:The Pudding Litigation:

The art department had swiped his white boards again. A set of three year old triplets had thrown up pizza and cheesecake all over her. An hour after these two separate, but simultaneous, events, our favorite duo were in jail. How you ask? Well, it was all because of a pudding cup.

Sheldon opened his door and looked at the open fridge door with rising anger. Wasn't it enough that he had to put up with Light-Fingered Louies at work? He wasn't about to put up with it in his own home, too!

"Put that back!" he hissed, slamming his door.

Penny straightened up and glared at him. "Don't start with me," she warned. She closed the fridge door and opened a drawer for a spoon.

Sheldon stomped over and ripped the pudding cup from her hand. "THAT is mine!"

Penny snatched it back. "Hey! You don't grab things outta people's hands!"

Sheldon grabbed it a second time. "I do when they have tried to unlawfully obtain the item! From me!"

Penny grabbed his wrist and squeezed. "Unlawfully? It's MY pudding! Give it back!" Sheldon tried to pull free, so Penny grabbed the wrist with both hands and twisted her hands back and forth to give him an Indian burn.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!" Sheldon shrieked. "It was in my fridge! I paid for it!"

Penny jerked him off balance and pulled the cup free. "Wrong! I earned it! I have it! Possession is the law!"

Sheldon growled and wrapped his arms around her waist when she turned away. "It's only 9/10th of the law!" he argued. "And the only thing you've earned is a strike!"

Penny tried to turn but their feet got tangled and they fell to the floor. The pudding cup went skidding across the floor. Sheldon tried to use his longer frame to his advantage. He pinned her hips with his legs and stretched over her to reach for the cup. Penny snarled and raised her head to bite his nipple through his shirts.

Sheldon yelped and pinned her shoulders to the floor. Penny bucked underneath him and rolled them over. She leaned down and licked his cheek quickly before moving off him. Sheldon gave a high-pitched squeal and rubbed frantically at his face. He saw Penny reaching under the desk and grabbed her around the thighs, pulling her back away from the prize. They rolled over into the coffee table, knocking it over.

"Stop it, you hellcat!" he growled. "I will not be defeated."

Penny had had enough. She stopped going easy on him. She grabbed Sheldon's nose, and pinched it hard, bringing her knees up to send him flying over her head. She let momentum take her over with him, landing hard on his chest.

"I'm gonna enjoy castrating you," she snarled viciously.

Penny grabbed the bottoms of his shirts and tugged them up, trapping his arms by his head. She could hear his muffled curses through the material. She ripped his belt from his pants loops and quickly tied his arms together. She was just reaching for the pudding cup when the door burst open.

"Freeze!"

Penny looked at the two policemen with their guns drawn and gulped.

The judge sighed and rested his forehead in his open palm. "Let me get this straight. You two have a bad day at work, so you come home, and argue over a pudding cup. It escalates into a brawl, which ends when your downstairs neighbor calls the police to report a potential murder."

Sheldon nodded once and Penny blushed sheepishly. "In all fairness," Sheldon said stiffly, "it WAS my pudding cup."

Penny elbowed him sharply. "No, it wasn't!" she hissed. "You told me I could have it after I killed that spider for you!"

Sheldon paled and his jaw dropped open. "Oh my. I had forgotten about that," he muttered. The judge sighed louder and shook his head with exasperation. Sheldon looked at Penny contritely. "I apologize. It would appear you were right and I was wrong."

Penny gave him a soft smile and lifted her handcuffed arms to slip them over his head and hug him briefly. "It's okay, Moon Pie. An honest mistake."

The judge looked at the other interested parties to the proceedings. "Are they always like this?" he asked.

Leonard stood and nodded. "Usually. We've learned to live with it."

Howard stood and rubbed his hands down his pants legs nervously. "Usually without the litigation, though."

The judge picked up his gavel. "60 hours of community service."

The banging of the gavel made Sheldon turn to Penny again. "Community service? I blame you for this."

Penny stood as the bailiff approached to uncuff them. "Keep it up, Sheldon. You're wearing a belt," she warned.

Leonard, Howard and Raj quickly marched Penny and Sheldon from the courtroom. While Penny and Sheldon were going through paperwork for their release and punishment Howard looked at Leonard. "Maybe we should start a fund. A few dollars each week for bail or lawyers."

Leonard pulled a bank card from his wallet. "I started it when they got the arrested for trespassing at Stan Lee's house. I'll give you the account number and PIN when we get home."