch it.
Granted, it was just a carrot, and Penny had asked first. But still. Sheldon had nodded absentmindedly, his eyes still glued to the Star Wars marathon in which they were all engaged, pointing out scientific inaccuracies and travesties, as usual. And she'd picked it up.
Off his plate.
And he hadn't banished her. She didn't even get a strike.
At first, Leonard hypothesized that he was just heeding his mother's warning.
But simple math dictated that a bunch of little things would eventually add up into a big thing, and as improbable as it seemed, Leonard had to admit that Sheldon's mother seemed to be nowhere in the equation.
He hadn't just learned to share his food. He seemed to be sharing his space, too. He leaned in a little closer when he spoke to her. (She did, too.) During Saturday night sci-fi space movie marathons, they sat through the films on the couch with their shoulders touching. Sometimes their knees, too. (The fact that Penny was sitting through these movies on a regular basis at all was in itself novel. Come to think of it, when was the last time she'd been on a date?) About two months into his observations, when they shared a bowl of popcorn, Leonard nearly choked on his. He adjusted her hands for her on the Wii controller to, as he said, assist her in achieving optimum bowling coordination.
He was getting better at smiling, too.
Leonard wasn't sure what all his data meant, but it did leave him wondering... What was Sheldon's deal, anyway?