Sorry for the wait!

Chapter Six

Pizza half-eaten (okay, maybe three-fourths eaten), Penny shut the TV off, shoved her remaining dinner in the fridge and made her way to the bedroom to retrieve her laundry basket. It had been a long day, but she and Sheldon had a routine, and though he'd never admit it, Sheldon would be upset if she didn't show up for Laundry Night.

While there, she'd discuss their plans for tomorrow. She was going to take him shopping.

Which would most-likely prove to be another long day.

Hopefully, they'd find Sheldon a suitable pair of pants, quickly and then, work on finding her something suitable to wear. Maybe she'd dangle the promise of a visit to the comic book store in front of him. Sheldon wouldn't be able to resist that and would hopefully not be a huge pain in the ass while at the mall.

Penny loved the Whack-a-doodle dearly, but sometimes she wanted to slap him.

Walking into the laundry room a little bit later, Penny glanced at the clock and saw that she was five minutes late. However, Sheldon didn't say anything. Just raised an eyebrow at her and continued to load the washer.

Good, she thought as she set her basket down on a washer and dumped its contents into another. This earned her another eyebrow raise from the tall, lanky man in the room with her, but not words. He's learning.

When Penny turned to face her friend, once she had started her wash, she was shocked to find him standing closer to her and with his arms awkwardly outstretched. Now, it was Penny's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What are you doing, Sheldon?"

"Since you did not visit us after your audition, Penny, I have come to the conclusion that it did not go well. So, I am offering a hug to comfort you."

Penny was flattered. It wasn't often that he offered her a hug. "The audition went really great. I just wanted to come home and relax a bit before Laundry NIght." She didn't mention how she had almost scarfed down a whole pizza.

"Oh. Well, then." He moved to place his arms back at his sides, but Penny stopped him.

"I'll still take that hug, though." She slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. Her head fit perfectly under his chin and for one brief moment, she thought she felt Sheldon place his cheek against his hair. But then, he was pulling away from her.

At least, he wasn't scrambling to sanitize himself.

"So, it went well, then?" He tried to lean casually against one of the washers.

"I think so. They asked me a few comic questions."

"Like what?" This peeked Sheldon's interest, like Penny knew it would.

"Who were the first Avengers?"

Sheldon groaned a little. "Please do not tell me that you answered with the Avengers from the movie."

"No, I didn't." She punched him lightly in the arm. "I've been hanging around you guys too much to not know the answer to that." She crossed her arms. "And they seemed pretty impressed."

"They probably did not expect such an attractive woman to know something like that," Sheldon spoke, almost nonchalantly. However, his words made Penny pause.

"Aw, Sheldon did you just say that I was pretty?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "You know that you're 'pretty', Penny."

"It's still nice to hear from you, though." She hopped up on one of the dryers and stuck her tongue out at Sheldon when he gave her a look.

"So, do you know when they will inform you about getting the part?"

"No. I don't know how I'm going to function until they do. I really want this part, Sheldon."

"So you've said multiple times today alone."

She made a face. "Can you blame me for being excited...and nervous?"

"I think I would understand it better if I knew what exactly this part was."

Sheldon was trying to Penny's secret from her, but she would be strong. She was not going to let him know she got the part. She was going to get the part, dammit! "I'm not telling," she said. "You'll just have to find out once I get that phone call."

"I'm sure that when I hear your shrill scream in my apartment, I will know the outcome," he smirked a little.

"Or I could be screaming over a spider that you'd have to kill for me." She smirked right back.

"You know my answer to that, Penny." This time he glared. Sheldon didn't like to kill anything...himself. He'd always yell for Leonard or Penny, whoever was closer. Penny hated any type of creepy crawlies, so half the time it would be Leonard to the rescue, and finding the two huddled on the nearest high surface.

"Sometimes, I really hate you guys," Leonard would mutter before squashing the offending insect.

"So, tomorrow, we'll go shopping right after my morning shift," she said. "And don't say you're not going because you agreed to it earlier."

"You mean, you forced me to agree," he huffed.

"Fine. Do you want to meet Iron Man without your pants?"

"I'd prefer to meet him while wearing my vintage Iron Man shirt," he countered.

"This is a red carpet event, Sheldon!" She exclaimed. "You can't wear normal clothes. Well, your kind of normal clothes, anyway."

"I suppose I should get used to it, then," he muttered, not looking happy. "After all, I am sure I'll be accompany you to many red carpet events."

Did he just-? Was he applying-? Did he think she was going to become a major movie star?

Penny launched herself at Sheldon, giggling a little at his wide, frightened eyes before wrapping him in her arms and squeezing tight. Sometimes, he could be so cute.

An hour later, Penny was lugging her laundry up the stairs and saying goodnight to Sheldon. Once she closed her apartment door behind her, she moved to her room, slid the basket into the closest and flopped on the bed, exhausted.

Tomorrow, she would go to work and then, come back to take Sheldon shopping.

It was going to prove to be an interesting day.

The breakfast shift on a Sunday was normally busy and Penny pocketed pretty decent tips. She spent most of it filling coffee cups and bringing out plates of eggs and bacon. After her shift, she rushed home and scrubbed the scent of sausage and grease from her body before knocking on Sheldon's door.

She was way more excited than she should be.

Sheldon answered the door and behind him, Penny spotted Leonard, Raj and Howard on the couch, playing some video game. Without taking their eyes off the screen, they said hello.

For once, Howard's creepy gaze stayed off her.

"See, Penny, this is what I'll be missing while we're out shopping," Sheldon huffed, unhappy.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, you do this stuff everyday. You're not missing anything."

"And we all know that if you really want to stay, nothing would be stopping you!" Leonard piped up from the couch and gave Penny a mischievous grin before returning his eyes to the tv screen.

"If I refused Penny, she would probably go to my mother. Again."

Penny elbowed him in the side. "We both know that I promised not to do that again, unless you tied up my underwear." She glared up at him. "So, unless you have something to show me, then you don't have to worry about me calling your mother."

Caught, Sheldon started grumbling, "Well, are we going to leave or not?" Behind him, Leonard was smiling triumphantly. Fortunately, the other two were too engrossed in their game to have noticed anything.

"Hey, I was waiting for you." She grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him out into the hallway. He continued to pout as they made their way down the stairs. Instead of being annoyed, Penny felt a little smug.

Arriving at the mall, Penny saw that it was busy, which made Sheldon's pout even bigger. She wondered if she'd have to drag him inside.

"The quicker you find some suitable pants, the quicker we leave," she told him. "And if you behave, maybe I'll take you to the comic book store afterwards."

This brightened him a little and he fell into step beside Penny.

While they were mostly out for Sheldon, Penny made sure to keep an eye out for suitable dress for the red carpet.

It didn't take long for Penny and Sheldon to agree on a pair of suitable pants for Sheldon's suit. Honestly, Penny thought it should have been easier. Sheldon's suit jacket was black, meaning the pants should be black to match. Not red, plaid or, God forbid, powder blue.

"We are not stepping out on the red carpet looking like a prom couple from the seventies, Sheldon!"

"Neither one of us was born in the seventies, Penny," Sheldon called from the fitting room. "So that makes no sense." He emerged, blue pants folded over an arm.

Penny rolled her eyes and reached for the offending article of clothing, briefly wondering if the store would notice if they suddenly went missing. Meaning, would they notice if she shoved them in the nearest trash can.

"Does this mean we can leave now?" Sheldon asked, once he was finished paying for his pants.

"I guess. Unless, you want to help me pick out a dress."

Instead of protesting right away, lIke Penny thought he would, Sheldon said, "If you would like my assistance, I suppose I could help. However, I'm sure that my sense of 'style' and yours are completely different."

"Believe me, sweetie. I know." She shifted her purse on her arm. "We don't have to look long. I planned on going out separately to look for one. I know how precious your time is, Sheldon."

"Why, thank you, Penny." Of course he hadn't caught on to the sarcasm and she wasn't going to say anything.

They stopped at a few stores in the mall and Penny skimmed the racks. "I was thinking maybe my dress could have a theme." She glanced up at him. "Maybe like one of the Avengers. Do you think that's too cheesy?"

"No. I believe that's a brilliant idea."

Of course he wouldn't think it was cheesy. He had wanted to wear an Iron Man shirt for when he met Robert Downey Jr.

"Hmm, I was thinking an emerald dress with sky high, gold heels."

"Loki's color scheme, then?"

"Or a red dress with those same heels."

"Iron Man."

Penny smiled, secretly. This was fun. "A navy blue dress with a white belt and red flats."

"Captain America."

"All black."

Sheldon had to think about this one for a moment. "Black Widow?"

Penny nodded. "I still haven't decided what I'm exactly looking for. So, I think we should call it a day. I can go home and looked online for something. Save you another shopping trip." She winked.

Before heading back to Penny's car, they stopped at the food court and grabbed something to eat. Well, Penny did, anyway. Sheldon refused to eat anything any of the restaurants had to offer.

Penny hadn't been surprised.

Later, they were in her car and on the way to the comic book store. Sheldon's knees jiggled with excitement. No matter how many times a week he went to the shop, he was always excited to go. Like a little kid and Penny found it enduring. (She felt that way every time she was able to splurge on Starbucks.)

Instead of heading right for the racks of comics when they walked inside the store, Sheldon went right for Stuart, who was sitting behind the counter. He looked like he normally did, like his life sucked.

"Guess what Stuart," Sheldon spoke.

"I-"

Sheldon didn't let him finish. "I will be attending the Avengers premiere."

Stuart's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yes. Penny won two tickets to go and she chose me to go." There was a slight twitch on Sheldon's face, but telling Stuart that his name was picked from a hat was clearly not important.

"That's amazing, Sheldon!" Stuart gasped, clearly looking envious. "Any chance I can send you with a stock of comic books to be signed?"

The way he asked, Penny wasn't sure if Stuart was serious or not. If he was, she could see why he would want Sheldon to do it. Those comic books would sell for a fortune.

"Sorry, Stuart. I can't. I am there to meet them, not have them sign several items of paraphernalia."

Penny walked up to Sheldon and clasped his shoulder as she looked at Stuart. "And that it was what I call growth. A year or two ago, he'd be packing up every Marvel collectible he had to be signed."

Sheldon sputtered a little and Stuart smiled in agreement.

"Come on, honey," Penny said and guided him away from Stuart and to the stacks of comic books. "For coming with me, and buying a new pair of pants, I'll buy you one comic book."

"All right, Penny. I'm sure I can narrow my choices down to one."

Penny rolled her eyes, already knowing that would be impossible for him. But she was feeling generous today.

I had a bit of fun with the dress part. I, for one, would definitely wear a dress with a Loki theme. ;)

P.S This Avengers premiere will be about the latest movie (which I've seen twice already. My heart!) and it turns out that the ending fits perfectly with this story. (Maybe some of you will figure out the part Penny is auditioning for, now).

Thanks for reading!