*I'm sorry for the long wait, I live in Michigan, so my children are currently having to learn virtually. I have three and all three are special needs, which makes this oh-so-much-fun. Unfortunately, that means I don't get as much computer time as I'd like.
Sooooo…..I know that Medieval Times didn't replace Kings with Queens until 2018, but I felt no one would mind too much if I changed up the time frame a bit to suit my own purposes. I couldn't find any information on the King's name, or exactly how they performed the knighting ceremony, so I sort of made it up. I also had no intention of turning it into a job for Penny, but the characters have their own ideas about how this should all go down. Lol! Thank you again for reading! Please continue to leave me comments, they always make my day!
*Chapter 8*
Penny was just finishing with her fitting at the 'castle', as everyone called it. Her dress was amazing, and the people were all so nice. Even Steve, the guy who played the King! Penny was sure he would resent her for taking his job, but he welcomed her warmly, and told her that he was taking a position with the company in the managerial department. For the first month of shows, King Leopold would be introducing her as his daughter, the princess. At the end of the month, he would be killed by a traitor, and as the newly coronated queen, it would be Queen Maria's first priority to have her knights compete to see who was the strongest and bravest, and could help her find the traitor that took her father away from her. She was really excited for it all. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Sheldon.
This job is amazing! I can't wait to tell you all about it later. My dress is beautiful, and the crown! I get to wear a crown! :D
Sheldon was at lunch with Raj and Howard when he heard his phone buzz. He glanced up, Howard and Raj were engrossed in a discussion about the best strategy to pick up women at some club, so he was fairly positive that they wouldn't notice his distraction. He pulled out his phone and opened the message from Penny. He smiled, he could practically hear her excitement through the text.
Well, of course. What kind of Queen would you be without a crown? I am incredibly pleased you are happy with your new career.
Penny walked into the middle of the arena, she was done for the day and just wanted to bask for a few minutes. She quickly took a selfie and sent it to Sheldon.
This place looks so much larger from the floor!
Sheldon heard the buzz of Penny's reply, without looking at his phone, he turned his attention to his companions. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to the office, I have some very important work to finish." He quickly grabbed his plate and walked off before they could reply. When he reached his office, he closed the door behind him. He typically left it open, so when the door was closed, most people knew not to disturb him. Sheldon sat at his desk and pulled up the message from Penny. It was a picture of her smiling with the stands behind her. Her joy made her whole face glow.
Off course it looks larger. That is the visual perception distortion caused by your location in the arena, the size of the space, and the angle of the riser seats.
Penny shook her head when she read his text. Her Wackadoodle was at it again. Before she could reply, another text came through.
You look happy.
She smiled. I am
Good.
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It was Halo night, and Sheldon was setting up the Xbox while Penny put out the assortment of snacks and goodies. "Sweetie, do you want me to put the chip dip out now, or after everyone gets here?" Penny asked absentmindedly as she poured the chips into a bright blue bowl.
Sheldon checked his watch. "Assuming that everyone will be on time, you can put the chip dip out now. They should be arriving in seven and a half minutes." He placed the disc in the console, turned on the tv and waited for the xbox to boot up. Once his profile popped up on the screen, he pressed the start button so the game could load.
Penny went to the fridge and pulled out the chip dip. She pulled out a small dish and scooped a decent amount and carried it over to the coffee table. "Alice is bringing over my outfit for Yuletide, but once we are finished with the fitting, we'll come over and join you guys."
"Penny, I know you haven't played Halo very much, but we can only play four players at a time." Sheldon pointed out.
Penny smiled indulgently "Yes, Sweetie, I know."
Sheldon was headed over to give her a quick kiss when he heard a call coming in on his laptop. He was getting much more comfortable with physical touch when it came to Penny, and he was anxious to move on from kissing to what was colloquially known as 'French kissing'. He stamped down his irritation, changed direction, and went over to his desk. Sitting down in his chair, he pressed the accept button, and Leonard's face appeared. "Hello, Leonard. How are you?" He said mildly.
Leonard smiled "Hi, Sheldon, I'm doing fine, how are you?"
"I am in good health. As you know it's Halo night."
"I know, that's why I'm calling. I wanted to check in with you before everything got started. Is anyone there yet?"
Sheldon glanced briefly over his shoulder. "Just Penny. Raj, Howard, Alice, and Dirk are all expected any minute."
"Hi, Penny!" Leonard said a bit louder. "I was hoping to get a moment to talk to you alone, but I can always call back later."
Penny walked over to lean over Sheldon's shoulder. "Hi, Leonard. I was just about to head out." She turned to Sheldon "I'll be back later, okay?"
"Don't forget to ask Alice about my cloak. If she could do the work, I will make sure to compensate her for her time." He tilted his head and leaned his cheek closer to Penny in a silent question.
Penny obliged him and gave him a swift peck on the cheek before waving goodbye to Leonard. She hurried to the door but looked back as she was leaving. Sheldon was still watching her, so she blew him a kiss and shut the door.
Leonard watched Sheldon, watch Penny. He'd never seen that look on Sheldon's face before, he seemed enthralled, and quite honestly Leonard was happy for him. Sheldon always struggled to make friends, and even though he'd had woman throw themselves at him before, he never seemed to take an interest. Maybe Sheldon just needed to find the right person, and then he needed the time to figure it all out. He just never figured that Penny would be the person to unlock Sheldon's more human side. Leonard cleared his throat to get Sheldon's attention. "Amy and I have been doing a lot of thinking and talking. That was why I called. I wanted to tell you that I'm okay with things. I was hurt when I left, but deep down I always knew Penny and I would never work out. We didn't want the same things. I hope you can forgive me for the things I said, I'd really like for us to be best friends again." Sheldon was quiet for so long, Leonard began to fear the worse.
It took Sheldon a minute to process what Leonard was saying. He'd been distracted by Penny. That had been happening a lot lately, but he couldn't place the blame on her. No, it was his newly found libido that was causing all the problems. So, he in turn, needed to find a way to assimilate. He forced his attention back to Leonard "I accept your apology, but I hope you can understand why you can't be my best friend. I've already given the position to Penny, and she has done nothing to deserve the title being revoked," he saw Leonard's face fall. He wasn't always good with social cues, but he'd shared an apartment with Leonard long enough to be able to read him fairly easily. He knew his friend thought there was no way to salvage things, but Sheldon figured it was past time to extend an olive branch. "but maybe like Amy and Penny, we can make another arrangement. Maybe you can be my male best friend. Would that be acceptable?"
Leonard sighed in relief "I think I'd like that. Thank you, Sheldon."
"You are very welcome. I will draw up a new contract, and you can sign it when you meet us in Texas. You are still coming to Texas for my mother's birthday party, correct?"
"Of course. Amy and I will be there on Friday afternoon. I hope you don't mind, but I called your grandmother, Derek is planning to travel back with us to stay in Pasadena for a few weeks. She said he was more than welcome to join us at the party."
"I haven't seen Derek in years, it will be good to see him." Sheldon got along with Derek quite well. While Derek did not possess the same IQ as him, he was at the top of his field, and they always had plenty to talk about. "I hope you will ensure he is not sick before travel. It's that season after all."
"Don't worry, Sheldon, Amy packed the travel kit, and she will make sure we're all clear before we leave."
"Thank you. Will you be invoking the guest clause of our roommate agreement?"
"No, Derek is staying at Amy's, she offered up her guest room."
"Very good."
The door opened revealing Raj and Howard already deep in conversation. "Bernie wants to see 'Rise of the Guardians'."
"I'm hoping for 'Wreck it Ralph'."
"You've already seen it twice." Howard whined.
"Yeah, but Dude, it was a cool movie." Raj shrugged.
"Gentlemen, please." Sheldon interrupted as he gestured to the screen "I'm on a call with Leonard."
Both rushed over "Hey, Leonard! Long time no see. How's Gettysburg? Any hot ladies?" Howard asked.
"Hey, Howard, hey, Raj. Things are pretty good here. Raj, thanks again for those sky charts. Derek is borrowing some equipment, and we are all headed up the mountain this weekend."
"Anytime! Hopefully, the weather will stay as predicted, and the skies will be clear for viewing."
"So, about those ladies…." Howard waggled his eyebrows "Give us the dets."
Leonard sat back and smiled while Sheldon began arguing with Howard over why it was ridiculous to use "dets" as the short form of "details", when it was already the plural of "details" even if it was used commonly by the masses. He missed this, and while he was having a blast with Amy and Derek, he was looking forward to going home.
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Alice finished the last of the pinning and removed the dress carefully so as not to poke Penny with any of the pins currently holding the adjustments in place. "So then Derek stood up and told the group the whole story and now everyone is in a tizzy about Queen Penelope making an appearance at our event. The board was ecstatic about having you play the part. With the changes at Medieval Times making the rounds, they are looking forward to bragging about how we all managed to snag you before anyone else. Bragging rights can be pretty huge in the nerd world." Alice smirked.
"You aren't kidding! I've seen that firsthand with the boys. So, they really don't mind me playing Queen Penelope?"
Alice hung the dress up on the specialized hanger and followed Penny out into the living room. "Not at all! We have to sit down with Sheldon and Dirk to hammer out the script, but the gist of it, is that you will play a queen from a far off land that has come to lend aid to our cause after messages went out across the lands for assistance in beating back the horde." They both sat on the couch and Penny poured them each a glass of wine from the bottle she'd set out on the coffee table earlier. "We have a section of the group that will play as members of your guard and army under the command of Sheldor. Everyone is pretty excited about the new addition. I mean, we had a pretty good story laid out, but this adds a whole new dimension to it." She laughed a bit evilly "The Heroes of Avalon will be so jealous. Our Yuletide weekend is going to blow their New Year's Campaign out of the water."
"The Heroes of Avalon?"
Alice turned to Penny "We have a friendly rival going on with their group." She smiled and shrugged one shoulder "Sometimes not so friendly, but anyway, we started hosting a Yuletide weekend nine years ago. We were the first group in the area to do a whole weekend campaign. Prior to that, all the groups only did day events. Other groups started doing over night events, but then The Heroes of Avalon decided to do a full weekend for New Year's to try and compete with us." Alice placed her wine glass on the coffee table so she could concentrate on explaining. She tended to gesture a lot, and she didn't want to spill any wine on the couch. "You see, while the boards and heavy players tend to be loyal to only one group, some players like to group jump and just participate in the events they like. It's a totally accepted practice, but The Heroes of Avalon were actively trying to poach our players. Now, both groups do our best to top each other every year. We don't poach, but we do want the street cred if you know what I mean. We want people talking about our events. Melvador does about four to five events a year, and we would like to add to that, but we need more people and fresh ideas."
"So, let me see if I got this…. You and another group kinda fight over who is the best, and having me play at Yuletide is going to swing things in your favor?" Penny was skeptical, after all, she'd never done anything like this before, she wasn't sure how she was going to make much of a difference.
"Basically yes. I mean, not only is the storyline going to improve our event, but now we can say we have the Queen from Medieval Nights playing with our group. It gives us status. Especially once Queen Maria Isabella is announced officially. Word is already out, people have been talking about the changes, but no one knows exactly what is going on, and by time Yuletide hits, everyone will know that we scooped you up before it all happened." Alice beamed.
Penny laughed "Bow down before me, Queen of the nerds!"
Both Alice and Penny laughed until their sides hurt. Penny was about to pour them each another glass of wine when her phone beeped. "Oh good! Bernadette is on her way, she'll be here in five." She put her phone down. "I almost forgot, Sheldon wanted to know if you could add some embroidery to his cape? He wants to have this done on the back," she handed Alice a piece of paper "he says it the Coat of Arms for my kingdom."
Alice looked down at the paper, it was a shield divided into four, the upper left and lower right squares were gold in color, while the upper right and lower left were red. There was a picture of a castle tower in the center, and the shield had a lion on each side holding swords that crossed over the top of the shield. There was a crown placed above the swords where they were crossed. There were red ribbons wrapping around the Lions and shield. It was beautifully drawn. "Did Sheldon do this himself?"
"Yeah, he has a thing with flags, so he already knows all about this kind of stuff. He even has an apartment flag."
Alice laughed "Just wait until Dirk finds out, he will pester Sheldon until he makes us a flag for our house."
Penny laughed as well "I don't think you have anything to worry about, he'll totally do it. He has some weird hobbies."
"I'll tell Sheldon that I'll do the work for him, if he creates Dirk a house flag." She winked.
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"Howie, watch out!" Bernadette yelled. Howard's character didn't move in time, and his arm was blown off.
"Bernie, you can't yell at me like that! It distracts me!" Howard whined.
"It's not my fault, you need to pay better attention."
"Well, if you want to go that route, it actually is your fault, you can't sit that close to me and expect me to be able to pay attention to my game." He weaseled while waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well, we could always go home, and I could distract you some more." Bernie nudged his shoulder.
Howard paused the game and dropped his controller "Sorry guys, I have to go take care of some business with my gal. See you all later!" He grabbed Bernadette's hand and dragged her out of the apartment.
"But, you can't just leave!" Sheldon called out. It was useless. Howard was gone.
"Dude, he was my ride." Raj pouted.
"It's okay, we can drop you off later." Dirk replied.
"Thanks, man! That is so nice of you."
"Not a problem. So, does that mean we won?" Dirk looked to Sheldon.
"Since my partner forfeited by leaving, then yes, I suppose that means you won." Sheldon said glumly.
"Whoo-hoo!" Raj yelled and held up his hand for a high five from Dirk, who responded enthusiastically.
"Sorry, Sheldon, bad luck. We could always start a new game?" Dirk offered.
"No, I think we've played enough Halo for one night."
"Well, it's still early, do we want to do something else?" Alice asked.
"Yeah! What's something we can all do?" Penny chimed in.
"Hmmm…well, we could watch a movie, or we could play a board game."
"Sheldon, if we play a board game, we need to make sure it's one that everyone can enjoy, not just something you're good at and are guaranteed to win." Penny leveled him with a look. She knew how he liked to stack the deck in his favor, and she wasn't having any of it. "That means no trivia games."
"Aww man." Sheldon crossed his arms and pouted.
"We could go over the plans for Yuletide, I haven't had a chance to explain things to Sheldon." Dirk looked around the group.
"What's Yuletide?" Asked Raj.
"Yuletide is a larping weekend our group Melvador is putting on in a few weeks. Sheldon and Penny are joining us."
"What do you do on a larping weekend?"
Dirk nodded at Alice to take over the explanation. She was better at that kind of thing. "Well, every group runs a bit differently. Our group usually has daytime activities throughout the year, but for Yuletide, we open it for a whole weekend. Melvador owns fifty acres near Acton, we use that for all our events. For Yultide, we camp there and spend the whole weekend playing a long campaign, very similar to a D&D type set up. Everyone has characters and we all play a part. We stop for meals and downtime, but it's a whole weekend of fun."
"Oh my God that sounds like so much fun!" Raj said in that tense over-excited kind of way.
"You're more than welcome to join, we can help get you all fitted out and everything." Alice offered.
Sheldon held up a hand to interrupt "Okay, but if Raj is joining us, then we really need to buckle down and get the details worked out. We'll need to create a whole character for him and everything, not to mention, we still need to get everything sorted out for Penny and I."
"Let's get started. Do you have enough paper for everyone? We're gonna need to write some things down." Dirk replied.
"Not only do I have enough, but we can also plan things out on a white board as well." Sheldon got up and set up a board next to the couch, he quickly took an eraser, and cleared the board.
"Uhhh, Sheldon, wasn't that Leonard's work?" Raj asked carefully.
"Yes, but since his math was incorrect, he'd need to start over anyway." He popped the cap off his marker "Now, where do we begin?"
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It was late, and Penny had just finished drying the last dish. She felt it was only fair to stick around and help clean up after everyone had left. Sheldon was wiping down the coffee table while she dried her hands. She glanced around to see if there was anything else that needed to be cleaned up, but everything looked neat and tidy. "That looks like everything. It was nice of Alice and Dirk to invite Raj to their house this weekend to get fitted for an outfit." She walked over to the couch and plopped down in her spot. "By the way, is Raj able to drive you tomorrow, or do you need a ride to work?"
Sheldon put away the cleaning supplies and quickly washed his hands. "If you are available, it would be a great help. Raj was planning on going into work early, so he could leave early to get ready for dinner. Although why he needs the extra time is beyond me." Sheldon shook his head in confusion.
Penny internally chuckled. While Raj was a heterosexual male, he primped and preened like a woman. It made him a great shopping and makeover buddy though. "It's not a problem, Sweetie. Why don't you text him, and let him know I'll drive you and pick you up tomorrow?"
"Are you sure it won't interfere with your shift?"
Penny looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. "Um, no, that won't be an issue at all."
Sheldon knew something was wrong by the way Penny answered him. Maybe she wasn't getting good tips? Or maybe they fired her for not taking down orders correctly. Although why they would wait this long was beyond him. Either way, he needed to know what was going on in case she needed his help. He walked over to sit in his spot next to her. "Penny, is everything okay with work?"
"Yeah" She sighed and rested her head back on the couch "As you know, I put in my two weeks' notice. Well, they decided to cut most of my shifts, so I'm no longer working tomorrow. I work the lunch shift on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. They said they won't need me after that, so Monday is my last day."
"They can't do that, can they?" Sheldon huffed in dissatisfaction.
Penny roughly ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't really know, but it doesn't matter. They said since I had already requested the time off for our trip to Texas, there is no point in me working once I come back. I have a few shifts at Medieval Times, but my first check won't come for another two weeks. I'm caught up on my bills, but everything else may end up a bit tight. I'll figure it out though."
Sheldon turned to face her a bit more. He reached for her hand and waited for her to look up at him. "I have a secret stash in the rear end of my Green Lantern figurine. No one else knows about it." He held up his other hand to forestall Penny's argument. "I know how you feel, I just wanted you to know. You can take freely from it and replace it at your own discretion. Outside of a catastrophic emergency, I won't look in there. I have other hiding spots that I can deplete before touching that one."
"Sheldon, that is extremely sweet of you, and I appreciate the offer so much, but you know how I get. It drives me crazy owing someone else money."
"I know." He nodded "I even understand. But I care too much for you to watch you worry and stress about being able to provide for yourself when I can so easily help alleviate some of the burden. I would much rather consider it a gift, but I have little faith that I could get you to agree to that."
"You know, you put on this big show of being a Homo Novus and all, but in all reality you're a big softy, filled with feelings."
Sheldon looked at her sternly "Don't you dare tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold you know."
Penny laughed and crossed her heart "I won't say a word."
Sheldon cleared his throat. "Penny, I don't want to sound rude, but it is getting late…."
She pulled herself off the couch and looked down at Sheldon. "Of course, Sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Sheldon stood as well "Yes, would you like me to have coffee ready for you?"
She walked over to the door "If you wouldn't mind? Coffee is the only thing that gets me up and moving in the morning."
Sheldon met her at the door and gestured her to proceed him "I'll walk you home, you can never be too safe."
"Awww! Thank you, Sweetie." She smiled. Once she had her door open, she turned to say goodnight.
Sheldon was rocking on his feet. "Penny, I've been thinking."
Penny waited, but he didn't say anything else "Yes?"
He tilted his head and twisted one foot into the carpet. "I've done some research, and I was wondering how you would feel about another good night kiss?"
"Sweetie, you don't have to ask me for a good night kiss, I don't mind."
"I just have one favor to ask, if it's not too much trouble?" Sheldon asked.
"Sure, Sweetie, what is it?"
Sheldon placed his hands carefully on her waist and slowly pulled her to him. "You know how much I dislike surprises or the unexpected. Like in a waltz, I need to lead, to set the pace, I need to be in control. Can you be okay with that?"
The low timbre of his voice sent goosebumps skittering down her body, his eyes were such an intense blue, she felt like she could get lost in them. They hadn't done anything more than kissing, and somehow, he had her all twisted in knots. She couldn't do anything but nod her assent.
The way she bit her lip while nodding her head drove his lips into hers against his will. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and in response he wrapped one arm around her back, while his other hand dived into her hair. He started placing open mouthed kisses on her lips until he felt hers begin to part. Once he had an opening, his tongue reached in to tag hers, noting that while he had initially worried about germs, those worries paled in comparison to the glorious feelings rushing through his system. This was much more intense than he thought it would be. It felt like falling and tumbling through the cosmos without a guidance system, but it was freeing and beautiful, much like the woman in his arms.
Penny involuntarily moaned into his mouth. Sheldon, her crazy wackadoodle neighbor, had his tongue in her mouth…willingly. Not only that, but he was kissing her like he'd done it a million times before. He somehow knew exactly what it would take to drive her crazy. He walked her back into her apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. Before she could process what was going on, he'd spun her around and had her pressed up against the door. Her head was spinning, his hands were traveling up and down her back and sides. When she felt his hand brush up against her breast, warmth pooled low in her body. It took everything she had to push him back and rip her mouth away from his. They both stood there for a moment, panting. "Sheldon, wait."
"Did you not enjoy it? Did I do something wrong?" Sheldon asked worriedly.
"No! I mean, yes! I mean…I enjoyed it very much. Too much. You did everything right, which is why we have to stop."
Sheldon looked down into her flushed face. He cataloged her rosy cheeks, swollen lips, darkened eyes, and messy hair, no thanks to his roving hands. She looked beautiful and he wanted to devour her. "Well, then there's no problem." He swooped down and captured her lips again.
He pressed her back up against the door, his tongue doing wickedly delicious things to her. Her head swam as he pressed his body into hers. She tangled her fingers in the hair at the back of his head and tried to press her body even closer to him if that was possible. She could feel his erection pressed up against her core, and it was really hard for her to keep herself from begging him to take her to bed. She struggled to keep her wits about her, but she was determined to not let this go any further.
Sheldon knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to ensure that Penny saw how compatible they really were. There is no one else on the planet that he could ever imagine being comfortable enough to do this with. Penny was it for him, there was no one else. He just needed to get her to see it. He felt like he'd made great strides in the last few days, all things considered, but he needed to tie her to him in more ways than one. He wanted all of her, so he needed to show her that she could have all of him too. He continued to kiss her for a few more minutes, enough to make sure she knew how he felt. Then he pulled away from her mouth and began to slowly place kisses all over her face and neck. He waited until their breathing had returned to normal and lightly pressed his forehead against hers. "I'll see you in the morning?"
Penny looked into his eyes, the blue darkened with restrained desire. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Yeah."
Sheldon pulled away and made sure she was steady on her feet before letting go. She stepped away from the door and opened it for him. He cradled her cheek in one of his hands for a moment, then let his fingers slowly trace her jawline as he pulled away. "Good night, Penny. Sweet dreams."
"Good night."
Sheldon smiled at the dreamy look on Penny's face. He walked over to his apartment and opened his door. Once he was inside, he turned to look across the hall, Penny bit her lip and gave him a little wave before shutting her door. He closed his door and set all the locks. He looked back at the ending to his evening and smiled. "Thank you 'Wikihow'."
*I just love the idea of Sheldon consulting the internet on techniques for French kissing. For extra amusement, look up Wikihow French kissing. They have instructions. Picture Sheldon reading all that and looking at the pictures and videos. I laughed for hours!