In the middle of searching for something on the internet Sheldon sits back, looks at Penny, back at the screen then asks "Penny, does the internet make you uncomfortable?"

She looks up and frowns "Have you been reading the comments section again? Never read the comments."

"I feel the urge to defend you from these people. The combination of anonymity and an audience makes them positively toxic. Insecurity leads to attacking everything that doesn't do exactly as they want and if it does they attack it for being weak."

Penny laughs then puts on a mock serious face. She picks up the milk from the counter top, takes a mouthful and swills it round her mouth before saying "Ah, the internet troll. Vile but you have to admire its... purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."

Sheldon looks at her sincerely "You... you have my sympathy"

"Sheldon honey, I'm female and a waitress slash actress. I have to face that sort of thing every day, in person. Why do you think I fight and drink?"

LATER

Hemingway said "happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know"

Penny was getting pretty good at this planning thing. Sheldon had shown her his plans, stretching out way into the future. She had no intention of going that far but she could see the benefits of thinking ahead. the trick was to not go too far ahead, she already knew that was a bad idea. Go too far and things end. Everything ends. It was why Sheldon went so quiet and grim at times.

Death bookended his life, from his grandfathers sudden end and his father's slow cirrhosis in his youth to the sure death of everyone he loved that was to come. He couldn't help it, it was why he was so good at chess but such a nervous driver

But a small way it felt good to look ahead, see there were fun times coming.

She tried to pull him back to the present when she could, it almost made her weep sometimes to see him wasting now because of what would come. weirdly he thinks he is immortal, he can't imagine a world without himself in it. So he's scared that in the end he'll be alone forever.

I reminds her of the Dr Who Christmas special that made her cry "What's the point of making someone happy if you know they're going to be sad later? the answer, of course, is because they're going to be sad later"

She needed to find something he'd love and keep his mind in the present for a while.

She had a little hello kitty note book set she'd bought on a whim that she'd pressed into service as an organiser, she didn't want Sheldon going over her random notes so she kept this sort of thing offline.

She wrote down all the birthdays, holidays and things that were coming and scrawled notes about peoples likes, dislikes, cool stuff and things. Half way through she'd realised she didn't actually need to, her memory was pretty good for social things but for Sheldon it really helped. He was insanely difficult to get things right for, balancing his love for geeky things with his dislike of change.

She was looking for a birthday treat for him and ever since seeing the dancers on Enterprise she'd pondered bringing his cake out as a green skinned Orion dancing girl.

The idea of all over green body paint brings a shudder. It'd get everywhere if they got as freaky as she hoped they would, it would ruin his star trek costume and her sheets.

But a green bodysuit may work. Her collar would hide the neck line, a belt, silks and lots of body jewellery would add to the illusion. Maybe wear a bikini over it to as well. She'd need a black wig as well.

She'd had the idea after seeing several female cosplayers at Comicon in manga costumes that were hardly there, she couldn't even work out how they stayed on until she realised they were all sewn together onto a flesh coloured bodysuit.

She fired up her laptop and started Googling. It was pretty easy to find Spandex suits, she started reading and ended up going down an Internet rabbit hole into a Japanese zentai fetish sites, people who loved the idea of being totally on display in skin tight material but totally enclosed and cut off from the world at the same time.

Realising she'd spent half an hour and finished her glass of wine she had to stop digging and get off wikipedia page after reading about the history and how it tied into the suits of Japanese traditional theatre puppeteers and then the suits used in modern green screen technology.

Interesting stuff but not really what she wanted. Several of the cosplayers had pre-printed suits as Samus or Spiderman, so she wandered Amazon a bit, looking at the new 4 way stretch Lycra. You had to be pretty self confident to squeeze into something so revealing, and the pre-printed highlights made it look extra shiny almost as if it was latex or oiled.

She could really do with a plain green suit like that, she found a She Hulk design in the perfect green with some muscle tone and high lights that seemed ideal. Maybe if she got an all over zentai suit and painted the highlights and muscles on ? sadly they don't seem to sell a naked she hulk costume.

She was about to Google that then paused, thinking better of it. She'd probably need mind bleach and be inundated with superhero porn adverts for days, some people had a real fetish for muscular women bursting out of their clothes and parts got pretty weird and nasty.

Staying in the safer shopping areas she found a darker green suit with muscles and highlights which looks like it would be an ideal base. Browsing on she found some dark green semi transparent latex that looked pretty spectacular and set her mind wandering. Sheldon hadn't really got into that sort of thing, but maybe it'd appeal to his tactile senses and love of hygiene. She resolved to ask him about it later. That was one of the little quirks she loved about him, he didn't try and read anything into your questions, didn't second guess you, he just thought then answered honestly. She had been teaching him levels of trust, they'd worked out circles of who should get full answers and who he should just ignore.

She started browsing the latex selection, refilled her wine glass and took a wander into the more kinkier aspects of latex. Some costumes shaped and flattered but others were weird and dehumanising, making the wearer look like some sort of shiny sex robot. kinky but not really her thing, she wanted to be a woman with her man not a passionless thing being used.

Now the bondage side of things, that gave her a few interesting feelings. Some was pretty mild but other bits, Holy Crap on a cracker they were scary. She looked at the wine glass, was it the booze or a real turn on?

Sheldon had left a fingertip pulse monitor, something he said he was using to gauge his reaction to internet use. she slips it onto her fingertip. Ok, her heart rate was definitely up.

Interesting. She clicked through to a video she was curious about. In it the woman was wrapped head to toe in latex, held suspended prone in mid air by a metal frame hung with chains and leather straps. As she swung back and forth, it was clear only her breasts and ass were bare. Her breasts were pulled down by nipple clamps with heavy swinging weights. The way she was thrashing about looked pretty scary but curiosity got the better of Penny, she plugged in her headset and turned on the sound. It was clear the girl was gagged but she was moaning, drooling, pleading, thrashing and begging and the sound of a powerful vibrator was clear.

The camera panned from the gag to a box on her back, following a wire. the box had flashing lights and wires to her ass... Penny recognised a TENS. Oh God, they wired a microphone to trigger a shock? Then strapped a magic wand onto her? No wonder she was begging.

So this is what Sheldon called Predicament bondage- where you can't help hurting or pleasuring yourself or both . The idea of the mix of overpowering sensations makes her feel giddy and she presses her thighs together. It was scary but damn it was a turn on. She needed to test her reactions.

She slipped a hand up her top and gripped her nipple. it's rock hard. Little traitor knows me better than my head does. She gripped tight and Gives it a cruel little twist. Shudders at the sensation. Ok, a definite turn on.

Scary though. She could show Sheldon. She should show Sheldon. He needs to know her turn ons. But what if he did that to her? She bit her lip. What would it be like? She slipped her hand into her shorts, just stroking with her fingertips. What if he did that to her? She gathers all her horny courage and clicked Send. It was out of her hands now.

That thought made her quiver all the more.

LATER

Curled up on the sofa, watching Star Trek Discovery. Half lying on top of him, she can feel him getting more and more tense, like a spring being wound.

"you ok Honey? you seem tense"

"I'm just having very conflicting feelings about this. On one hand I'm glad we have more Trek, on the other I'm frustrated and perhaps even angry at this ignoring the years of established continuity"

"Like all the Klingons looking weird. I can understand the special effects have come a long way from Mexican #2 and a black wig but they look wrong. and they sound weird as well, I can hardly understand what they're saying."

"yes, the Klingon is bad - I think due to the dental prosthetics hampering pronunciation. And Spock never mentioned an adopted sister. and the Federation/Klingon War lasted longer."

he pauses, absent mindedly twirling his finger in her hair. "I think it best we consider it an alternate time line with its own continuity"

"Sounds fair to me" She grins and rests on his chest "So, Want to make out?"

He smiles and with a gesture dims the lights.

"oh, romantic."

"No, I'm just easily distracted by your usual clutter."

She laughs "Ok, less romantic" and leans in to kiss him. He's come a long way from a nervous peck in the doorway, but the spark is there, his lips meet hers and lock for a breathless moment, then part as her tongue flicks forward. he knows she's safe, no more fear of germs.

They settle down in a relaxed heap, then he untangles himself and half sits up.

"It's the first of the month, time for the monthly review."

She stretches like a cat "Sure"

"How's your reading going?"

"I've finished S&M 101. Lot of interesting stuff to think about there."

"Anything you want to raise?" She gives him a cheeky grin and nuzzles her face into his groin.

"nope. how about you? anything come up?"

He spots the innuendo relating to his growing erection

"I've been wondering about your ass."

that gets her attention. The playful sexiness evaporates, leaving her suddenly nervous.

"How do you feel about us exploring your anal reactions sometime?"

"Feel? Nervous. Kind of scared."

"You Trust me.? "

"Yes Sir. "

"so I infer your negative reaction is from your bad experience. Enthusiasm but no skill? "

"He didn't ask first. Just went in dry. hurt like hell. " She scowls angrily.

"Ah". He nods. "Understandably upsetting. but how would you feel if, at a later date, we did a little exploration to see how you react to careful anal stimulation?

"Honestly I'm a bit scared by that. I'm open to a little exploration, ok? I trust you. But nothing too scary. just go easy, ok?

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to use plenty of preparation and good lube."

"OK then, but plenty lube and usual safe words"

"Of course" He nods and changes the subject "On a separate theme, how would you feel about being a naughty school girl for me?"

her eyebrows shoot up "You, with a school based academic fantasy? Now that sounds interesting. What would you like to do to me as your naughty schoolgirl?"

"Oh, dressing up, a little bondage, verbal control and humiliation, spanking and perhaps caning, clamps on sensitive areas and definitely making you beg."
She wiggles happily, the sexy Penny coming back as she relaxes "Oh, now that sounds like fun. You going to dress up too? What do strict professors wear?"

He catches the excitement she's feeling, something about the idea appealed to her. he decided to draw her out more "What do you suggest?"

"Hmm... a suit. dark serious suit. gold wire frame glasses. maybe slick your hair back" there's a hint of fire in her eyes.

"I'll let you help sort my clothing, as I will control yours."

He smiles slowly, almost evilly. "Now, that latex bondage video you sent me"

She quivers. "yeah, it was kind of extreme but damn it was hot. Not that I want that kind of thing, you know? the steel and leather and latex was all a bit much" she laughs nervously "it was just the idea "

"Don't worry, I understand the difference between entertainment and reality, thinking pornography is true to life is like thinking action movies are accurate depictions of how wars are fought. have you ever seen any Japanese Shunga pictures?"

"Is that a Manga thing?"

"No, Shunga was mostly from the Edo period, from 1603 to 1867, when it was mostly killed off by the photograph. It was a form of erotic print art that often depicting sexual acts, but with the genitalia depicted as enormous and highly detailed. It exaggerated things to emphasise them and for dramatic effect."

"Makes sense. In acting class we've covered something similar, how the sets are just a few stylised squares to act as windows and doors to suggest a house, as a backdrop to the important action that's the focus of the play"

"So you'd like something that captures the essence of that scene without going as far?"

"Definitely" She kisses his chest, working her way up "I'll leave exactly what to your depraved imagination" her face is level with his. "surprise me" She grins and kisses him.

He chuckles evilly and holds her in his arms.