Chapter Four: Scrubs Are Elegant

Sheldon and his friends were in his living room, eating pizza. He wore his normal comic-book adoration shirts over long sleeved matching shirts, and chino pants. Joining them was Stuart, Penny, and Amy from outside. Although Sheldon felt no discomfort with Amy, despite their going-different-ways, it was Stuart that seemed to feel uncomfortable. Bernedette was also joining them; there was a whole lot of people in the room at once—Penny had brought two chairs from her appointment to accommodate the extras.

Amy, Penny, and Bernadette were discussing Prada bags—Amy would add her two-cents about having a bag that was big enough to hold a monkey who smoked cigarettes, and had left remnants of ash in her purse.

The room was boisterous with conversation and the television, which was showing the animated series of Batman. For some reason, Sheldon could only think of Kate—Batman had that affect on him now and days.

There was a ding from his phone, which Sheldon knew it was probably Kate.

R U watching Batman: The Animated Series, right now?

Sheldon placed his plate on his legs, which were covered by a folded napkin. He wiped his hands on a second napkin and typed her back.

Yes, actually. Are you?

Yes. I'm only waiting for the next episode.

What is that?

B-Man takes Harley out of Arkham 2 find out where Joker has been hiding, so as 2 stop the bombing of Gotham City, and its inhabitants.

Might I say, that you have an unhealthy obsession with the Dark Knight?

I call it a darker adoration.

Just as disturbing.

If I'm disturbing then U R quite the disturbance yourself. I saw a picture of UR comic book collection; very elegant.

I'm not obsessed; I'm a fan.

As am I, Sheldon. Do you know what I like most about Batman?

I'm afraid to ask.

He doesn't need friend hero. He's a smart, calculating, and he jumps rooftop to rooftop in the Batmobile. If I ever get rich enough like Bruce Wayne, I'm acquiring a manageable team and I'll hire each of them to make me a likeness of the Batmobile.

That's highly improbable but should it ever happen I'll ask U 2 take me on that ride.

"Who are you talking to?" Penny's voice called out to him.

Sheldon looked at Penny.

"Talking is an action depicting lip movement and dialogue. By definition, I'm talking to no one." Sheldon replied.

"Fine," she said. "Who are you texting?"

"Kate Burns," Howard blurted.

Sheldon shot him a glare but the news was out. Penny looked remarkably amazed.

"Who's Kate Burns?" she asked.

"Correction, Howard and Penny. It's Dr. Kate Burns," Sheldon remarked coolly. "And to coin a phrase, Penny: Mind your own business."

Penny turned to Leonard for information and because Penny held Leonard's sexual desires in her hand, he practically folded right there, saying that Kate and Sheldon had met on MySpace and Twitter and now were Facebook friends, texting and emailing on a daily business.

"Yeah," added Howard, "And not only are they doing that but there have been several times where Sheldon had diverted from his routine just to keep talking to her."

"Diverted?" Amy repeated. She looked at Sheldon. "You never amended your schedule while we dated."

"Albeit, I never had to," Sheldon responded.

Amy looked slightly affronted by his comment but Stuart, who was equally offended, touched her hand and Sheldon looked from the pair to Penny.

"To circle the conversation back to your question, Penny, Dr. Burns is a trauma surgeon, regularly involved in the blood and mess that occurs behind closed doors on Scrubs." Sheldon explained.

"Scrubs are nice," said Raj, referring to clothing. "I like scrubs."

"Who doesn't?" Sheldon and Leonard replied unanimously.

"They're very flattering," said Bernadette, smiling.

"They look rather 'flattering' on Dr. Burns as well," said Howard, wiggling his eyebrows at Sheldon. "Don't they, Shelly?"

"They do," Sheldon admitted openly. He looked distracted but cleared his throat, returning the situation at hand.

Amy looked at him with some interest.

"Are you attracted to this woman?" asked Amy curiously.

"Attraction is a simple matter of the mind, Amy," Sheldon replied.

"We were together for two years," said Amy coolly, "and you never once complimented my clothing attire or the flattery it contained."

"Perhaps he didn't have to," Stuart said, touching her cheek with the back of his hand.

Howard and Bernadette were at odds with the rest of them. Amy and Sheldon had dated, sure, but to come to think of it, Sheldon never really complimented Amy's appearance. In fact, he only complimented her intelligence. Penny and Leonard had told each other they liked each other's bodies, as had Howard and Bernie but it was odd now that the topic was here in the open.

Sheldon looked at Amy and Stuart before standing to get himself a bottle of water. The TV then announced that the next episode was appearing. There was a text from Sheldon's phone and he brought it to his screen.

I would make a science joke but all the good ones argon.

Sheldon chuckled with his soft breathy laugh. He got the science joke. Sheldon sat in the living room.

"Kate just texted me," said Sheldon, smiling. "She says 'I would make a science joke but all the good ones argon'."

Amy chuckled.

"That joke is amusing," Amy said.

"Indeed," Sheldon replied.

Penny, once again, looked lost.

"I don't get it," said Penny.

"It's an elemental joke," Leonard explained. "Argon is an element on the periodic table, and by saying…"

"You know what, I don't care," said Penny. She stood up and smiled at him. "I'm going to bed. Coming?"

"Sure," said Leonard without hesitation. He sped after her.

"I wonder what they're goin' to do," Howard said, grinning.

"I'd assume they're going to watch the series on her television," Sheldon stated naively.

Howard and Raj glanced at each other. Oh wow, they muttered.

After watching the episode and the others were leaving, the only people that remained were Raj and Sheldon. Raj was drunk evidently, and had all kinds of alcohol in his system. He was rather in his own world, admiring the television probably in blurs and lines. Sheldon was involved in the commercials. There was a new disinfectant on the market.

"Hey dude," said Raj.

"Yes, Raj?"

"Where do you think this thing with Kate will be going?" asked Raj.

"What are you talking about?"

"You 'n' Kate," replied Raj. "Do you think you're going to be getting together with her? I mean, how long has it been since u two started talking?"

"Six months," replied Sheldon, "17 hours, thirteen minutes and twenty-two seconds."

Raj shrugged his shoulders and said, "Perhaps you should be together?"

"That's ridiculous, Raj. I think the alcohol in your system has led your brain cells to frying and poisoning," Sheldon remarked. Although, for a reason he also wondered, the idea wasn't too far-fetched.

After the last episode of Batman, Raj was gone to get a taxi. Sheldon turned off the television and dressed for bed. As he got into the warmth of his blankets and situated himself in the covers, he heard his phone vibrate.

He unlocked it, and saw a text message from, whom else but Kate.

I can't sleep.

Sheldon smiled; he so felt the same way.

Try counting cows.

Cows?

My mother taught me to count cows; I was raised in Texas; there were cows everywhere.

Oh. Did u enjoy the episode?

I did. Although, I had a hard time enjoying it as much; there were a lot of people in the room and you cannot imagine the conversations I have had to endure since our being discovered.

It's a shame it had to come in the open. R U mad that they know about us?

Mad is not an emotion, Kate. It's a mixture of different emotions combined to form an alpha emotion. And to answer your vague question, no, I'm not mad.

Sheldon wondered why he would be mad. Sure, he didn't want Leonard and all of them to find out now, then, or in the future, but it was inevitable to happen. It wasn't Kate's fault; it was Howard's.

I'm willing to propose something 2 U, Sheldon.

I'm unwilling to accept it on the terms that I don't know what I'm accepting.

I'm not giving U an ultimatum. It's a suggestion.

Go on.

We have been communicating via email, facebook, twitter, and text messaging for the past half year. Out of much curiosity, I've procured 6 tickets to the Fifth Element movie, 3-D, deleted scenes included. Would that B something U would like 2 do with me?

Sheldon was enthused. He liked the Fifth Element. He enjoyed science fiction, book, anime, or movie but even more so when he had his friends. He enjoyed making comments throughout. To see the movie in all its glory in 3-D and with deleted scenes included was like giving kid seven hundred bags of candy for just Halloween, excluding the other holidays where candy was a major festivity.

I'll be more than happy to attend it with you.

Sounds fun. I'll C U soon.

Good night, Kate.

Good night, Sheldon.

Sheldon got out of bed and the first person to know they were going to see the movie was Raj; the rest found out the next morning, owing to the fact that they meet Kate as well. It was going to be an interesting following week.