Round 5: Drabble Submissions
Please comment to this entry with your drabbles. And remember, there's no limitation as to how many you can post. Drabble submissions will remain open for the next two weeks, until August 1st
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Knock, knock, knock. “Penny?”
Knock, knock, knock. “Penny?”
With a long-suffering sigh, Penny opened the door, ready to tell Sheldon one more time how unnecessary his knocking ritual was. Tossing her blonde curls over one shoulder, she opened her mouth (already in arguing-with-Sheldon mode, something Leonard, Howard and Raj considered a pointless endeavour) when one look at Sheldon’s face made her utter a soft cry. Her hand flew to her mouth as she took in the bright, nearly glowing red marking Sheldon’s face and neck; save for two shockingly white rings around his eyes he looked as though he was going to a Halloween party as…that superhero who wore a red mask.
“Sheldon!” Her voice came out a little breathy, which surprised her, and she swallowed hard. “Sweetie, what happened?!”
Sheldon’s voice was as surprising as her own - too soft and shaky, from someone who she’d come to expect to be defiantly confident and sure of himself in every utterance. “I was flying custom kites in the park with Leonard, Howard and Raj all morning. I have reason to believe that, in a fit of jealously over the obvious superiority of my own creation when compared to theirs, they switched my SPF 50 sunscreen with…double cream. And when I got back to the apartment I realised that in Leonard’s eternal neglect of the Roommate Agreement he hadn’t stocked the medicine cabinet with the aftersun lotion that my delicate skin relies on. Luckily, I was wearing my sunglasses, so at least I protected my eyes from the deathly rays of the burning ball of hateful UV that is our solar system’s primary star.” He paused. “I assumed that their wiping strawberries on my arms before eating them was yet another social custom which I had rightfully ignored as being beneath me.”
Penny ushered him in, truthfully ignoring most of his explanation but feeling an instant flare of anger at the others. “Oh, sweetie, here, come sit down.” Sheldon sat gingerly on the sofa, and she allowed herself to gently touch her fingertips to his cheek. They both flinched a little; he at the unexpected contact (and, presumably, the pain) and she at the shocking heat of his skin. “You just wait right there, I’ve got some stuff in the bathroom.” She rushed to her medicine cabinet, taking out her aloe vera gel and running back to join Sheldon on the sofa, squeezing a little green gel onto her hands and placing the bottle on the coffee table.
“OK, this might feel a little cold.” She tentatively dabbed some onto Sheldon’s cheek, and he gave an almighty lurch. “Sorry!” She continued to smooth the gel over his face, which began to take on a strange reflective appearance. He winced, but didn’t protest, sitting almost completely still throughout. As she moved to roll up his sleeves, she saw the abrupt line where he must’ve kept his trademark long sleeves rolled up to in the park. She took his hand in her own and used the other to tenderly rub the gel into his forearm. She could feel his muscles tense a little, and she looked up to see him staring intently at their joined hands. Her fingers kept massaging gently at his sore arm, and she repeated the motion on the other. The air around them was heavy with the scent of aloe vera, and she could feel her own shallow breathing begin to match his own. A powerful urge to wrap him in her arms, to fiercely protect him from anyone who sneered at him or didn’t understand him, and to go across the hall and give the others a taste of her nice right hook swept over her. She finished with the gel and looked up at him, a small, reassuring smile on her face. He returned it, looking every inch the lost little boy.
“Thank you, Penny.”
Her smile grew a little wider. “You’re welcome, sweetie.”
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And I could totally hear his soft and sincere, "Thank you, Penny." Heee!
Another great job!
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