Casual - but not too casual: this was the look that Penny had gone for. This was supposed to be a date, after all - just without the fancy part of actually going out anywhere. Just her and Leonard in her apartment, eating food. That was no big deal, right? Something that didn't really require much effort - something they had done many times before. Only it was a date, and that required a lot of effort. In some ways, Penny was pretty certain she was putting more thought into her outfit than she was on her Ph.D. work, but who could blame her? A Ph.D. could satisfy her academically, but everything else that needed satisfying relied on herself and greatly involved Leonard.

Takeout at her apartment meant that she could afford something slightly more comfortable than a figure-hugging dress with carefully selected underwear to accentuate whatever parts the dress showed off. She wore (of course) the underwear she had purchased with Bernadette concealed (only temporarily concealed, she hoped) beneath black skinny jeans and a low-necked blue blouse. Black pumps because they were easy to kick off. She couldn't exactly argue with that kind of shoe logic, and as great as she and her ass looked in high heels, heels simply were not right for the occasion.

There was a knock at the door and she took a deep breath before answering it. When had dates become so nerve-wracking anyway? But Leonard seemed at least equally nervous in his dark blue shirt and black jeans, bouncing slightly on the heels of his Converse, only stopping himself a few seconds after she'd opened the door and he'd realized he was still doing it.

She invited him in and they exchanged small talk at the island over a glass of wine. Another glass of wine while they ordered their food and watched a game show on the television, mostly using it as background noise and talking over it. Leonard didn't often drink more than one glass of wine but he knew it would calm his nerves and let him relax a little - not a method he often relied on, but it was the one that currently seamed most feasible. He was having the third glass with his food, so it kept him from feeling the more undesired effects of the alcohol and much more grounded. And he did feel himself relaxing more - Penny even more so, although she'd had two glasses of wine with her food.

"Ooh! We even have dessert!" Penny suddenly remembered, jumping up from the couch to fetch the brown paper bag Leonard had brought in with him from the island. She stopped at the fridge, her eyes going wide with excitement. "Ooh, know what would be great right now? I've been waiting for a reason to open my new bottle of Peppermint Schnapps!"

"Awesome!" Leonard grinned, proud that his being in her apartment was deemed a good reason to open a new bottle of... Peppermint Schnapps. Whatever that was. Alcohol, he assumed. "What is Peppermint Schnapps?"

"Peppermint flavored Schnapps, duh." Penny raised a brow at him, shaking her head, before coming to sit back down on the couch with him. She placed the bag and bottle on the table and then jumped back up. "Clean tumblers! Are we gonna need cutlery for dessert?"

"Yeah, cutlery would be a good idea - I stopped by the bakery and got two slices of Strawberry Gateau. That's a bit difficult to eat with our hands."

Her eyes grew wide once more. "Oh my God! I love Strawberry Gateau!"

"Then I made a great choice in dessert."

"You really did." Penny agreed, refraining from pointing out that these gateau slices were only the pre-dessert to the dessert she had planned for the evening. Grabbing two clean tumblers, plates and forks, she returned once more. "You sort the dessert, I'll pour the drinks."

"That's a pretty efficient plan."

"Right?" Penny stuck her tongue between her teeth as she opened the bottle. She knew she was only being efficient so she didn't rush through the evening but still got to what she really wanted soon enough. By the way he kept looking at her, she was pretty sure he wanted it to. Stop thinking about that, Penny told herself, looking around for a distraction. "Doesn't Strawberry Gateau have cream in it?"

"Yeah - but it's okay, I can have it. That's not enough to make anything happen." Leonard shrugged. He'd had a slice the day before, just to make sure he was still okay with eating them and having no effect from the lactose - it wasn't totally effect-free, but nothing too dangerous for a date.

And that was when Penny began to get playful: a few long, generous gulps of Peppermint Schnapps and a slice of Strawberry Gateau later. Surprisingly, she had quite enjoyed the twang of the peppermint mixing with the sweetness of the gateau. Scraping the leftover cream off her plate with a finger, she grinned mischievously as she waited for him to put his plate down on the coffee table before sticking her hand out and smearing the cream onto his lip. "Yes!" She slapped her thigh, grinning at her achievement. She would have settled for getting his cheek or nose, but the lip was perfect - evidently her aim hadn't been compromised just yet.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Nothing." Penny giggled, and before he could pick up his napkin and wipe off the cream she had latched her lips onto his. Even then, before he could begin kissing her back, she'd removed herself again. "See, I cleaned it up for you."

"So you did." Leonard smirked.

When he dipped his finger in the leftover cream from his own plate, Penny knew exactly what he was doing - and she patiently waited her turn, willing to be teased. She was patient while he slowly trailed his finger along her lip, the cream moistening her lips while her throat went dry with anticipation. She was patient while he wiped his finger clean of the remaining cream, catching his teasing smirk - he knew full well he was dragging this out, and he was enjoying it. She wanted to hate him for it but she loved it too much. When his lips finally connected with hers, she was far from patient.

And that's when Leonard felt it - the telltale rumble in his stomach. Pulling back from her, his eyes went wide. "Crap."

"What?" Penny asked. Was her kissing that bad? Or could he tell how desperate she was? She knew it was off-putting when she could tell a guy was desperate; did it work the other way round as well? "I'm sorry." She blurted out; it was the only thing she could think of to fill the silence and given his reaction and lack of words, the only conclusion that came up in her mind was that she had done something wrong.

"No, it's not - it's..." Leonard paused as his stomach rumbled again. "I think I was wrong. There was quite possibly too much cream for me on that cake."

"Do you want some water?" Penny stood up in a panic, rushing over to her kitchen and opening all the cupboards. "Umm, or... I have some painkillers? Toast? Crackers? Tea?"

"Bathroom." Leonard said, shooting up and running through her bedroom to the bathroom.

Penny cringed slightly as she heard him throw up; it was bad enough when she was the one throwing up, but just hearing someone else throw up made her stomach churn. The alcohol certainly wasn't helping. Waiting until she heard the toilet flush, she made her way cautiously through to the bathroom. "Are you okay?"

"Now I know how you felt after the olive incident." Leonard mumbled, getting up to wash his hands and rinse his mouth at the sink.

"Ugh. Don't remind me." Penny groaned, plopping herself down on the edge of the bathtub. "That was worse. I was sick in your car. At least you got it all into the toilet and I didn't see."

"Because of some cream in a cake. Still embarrassing."

"But that's understandable - you have an allergy, your body reacts. I just wanted to impress you with an olive, dropped it, and ended up with a possible concussion." Penny winced at the memory before giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I win."

"Do you have any mouthwash?"

"Yeah, it's in the cabinet." Penny nodded. "I never did finish explaining the olive thing and centripetal force."

Rinsing his mouth out, Leonard ran the tap to rinse the sink slightly. He had just thrown up in a hot girls toilet during their date, right in the middle of the beginnings of a make-out (and possibly more, he though) session. It was terrible, and right now he wanted to find out about centripetal force and then hide away in embarrassment for at least six months, but he needed to take a stand. His confidence was well below zero, but he was an actor - he could pretend his confidence was one hundred percent. That was his job, wasn't it? "You can tell me about centripetal force over dinner tomorrow at my place."

"Really?" Penny's head snapped up to look at him. Half of her was surprised by the sudden turn in events, the other was captured by his confidence; it was hot. He wasn't asking her to dinner - he was telling her. "O-okay. I'll be there."

Leonard refrained from asking you will? - having decided that that would distinguish his flame of confidence. "Excellent. You can bring a bottle of wine - maybe just one this time - and I'll order the food."

"Sounds good to me." Penny smiled at him, before biting her bottom lip nervously. "So I guess this is where we... call it a night."

"I guess it is." Leonard agreed. "I'd, uh, kiss you, but-"

"Don't worry." Penny giggled, standing up. "We'll save it for tomorrow. I mean... we can do a little more waiting, can't we?"

"This is the most messed up version of 'taking it slow' ever!" Penny exclaimed the following day. Bernadette was working on her laptop while Penny attempted to continue her experiment from the day before, but her mind was distracted. "And do you know what the dumbest part is? When he left, I went to wash my underwear so I could wear it again tonight. Who does that?" She jabbed furiously at the switch for the laser.

"Careful!" Bernadette squealed, ducking her head.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"You have them set too high - you'll burn the thing! Or me! At least point it in the right direction!"

Penny looked down to find that her friend was right. "Oh." She turned one of the dials to adjust the laser setting slightly before going to focus the aim of the device. "Sorry."

Thoughtfully, Bernadette observed Penny for a while as she double-checked the set-up of her experiment, making various adjustments as she went along. "You really are new to this whole... not rushing into sex and getting to know the guy kind of relationship, aren't you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Most people don't nearly burn things with a laser when a date goes badly."

"It was an accident." Penny shot at Bernadette, rolling her eyes. "I'm not used to dates going badly. Usually the guy buys me a few drinks and then we have sex. Sometimes it lasts a while, other times not so much." Putting on her protective goggles, Penny pouted in thought. "I've never dated someone who I was friends with first. It feels like we've been taking it slow for a really long time - but at the same time I still wanna not rush things like I have before. It's just so annoying and frustrating when things keep going wrong! I mean, is it like, a sign? Are we just... not meant to have sex and stay friends?"

"Maybe the world is simply testing you." Bernadette shrugged.

"Yeah well, the world better stop testing me because I'm getting seriously pissed off." Penny groaned.

"You'll probably be laughing about it all one day. I'm sure you'll have sex tonight. Otherwise there's always your little toy and Leonard's headshots to pull you through."

"Hey, Bernadette, put your head right in the beam of the laser for me, will you?" Penny glared at her friend.

"I really hope you have sex tonight." Bernadette grumbled.

"I thought you were telling me to take it slow? Make up your mind!" Penny snapped. When Bernadette simply shrugged, she gave a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I just - I'm used to this being easy. I never had to chase the guy or work hard to impress him or get nervous about being the me that isn't just this hot blonde."

"Well now you know what it's like for the rest of us - and you finally found a guy who likes the slightly dorky, science-loving woman beyond just the hot blonde exterior."

Penny knew Bernadette was right; rarely did the guys she went out with or hooked up with bother to get to know her beyond what they saw on the outside. Yes, it was fun and it was easy; it kept her protected and shielded her from anything beyond a superficial heartbreak. But nobody had ever tried to see beyond what she gave them - except Leonard. Yes, he was evidently attracted to the hot blonde she practically served on a plate to every guy - but he was also interested in everything else. The olive-spinning, goggle-wearing, serial-highlighter was just as impressive as the pretty face to him. Was it terrifying? Absolutely, Penny thought, as she began the experiment, Bernadette's typing at her laptop a relatively relaxing background noise to her mind. But did she like this new paradigm she'd found with Leonard?

Honestly? The answer was yes. A part of her hated it because it was so new and so unusual for her - but it gave her an adrenaline rush, something new to explore. So perhaps it was worth it, all of those minor bumps in trying to progress with their relationship. Maybe they were just a natural part of making something work, just like her experiment - it had taken her two weeks to optimize it before she'd been able to actually begin carrying it out. Maybe it was like that with relationships too.

"You're probably right. Maybe one day we'll be laughing about it." Penny agreed eventually as the timer beeped and she shut off the laser.

"We'll us or 'we'll' you and Leonard?"

"Ugh, I don't know - both I guess." Penny shrugged, grabbing her notebook.

"Interesting." Bernadette grinned. "Good interesting."

Shaking her head, Penny set about collecting the set of data from her first run of the day. "What about you and Howard? How did that go?"

"Oh..." Bernadette blushed.

Penny's eyes went wide as she caught the red hue on her friend's cheeks. "You slept with him!"

"Umm... maybe?"

"Wow! Get in there, Bernadette!" Penny rushed over to give her a hug. "This is so exciting! So I guess he answered the question right?"

"Yup! I guess that means we're... official."

"Ooh, this is so exciting! Man, I can't believe you're dating Howard Wolowitz - but hey, I guess he needed a teeny tiny scary blonde to set him straight." Penny giggled. "So how was it?"

"It was good."

"Good? That's all you're giving me?"

"I'm not giving you a detailed breakdown of the evening, Penny!"

"Oh come on! I'm not getting any - I want details! Oh wait. On second thoughts, I don't. It's Howard. Sorry - just - you know... you can keep that to yourself."

"This, my friends, is the lunch of a man who had sex last night." Howard announced smugly as he joined his friends for lunch, placing his tray down proudly.

"Nobody cares, dude." Raj rolled his eyes, tired of hearing him repeat the same phrase with any activity he did that day.

"You're just jealous." Howard shrugged. "I'm guessing last night wasn't a success, Leonard, from the look on your face?"

"Shut up." Leonard sneered.

"How's your research going with Amy?" Raj asked Sheldon, steering away from both Howard's and Leonard's relationships - he had been hearing enough about those recently.

"We're only in the initial stages, but it appears to be going well so far." Sheldon reflected. Considering how much he disliked sharing his work and ideas, Amy had a way of making it easier - he didn't know what it was, but it was enjoyable working with her.

"You should totally take her to dinner." Howard said with a smirk.

"Why would I do that?" Sheldon raised a brow.

"Well, you want to have a strong working relationship." Raj began - with Howard's current satisfied state, he didn't trust him to explain this to Sheldon in a way that Sheldon would take to well. "And spending some time together without thinking about the work you're doing could be beneficial to you both. You'll be more comfortable around each other in your personal life and thus it will reflect in your work - bouncing ideas off each other, challenging ideas or even just spending so much time with each other - don't you think?"

"Huh. I do enjoy spending time with her - and I want this project to gather a successful conclusion."

"So... is that a yes to the dinner idea?" Raj grinned.

"I will consider it."

"You know they're just trying to set you guys up on a date." Leonard informed Sheldon with a sigh, in no mood to play games when it came to dating right now.

"A date? I don't date." Sheldon said firmly, shocked at Leonard's statement.

"If you go to dinner with Amy, that's what it'll be. A date."

"Why can't it just be two friends having dinner?"

"Did you learn absolutely nothing from that book we gave you?" Howard frowned.

"I hated that book." Sheldon scowled. "I don't see what going to dinner with a girl has to do with mushing genitals together."

Leonard laughed. "Well... maybe you should go to dinner with Amy - in a few years that book might start actually making sense to you!"