Ch 2- Bienvenue a Geneve

Penny dragged her suitcase behind her while Sheldon waited beside the taxi.

"Thanks for waiting." She snapped.

"You're welcome." He replied calmly. The cab driver ran over to help Penny heave her suitcase into the trunk. The car sank onto the tires a bit. Sheldon gave the name and address of their hotel and opened the door for Penny. He huffed while she finished taking a picture of the airport and the taxi.

"I really thought your picture of me at the money exchange kiosk was the most ridiculous one yet. I was wrong."

Penny stuck her tongue out at him. She couldn't get mad, though. He looked adorable- all travel-worn with a day's shadow of beard. Penny was happy to see Sheldon could relax a little.

The taxi made its way to Geneva crossing the Mont Blanc bridge.

"I've worked a trip to Old Town into our itinerary." Sheldon informed her though Penny's head was hanging out the window. "Les Rues-Basses is the finest shopping to be found." Her camera clicked like mad.

Penny pulled her head back in then squealed. Her hand shot out to grab a fistful of his violet starburst logo.

"Oh my God! Sheldon! Look! It's the Alps! The real Alps!" Penny flung herself across him in order to take a picture of the famed mountains. In the process, she knocked the wind out of him so he couldn't even protest."I used to pretend I was Heidi." Penny's voice was wistful. "I even braided my hair." She was still draped across Sheldon and shooting pictures. He tried to push her off to no avail. He rolled his eyes as his lungs re-filled. Good lord, this was like traveling with an untrained golden retriever!

They arrived at their hotel and, once more, Sheldon left her to wrestle her suitcase on her own. The time change was beginning to catch up to Penny. She entered the lobby, threw herself into an armchair and closed her eyes. Sleep instantly pulled at her but she thought she could hear Sheldon's voice getting higher an higher.

Shake, Shake, Shake.

"Penny."

Shake, Shake, Shake.

"Penny."

She opened her eyes but he continued.

Shake, Shake, Shake.

"Penny."

"Sheldon, I'm awake.""We have a very serious problem." The physicist chewed furiously on his upper lip.

"What?" Penny figured the hotel didn't have WiFi or All-Bran.

"Apparently, there is no reservation for you."

That got her attention. She sat up. "You took care of that. How did you make a mistake?""I didn't." Sheldon spat. "An error in translation occurred. I asked for a double suite and got a suite with a double bed ,instead.

"Well, that's just great!" Penny's temper flared. She was too tired for this. She needed a shower and a nap. "I don't suppose there are rooms anywhere else?"

"Not at the moment."

She got ready to launch another tirade but decided she needed sleep more than an argument with Sheldon.

"We'll fix this tomorrow. Just take me to the room, so I can rest."

"Penny, people can't be in my room."

"Sheldon!" Tears of fatigue sprang in her eyes and several guests turned to look." I have been on a plane for fifteen hours. I am in a foreign country with no hotel room. Can you please, try to be, I don't know, accommodating?"

He looked at her, left eye winking steadily. "Of course. Follow me."

They rode the elevator in silence and wheeled their luggage down the hall. Sheldon opened the door. The room was quaint with large windows and a glorious bathroom. Penny wanted to pull her clothes off right there and jump into the tub. Sheldon was pulling pillows and blankets out or the armoire. Penny washed her hands and face.. When she came out, Sheldon had finished arranging the spare bedding.

"All yours." He gestured to the floor.

XXXX

Penny lifted her head and groaned. She couldn't believe she actually slept on the floor! Two sheets of paper were next to her pillow, stapled together. A note from Sheldon

Good morning, Penny,

If you are reading this, we are already behind schedule. I have gone to acquire a more favorable solution to the rooming debacle. Please be dressed and ready to start our itinerary(attached) when I return. I took the liberty of ordering breakfast for you.

Sheldon Cooper.

Penny didn't know whether to laugh or cry but she probably should have listened to Leonard. Under the window on the small table, was a fully laden tray. She inspected the various bowls and found museli, yogurt ,pastries, butter and jam. There was a huge cup of coffee and a pear. Finishing off the tray was a small vase with a tea rose and baby's breath. Penny figured the flower was a standard hotel practice but she smiled just the same and snapped a picture of Sheldon's kind gesture.

She was finishing off a croissant when Sheldon returned. His face was dark with frustration.

"Any luck?" She asked. Sheldon's reply came out as a blistering stream of French.

"Come again?" Penny said. Sheldon sighed.

"My apologies. I've been arguing in a few different languages this morning, none of which were English."

"You speak more than one language?"

Sheldon looked at her as if she'd just insulted his intelligence.

"Of course, Penny. It's presumptuous to assume one will always be spoken to in English."

Of course! After all, Sheldon was never presumptuous.

"The long and the short of it is," Sheldon went on, "we are stuck with the current accommodations unless I want to send you off to a hotel in the southern part of the city." He shuddered.

"Is that a bad area?"

"You would do well to have your baseball bat on hand. Furthermore, I can't even imagine the delay in our schedule if I have to retrieve you each day from a different place. We're already thirty minutes behind. Have you read the itinerary?"

Penny shook her head and wiped off her hands. Sheldon pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Today," his voice held a tone of reverence, "We will be going to the Mecca of science. The Cern Supercollider."

Balls!

XXXX

Sheldon grew visibly more excited as they approached the entrance which would take them underground to the Supercollider. Penny snapped a picture of the doorway then ran ahead to take a shot of Sheldon approaching it. He pretend not to see her, his long legs closing the distance between them. Penny snapped the picture; she caught a perfect moment of Sheldon mid-stride so the full line of his arms and legs was accentuated. He had ducked his head but there was a glimmer of a smile.

"Put that away!" He snarled ushering her down the stairs. Sheldon began telling her about the various properties of the Supercollider.

"Juts one-eighth of its cryogenic system would qualify as the largest form of refrigeration."

Penny looked up at him from under her bangs. "So all that fuss a few years ago was so you could come see a giant refrigerator?"

They continued their descent. "It may interest you to know that, despite the cold, when the beams collide, the temperature is hotter than the sun."

"Cool." Penny said.

"Helium." Sheldon replied.

They physicist in charge explained they would be seeing an experiment focused on QGP. Sheldon gasped with delight; Penny wondered what they would have for lunch. Still, he was so excited that she figured she should pay attention.

"What's QGP?" She tugged at Sheldon's elbow. He leaned down to whisper as the other scientist was still talking,. Penny's ponytail brushed his cheek. Sheldon drew back, startled by their proximity.

"QGP is quark-gluon plasma." Sheldon's accent was very apparent as he whispered and his excitement grew.. "Basically, after the Big Bang, a thick, hot, "soup", if you will, formed. As it cooled, the quarks became trapped…"

Penny turned suddenly, "Like fruit in a Jello mold." The volume of her voice dwindled down since she was staring directly into Sheldon's eyes. She would have to get a picture of that. Just his eyes. She wanted to capture the green around the pupil feathering out to icy blue rimmed in gray. They called to mind a lake she skated on in Nebraska. Sheldon's eyes were just as deep. Just as enticing.

He licked his lips. "That's a fairly close analogy." He moved away. "Here they can reproduce that and study how matter forms." Sheldon turned his attention back to the scientist up front.

How could she ever have thought physics was boring?

XXXX

Raj and Howard came into 4A to find Leonard staring morosely at his email.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

Leonard sighed and pointed to his screen. "I got an email from Sheldon. Actually, Penny and Sheldon." Leonard did not like the feel of that combination in his mouth. "Most of the message is from Penny."

Howard leaned over and read aloud.

Hi Leonard!

We just wanted you to know that Geneva is amazing which you already do since you've been here. Today, we saw the Supercollider and I learned about QGP soup. Delicious! Tomorrow, Sheldon talks about dark matter and our itinerary includes a trip to the Jardin Anglais to see the flower clock. I miss you guys!

Beneath Penny's typing was Sheldon's

Leonard,

We've suffered little in the way of jet lag and no intestinal distress. Penny has actually managed to keep our tardiness to only thirty minutes. The Supercollider was everything I imagined since I was a boy and I'm sure I don't have to point out that, despite its name, QGP soup is not actually soup. Please keep Wolowitz out of my spot. See you in a week

Sheldon L. Cooper, PhD

"Well that sounds like a perfectly boring vacation." Howard commented.

"I don't know," Raj countered. "The tone of Penny's email is pretty upbeat so what's the problem?"

Silently Leonard clicked on the attachment. A very large picture filled the screen. Penny and Sheldon stood outside the LHC building. Both of them were in white lab coats("How did she manage to get him to do that?" Raj wondered.) and gesturing toward the building. Penny was standing in front of Sheldon, her back to his chest, smiling broadly. Sheldon, while not really smiling, certainly looked very pleased and very comfortable.

"He looks..happy." Raj was amazed.

"Yup." Leonard stressed the "p"

"So does she." Howard added.

"Yup." Leonard popped the "p" again.

Howard gave Leonard's shoulder an affectionate punch. "C'mon, cheer up. They've only been gone two-three days. You know they are destined to have one of their knock down-drag outs any day now. Penny will probably call you to come rescue her after Sheldon banishes her from the entire country of Switzerland."

The three men turned their attention back to the photo on the screen and studied it once more.

"Not this time, Howard." Leonard sighed.