A/N - Here's some more... and yup, there will still be more. Oh dear... well, it's a lot of fun to write and explore the situation!
"So are you gonna tell us about that hot chick you hooked up with in the club and then went out with last night?" Howard asked within a few minutes of them setting off for Pasadena from the parking lot of their hotel in Omaha, having checked out of the hotel, highly unimpressed with Leonard's lack of even a mention of the blonde goddess.
"Howard, she has a name." Leonard pointed out, rolling his eyes. Nearly everything Howard said, and was predictably going to say, were amongst the reason Leonard hadn't brought Penny up yet.
"Which you have yelled out frequently in the sweet throes of coitus these previous two nights, yes?" Howard raised his brows with an expectant smirk.
"Dude, you're disgusting." Raj wrinkled his nose as he turned to shoot a glare at Howard in the back of the car from his seat in the passenger chair, before turning his attention to Leonard instead. "What is her name, anyway?"
"Her name is Penny." Leonard grinned, before being unable to resist adding smugly "and, for your information, I totally did, Howard."
"Oh, you smug bastard." Howard muttered jealously. "How was it?"
"Okay, I am not telling you about that."
"Aw, come on! Why not?" Howard exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. "What happens in Nebraska stays in Nebraska! You can tell us!"
"Well... what happened in Nebraska doesn't necessarily have to happen only in Nebraska." Leonard admitted slowly.
Howard's jaw dropped slightly in shock and intrigue. "What do you mean?"
"Ooh, are you going on a romantic getaway together?" Raj asked, wide-eyed.
"Umm... not exactly." Leonard paused, using the activity of concentrating on changing lanes to give him some time before answering. "She sort of... lives in Los Angeles."
"In a house with other hot blondes?" Howard asked hopefully.
"Actually, she's moving to Pasadena this week." Leonard said. "And Howard I swear to God if you try stalk her or ask her out or anything at all, you may find one of your collectibles mysteriously going missing or breaking beyond repair."
"Oh my God, what are the chances of you both meeting in Omaha and living in Pasadena!" Raj was beyond excited at the prospect of a possible romance for his friend. "It's like a fairytale! See - this is karma at work. You drive us all the way here and back without complaining, pay for the gas without asking us for a contribution, and you find yourself a pretty girlfriend."
"Raj, she's not my girlfriend. We just-"
"Had a lot of sex." Howard interjected in a low voice, smirking.
"Howard, seriously. Stop ruining the magic of the moment." Raj frowned.
"As I was saying - we just hooked up and then went on a date. I mean, maybe something will happen. She did say that it could - but we're not, like, dating."
"So she's still available?"
"Absolutely not!" Leonard said sharply, furrowing his brow.
"But you just said-"
"That doesn't mean nothing will happen, it just might or might not. We'll just have to see how things go."
Once more, Raj turned back to Howard, shaking his head. "Dude, she was all over Leonard. Don't be so delusional. As if you even stand a chance."
"Yeah, well, she was drunk!" Howard pointed out defensively, searching for a way to worm his way back into the 'desirable' status of the group and open up the possibility to also have a shot.
Leonard smiled smugly. "She wasn't drunk yesterday. Still all over me."
Staring for a moment, Howard finally resigned with a heavy sigh. "I hope you still remember our pact."
"I do. But like I said, I don't know what's gonna happen. Don't get too excited."
"That's what she said." Raj giggled.
"So immature." Howard sneered, arms folded like a stubborn child who'd just been told off.
"Says you."
"Can we just leave this subject alone now please?" Leonard rolled his eyes. "We have a more important matter to discuss - such as; what are we playing tomorrow night, Klingon Boggle or Klingon Monopoly? And which Star Wars soundtrack shall we put on?"
Leonard frowned as he heard his phone ringing; usually while he was at work, people knew not to call him in case he was busy, opting instead to call after general office hours - and the people who usually did call him anyway all worked at the university too so would simply drop by his lab or office. Putting down his pen and pulling out his phone, he smiled in surprise at the name on his screen.
"Hello, Penny." He said, grinning. "This is a pleasant surprise."
"Hey!" Penny greeted him enthusiastically, talking slightly louder than usual to ensure he could hear her over the background noise of the airport. "I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, I figure you must be at work right now."
"Yeah, I am. But that's okay, I just finished running a test."
"Oh, sorry - do you have a minute?"
"Uh, sure." Leonard said, holding the phone to his hear with his shoulder so he could pick his pen up and scribble down a few important numbers and notes before he forgot them while talking to her. "What's up?"
"I know this is a lot to ask, but... my flight leaves soon, and I was thinking... would you be able to pick me up from the airport? If you're busy then that's okay, but I just thought-"
"No, no, of course I will!" Leonard found himself grinning widely, putting his pen back down so he could pace around his lab. She wanted to see him again! "What time does your flight get in?"
"Oh, thank you so much sweetie, you're the best!" Penny bounced slightly in her seat. "It should land at half three. We could go out for dinner later on - my treat to say thank you?"
"Aw, you don't have to, but that does sound nice. I'll have to leave work a bit early but that's okay, there's not that much I have to get done this week." Leonard said. "Luckily the bigger project I'll be doing starts next week so I have some time to tie up the loose ends of what I was doing before they sent me to Nebraska."
Penny giggled, amused by his slight rambling. "Okay, well, thanks. I guess I'll see you soon then. I'll let you know when my flight's landed."
"Alright, great. Have a safe flight!"
"Thanks! See you later, Leonard."
"Bye, Penny."
Hanging up his phone, Leonard walked out of his lab with a smug smile plastered on his face. He was going to see her again, at her request - and they were both going to be living here in Pasadena. Perhaps he did have a chance of getting a pretty girlfriend, despite what his friends always thought. He was excited to get to spend more time with her; not only was sex with her amazing, but she was a very friendly, kind and interesting person. Her lifestyle was very different to his and it was nice to get to socialize with somebody like that who didn't roll their eyes and scoff when he began talking about his own life, work and hobbies.
Arriving at his destination, Leonard knocked on the door before entering the office of his roommate. "Hey, Sheldon. What is that?" He asked, upon seeing him viciously coloring something on his whiteboard.
"It's a train." Sheldon said simply, stepping back slightly to give his friend a better view of his masterpiece.
"Oh, cool." Leonard nodded approvingly, observing the train drawing as he stepped inside Sheldon's office properly. "Listen, I'm not gonna be able to drive you home today."
"Why not?" Sheldon folded his arms. "Did you send me an email twenty-four hours in advance to let me know?"
"Well... no, I didn't." Leonard admitted. "But I just got a call, and I have to pick somebody up from the airport, so I'll have to leave work early."
"Who?"
"Uh, Penny."
Sheldon raised a brow. "Who is Penny?"
"Umm, this girl I met in Nebraska."
"Will she be staying in our apartment? That requires twenty-four hours advance notice."
"No, she won't. She's actually moving to Pasadena! How cool is that?" Leonard grinned, rolling his eyes after a pause in which Sheldon stared at him inquisitively. "We met in Nebraska. We'll both be here in Pasadena. It's what most people would call a coincidence."
"Ah, I see." Sheldon nodded. "Well, alright. You'll have to ask Koothrappali or Wolowitz to drive me home, since you didn't give me enough advance notice."
Leonard was going to argue that Sheldon could really do this himself, but he really didn't want to ruin his mood by arguing. It's not as though he was going to be doing much work anymore today for this task to get in the way of anything. "Okay."
"Hey, Kim." Penny said, once her friend had answered her call.
"Hey! You almost on your flight?"
"Yeah, we're boarding soon. Listen, you're not gonna have to pick me up from the airport anymore."
"What? How come? I took the entire afternoon off work for you!" Kim groaned.
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just... I met this guy back home and as it turns out he lives in Pasadena too and... I asked him to come and pick me up."
"Seriously? You're blowing me off for a guy? You're gonna become one of those girls?"
"Look, if there's any blowing going on, it's not you that's getting the blowing." Penny grinned at her own joke. "And I'm not, it's just... I dunno, I wanna see him again and I just wanna make sure he doesn't forget about me. I mean, how often do you go home to your parents and meet a guy out there who just happens to live in the same city as you're about to move into?"
"So what, is he some kind of rebound sex kinda guy?"
"No! Absolutely not, he is definitely not a rebound."
"So you actually like this guy and are worried someone else is going to steal him before you get the chance to see him again?"
Penny bit her lip. "No..." She said uncertainly.
"God, well if you like the guy then by all means ditch me whenever." Kim now grinned too, impressed. She knew that Penny would never outright admit that she liked somebody, so her evasion of giving her a proper explanation was more than she needed to know about the situation. "Just make sure he's not an absolute ass like Kurt, you've cried enough over that already. If this one does the same to you-"
"He won't." Penny said quickly, her voice certain now. "He's not like that at all."
"How do you know that? You can't have known him that long."
"I haven't." Penny admitted. "But he is really different from the usual kind of guys I go for."
"Like an anti-Kurt?" Kim asked.
"Yeah, in the best way possible. He's a scientist, getting completely wasted is actually a super rare thing for him to do, he's nice to just talk to, he has these super cute glasses..." Penny trailed off, smiling to herself. "I mean, okay, it started off as a hook-up and if he was like the usual kind of guy I go for, I would have hated myself for getting into the back on someone's car in that state... but we met up the next evening after he called me and it was just really nice. He's smart, and funny, and cute, and a genius in bed."
"You must be really entertaining the people in the airport with your monologue there."
"Shut up."
"Alright, alright. But next girls night, I want all the details."
"Yeah, I guessed you would." Penny sighed. "Nosy little bitch."
"Hey! I'm getting you a job, you better be nice to me. Granted, it's only as a waitress, but still. Money. Money that you'll need if you're going to be parading around with this guy, wanting to buy pretty dresses and get your nails done and everything."
Penny cringed slightly at the comparison that crept into her mind of herself, a waitress, being with someone as smart as Leonard. It just didn't balance out. At least with Kurt, they were equally stupid and skill-less so she had nothing to worry about there in terms of their intelligence compatibility. But these things worked sometimes, didn't they? "Ugh, yeah, I know. You know I can't keep my mouth shut with stuff like this anyway."
"You are a bit of a blabber mouth."
"I really am. Oh, they're going to board us now." Penny jumped up, grabbing her bag so she could go join the queue at the gate. "I'll see you tomorrow then at The Cheesecake Factory. They want me in at midday, right?"
"Uh-huh. I'll make sure there's a uniform for you tonight, I'll leave it in my locker and text you the code - they'll give you a code tomorrow for your own locker."
"Okay, thanks."
"No problem. Anyway, have fun with this new guy of yours. If he's a scientist I'm guessing he's big on experiments... so I'm sure you'll have lots of fun experimenting."
"Oh, we will." Penny smirked.
"You still sure you don't want any help with moving?"
"Nah, I'm actually excited to have my own place and get everything organized the way I want it to be. Apparently the elevator in the building doesn't work so I'll just put on some skimpy clothes or something before the moving people arrive with my stuff so I don't have to carry it."
"Good idea. You gonna get your guy over to help?"
"Nah, I'll invite him over once it's all sorted out and stuff." Penny shrugged. "Okay, I'm next in line. See you soon. Bye, Kim."
"Bye! I'll text you about work. Enjoy your flight and good luck with your... date, or whatever this is."
"Not a date. Just... going out with a guy." Penny clarified, before hanging up and handing over her travel documents. She knew she had made her day so much busier this way - now instead of having the rest of the afternoon and evening to unpack, she would have to quickly unpack enough to be able to get ready to go out with Leonard and have a made bed and clean bathroom to come home to. At least she was only needed from midday at her new job, so she didn't have to worry about coming home early or waking up at a ridiculous hour.
Making her way through and onto the plane, Penny was directed to her seat. Placing her jacket in the overhead compartment and her handbag in the space beneath the seat in front of her, she finally sat down. "Here's to a new start in Pasadena... no jerks, a better agent, a little money... and a bit of freedom. And maybe Leonard." Sighing, Penny closed her eyes, using the rest of the boarding and takeoff time to take a short nap. Once they were in the air, she pulled out her laptop from her bag and got to work on the play she'd decided to start writing and working on as a distraction from her break-up with Kurt.