The Vartabedian Conundrum
"I am SO sorry!" Claire flinched as Penny banged on the coffee maker with the palm of her hand.
She'd tried to make coffee for the two of them, both had a pretty long day ahead of them, Penny was going to be pulling a double shift and she had a class, then a department meeting, then another class, and finally a meeting with a few students who needed to retake an essay. They were both in desperate need of coffee. So she thought she'd be helpful and get a pot going. She'd done the exact opposite of what she'd done the last time when the coffee had ended up like a sludge. But apparently that was wrong as well and now the coffee maker was literally leaking water no matter what they did to stop it.
It wasn't even leaking coffee water, just water.
"I'll buy you another one, I promise."
Penny sighed but nodded, knowing Claire really was good on replacing the things she broke in the kitchen, though it didn't really help with the pickle they were in now that they were out of coffee.
"And I'll buy you a cup on the way out," she added.
"Hang on," Penny murmured, moving to the cups they were going to use, "The guys' machine is working, I'm sure they'll let us make some there before we head out."
Lord knew she'd need to be heavily caffeinated for the day she was going to have, she'd need more than one cup and definitely one before she even left the house.
"Ok," Claire nodded, "Alright, I'll go ask Shelly and…" she looked up to see Penny already out the door. She shook her head, but rushed after her, knowing it was still quite early and if Sheldon hadn't gotten a good night's rest the night before he could be cranky and unwilling to share the coffee maker.
From what she knew, Stephanie was spending a few nights at the apartment recently and sometimes she and Leonard were loud enough to keep Sheldon up.
"Out of coffee," Penny was saying as Claire caught up, "Need coffee."
Claire gave Leonard an apologetic look when she saw Stephanie was still there. Sheldon and Stephanie appeared to be dressed and ready for the day, as was she, but Penny and Leonard were both in their pajamas still. It might not have been so bad, Leonard was in a long bathrobe, but Penny was clearly a surprise to Stephanie judging by her shocked expression as she took in Penny's attire, shorts and a pink tanktop.
Penny, even in her caffeine deprived state, noticed the extra body standing there.
"Uh…hello?" Stephanie said, sounding very thrown off by how Penny had just strode into the room without knocking or needing a key.
Well, the key part was understandable, Sheldon and Leonard hardly ever locked the door when they were IN the apartment, it was when they were both out that they locked it.
"Hi!" Penny said brightly, though her words were tense with her unknowing of who the woman was...though she had a pretty good guess. But she didn't want to assume. She'd greeted one of her brother's girlfriends once by the name he kept talking about, turned out it was the OTHER girl he'd been dating at the same time. He hadn't spoken to her for a month after they both broke up with him for it.
"Stephanie," Claire whispered to her as she stepped further into the room.
"Right…" Penny nodded.
"Yes, and…and…and you are?" Stephanie asked, her voice pinched.
"Penny," Claire answered, "My roommate, we live across the hall."
"I've heard a lot about you," Penny tried to be polite, offering Stephanie a smile as Claire took her arm and pulled her the rest of the way to the kitchen where she could already smell coffee brewing.
"Really?" Stephanie looked between Penny and Leonard, a little lost about why Leonard was talking to some other woman about her, "I haven't heard a thing about you. Leonard?" she turned more to Leonard, "Why haven't I heard a thing about this woman who lives across the hall and comes into your apartment in the morning in her underwear?"
Leonard quickly made his way to her side, turning her just slightly to face away from Penny and Claire, "She's heard about you because we're, you know, involved and you haven't heard about her because…I never slept with her, I swear!"
"In Leonard's defense, it wasn't for lack of trying," Sheldon offered.
"Thank you, Sheldon," Leonard huffed.
"You're welcome, Leonard," Sheldon gave him an odd look, mimicking his use of the name at the end as though confused as to why he was adding that in when he was the only one who had spoken.
"Sarcasm, Shelly," Claire told him in a whisper, sipping the coffee Penny had poured for her, not willing to leave just yet in case Sheldon said something else that might make the situation worse for Leonard.
"Look," Leonard turned back to Stephanie, "I'm just saying, um, Penny is one of our many neighbors, like Claire," he gestured back at her, Claire offering Stephanie a small wave from behind her cup of coffee, "You know, and in our building, neighbors come and go, it's very casual, no dress code. In fact, some mornings I'll just mosey down to the third floor in my pajamas and have cereal with Mrs. Vartabedian."
"Really?" Sheldon scoffed, "I have never once been invited to have cereal with Mrs. Vartabedian."
"She doesn't like you," Leonard called.
Sheldon opened his mouth to argue that Mrs. Vartabedian couldn't not like him because he had never said a word to her, or met her, only knowing her name from the apartment directory, when Claire shook her head to stop him.
"It's alright, Shelly, I like you," she offered.
He smiled, much more pleased to hear that than to care if some random old lady didn't like him, "Right back at you, Claire Bear."
Leonard mouthed 'thank you' to Claire before looking back at Stephanie, stepping up and putting a hand on her back to lead her to the door, "Um, well, uh, you have a gall bladder to remove and I have to get in the shower and Penny has clothes to put on, so…"
Stephanie didn't seem pleased with that last part, but didn't make a scene about it, "Well, it was very nice meeting you."
"Nice to finally meet you, too," Penny offered.
"And I'll see you tonight?" Stephanie smiled more at Leonard.
"Ok," he nodded, "Bye bye."
"Bye," Stephanie leaned in to give him a kiss as she left.
"So…" Penny began in the awkward silence that followed, "That's Stephanie, huh?"
Leonard groaned as he made his way back to them in the kitchen, "Why do I feel like I'm the one that just got the prostate exam?"
"You know, she seems very nice."
"Oh, she is," Sheldon began to extol even though the remark had been directed to Leonard if a bit tensely, "She's terrific, and she's proving to be a valuable roommate."
"Roommate?" Penny looked at Leonard quickly as Claire coughed, nearly choking on her coffee.
"When did she move in?" Claire looked at Sheldon as he patted her back gingerly.
"She hasn't, according to Leonard," Sheldon rolled his eyes, "They're living together like hippies."
"We're not living together," Leonard insisted.
"Do I have to pull out the paperwork again?"
"We're not living together!"
"I know I'm no relationship expert," Claire began, "And I know Shelly isn't either, but if he thinks you're living together it's probably because it meets the requirements as detailed in the roommate agreement and…"
"You know about that?" Leonard looked at her, a little startled that she knew that detail of his roommate agreement.
"I proofread it for Shelly," Claire shrugged, "Which means, technically she is meeting the requirements for cohabitation, but you don't sound sure…"
"How could I not be sure that someone was living with me?"
"Here, easy way to find out," Penny offered, moving to the back where the bedrooms were.
"Don't you think if a woman was living with me I'd be the first one to know about it?" Leonard asked, following Penny, Claire going with them while Sheldon preferred to stay back, not caring enough because he already knew he was right.
"Oh, sweetie, you'd be the last one to know about it," Penny assured him, moving straight to his wardrobe, "Hmm, cute dresses," she remarked, holding one up for him to see, "I bet this looks great on you!"
"We're not living together!"
"Hmm, we'll I'm seeing scented candles," Claire called, spotting some on his dresser.
"Ooh, fuzzy slippers," Penny noted, "Floral bed sheets?"
"We're not living together," Leonard continued to insist.
"Ok, moving on," Penny moved to another dresser when Claire nodded at something, smirking when she saw a photo resting on it of a family that clearly was not Leonard's, "Now, who are these guys at Disney World?"
"Uh, the big dog is Goofy," Leonard walked over to see it, "And the older couple with the mouse ears...I have no idea. We're not living together!"
Penny was starting to look unimpressed now, "You're going to go down swinging, huh? Alright, well, we got your body lotion, your InStyle Magazine, your jewelry box…"
Claire frowned, following Penny, "Didm't you have a Bat Signal there?" she asked Leonard, having seen his room a time or two.
"He had a Bat Signal?" Penny looked between them.
Leonard hurried over and leaned in to check and, sure enough, his signal was gone, "I DID. It was right here. She must've…" he stopped dead, the realization finally hitting him, "Oh, my God, we're living together."
"Really?" Penny raised an eyebrow, "What was your first clue?"
"Shelly," Claire answered with a small teasing smirk of her own, of all the things there could be, it was Sheldon that had said it first.
~8~
"Hey there, Stephanie," Claire greeted as the doctor walked past where she was standing beside Sheldon, the man sitting on a bed against a wall with a blood pressure band around his arm. She'd tried to not sneak up on her, but the woman had seemed startled nonetheless to see them at her place of work.
"Claire!" Stephanie spun around, "And Sheldon. What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"
"Hang on," Sheldon spoke, a stethoscope in his ear, taking his own blood pressure, "130 over 80. A little high," he looked between the two women in concern.
"And you started getting antsy when you insisted we sneak past the security desk," Claire reminded him, "That would raise anyone's blood pressure, right doctor?" she turned to Stephanie with an almost pleading look.
Stephanie nodded, "Oh yeah, definitely."
"See, Shelly, perfectly fine."
"Where did you get the stethoscope and the blood pressure cuff?" Stephanie asked, eyeing both objects.
"Oh they're his," Claire assured the woman, "Birthday gift."
"Ah yes, my Aunt Marion gave them to me for my 12th birthday," Sheldon recalled fondly, "She thought if I failed at theoretical physics that I should have a trade to fall back on. And by the way, the blood pressure cuff is called a sphygmomanometer."
"Thank you," Stephanie remarked dryly, as though she, a doctor, wouldn't know what it was called.
"Didn't they teach you that in medical school?"
"I'm kinda busy here, Sheldon."
"I understand. All I need is for you to authorize these tests..." he reached over and handed her a sheet of paper.
Stephanie frowned as she eyed it, "A cardiac stress test, a full body MRI, an electromyogram, a CBC, baseline glucose, and upper GI?"
"Oh, and an exploratory laparoscopy," Sheldon added, looking to Claire, "Did you forget to add that one?"
"Well you do talk mighty fast Shelly, and I ain't that kinda doctor," Claire reminded him, "Couldn't keep up."
Sheldon nodded, accepting her explanation and explained the last one to Stephanie, "Last time I had hiccups, it felt like my diaphragm was just going through the motions."
Stephanie shook her head, giving him back the list, "Go home, Sheldon."
"Can I at least have the upper GI? I already drank the barium!"
Stephanie shook her head, "Then you're going to have an interesting next few hours. If you experience any irregular symptoms, cramping, or bleeding, be sure to come back to the hospital. Is your medical information all up-to-date? Your medical contact and…"
"That's me," Claire raised her hand a bit, "Shelly figured, if any of the tests didn't agree with him or had any negative affects it would be better for me to be here with him."
"I am so sorry," Stephanie told the girl, feeling for her. If Sheldon was as paranoid about his health and all this medical stuff as he'd been the last few weeks she'd known him all the time? She truly did feel bad for Claire getting caught up in all this.
"Come on, Shelly," Claire nudged him to get him off the small bed, "You heard the doctor, best head out now and wait for the barium to pass."
"Good luck!" Stephanie called after them, though Claire wasn't sure if it was directed at her or Sheldon.
~8~
Claire looked up from where she was sorting her laundry, Penny over by one of the machines, when Leonard nearly stormed in, heading right for the washers, "Hey Leonard."
Penny looked over her shoulder to see him too, "Oh, hey."
Leonard didn't even greet them back, just threw open the first machine he found that was empty, "Do you have any fabric softener?"
Penny glanced at Claire at his reaction but Claire could only shrug, not sure what got Leonard's panties in a twist, "Yeah…" Penny offered slowly, "Sure," she picked up her softener and moved over to Leonard's side, handing it over and examining the pants he had resting on the machine next to his, "What are you washing? A crocodile?"
"No, they're pants that Stephanie got me."
Penny looked at the fabric and checked the tag, "Oh, sweetie, you can't machine wash these. They'll be ruined."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
Leonard glanced at the pants only a moment before grabbing them and throwing them into the machine with a generous pour of the softener, slamming the top down and starting the machine. He paused, taking a breath, before slowly turning to face Penny and Claire, "…oh, no. I wish you'd told me that sooner."
"Are you alright, sugar?" Claire cautiously stepped over, putting a hand on Leonard's shoulder, "You and Stephanie ok?"
"No, yeah, great, everything's fine," he tried to assure them, though his voice came out a little more tense than happy.
Penny crossed her arms and gave him a look, "Really?"
"Yeah. It's wonderful. Ok, maybe this whole living together happened kind of suddenly, but it's fine, it's great."
"Sounds like it," Claire remarked, a note of sarcasm in her tone.
"Leonard, honey, you know, if you're uncomfortable with the way things are going, you're allowed to say something," Penny told him.
Leonard looked between them, "Are you sure? That doesn't sound right."
"It takes at least two people to be in a relationship," Claire reminded him, "That's not even all your fancy physics, it's just basic math. Two people who gotta be happy in a relationship for it to work."
"Yeah," Penny agreed, "Your feelings are just as important as hers."
Leonard shook his head, "No, that doesn't sound right either."
"Oh, sugar, what kinda relationships have you been in?" Claire eyed him sadly, her heart breaking for the fact that Leonard genuinely seemed to think that the woman's emotions and happiness were the only ones that mattered. He was so eager to BE in a relationship that he seemed willing to give up his own happiness for someone else. He was a sweet guy, he deserved better.
"Just tell her you need the relationship to move at a pace that you both are comfortable with," Penny offered.
Leonard considered it a moment, looking between them, if BOTH of them were telling him the same thing, it couldn't be wrong, right? And it did sound reasonable, "Yeah, I could say something like that to her. I'll go do that. Thank you."
"Sure!"
"You have a really good grasp on this. Maybe you could talk to her?"
Penny's smile turned incredulous, "You're kidding, right?"
He sighed, "No, but that's ok. I'll go talk to her. Want to come with?"
"Hop to it, Leonard," Claire patted him on the arm and gestured for the door.
"Wow," Penny muttered after he'd left, leaning on the nearby washer to cross her arms and shake her head at Leonard.
"Well…"
"Up, bup, bup," Penny held up a finger, "Don't say it! I know what you're going to say, and don't."
"I wasn't gonna say anything," Claire remarked, leaning beside her a moment.
"Yeah, right," Penny scoffed, "You were gonna say that, if I were dating Leonard, this wouldn't have happened. I mean, seriously? Wool pants? Who buys anyone wool pants? Especially someone with as many allergies as Leonard?"
"Alright, so you do know what I was gonna say," Claire surrendered, though she probably wouldn't have gone that in depth with the fashion talk, but the point behind it was true, "Just something else for you to think about."
She pushed off the washer and moved back to her laundry.
~8~
Claire and Penny were folding their laundry, just chatting about the next movie they might want to watch their next movie night, when Leonard walked in, heading right for the washing machine he'd used a few hours ago.
"Hey," he called, at least greeting them this time.
"Hey," they replied.
"Oh, I put your clothes in the dryer," Penny called before he could open the machine.
They'd been doing their laundry and she hadn't realized that Leonard hadn't been back here to change around his wash in the time they'd done theirs. So just after she got her clothing from the dryer, Penny made sure to throw Leonard's pants in after so he was guaranteed a dryer. The machines weren't always available, there were other people in the building after all, and sometimes it was a hit or a miss. She knew Sheldon had it down to a T, had actually researched the laundry room to find patterns in the traffic there so he could plan his laundry cycle around the others, to a time where there was less likely to be a lot of people.
Normally they would follow Sheldon's schedule, doing it the same day, around the same time, but after the phoneline feud, Penny had been more cautious to avoid doing her laundry the same time as Sheldon for the time being. Claire had followed suit, both as a show of support for Penny and also a little bit more of preference. Doing laundry with Sheldon was always an experience, but doing it on the same day as Sheldon also meant there was a higher chance that Sheldon would see some of her laundry too. While she didn't think Sheldon would even notice half the time what items of clothing were lying about or being folded, it was just something probably every girl felt more comfortable doing around another girl.
"Thank you," Leonard sighed, taking a pause from the fast stride he'd entered with, clearly still agitated about something.
"Your pants are ruined," Penny added.
"Good."
Claire frowned at that, looking at him, "Shelly told me Stephanie was coming over tonight..."
"She did."
"Were you able to have that talk with her?"
"Yes."
Penny hummed, nodding, "Didn't go well?"
She honestly wasn't sure how it had gone. If it went bad, Stephanie could have possibly gone home in a rush of anger, maybe broken things off with Leonard. But, if it had gone bad, then Leonard would have been back to do his laundry at the right time. If it had gone well, though, he would have been far more upset that he'd just destroyed pants that were a gift from his girlfriend.
"Well, um, on one level, really, really well," Leonard began to grin.
Claire grimaced just a little as she folded her shirt, it was clear to her that he was not at all talking about actually TALKING to Stephanie. One look at Penny and how she was nodding along as though guessing what he'd been doing instead confirmed her thoughts.
"Uh huh, so you told her you wanted to slow things down?" Penny egged on.
Leonard shuffled, playing with his hands a moment, "Not specifically, but, uh, I did tell her that I had feelings."
"Good start, I guess?" Claire gave him an odd look.
That wasn't really something that should have needed to be said. Everyone had feelings and…well, if Stephanie was the sort where Leonard actually had to TELL her he had feelings then she wasn't the sort of person who he should be with. She didn't think he meant it like that though, Stephanie seemed like a good person, but if that was also as far as he got…then there was probably something wrong with their communication, which, she'd heard, was very important in a relationship.
"And then what?" Penny pressed.
"And then the...the subject got changed somehow," Leonard began to shift a bit more on his feet.
Penny shook her head, "You had sex, didn't you?"
"Um, little bit," Leonard admitted, though Penny was still shaking her head at him, "What?"
"Nothing," Penny tried to let it go.
"No one's buying that answer, Pen," Claire called absently, smirking at the dirty look Penny shot her for it.
"Ok," Penny sighed, "Well, it sounds like things are going to work out."
"Yeah, yeah it's all good," Leonard agreed, "Everything's going to work out. One way or another."
"She wasn't being serious, Leonard," Claire told him, "Honestly, again, no expert here, but…talking is probably a really big thing to do in a relationship. I mean the amount of stories I've read where relationships just go straight to hell because two people ain't talking to each other?" she shook her head, "Poor Desdemona…"
"Who?" Penny looked at her.
"It's from the play, Othello," Leonard began, "You know, a lot of scholars believe…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Penny waved him off, turning to Claire, "I want the not-smart version."
Leonard gave her a confused look, "You do know SHE is the Lit. Professor, right?" Leonard had to ask, "She's got a doctorate, probably written dozens of academic essays on this and…"
"Yeah, and she's a professor," Penny countered, "She has to know how to teach it to people who aren't, right?"
Leonard considered it a moment before nodding, that did make sense. He straightened a moment, was that why Penny seemed to have trouble understanding them sometimes? He knew Sheldon was a lost cause, he didn't understand the man half the time, but he thought he and the others explained things pretty well. But, then again, they weren't actually professors at the University, just researchers. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually taught a class to students instead of giving a lecture to other peers or an introduction to physics for graduate students, all of whom already understood the basics. Huh…he'd have to keep that in mind when he talked to Penny about his work in the future, make sure he was saying it like he was teaching a class.
That might also explain why Claire was so good at translating what Sheldon said, she was teacher at heart.
"Othello was this powerful guy," Claire explained, "Married to Desdemona, and his best friend, Iago…"
"The parrot?" Penny asked.
"That's Disney. No, another regular guy, but he was really just wanting to destroy Othello."
"Backstabbing bastard," Penny muttered, looking at Claire intently from what Leonard could tell, actually really invested in listening to the story.
"Exactly, so he tells Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him and, instead of actually talking about it, he believes Iago and ends up murdering Desdemona."
"Ouch," Penny grimaced at the thought, "Yeah, I get it, communication is key."
"Yeah," Claire nodded with a smile, "And there's boatloads of stories just like it. Men and women not talking, one ends up dead, actually happens a lot in Shakespeare…" she trailed off, thoughtful, "I could probably write a paper on that, how it compares to…"
"Sorry to cut in," Leonard gave her an apologetic look, but if she was anything like Sheldon when he got ideas for new research, they'd be there forever and he couldn't be away that long, Stephanie was still upstairs, "But um, sorta having a real crisis right now about this…"
"Sorry, sugar."
Penny looked back at him, "Right, look, Leonard, you are entitled to try and make things go the way you want them to."
"Really?" he sounded skeptical.
"Yes, you don't always have to go along with what the woman wants."
"Huh…"
"What?"
"Nothing, just rethinking my whole life," he murmured, before shaking his head and focusing on the topic, "Ok, here's the thing, I'm afraid that if I ask her to move out, she'll just dump me."
"If she dumps you just because of that, she's ain't worth it," Claire told him, setting her laundry aside, "You gotta be happy too, Leonard, and if she takes offense to you asking for something that'll make YOU more comfortable in the relationship, that's her problem."
"It's a chance you have to take," Penny agreed, "I mean, look, if it's meant to be, it'll be."
"Exactly," Claire pointed at her, "If she's really serious about this relationship, she'll want to make sure you're ok with it. Better to find out what kinda person she is now than to still be with her 10 years down the road and miserable."
"I guess," Leonard thought on what they were saying, "Ok, so what do I say to her?"
Claire held up her hands as he looked to them, "I don't know."
"What have women said to you when they wanted to slow a relationship down?" Penny asked.
Leonard didn't even have to think about it as he blurted out, "I really like you, but I want to see how things go with Mark?"
'Wow' Claire mouthed to Penny, a little hurt for Leonard that someone would say that to him, out of all the other things they could come up with for why they wanted to slow down a relationship, they brought up another love interest? That was harsh.
"Yeah," Penny, too, seemed a little bad for him, "That'll slow it down."
~8~
Claire was resting on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table, her head resting back, almost looking at the ceiling though her eyes were closed as Penny poured some peppermint tea for them. Her class earlier had been a little less than focused and while she usually loved it when they'd get off topic so they could discuss things as a class, having an entire lecture turn into teaching about the different types of pots and pans the medieval people cooked with was a headache in and of itself. She honestly didn't know how they ended up on that topic, it had been interesting the first few minutes, but after it lasted all period she was a little drained.
Penny had offered to make some tea for her which she was grateful for. She'd already murdered the coffee maker, if she broke the teapot she was sure she'd start crying.
The peaceful setting was broken by three knocks on the door, usually meaning it was Sheldon, but there was a moment after the knocks stopped that he didn't speak.
Penny looked at her oddly at that…
But then a computerized 'Penny!' came through the door, followed by the same knocks and voice two more times.
Penny set down the tea on the coffee table on her way to the door, opening it to reveal Sheldon standing there with his laptop open, "Sheldon?"
He held up a finger and began to type something, "I have an inflamed larynx."
"Since when?" Claire sat up a little more, not really wanting to get up though.
"Dr. Stephanie diagnosed me," he typed, "I can't talk for a few days."
"Did you come here to tell us that?" Penny asked, a little confused.
"We're out of herbal tea. Do you have any?"
"I just made some if you want a cup," Penny offered.
"What sort?" Sheldon asked, stepping in after her.
"Peppermint," Claire held up her cup, sipping on it.
He shook his head, typing with a small grimace, "If I wanted to drink a candy cane, I would melt one myself. I have a sore throat, not a headache," he paused as he typed that, before looking at Claire, "Do you have another headache?"
"Just a little pressure," she reassured him, "Class was tedious today."
Sheldon nodded and looked at Penny expectantly.
"Then which kind of tea would you like Sheldon?" Penny called, not having that many different teas.
"Chamomile."
Penny sighed, "Yeah, I have that."
"Some hiney would be nice, too."
Both Claire and Penny paused in what they were doing to look at him as he seemed a little embarrassed that came out of his laptop.
"Hiney?" Penny had to ask.
"Honey," he corrected quickly.
A/N: Not a whole lot of Claire/Sheldon moments here, but the relationship expansion in question isn't just them, it's also Penny and Leonard :) A lot of what Claire is doing in this story for Penny is going to be important in the series later on ;) But I do have some very cute Sheldon/Claire moments to come ;)
Some notes on reviews...
Oh Claire will certainly be comparing Bernadette to Howard's mom ;) I can see her sort of blurting out what everyone else is thinking during the awkward moments where Howard almost becomes aware of it himself ;)
We'll definitely see a growth between Leonard and Claire's friendship, I just can't say when. Right now she's sort of Team Penny, even though she's rooting for her to end up with Leonard, she'll sort of be a bit closer to Penny and just a bit less with Leonard till they get closer again ;)
That is one thing I really like exploring about Claire, she is a cheat sheet for them :) It's like she's literally a book 'Sheldon for Dummies' or something :) Sheldon will be learning a lot from her about things too :)
I feel like, on a low scale, Claire isn't doing quite as much as she could to keep Sheldon from bothering Stephanie lol. Maybe her own sneaky way of trying to nudge a wedge between Leonard and Stephanie without actually being the one to do it ;) If Stephanie is serious about Leonard, she's going to need to deal with Sheldon too and she's more Team Penny than Team Stephanie ;)
Amy and Claire will have a bit of a strained friendship at one point, it'll have it's rocky moments. It starts off well, they both love Chaucer and have other things in common, but it does get strained when Shamy sails, but Claire will eventually forge a truce with Amy that leads to a surprising friendship in the end ;)
