fic; TBBT: Coffee. (prompted.)
Aaaand back to Big Bang Theory fic! My dinner was boring and there was no good television and sometimes challenges are too much to pass up.
title: Coffee.
fandom: The Big Bang Theory.
pairing: Penny/Sheldon
rating: PG.
words: 2742.
disclaimer: Fiction. I don't even know any real-life scientists, so.
notes: Written for this prompt in the kink challenge thing. Post last night's episode, 'The Hofstadter Isotope.'
Penny's never liked the phrase, "You learn something new everyday." It just, it doesn't make sense. Days, whole weeks, spent hungover and mainlining 'Saved by the Bell' reruns, what did she learn those days? Nothing. Not even about the dangers of caffeine pills (saw that one years ago). Not a single thing.
But, in her current apartment, with her current neighbors, learning something is becoming more of an everyday thing and it's a good feeling, it feels like progress, it feels like she's not like the girls back home, knocked up and stagnant.
The even bigger upside is that she's finding that most of the time when you're learning stuff, you also have the opportunity to teach. And teaching anything to four guys who are going to win Nobel Prizes and save the planet and, like, figure out cool fusion or whatever makes her feel great. Maybe it makes her feel like she's worth more than the Cheesecake Factory and dead-end auditions and she needs to feel like that sometimes.
The things she ends up teaching, though, boy, they're things she figured everyone knew. And when she wakes up on her couch, alone, and there's no earnest-but-not-abrasive comic book shop employee anywhere around her, she decides she's going to have to teach Sheldon about some social stuff, dating stuff, whatever. She's going to have to teach him that if she's having a guy in for coffee, she doesn't actually want to have a drink and she certainly doesn't want to end up throwing some nerd tea party.
She wants to get laid.
(Or she wants to just make out a little bit, whatever, she's not fussy and she's not always kind of maybe a little bit slutty.)
The only hitch in her plan is she has to be at work in (oh, shit) 40 minutes, so class isn't exactly immediately in session. Instead, she pops her head into the boys' apartment (must be nice to always have weekends off) on her way out of the building and tells Sheldon he better be prepared because the school bell rings promptly at 9 p.m.
She leaves and can hear him screeching to Leonard for the first two flights of stairs.
Work is stupid and boring (and she's certainly not learning anything here), but it's a lot of regulars and so she doesn't have to think about orders much. Instead she spends her time fantasizing about a lesson plan. She figures it's too broad and intimidating to teach Sheldon the entire secret language of dating -- and it's not like she has it all figured out, though she wouldn't admit it -- so she decides on a single lesson: not cock-blocking your friends. Sure, she doesn't actually have, like, a cock, but she figures (hopes) he'll realize it's not literal.
It's 8:45 when Sheldon knocks on her door and of course he's early, it's probably some habit bred from the need to find the best seat in the lecture hall, but it doesn't matter, she's ready.
He beelines for his chair before looking up at her, she's rocking her Britney Spears' sexy school girl outfit, which she hopes conveys two points: that's this is an academic setting and that he's not going to learn it the same way he learned particle physics.
Instead he just gives her a once-over, disapproving, not appreciative, and says, "Penny, that outfit hardly commands any respect. When I'm forced to teach, I, at the very least, make sure my midriff is covered."
Penny rolls her eyes, which has become such a frequent occurrence that the doctor told her the headaches she's been getting are actually caused by it and then starts as if he hadn't said anything.
"Today's lesson is about how to read and understand signals, so that you don't unintentionally screw up your friends' plans to get some." And she looks at him all school-marm face, real taskmaster stuff.
The whole vibe, the student/teacher thing, it's popped when Sheldon replies back with a typical Sheldon response.
"Get some what?"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"Some, Sheldon. Like, get some action. Fool around. Hook up." She rattles off as many things as she can think of, Sheldon's face increasingly confused, before just going with, "PHYSICAL INTIMACY, Sheldon, sexual touching. Is any of this making sense?"
He gets that stupid, satisfied smile on his face, the one he uses when he's proved Wolowitz wrong or thrown his own version of a zing at Leslie Winkle. "Why, yes, of course. I understand that some people actually make that focus of their lives." And he glances at the door, and presumably through it and the other one, right to where Leonard is sitting on the couch mooning over the chick from 'Space Cases' on some newer spaceship show.
"All right, great. And can you understand by not, um, lowering yourself to that level that maybe you're screwing up other people getting what they want?"
His face is confused now, like he can't understand how he could have anything to do with other people fulfilling (or not fulfilling) their, what did he call it? "Baser needs," that was it.
All this was just supposed to be the introduction, but it's stretching into minute after minute and class won't be dismissed for hours if she doesn't change course. It's got to be blunt and hands-on, it's the only way.
She moves to the couch and sits down, undoing the knot in her oxford and looking him right in the eye.
"You have to understand that sometimes, in dating, people say one thing, but it's a clue, like, a code, it means something else." She gives him a pleading look, like, please understand me. Please.
"Penny, I can say with absolutely certainty that I have not once bore witness to this 'code.' I would know, I'm an excellent cryptographer and my skills translate to verbal codes as well."
"Yeah, no. Last night, you missed one last night."
"When? Was Stuart using Batman as a code for something? I would say that was more of a metaphor --"
All the fun has sort of been sucked out of this and now it's just become glaringly apparent that if she doesn't teach him this, the next time she brings home a guy with half a brain (which might, truth be told, be a while), Sheldon's just going to barrel right through that, too. It has to stop now.
"'Making coffee' means kissing. Sometimes more. It doesn't mean coffee, Sheldon."
Sheldon stands up from the couch, all forceful, like he's right and this conversation is over, "That is not true! I've been offered coffee many times and not once been presented with anything more than a beverage."
"That's because it doesn't always mean that. But last night, with Stuart, asking a guy into your apartment for 'coffee' after a date, that doesn't mean coffee."
"Stuart appeared to think it did."
"That's because Stuart is just like you." The sentence is out there, hanging around for a few moments before she realizes its implications, but Sheldon doesn't and just throws his hands up into the air.
"Well, what an arbitrary system. I can't assess every coffee situation for the rest of my life with such limited data. Perhaps if you warn me ahead of time, or signal somehow that we are now using the code, I'll be better able to adapt. How about tugging on your left ear three times? Then I'll know that there's some 'getting some'...going on."
Well, this is progress, at least, but she refuses to run around tugging on her ear every time Sheldon is around her and a date. Sheldon needs to learn, just like everybody, else how normal people act and figure each other out.
"No, Sheldon, no signal. You're learning now." She does the arms-crossed, stern look thing.
She doesn't actually have a plan to teach him this stuff, but he looks a little bit receptive, sort of, and so she just blurts out, "You're learning by doing."
"I beg your pardon?" And he looks offended or something, she can't tell.
"I'm going to invite you for coffee and you tell me what I meant. This is how you'll see the difference."
In some half-formed way, it actually makes a little bit of sense to her, plus, bonus, she'll get to act a little bit. Never hurts to practice.
"I find this exercise to be both pedantic and unnecessary. If you would just tug on your --"
"NO, Sheldon. Get ready."
He flops back down onto the couch, or his own version of flopping (a weird version of dainty and awkward and maybe a little bit endearing in a dopey way) and crosses his arms.
"Fine."
"Good."
She runs through a few quick scenarios and settles on one to start. She sits down next to him on the couch, knees underneath her, leaning into him, eyelashes batting and everything and says, "Gee, it's getting late, maybe you could stay for coffee?"
Sheldon leans away from her a little bit and she's worried she's scared him, but he's just leaning back to look at her better. He looks like he's taking in all her body language, her face, finally he nods his head, satisfied.
"That sounds wonderful. Two sugars, no cream, please."
She lets out a groan.
It goes like this for 45 minutes. He gets only one right and it's because she actually gets fed up and aggressive enough to ask him for coffee with her hand resting on his upper thigh, just inches from his dick. And then maybe she squeezed a little.
It's not worth it, it's just not worth it, she'll tug on her fucking ear, she wear a sign, hire a skywriter to let him know, whatever, she can't keep trying to do teach him this. It'll never take.
"All right, Sheldon, that's enough for one night. Why don't we just watch some TV? You can even pick a nerd show, since you were sort of of a good sport."
He checks his watch, but it must not be bedtime yet because he reaches for the remote and settles further into the couch.
They're almost through their second X-Files rerun when Penny starts to yawn, but she doesn't have to work tomorrow and she's not going to squander her version of a Friday night by going to bed early. Instead she pushes herself up from the cushions.
"I'm going to make some coffee, do you want some?"
Sheldon immediately stands up, too, and gets that supervillain, evil smile thing. He reaches out to touch her arm, which sort of scares the hell out of her.
"Why, yes, Penny, I would happily accept some coffee." His eyebrows are arched like maybe he's trying to waggle them, Mulder-style, but instead he just looks surprised and weird.
What the fuck?
Oh.
Oh.
He thinks it's another test.
She's still kind of irritated at the 45 minute marathon of confusion from earlier and, aw, fuck it, why not make the lesson really stick?
She looks him right in the eye to see if he backs down, but she didn't take into account how serious Sheldon takes, like, knowing things and understanding things.
"Perfect, coffee sounds awesome," and she takes a little step forward.
His smile falters a little bit, but he's got this look on that she could easily picture him wearing during some final exam in some poorly-lit lecture hall. He's determined to pass.
He surprises her by tightening his grip on her arm.
It's, uh, it's sort of hot.
But then he just stands there. It takes her a second, but she realizes in Sheldon's mind, "coffee" is tit-for-tat and it's her turn.
She moves a hand up to cup his neck, figuring that'll be it, he'll flinch or coil away or, like, run back to his apartment, but he doesn't. He just moves his other hand to her hip.
They're in an awkward pose, intimate while still...scientific? But she can't help her face from getting hot and realizing that Sheldon smells like soap and dryer sheets and that there are muscles in his neck flexing under her hand and muscles in his hands flexing on her hip and arm.
The next logical step in "coffee" is pretty obviously kissing, but it's her move and, wow, this went a lot different than she expected. Because she definitely didn't expect to want to kiss Sheldon. Even though maybe, sometimes, arguing with him is one of the best parts of her day. Even though he's tall and smart and fixes things for her and occasionally looks doofy enough that he comes out the other side looking cute.
The longer she stands thinking about it, the weirder things are getting and she can feel her hand getting sweaty on his neck. Sheldon or not, she's not compromising the sexy part of her self-image. She's not the girl with clammy hands in the thick of things, she's good at all this, this is her thing.
She double-checks his face one more time, his eyes are wide and his lips are, oh god, his lips are parted. That's got to be involuntary, right? It's, like, it's response to stimulus or something.
Whatever it is, it's enough, it's permission or something and she leans up and into him. She realizes halfway there that's he too tall, she's not going to make it, but then he's bending down, meeting her move and then they're, he's, she's, they're, she's kissing Sheldon.
It starts off innocent, like, more innocent than she's had since the seventh grade, but it actually, it feels really good, and she opens her mouth a little bit more and Sheldon's hand moves from her arm to around her back and seriously, how does he even know how to do this?
She brings her other hand up, so her hands are looped behind his neck and then Sheldon's mouth is open a little bit too. She realizes somewhere in the back of her mind that he's still matching her move for move, but it's all going so fast she can't keep track.
She licks at the inside of his mouth, just a little bit and then he does the same and then it's just kissing, making out, coffee.
He's not as intense of some of the guys she's kissed, but he's thorough, and she'd take restraint over trying to touch her tonsils any day. Their tongues are just kind of going back and forth, and then his hand is moving from her hip to the small of her back and she's pressing her body closer to his, up on tiptoe.
When she moves her hand under his shirt to skirt at the top of his boxers, he moves his hand around to chest and they're groping, really groping and she's doing the totally-not-graceful side-stumble, reaching for the couch to pull him down on to it.
As she moves her mouth to his neck (and he makes this choked groan in his throat that she can feel under her lips and, wow, she never thought she'd hear Sheldon make a noise like that for anything but Halo), she realizes she didn't really set the endgame for, uh, coffee. With a normal guy, she'd follow this all the way to the bedroom and an awkward tomorrow morning, but it's Sheldon. And she wants to be able to see him tomorrow morning with only the normal amount of awkwardness.
She eases away from his neck and his mouth only chases after her for a split second before he's back to being in control of his "baser needs."
She looks at him, his mouth all wet and red and she almost launches herself right back at him, but instead she eeks out an, "Um."
He's never been at a loss for words around her and even with the whole, like, making out thing, he apparently isn't now. He just looks at her back and says, "Thank you for the coffee, Penny."
It's some sort of suave line, but not with his delivery and so she just laughs and walks toward the door to let him out.
The next morning, she barges in on Sheldon and Leonard having breakfast and watching cartoons. Leonard offers her some coffee and she can see Sheldon watching out of the corner of his eye.
"No, thanks, I'm good." And she pours herself a cup.
title: Coffee.
fandom: The Big Bang Theory.
pairing: Penny/Sheldon
rating: PG.
words: 2742.
disclaimer: Fiction. I don't even know any real-life scientists, so.
notes: Written for this prompt in the kink challenge thing. Post last night's episode, 'The Hofstadter Isotope.'
Penny's never liked the phrase, "You learn something new everyday." It just, it doesn't make sense. Days, whole weeks, spent hungover and mainlining 'Saved by the Bell' reruns, what did she learn those days? Nothing. Not even about the dangers of caffeine pills (saw that one years ago). Not a single thing.
But, in her current apartment, with her current neighbors, learning something is becoming more of an everyday thing and it's a good feeling, it feels like progress, it feels like she's not like the girls back home, knocked up and stagnant.
The even bigger upside is that she's finding that most of the time when you're learning stuff, you also have the opportunity to teach. And teaching anything to four guys who are going to win Nobel Prizes and save the planet and, like, figure out cool fusion or whatever makes her feel great. Maybe it makes her feel like she's worth more than the Cheesecake Factory and dead-end auditions and she needs to feel like that sometimes.
The things she ends up teaching, though, boy, they're things she figured everyone knew. And when she wakes up on her couch, alone, and there's no earnest-but-not-abrasive comic book shop employee anywhere around her, she decides she's going to have to teach Sheldon about some social stuff, dating stuff, whatever. She's going to have to teach him that if she's having a guy in for coffee, she doesn't actually want to have a drink and she certainly doesn't want to end up throwing some nerd tea party.
She wants to get laid.
(Or she wants to just make out a little bit, whatever, she's not fussy and she's not always kind of maybe a little bit slutty.)
The only hitch in her plan is she has to be at work in (oh, shit) 40 minutes, so class isn't exactly immediately in session. Instead, she pops her head into the boys' apartment (must be nice to always have weekends off) on her way out of the building and tells Sheldon he better be prepared because the school bell rings promptly at 9 p.m.
She leaves and can hear him screeching to Leonard for the first two flights of stairs.
Work is stupid and boring (and she's certainly not learning anything here), but it's a lot of regulars and so she doesn't have to think about orders much. Instead she spends her time fantasizing about a lesson plan. She figures it's too broad and intimidating to teach Sheldon the entire secret language of dating -- and it's not like she has it all figured out, though she wouldn't admit it -- so she decides on a single lesson: not cock-blocking your friends. Sure, she doesn't actually have, like, a cock, but she figures (hopes) he'll realize it's not literal.
It's 8:45 when Sheldon knocks on her door and of course he's early, it's probably some habit bred from the need to find the best seat in the lecture hall, but it doesn't matter, she's ready.
He beelines for his chair before looking up at her, she's rocking her Britney Spears' sexy school girl outfit, which she hopes conveys two points: that's this is an academic setting and that he's not going to learn it the same way he learned particle physics.
Instead he just gives her a once-over, disapproving, not appreciative, and says, "Penny, that outfit hardly commands any respect. When I'm forced to teach, I, at the very least, make sure my midriff is covered."
Penny rolls her eyes, which has become such a frequent occurrence that the doctor told her the headaches she's been getting are actually caused by it and then starts as if he hadn't said anything.
"Today's lesson is about how to read and understand signals, so that you don't unintentionally screw up your friends' plans to get some." And she looks at him all school-marm face, real taskmaster stuff.
The whole vibe, the student/teacher thing, it's popped when Sheldon replies back with a typical Sheldon response.
"Get some what?"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"Some, Sheldon. Like, get some action. Fool around. Hook up." She rattles off as many things as she can think of, Sheldon's face increasingly confused, before just going with, "PHYSICAL INTIMACY, Sheldon, sexual touching. Is any of this making sense?"
He gets that stupid, satisfied smile on his face, the one he uses when he's proved Wolowitz wrong or thrown his own version of a zing at Leslie Winkle. "Why, yes, of course. I understand that some people actually make that focus of their lives." And he glances at the door, and presumably through it and the other one, right to where Leonard is sitting on the couch mooning over the chick from 'Space Cases' on some newer spaceship show.
"All right, great. And can you understand by not, um, lowering yourself to that level that maybe you're screwing up other people getting what they want?"
His face is confused now, like he can't understand how he could have anything to do with other people fulfilling (or not fulfilling) their, what did he call it? "Baser needs," that was it.
All this was just supposed to be the introduction, but it's stretching into minute after minute and class won't be dismissed for hours if she doesn't change course. It's got to be blunt and hands-on, it's the only way.
She moves to the couch and sits down, undoing the knot in her oxford and looking him right in the eye.
"You have to understand that sometimes, in dating, people say one thing, but it's a clue, like, a code, it means something else." She gives him a pleading look, like, please understand me. Please.
"Penny, I can say with absolutely certainty that I have not once bore witness to this 'code.' I would know, I'm an excellent cryptographer and my skills translate to verbal codes as well."
"Yeah, no. Last night, you missed one last night."
"When? Was Stuart using Batman as a code for something? I would say that was more of a metaphor --"
All the fun has sort of been sucked out of this and now it's just become glaringly apparent that if she doesn't teach him this, the next time she brings home a guy with half a brain (which might, truth be told, be a while), Sheldon's just going to barrel right through that, too. It has to stop now.
"'Making coffee' means kissing. Sometimes more. It doesn't mean coffee, Sheldon."
Sheldon stands up from the couch, all forceful, like he's right and this conversation is over, "That is not true! I've been offered coffee many times and not once been presented with anything more than a beverage."
"That's because it doesn't always mean that. But last night, with Stuart, asking a guy into your apartment for 'coffee' after a date, that doesn't mean coffee."
"Stuart appeared to think it did."
"That's because Stuart is just like you." The sentence is out there, hanging around for a few moments before she realizes its implications, but Sheldon doesn't and just throws his hands up into the air.
"Well, what an arbitrary system. I can't assess every coffee situation for the rest of my life with such limited data. Perhaps if you warn me ahead of time, or signal somehow that we are now using the code, I'll be better able to adapt. How about tugging on your left ear three times? Then I'll know that there's some 'getting some'...going on."
Well, this is progress, at least, but she refuses to run around tugging on her ear every time Sheldon is around her and a date. Sheldon needs to learn, just like everybody, else how normal people act and figure each other out.
"No, Sheldon, no signal. You're learning now." She does the arms-crossed, stern look thing.
She doesn't actually have a plan to teach him this stuff, but he looks a little bit receptive, sort of, and so she just blurts out, "You're learning by doing."
"I beg your pardon?" And he looks offended or something, she can't tell.
"I'm going to invite you for coffee and you tell me what I meant. This is how you'll see the difference."
In some half-formed way, it actually makes a little bit of sense to her, plus, bonus, she'll get to act a little bit. Never hurts to practice.
"I find this exercise to be both pedantic and unnecessary. If you would just tug on your --"
"NO, Sheldon. Get ready."
He flops back down onto the couch, or his own version of flopping (a weird version of dainty and awkward and maybe a little bit endearing in a dopey way) and crosses his arms.
"Fine."
"Good."
She runs through a few quick scenarios and settles on one to start. She sits down next to him on the couch, knees underneath her, leaning into him, eyelashes batting and everything and says, "Gee, it's getting late, maybe you could stay for coffee?"
Sheldon leans away from her a little bit and she's worried she's scared him, but he's just leaning back to look at her better. He looks like he's taking in all her body language, her face, finally he nods his head, satisfied.
"That sounds wonderful. Two sugars, no cream, please."
She lets out a groan.
It goes like this for 45 minutes. He gets only one right and it's because she actually gets fed up and aggressive enough to ask him for coffee with her hand resting on his upper thigh, just inches from his dick. And then maybe she squeezed a little.
It's not worth it, it's just not worth it, she'll tug on her fucking ear, she wear a sign, hire a skywriter to let him know, whatever, she can't keep trying to do teach him this. It'll never take.
"All right, Sheldon, that's enough for one night. Why don't we just watch some TV? You can even pick a nerd show, since you were sort of of a good sport."
He checks his watch, but it must not be bedtime yet because he reaches for the remote and settles further into the couch.
They're almost through their second X-Files rerun when Penny starts to yawn, but she doesn't have to work tomorrow and she's not going to squander her version of a Friday night by going to bed early. Instead she pushes herself up from the cushions.
"I'm going to make some coffee, do you want some?"
Sheldon immediately stands up, too, and gets that supervillain, evil smile thing. He reaches out to touch her arm, which sort of scares the hell out of her.
"Why, yes, Penny, I would happily accept some coffee." His eyebrows are arched like maybe he's trying to waggle them, Mulder-style, but instead he just looks surprised and weird.
What the fuck?
Oh.
Oh.
He thinks it's another test.
She's still kind of irritated at the 45 minute marathon of confusion from earlier and, aw, fuck it, why not make the lesson really stick?
She looks him right in the eye to see if he backs down, but she didn't take into account how serious Sheldon takes, like, knowing things and understanding things.
"Perfect, coffee sounds awesome," and she takes a little step forward.
His smile falters a little bit, but he's got this look on that she could easily picture him wearing during some final exam in some poorly-lit lecture hall. He's determined to pass.
He surprises her by tightening his grip on her arm.
It's, uh, it's sort of hot.
But then he just stands there. It takes her a second, but she realizes in Sheldon's mind, "coffee" is tit-for-tat and it's her turn.
She moves a hand up to cup his neck, figuring that'll be it, he'll flinch or coil away or, like, run back to his apartment, but he doesn't. He just moves his other hand to her hip.
They're in an awkward pose, intimate while still...scientific? But she can't help her face from getting hot and realizing that Sheldon smells like soap and dryer sheets and that there are muscles in his neck flexing under her hand and muscles in his hands flexing on her hip and arm.
The next logical step in "coffee" is pretty obviously kissing, but it's her move and, wow, this went a lot different than she expected. Because she definitely didn't expect to want to kiss Sheldon. Even though maybe, sometimes, arguing with him is one of the best parts of her day. Even though he's tall and smart and fixes things for her and occasionally looks doofy enough that he comes out the other side looking cute.
The longer she stands thinking about it, the weirder things are getting and she can feel her hand getting sweaty on his neck. Sheldon or not, she's not compromising the sexy part of her self-image. She's not the girl with clammy hands in the thick of things, she's good at all this, this is her thing.
She double-checks his face one more time, his eyes are wide and his lips are, oh god, his lips are parted. That's got to be involuntary, right? It's, like, it's response to stimulus or something.
Whatever it is, it's enough, it's permission or something and she leans up and into him. She realizes halfway there that's he too tall, she's not going to make it, but then he's bending down, meeting her move and then they're, he's, she's, they're, she's kissing Sheldon.
It starts off innocent, like, more innocent than she's had since the seventh grade, but it actually, it feels really good, and she opens her mouth a little bit more and Sheldon's hand moves from her arm to around her back and seriously, how does he even know how to do this?
She brings her other hand up, so her hands are looped behind his neck and then Sheldon's mouth is open a little bit too. She realizes somewhere in the back of her mind that he's still matching her move for move, but it's all going so fast she can't keep track.
She licks at the inside of his mouth, just a little bit and then he does the same and then it's just kissing, making out, coffee.
He's not as intense of some of the guys she's kissed, but he's thorough, and she'd take restraint over trying to touch her tonsils any day. Their tongues are just kind of going back and forth, and then his hand is moving from her hip to the small of her back and she's pressing her body closer to his, up on tiptoe.
When she moves her hand under his shirt to skirt at the top of his boxers, he moves his hand around to chest and they're groping, really groping and she's doing the totally-not-graceful side-stumble, reaching for the couch to pull him down on to it.
As she moves her mouth to his neck (and he makes this choked groan in his throat that she can feel under her lips and, wow, she never thought she'd hear Sheldon make a noise like that for anything but Halo), she realizes she didn't really set the endgame for, uh, coffee. With a normal guy, she'd follow this all the way to the bedroom and an awkward tomorrow morning, but it's Sheldon. And she wants to be able to see him tomorrow morning with only the normal amount of awkwardness.
She eases away from his neck and his mouth only chases after her for a split second before he's back to being in control of his "baser needs."
She looks at him, his mouth all wet and red and she almost launches herself right back at him, but instead she eeks out an, "Um."
He's never been at a loss for words around her and even with the whole, like, making out thing, he apparently isn't now. He just looks at her back and says, "Thank you for the coffee, Penny."
It's some sort of suave line, but not with his delivery and so she just laughs and walks toward the door to let him out.
The next morning, she barges in on Sheldon and Leonard having breakfast and watching cartoons. Leonard offers her some coffee and she can see Sheldon watching out of the corner of his eye.
"No, thanks, I'm good." And she pours herself a cup.