AN: Well my muse is behaving very badly and has steered this little drabble off course, I had intended to have Amy spend a few hours getting to know Sheldon and Leonard followed by a lovely day at the zoo…but no, my muse insists that Amy should know exactly what she is getting herself in for from the start…so it looks like there may be one or two more chapters than I had originally anticipated…wait; she's now saying that Mary and Meemaw should pay a visit as well...I don't know whether our little lovebirds are quite ready for that, so I will attempt to tame her into submission!
"Well…" Amy said slowly as she shifted slightly on the couch, drawing her knees up slightly so that her legs rested lightly on the cushions, but her shoes were clear of the fabric. "I can't say that I have ever watched enough to be able to formulate a definitive opinion either way. Do you have a favourite that we could sit and watch? It might help me make up my mind."
"Do I have a favourite?" Sheldon mused as he tapped the control against his lean thigh… "I like Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars…four through six for obvious reasons…"
"Sorry? I don't quite understand?" Amy held up her hand. "If you say that you love a franchise, how can you state that you only like the last three movies?"
"Sheldon, if I may?" Leonard leant forward in his chair and attempted to explain the group's ambivalent feelings toward the first three episodes of the saga.
"Proceed…" Sheldon nodded and Leonard walked over to grab the Blu-Ray set of the complete series from beneath the television stand.
"Okay, when George Lucas originally wrote the series he intended for them to be released sequentially; you know starting with Episode I where Anakin Skywalker is still a child and going right through to Episode VI where Luke Skywalker finally defeats the Galactic Empire…"
"Spoilers, Leonard!" Sheldon cried out and snatched the casing from Leonard's grasp. "What my friend is trying explain without giving away too much of the plot line, is the fact that they originally released Episodes IV through VI first – which featured a truly spectacular feast of special effects, and then many years later released Episodes I through III; something that they should have left well alone!"
"Come on, Sheldon! II and III weren't that bad…it was just Episode I that was terrible; horrendous actually." Leonard interrupted again and Sheldon gave him a nod of approval.
"You are quite right, Leonard…but the only way for Amy to realise the true magnitude of the experience; she will of course, have to watch them all in sequence."
"Yeah, but what sequence; order of release or by timeline?" Leonard frowned as he flipped the case over in his hands, and then went back to his chair to flip open his phone. "Howard? Leonard here, now if you were going to introduce Star Wars to someone for the first time; how would you do it? Timeline or release date? Uh-huh, I see…Oh, Raj is with you still? Sure, ask him as well…Okay, yeah…sure, we can do that…uh-huh…Yeah, see you tomorrow." Leonard hung up the phone and turned to Sheldon with a grin and raised eyebrow.
"What?"
"The general consensus is that a Star Wars virgin might be able to follow the storyline better if shown in the correct intended time line…"
"Agreed, that doesn't explain that silly little look on your face though."
"Well…Bernadette's gone over to spend the night at her Mother's as her Dad's on a fishing trip. Raj was staying over at Howard's tonight so that they can be here early for paintball…" Leonard let his voice trail off and soon Sheldon was bouncing up and down on his seat in eager anticipation.
"Ooh, Amy you are in for such a treat! Star Wars marathon!"
"Come again?" Amy swivelled on her seat to look at Sheldon, a bright eyed look of wonder on his face.
"A whole evening of Star Wars…oh, the joy! Come on, we need to get ready!" Sheldon jumped up from the couch and held out his hand to pull Amy to her feet.
"What? Where are we going?" Amy spluttered as Sheldon dragged her across the hallway and into his bedroom.
"Sit there a moment…No, not that one…Hmm…no…" Sheldon pushed Amy lightly on the end of his bed and crossed over to his wardrobe to rifle through his t-shirt collection. He pulled out a slightly faded shirt in grey depicting Yoda on the front and grabbed a pair of fleecy grey sweatpants from the drawer. He crossed over and pressed the bundle into Amy's arms and then turned back to his wardrobe to select a suitable shirt for himself.
"Come on, hurry up and get changed! The guys will be here soon! I'll go and change in the bathroom and you can have the bedroom to yourself for a few moments…don't take too long though!" Sheldon ran out of the room, leaving Amy to look at the bundle of clothes in her arms, shaking her head in amusement.
"You meet someone in a coffee shop and then three hours later you're wearing his clothes…My Mother wouldn't believe it if she saw it, Amy what have you gotten yourself into?" Needless to say, she carefully removed her own clothing; folding them neatly in a pile and then slipped into Sheldon's clothes, sniffing lightly as the light scent of talc rose up to mix pleasantly with the fragrance of fabric softener. "Mmm…lovely." She murmured as she rubbed her chin against the soft fabric. There was a series of light knocks on the door and Sheldon called out her name.
"Amy…Amy…Amy…are you decent? I forgot my pants…"
"Sure, come in Sheldon." Sheldon opened the door a crack and peered through the opening. He opened the door fully when he saw Amy sitting on the edge of his bed. He edged over to the dresser and selected a soft pair of sweats at random. "Could you grab the pillows and comforter and take them out to the living room, please? I'll be out in a moment."
"Sheldon, I'm having second thoughts about this marathon of yours. It's getting late, you will miss laundry and it feels a little weird sitting in what is in effect, pyjama's watching a movie series with a bunch of strangers…Oh, I need to sit down." Amy started to hyperventilate and Sheldon immediately dropped the pants onto the dresser and sat down beside her.
"Amy! I'm so sorry, I guess I just got a little ahead of myself…I can't believe that we only just met today; sitting next to you on the couch, eating dinner – well, it just seemed as if you had always been there…" Sheldon didn't quite know how to describe what it was that he was feeling, and felt that his words were somehow inadequate. Amy got her breathing under control and looked over at Sheldon knotting his fingers together in his lap and chewing on his bottom lip. She carefully reached over to still his fingers, leaving her hand resting on top of his for a moment before slowly drawing away.
"Sheldon…I feel the same, and it's a little scary…how about I stay for the first movie and we'll take it from there?"
"Really? You'll stay?" Sheldon's face lifted and he looked over with a grin. "That's great! Now, how about you take that stuff outside and I'll get outta these pants…" He shooed her out of his bedroom with an armful of supplies and Amy walked into the living room to see that Leonard had rearranged the furniture; pushing the coffee table out of the way and moving the armchair nearer the couch.
"Hey Amy…nice shirt." Leonard looked up to see her standing on the landing and stepped over to take the pillows and comforter from her. "Take a seat and get comfortable, the guys will be over soon… and we can get started." Amy hovered near the armchair, but found her arm gently grasped by a lean set of fingers as Sheldon steered her over to the couch instead.
"No Amy, you need to sit next to me – so that I can explain anything that you don't understand. Leonard will take the seat next to you. Howard can have the chair and Raj usually brings a sleeping bag so he can have the floor." Sheldon sat in his usual spot and pulled Amy down next to him. "Leonard, is everything set up as per our normal viewing arrangements?"
"Snacks and beverages are set up on the counter; the first disc is lined up and ready to play; we're just waiting on Raj and Howard." Leonard ticked each item off his fingers as he ran through his mental checklist; he was wearing the appropriate clothing, choosing a Han Solo shirt in dark blue, teamed with a pair of baggy blue sweatpants. He'd kicked off his shoes and pulled on a pair of thick white, sports socks. He looked down and saw that Amy's bare feet were still tucked in her sensible orthopaedic shoes.
"Sheldon, you didn't offer Amy any socks? How can she watch Star Wars in shoes?" Leonard shook his head as his roommate's lack of vision and turned around to head across the hallway.
"Leonard, sit down please. I'll fetch a pair of my socks for Amy to wear…Lord knows what kind of bacteria infests your footwear; you forget I've seen what temperature you select for your washing." Sheldon rose from the couch and pointed for Leonard to take his seat. He jogged down the hallway and returned with the sock just as Howard and Raj entered the apartment, loaded down with grocery sacks.
"Picked up a few essentials on the way over…red vines for Sheldon, skittles for Leonard. Amy, I didn't know what you liked so we picked up Milk Duds, Junior Mints and Butterfingers." Howard set the bags down on the counter and turned around to see Sheldon handing over a pair of socks to Amy. He blinked hard, certain he was seeing things – was Amy wearing Sheldon's favourite shirt? It wasn't an optical illusion; Amy was actually wearing Sheldon's treasured shirt, and from the looks of things his pants and socks too… Raj leant over to murmur something in Howard's ear, which caused him to smirk a little over at the pair sitting on the couch.
"What's got you all in a dither?" Leonard looked over to see the two men chuckling as they added their bounty to the snack bar.
"You mean to tell me you haven't noticed?" Howard murmured as he jerked his head over to where Sheldon was offering half of his Star Wars comforter to Amy, tucking it carefully around her legs.
"Noticed what?" Leonard frowned over his glasses, as he walked over to grab a packet of Skittles and a bottle of water from the pile.
"They're wearing matching shirts. Sheldon's wearing his crisp new Yoda shirt; the one he said was never coming out of the packet, just so that he could let Amy wear the one he's already pre-softened…they match right down to their socks."
"Oh, yeah…I didn't put it together until now, kinda cute isn't it?" Leonard grinned as he saw the way Sheldon was treating Amy as if she were something infinitely precious already. "Amy, what snack do you want for the first movie?"
"Nothing at the moment, thank you Leonard. That second dumpling from Sheldon really filled me up. I wouldn't mind a cup of tea though."
"Let me get that for you, ginger and lemon?" Sheldon threw back the comforter and lept from the couch, acting like a puppy eager to please its new master.
"Mmm…lovely." Amy nestled further into the warmth of the comforter, pulling it up a little to cover her arms. Leonard noticed her little shiver and nudged Sheldon.
"Sheldon, I think Amy's feeling a little chilled…you've given her a short sleeved shirt and she came in wearing at least three layers. Do you want me to get her one of my sweaters to put on?"
"Hmm…what if we turned the thermostat up a couple of degrees and see if that works? It would be a shame to hide away that lovely t-shirt…" Sheldon placed the kettle down on a heat proof mat before jogging over to kick the temperature up a notch. Howard stood gaping, first Amy had said that Sheldon had given her a dumpling off his plate and now he was willingly turning up the temperature? They had to be in some sort of Twilight Zone, this sort of thing just didn't happen in 4A! Raj leant over to murmur in Howard's ear and Howard nodded.
"I know, it's kinda freaky isn't it?"
"What's freaky?" Sheldon asked as he poured two mugs of tea and draped the two strings over the lip of the mugs.
"Oh, nothing…having a girl over for a Star Wars marathon." Howard blurted out the first thing that came to his mind and Sheldon paused in carrying over the mugs to the table nearest his end of the couch.
"Not really, we used to have Penny over all of the time; until she kept talking through all the important parts. Why? Did you want to invite her over as well?"
"I think she's pretty tired Sheldon, and you did ban her from watching Star Wars over here ever again." Leonard settled himself on the other end of the couch and squished down a little until he was comfortable. Amy offered the end of the comforter, and Leonard was quick to refuse when he saw the scowl appearing on Sheldon's face.
"And Star Trek." Howard murmured from the armchair, and when Raj whispered in his ear also added; "Raj said, and The Avengers…"
"Alrighty then!" Sheldon rubbed his hands together in glee and reached over to switch off the table lamp, plunging the room into darkness; relieved only by the glow emanating from the television. "I present to you; Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace…" He pressed play on the remote and passed Amy her mug of tea as the small group settled in to watch the action unfold…