Chapter 5: The Mystery Science Theater Imitation
It was early in the morning when Eleanor came back from Britain. Umbitch had given her indigestion that had taken her a few hours to get over. The memories had also been a pain to deal with. The toad apparently watched memories of the detentions she oversaw at Hogwarts as a form of enjoyment. Eleanor had bottled up those memories and left them where the DMLE could easily find them when they investigated why Umbitch hadn't shown up for work (yes, she was still employed by the Ministry for some reason).
Eleanor had taken all the sacks of Galleons she had found hidden around the house (Umbitch apparently didn't trust the filthy goblins). She took the kitten plates as there was something magically off about those that she wanted to investigate when she felt like dealing with a reminder of Umbitch. Lastly, she took the pensieve. Then she burned Umbitch's body (and those horrible pink cardigans) on the front lawn.
She popped into Diagon Alley for a palate cleanser. It had been years since she had had Fortescue's ice cream, and she really wanted some. She also popped into the apothecary shop and discreetly purchased some vials of dragon's blood. She pointedly ignored Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. She just wasn't ready to deal with that yet. She avoided Gringotts for a similar reason. She would deal with the Black Family nonsense later.
"Is that ice cream," asked Penny looking at the 4 pints with desire in her eyes.
"Yes. We've got Black Madness, The Irish Rainbow, Chocoholic's Delight and the Hogwarts Quartet."
"Honey," began Penny looking Eleanor in the eyes, "You're going to have to explain those flavors. The only one I can even begin to guess is Chocoholic's Delight."
Eleanor had a whole bunch of memories flash before her eyes the moment that she made eye contact with Penny. She felt a headache develop as she suddenly knew a whole lot more about American football and clothes than she ever wanted to know. She blushed as she caught memories of a more…adult nature which included a few dreams. She shook her head. She would figure out what happened and why there was someone cackling in her head later.
"Honey are you alright," asked Penny concerned.
"Just a small headache, Penny," she replied.
Both were surprised when a vial of headache potion appeared.
"Bad Mistress," scolded a squeaky voice, "Mistress promised to let Winky know when she had proper living quarters."
Both turned and saw Winky standing there with her hands on her hips.
"Sorry, Winky…I forgot."
"Mistress needs to realize that she need not do everything herself. Winky clean up from now on. Winky do laundry and dishes."
"Honey…what is Winky," asked Penny.
"Winky is House Elf. One of three that serve Mistress. Winky will clean for Mistress and Mistress's female mate."
Eleanor blinked and Penny sputtered.
"Winky, I'm her roommate," protested Penny.
"Me thinks the mate protests too much," replied Winky, sending her a piercing look, "Mistress drink potion and then eat ice cream with mate."
Two bowls, spoons and an ice cream scooper appeared.
"Winky go clean up building now. Leave dishes for Winky," she sent a glare at Eleanor before she vanished.
"Um…" began Eleanor, not sure what to say, "Sorry about Winky. She's…rather sensitive about being able to serve her chosen family…I guess she got done cleaning the Chamber of Secrets."
"That's…not a euphemism, is it?"
"No. Hogwarts has a place called the Chamber of Secrets. I found the entrance in the second-floor girl's bathroom, and then had to slide down a pipe to a place under the school. Opened a few doors and then had to kill a large snake in the Chamber proper. It's how I got this scar," she said, revealing it.
"Honey," Penny paused, considering her next words, "Scar aside…most of that sounds like a very bad euphemism."
"For what?"
"Sex, Eleanor, sex and sadly I don't have to be Howard to see it…though hanging around him probably hasn't helped," she muttered the last bit.
Eleanor blinked and decided to help herself to some ice cream. She was still trying to figure out why Penny was flushed and what the new pleasing scent was. She helped herself to some Irish Rainbow and some Black Madness, quickly filling her bowl.
Penny shook her head and looked at the ice cream, "So what are the flavors…we kind of got distracted."
"Black Madness, my favorite, is a milk and dark chocolate mix steeped in red wine with a blood pop drizzle. Irish Rainbow is your typical Rainbow sherbet but made with Bailey's cream. Chocoholic's Delight, well, is every single type of chocolate mixed together with chocolate fudge mixed into the cream. The Hogwarts Blend is raspberry, blueberry, lime and mango mixed."
"There is alcoholic ice cream?"
"Yeah…the Wizarding World doesn't really care that much about drinking or drugs, not when sobriety is a potion flask away."
Penny was about to go for the Black Madness ice cream when she remembered something, "What is blood pop drizzle?"
"It's either blood or a blood mimic I never really found out which. They say it's a favorite of vampires, but I've only met one vampire, and I had other things on my mind besides blood pops."
"I…don't know how I feel about that," Penny admitted, "I…might try it later right now the Irish Rainbow sounds good."
A few minutes later they were both on the sofa, eating ice cream and watching one of the college football games. Penny had convinced Eleanor to cuddle up next to her under a blanket to counteract the cold of the ice cream. It was…nice. About an hour later they had finished their ice cream. Both were rather tipsy after they had devoured thirds thanks to Winky who had refilled the bowls when they got low. Despite being done with the ice cream, neither Penny nor Eleanor was inclined to move. Eleanor was enjoying the closeness. It wasn't being forced on her like with some of her former friends and it just seemed like a natural part of their relationship.
"So, you actually want a tattoo," asked Penny during a commercial break.
"I've been thinking about it. Runes use the ambient magic around us to produce an effect after an initial magical activation by the person carving the runes. In this case, I think the runes will activate as long as either the tattoo artist or the person being tattooed is magical."
"So, what runes do you want tattooed?"
"There's a medical charm that removes the need for the restroom. I generally cast it wandlessly on myself throughout the day."
"That sounds convenient. Is that why you never go to the restroom at work?"
"Yep. I don't like public restrooms. Been ambushed too many times going into and out of those things."
"So, what happens to the…you know….shit with that charm?"
"It's vanished."
"So, it's banished?"
Eleanor shook her head. "No. Banishing, as far as my magic goes, sends an item away from you in a specific direction or to a specific location. Vanishing gets rid of the item in its entirety. When an item is vanished, it is completely deconstructed back down to its molecular components and then Magic uses those base components to make other things. So, while Vanishing appears to violate the Law of Conservation of Mass, it really doesn't. It just speeds up the deconstruction and reallocation of that mass within the larger system that is the universe."
"So, banishing relocates things, while vanishing recycles things," asked Penny after a moment.
"Yes."
"You know…you sound a lot like Sheldon explaining his physics stuff when you talk about magic."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Nah, Sheldon's cute when he's all passionate about his work rather than something silly like his spot on the couch. Don't worry Eleanor, you're cute too and your explanations actually make sense. He keeps forgetting to reduce his concepts down so that those of us without physics degrees can understand them. "
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny and Eleanor."
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny and Eleanor."
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny and Eleanor."
Both sighed as they were quite comfortable.
"Just use your key, Sweetie," called Penny toward the door.
Eleanor gave her a look.
"What? I don't want to give up my snuggle buddy until I have to. It's comfy here."
Eleanor's face flushed a bit as part of her was pleased by that response. A few minutes later, Sheldon had used his spare key to unlock the door to the loft. Then he walked in, closing the door behind him.
"Good. You're both here. Koothrappali has not checked back in today after last night's Halloween party as such our Saturday routine has been compromised. Wolowitz reminded me that Eleanor hasn't seen Star Wars. Therefore, we would like to invite you over to our loft for Star Wars."
Penny looked a bit wary, "How much Star Wars?"
"The other two have convinced me that we should start with A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and then see if Eleanor wishes to continue to Return of the Jedi."
"That's reasonable," admitted Penny, "Can we have the two couch seats that aren't your spot?"
"Of course. Those spots provide a much better viewing experience than either of the chairs and we won't mention Eleanor's usual spot."
"Alright. We'll be there in a moment. You guys aren't going to be yapping about the special effects and what not, are you?"
"I was not intending to," began Sheldon, frowning, "But I cannot say that the others will not offer their own commentary on the film. They find it a good way to keep their interest after watching them for the 27th time."
Penny frowned, "That's not the way to watch a movie for the first time…not a good movie."
"Agreed. Unfortunately, I cannot uninvite either of them, especially as Leonard lives in the apartment."
"That's fine," replied Eleanor, "But they better not complain when the two of us talk too."
"And the blanket," added Penny quickly, "We're keeping this setup."
Sheldon simply nodded.
Eleanor got up and rolled up the blanket so that she could carry it over to the other apartment. Penny did a quick check to make sure they had everything. Then they went over to the apartment and sat down on the couch. The movie…well the DVD started. They still had to get through the commercials before the movie started.
Eleanor noticed a glare from Leonard as Penny snuggled back into her after they had sat down on the couch. The wolf in Eleanor raised its hackles at that. The weak male dared to express disapproval over Penny's choice. She shook her head only for the wolf to be replaced with the vampire. The vampire was no less offended by the sheer effrontery that this weakling had to criticize the actions of a woman that he was not involved with. The vampire looked into the weakling's eyes to see why this male had such delusions. She ignored the headache and pushed it to the side. Dreams, bah! More like delusional fantasies! Another Ronald Weasley. Well, at least this one didn't have Magic.
"Here it is ladies and gents, the only instance of Stormtrooper competency in the movies," remarked Howard as the Stormtroopers breached the starship and started to shoot laser guns at the people in the domed helmets.
Sheldon looked like he wanted to retort but closed his mouth with an audible click.
The movie proceeded onwards till Princess Leia was brought before Darth Vader. Eleanor had to admit that Vader was a much more impressive villain than Voldemort…or at least his masked version was. She shook her head at the officer telling his men not to fire because there were 'no lifeforms' in the escape pod. Surely, droids couldn't be that rare in the Star Wars universe.
"There's a theory that R4, that droid that just blew up, was Force Sensitive. It could see the future through the Force and knew that the Lars family had to buy R2-D2 or else the Empire would never fall," remarked Leonard.
"Are all the comments going to spoil parts of the story," Eleanor asked, glaring at both Leonard and Howard.
"Are those things really spoilers," countered Leonard petulantly.
"That last one definitely is," admitted Penny, "You pretty much stated that the Rebellion wins and the Empire falls. The first one though…"
"Wolowitz basically confirmed that the Stormtroopers aren't significant threats outside of this one scene to our main protagonists," Sheldon mused, "They are the main Imperial forces so between that and Leonard's comment, Eleanor now knows who wins. She just doesn't know how they will win."
"Seriously, it's highly unlikely that Eleanor's avoided all spoilers for these movies," countered Leonard.
"Some of us had to work to put ourselves through college and weren't allowed to watch telly as a child," Eleanor replied coldly.
Penny sent Leonard a glare.
"Regardless, we invited Eleanor under the pretense of allowing her to watch the movies for the first time. It was implied that we would not spoil the movies for her, and I believe that part of the arrangement did not actually to be explicitly stated."
That got the guys to shut up for a bit. Old Ben Kenobi rubbed Eleanor the wrong way. There was something suspicious about the fact that he was on Tatooine. He was giving off a Dumbledore vibe. So, she was immediately suspicious when Kenobi said that Anakin Skywalker was killed by Vader during the Clone Wars.
"So, let me get this right," began Eleanor, "It's the 'good guys' who use mind control powers? I mean sure, not noticing the droids is pretty harmless as far as things go. What's to stop the manipulative old man from tricking them into shooting each other or themselves?"
The guys exchanged a look.
"Well, the Jedi Code should stop them from doing that," began Leonard.
"That's not really a guarantee though," countered Howard, "It's just like the Dungeons and Dragons Paladin class, breaking the code is a thing."
"What even is the code anyway?"
All three guys began reciting it:
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.
"That's the code," exclaimed Eleanor, "That self-righteous, hypocritical, complete goatshit is the good guys' code?"
Sheldon discreetly hit the pause button, got up, went to the kitchen and began making some tea.
"What's wrong with the code," asked Leonard.
"How about the fact that it's obviously wrong? For fuck's sake, the movie is named Star Wars: A New Hope. Hope invokes feelings. Feelings are based on emotions. And the fact there's a rebellion means there is no peace."
"Be that as it may, it's a personal code rather than one that's supposed to govern the universe," countered Leonard.
"That doesn't make it any better. Let's put it this way, our known galaxy consists of 1 planet with life on it. There is so much knowledge on our 1 planet that it is impossible for 1 individual to know it all even in 13 lifetimes, especially as new knowledge is constantly being discovered. So, you mean to tell me that the Jedi somehow know everything in their universe which spans 100s of systems with inhabitable planets?"
"No, but it's knowledge of oneself."
"People change over time as they age, talk to other people and experience life. It's impossible to completely know oneself as there's always a situation to which they haven't been exposed yet. Therefore, there is always ignorance. If there is no passion, then how the hell do the Jedi reproduce? No woman wants a man that's going to treat sex as a chore."
"The Jedi are the good guys in this story. If you don't support them, you're an Imperial."
"If that was the case, this story would already be over. I'd have shot the damned escape pod. No life forms be damned. Droids exist therefore nothing gets off the ship."
"Logical," quipped Sheldon, "Better for the Death Star plans to be completely destroyed than be lost somewhere in the galaxy."
"Great, we've got two Imperials in the group," muttered Leonard.
"I don't think she's an Imperial," offered Howard, "I think she's just competent. I'd have shot down the escape pod too and I'm a Rebel. Let's face it, Leonard, if the story didn't need to happen, that pod would have been toast."
Leonard frowned, "She's still evil."
"Really, Leonard," replied Penny arching an eyebrow, "She disagrees with the Jedi code and has problems with mind control powers being used willy-nilly. Hardly seems evil to me. Hell, the Jedi code forbids good sex. I'm not interested in emotionless sex. Frankly, it's disturbing that anyone would be okay with that."
Leonard grimaced, sensing he had just made his own personal quest much harder.
"That's not what I meant," he protested.
"It does sound like what you're arguing," observed Sheldon from the kitchen, "Unless you are saying you also have a problem with the Jedi Code. In that case, you cannot fault Eleanor for having objections to it."
"She's still probably a Sith!"
"What's a Sith?"
"We're getting into spoiler territory," admitted Howard, "But to wrap up this argument, a Sith is a Force user who's traditionally the enemy of the Jedi. Their code goes like this:
Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion, I gain Strength.
Through Strength, I gain Power.
Through Power, I gain Victory.
Through Victory, my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me."
"That's less bad," Eleanor admitted, "It's at least realistic."
"So, you're okay with being a genocidal, maniacal madwoman?! And this is the woman who lives across the hall! With Penny!"
"What part of that code implies 'genocidal' or 'maniacal madwoman," retorted Eleanor harshly, "All I hear is an acknowledgement that peace as a state of being is fragile and barely exists. There is always conflict whether within us or in the world around us. Hell, the fight could just be us trying to live our day-to-day lives. Passion is a good thing so long as you don't go overboard. If you're not passionate about something, you're less likely to do it well. If you're passionate about something you're more likely to put forth the effort to not only do it well, but do it better, getting strength in that area. After all, practice makes perfect. If you're stronger, you get more powerful and the more powerful you are the more likely you are to succeed, thus achieving victory. If you achieve victory, you either get better compensation for doing that task or you no longer must do the task, thus freeing yourself from it. How is any of that bad?"
Leonard opened his mouth to protest and shut it with a click as he couldn't immediately argue against that. Then he rallied, "But the Sith are warmongering killers!"
"According to who?"
"Are you guys listening to this?!"
"She's making more sense than you are, Leonard," quipped Sheldon.
"Of course you would think that!"
"Well, you are making your arguments based on emotion," observed Howard, "Eleanor's actually using reason and logic. If anything, she's acting more like a Jedi than you are. Much anger in you I sense, young Leonard," he morphed his voice to imitate an old, wizened man for the last sentence.
"Still a Sith?"
"Well, she's not properly a Sith till she has a Sith name," remarked Howard, "Though I think you're taking this a bit too seriously Leonard."
Since she could tell that the tea needed a few more minutes, Eleanor decided to poke Leonard a bit.
"What goes into a Sith name?"
"The lore is incredibly inconsistent on that front, Eleanor," remarked Sheldon from the kitchen, "The names must have a certain intimidation factor. Besides that, they begin with the title Darth."
"So, Darth Hydra or Darth Hemlock?"
"How is she not evil," exclaimed Leonard, "Her first name pick is literally a reference to a comic book Nazi organization."
Penny was looking unimpressed at Leonard's repeated attempts to portray her roommate as evil. Howard was giving him a look that was pity mixed with a 'are you really doing this?' look. Sheldon was looking at Leonard as if he had grown an extra head.
"I think that we'll finish this movie and leave," remarked Penny, "This is becoming…more…I'm not sure what this is but it's not relaxing, and I haven't had enough ice cream or alcohol to enjoy it. I'm not sure there is enough of either for me to enjoy this."
"For your information," Eleanor began focusing solely on Leonard, "Hydra is the name of a many-headed Greek serpent monster. I picked it because unlike dragons, it takes more than one person to kill a Hydra. In the actual myth, Hercules's cousin helped him by cauterizing the necks until the crab, Cancer, killed him. Furthermore, I like snakes. It's also the female adaptation of the star Hydrus. The Blacks have a tradition of naming their kids after astronomical bodies and it's my current middle name.
"As for the implication that I'm somehow a Nazi or sympathize with those bastards…I don't have the words to explain how fucked up that, your previous insult of calling me a 'genocidal maniacal madwoman,' the other insult of calling me a 'warmongering killer' and your insistence that I am 'evil' is. I need to leave before I figuratively rip your head off, you complete arse."
She got up and headed for the door, she paused as she reached it.
"Sorry Sheldon, perhaps another time."
She opened the door and walked out, closing it forcefully behind her.
[Slight perspective shift]
"What the fuck was that," yelled Penny a few seconds after Eleanor left.
"A very un-Sith like demonstration in self-control," remarked Sheldon, as he stared at the second teacup he had pulled out, unsure of whether to pour it or not now that Eleanor had left the apartment.
"Not that. I meant him," she snapped pointing at Leonard, "Do you routinely insult people who have different opinions or is it just Eleanor? If it's just Eleanor, what the hell did she do to you?"
"Sorry," stammered Leonard, "It's just that you both were cuddling on the couch, and I thought we had something."
"We had something?! Since when? And even if we did, what gives you the right to insult Eleanor for my decision to cuddle against her while watching a movie?"
"Halloween. Our kiss."
"I was an emotional wreck, and you were supportive, and it was a token of how much your comfort meant at that moment. It wasn't the start of a romantic relationship and if this is the result then the kiss was a mistake.
"Let's get something clear, Hofstadter," she said, getting up so that she could tower over him (though she didn't move from the couch), "A single kiss does not mean a damn thing beyond a kiss. Just like me cuddling with Eleanor doesn't mean a damn thing beyond the fact that it's more comfortable to lean against her than just the back of the couch. I actually have a female friend who accepts both the tomboy and girly parts of myself equally without complaints. Of course, I'm going to be affectionate toward her. And excuse me if my affection has a physical component to it. Get over yourself."
She grabbed the blanket and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. To the group's surprise it reverberated after it banged closed.
"Needless to say, that's a strike, Leonard," replied Sheldon from the kitchen, frowning at him as he sipped his tea.
"What?!"
"Your behavior was out of line and inappropriate. I do not run off your guests. I've adjusted my routine quite a bit to incorporate both Wolowitz and Koothrappali since you brought them over. The least you can do is extend Eleanor and Penny the same courtesy."
Leonard was staring at Sheldon as if he had grown another head.
"I have to agree with Sheldon," added Howard, "I know jealousy's a green-eyed monster but damn you pretty much kissed your chances with Penny goodbye cause you couldn't reign it in. If you did kiss her yesterday when she was an emotional wreck, you should have realized that she's still likely dealing with that today. It's been what…12 hours?"
"Thereabouts," confirmed Sheldon.
"You're going to need to apologize to both of them if you want even the smallest chance of those 'beautiful and smart babies' to exist outside of your dreams."
"But come on," whined Leonard, "You can't tell me it's normal for two women to cuddle like that?"
"Did you enter into a relationship agreement with Penny…whose last name we still don't know," trailed off Sheldon, now frowning in the direction of Penny and Eleanor's apartment.
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Everything. No relationship agreement means you don't get to say what is and isn't acceptable for her to do. More to the point, you have no say in what relationships she does form with other people."
"You know," began Howard, "It's kind of fucked up that Sheldon is the one who's more socially aware in this situation. Even if I disagree with the whole idea of a 'relationship agreement' the point's still valid. You're not in an exclusive romantic or any relationship with Penny. Hell, friendship is going to be difficult for you now that you did the stupidest Hulking out ever."
"Like you're better. You're constantly perving on them."
"Yep. Guilty as charged. I will willingly admit to admiring the view, as well as picturing both of them without clothes and in all sorts of situations just like I do with certain actresses that will remain nameless. However, I know better than to assume the fact that I'd like to have sex with a leather wearing dominatrix Eleanor means I can dictate her actual real-life behavior and relationships."
"I think I need more tea," remarked Sheldon pouring himself a second cup, "Having to agree with Wolowitz is…upsetting."
Both of them turned to look at him.
"The part about the fact that Leonard's fantasies about Penny does not give him the right to dictate her behavior and relationships, not the Wolowitz fantasizing about sex with Eleanor part. I have better things to think about."
"Say that again after you've had sex," countered Howard, "Though this should be a good indicator of how out of line you are where Sheldon and I agree on something."
Leonard deflated at that.
"I've messed up, haven't I?"
"Yes."
"Yep."
"How do I fix it?"
"Give them a few days and then apologize to both of them and actually mean the apology. Then forget about your fictional babies with Penny until she commits to a relationship with you."
"In the meantime, I believe that's your third strike. So, you have training to redo."
[Scene Change]
"Eleanor," asked Penny when she returned to her apartment.
"Sorry Mistress Penny, Mistress Eleanor is out for a walk," replied Winky, making herself visible.
Penny frowned, "I could have gone with her."
"Not that kind of walk, Mistress Penny."
"Still," she began trailing off as she flopped down on the couch.
"Mistress never likes taking people she likes into danger. She likes you too much to take you."
"She likes me," asked Penny, her face getting a slight red tinge to it.
Winky looked at her with a 'no duh' expression, "Mistress does. Mistress thinks of Mistress Penny as a good friend. Winky thinks it might become more with time. Winky thinks that cuddles is a good step in right direction."
Penny flushed a bit at that, "It's…a bit odd. I'm not normally interested in women but I …won't lie. I am kind of interested in Eleanor that way."
"Mistress Penny and Mistress's magic gets along well with each other. Though Winky warns Mistress Penny that Mistress cannot only have one mate."
Penny blinked, "What?"
"Mistress Penny knows that Mistress is wolfie, right?"
"Yes."
"Wolfies like packs."
"Really," asked Penny, "I know regular wolves like packs but werewolves too?"
"Wolfies are wolfies. Also gobbies say that Mistress needs to have many many babies to please Magic. Winky knows that Mistress and Mistress Penny not wanting to birth that many babies. So, more mates needed."
Penny definitely blushed at that, "But…"
"While Winky wanting to care of Mistress' babies, Winky knows that Mistress not ready for babies yet. Mistress has to get used to touchy feely stuff before baby making can happen."
"There's that but I'm a woman."
"So," asked Winky, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"I don't have the tab P to go into slot V. I have another slot V."
"Winky forgets that Mistress Penny is Slayer not Witch. Loviegoods have spells they rent out to same couples for baby making. 'Tis how Loviegoods make money for Crumple Horned Snorkack quests."
Penny blinked. Somehow, she should have realized that Magic was the answer. "Crumple Horned Snorkack? Is that another magical thing that sounds like it's an euphemism for something sexual?"
Winky shrugged, "Only Loviegoods know for sure."
"Um…Winky…does Eleanor know that you want her to make babies?"
"Winky thought it best not to tell Mistress yet. Mistress still learning how to live without nasty human magical expectations and hypocrisy."
There was a lot of anger in the elf's voice at the last bit. Penny decided to change the subject.
"Winky, do you know how to do tattoos?"
"Winky does not know. Why does Mistress Penny ask?"
"Eleanor was talking about getting some runic tattoos and I was hoping to get your opinion on some designs. Plus I think she'd be more comfortable with you doing it than some random guy."
Winky got a contemplative look on her face, "Mistress not say so but Mistress is proud of defeating spiky fire breather and giant venom snake. If tattoos on visible parts of body, Winky suggests designs feature those. Winky believes that Moon Loviegood has other suggestions."
"Would it be possible for you to ask the Moon Loviegood for her suggestions?"
"Winky will ask. Anything else Mistress Penny?"
"Does Eleanor have any favorite desserts besides the ice cream? I'd like to have something ready for her when she gets back as an apology for that mess."
"Mistress likes pasta and either treacle tart or cheesecake."
"Could you make some? I'm…no good in the kitchen.
"Winky would be happy to make Mistresses food."
At that the elf turned toward the kitchen and began working on food. Penny was left alone with her thoughts.
AN: So, yeah, I don't care for Leonard that much. I realize that in the canon show, he was written in a way to make the inevitable Leonard/Penny romance develop slowly. However, a lot of his behavior is…questionable especially when it comes to Penny. My inner Hufflepuff is also offended by his lack of loyalty both to his friends (the Arctic incident with the electric can opener) and to Penny (the other women he pursues despite his interest in Penny, lack of faith in her as an actress, etc.). So, unless my muse decides to whack him upside the head with some positive character development, he'll probably get more bashing as the story develops.
To briefly address Winky's last scene. Yes, Winky is trying to push her Mistress towards a more romantic relationship. Why? Because as a family elf, she wants the family to grow so that she has more people to care for. This also decreases the chances of Winky winding back up without a family. She also believes that a romantic relationship would be good for her Mistress. However, she also knows that trying to talk to her Mistress about it will likely do more harm than good so she's sticking to working in the background and occasionally talking to the future Mistresses or Masters to get them to move in the right direction.