Lazy Kiss

A few days later Sheldon still hadn't fully fleshed out his plan. He thought he might've had it down at the comic book store but when he texted Penny to ask if she would be his partner for Halo night she told him she had the closing bar shift and would be home late.

Sheldon and Leonard were thoroughly trounced by Howard and Raj's near-telepathic-level teamwork. Howard had once described themselves as 'heterosexual life partners' and while Sheldon was sure it was a reference, it was one he didn't get.

When everyone had left and Leonard had retreated to his room Sheldon sat at his desk to get a little light reading in before bed. There was a new issue of an e-magazine he followed and he'd been anticipating reading it all day.

Half an hour later he heard Penny's distinctly heavy footsteps outside and a small amount of tension between his shoulder blades loosened when he realized she got home safely.

Ten minutes after that his phone vibrated and his text alert sounded.

Penny: You still up?

Sheldon: Yes. I was just finishing an e-magazine. The article I was looking forward to reading turned out to be a bunch of crap.

Penny: I'm sorry Sweetie. If it's any consolation my night was awful too.

Sheldon: Why would your misery be a consolation? I do not enjoy schadenfreude.

Penny: K idk what that means but I assume it means you're not happy that I feel bad. Mind if I come over for a little bit?

Sheldon: I'll make tea.

When Penny opened the door Sheldon was pouring the hot water into mugs. "I went with Sleepytime. It seemed like a soothing alternatve since I know you're not a fan of chamomile and I used the last peppermint for myself."

Sheldon turned around and stopped suddenly, the tea almost sloshing over the sides. He recovered quickly enough that Penny didn't notice. Not that she was likely to; she was sitting on the middle cushion of the couch in her pajamas with her eyes closed. Even if he weren't so practiced at reading his friend's body language he would have realized that she was exhausted.

Sheldon sat in his spot next to her and held her mug under her nose. When she inhaled the steam she perked up a bit and opened her eyes. She'd taken her makeup off so he could see the slight darkening under her eyes. No wonder she wore makeup.

"Would you like to discuss your day?" Sheldon offered. "A few more minutes won't upset my REM cycle too much."

Penny smiled the half smile of the tiredly grateful but decline his offer. "Nah, it's just the usual waitress woes, but this time with alcohol because I was tending the bar. If you don't mind I'd like to just sit here for a little bit, then I'll go back to my apartment and crash for like 13 hours."

"I would normally assume that to be an exaggeration, but you look like you could use all the sleep you can get."

Penny took a long drink from her tea mug and set it on the coffee table. "Ugh, you have no idea." She leaned her head onto his shoulder and for a moment he thought she'd fallen asleep. But then she moved her head to the side and nuzzled his collarbone before dropping a soft kiss onto it and mumbled "Thanks for the tea, Sweetie. You're the best."