A/N: Yay, a new chapter of Test Result Inversion. It's about fricking time isn't it?
I have more to say at the end, but don't want to spoil you.
Disclaimer (has been a long time since I included one of those): not mine, never was, never will be. I don't make money from this, it's just to entertain you and myself.
Leonard was at a complete loss. They were waiting at their gate for their flight after having dropped Andy of at Princeton, and he knew Penny was upset, yet Leonard had no idea how to make her feel better. As always in situations like this, he was nervously fidgeting, looking anywhere but at her. The fact their flight was delayed two hours wasn't helping at all, only prolonging the situation. How could he make her feel better? Did she even want him here now, considering he was at least part of the reason Andy had chosen Princeton?
He was pleasantly surprised when Penny scooted closer and grabbed his hand to pull his arm around her and then leaned into him. He automatically began to caress her arm, figuring she wanted some physical comfort from him right now. It seemed he had figured correctly; Penny turned slightly, putting her left arm around his back and her right hand landed on his leg, rubbing it a couple of times. He could handle this, cuddling with his girlfriend, even if public displays of affection were things he'd always preferred to avoid. At least this was very modest, compared to other displays over the last couple of months he'd known her.
He quickly began thinking of other things, suddenly feeling his body react to the memories of other PDAs. Penny did not need that from him right now; she needed him to hold her, to comfort her. He wondered if she wanted him to say something to her, though he wasn't quite sure what to say. Really, what do you say to a mother who'd just said goodbye to her son?
It had taken over a week for Penny to not miss her son as badly as she did initially. Except for the occasional sleep overs at his friend, there had never been nights that he wasn't at home. The past week had been the first week in which she'd come home to an empty house almost daily, except the one day that she'd worked late and Leonard had been there before her.
Leonard had been very supportive, comforting her as best as he knew how to. He had quickly figured out that being held by him was what helped her the best. Well, second best, she now admitted in the privacy of her office. She doubted Leonard had minded the increased frequency of their physical couplings. Not that they'd been going slow before, but this last week had been an extremely satisfying one. They'd become members of the Mile High Club on their return trip, actually applied twice, once on each of the connecting flights back to L.A., to "make sure they'd be accepted". Not that it had been so great, or even enjoyable. Still, she'd looked forward to be able to put a check mark next to this item on her 'where to do' list.
But in the privacy of their home, Leonard and her had been going at it like horny bunnies, usually after they'd been cuddling for a couple of minutes. She was pretty sure Leonard had correlated the data and come to the conclusion that cuddling led to sex. Andy had always said you can never base your final conclusion on just one set of data points, and she suspected Leonard was now deliberately initiating cuddles whenever he got the chance. Not that she minded; both the cuddles and the activities following them were very enjoyable, and would take her mind off of missing Andy, at least for a while.
Every other morning she had a brief Skype call with Andy. That meant very early mornings for her, but she gladly woke up early to be able to see and talk to her son. She was so proud of him, which she told him at the end of every call. He was getting along with his roommate, who of course was a bit older than Andy, but shared the same interests. It had worried her, knowing that Andy was going to have to share a dorm room with and older student, but after meeting the guy when they'd dropped of Andy, she felt a bit better. The roommate, Matt, was a lot like Leonard, very insecure about himself, and Penny was fairly certain there wouldn't be many female guests visiting. It also meant the roommate wasn't likely to bully her son.
As it turned out, Matt was almost a big a fan of Leonard as Andy and Penny had had to work hard to suppress her laughter remembering Leonard's uncomfortable expression at meeting another fan. Not that she liked it when Leonard felt uncomfortable, but it was so obvious he just hadn't even expected anyone to really follow his work and admire him was simply adorable and funny.
"No, that's okay," Leonard assured Penny. "It's just a bunch of scientists trying to get donors to notice them and spend money."
"I'm sure a push-up bra and revealing dress will get people's attention."
Leonard frowned. "Yeah, I don't think the female scientists would go... oh! Yeah, that would be great, thanks!" He looked at her, marveling at the fact his girlfriend was willing to support him by using her looks.
"So, when's this shindig?"
"This Friday evening," Leonard replied.
"Great! I'll use the morning to find the perfect dress, visit you in the lab around lunch, and then use the afternoon to get my hair and make-up done. We're gonna hit them with both barrels!"
"Wow, you're really going all out, aren't you?"
She shrugged one shoulder. "I gotta support my man."
Leonard chuckled. "As long as we're clear I'm not forcing you..."
"You're not forcing me," Penny assured him. "You've never forced me to do anything, that's just not in your character. Besides, wouldn't you do the same for me?"
"Of course, but I'm not sure anyone would be interested in seeing me in a push up bra and revealing dress."
Penny giggled. "No, probably not. But you in a suit or a tux, yummy!"
Leonard decided not to point out he wasn't likely to be even a fraction as helpful to her as she was going to be to him. He still remembered their vacation in Nebraska and three women drilling in to him he was worth something, worthy of being loved. Not that it made him belief it any more than he did before, but he had learned to not let Penny, nor her mom and sister, ever know he thought like that.
Penny glanced down once more, ensuring nothing was out of place, just before they'd enter the large hall. Even a few paces in she'd already noticed various men doing a double take seeing them enter together.
"Hofstadtew!"
Ugh, Dr. Elmer Fudd, possibly the creepiest of Leonard's colleagues.
"Kripke," Leonard acknowledged his colleague in a much more subdued manner.
"I see you'we not going to pway faiw. Maybe I have to get on youw giwlfwiend's good side to get some of the money."
"Well, staring at my breasts isn't the way to do that," Penny decided to interject, though she had no intention of helping him, regardless of what he looked at. She was fine with the thought that some of the wealthy prospective investors ogling her, but Leonard's colleagues better not pay too much attention to her.
"Wight, wight," he said, not even for a second diverting his eyes.
"Dr. Kripke," another man said as he approached ahead of a small group. "One of our donors would like you to show him and his companions your current lab experiment."
He actually turned around to look at the small group. "Of couwse, fowwow me."
Penny watched the group, lead by Kripke, leave the hall, the two men in the group taking a better look at her as they passed. She smiled brightly at them, doubting the men even saw the smile, but the three women in the group did smile back right before they glanced at Leonard. Two of them whispered something to the men beside them, discreetly pointing their finger at Leonard. The third woman simply smiled at Leonard and gave him a thumbs up sign.
"Dr. Hofstadter. I see you brought company."
Penny held out her hand. "His girlfriend, actually. Hi, I'm Penny."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Gablehauser, head of the physics department." He turned toward Leonard. "I already have a few prospective investors I would like to introduce you to."
Penny followed them, listening to what Leonard's immediate boss was telling about the investors he was going to be introduced to. Introductions were made and Penny knew she had definitely grabbed the attention from the men. She was nonetheless surprised to find they all focused on Leonard as he began to explain what he was currently working on. Clearly these men were genuinely trying to figure out if Leonard and his work was deserving of their money and weren't letting her appearance be too big of an influence.
Nonetheless, her presence by Leonard's side was only going to help him and she stayed with him, simply watching him as he explained his work in terms that would be understandable to everyone, yet wouldn't give the impression that he was condescending toward anyone. It was so hot seeing Leonard being so confidently and passionately talking about his work, her hand had involuntarily traveled toward his rear-end. She caught it in time and retracted her hand, blushing embarrassedly when she saw that two men had actually noticed it.
Realizing Leonard was going to need quite a bit more time, and being with him was going to be too much of a challenge, she excused herself, claiming she was going to get something to drink. After picking up another glass of wine from the bar, she began looking around the hall. It wasn't difficult to distinguish the scientists from the investors, just by watching the interactions. Most scientists seemed to be completely out of their depth even trying to have a normal conversation.
"These gatherings are so much fun, don't you agree?"
Penny glanced to her left, seeing a woman who was probably in her sixties. Wealthy, judging by the expensive wardrobe. "Actually, this is my first one."
"You're going to enjoy these. It amuses me how easily these geniuses can be made to feel uncomfortable. It's one of the greatest joys."
Penny narrowed her eyes. "Really? You think they like it?"
"Oh, it's all harmless, dear. They get the money, and I get the entertainment."
"Entertainment? You do realize most of these genius have had to deal with extensive bullying all through their young lives, right? Most probably still have traumas because of it, and then they have to do the fundraiser thing, already a situation they are uncomfortable with, and on top of that they have to deal with someone like you." Penny turned to fully face the older woman. "I can tell you right now, if I catch you trying to 'entertaining' yourself by bullying my boyfriend, I will step in and..."
"And what, dear?"
Infuriatingly, Penny couldn't exactly come up with anything she could admit to wanting to do. Obviously there were things she would love to do, but admitting to it wasn't a good idea. The woman's enigmatic smile was infuriating her more, but knowing that causing a scene would be frowned upon, she pushed down her anger. "Try and see," she finally said, walking away.
"Penny," Leonard said, beckoning her to come closer, even though she'd already been coming in their direction. "This is Mrs. Latham, Mrs. Latham, this is my girlfriend, Penny."
"Yes, she and I have had brief but interesting conversation before," Mrs. Latham said, winking at Penny.
Penny's agitation, which he'd noticed almost as soon as he'd spotted her, seemed to momentarily lessen.
"Dr. Hofstadter, would you be so kind as to get me another glass?"
"Sure, no problem," Leonard responded, taking her empty glass. "Do you want another glass, Penny?"
Penny downed the last bit before nodding and handing her now empty glass. "Yes, please."
"Great, I'll be right back." Leonard walked toward the bar, feeling very good. Mrs. Latham had approached him and, without so much as trying to throw him off balance, she simply asked about his work and how he had met his girlfriend. That was the first time that woman hadn't made him feel uncomfortable and had simply offered to donate the equipment currently needed the most for their department.
He'd been surprised when she asked how he met Penny; he hadn't realized she'd known, but she'd said she'd seen them enter and overheard her introducing herself to Dr. Gablehauser. He'd happily recounted the tale of how he'd first met her and her genius son after one of his presentations, how they'd run into another again and eventually the relationship began.
As he waited for the bartender to finish filling the glasses, he looked back at where Penny and Mrs. Latham were engrossed in a seemingly friendly conversation. At least Penny didn't appear to be agitated at all anymore, so Leonard assumed she'd run into someone else right before she'd come over. Quite possibly Barry had ogled her again.
He turned back to the bar and picked up two glasses from the new batch and made his way back to the wealthy widow and his gorgeous girlfriend. He chuckled at the double alliteration in his inner thoughts, earning a raised eyebrow from Penny. "Just a funny thought in my head."
"Oh? Entertain us," Penny said, gesturing him to relay his funny thoughts. "I mean, Mrs. Latham is paying a lot of money, you should repay her with some entertainment."
Leonard frowned, not sure if it was such a wise idea, but Penny kept gesturing for him to tell, and he finally relented. "It's just, when I walked over her, I thought about going back to my gorgeous girlfriend, which is an alliteration. I just thought that was funny." It probably wasn't a good idea to mention the wealthy widow part in front of said widow, especially since she still hadn't made up her mind about where her donation would go to.
"Ugh," Penny said as she unclasped the push-up bra. "Whoever invented this, and I'm sure it was a guy, should be shot." She turned around, massaging her breasts and saw the look on Leonard's face.
"I think they deserve a Nobel Prize."
Penny couldn't help but smile. "Well, yeah, you're a guy. You don't have to wear that torture device."
"Come over here," Leonard said, patting the empty side of the bed. "I'll give my breast friends a thorough massage for you."
Penny bit her lower lip to keep from smiling. "Oh, that's so nice of you, to offer performing such a tedious and boring task."
He actually shrugged his shoulders. "Anything for those who helped me getting all these donations."
"Ugh, men!" The exclamation was punctuated by her flopping down onto the bed, releasing her sore breasts so that Leonard could massage them and make her feel better.
"Just to remind you, I didn't force you to wear that," Leonard said, gently massaging her.
"I'm not at all convinced you didn't brainwash me."
Leonard grinned. "Maybe Raj was right, a few months ago. Brainwashing is my superpower."
Penny frowned. "What? Oh, yeah, when I first met him and Howard." She relaxed, enjoying Leonard's massage. They both knew what this would lead to, but for now it just felt great to have him relieve the discomfort. Besides, it wasn't as if he was loathing his current task.
"Penny, can I ask why you were so agitated before?"
Furrowing her brow she tried to recall what he meant.
"I mean, when you came over to Mrs. Latham and I. You seemed, well, angry."
Oh, crap. "I talked to her before," she answered, then opened her eyes. "Did you know she purposely tried to make all of you uncomfortable, just because it entertains her?"
"She didn't tonight, though."
"Yeah, 'cause I told her if I caught her treating you like that, she'd have to deal with me. So, when I saw her talking to you, I was ready to rip in to her."
His hands stilled. "Penny..."
She put one hand on his cheek. "I'm not going to stand by and allow anyone to bully you or do anything that would even remind you of being bullied in the past." She dropped her hand once Leonard resumed his massage. "Besides, it turns out she agreed with me and while you were getting our drinks, she thanked me for pointing it out to her and promised not to use that particular form of entertainment on the geeks."
"We prefer the term nerds."
Penny smiled and relaxed, enjoying the massage.
A/N2: the first scene of this chapter from Leonard's POV already existed on my hard drive, but from Penny's POV. That scene is part of their application to the Mile High Club, of which I've only written a small bit. I do expect to release the first chapter of Test Results After Dark soon(ish), detailing this couple's first night together (starting at the end of chapter 5, ending at the start of chapter 6 of this story).
