a/n: Not as much time on my hands these days. Kinda sad. I really need to get back on track.

a/n: Warning: This chapter's slightly lost, mainly because I've been suffering from something I'm gonna call "kaleidoscope brain" for the past few weeks and I haven't recovered yet. But who cares?

a/n: Episode 19, "The Indecision Amalgamation", put me in gamer junkie overload. Couldn't help it. I've watched that episode, like, 20 times just because of the PS4 vs. Xbox One rant.

a/n: Another warning: This will be bumped up to a rated M fic. I see no way of avoiding it this time. Actually, there ARE a few ways, but I can just see the virtual guns and knives being pointed at me even as I think them. So, all apologies to those of you who don't want to see this turned into an M-rated fic. All apologies to those of you who wanted this to be an M-rated fic from the start. And all apologies to me because I had no intention of getting them this involved in the first place. Hope you enjoy!

Concession

Chapter 25: Mad Scientist

"How rude of me. I didn't give you this," Sheldon said, walking over to his closet. He pulled out his laptop fan and handed it to Amy.

She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

Once her boyfriend took a seat on the bed again, he asked, "What are you working on?"

(Well, today I haven't been working on anything, but usually when I'm in this apartment, I'm writing fantasies about intimate encounters between us,) Amy thought. She wouldn't dare say that out loud, but when she looked at the screen of her computer, there was nothing there but her background—a picture of the house from Little House on the Prairie.

Who was she kidding? It wasn't like he didn't know about the fantasies she wrote. He'd read two of them and had likely started reading the one she'd recently finished.

"Nothing," she finally said.

"Nothing? You've been in here this entire time and you've done nothing?"

(Does talking with Penny count?) Amy thought. "Um, to be honest..." She wasn't being honest. "...I was trying to come up with a beginning for my next fantasy."

"Are you really still writing those? I mean, you said that you finished your last one, but we've slept together. Is it really necessary for you to satisfy your needs elsewhere?" Sheldon asked.

Amy looked at Sheldon for a long time. Once again, his weird view on things confused her. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"You say it as if we're having intercourse."

Sheldon pondered that for a moment. "Oh. Intercourse. No, we haven't done that yet."

"Yes. I know. I was there," Amy told him.

"Well, since you're not writing anything right now, do you mind if I read the last one you wrote?" Sheldon asked slowly.

She couldn't hide the blush that cropped up and she quickly looked away. "You want to read it?"

Sheldon nodded. "I read the beginning and I'd like to see how things turned out."

"You can't be serious. I can't let you read something like that. Especially while I'm in the room. It's embarrassing." She finally looked back at her boyfriend and it was now his turn to look away. "I really had no intention of letting you read the other two. No, I can't let you read the last one. That one's way too embarrassing."

"Please?"

How exactly was she supposed to say no to this guy? "You haven't even told me what you thought of the last two. Besides the fact that the guy in the story wasn't you."

"Well, he wasn't."

"And the part about thinking about acting on it."

Sheldon thought for a moment. "Well..., I said that if I were in your shoes, I would think about acting on it."

"So what would you do in your own shoes?" Amy asked staring at her boyfriend sternly.

He looked away for a moment, then looked back at her. "I would wonder who this guy really is."

"Sheldon!" Amy groaned.

"Oh, would you look at the time. I've got to finish my laundry," Sheldon said, standing to leave.

"Don't you dare. Your clothes are nowhere near done drying."

Sheldon quickly sat back down. "Then how about that kiss I owe you from earlier?"

"You don't owe me any kiss from earlier because kissing is not a substitute for conversation," Amy reminded him.

He leaned closer to her anyway. "How about just a random kiss, then?"

Was he serious? If she didn't know any better, she would say that he was getting a little too comfortable with this whole kissing business. Buuuuuuuuuuut, who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth? So she met him halfway and their lips touched sweetly, but briefly. Her boyfriend's hand reached for hers and their lips connected yet again. Amy's mind fluttered about aimlessly as she leaned toward him and gently pecked him on the lips once more.

Sheldon must have thought this to be some sort of game because he leaned toward her and kissed her again.

Then she realized that his hand was no longer on hers and he'd commandeered her computer. Amy frowned down at the laptop. Not only was he using kisses to avoid conversation, he was using them to take things from her. She narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, but he was too busy reading her story to take notice.

She didn't want to be there while he read her latest fantasy, but there was nowhere for her to go. Her only choice was to wait until he was done.

...a few silent minutes later...

"Oh, dear," Sheldon murmured. He quickly closed the laptop and made sure not to look at his girlfriend.

Amy made sure to avoid Sheldon's eye as well. She wasn't going to let her embarrassment stop her from asking what she wanted to ask, though. "Well? Any thoughts?"

"Um...," was all Sheldon said for the time being.

She waited for the rest of his statement, but nothing followed. "Say something."

As they both sat there staring at their hands on their laps, Sheldon cleared his throat and finally said, "It was an interesting take on the situation."

She'd asked for something and sometimes you get what you ask for.

"Is...," her boyfriend began. "Is that something you imagine us doing together?"

(Of course it is! They're called fantasies for a reason!) Amy thought.

"I mean, I only ask because the last two stories involved coitus and this one contained no coitus at all," Sheldon elaborated.

She still couldn't make herself look at him. "Not all fantasies have to involve intercourse."

"We didn't even touch each other," Sheldon went on. "We only talked about it."

The embarrassment was too much for her. She never should have let him read that story. She should have just taken the laptop away from him the minute she saw that he had it. "Okay, you've said enough. I don't want to talk about this anymore," Amy murmured.

She saw enough of him out of the corner of her eye to see him nod slowly. "Alright," he said. "I will respect your wishes."

Amy sighed. "Thank you."

"I think I'll go and finish my laundry now," Sheldon said, getting to his feet again.

Amy simply nodded.

Once the two of them got back to her apartment, Amy found that she had an email from Penny. Her bestie must have been sending her some tips on seduction. (Wow, she sure works fast,) Amy thought.

She sent her boyfriend off to get dressed for bed while she made popcorn and read her message:

[Alright, Ames. The first and most important rule in seduction is to be confident. Nothing turns a man on more than a woman who knows what she's doing, knows what she wants and knows how to go about getting it. Then again, in Sheldon's case, I don't know if you wanna try to out-confidence him. He's full of it. Next, it seems that he likes the idea of not being able to have you. We learned that from your game of keep-away a few weeks ago. Work with that. Now, this next one is tricky for you guys because I have no idea if it will work. Show a little skin. I've seen the nightgowns you sleep in. Do something different. Sleep in just a t-shirt and panties or at least buy some shorter nightwear. I'm not saying that you should go out and buy kinky lingerie. You don't want to venture too far from your regular personality quirks. Something else that should work is making use of your hands. It doesn't have to necessarily be on him. Stroke the arm of the sofa with your fingertips or play with your hair. I don't know if he'd notice stuff like that, but it's worth a shot. And if you feel like none of this is working, try some natural aphrodisiacs. Mostly food. Force-feed him strawberries and oysters. Let me know if any of that stuff works! Good luck!]

(Yeah, right. Like Sheldon's gonna go for something besides the stuff he usually eats,) Amy thought. That other stuff might not work either, considering her boyfriend's ruthless adherence to routine. (But it doesn't hurt to try.)

"Wow. I guess I didn't sleep as well as I thought I did last night. I'm pretty tired," Sheldon said, coming out of her bedroom.

It was no wonder neither of them could sleep well. They were sharing a bed, after all.

Amy quickly pocketed her phone and handed the popcorn bowl to Sheldon. "I'm pretty tired too. We'll watch an episode or two, but we really need to try to get some sleep."

"Are you going to sleep on the couch again?" he asked, staring at the bowl.

"No, I think we're fine sleeping in the same bed."

She heard a sigh from her boyfriend, but she couldn't be sure if it was a sigh of disappointment or a sigh of relief. "Okay," he said.

Amy took the opportunity to go into the bedroom and get dressed for bed. She was advised to wear something that showed a little more skin, but she was sure she didn't own anything like that. If she walked out there in just a t-shirt and some panties like Penny suggested, Sheldon would definitely know something was up. Then she remembered a little nightshirt she'd bought, black with white music notes all over it. The sleeves reached her elbows and the bottom barely reached her knees. She used to think it was made for slutty women, so she never wore it.

After digging through her closet, she pulled out the nightshirt and frowned at it. (Am I turning into some slutty vixen?) She slipped the shirt on and frowned at herself in the mirror. (I can't do this.) Her pale arms and legs felt too exposed.

(You can do it. Where's that confidence Penny told you about?) one of her demons reminded her.

Amy looked herself over one more time and nodded. (Let's do this.)

She walked back into the living room and over to the couch like it was nothing at all. Sheldon was already sitting with their popcorn and the blanket ready for viewing.

"Sorry it took so long," she said.

Sheldon, who had been studying the remote, looked at her and nearly dropped the popcorn. "What are you wearing? That's not your usual nightwear."

Uh, oh! "It's been pretty warm these past few nights, so I thought I'd wear something more comfortable," Amy told him. She took a seat next to him and covered up. When she looked over at him, he was simply staring at her. "Could you start the show?"

Her boyfriend looked at her for a few seconds longer, then started the DVD player.

(This guy is so hard to read sometimes,) Amy thought.

He took her hand in his and all was right with the world.

The two lay coffin-style in bed again and after Sheldon hadn't showered for the rest of the day, she was being driven mad by his scent—that slight signature musk masked by his fading talc. She'd been too startled about it being their first night together in the same bed to pay much attention to it last time, but she was all but swimming in it now. She wanted more of it. She didn't even announce the fact that they would begin their intimacy experiments. She simply rolled over and moved closer to her boyfriend, pressing her nose against the side of his neck. After inhaling his scent, she let out a satisfied sigh.

"Sheldon," she murmured against his neck. "Don't shower tomorrow."

He seemed to be paralyzed by her sudden movements at first, but then he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "What? Why?"

"I want to smell more of the real you," Amy told him, still nuzzling his neck.

"That's silly, not to mention unhygienic. I'm used to bathing at regular intervals."

Amy's hand wandered to Sheldon's chest and she slowly ran a finger up and down the middle of it. "But I like your smell. Surely you can make an exception just this once."

"You're just full of demands. You want kissing. You want touching. You want me to stop bathing. You're impossible," Sheldon said, his tone losing confidence with each move her finger made. "I thought we were both tired and wanted to get more sleep tonight."

His last statements went into one of her ears and out the other.

Just to make sure her boyfriend wouldn't freak out about what she was contemplating doing next, she kissed the side of his neck. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to have any objections.

(Alright, Amy Farrah Fowler. You can do this. You're gonna give your boyfriend a hickey,) she said to herself. After a few deep breaths, she began licking, suckling and nibbling Sheldon's neck. There was a sharp inhale from her boyfriend, but to her surprise, he didn't try to stop her. He didn't complain. He didn't give her a lecture about hygiene.

"Was that okay?" Amy found herself asking once she was satisfied that she'd made her mark.

She heard Sheldon sigh. "Are we really holding a conversation while these things are happening now?"

Amy frowned. "Well, you don't like talking about them afterwards. Besides, I thought I could get honest, more in-depth answers from you if we talked about them while—"

In one strangely fluid motion, Sheldon turned to her and kissed her on the lips. Unfortunately, it was over before Amy could even register what was going on. "We really should make kissing an optional alternative to conversation," he suggested.

A slight smirk tugged at Amy's lips. "I already told you. That was a one-time deal. Did you like it or not?"

This time Sheldon put an arm around her to pull her closer and pressed a longer, gentler kiss upon her lips. She let her mind go blank and she simply enjoyed the feel of her boyfriend's arm around her. His lips moving against hers. His tongue at her lips, patiently requesting entry...

His tongue? Entry? Yes! She was finally getting another good makeout session going. Instead of dipping her tongue in immediately, she simply parted her lips and let him do whatever he intended to do. His tongue gently began searching her mouth and she couldn't help teasing the tip of his tongue with hers. A tingle zipped through her entire body as though this had been their first kiss.

Unfortunately, she felt Sheldon move away from her a bit, but much like the first time tongues were involved, he seemed eager to keep their mouths in contact.

She remembered he'd told her the last time that happened that he didn't want to startle her due to an "offensive physiological response".

(Erection,) one of her demons clarified.

(My boyfriend and I are in bed together, kissing, and he's actually getting a stiffy?) Amy asked herself. Her brain practically salivated at that thought. She tried moving a little closer to him, but he was determined to keep his distance. So instead she forced his mouth to open wider with her tongue and deepened their kiss.

She was sure that her boyfriend would shy away from her invading tongue, but to her surprise he mimicked each thrust her tongue made. A moan escaped her throat. She could feel her nether region throbbing with excitement. Between what could only be the sounds of her own pulse, she began hearing Sheldon making some sort of quiet moaning sounds as well. Oh, this was like a dream come true.

A hand was suddenly on her belly and Amy was sure that it wasn't hers. The fingers of that hand slowly inched upward until they reached the bottom band of her bra. She gasped into her boyfriend's mouth, thinking, (Second base! Second base! Second base! Second base!)

Once Sheldon's hand gently cupped her breast, Amy finally broke the kiss and breathed, "Oh, Sheldon."

That must have been a mistake because he quickly removed his hand and simply looked at her. "I guess...it's your turn."

Her lust-addled brain needed a chance to recuperate. She had to think of something. Honestly, she'd gotten just about everything she could have asked for, considering Sheldon had finally reached second base. It was a brief encounter, but she wouldn't forget the feel of his boney fingers against her breast. She would have the best self-indulgence session ever after experiencing that.

"Okay. I want to feel you against me. I want a full body contact hug," Amy finally decided.

Sheldon immediately shook his head. "I can't do that right now."

She already knew why, but she wanted to hear it from him. "Why not?"

"I can't tell you. Let's save the hug for next time," Sheldon whispered.

"I'd rather have it now," Amy told him.

"Hugging in bed seems like it would be awkward," Sheldon said.

"That's just an excuse." She put an arm around him and pulled him close. Too bad for him, she noticed that he was keeping his hips as far away from her as possible. "Sheldon," she said sternly.

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, he moved his hips closer so that the two of them would be touching from head to toe. Yes indeed, the phrase "offensive physiological response" meant exactly what she thought it meant. And it was pressed right against her inner thighs.

She could feel Sheldon taking deep, controlled breaths. "Kolinahr. Let's not forget Kolinahr," he whispered to her.

Amy decided to lightly rake her teeth across his jawline. She considered making another hickey there, but Sheldon whimpered and stumbled backwards out of bed.

"Excuse me," he told her, hurrying out of the room.

It took a few seconds for her brain to catch up on the situation. She hopped up and walked to the bathroom where she knew her boyfriend had taken refuge. "Sheldon," she said quietly to the closed door.

"I'm sorry, Amy. Kolinahr won't work. There's nothing else I can do," Sheldon called back to her.

"Hey. Listen to me. We're in the same situation, I promise. Mine may be a little less obvious, but Kolinahr is not going to be enough to calm me down right now," Amy told him.

"Alright. Now that we agree upon the circumstances, will you leave me in peace?"

"Don't you remember the story I wrote? I think we can deal with this together."

"You can't be serious."

"I am. It's intimate, yet we don't have to be directly involved in intercourse." Amy was sure that she'd lost her mind. There was no way her boyfriend was going to go for something like this.

"It's embarrassing is what it is. I'm a man of science, not some monkey who spends his days engaging in self-abuse," Sheldon said.

"Sheldon, open this door right this instant. I refuse to keep talking to you like this," Amy told him.

"Then leave me alone."

Amy groaned. "Whether we do this together or separately, it still doesn't change the fact that we're both monkeys spending our days engaging in self-abuse."

Sheldon cracked the door open and peeped out at Amy.

"So we can either improve upon this intimacy experiment or allow it to stagnate. I, for one, don't intend to fail at this," she told him.

Her boyfriend nodded and stepped out of the bathroom, his hands attempting to hide the tenting of his pajama pants. "You're right. Before all things, we are scientists. To miss out on an opportunity such as this would be a tragedy."

Amy gave a nod.

"Please lead the way," Sheldon said.

Amy turned to go back to her bedroom and when she looked back over her shoulder at Sheldon, he was attempting to go back into the bathroom. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. "Get back here."

"Alright. Alright," he grumbled, taking the lead this time.

...to be continued...

a/n: Please don't kill me. Anyway, we're bumping this story up to rated M for the next chapter, but I can still promise you there won't be intercourse yet. Yeah, this is a really snail-paced story, though these two have advanced pretty far during these last few chapters.

a/n: Again, I'm not putting these out as often as I used to, but I'll do my best. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for reading. And please review.