Ch3

They were quiet as they ate, sitting across from each other at the small round table. His apartment had not had enough room for a table what with all the desks and electronics, but here in his little kitchen, he did. The silence was not oppressive, though Penny could clearly hear the clock ticking on the wall above the fridge.

It was nice. Simple. Her in his pj's, him still with damp hair, both of them devouring the pizza with the appetite of those who spent the afternoon labouring outdoors.

In truth, Penny hadn't had a meal so comfortable and satisfying in years.

When the last piece of pizza was gone, he carried the plates to the sink and washed them while she instinctively folded the pizza box and put it into the recycling box that was lurking in the laundry room, then switched her clothing to the drier.

"It must be nice having your own washer and drier." She commented as she came back into the kitchen.

His smile was infectious. "I am considering putting up a small line in the backyard to hang linens on."

"Perfect!" Penny replied with a smile of her own. She could see it perfectly in her head, Sheldon with a basket of sheets and blankets, carefully attaching each item to the line, exactly six inches from the last, and then sitting and watching the sheets blowing in the wind to make sure no birds flew overhead or landed on the line.

He would of course be playing Conan or something similar on his laptop, his long fingers pecking away at the keys frantically, occasionally accompanied by an evil sorcerer's laugh which would no doubt terrify the neighbourhood children or seniors.

But on the other hand, she could also see him sitting side by side with doing battle with either, both of them with laptops sitting atop bony knees, jabbing each other with their elbows.

Her own grandma was getting scarily good at Conan, some to think of it.

She laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head at his confused look. "I was just thinking my grandma would approve of this house." She explained.

"Oh." He looked around, then nodded. "As would mine." His fingers twitched briefly. "Would you care to watch a movie?"

~S~

The couch had been the first thing he purchased after the house. Leonard had opposed him taking the brown one from the apartment, claimed he had found it, it was his. His outrage had lasted until he entered the furniture store and spotted the couch of his dreams. It fit him perfectly, being slightly higher and slightly deeper than most. A couch for tall people.

It helped that it was a nice navy blue leather, and that it had instantly fitted itself to his derriere.

Now though, as he was sitting in his new spot, he was forced to realize something else. While it had the amusing effect of making Leonard and Howard look like Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz, it made Penny look surprisingly seductive.

She'd laughed with delight when she had realized her feet did not touch the floor, and then tucked them up beside her, so that she appeared to be curled towards him. She looked relaxed, and happy, and as she turned her eyes to his with an impish grin, remarking on how she felt like a little girl again, he had to force himself to not say that she certainly didn't look one, with her voluptuous curves.