Leonard has to get used to Penny and Sheldon dating but he's still holding out hope.
Leonard doesn't want to be mad, he really doesn't but when Sheldon and Penny ambush him one night to inform him that they're going to try dating, well, that just stings, Penny and him tried but she claimed that there was 'something' missing and he tried to move on from her but he could still remember the first time he saw her and they became friends and, and, and he just felt like maybe the world was finally rewarding him for being a good guy and when they ended their relationship he could console himself by saying that it was fine, because he knew that one day a handsome, tall and muscular guy that can talk about football would appear and take her right out of his hands but! Sheldon. Of all people it had to be Sheldon?.
He got angry and yelled at both of them for betraying him and he was getting a head full of steam when Sheldon disarmed him with just a few words "Leonard, Penny is not a thing." after that he lost all fight in him and just asked them to not rub it in his face, they had his blessing or whatever and asked that they don't hold it against him if he made himself scarce for a few days.
He didn't even make it to 2 days, he missed Sheldon and Penny and wanted to get his friends back, they both understood and claimed that they would be discreet and he tried to smile but did ask Penny to not hug him for a while.
And if he kept a flame inside of him with the hope that maybe, just maybe one day he and Penny could give it another try, no one had to know about that.
A month later Leonard had to admit to himself that Sheldon and Penny going strong was not something he expected but they kinda made sense if you tilted your head and blurred your eyes and it helped that he never saw Sheldon arrive late at night or sneak out at night, after all they were not even sure if Sheldon had a deal. Leonard was trying to keep the venom out of his thoughts but really, how could Sheldon ever have something close to even resembling a sexual relationship with anyone, much less the big ol' five herself.
Maybe it was just a matter of time and all he had to do was wait for the inevitable end of their relationship and then maybe, just maybe Penny would turn to look at him again.
The night after he thinks that it's the first time it happens, a little piece of the flame of hope he harbors dies inside of him. Penny and Sheldon had just come back from doing laundry that he noticed something off, the weather took a turn and while not sweltering the heat was certainly uncomfortable but yet here they were sitting side by side and both were wearing layers, he was about to comment on the absurdity of it when Howard gasped and loudly announced "Sheldon! Is that a rope burn on your arm?"
Leonard could see the way his roommate flushed red and attempted to deny it but his eyes immediately went to the other one person that was suspiciously wearing long sleeves as well and seeing Penny with her own blush of embarrassment made his stomach lurch as if he had eaten ice cream, cheese pizza and yogurt all at once. It didn't help matters that Raj was able to convince her to show him the marks on her arm and Leonard was glad that he was sitting down already because his legs felt cold and like jelly, he could only observe in shock and disgust how Sheldon reluctantly showed Howard a burn very close to the collar of his shirt, ´A slight miscalculation on the type of rope that was used. But I can assure you this mistake will not repeat itself, silk ropes as well as the needed oils to treat them have been ordered post-haste."
Leonard could hear the other guys tease Sheldon and Penny but he could not focus on that, no, he was focusing on trying to keep breathing, this couldn't be happening, he and Penny were meant to be, their babies would be- And after that he knows nothing more, sweet darkness takes him away and he wakes up still in the chair, there's a blanket on him and the apartment is dark. A quick look at his phone shows that it's almost 1 AM and he rushes to bed, still feeling light headed and wants the nothingness of sleep to take him, maybe it's all a nightmare, a horrible, horrible nightmare.
That night he dreams of Sheldor the Conqueror and a bound Queen Penelope because he can never catch a break and his own brain is against him.
The second time it happens it's his fault, no two ways about it really. Since the nightmare day as he had taken to call it in his head Leonard made sure to never spring a surprise on Sheldon or Penny and on Laundry night he made himself sparse not only from the apartment but from the entire building, except, this night, he had forgotten his inhaler and he only remembered in the middle of their DnD game and any other night he would have not minded but Howard and Raj wanted to go out to a club and Leonard didn't want to just up and die in the middle of the dancefloor as he tried to get a date so very reluctantly went back to 4A.
He knew he would probably find Sheldon and Penny cuddling in the couch or lightly kissing but he was willing to bear it, he wanted to move on from Penny, she and Sheldon have been dating for a little over 3 months and he was getting used to the idea of seeing them together. Penny had even given him a one armed hug on last Halo night and Leonard had not flinched (much) so he was going to man up, walk in, greet Sheldon and Penny (His girlfriend a nasally horrible voice taunted him), go to his room, pick up the inhaler and then go back down to the car and drive to the club. Easy, 3 minutes tops, he can do this, you got this Leonard Hofstadter he hypes himself up.
When he opens the door to the apartment Leonard has a full blissful moment of ignorance as his brain tries to makes sense of the scene in front of him. He takes his glasses off and cleans them with the edge of his shirt before putting back on, nope, still there and that flame of hope in him gets reduced to smoldering ashes.
Sheldon and Penny were in the apartment as he had planned, that's the only part that matched his imagination for the rest he doesn't think he can ever actually forget it. Sheldon was shirtless but still wearing his pants (mind you, those are the same plaid pants he always wears) and had his hands on the kitchen island 'stalking' towards Penny on the other side, he was glaring and Penny was smiling as bright as the sun but if it had only ended there he would have been able to simply walk to him room as he had planned but when both Sheldon and Penny were wearing animal ears headbands and more importantly each was holding a leash that lead to each other's collar, well, Leonard feels justified in covering his eyes, yelling "Arrrghhh!" and basically throwing himself to the hallway and into his room.
5 minutes later he is still trying to gather the courage to go back out, inhaler now safely in his pocket when an angry text from Howard finally makes him go out into the living room. If he didn't know any better he could have swore that it was a hallucination (or even better a stroke) because Sheldon was on his computer typing away and Penny was in the middle cushion reading a magazine and while he didn't see any collars anymore the both of them were still wearing their animal ear headbands. He quickly left the apartment while loudly saying "Learn to lock the door!", he couldn't wait to get to the club and try to erase the image with some very slutty Cuba libres.
The moment he feels all hope die inside of him for a romantic relationship with Penny is six months into their relationship. It's the middle of the morning, everyone took a day off from work to help Leonard move his things into 4b and to help Penny move her things into 4a. Yeah, he didn't see that coming but he could honestly now say that he was happy for both Penny AND Sheldon. If he was honest with himself he saw how they brought the best out in each other so he had joined the other guys in teasing the couple and even going on a couple of double dates with them and while it no longer brought a heartburn-like feeling he was still not going to admit out loud that they were actually pretty cute together.
He was just coming from a quick run to purchase more cardboard boxes when he arrived to an empty apartment, when he left Sheldon and Penny they were eating breakfast and in fact he could see their bowls of cereal still in the Kitchen Island, thinking nothing of it he went to the only other locked door in the hallway "Hey Sheld-" and he trailed off at the sight that greeted him.
Sheldon sat in his bed, thankfully fully clothed but that's where Leonard's luck ended because right there on Sheldon's lap was a topless Penny straddling him, if that was all then Leonard would have just ducked away right away but his eyes were focused on Penny's arms, her arms were crossed behind her back and seemed to be bound by a leather bracer that restricted her movements and as Penny turned to look at the door he could see that she was also wearing a ball gag with leather straps and for some reason she seemed to be drooling in the extreme.
Leonard was many things, but a prude wasn't one of them, he was perfectly aware that normal couples have their own bedroom dynamic and to put it shortly he shouldn't 'kink shame' but this was a step too far. While usually he would be thrilled at a topless Penny (he wasn't blind or a eunuch after all) all he felt at this moment was disgust, this was, it was, he struggled to find an appropriate comparison, it was, it was like walking in on your parents! "C'MON! I left for 15 minutes, 15! c'mon!"
So Leonard backed out quickly and closed the door while rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was glad to be moving away because he definitely did not want anything to do with Mr and Mrs Wackadoodle -oh sorry- Dr and Mrs Wackadoodle. Whatever kinky games they were playing he was hoping they would limit them to 4a and when no one but them was there, he was even tempted to call his mother for a consultation "God, I can't catch a break".
The prompt for this was:
Leonard tells his experience on how he finally felt all hope of a relationship with Penny extinguish and die as she and Sheldon try and fail to keep their sexual escapades a secret.
Rope burns
Both wearing collars and holding each other leashes
Penny in Sheldon's lap wearing restrains and a ball gag
Leonard at the end thinks if this is the same feeling as when walking in on his parents having sex