sazzieazzie: thank you so much for being my first reviewer. I appreciate it so much. And the PM? Yes, Sheldon is a total ladies man. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for it.
Now, onto the rest of the story. I'm kind of disappointed with this one, but they get better. I have so many planned, it's unbelievable.
"You have how many?"
She had this spacey look in her eyes then held out her arms, brow furrowing. "I'm not really sure…I've never really counted."
"Seriously?"
She nodded her head fiercely.
All the while, Sheldon sat in his spot on the couch, sipping at the strange tea she had made. Penny and Leonard stared at her in curiosity, Howard looked like he didn't know what to think about the young woman all but glued to Sheldon's side. She was so tiny, so pretty, and oh-so-very special. Mentally. Something seemed off about her but no one dared question the problem; none of them wanted to hurt her feelings and none of them wanted to be on the receiving end of Sheldon's reaction.
She stood at nearly 5'0" tall, her hair an off white color and down to her hips, something that amazed Penny; she would have to ask the young girl how she got her hair to grow so long. She insisted on being called Nellie and to add to the pure strange-ness of her person – she was covered in tattoos. They were colorful and beautiful, whoever put these on her put a lot of care and effort into them. So many, it was no surprise really that she hadn't kept up with the number of them.
Penny shook her head and straightened her back. "Well, you're brave."
Nellie laughed, leaning her head onto Sheldon's shoulder; he was still focused on the tea that smelt like lime. "It has nothing to do with bravery," she ran her fingers in a small circle on the fabric around Sheldon's knee. "I just…I just really like tattoos. Once I found the tattoos I wanted, I just got them. What was it? If you do something you love, you don't work a day of your life or something like that?"
Penny smiled. "They mean so much to you, but you don't remember how many you got?"
Nellie grinned. "Exactly."
Sheldon swallowed the mouthful of tea he had and looked over at Nellie; well, it was more like he was looking at her lap but she was looking at his face. "Are you ready to leave?"
She perked up even more, if it was possible. "Yeppers," she chirped, jumping to her feet; she had his right hand clenched tightly in her smaller one. "Bye everyone, I guess we'll see you later tonight."
Everyone waved awkwardly as she drug Sheldon out of the apartment, Raj and Howard still wearing those awkward, dazed, smiles they had when she had come over earlier.
"I think she's mental," Leonard muttered, still baffled by the situation in general.
"I think she's sweet," Penny smiled softly.
"I think she's wonderful," Howard stood, walking towards the door. "Well then, I will be back when she and Sheldon return."
Leonard rolled his eyes. "You know she's with Sheldon, right?"
"Yeah," Howard sounded disappointed.