Chapter 11

"What are you doing there tiny Direwolf?" Sheldon yelled as the ball of fluff ran down the hall. Pris let go of her hug on Leonard and stared at Sheldon as he took off down the hall after the puppy.

"Did he just call her Direwolf?" Pris asked Leonard. "Like Game of Thrones?"

"Yeah. I think it means he likes her?" Leonard pressed his lips together, unsure.

"I like it." Pris grinned and ran down the hall.

The door opened and Howard walked in, followed by everyone else.

"Hey, did Sheldon finally kill Persephone?" Howard asked. "'Cause I gotta tell ya, leaving bloody drag marks on the stairs, will surely get him caught."

"Bloody what?" Leonard stepped forward, curious.

"Oh, that was me." Penny said.

"You killed her?" Howard asked.

"No the marks are from the red paint on her park post." Penny pointed to the figure against the wall and all the new comers sighed in unison.

"So, where is she?" Amy asked, actually wondering where Sheldon was.

"Hi guys." Pris walked in with her puppy. Sheldon following behind.

"Happy birthday." They all called randomly, making it sound like an echo.

"Thank you." Pris gave them each a hug and ended up standing in front of Sheldon's spot. She looked up at him and stepped out of the way, giving him his spot. "So, 3D chess?" she asked and sat down.

"Your present first." Sheldon smiled strangely. Leonard did not like this and decided to sit down next to Pris for support.

Sheldon walked around the couch and grabbed a neatly wrapped box and handed it to Pris. She smiled, curious as to what he could possibly give her and gently pulled off the tape. She grabbed the edge of the paper and tore it around the present, revealing a brown box. Dropping the wrapping paper, she slowly opened the box and looked inside.

She instantly grinned and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She giggled manically and slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Where did you get this?" Pris asked.

"What is it?" Leonard asked as he tried to see what she was looking at. She took a deep breath and showed the contents to him. Leonard blinked a few times, trying to make sense of it and then he smiled too.

"Hey! Come on! What is it?" Penny asked.

"An Ig Nobel Prize." Leonard held it out for everyone to see. It was a plant pot with periodic elements "growing" out of it and a certificate against the box, describing the award.

"Say what now?" Penny asked as if for everyone but she realized that she was the only one who didn't know what he was talking about.

"Psychology prize." Amy read out loud. "For confirming, by experiment, that people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive."*

"I could have told you that." Penny mumbled.

"Yeah. I had a hunch." Pris grinned.

"You won a Nobel prize for proving that?" Penny screeched.

"An Ig-Nobel prize." Leonard emphasized the IG part of it.

"It's like the Razzie awards." Pris explained when Penny still looked confused.

"The what now?" Bernadette asked.

"Don't worry, I get it." Penny smiled and took the prize from Leonard. "This is a real thing? Like a real official prize? That's so cool."

"It is not cool." Sheldon bellowed. "It was supposed to be embarrassing."

"Why would it be embarrassing?" Howard asked. "It's an award. Far higher than anything you've gotten, Sheldon."

Sheldon's face contorted into several directions as he tried to contain his madness. He took a few loud deep breaths and sunk into his seat, still twitching in his face.

"Despite your evil intentions, thank you so much, Sheldon!" Pris got the award back and placed it safely out of harms way. "I couldn't attend the ceremony, so I never got it. Then I was supposed to arrange with them to get it sent to me, but with moving and working, I never got around to it. This must have taken some threats and hard work to get it to me."

Pris chagrinned, knowing that a hug was out of the question.

"That was very nice of you Sheldon." Penny patted him on the shoulder, making him growl slightly. "Even though you were using your powers for evil."

"So, 3D chess?" Pris asked again.

As everyone settled around the coffee table with the snacks and drinks handed out, the puppy, having gone full round around the group, was now sleeping on Penny's lap. Pris watched as Sheldon started the game.

For the first few moves, Pris studied Sheldon and the game as if her life depended on it and then after a short while, she physically relaxed and started to play for real, fully understanding the game.

"I get checkmate in thirteen moves." She stated with a faint smile. The one she had whenever she did math too quickly.

"We'll see about that." Sheldon huffed.

Everyone chattered about work and started to get to know Pris as a part of the group. Sheldon on the other hand looked as if he was going to just throw the chess board off the table and beat Pris with the pieces.

"Wait a second!" Penny stated after Leonard mentioned that he had met Pris's husband. "You're married to Embry Prior? The writer?"

"Yeah." Pris wasn't really paying attention to Penny. Sheldon had made a strange move on the board and she was getting anxious.

"Isn't he working on that new TV series? Something about Steampunk underworld kingdoms? He Tweeted a poster or the cover of the first script. I can't remember."

"You follow her husband on Twitter?" Leonard frowned.

"I didn't know that he's her husband. He's this award-winning author. I love his books. And he is HOT." Penny said, granting a quick grin from Pris.

"You read?" Amy asked skeptically.

"I read his books. Since we did one of his plays in one of my acting classes." Penny stated. "He's really good. Can I meet him?" Penny asked.

Pris didn't hear her as she stared at the Chessboard, a frown on her face.

"What's going on?" Leonard asked when he finally looked at Pris and Sheldon's faces. Everyone's attention turned to the 3D board.

"Eleven moves in." Raj stated as he had been watching the game closely.

Sheldon made a move and Pris gasped. "Sheldon?"

"What?" Penny asked, being the only one again who didn't understand a thing.

"Twelve moves." Raj stated.

Pris took her queen and slowly dragged it across the board, placing it right in the crosshairs of Sheldon's king. He had nowhere to go. It was checkmate. Everyone stared at Sheldon in silence as his face began to twitch again.

He sat up so quickly the board got bumped and all the pieces fell over.

"I hate you." Sheldon said loudly, his eyes piercing Pris. "You are a rude and tactless bully and I want you out of my house."

"Sheldon!" Leonard stood up in defense of his brilliant sister.

"Leonard," Sheldon turned his crazy eyes on him, "Choose. Her or me?"

"What?" Leonard already knew where Sheldon's mind was going and he knew he wasn't going to choose between them. If he really had to, he would pick Pris over Sheldon any day.

"No, Leonard." Pris sprang up between them. "Don't. It's okay. I'll go. I overstayed my welcome." Pris reached out for her puppy and turned towards the door.

"Pris, no." Leonard tried to stop her. She turned to face him quickly.

"I know what you would choose and that's okay with me." She stared at the red horse post and stopped. "I'll arrange with someone from work to get that. Thanks so much for everything."

And then she was gone.

(* This prize is real and was won in 2012 by five scientists)