fic: old acquaintance
FANDOM: THE BIG BANG THEORY
Title: Old Acquaintance
Word Count: 3,166
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sheldon/Penny, pre-ship
Summary: Two New Year's Eves.
A/N - I suppose that it would actually be smart to wait until the end of December to post this, but I've been working on it for months (it's one of those stories that you start and write a little bit more of every week) and it's finally done and I just want to post it... so I am! I
Old Acquaintance
New Year’s Eve, 1997
Penny hated her cousins. And her sister. And her brother. Basically her whole family, really - they were just so… mean. She was the youngest of all of them by several years, which had meant a lot of attention when she was little, but lots of teasing now she was a bit older. And when she tried to stick up for herself they would just laugh at her.
Well, she’d show them. She’d become a Championship Skier and then they’d be sorry for laughing on the slopes today.
The hotel ballroom was full of people enjoying the party, and so Penny had had no trouble getting away from her annoying family, and now she needed somewhere to hide before one of them came looking for her. If she made jokes they teased her and if she stayed quiet they called her sulky, so Penny was cutting her losses and trying to find somewhere to enjoy New Year’s Eve without them. Not that she would anyway, because none of her friends were here and this party was lame.
The hall was decked in tacky decorations and the bar staff had just started giving out cheap champagne because there was only ten minutes left until midnight. Penny had got halfway round the room when she found a possible hiding place - a fold-out notice board. It was of those ones made of three parts like a Chinese screen, but it was pretty big and the middle of it was kind of away from the wall. If Penny could squeeze behind it, it would be a decent place to hide out from her family.
She snuck a look over her shoulder and found her family - it didn’t look like anyone was missing her yet (typical) - and then moved round to the side of the screen. She had to flatten herself against the wall, but she managed to squeeze in behind the screen without it wobbling, and found herself in a fenced-off little haven.
Except she wasn’t alone. Penny looked down into the wide eyes of a young boy, sitting on the floor with a book open on his lap. She instantly felt bad about busting in on his little hide-out, but also bummed that this place was taken already, because it was perfect.
“Um, hi,” she said after a moment.
“Hello,” the boy said. Then he frowned. “This is my reading spot. Find your own.” In the back of her mind Penny noted that the boy had a strong Texan accent, but she was more concerned with how rude he was. All thought of leaving him alone flew out of her head - no one spoke to her that way.
“Actually, I’m not looking for a reading spot,” she said, folding her arms. “I’m looking for a hiding spot. And this looks pretty good.” She sat down on the floor next to him, crossing her legs under her. The boy glared at her, and she glared right back at him.
“I’m trying to read,” he said angrily.
Penny shrugged. “I’m not stopping you,” she said. Then she looked away, staring at the screen in front of her.
She could feel the boy still staring at her, and after a few moments he spoke again. “From whom are you hiding?” He asked.
Penny gave him a mocking look. “It’s none of your business from whom I am hiding from,” she said.
“From whom I am hiding, not from whom I am hiding from,” he said scathingly.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said, turning away again.
The boy was silent, and a few moments later she glanced back at him to see he was reading his book, using a small keyring flashlight because it was pretty gloomy back there. The book was huge, like a textbook, and had a hard cover - Penny tried to peek over to see what it was about, but it just looked like a bunch of numbers.
“What are you reading?” She asked after a minute.
“None of your business,” the boy replied without looking up.
Penny pursed her lips, staring at the stubborn boy’s profile as he kept reading. She shook her head. “I’m hiding from my cousins,” she said. “And my brother and sister. They’re really annoying.”
The boy looked up at her and stared at her in silence for a moment, and she got the weird feeling he was sizing her up or something. She stared right back, and after a while he nodded. “I’m doing research for my dissertation,” he said. “I have a lot of reading to do but, like yourself, I have an extremely annoying family who will not give me any peace.”
Penny didn’t know what a dissertation was, but before she could ask everyone on the other side of their screen started shouting. “Ten! Nine! Eight!”
Penny scrambled forward on her knees and pressed her eye up against the gap in the screen. The boy stayed exactly where he was, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Don’t you wanna see?” She asked him.
The boy sighed but closed his book and shuffled so he was kneeling next to her, peering through the other gap.
“Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
The room erupted with cheers and everyone started drinking their champagne and hugging, and most people turned to the person next to them and kissed. Penny tried to see her family through the crowds of people but couldn’t, and in that moment she wished she’d stayed with them. She didn’t even have anyone to hug.
Well, except the boy.
Penny sat back on her heels and looked at him - he was still watching the crowd, who had all started to sing Auld Lang Syne. Very drunkenly. After a few moments he also sat back, and looked at her.
“Well, Happy New Year,” she said with a smile.
The boy looked unimpressed. “You know, the division of the year is purely arbitrary,” he said. “The only reason we celebrate the 1st January as being the beginning of the ‘new’” - he actually used air-quotes to make his point - “year is because the Roman Senate used to reconvene on that date - which was actually the eleventh month of the year - though they used to celebrate new year in March. Julius Caesar changed the calendar in 47BC during his Dictatorship.”
Penny stared at him, completely at sea. “What?”
The boy rolled his eyes. “The point is saying Happy New Year is a complete waste of time. You could celebrate it being a new year every single day. Every minute, if you wanted to.”
“Whatever,” said Penny, still completely confused. “I said “Happy New Year”. Say it back.”
“Did you not hear a word I just said?”
“Say it.”
“No.”
“Say it.” Penny scowled as hard as she could, and it seemed to work because he leant away slightly.
“Ugh, fine. Happy New Year,” he grumbled.
Penny was starting to enjoy herself now. “No, say it like you mean it,” she said.
“But I don’t mean it,” said the boy.
Penny shook her head. Seriously, who was this kid? “It doesn’t matter if you don’t mean it, you still have to act like you do,” she told him. “It’s how it’s done.”
“A social convention?” The boy asked. Penny blinked at him, and he rolled his eyes again. “How it’s done.”
Penny nodded. “Yep. With feeling. Just like the people at the party.”
The boy started to nod but then his eyes widened and he looked at Penny slightly fearfully. “You’re not going to kiss me, are you?”
Penny snorted. “What?”
The boy gestured to the screen. “It’s what all of those people were doing,” he said.
Penny shrugged. “Yeah… I don’t really see the point of that myself,” she said.
“Neither do I,” said the boy. “It seems wholly pointless.”
“Hmm,” said Penny. She paused. “But… there must be something… nice about it. I mean, so many people do it.”
“True,” said the boy. “One can only assume that chemical and hormonal reactions induced by kissing creates a pleasurable effect.”
“Huh?”
Another eye roll. “It must be nice.”
Penny’s stomach fluttered nervously, but she wasn’t one to let something like nervousness hold her back. “Maybe we should try it,” she said. The boy froze, and she quickly went on. “I mean, it wouldn’t mean anything, and then maybe we could see what all the fuss was about.”
There was a moment of loaded silence, before the boy nodded slowly. “I… that would be okay.”
Penny let out the breath she’d been holding and squared her shoulders. “Okay… I’ll count down,” she said. “Three… two… one…” And she leant forward and kissed him.
It was awkward - they were on their knees facing each other, Penny with her hands pressed firmly on top of her legs, and the boy with his giant book hugged to his chest. Their lips were the only parts of them touching, and they didn’t move, just stayed with their lips pressed together. Penny had her eyes closed, concentrating on the feeling, and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly the most amazing thing ever either. She still didn’t understand why her big sister was always sneaking out of the house to ‘make out’ with Lance.
Penny decided it had been long enough and pulled away from the kiss, but as she did she rocked forward slightly before moving backwards, and their lips brushed together just the tiniest amount before parting. Penny felt a weird kind of tingling feeling in her lips and yeah, it was kind of… nice.
She opened her eyes as she sat back properly, and saw the boy was already looking at her, his eyes wide again. Penny sat staring back at him, trying to think of something to say. After a moment the boy cleared his throat.
“Happy New Year,” he said.
There was silence for a moment, and then Penny laughed, all awkwardness evaporating. “Happy New Year,” she returned, and noted that the boy was now smiling, so maybe he’d liked the kiss too. Auld Lang Syne had given way to Kool & the Gang on the other side of the screen, and Penny knew she had to go. “I should probably find my family,” she said.
The boy nodded. “Yes, I imagine my parents are also looking for me by now,” he said.
They stood up and, with one last smile, went their separate ways.
XOXO
New Year’s Eve, 2010
“Having fun, Moonpie?”
“Don’t call me that,” Sheldon said automatically. “And of course not.”
Penny laughed and snatched two glasses of champagne from a passing tray. “Lighten up,” she said. “As New Year’s Eve parties go, this one ain’t bad.”
“Hmm,” said Sheldon, surveying the ballroom they stood in. It was a swanky, black-tie affair that Leonard’s new girlfriend Kathy had scored them all tickets to, and Penny for one was having a fabulous time. She’d spent most of the evening dancing with a string of one cute guy after another, while (unsurprisingly) Sheldon had stood in corner, repelling any woman that ventured near him… and quite a few of them had because, boy, did Sheldon Cooper look good in a tux.
Penny pressed one of the glasses of champagne into Sheldon’s hand, and responded to his unimpressed look with one of her own. “Social convention, Sheldon,” she said. “It’s almost midnight.”
“Thank god,” Sheldon muttered, before obediently taking a sip of his champagne.
Penny didn’t have time to reply because at that moment everyone around them started shouting. “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!”
Penny looked at Sheldon and saw he was checking the countdown against his watch, and grinned.
“Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
The room erupted with cheers and everyone started drinking their champagne and hugging, and most people turned to the person next to them and kissed. Penny grinned and turned to Sheldon. “C’mere, Moonpie,” she said, tugging on one of his lapels. Sheldon rolled his eyes but didn’t protest as Penny went up on tiptoes in her heels and gently brushed her lips against Sheldon’s. The whole thing lasted about half a second, and Sheldon didn’t move at all, but when Penny pulled away she saw he was staring at her intently, as though seeing her for the first time.
Penny smiled a little smugly and cocked her head to one side. “What?” She asked playfully.
Sheldon’s expression cleared and he looked thoughtful instead. “You looked very different when you were eleven,” he said suddenly. “But you kiss the same way.” He took another sip of his champagne and put it down on the table next to them. “Can we go home now?”
It took Penny five full seconds for her brain to catch up to the situation, and another three to convince herself that it was actually true; by the time she did Sheldon was already weaving his way through the groups of people holding hands and singing drunkenly, heading towards the exit.
Her face breaking into a startled grin, Penny hurried after him, dimly acknowledging that Auld Lang Syne was a pretty appropriate song for the moment.
Title: Old Acquaintance
Word Count: 3,166
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sheldon/Penny, pre-ship
Summary: Two New Year's Eves.
A/N - I suppose that it would actually be smart to wait until the end of December to post this, but I've been working on it for months (it's one of those stories that you start and write a little bit more of every week) and it's finally done and I just want to post it... so I am! I
Old Acquaintance
New Year’s Eve, 1997
Penny hated her cousins. And her sister. And her brother. Basically her whole family, really - they were just so… mean. She was the youngest of all of them by several years, which had meant a lot of attention when she was little, but lots of teasing now she was a bit older. And when she tried to stick up for herself they would just laugh at her.
Well, she’d show them. She’d become a Championship Skier and then they’d be sorry for laughing on the slopes today.
The hotel ballroom was full of people enjoying the party, and so Penny had had no trouble getting away from her annoying family, and now she needed somewhere to hide before one of them came looking for her. If she made jokes they teased her and if she stayed quiet they called her sulky, so Penny was cutting her losses and trying to find somewhere to enjoy New Year’s Eve without them. Not that she would anyway, because none of her friends were here and this party was lame.
The hall was decked in tacky decorations and the bar staff had just started giving out cheap champagne because there was only ten minutes left until midnight. Penny had got halfway round the room when she found a possible hiding place - a fold-out notice board. It was of those ones made of three parts like a Chinese screen, but it was pretty big and the middle of it was kind of away from the wall. If Penny could squeeze behind it, it would be a decent place to hide out from her family.
She snuck a look over her shoulder and found her family - it didn’t look like anyone was missing her yet (typical) - and then moved round to the side of the screen. She had to flatten herself against the wall, but she managed to squeeze in behind the screen without it wobbling, and found herself in a fenced-off little haven.
Except she wasn’t alone. Penny looked down into the wide eyes of a young boy, sitting on the floor with a book open on his lap. She instantly felt bad about busting in on his little hide-out, but also bummed that this place was taken already, because it was perfect.
“Um, hi,” she said after a moment.
“Hello,” the boy said. Then he frowned. “This is my reading spot. Find your own.” In the back of her mind Penny noted that the boy had a strong Texan accent, but she was more concerned with how rude he was. All thought of leaving him alone flew out of her head - no one spoke to her that way.
“Actually, I’m not looking for a reading spot,” she said, folding her arms. “I’m looking for a hiding spot. And this looks pretty good.” She sat down on the floor next to him, crossing her legs under her. The boy glared at her, and she glared right back at him.
“I’m trying to read,” he said angrily.
Penny shrugged. “I’m not stopping you,” she said. Then she looked away, staring at the screen in front of her.
She could feel the boy still staring at her, and after a few moments he spoke again. “From whom are you hiding?” He asked.
Penny gave him a mocking look. “It’s none of your business from whom I am hiding from,” she said.
“From whom I am hiding, not from whom I am hiding from,” he said scathingly.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said, turning away again.
The boy was silent, and a few moments later she glanced back at him to see he was reading his book, using a small keyring flashlight because it was pretty gloomy back there. The book was huge, like a textbook, and had a hard cover - Penny tried to peek over to see what it was about, but it just looked like a bunch of numbers.
“What are you reading?” She asked after a minute.
“None of your business,” the boy replied without looking up.
Penny pursed her lips, staring at the stubborn boy’s profile as he kept reading. She shook her head. “I’m hiding from my cousins,” she said. “And my brother and sister. They’re really annoying.”
The boy looked up at her and stared at her in silence for a moment, and she got the weird feeling he was sizing her up or something. She stared right back, and after a while he nodded. “I’m doing research for my dissertation,” he said. “I have a lot of reading to do but, like yourself, I have an extremely annoying family who will not give me any peace.”
Penny didn’t know what a dissertation was, but before she could ask everyone on the other side of their screen started shouting. “Ten! Nine! Eight!”
Penny scrambled forward on her knees and pressed her eye up against the gap in the screen. The boy stayed exactly where he was, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Don’t you wanna see?” She asked him.
The boy sighed but closed his book and shuffled so he was kneeling next to her, peering through the other gap.
“Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
The room erupted with cheers and everyone started drinking their champagne and hugging, and most people turned to the person next to them and kissed. Penny tried to see her family through the crowds of people but couldn’t, and in that moment she wished she’d stayed with them. She didn’t even have anyone to hug.
Well, except the boy.
Penny sat back on her heels and looked at him - he was still watching the crowd, who had all started to sing Auld Lang Syne. Very drunkenly. After a few moments he also sat back, and looked at her.
“Well, Happy New Year,” she said with a smile.
The boy looked unimpressed. “You know, the division of the year is purely arbitrary,” he said. “The only reason we celebrate the 1st January as being the beginning of the ‘new’” - he actually used air-quotes to make his point - “year is because the Roman Senate used to reconvene on that date - which was actually the eleventh month of the year - though they used to celebrate new year in March. Julius Caesar changed the calendar in 47BC during his Dictatorship.”
Penny stared at him, completely at sea. “What?”
The boy rolled his eyes. “The point is saying Happy New Year is a complete waste of time. You could celebrate it being a new year every single day. Every minute, if you wanted to.”
“Whatever,” said Penny, still completely confused. “I said “Happy New Year”. Say it back.”
“Did you not hear a word I just said?”
“Say it.”
“No.”
“Say it.” Penny scowled as hard as she could, and it seemed to work because he leant away slightly.
“Ugh, fine. Happy New Year,” he grumbled.
Penny was starting to enjoy herself now. “No, say it like you mean it,” she said.
“But I don’t mean it,” said the boy.
Penny shook her head. Seriously, who was this kid? “It doesn’t matter if you don’t mean it, you still have to act like you do,” she told him. “It’s how it’s done.”
“A social convention?” The boy asked. Penny blinked at him, and he rolled his eyes again. “How it’s done.”
Penny nodded. “Yep. With feeling. Just like the people at the party.”
The boy started to nod but then his eyes widened and he looked at Penny slightly fearfully. “You’re not going to kiss me, are you?”
Penny snorted. “What?”
The boy gestured to the screen. “It’s what all of those people were doing,” he said.
Penny shrugged. “Yeah… I don’t really see the point of that myself,” she said.
“Neither do I,” said the boy. “It seems wholly pointless.”
“Hmm,” said Penny. She paused. “But… there must be something… nice about it. I mean, so many people do it.”
“True,” said the boy. “One can only assume that chemical and hormonal reactions induced by kissing creates a pleasurable effect.”
“Huh?”
Another eye roll. “It must be nice.”
Penny’s stomach fluttered nervously, but she wasn’t one to let something like nervousness hold her back. “Maybe we should try it,” she said. The boy froze, and she quickly went on. “I mean, it wouldn’t mean anything, and then maybe we could see what all the fuss was about.”
There was a moment of loaded silence, before the boy nodded slowly. “I… that would be okay.”
Penny let out the breath she’d been holding and squared her shoulders. “Okay… I’ll count down,” she said. “Three… two… one…” And she leant forward and kissed him.
It was awkward - they were on their knees facing each other, Penny with her hands pressed firmly on top of her legs, and the boy with his giant book hugged to his chest. Their lips were the only parts of them touching, and they didn’t move, just stayed with their lips pressed together. Penny had her eyes closed, concentrating on the feeling, and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly the most amazing thing ever either. She still didn’t understand why her big sister was always sneaking out of the house to ‘make out’ with Lance.
Penny decided it had been long enough and pulled away from the kiss, but as she did she rocked forward slightly before moving backwards, and their lips brushed together just the tiniest amount before parting. Penny felt a weird kind of tingling feeling in her lips and yeah, it was kind of… nice.
She opened her eyes as she sat back properly, and saw the boy was already looking at her, his eyes wide again. Penny sat staring back at him, trying to think of something to say. After a moment the boy cleared his throat.
“Happy New Year,” he said.
There was silence for a moment, and then Penny laughed, all awkwardness evaporating. “Happy New Year,” she returned, and noted that the boy was now smiling, so maybe he’d liked the kiss too. Auld Lang Syne had given way to Kool & the Gang on the other side of the screen, and Penny knew she had to go. “I should probably find my family,” she said.
The boy nodded. “Yes, I imagine my parents are also looking for me by now,” he said.
They stood up and, with one last smile, went their separate ways.
XOXO
New Year’s Eve, 2010
“Having fun, Moonpie?”
“Don’t call me that,” Sheldon said automatically. “And of course not.”
Penny laughed and snatched two glasses of champagne from a passing tray. “Lighten up,” she said. “As New Year’s Eve parties go, this one ain’t bad.”
“Hmm,” said Sheldon, surveying the ballroom they stood in. It was a swanky, black-tie affair that Leonard’s new girlfriend Kathy had scored them all tickets to, and Penny for one was having a fabulous time. She’d spent most of the evening dancing with a string of one cute guy after another, while (unsurprisingly) Sheldon had stood in corner, repelling any woman that ventured near him… and quite a few of them had because, boy, did Sheldon Cooper look good in a tux.
Penny pressed one of the glasses of champagne into Sheldon’s hand, and responded to his unimpressed look with one of her own. “Social convention, Sheldon,” she said. “It’s almost midnight.”
“Thank god,” Sheldon muttered, before obediently taking a sip of his champagne.
Penny didn’t have time to reply because at that moment everyone around them started shouting. “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!”
Penny looked at Sheldon and saw he was checking the countdown against his watch, and grinned.
“Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
The room erupted with cheers and everyone started drinking their champagne and hugging, and most people turned to the person next to them and kissed. Penny grinned and turned to Sheldon. “C’mere, Moonpie,” she said, tugging on one of his lapels. Sheldon rolled his eyes but didn’t protest as Penny went up on tiptoes in her heels and gently brushed her lips against Sheldon’s. The whole thing lasted about half a second, and Sheldon didn’t move at all, but when Penny pulled away she saw he was staring at her intently, as though seeing her for the first time.
Penny smiled a little smugly and cocked her head to one side. “What?” She asked playfully.
Sheldon’s expression cleared and he looked thoughtful instead. “You looked very different when you were eleven,” he said suddenly. “But you kiss the same way.” He took another sip of his champagne and put it down on the table next to them. “Can we go home now?”
It took Penny five full seconds for her brain to catch up to the situation, and another three to convince herself that it was actually true; by the time she did Sheldon was already weaving his way through the groups of people holding hands and singing drunkenly, heading towards the exit.
Her face breaking into a startled grin, Penny hurried after him, dimly acknowledging that Auld Lang Syne was a pretty appropriate song for the moment.