The Paternal Catalyst 12
The Paternal Catalyst
Rating: PG
Word Count: Over 44,000 in all
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize except California. That I rule.
Spoilers: Up to the Maternal Congruence
Summary: Because of Penny's father, Penny finds herself hiding in the laundry room while Sheldon constructs a dating formula and Leonard performs human experiments.
Author's Note: In this fic, Bernadette and Howard are broken up. I originally had a subplot that revolved around their break-up and make-up. However, I couldn't really work it in without disrupting the flow. I MAY write it as a companion piece but as of now, consider this fic AU in that respect.
(This fic was beta'd by the charming talkingmetaphor without whom I would still have the shoddy grammar that comes from writing while an insomniac)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
12
Leonard
Leonard stared hard at the door, wondering what his move should be.
He’d tried talking to Penny all week, but she wouldn’t answer either her phone or her door. After he’d left her apartment he’d restated all he’d said to her in his mind. He really sucked with words. He’d practically told her she was nothing more than willing sex to him. He wanted to apologize but was halfway between fearing he’d make things worse and the fact that he was ashamed of himself.
He really did like Penny. She was a sweet person with an interesting view of the world unlike that of him and his circle. She was clever and witty but upon talking to her, he realized they just weren’t meant to be dating. Friends, yes, best friends, even. But they fought constantly and while he knew fighting was a normal component of relationships, this was different. For one, he couldn’t handle her hanging out with other men. Not because he thought she would cheat on him, but because he thought she’d realize he was a loser and leave him. He didn’t know if he’d ever get over the suspicion that it was too good to last. And they didn’t act like boyfriend-girlfriend, but more like friends who occasionally had sex. They didn’t work through their problems together or tell each other their secrets.
As he’d talked to her on their last date, he’d come to realize this. Once more, he realized they truly had nothing to say to one another. Sure, they’d make jokes about the others and each would complain about their day, but they had no interesting stories to share, no inclination to share them. No common interests.
He came home and tried to talk to Sheldon about it. Sheldon, after his It’s doomed to fail anyway and similar remarks, and his long drawn-out monologue about how love doesn’t exist, blah, blah, blah, did manage to help. Sheldon had given him an exasperated look and asked, ‘Leonard, if you must insist the chemicals swimming in your brain resulting from coitus with Penny are different than the ones caused by Leslie or Dr. Stephanie, you have to back it up with evidence.’
Leonard hadn’t been able to, not in the sense that love is intangible or anything similar. No, when Leonard compared the three, he realized he hadn’t felt any different with Penny. With complete certainty, he also noted he hadn’t even really begun to have those feelings with Leslie until they’d had sex. And while Leslie was his colleague, they hadn’t talked prior to that.
He’d felt both guilty for leading Penny on and sick, because he really wanted to be in love with her. She was perfect and beautiful and seemed to like him. But he wasn’t and he didn’t feel right continuing their relationship in such dishonesty. Had she volunteered to simply be friends with benefits, he wouldn’t have argued. While he hadn’t expected it, he’d surely been hoping. But he was mostly hoping to just be the friend part.
He’d rehearsed what he was going to say beforehand. In his head of course. To him, they sounded fine but as soon as he spoke them out loud he’d realized how insulting they were. Next time he’d rehearse with Howard or something. It explained Penny’s reaction to an extent but something in him expected her to just go, ‘Meh, I can find other guys.’ She actually seemed sad about it.
Had he made a mistake? No, he was a hundred percent confident in his realization. He sighed, what little courage he’d possessed having left him.
‘What are you doing?’ demanded an impatient voice behind him. Leonard looked back to see Sheldon standing in the door way. ‘Never mind,’ he decided, closing the door behind him. ‘I don’t actually care. Let’s go to work.’
As mean as it seemed, Sheldon was actually acting a bit nicer than he had in past events. Ever since the arctic expedition, Sheldon’s comments had had more barbs on them than usual, and at times Leonard felt the other man held some contempt toward him. At first Leonard suspected he just hadn’t forgiven Leonard, Howard, or Raj for making him think he’d proven the string isotope theory. But then Sheldon treated Howard and Raj the same as he always had. The only other person, in fact, he’d seemed to hold a grudge against was Penny. Since it wasn’t the arctic thing and obviously wasn’t just generalized distress, Leonard had to suspect he and Penny had done something wrong.
With an IQ not much lower than Sheldon’s (though if you asked the theoretical physicist, the difference was astronomical) Leonard wasn’t a dumb man. Since this behavior had started around the same time he and Penny had started dating, Leonard was certain that was the causation. Sheldon had seemed annoyed with Leonard for even pursuing her, and stated ad nauseam their relationship wouldn’t work out. With the evidence presented, Leonard couldn’t see any reason for Sheldon to be angry. If he felt their relationship was affecting him personally or he had any other gripes, he wasn’t the type to keep quiet about it. That Leonard hadn’t heard anything worried him. He was further disconcerted because after he’d told Sheldon he’d broken it off, Sheldon seemed to warm to him immensely, even going so far as to let him pick which retro game to play.
He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject and he was half-afraid of what he might hear. Though he couldn’t imagine what. The not-knowing was bothering him more than it should and it was part of the reason he’d opted to stay late at the office tonight. Even with Ernie Winkler, the lead nanotechnologist whining in his ear was preferable to that.
Chapter 13
Rating: PG
Word Count: Over 44,000 in all
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize except California. That I rule.
Spoilers: Up to the Maternal Congruence
Summary: Because of Penny's father, Penny finds herself hiding in the laundry room while Sheldon constructs a dating formula and Leonard performs human experiments.
Author's Note: In this fic, Bernadette and Howard are broken up. I originally had a subplot that revolved around their break-up and make-up. However, I couldn't really work it in without disrupting the flow. I MAY write it as a companion piece but as of now, consider this fic AU in that respect.
(This fic was beta'd by the charming talkingmetaphor without whom I would still have the shoddy grammar that comes from writing while an insomniac)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
12
Leonard
Leonard stared hard at the door, wondering what his move should be.
He’d tried talking to Penny all week, but she wouldn’t answer either her phone or her door. After he’d left her apartment he’d restated all he’d said to her in his mind. He really sucked with words. He’d practically told her she was nothing more than willing sex to him. He wanted to apologize but was halfway between fearing he’d make things worse and the fact that he was ashamed of himself.
He really did like Penny. She was a sweet person with an interesting view of the world unlike that of him and his circle. She was clever and witty but upon talking to her, he realized they just weren’t meant to be dating. Friends, yes, best friends, even. But they fought constantly and while he knew fighting was a normal component of relationships, this was different. For one, he couldn’t handle her hanging out with other men. Not because he thought she would cheat on him, but because he thought she’d realize he was a loser and leave him. He didn’t know if he’d ever get over the suspicion that it was too good to last. And they didn’t act like boyfriend-girlfriend, but more like friends who occasionally had sex. They didn’t work through their problems together or tell each other their secrets.
As he’d talked to her on their last date, he’d come to realize this. Once more, he realized they truly had nothing to say to one another. Sure, they’d make jokes about the others and each would complain about their day, but they had no interesting stories to share, no inclination to share them. No common interests.
He came home and tried to talk to Sheldon about it. Sheldon, after his It’s doomed to fail anyway and similar remarks, and his long drawn-out monologue about how love doesn’t exist, blah, blah, blah, did manage to help. Sheldon had given him an exasperated look and asked, ‘Leonard, if you must insist the chemicals swimming in your brain resulting from coitus with Penny are different than the ones caused by Leslie or Dr. Stephanie, you have to back it up with evidence.’
Leonard hadn’t been able to, not in the sense that love is intangible or anything similar. No, when Leonard compared the three, he realized he hadn’t felt any different with Penny. With complete certainty, he also noted he hadn’t even really begun to have those feelings with Leslie until they’d had sex. And while Leslie was his colleague, they hadn’t talked prior to that.
He’d felt both guilty for leading Penny on and sick, because he really wanted to be in love with her. She was perfect and beautiful and seemed to like him. But he wasn’t and he didn’t feel right continuing their relationship in such dishonesty. Had she volunteered to simply be friends with benefits, he wouldn’t have argued. While he hadn’t expected it, he’d surely been hoping. But he was mostly hoping to just be the friend part.
He’d rehearsed what he was going to say beforehand. In his head of course. To him, they sounded fine but as soon as he spoke them out loud he’d realized how insulting they were. Next time he’d rehearse with Howard or something. It explained Penny’s reaction to an extent but something in him expected her to just go, ‘Meh, I can find other guys.’ She actually seemed sad about it.
Had he made a mistake? No, he was a hundred percent confident in his realization. He sighed, what little courage he’d possessed having left him.
‘What are you doing?’ demanded an impatient voice behind him. Leonard looked back to see Sheldon standing in the door way. ‘Never mind,’ he decided, closing the door behind him. ‘I don’t actually care. Let’s go to work.’
As mean as it seemed, Sheldon was actually acting a bit nicer than he had in past events. Ever since the arctic expedition, Sheldon’s comments had had more barbs on them than usual, and at times Leonard felt the other man held some contempt toward him. At first Leonard suspected he just hadn’t forgiven Leonard, Howard, or Raj for making him think he’d proven the string isotope theory. But then Sheldon treated Howard and Raj the same as he always had. The only other person, in fact, he’d seemed to hold a grudge against was Penny. Since it wasn’t the arctic thing and obviously wasn’t just generalized distress, Leonard had to suspect he and Penny had done something wrong.
With an IQ not much lower than Sheldon’s (though if you asked the theoretical physicist, the difference was astronomical) Leonard wasn’t a dumb man. Since this behavior had started around the same time he and Penny had started dating, Leonard was certain that was the causation. Sheldon had seemed annoyed with Leonard for even pursuing her, and stated ad nauseam their relationship wouldn’t work out. With the evidence presented, Leonard couldn’t see any reason for Sheldon to be angry. If he felt their relationship was affecting him personally or he had any other gripes, he wasn’t the type to keep quiet about it. That Leonard hadn’t heard anything worried him. He was further disconcerted because after he’d told Sheldon he’d broken it off, Sheldon seemed to warm to him immensely, even going so far as to let him pick which retro game to play.
He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject and he was half-afraid of what he might hear. Though he couldn’t imagine what. The not-knowing was bothering him more than it should and it was part of the reason he’d opted to stay late at the office tonight. Even with Ernie Winkler, the lead nanotechnologist whining in his ear was preferable to that.
Chapter 13