Thank you for your kind words, everyone! I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll post more after the holiday weekend. Enjoy =)

Penny and Sheldon stopped at a nearby pizza place for dinner before the movie. It amused Penny that even though she thought of Sheldon as an adult, he regressed to a childlike version of himself when talking about things he was passionate about.

Just as they planned, they went to see the new Lord of the Rings movie. Sheldon walked around the theater for 10 minutes, looking for its acoustic sweet-spot. Penny went along with it for the sake of keeping him quiet.

Toward the end of the movie, Penny noticed that Sheldon was metaphorically glued to the screen.

"Enjoying the movie?" She asked him. He was wide eyed and attentive, with no idea Penny was even speaking to him.

"I guess so…" She said to herself.

When the lights finally came back on, she turned to Sheldon. "That was… fun… ready to go?"

He was still clutching his box of red vines. "We can't leave just yet. The credits are still rolling."

Penny slouched down in her seat. "And you care about who made the movie?"

Sheldon kept his gaze locked on the big screen. "What if there's extra footage after the credits? I'll never forgive myself if I miss it."

"Of course…" Penny said sarcastically. When the movie was "officially" over, Penny stood up and grabbed her purse. "Now can we go?"

Sheldon stood up. "I suppose. Can we go to the comic book store next?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. What for?"

"To buy comic books." He said matter-of-factly.

Penny nodded. "Of course… what was I thinking?"

She didn't notice, but there were other people still in the theater waiting for the credits to end. In the back row sat three familiar CalTech employees.

Howard looked at Leonard. "I can't believe everyone just got up and left. Did they forget the epic post-credit footage from Harry Potter?"

Leonard was smiling really wide. "I agree. People don't appreciate the credits enough."

Raj poked Howard's shoulder and audibly whispered. "Dude, Dr. Cooper is here with the hot girl!"

They awkwardly stared as Penny and Sheldon left their seats.

Howard looked smug. "See, I told you that's his girlfriend."

Leonard leaned back and folded his arms. "How about that. Well, to be fair we don't know him. He could be a really nice guy."

Howard stood up. "Come on, let's go see if they're meeting some of her hot friends after the movie."

Raj raised an eyebrow. "You're just not going to let this go."

Leonard stood up with him. "Movie's over anyway. Come on."

Outside the theater, Howard spotted Penny leaning on the wall by the entrance, playing with her cell phone.

"Dude, there she is!" He said.

Leonard hit him. "Stop that. She's going to think you're a creepy stalker."

Raj smirked. "But he is a creepy stalker."

"And besides…" Leonard continued. "What are you going to do? Walk up to her and be like 'I kind of know your boyfriend. Do you have any hot single friends?'"

Before Howard could answer, Leonard answered for him. "You're not going to do that."

Howard started to walk toward her, causing Leonard to roll his eyes and follow him. "Howard…"

He walked right up to Penny and smiled. "Hey, you're the girl we saw at CalTech the other day, right?"

Penny smiled, trying not to be creeped out. "Uh, maybe."

Leonard smiled awkwardly and waved at Penny. "Hi, I'm Leonard."

She nodded. "Penny."

Howard continued. "And I am Howard Joel Wolowitz, at your service m'lady."

Raj just looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. Penny looked at him, then turned to Leonard. "Is he okay?"

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's Raj. He can't talk to women…"

"Oh, that's really… sad… yeah…" Penny spotted Sheldon emerging from the bathroom. "Oh, there's my roommate. Guess I have to go now. Bye guys…"

Howard took this opportunity to say hi to Sheldon, as he approached the group. "Hey, it's Dr. Cooper!"

Penny raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"

Howard folded his arms. "He's only one of the most well respected physicists at our university." Leonard rolled his eyes again at Howard's obvious lie.

When Sheldon reached Penny's side, he looked at the three guys with confusion. "Hello… can I help you?"

Howard smiled. "Hello, Dr. Cooper. My name is Howard Wolowitz, and these are my friends, Leonard Hofstadter and Rajesh Koothrappali. We just starting working at CalTech, and we wanted to introduce ourselves to you and your ravishing lady friend."

Penny politely smiled and Sheldon nodded. "Ah, fellow post-docs. Welcome."

Leonard smirked. "Well actually, Raj and I are the only post-docs. I have a doctorate in Experimental Physics and Raj has one in Astrophysics. Howard just has a Master's in Engineering."

Sheldon didn't know how to respond. "Engineering… well I'm sure you'll enjoy inventing little doo-dads with the other oompa-loompas of science. Meanwhile, Penny and I are on our way to the comic book store, so goodbye."

Howard jumped in. "Really? Us too!"

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "We are?"

"Yes. We are. So I guess we'll see you two there."

Sheldon stood with a stoic expression on his face. "Alright…"

As he turned to walk away, Penny just waved goodbye to the three guys. She whispered to Sheldon. "So, you work with those guys?"

He shrugged. "Evidently."

Leonard looked at Howard. "He just called you an oompa-loompa. You still want to be friends with this guy?"

Raj smiled awkwardly. "Penny smells like lavender and vanilla…"

Howard turned to his buddies. "Did you two not pay attention? Penny called him her 'roommate,' not 'boyfriend.' So gentlemen, onward to the comic book store."

When Penny and Sheldon arrived at the comic book store, Penny barely got a foot in the door when all the attention was suddenly directed toward her.

She froze and whispered to Sheldon. "Why is everyone looking at us?"

Sheldon ignored her comment and bee lined for the bin with new comics books.

To alleviate the tension, the store's owner greeter her at the door.

"Hello, welcome. I'm Stuart. Don't mind everyone else. We rarely get girls in here. At least, not girls that actually look like girls."

Penny chuckled. "It's okay. I'm Penny. So is this your store?"

"Yep, I opened it a few years ago. So, are you actually here with Sheldon willingly or is he holding you captive? Because I have a little button under the register that will call the police."

She smiled. "Nah, we're actually roommates. I just moved here from Nebraska."

"Oh wow, Nebraska. Go Cornhuskers!" He said confidently.

"Oh, are you into college football?"

He smiled back. "No, it was just a lucky guess. I just wanted to look cool."

Meanwhile, Sheldon looked like a kid in a candy store, going through comic books and various collectibles, when his colleagues entered the room.

Stuart raised his hand to wave at the guys.

Raj smiled. "Hi Stuart. Got anything…" He suddenly put his hand over his mouth upon noticing Penny standing to his right.

Penny smirked and looked back at Stuart. "So you know these guys too?"

"Yeah, they're on their way to becoming regulars. Sadly, just about everyone in this comic book store is a regular. Nothing like getting your weekly dose of 'Captain Sweatpants.'" He explained as he pointed to an overweight man in the back of the room wearing large gray sweatpants.

She chuckled as she noticed the three guys approach the comic book bin in the center of the room. Sheldon just looked up at them and nodded. "Hello again."

Leonard looked at the book in Sheldon's hand. "Nice, I just got that one for my collection a few weeks ago."

Before Sheldon could respond, Raj interrupted. "Guys, that reminds me, we need to decide on our costumes for Comic Con."

Sheldon's eyes lit up. "You guys collect comic books? And go to Comic Con?!"

"Of course." Howard replied. "We were thinking about going as the Justice League of America, but we need a few more guys."

Raj leaned forward. "And a woman. I'm NOT dressing up like Wonder Woman again."

"I want to go to Comic Con!" Sheldon said with an elated expression.

Leonard looked over at Penny, who was still making small talk with Stuart. "You could always bring your… friend."

Sheldon looked over at Penny. "I suppose, although Penny indicated on her roommate application that she is not a fan of cosplay, but she will don the occasional Halloween costume. And I can't seem to generate her interest in science fiction or comic books. Although I must say, she is remarkably talented in video game combat."

Howard raised an eyebrow. "So you two have a platonic living situation? No hanky-panky?"

Raj folded his arms. "Howard, that's not very polite. Sheldon, Howard wants to know if you and your roommate are an item."

Sheldon raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you're implying. Penny is my new roommate. She officially moved in yesterday, originally hailing from Nebraska. And she has since informed me that we are friends."

Leonard smiled a bit. "Is she seeing anyone?"

He looked confused again. "Well right now, I suppose she sees Stuart."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "I meant, you know, is she dating anybody?"

"Oh! Well, as of last night, no. But I don't keep up with social matters. You'll have to ask her yourself for verification."

Penny walked over to Sheldon's side. "Hey, looks like you found something." She said, referencing the comic book in his hand.

Howard decided to try his luck again. "So, Penny. Sheldon told us that you're new in town. You know, I happen to be an excellent tour guide…"

She cut him off. "If you're really about to hit on me, let me stop you by saying 'not in a million years.'"

Leonard laughed quietly and turned to Sheldon. "Alright, well it was nice meeting you…" He hesitated on account of not knowing his first name.

"Sheldon."

Leonard nodded. "Nice meeting you Sheldon. And Penny."

"Now hang on! I have considered your Comic Con inquiry and I am quite interested, provided I can choose my own costume."

Raj whispered into Howard's ear, causing Howard to speak for him. "You want to come with us to Comic Con?"

"Yes. But I get to be The Flash."

All three men sulked. "I wanted to be The Flash." Howard explained.

Leonard squinted at him. "I thought I was going to be The Flash this time."

Raj continued to whisper to Howard. "Can I be Batman?"

Howard batted down Raj's hand from his ear. "No, if Sheldon gets to be The Flash, I want to be Batman. You can be Aquaman."

Raj cringed and spoke quietly. "Dude, Aquaman sucks."

Sheldon folded his arms. "Well, it seems that you gentlemen are in need of some organization. Lucky for you, it's one of my many specialties. Now, if you wish to discuss this further, I take my lunch break at 12:05. We will meet in the cafeteria at work."

Penny broke up the conversation. "Wait, what the heck are we even talking about?"

Sheldon sighed. "These three gentlemen have invited me to attend Comic Con in San Diego. And since they decided on a Justice League of America costume theme, I naturally will be The Flash."

Penny folded her arms and tapped her food. "Okay, I got maybe half of that. What's Comic Con?"

Everyone in the store stopped what they were doing and stared at her again.

Sheldon started to look annoyed. "What is Comic Con?! I'm sorry Penny, but comments like that are strike worthy…"

Leonard decided to explain. "San Diego's Comic Con is the largest comic book convention in the continental United States. It's really a lot more fun than it sounds."

Sheldon looked at the three guys. "I'm sorry. I'm doing the best I can with this one, but she didn't give me much to work with."

Penny's shoulders dropped. "Thanks…"

Leonard was still looking at Penny. "You know, we could use a Wonder Woman that was actually, well, a woman, if you want to come with us."

"I don't know…" Penny trailed off.

Sheldon put his hand up. "Is there another member of your social group currently not present?"

Howard looked up at Sheldon. "No… not really."

"Then we'd only be a partial Justice League." He explained.

Leonard shook his head. "It's still two months away. We have time to find a sixth if you two are in."

They all looked at Penny who just shrugged. "Oh sure, what the hell."

Sheldon really does need some friends. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to play along.

As Sheldon approached the register to pay for his comic book, Stuart decided to continue his conversation with Penny.

"So, Penny, are you into art at all?"

"Um, sort of, I guess. I'm an actress, and that's kinda artsy."

He smiled. "Well, I went to art school…"

Penny interrupted him when she noticed the sketch on the counter. "Oh wow, is that me?"

Stuart tore off the page from his notebook. It was a pencil sketch of Penny. "Yeah, I drew it while you were talking to the guys over there. You can have it."

She lit up. "Thank you so much! That is amazing."

"So, I was wondering, if maybe you'd like to go downtown and get some coffee sometime."

Sheldon lifted his head. "I'm sorry, I don't drink coffee."

Penny chuckled. "I think he was talking to me, Sheldon." She looked at Stuart. "Sure, sounds like fun."

Howard just started at Stuart. "What the frack… did Stuart just score a date with Penny?"

Leonard looked disappointed and confused. "I think so…"

Raj looked pensive. "Did anyone see how he did it?"