Chapter Three: Waking Up Next To An Angel

~~~Leonard/Penny~~~

Penny woke up feeling surprisingly good. She started to stretch, then froze at the realization that there was an arm wrapped around her wait with the hand attached to that arm firmly cupping her breast. Who?

After a moment, memories of the night before came back and Penny relaxed as she realized that the mad cuddler was Leonard. Also, it was unlikely that he had deliberately set out to grope her. Far more likely, his hand had just ended up there. Holding her breast.

With an indulgent smile, Penny carefully pulled Leonard's hand away and moved it a foot lower. Then the other issue presented itself to her. Little Leonard was firmly pressed against her backside. And Big Leonard was dreaming. Of something that made him grind slowly against her backside. It was a little embarrassing, since she didn't make a habit of waking up with strange men.

Penny had had one night stands before. She was far from a virgin. But the last three years she'd been in a committed relationship and the one thing she wasn't was unfaithful. So it had been a while since she'd woken up next to a virtual stranger.

Feeling Leonard press up against her made her ache deep inside. Penny missed sex. That month that she and Kurt had abstained was starting to loom pretty high. Because she liked sex. Frequently. For the greater part of her relationship with Kurt, the two of them probably averaged having sex twice a day. At a minimum.

But missing sex or not, nothing was going to happen. So having Leonard press against her, while definitely feeling good, wasn't going to lead to anything since the last thing he needed was to strain himself like that. Plus, the last thing she needed was to have rebound sex with someone.

The only thing that could accomplish would to be make Penny hate herself. Thirty-six hours of goodness leading to weeks of recriminations and soul searching.

Penny was about to slip out of his arms and get up, when she felt the body behind her stiffen, then pull back a bit as Leonard tried to move his groin away from her bottom. Her knowing smile disappeared as she heard him groan in pain. Quickly flipping over, she met Leonard's pained gaze as they two of them lay facing one another, only inches apart.

Without his glasses on, Leonard looked completely vulnerable. His eyes were a soft brown like dark caramels and were framed by the biggest, softest lashes Penny had ever seen on a guy. Illogically, she felt completely envious of Leonard's lashes. Then his labored breathing registered, and she asked, "Are you okay, Leonard?"

"Inhaler." At the same time as he spoke, he pointed to Penny's other side, toward the bedside table.

Penny rolled back over and saw a silver and white tube sitting there upon on the table. Grabbing it, she rolled onto her back and passed it to Leonard, watching as he put it into his mouth and spritzed it once. His breathing immediately improved and he relaxed.

At her inquiring look, he explained, "I have asthma. Not terrible, but I do have to use my inhaler on occasion. I always keep one with me just in case."

Penny nodded. "How are the aches and pains this morning?"

Leonard winced. "Pretty bad. Where are my glasses, by the way?"

Penny pointed to the table on the other side of the bed, next to Leonard. "Over there. But stay put and I'll get them for you."

Penny sat up and carefully reached across Leonard, making sure not to put any weight on his or touch him in any way. She gathered up his glasses, then sat back down, holding them out to him. Wide eyes met hers as he took them from her. She wondered why Leonard was suddenly blushing?

Then it hit her. She probably should have reconsidered her approach to getting his glasses. She hadn't touched him when she'd leaned over him, but her chest, covered only by a tank top thin enough to see through had been about three inches from his face. Even as nearsighted as Leonard was, he could probably see her nipples outlined through the nearly sheer material. Penny felt her own face heat up at the thought.

She actually found it amusing that something as trivial as that could make her blush when she'd spent the night with him. And seen almost every since of his body as well. It was odd sometimes what felt normal and what felt embarrassing.

Next to her, Leonard put on his glasses and seemed immediately reassured to be able to see again. That's when she heard his stomach rumbled. Sitting up quickly, Penny swung her legs off the bed, then stood up. "You must be hungry. I'll make you breakfast. And get you some pain medication. What are you hungry for?"

Leonard looked at her, obviously struggling not to look her up and down, then said, "There's a robe behind the door. If you're going to cook me breakfast, you'd better wear it."

Penny saw the one he meant, and slipped it around her, tying the belt. It was actually the right size for her, even if in a man's style. She and Leonard really were the same size. Turning, she saw Leonard's look of admiration deepen as it appeared that he liked the way she looked in his robe.

Penny gave a quick whirl, asking, "How do I look?"

"Good enough to eat."

Penny stopped, shocked, surprised, and flattered by Leonard's words. He, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't believe what he'd said. Red-faced, he haltingly expounded on his words, only deepening the chasm, "Because of how hungry I am. For food, not sex. I mean... crap."

She smiled, then slipped out the door.

It wasn't hard to find all of the breakfast stuff, and since they had all of the ingredients, Penny decided on scrambled eggs, English muffins with butter, bacon, and orange juice for breakfast.

Sheldon seemed absent from the apartment, which relieved Penny as she wasn't looking forward to attempting to make small talk with Leonard's whack-a-doodle roommate. She still felt more than a little weird around him. Maybe when Leonard felt better, she could ask him about Sheldon and what his 'deal' was.

Penny set up a breakfast tray with everything she'd cooked on it and carried it back to Leonard's bedroom. On it, she also had a bottle of pills that she'd found on the counter with a note that said, "Pain Pills. Read the instructions carefully."

Apparently left by Sheldon, they were simple prescription Vicodin. Take one or two pills every four hours with food. Hopefully, they would help take the edge off of Leonard's pain.

Penny nudged the door open with her hip and walked in, carrying the tray. She was greeted with the sight of Leonard standing by his bed wearing nothing but his boxers. As bad as he had looked the previous night, he looked ten times worse this morning.

His entire body was covered by bruises ranging in color from greenish-black to bright purple. Penny could safely say that she'd never seen anything like it, even growing up on a farm. It terrified her.

Which was one of the things that made her almost shout, "Leonard!"

He spun around clumsily, nearly falling as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Wha-"

"What are you doing out of bed?"

Penny tried to relaxed as Leonard stuttered out a reply that seemed to be trying to communication something along the lines of "he was trying to stretch out the soreness."

In a commanding tone, she said, "There's time enough for that later. Get back into bed right now."

He scrambled to obey her. Once he was back down with his blankets pulled up over the middle of his chest, Penny set the tray of food on his lap. In a far gentler tone, she coaxed, "Eat your breakfast, then I want you to take two of these pills. Okay?"

Leonard nodded. "Sure thing, Penny. Thanks for breakfast. It smells great."

Penny smiled, fighting back tears. "You enjoy it, sweetie."

She sat on the edge of the bed and watched Leonard eat. He looked at her and asked, "You're not going to eat, too? I mean, there's way more here than I can eat by myself."

Okay, so maybe she had gone a little overboard, cooking up most of a package of bacon, an entire carton of eggs, and several English muffins, but she'd been focused on Leonard's injuries, not the actual cooking, and had kind of zoned out during the preparations. "Well, okay. Let me just grab another fork and I'll be right back."

Penny walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a fork and another glass, filling it with orange juice. She started to grab another plate, then shrugged. No point in dirtying up another dish to be washed. Walking back in, she settled onto the bed next to Leonard, puffing up the pillows so that she was mostly upright. He was watching her with an indecipherable expression on his face, then moved the plate on the tray closer to her.

She grabbed a bite of eggs and almost swooned at the taste. Wow. That was really good. She wasn't much of a cook overall, but she did make a mean breakfast. Penny bit into a piece of bacon and moaned slightly. Mortified, she met Leonard's eyes and saw that he was smiling at her. Cheeks heating, Penny said, "I really like bacon."

Leonard shrugged, made a pained face at the motion, then agreed, "Me, too. This is really good, Penny."

Penny swallowed her latest bite, then responded, "Thanks, sweetie. Breakfast, I can make. Just don't ask me to cook you lunch or dinner. Not if you want to live."

He grinned. "I know the feeling. But that's what take out's for, right?"

Penny nodded happily in agreement as together they finished the feast. After the last English muffin disappeared, she grabbed the plates and carried them to the sink. She'd wash them later.

Walking back into the room, she watched Leonard as he lay there with his eyes closed. After eating, he'd taken two Vicodin and seemed to be resting comfortably. After a while, he opened his eyes.

"Penny?"

"What, sweetie?"

"Do you have to work today?" Leonard looked concerned as he asked.

"Today's my day off. I was just going to lounge around and do a whole lotta nothing. Well, I was going to clean, but someone already did that. Which reminds me! Who cleaned my apartment? Because that? Majorly creepifying."

Leonard had a resigned look on his face as he asked, "Was it perfectly organized?"

"Err.. huh?"

"I mean, was it more than just clean? Was every single thing in there organized by size, shape, color, and usage? As well as labeled?"

Penny did not like the direction this was headed in. "I don't know. It was freaky clean, if that's what you mean."

"Sheldon."

Penny felt confused. "Sheldon, what?"

Leonard had a knowing look on his face as he said, "It was Sheldon. Had to be."

"Why the hell would he clean my apartment?"

Penny would have smiled at the nervousness in Leonard's voice if she wasn't so creeped out at the moment. "You might have noticed that Sheldon's... different. The thing is, he's actually more like crazy crazy. Although, he claims his mother had him tested. Anyway, there's this thing, called Asperger's Syndrome, which is a kind of autism, characterized by restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior. Sheldon-"

Penny waved her hands, interrupting. "Sweetie, whatever you're saying, can it be in English?"

"Sheldon's borderline nutso and can't stand anything dirty or out of order."

"But why did he clean my apartment? Are you saying my apartment was dirty or out of order?" Penny was starting to get mad and it was hard to keep it out of her voice.

Leonard shook his head vigorously, then flinched in obvious pain, instantly negating most of Penny's anger. "No. Not me. Sheldon. According to him, when he locked up your place after Kurt dropped off your TV, it looked like someone had robbed you. Or the police had searched it looking for contraband. Anyway, he disappeared for a few hours after parking me on the couch with the remote and an icepack. I didn't think anything of it at the time, probably because I was unconscious for most of it, but he probably went back and cleaned and straightened up your apartment."

Penny leaned back against the door. Yeah, definitely way creepy. Then a thought occurred to her. "He didn't... tell me he did not organize my clothes, too?"

Her dresser had definitely been a lot neater when she'd gone digging for something to sleep in. She'd been in such a hurry to get back to Leonard that she hadn't registered all that much. Her closet! It would be more than creepy if her closet was as perfect as the rest of her apartment. Oh God! What if he'd found her vibrator? And labeled it?

Looking very apologetic, Leonard shrugged. "Probably."

"All my clothes? My underwear?" Okay, the idea of Sheldon with his preying mantis looks going through her underwear drawer and folding her panties one by one was every bit as creepy as him finding her vibrator.

Leonard closed his eyes again. After a moment, he said, "Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, he doesn't think about women in that way."

Confused and still feeling more than a little violated, Penny asked, "What way?"

"Like women. I mean, he doesn't see women as sexual beings. Actually, he doesn't see anyone as a sexual being."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. He may talk about coitus, but the thought of actually doing it would probably make him vomit. He doesn't even like to be touched. He has a combination of tactile defensiveness and mysophobia that borders on pathological."

Penny went and sat down on the bed next to Leonard. "Mysowhatia?"

Leonard his eyes again and grinned. He was looking a bit out of it, probably from the Vicodin. "He's a germaphobe."

An evil idea began percolating inside of Penny's brain as she lay back on the pillows. If Sheldon didn't like to be touched, then he should be. Touched until he ran screaming. Absently, she reached over and stroked Leonard's hair. Her revenge could wait a day or three.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Like a cloud." At her amused look, Leonard expounded, "I feel soft and fluffy and just like I'm going to float away..."

"Oh, sweetie, you're as high as a cloud. Maybe just one Vicodin from now on. I didn't know you were such a lightweight."

Leonard giggled in response. He repeated what she'd said. "Lightweight."

"Yep, total lightweight. Remind me not to get you drunk."

"Penny?"

"Yeah?"

"You smell good."

Flattered, Penny smiled brightly, although how she could smell good after working all day yesterday followed by giving Leonard a Bengay rubdown, she didn't know. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Sure. I really like cheesecake. But I can't have any because I'm lactose intolerant. Why I can't I be some other ose intolerant, like destrose or sucrose. But no... it's gotta be lactose."

Penny froze, her hand still touching Leonard's hair. Okay, shower time. Right now, in fact. She sat up and jumped out of bed. Heading toward the door, she paused at Leonard's question, "Penny, where're you goin'?"

"I'll be right back, sweetie. Go to sleep and when you wake up, I'll order something for lunch."

Penny smiled at his sleepy, "Okay."

Now it was time to make herself human again.

~~~Leonard/Penny~~~

Leonard woke up slowly, feeling like he was swimming through layers to consciousness towards wakefulness. As he became aware of the world around him, he frowned. Why was he still wearing his glasses? He usually put them on the nightstand next to his bed-

Oh. He must have fallen back asleep after breakfast. Penny! Quickly opening his eyes, Leonard glanced around to see if the gorgeous blonde was still there. Fortunately, she wasn't.

He couldn't help remembering the last thing he'd said to her before drifting off. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Leonard realized that he'd told her she smelled like cheesecake. How romantic, he sarcastically thought to himself. No wonder she'd cleared out. He wondered if she was coming back, then remembered she'd said she'd get him lunch.

Sitting up stiffly, Leonard realized that he needed to use the bathroom. And take a shower, he decided, smelling the remnants of his Bengay rubdown, still lingering hours after the fact. Also, brush his teeth, shuddering as he ran his tongue over the coating that seemed to have accumulate since yesterday morning.

So step one, Leonard thought. Get out of bed. Gingerly, he swung his feet over the side of the bed until they touched the floor. Gathering himself, he swung stood up on shaky legs, hissing at the burning sensation from his abused abdominal muscles where Kurt had punched him several times.

He approached the door, then stopped, puzzled, wondering where his robe had gotten to. Then he remembered seeing it on Penny that morning. Talk about wow. She'd looked so good wearing his robe. And even better before she'd put it on.

Unconsciously, Leonard licked his lips, remembering how Penny had looked in that white tank top, her nipples visible as dusky pink circles under the thin material. Not that he didn't already know what Penny looked like topless since Howard had found some low budget horror movie on the internet that had never been released that Penny had starred in.

Called Serial Apist, Penny had spent most of the movie walking looking really hot, but had a shower scene right before getting killed. They'd only shown her naked from the waist up, but she'd looking amazing, her breasts incredible. Her body has glistened in the spray from the shower, her skin... his thoughts jerked to a halt as Leonard realized that he was now sporting an erection.

Gingerly, he touched himself, but the mere act of moving his arm was extremely painful. Looking down, he said, "Sorry, buddy, but you're going to need to relax. Maybe in a couple of days I'll be able to take care of you."

Trying to think thoughts that would decrease his libido, Leonard finally settled on Sheldon. That did the trick as his erection sulkily subsided. Amused, he thought of a new product for sale, Sheldon, the Anti-Viagra. Maybe he could market it to young women who married old men for their money. They'd never have to have sex with their sugar daddies again. But then again, they would have to experience Sheldon frequently, something that no one wanted to have to deal with more than once.

Shaking his head at his own whimsy, Leonard shuffled down the hall, moving slowly, but faster than last night or this morning. He wondered if Sheldon was around, but figured that if he was, he would have already have heard him moving around thanks to his Vulcan hearing.

The hot water felt like bliss. Leonard cranked it up so hot that it almost felt like it was peeling the skin from his body. Not that he would have cared that much after seeing himself in the mirror. Horror show didn't even begin to describe it.

Leonard hadn't even known the human body could turn that many colors despite being hit more than a few times back in high school. Some of the shades of purple he'd achieved were almost pretty, while the blues, greens, and black were much less so.

The amount of subcutaneous bleeding that had occurred to make so many bruises actually him a little. Still, he knew it looked far worse that it probably actually was. After all, there wasn't any blood in his urine, and despite all of the pain he felt, all his joints seemed to have full range of motion. Even his teeth, which he'd checked while experiencing the most painful brushing of his life, which was something to say considering he was someone who'd had orthodontics throughout his teen years, were undamaged. They were just ridiculously painful from the swelling in his jaw.

At least the hot water was loosening things up nicely. Sighing, Leonard leaned back against the shower wall. He tentatively tried raising his hand over his head, which was successful. A moment later he was thoroughly washing his hair. Then he set out to scrub himself, wincing a bit as his loufa got into some of his scrapes.

Trying to keep him mind off of his pain, Leonard started thinking about Penny. Which led him to thinking about her being the last person other than him to use it. And the body parts it had likely touched-

"Goddammit!"

Frustration built up inside of Leonard as he realized he had yet another Penny-induced erection. He could just imagine it now. Penny asking him how he was doing and he answering fine except for this pesky, reoccurring erection. Maybe if he asked nicely, she would take care of it by using her-

"No! No! No!"

Leonard didn't care about pain right now. Taking himself in hand, he lathered up some body wash, and began stroking himself up and down, turning so that the hot water beat down upon his shoulders. It made it far less painful than the pleasure he was currently feeling as his thoughts filled with Penny.

Penny in her denim short shorts. Penny's cleavage in that tank top when he'd first met her. Penny's slim, sexy figure. Penny in that white shirt with her nipples showing through. Penny in the shower. In her movie. Then in the shower here. Imagining pulling back the shower curtain and seeing her nude here. She'd reach out and pull him to her and they'd-

Leonard erupted into his hand, an involuntary cry pulled from him. "Penny!"

Just then, the door of the bathroom burst open and he heard, "Leonard! Are you okay?"

Turns out, you really can't die of embarrassment. Not even if you want to.

~~~Leonard/Penny~~~

Penny whistled as she walked up the three flights of stairs towards Leonard's apartment. She was blissfully clean, having showered, washed her hair, and completely moisturized her face and body. She was wearing some make up, but not too make, just enough to make her feel pretty and desirable. She was carrying food from Saipan Palace, which she was looking forward to sharing with Leonard at lunch.

He really was the sweetest guy she'd ever met. Funny, sweet, incredibly smart, Leonard was the exact antithesis of most of the guys Penny had dated during her lifetime. Add to that ridiculously rave. And he seemed to like her as well.

She'd found him to be more than a little intimidating from the moment she'd seen that whiteboard in his apartment. He was too smart for a waitress slash wannabe actress from Nebraska. But he made her feel good. He'd definitely noticed that she was a girl. While he was a leerer, she didn't have the slightest doubt that he like her in a boy girl way.

She was a bit leery of getting into a relationship too soon, especially after the way she and Kurt had ended up, but at the same time, penny was curious about it would be to date Leonard. Maybe if she kept things slow it would be okay? After all, she'd gone without sex for a month already, although she wasn't sure if using her vibrator counted or not. Her labeled vibrator!

Penny shuddered. Sheldon had labeled it 'Chew Toy'. She had no idea what that meant, but didn't like the sound of it. Did he think it was something for a dog rather than a woman? She'd peeled the label off and washed it thoroughly, before putting it away.

Thinking about her vibrator now made Penny shiver, her feelings conflicted. Okay, she decided, not thinking about vibrators around Leonard. She didn't need to scare him away. She knew she could be a more than a little pushy and aggressive when there was something she wanted, and that wasn't something that a lot of men like in the girl they were dating.

She opened the door to his apartment and walked in, setting the take out on the coffee table. The last thing that Leonard needed was to try to eat on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. It would be easier for him to eat on the couch. That way, he could also watch some TV as well.

Penny stopped to listen for a moment, hearing the shower going. She walked back to Leonard's room to make sure it was him in the shower and not Sheldon. Finding his room empty, confirmed that he was in the shower.

She was just happy that he felt well enough to shower. And had been able to get there by himself. Of course, he didn't have his robe, which was still hanging on the hook on the back of Penny's bathroom door. She might need to go get-

"Penny!"

The urgent cry, so full of need, tore at something deep inside of her. Springing into action, she yanked open the door to the bathroom and raced inside. She stopped with her hand on the shower curtain, just barely able to prevent herself from pulling it open. She called, "Leonard! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay! I'm okay! I'm okay!"

Leonard's voice sounded extremely stressed as he repeated his assurances three times. Penny suddenly realized that the tone of his cry hadn't been anywhere near sounding like he was in pain. Instead, it sounded like he was...

She let go of the shower curtain like it had become red hot. A full body blush heated her from her toes to the top of her head as she realized just what Leonard had been doing in the shower as well as just who he had been thinking about while doing that in the shower. Her own voice cracked a bit as she said, "O-okay, I'll just w-wait outside!"

Penny quickly put the bathroom door between the two of them. Holy crap on a cracker! Leonard had been masturbating in the shower. About her! How the hell he managed to do that in the shape he'd been in, she didn't have a clue. She knew firsthand that guys spent pretty much their entire waking existence thinking about sex, but this was ridiculous.

Still red, Penny leaned back against the door, fanning her face. Slowly a smile tugged at her lips. Incredibly pervy, but still, in a way, kind of flattering. And it wasn't as if every single guy she'd ever known wasn't at least that bad, while many of them were far, far worse.

Hell, one of her aunts had chewed out one of her male cousins for doing the exact same thing to a picture of a sixteen year old Penny in her cheerleading uniform. Now that was the definition of pervy. Way worse than what Leonard had done. And certainly not something you wanted to find out about before a family dinner, in front of the entire clan, the way that she had found out. That was the day she'd found that you really couldn't die of embarrassment, no matter how badly you wanted to.

Penny slowly walked back towards the couch and took a seat. Yeah, right. In other ways, it wasn't worse than what Leonard had done, since she hadn't caught her cousin red-handed herself, like she'd just done with him. But she found herself ready to forgive him pretty much anything. And that was a feeling that she did not want to examine too deeply as it spoke to things she wasn't ready to deal with.

Her reverie was interrupted by a voice. "Penny? Are you still here?"

The mingled hope and fear in Leonard's voice brought a smile to her face. "Yep."

"Okay."

Nothing happened for a few minutes. Finally, Penny, hungry, grew tired with waiting. She called, "Leonard! You coming out of there anytime soon?"

"You leaving anytime soon?"

"Nope."

"Then, no."

"You might as well, since I'm not going away. I'll still be here hours from now."

Dead silence reigned for another couple of minutes, before the door finally opened. Leonard stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. He avoided looking at Penny as he stood there, looking miserable. But it wasn't his expression that attracted Penny's attention. Instead, it was his torso, covered in a horrific pattern of bruises, that brought her to her feet and made her hurry over to him.

Tentatively touching his shoulder, she felt like crying. "Oh, Leonard, you look horrible."

She could hear his eye roll in the tone of his voice as he muttered, "Thanks."

Penny slid her hand to Leonard's chest, making him look up at her. "Are you okay? Do you want me to give you another rubdown?"

Leonard shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Penny."

She insisted. "You must still be in a lot of pain. More Bengay will help."

"It's okay. Really. I'm not even that stiff anymore."

Okay, that was just too easy. Swinging her bat to send that softball back over the fence, Penny grinned wickedly before saying, "Well, you wouldn't be after that shower, would you?"

Leonard stared at her in disbelief, red creeping over his fair skin and adding to the color of his torso. "Penny!"

"Yeah, that's what you said then, too."

"Penny!"

She smirked. "Sorry, but you really didn't expect me to not knock that one out of the ball park did you?"

Leonard nodded jerkily. "Yeah, I really did. Or rather, I hoped you would."

Penny shook her head sadly. "Oh, Leonard, how little you know me. After we've known each other longer, you'll understand that if there is a chance to embarrass you, or pretty much anyone else, I'm going to go after it like a black bear after honey."

She tugged him towards his room. "Now come on. I'm going to rub you down, then you can have lunch."

He sounded a little sulky as he said, "Doesn't sound like I've got much of a choice."

Penny shrugged. "You could always go back into the bathroom and rub yourself."

"Penny!"

"So bedroom it is."

~~~Leonard/Penny~~~

Leonard leaned back against the couch after putting down the empty bag of Kung Pao chicken. "Okay, that was good. I like Saipan Palace. They do the best Kung Pao chicken."

Penny shrugged. "Yeah, not half bad. I just followed your recommendation."

Leonard looked at her, startled. "When did I tell you to go to Saipan Palace?"

"When you were settling into a drug induced stupor this morning after breakfast."

At that, he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that makes sense. I was pretty out of it."

"So you want to watch something on TV?"

Leonard looked at Penny where she was sitting on the couch. It was the first time he'd actually looked at her for more than a couple of seconds since she'd walked in on him after his orgasm had caused him to shout out her name loud enough to wake the dead. Struck anew by just how gorgeous she was, he settled into studying her face. If anything, her face was prettier than the day when he had first met her.

Penny's blonde hair curled away from her face, almost flipping up at the ends. She'd done something with make up that made her eyes look huge and mysterious. Her lips were soft, pink, and moist. The shorts and tank top she was wearing showed off her figure well, long, tanned legs and more than a hint of cleavage visible to his gaze.

It had been all he could do while he was getting another rubdown wearing nothing but a towel not to repeat the same thing he'd done the evening before, especially when she kept making amusing little comments about boners, woodies, and a plethora of other equally embarrassing things.

As he lay there, he kept thinking about seeing her that morning. And about her in that movie. The massage had been torment and when it was finally over, and he'd been able to get dressed, he'd thanked whatever gods there were that he hadn't managed to embarrass himself yet again.

Of course, now he apparently had to keep Penny company, which provided an all new source of torment. Maybe if he put on some science fiction, she would get bored and give him a few hours of respite in order for him to pretend that he hadn't just been caught doing the single most embarrassing thing ever.

All of this went through his mind in response to Penny's question. Finally, he said, "Well, I wouldn't mind watching Firefly."

Penny's face was cutely confused. "Firewhatsis?"

Leonard smiled in spite of himself. "Firefly. It's a show by Joss Whedon that debuted back in 2002. it only ran fourteen episodes, but it was probably the single greatest moment in television history."

Penny gave him a look in which doubt and amusement vied for supremacy. "Greatest moment?"

Leonard smiled at her, then made a crossing gesture with two fingers over his heart. "I swear."

Penny rolled her eyes, but was smiling as she said, "Fine. I'll put it on. But be prepared for me to not only not like it, but to probably hate it."

"Okay."

~~~Leonard/Penny~~~