A/N: Just an idea I had, because I thought Sheldon deserved a girl. I love Sheldon
Prologue
Sheldon spreads a napkin over his lap while Raj and Howard look at their menus. Sheldon, who had his order memorised but still wasn't sure about that "tangerine" chicken, wondered why Leonard wasn't here yet and what they would do if he didn't show. He shuddered. It didn't bear thinking about! What would they do about the dumplings? It was that Howard-less fiasco all over again.
"Who's the girl with Leonard?" Howard asked, his voice full of disbelief. Sheldon followed his gaze and spotted his small friend near the door, where one of the waiters was pointing him towards their table.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Leonard arrived at the table, looking a little breathless, "this is Kumiko." The girl behind him, who looked faintly Japanese, smiled shyly. Sheldon looked her up and down, judging, calculating. He supposed his friends, who seemed to do little else than think about women, would think her "attractive".
"Bonsoir, mademoiselle." Howard stood up too fast. "Howard Wolowitz."
"Yeah, Howard has a girlfriend," Leonard informed Kumiko quickly.
"So does Leonard," Howard retorted, glaring at his friend.
"I hope you guys don't mind that I invited Kumiko to dinner," Leonard said, sitting down next to Sheldon. Kumiko sat down on the chair at the end of the table.
"Not at all," Howard grinned. Sheldon sat in stony silence, sensing that it would be better not to voice his views on the matter. Now they would have to get extra dumplings.
"So how do you two know each other?" Howard asked, feigning interest.
"Kumiko just started working at the university," Leonard told him enthusiastically, "she's a physicist too."
"Really?" Howard smiled, no, leered at her. She attempted a smile in return.
"Yes, I started today," she said, looking at the table, "um...doctor Leslie Winkle seemed excited to collaborate with me on my new research."
"What are you working on?" Leonard asked, but before Kumiko could answer a waiter appeared, ready to take their order.
Sheldon gave his standard order, as did Raj, Howard and Leonard. Kumiko took a moment before deciding to have the same as Sheldon. The waiter started to walk away.
"Wait," Kumiko called the waiter back, chewing her lip nervously, "I would like to see your kitchen, so as to check the hygiene standards." She began to stand up. The waiter looked flustered.
"I can assure you, the kitchen hygiene is more than adequate," Sheldon told her, "I demanded to see it the first time I was here."
Kumiko laughed and the waiter made a quick escape. She sat back down, a little reluctantly, Raj noticed.
"I don't really eat at places I haven't been before," Kumiko admitted, "but I just moved here, so I haven't been anywhere before."
"Quite understandable. I don't go to strange restaurants either."
They smiled at each other, and Sheldon's smile was pure and genuine, and the weirdest thing was... it wasn't terrifying. Raj raised an eyebrow, and looked at Howard, whose mouth was hanging open. His expression clearly said what the frack?