Aaaand we're back!

"Leonard?"

He lifted his head. "Did I do something wrong?"

Penny chuckled, shifting her weight. "Not exactly. But uh..." she ran a finger around her right breast. "This one is getting a little lonely."

Leonard looked sheepish. "Sorry." His mouth returned to where had been, but he slid a hand up from her hip, caressing her sensitive skin.

Penny tipped her head back, closing her eyes. "There you go." She had to admit, he was good at this. She'd had better when it came to the main event, but, she figured, she'd been with enough men that statistically, that was pretty likely. However, she'd never been with anyone who took foreplay quite so seriously – certainly not now, when they were warming up for round two. But Leonard, she was coming to learn, went through all the steps, every time, making sure she was primed for anything they were going to do. He could drive her close to the edge before he got himself involved at all, and that was completely uncharted territory for her.

It was scary, if she was honest, because while he had his selfish, asshole moments and she knew that even not knowing him for very long, she was realizing that he was like that a hell of a lot less than all the boys she'd loved before. And she was slowly coming to recognize that in the other ways he was better than them, he completely left them in his dust.

He wasn't the kind of guy that she usually dated. But...but he was different. In a good way.

Part of her wanted to have a more serious discussion. But that would mean trotting their relationship out to the public, putting themselves under a magnifying scope...magnifying glass, Penny, or microscope, there is no such thing as a magnifying scope. Or was there? She had no idea.

Maybe she couldn't measure up to him. Maybe he'd end up like the others, memorize her body to his satisfaction, then move on to the next one. She didn't really believe he would. But...the others did. It didn't matter if they flat out dumped her or if they cheated and then she dumped them, they always ended up in some bed that wasn't hers. And she had things in common with those guys, with Kurt and Ron and Curtis and David and Kurt and she thought she'd already run Kurt through her mind but that one had hurt bad.

What did she have in common with Leonard? They both liked each other, that was obvious enough, but was that all that it took?

What in the Hell did these TiMERs use when they figured out compatibility, anyway?

Leonard's hand slid down her stomach and between her hips and she was jolted clear out of her thoughts, exhaling sharply, hot breath rushing from her mouth as she pushed up on her hands and panted, staring down at him as he trailed kisses along her collarbone and his thumb coaxed a sound that resembled a whine from deep in her throat. "You know," Leonard said, gently easing her down until she was flat on her back again. "It's funny you pointed out that I was focusing too much over here, because one of the books that my mom wrote included a story about how when I was breastfeeding, I favored the left one and she got a little lopsided."

It was astonishing how quickly his fingers went from magical to a completely unwelcome nuisance. "Okay," she said, reaching down and grabbing his wrist, scooting away from him. "Mood ruined."

Leonard looked genuinely confused. "What did I say?"

"Does bringing up your mother really not just totally kill it for you?"

"I suppose it depends on context. I was just making a comment, so...I guess...I'm supposed to say yes, here, right?"

Penny stared at him. "Wow."

"Am I allowed to stay?"

He looked concerned, glancing around the bedroom at the various places his clothes had ended up. Penny smirked. "You can stay. But I'm closed for business."

He shrugged. "Alright." Flipping onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling. Then his head tipped to the side. "We're talking for the whole night?"

She put her hand over his face. "Hey!" he said, batting it away. "I have asthma, don't cut off my oxygen."

"I'm chilly," she said, "can I have my shirt."

"Uh..." Leonard rolled away from her, leaning off the bed. After a moment, he rolled back, a familiar ball of pink fabric in his hand. "Here. You know," he said as she wiggled into it, "I'm pretty proud of myself for not falling out of the bed there."

"Glad you're setting achievable goals for yourself," she quipped.

He grinned at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. God, this was easy. She was even a bit mad at him a minute ago and yet...

She liked this. A lot. Spending time with him, joking, talking, stalking their friends' TiMERs, it was all so damn easy.

It felt right. But she couldn't shake the thought that maybe this too, was temporary.