Conclusion: Undocumented
It took twenty-seven and a half renditions of Soft Kitty as a round in order for Penny to fall asleep. He kept count for the purpose of his daily social interactions log; something he was particularly looking forward to writing in this evening. Penny had succumbed to the drowsy influence of the painkillers twelve minutes ago though, and he had yet to move from the side of her bed.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face, something that seemed nonsensical, yet made him feel oddly proud of a job well done. Penny was the only one amongst his friends whom he could count on to help him, no matter what situation. Or, at the very least, he hadn’t come across a situation which she would refuse him help in, even if the help was given rather begrudgingly at times. It was only fair that he help her in return, it was why he had agreed to drive her to the hospital despite knowing that a cab would be quicker than he would, given his lack of driving experience.
He stared at her for a moment more, wondering if the smile would ever leave her face or if she was still happily singing Soft Kitty to herself as she slept. He knew that he would sometimes wake up humming it after his own mother had sung him to sleep the night before.
Finally he leaned to the left slowly, trying to ease himself off the side of Penny’s mattress without waking her or disturbing her sleep. After he had eased into a standing position, he paused, somewhat at a loss. Should he leave her alone? What if she needed help during the night? Would he hear her from his apartment? Surely not, what if she were disoriented and confused? She could further injure her person if he left her to fend for herself.
That was simply unacceptable. He moved across the hall quickly, gathering his laptop, his Monday pyjamas, and his social interactions journal. On his way back over to Penny’s, he grabbed the Thai menu he had been about to order from when this whole ordeal had started. His stomach growled in approval as he realized it had been far too long since his last meal.
Once he arrived back at Penny’s, he checked to ensure she was still sleeping. She was, smile still in place, though she had rolled onto her left side in his absence. Once he returned to the living area, he looked for a spot to set his things down so he could call and order the food - but he couldn’t even find the phone, let alone space for his things. He sighed softly to himself as he gingerly cleared space for his laptop, placing his clothes on top in a neat pile. Clearly he would have to tidy first.
A short time later, he located the telephone under a pile of unfolded clean laundry. He placed an order for two (with only minor haggling involved on his part) rationalizing his order with the thought that Penny was bound to be hungry when she woke up. He continued on his zigzag cleaning pattern, checking to ensure that Penny was adequately aligned within her bed from time to time.
He had just finished once the food arrived, and he sat at Penny’s small table, eating it quickly and quietly as he pondered the events of the day. He hadn’t had the opportunity to examine the day earlier, but as he ate in silence, he found his mind preoccupied with what had happened.
His hands had shaken so badly when she first called for help that he hadn’t even bothered to place his telephone in its charging cradle properly. It had slid across the floor - was still on the floor actually, since he hadn’t taken the time to replace it when he had gone over earlier to retrieve his things.
His hands had actually shaken. He supposed he could be forgiven, as it was clearly anxiety causing his hands to shake. His body had merely been preparing itself for the upcoming negative events. He would make a note in his journal about it though, and keep a close eye on his biological reactions in the future.
He nodded to himself as he continued to chew. Anxiety also explained his other symptoms - the heart palpitations, nausea and shortness of breath. He had been anxious, of course. The fact that the symptoms had remained once he had been assured of her relative physical safety though, still puzzled him.
As did his peeking.
Of course he had explained it away to Penny as customary. The hero always looked. What he hadn’t said was how oddly compelled he had felt to open his eyes, directly going against his promise to Penny not to. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. He simply had to look. He couldn’t even rationalize it as simply a normal male reaction to a naked female body. He grew up with a twin sister, who had had gaggles upon gaggles of giggling girls in her room in various states of undress all the time when he was home on university breaks. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had plenty of opportunity to ogle the female form. He had. He just hadn’t previously felt any desire to look. Until today. Until it was suddenly Penny’s naked form in front of him, bent awkwardly as she had held her shorts in her left hand and stepped into them, dropping her shower curtain.
Her shower curtain was ruined - Sheldon made a mental note to purchase a new one, along with adhesive ducks for her at his earliest convenience.
Damn his eidetic memory. The image of her nude form felt as if it was burned into his retina, and he was sure it was all he would see when he eventually attempted to close his eyes that night. He sighed softly again, blinking down at his empty plate in surprise. He did not remember finishing his meal, but he gathered the plate and cutlery, moving it over to the sink where he washed and dried it absent-mindedly.
He did not remember the car ride very well. His anxiety levels had been high, and he had needed all his focus to concentrate on driving. He in no way wanted this real-life experience to follow the same route his simulated driving experiences had. Once at the hospital, he knew he had done a poor job of comforting Penny, but in all fairness he had been at a loss as to what type of physical contact was necessitated. He couldn’t put a comforting hand on her shoulder, since her injured shoulder was the only one within reach. He supposed a one-armed hug would have been acceptable, but he was uncomfortable with type of picture that sort of gesture would paint in regards to the status of their friendship. She was Leonard’s girlfriend at the moment. Not to mention the fact that Sheldon had enough issues giving two-armed hugs. He couldn’t even fathom the mechanics of doing it minus one appendage and allowing for an injury on the recipient’s part.
So he had tried to convey reassurance through his body language. Turning to face Penny fully and tilting his head to indicate interest and genuine sympathy. He had smiled, in case she somehow missed the previous visual cues. Penny had seemed to appreciate his effort in any case.
He didn’t like to think about the drive home. It had taken twice as long to accomplish, since his attention had been divided between the road and keeping Penny contained to the passenger seat only.
Singing Soft Kitty though... singing with Penny had been a surprise. Her tone and pitch had been increasingly improving with each rendition of the song she sang. He had been startled to find himself thinking that she actually sang Soft Kitty quite nicely, and even more shocked that he found the combination of his tenor and her alto to be quite pleasing. He had felt an odd sensation as he sang with her repeatedly - neither the heart palpitations from earlier when she had shouted, nor the shortness of breath he had felt upon his hand brushing not-her-arm. It had simply felt... warm. Comforting. Pleasant.
He glanced in on Penny one last time after he had changed into his Monday pyjamas. She was on the brink of rolling onto her right side, so her reached out and gently pushed down on her left shoulder until she rolled in that direction instead. A smile was still on her face, and he could hear strains of Soft Kitty in her hum. She sighed gustily before smiling once more and settling into her pillow.
“Thanks, Moonpie.” She sleepily mumbled and Sheldon stared at her for a moment in horror. Normally her calling him that resulted in irritation on his part, but to his dismay, hearing her speak it in a sleepy voice only served to make the sensation in his chest grow and grow until he wasn’t sure if he could even properly breathe in the same space that she occupied. He somehow managed to stumble out the bedroom door quietly, moving over to the couch before sinking onto to it, aghast.
“Dear Lord, I have feelings for her.” He sat in confusion for a moment before straightening up. She was his friend. And Leonard’s girlfriend.
For the first time in twenty-three years, Sheldon Cooper did not write in his daily social interactions journal before he went to sleep. He could not write an incomplete report, but found he could not bring himself to report his findings either.
He could only fold himself into an awkward position on Penny’s couch and close his eyes in order to give in to his perfect recall.
He fell asleep with a smile.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face, something that seemed nonsensical, yet made him feel oddly proud of a job well done. Penny was the only one amongst his friends whom he could count on to help him, no matter what situation. Or, at the very least, he hadn’t come across a situation which she would refuse him help in, even if the help was given rather begrudgingly at times. It was only fair that he help her in return, it was why he had agreed to drive her to the hospital despite knowing that a cab would be quicker than he would, given his lack of driving experience.
He stared at her for a moment more, wondering if the smile would ever leave her face or if she was still happily singing Soft Kitty to herself as she slept. He knew that he would sometimes wake up humming it after his own mother had sung him to sleep the night before.
Finally he leaned to the left slowly, trying to ease himself off the side of Penny’s mattress without waking her or disturbing her sleep. After he had eased into a standing position, he paused, somewhat at a loss. Should he leave her alone? What if she needed help during the night? Would he hear her from his apartment? Surely not, what if she were disoriented and confused? She could further injure her person if he left her to fend for herself.
That was simply unacceptable. He moved across the hall quickly, gathering his laptop, his Monday pyjamas, and his social interactions journal. On his way back over to Penny’s, he grabbed the Thai menu he had been about to order from when this whole ordeal had started. His stomach growled in approval as he realized it had been far too long since his last meal.
Once he arrived back at Penny’s, he checked to ensure she was still sleeping. She was, smile still in place, though she had rolled onto her left side in his absence. Once he returned to the living area, he looked for a spot to set his things down so he could call and order the food - but he couldn’t even find the phone, let alone space for his things. He sighed softly to himself as he gingerly cleared space for his laptop, placing his clothes on top in a neat pile. Clearly he would have to tidy first.
A short time later, he located the telephone under a pile of unfolded clean laundry. He placed an order for two (with only minor haggling involved on his part) rationalizing his order with the thought that Penny was bound to be hungry when she woke up. He continued on his zigzag cleaning pattern, checking to ensure that Penny was adequately aligned within her bed from time to time.
He had just finished once the food arrived, and he sat at Penny’s small table, eating it quickly and quietly as he pondered the events of the day. He hadn’t had the opportunity to examine the day earlier, but as he ate in silence, he found his mind preoccupied with what had happened.
His hands had shaken so badly when she first called for help that he hadn’t even bothered to place his telephone in its charging cradle properly. It had slid across the floor - was still on the floor actually, since he hadn’t taken the time to replace it when he had gone over earlier to retrieve his things.
His hands had actually shaken. He supposed he could be forgiven, as it was clearly anxiety causing his hands to shake. His body had merely been preparing itself for the upcoming negative events. He would make a note in his journal about it though, and keep a close eye on his biological reactions in the future.
He nodded to himself as he continued to chew. Anxiety also explained his other symptoms - the heart palpitations, nausea and shortness of breath. He had been anxious, of course. The fact that the symptoms had remained once he had been assured of her relative physical safety though, still puzzled him.
As did his peeking.
Of course he had explained it away to Penny as customary. The hero always looked. What he hadn’t said was how oddly compelled he had felt to open his eyes, directly going against his promise to Penny not to. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. He simply had to look. He couldn’t even rationalize it as simply a normal male reaction to a naked female body. He grew up with a twin sister, who had had gaggles upon gaggles of giggling girls in her room in various states of undress all the time when he was home on university breaks. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had plenty of opportunity to ogle the female form. He had. He just hadn’t previously felt any desire to look. Until today. Until it was suddenly Penny’s naked form in front of him, bent awkwardly as she had held her shorts in her left hand and stepped into them, dropping her shower curtain.
Her shower curtain was ruined - Sheldon made a mental note to purchase a new one, along with adhesive ducks for her at his earliest convenience.
Damn his eidetic memory. The image of her nude form felt as if it was burned into his retina, and he was sure it was all he would see when he eventually attempted to close his eyes that night. He sighed softly again, blinking down at his empty plate in surprise. He did not remember finishing his meal, but he gathered the plate and cutlery, moving it over to the sink where he washed and dried it absent-mindedly.
He did not remember the car ride very well. His anxiety levels had been high, and he had needed all his focus to concentrate on driving. He in no way wanted this real-life experience to follow the same route his simulated driving experiences had. Once at the hospital, he knew he had done a poor job of comforting Penny, but in all fairness he had been at a loss as to what type of physical contact was necessitated. He couldn’t put a comforting hand on her shoulder, since her injured shoulder was the only one within reach. He supposed a one-armed hug would have been acceptable, but he was uncomfortable with type of picture that sort of gesture would paint in regards to the status of their friendship. She was Leonard’s girlfriend at the moment. Not to mention the fact that Sheldon had enough issues giving two-armed hugs. He couldn’t even fathom the mechanics of doing it minus one appendage and allowing for an injury on the recipient’s part.
So he had tried to convey reassurance through his body language. Turning to face Penny fully and tilting his head to indicate interest and genuine sympathy. He had smiled, in case she somehow missed the previous visual cues. Penny had seemed to appreciate his effort in any case.
He didn’t like to think about the drive home. It had taken twice as long to accomplish, since his attention had been divided between the road and keeping Penny contained to the passenger seat only.
Singing Soft Kitty though... singing with Penny had been a surprise. Her tone and pitch had been increasingly improving with each rendition of the song she sang. He had been startled to find himself thinking that she actually sang Soft Kitty quite nicely, and even more shocked that he found the combination of his tenor and her alto to be quite pleasing. He had felt an odd sensation as he sang with her repeatedly - neither the heart palpitations from earlier when she had shouted, nor the shortness of breath he had felt upon his hand brushing not-her-arm. It had simply felt... warm. Comforting. Pleasant.
He glanced in on Penny one last time after he had changed into his Monday pyjamas. She was on the brink of rolling onto her right side, so her reached out and gently pushed down on her left shoulder until she rolled in that direction instead. A smile was still on her face, and he could hear strains of Soft Kitty in her hum. She sighed gustily before smiling once more and settling into her pillow.
“Thanks, Moonpie.” She sleepily mumbled and Sheldon stared at her for a moment in horror. Normally her calling him that resulted in irritation on his part, but to his dismay, hearing her speak it in a sleepy voice only served to make the sensation in his chest grow and grow until he wasn’t sure if he could even properly breathe in the same space that she occupied. He somehow managed to stumble out the bedroom door quietly, moving over to the couch before sinking onto to it, aghast.
“Dear Lord, I have feelings for her.” He sat in confusion for a moment before straightening up. She was his friend. And Leonard’s girlfriend.
For the first time in twenty-three years, Sheldon Cooper did not write in his daily social interactions journal before he went to sleep. He could not write an incomplete report, but found he could not bring himself to report his findings either.
He could only fold himself into an awkward position on Penny’s couch and close his eyes in order to give in to his perfect recall.
He fell asleep with a smile.