Chapter 10: The Halloween Quandary

Amy had just turned the page in her book when she heard it.

Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."

Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."

Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."

Sheldon. She wasn't surprised. He was always finding excuses to come over lately. She got up and opened the door to him.

"Amy, something horrible has happened!" he blurted out.

"Sheldon, what's wrong?" She moved aside so he could enter.

"Our Halloween plans are in complete shambles. It's all ruined."

She let out a breath of relief. Just a Sheldon emergency, not a real emergency. "I'll make you a hot beverage." She moved to the kitchen. "Are we not all still going as The Avengers? You already had your Spiderman costume and -"

"That's just it. One hour ago Stuart issued a Facebook invitation to a Famous Couples of Science Fiction and Fantasy Masquerade at his store! Didn't you see it?"

"No, sorry, I've been reading."

He hrumphed. "And then Leonard told me Penny thinks it would be more fun. And Howard and Bernadette want to go, too! Over The Avengers!"

She passed him a hot mug of tea. "Don't you think it might be fun?" she tried to disguise the hurt she felt. Why did Sheldon always say the most hurtful things without realizing it?

"It's not the theme I'm opposed to" - her heart leapt - "it is the short notice. Really, who only decides on a Halloween costume on the first of October? How will we come up with something without months of advance planning? It's the most important holiday of the year!"

Amy suppressed a smile as she put her hand on his arm to guide him to the sofa. "Well, we have an advantage over the other couples, of course. We're both geniuses, after all."

Sheldon gave her a smile. "See, I knew once the initial shock wore off, you'd apply all of your energy to the problem. Of course, I've already thought it about, and I've come up with five possible couples. With this time limitation, none of them are perfect, we'll just have to discuss the merits of each. There's Beta Spock and Beta Uhura, but we'd have to get new costumes as neither one of us has Beta uniforms. There's Hans Solo and Princess Leia, but I've always seen myself more as Luke Skywalker. And there's Batman and Cat Woman, but I don't know if they'd count in the colloquial sense of the word couple -"

"What about my ideas, Sheldon?" He really could prattle on like an old woman sometimes.

He snorted. "Really, Amy. It's a Famous Couples of Science Fiction and Fantasy Masquerade, which would obviously not include such couples as Romeo and Juliet or Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. Pay attention."

Amy was surprised, but not by his tone. "You know who Darcy and Elizabeth are?"

"Amy, you know I can read. In fact, I took a class on Nineteenth Century British Literature. Not by choice, of course. I had to take a great number of ridiculous courses that had nothing at all to do with science in order to fulfill the stupid requirements of a bachelor's degree. Our secondary education system is in shambles. But, yes, I've read Pride and Prejudice." He finally took a drink of his tea. "Now, stop distracting me. Back to the task at hand."

"River Song and The Doctor." Now it was Sheldon's turn to look surprised.

"You know who River Song is? About her and The Doctor?" He's so cute when he's underestimated me.

"Yes. I've been watching Doctor Who on Netflix. I started that week you were in Texas." She looked down, "I was missing you, and I wanted to be reminded of you. It made sense to me when I started from the beginning. I've discovered I like it a lot."

"Oh," said train voice Sheldon. He coughed. "Yes, that's actually a good idea."

She looked back up to him, willing him to kiss her with her eyes. She thought he might be considering it, but then he shook his head. "Oh, no, you don't Amy Farrah Fowler! I will not let you tempt me away from important work. And don't think I'm letting you off the hook for watching Doctor Who without informing me. I'll think of a suitable punishment later." (Oh, yes, please do.) "How do you propose we accomplish this?"

"Well, we should decide which Doctor you want to be first, the tenth or the eleventh. I guess it depends on whether you want to wear a trench coat or a bow tie."

He sighed. "Do you not understand how this works? It's not about what I want, it's about what is the most authentic."

"Then it should be the eleventh Doctor, he spent the most time with River."

Sheldon nodded. "Agreed. But what about you? River Song has more choices. There's early Melody from high school, there's archeologist River Song, there's astronaut River Song -"

She silenced him by putting her finger to his lips. Leaving it there, she shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. Spoilers!"

His pupils dilated, and he said in his train voice, "Amy, did you just wink at me while quoting a line from the greatest British import of our time?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, Dr. Fowler, you vixen!" And he pulled her close for a long, deep kiss.

Thank you in advance for your reviews!