Chapter Ten

Penny had finally worked out a plan of attack. She was going to ask Sheldon subtle questions about his childhood and find out what caused the reason. Then he would be fixed and fall into Penny's arms. Flushing, Penny stirred her cake batter faster. 'Ok that may be a little farfetched but a girl can hope.'

She was making funfetti cupcakes to ease her way into the boys apartments cause really, who hates funfetti cupcakes. Penny hoped that Sheldon liked them. She felt herself get a little warmer thinking of Sheldon, with his long dexterous fingers, slowly eating a cupcake, licking frosting off his fingertips. 'Oh girl! You need to stop these train of thoughts.' Penny put the cupcakes into the oven to bake and turned the timer on.

'Ok. This means that I have time to go get ready. Hopefully Sheldon and I can 'experiment' some more today' Penny thought as she finished clearing up the counter. Penny skipped into her room to find the perfect 'Sheldon tell me your secrets and then ravish me' outfit.

After the cupcakes were done, and Penny had on the perfect Sheldon outfit (she found a Batman shirt the guys gave her and paired it with some tiny shorts), before she was ready to face Sheldon. Penny knew he would be at the apartment, even though it was the middle of the day, due to the fact that he was looking for a new position. Kripkey wasn't lying when he told them that Sheldon had been fired. Sheldon, after his Lee episode, just stated that he was going to find a better place to work. One that wasn't inhabited by mediocre minds and faulty management. Letting herself in, Penny saw Sheldon working away on his computer.

"Penny, you do know that social convention states that one should knock, receive acknowledgement of said knock, and be asked into a person's dwelling. Sighing, Penny opened the door but didn't step out. Standing in the apartment, with one hand on the door, Penny did as he asked.

Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon" Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon" Knock Knock Knock "Sheldon can I come in?" He glared at her before letting out a sigh.

"Penny why are you here?" Smiling, Penny knew that she had won a small victory over Sheldon.

"I brought over cupcakes for you guys. I washed everything that could be washed before putting it in or using it to make them so no worries" Sheldon looked mildly interested at the mention of cupcakes. Spinning around, he turned to be facing her. Penny flushed at the intense stare that Sheldon was using to assess her. 'How did I ever not notice how nice his eyes are?' Penny pushed the thoughts out of her head when she saw him open his mouth to say something.

"What kind are they?" standing up, he came over to peer at her baked goods. With flourish, Penny pulled the foil off the top of her plate to reveal the cupcakes laying perfectly. Looking up Penny, noticed how Sheldon's eyes lit up when he saw them. 'Score! Everyone loves Funfetti!'

"Funfetti is a good choice Penny. I accept. I will get some plates." Turning around fluidly, he made his way into the kitchen with Penny following him. Putting down the plate, she noted how graceful he actually was.

"So did you eat Funfetti as child?" she wanted to get started on her plan to get the rewards part of it. She wanted to be better and to see that he wanted to be with her.

"My mother would often make these kind of cupcakes for Missy, my brother, and myself. She loves to bake" Penny could see, for how different they are, that he loved his mother.

"So your Dad never ate them with you?" She knew his father was dead but it may be important. She noted how he stopped, before continuing to pull plates out of the cabinet.

"My father found them to be a waste of time and would not partake in their consumption" his tone was clipped. 'This is more like it' Penny noted as she thought of the next thought question she could ask.

"What was your father like?"

Sheldon looked at her quizzically and a bit exasperatedly. "He was Texan. Big, loud, loved his guns and beer, kind of man. He was a good man." His voice got a bit of a drawl, almost like Lee's. Leaning in, Penny didn't say anything in hopes that he would continue. "He would take me to the football games, hunting, and came to all my science fairs. He was proud of my accomplishments."

Penny felt tears sting at her eyes. 'So sweet!' was all she could think. "Well, Sheldon, let's eat these cupcakes before the idea gets away from us." She grabbed a plate, put a cupcake on her plate and headed to her spot on the couch.

"We should watch something" Penny started to rifle through the DVDs on the shelf. Sheldon put his plate down, and leaned over her to grab a DVD. His body line was pressed intimately with hers. She could feel the heat coming off of him while he was nonchalantly grabbing a few DVDs. Penny had to tell herself to breathe properly and gasped when he grabbed one of her hips to steady himself. Before her brain could get around his lean body against her, he was up and handing her some DVDs.

"I think 'Howl's Moving Castle' would be a good choice to watch. It is cinematically pleasing and the story is not too farfetched for you to be bored with." Deciding for them, he put the DVD in and sat down in his designated spot. Taking a deep breath to calm her heart down, Penny sat down to watch the movie.

What she hadn't expected was that she was going to enjoy it. It was sweet and exciting. She didn't think that anime was normally worth it but this one actually was good. Once it was over, she wanted to watch it again. "How come you never showed me good anime before?"

"Penny, most of the anime we have shown you is good. However, it did not relate to you very well. Miyazaki is a brilliant director, whose movies can translate into most cultures."

"There are more? Let's watch another!"

"Penny, I do have things…." He trailed off as Penny leaned in close to him, pressing against his side. "to..uhm…do?" Penny noted that his eyes flicked up and down from her eyes to her lips. 'Interesting' she thought. Licking her lips, she was pleased to see his gaze stuck to her lips.

"Sheldon" she murmured.

"Yes?" his voice was husky, with a hint of his drawl. This sent delightful shivers down her spine. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt the splayed fingers land on her thigh.

"I think my experiment needs more data" Penny almost melted when she saw Sheldon smirk at her.

"I find that to be an acceptable proposition" he said before he cupped her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

Melting is the only way Penny could describe how kissing Sheldon felt. She felt like her entire body and soul wanted to be a part of Sheldon. That her insides flipped and flopped so many times that she felt dizzy. He felt right against her lips and when he pulled her even closer it was heaven. She had snaked a hand under and his was skimming hers to…

"Well bless my soul! I never thought I'd see this but don't stop on my account. It's not like this is my first rodeo, darling" both Penny and Sheldon pulled up to see the curvaceous woman in the doorway.

Apparently Missy decided to come for a visit.