Heaven Has No Rage

Leonard was whining again. It was one of his more annoying habits. He was non-confrontational, passive aggressive, and so he would never say what was bothering him or take a stand on an issue. He would give the appearance of capitulation and then the war of attrition would start.

Howard, whose company had become much more tolerable after she'd punched him, and especially after he and Bernadette began dating, shrugged of Leonard's whiny remarks with an ease she envied. "Well you know what they say man, 'Hell hath no fury'."

She rolled her eyes and looked over at Sheldon. After waiting a moment for him to react she realized that he had no intention of correcting Howard's misquote. "Sheldon?" When she called his name he looked up absently, "Honey are you okay?"

"I'm feeling a bit chilled, leading me to believe Leonard has violated the roommate agreement regarding the thermostat setting but I'm well otherwise," Sheldon gave her a puzzled look and returned his attention to the television. After a moment he looked back at her, "Why do you ask? Is this some misguided effort to make conversation?"

"No…" Penny shook her head slowly. "It's just unlike you to not correct someone when they're wrong."

"That is unlike me," Sheldon nodded. "I must not have been paying attention. To what instance are you referring?"

She looked at Howard and then at Sheldon, "Howard's quote. It's…not the actual quote."

"Everyone says that though," Howard shrugged. One of Howards more endearing qualities was his willingness to give her the benefit of the doubt. Sheldon would too, generally, unless she was wrong, or if the argument was so subjective that he would refer to hippies and hokum. But that was just Sheldon. When she was right he admitted it. From Raj's whispers to Howard so would he. Leonard however…

As if on cue Leonard rolled his eyes, "How would you know Penny? You didn't even finish college."

"Right," Penny wondered why on earth she'd been contemplating giving him another chance. "I didn't. That doesn't mean I don't know how to read."

Leonard muttered something not quite as under his breath as he thought, and Sheldon sucked in a harsh breath, his Vulcan hearing obviously catching it. He wasn't the only one and seriously why was she thinking in terms of Star Trek? Penny narrowed her eyes at Leonard, "Speak up Leonard, and share with the group."

"I said sometimes I wonder since all you do is watch TV and look at the pictures in fashion magazines," Leonard repeated snidely. "So how would you know if Howard was wrong or not?"

Sheldon was taking another deep breath, obviously prepared to go on one of his rants and Penny patted his knee. He'd give himself a heart attack or dizzy spells if he didn't stop doing that. "It's okay Sheldon. It's nice to know what Leonard really thinks of me." She stared at the man who'd stolen her mail, waylaid her, pestered and begged and whined, then gotten her drunk in order to sleep with her and wondered if the nice guy she thought he'd been was all an act. "After all… I'm just a dumb blonde. I'm eye candy. I look good on someone's, especially in high heels and a short skirt. I'm just a trophy. A notch to put on his bedpost so he can get one up on all the jocks who used to bully him."

"I object," Sheldon nearly burst with the words. "You are not dumb, and your fine qualities exceed your physical attributes, which are considerable even if one discounts them as superficial. You are an expert at social dynamics and the art of fitting into a group. You are kind and considerate of others needs, when you know what they are." He added the qualifier in an obvious effort at honesty. "You know how to talk to anyone about anything and make everyone feel welcome if they give you a chance. And apart from all of that and too many other positive talents to list at this time, you're a good friend."

Penny took a moment to translate what he'd said and smiled at him. Sheldon had a habit of talking like he was writing a term paper, but if you allowed for the language and method of communication he was trying to be nice. To defend her.

"Yeah, dude, I mean Penny's not a rocket scientist, but she doesn't have to be," Howard was translating for Raj as he whispered in the engineer's ear. "She teases but she isn't mean, and she doesn't say something's wrong unless it is. It isn't a game of one-upmanship to her."

She grinned at Raj, "Thank you Raj. That's very kind of you to have Howard help you say."

"What's with all of you," Leonard groused. "All of the sudden she's right about everything?"

"Not everything," Sheldon corrected with icy precision. "But anything to do with the theatre, social experiences or fashion, yes I would give Penny the benefit of the doubt."

"Fine," Leonard sniped. "Then how was Howard wrong? I call bullshit."

Penny rolled her eyes, "Wow." She looked at Sheldon, "Sweetie, would you mind going to your computer and looking up the play, 'The Mourning Bride'? It's by William Congreve."

"Of course," Sheldon rose from his spot and logged onto his computer, googling quickly. "Here it is. It has a Wikipedia page."

"Right. The quote I'm thinking of should be on it, somewhere near the top. Or you could look up what Howard said," Penny told him. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. When you type that in it should reference the Congreve play."

"You are correct, it does," Sheldon turned and looked at her expectantly. "I will confirm the accuracy of your correction if you like."

Penny nodded and looked at Howard with a smile, "Most people think it's something from Shakespeare. It's actually two lines mashed together. 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned'." She explained, "We talked a lot about it in my theatre classes. His plays were some of the first where the women in them were actually played by women and not men."

Sheldon nodded and began to shut down his laptop again, "Your quote is correct Penny." He informed her with a smile. "The Restoration period right?"

"Yeah," She grinned at him and would have continued but Leonard made a sputtering noise.

"Geez, it's a stupid line from a stupid play," He waved his hand as if to dismiss it. "Who cares? So Howard got it wrong. Everybody knew what he meant. So what if Sheldon didn't notice it and Penny did. Are you going to go around correcting us all the time like he does?"

Penny looked over at Sheldon who'd paused in his movements with Leonard's vitriolic outburst. "Forgive me Leonard if I enjoy accuracy and correct grammar in a conversation," Sheldon moved back towards his spot on the couch. His voice was mild enough but those blue eyes were like ice. "If you find these things to be so disquieting you are welcome to employ the standard 'escape clause' of the roommate agreement and depart the premises."

"You wouldn't last a week without me driving you around and fetching takeout," Leonard retorted.

"Actually Leonard, I managed without you before and I'm certain I could do so again," Sheldon was disturbingly calm considering how hot under the collar Leonard was getting and Penny wondered if she'd stepped in something bigger than a little quote mistake. Howard and Raj were looking back and forth between the two roommates as if watching a tennis match. Penny caught Raj's eye and widened her eyes, flicking her gaze to Sheldon and Leonard as if to ask what was going on. It was a tossup as to whether he was clueless like her or just unable to talk since he shrugged helplessly as Leonard sneered.

"You know, maybe I will, it's not as if living with you does my social life any good. If it weren't for me people wouldn't even tolerate being around you or dealing with your schedule and childish demands," He stood, dumping his plate on the coffee table.

"You are free to depart forthwith," Sheldon nodded. "And I surmise that I can take this departure to mean that you are no longer my best friend?"

"Oh you can definitely go with that," Leonard stormed off into his room, presumably to pack.

"I'll have the paperwork ready for you to sign when you come back out," Sheldon called after him.

"Fine!"

Leonard's response wasn't surprising. Sheldon simply turned back to his computer and began to print out a series of documents. "Penny, may I impose upon you to serve as a witness to the dissolution of the relationship agreement and the friendship agreement?"

"Sure sweetie…" Penny replied cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you Penny," Sheldon gave her a quick, though sweet, smile over his shoulder and continued to print.

Penny sat back on the couch and looked at Howard and Raj, "What just happened?"

"I dunno," Howard shook his head. "Leonard's been all upset because some girl won't give him the time of day after he did something she didn't like. He's been sniping at Sheldon all day and blaming him. Which I totally don't get, it's not like Sheldon would have told him to go get another girl's number and leave it in his pants."

Penny cast a narrow-eyed look towards Leonard's bedroom door which had, predictably, slammed loudly as punctuation to his final words. "So I take it his girlfriend found it?"

"Apparently she was picking up their clothes and putting his car keys on the dresser and stuff and she found the paper along with the keys." Howard explained.

"What a jackass," Penny shook her head and took a nice soothing deep breath, reminding herself that they weren't dating anymore and that was a very good thing considering what she'd learned.

"Yeah, cheating isn't cool, playing the field, keeping everyone equally informed, that's one thing," The engineer shook his head. "But if you say you're in a committed relationship that means you don't go getting other girls' numbers. Even if you do think you can do better. If you think that you shouldn't be in the relationship."

"I wouldn't have expected you to utter such wisdom Howard," Sheldon commented. "Well done. I applaud your moral high ground."

Howard looked at Penny with wide eyes, "Did Sheldon just say I was right?"

Penny nodded, "First me, now you. Mark it on the calendar."

Howard nodded and made a note on his phone. Penny tilted her head, "Raj, if I get you a beer to sip, will you just sip it so you can talk to us? Not guzzle it down and turn into a perv?"

Raj nodded eagerly and Penny looked over at Sheldon, "Sheldon, you don't mind me giving Raj one light beer do you?"

"If it means he can partake in the conversation without turning into a Hindu Don Juan then I am all for it," Sheldon didn't even turn around to grant his permission. "Penny, bring your keys with you when you come back. You're going to need to have your locks changed."

"I…" Penny shook her head and decided to just do and not question for the moment. Coming back with the beer for Raj, her keys and Sheldon's keys as hasty afterthought she put them on the desk near his mouse. "Why do I need to have my locks changed? I can't afford that Sheldon."

"Because I believe Leonard may have made copies of your emergency key," Sheldon began typing an email to the landlord apprising him of the situation and Leonard's impending departure from the premises.

Penny moved back over to the couch and sat down, trying to take that in as she handed Raj his beer. "Say what?"

"Leonard has stolen your mail, he has inflicted his mother's psychoanalysis upon you, made you cry, gotten you drunk and taken advantage of your need for external validation in order to partake of coitus with you," Sheldon listed off Leonard's offenses and Penny shuddered at the mention of Mrs. Hofstadter. Or was it Doctor… She shook her head, either way, yeesh.

"And you think he'd use the keys to get in and do what?" Penny wasn't sure she wanted the answer to that question now that she'd asked, "You know what, never mind. I can imagine and I really don't want confirmation of what I'm thinking."

Sheldon closed his mouth and continued typing. Penny watched as he began to affix flags next to spots on the papers in two different colors. "Penny, the pink ones are where you'll put your signature, the yellow ones are where Leonard needs to sign. You'll sign after he does as a witness of course."

"Right," Penny nodded.

"Don't worry, Sheldon wouldn't make you sign anything that's bad for you. He's scrupulously honest in his contracts with his friends." Raj reassured her. "Priya, my sister, she has looked over all of them for me."

"That's very sound thinking Raj," Sheldon didn't sound surprised, but he was pleased. "What did she think of the contracts?"

"She found them most reasonable, especially given our history." Raj smiled, "And she suggested you might enjoy some courses in contract law, just as… a hobby?"

"That might be fun, at least to read the textbooks," Sheldon mused.

Any further discussion on that topic was cut off as Leonard emerged from his bedroom with a rolling overnight bag, "I'll come by for my things later." He informed Sheldon.

"Oh, if you'll send me your address I'll have them sent," Sheldon waved off that concern. "I'll have them stored in a climate-controlled facility until you find an apartment of your own." He pointed at Leonard's chair, "If you'll sit we'll just get this all tidied up."

He took his seat on the couch and laid out the paperwork, signing his own name and pointing to where Leonard should sign his, then handing the papers off to Penny for her signature. By the third paper Leonard was irritated and simply signing wherever he saw a yellow flag.

"Sheldon," Raj spoke as Leonard signed away. "You know I'm a notary public now? I have my stamp, if you would like them papers notarized?" He shrugged when Sheldon and Howard looked at him, "It seemed simplest when we have to do so much at the university that needs to be notarized. We wouldn't have to hunt anyone down to do it for us. They're all over in Human Resources."

"Thank you Raj, that would be appreciated," Sheldon scrutinized him but seemed satisfied with what he saw. So Raj joined the little procession of paperwork, stamping and signing his name once Penny had signed as a witness.

Beyond irritated now Leonard huffed as he stood and grabbed his case and his keys, storming out of the apartment.

Penny looked at Raj and then at Sheldon once Leonard had left. Sheldon was already contacting a locksmith so Raj got the brunt of her gaze. "All right, what's going on?" Raj shrugged and looked at his beer.

Sheldon completed his call, "Yes, I'll expect you in thirty minutes. Thank you." Once off the phone he regarded Penny, "You really are very astute. Leonard didn't notice a thing."

"I was reading some of what Leonard signed," Penny told him dryly. "Speedreading is kinda my thing. It helps me memorize lines for my auditions. And I have a good memory."

"That, Penny, was the eviction of the homunculus from my life," Sheldon grinned and not his killed Batman grin either. "I knew something would set him off, I am sorry his vitriol was aimed at you rather than me. Lord knows I'm used to it."

"So all the stuff you got him to sign…" Penny looked at the paperwork Raj was stamping. "I couldn't read all of it he was signing it so fast."

"A full confession of how he ruined my experiment in the Arctic," Sheldon explained. "Including how he browbeat Wolowitz and Koothrapali into going along with it."

"We wanted to tell Sheldon," Howard explained. "A can opener shouldn't have even been on the list. And the frequency being the same one as Sheldon's experiment…no way was that an accident. But Leonard…"

"Leonard went nuts," Sheldon said flatly. "In the vernacular. He threatened Raj, with deportation, along with physical threats which were quite believable. And he had a bag of peanuts which he told Wolowitz he would sprinkle on food."

"But you're allergic…" Penny looked at Howard in horror.

"Yeah," Howard nodded. "Which was why we couldn't say anything until we were safely back here. And even then, we didn't know what would happen if we told Caltech what had happened. At that point Sheldon had fallen on his sword, and it was Leonard's word against ours."

"I feel a little sick," Penny rubbed her stomach. "I…"

"Yeah, we know," Howard nodded sympathetically. "But there was no way we could tell you. Not then."

"His behavior with you was the final straw," Sheldon told her quietly. "My reputation could be salvaged eventually. Raj could apply for citizenship, and company for protection, and Howard has access to epi pens and hospitals here so anaphylaxis is much less likely to kill him."

"You planned all this to help me?" Penny was finding that a little hard to believe. Sheldon was practical, he might want to help her but he also liked to get a lot done at once.

"In part to help you, in part to make sure Leonard can't do this to anyone else, and in part to get my reputation back, as much as I possibly can," Sheldon conceded, and she smiled, that sounded more like the Sheldon she knew.

"So what are you going to do for rides and a roommate and your schedule?" She looked at him curiously. "What did you do before?"

"I had a car drive me," Sheldon lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "My schedule, assuming Howard and Raj would like to continue as we were, won't change much."

"Won't you have to get a new roommate?" Penny looked up as there was a knock on the door.

"That'll be the locksmith," Howard got up. "I'll take care of it Sheldon."

"Thank you Howard," The theoretical physicist smiled. "I'm going to make tea for Penny as she is obviously in need of a hot beverage. Would you like some as well?"

"That'd be nice thanks," Howard nodded with a tentative smile.

Penny looked around the apartment, "Sheldon how much of this stuff is yours?"

"Oh, the bookcases and desk," Sheldon shrugged. "And the models, movies, books… most of what's on the shelves. Leonard preferred to keep his things in his room, like a hoard."

"So you'll have to give him the couch?" Penny frowned as she thought about Sheldon's attachment to his spot.

"No, that was one of the things he signed over to me when he got so irritated he stopped reading or listening to me," Sheldon gave her a smirk, that was the only thing it could be, while he filled the kettle with distilled water.

"But the chair and the coffee table, his desk and the end table…" Penny looked around the apartment.

"Oh yes, those are his," Sheldon nodded. "Raj, remind me tomorrow that I'll need to stop at Kinkos and have copies made to be sent along with Leonard's belongings. That way he can read them at his leisure."

"Of course," Raj grinned.

Penny tilted her head thoughtfully. Sheldon had been preparing for this for a long time it seemed. "Where's Amy?"

"Ah," Sheldon took a plate out of the cabinet and opened a bag of cookies, arranging them to his satisfaction and brought them over to the table. "Amy Farrah Fowler has decided that as I have no interest in being her boyfriend and she wishes to have a relationship involving the body and the mind. Therefore she and I have dissolved our friendship agreement as she felt it would be a waste of her time."

"That's…" Penny frowned.

"Rude," Raj supplied with another minute sip of his beer. "Very rude."

"Yeah," Penny agreed. "Sheldon won't you miss her?"

"Honestly no," Sheldon shook his head. "She was derogatory in all of her remarks regarding my hobbies. She considered her field of paramount importance and overrode every point I made refuting that. And she would not stop talking about her smoking monkey Ricky even though I told her I found the subject distasteful."

"Well I won't miss her insisting that I'm her bestie," Penny admitted. "Or her…remarks."

"She did have a rather alarming way of complimenting you," Raj agreed. "I could never be sure if she was simply awkward or hitting on you."

"Yeah, that confused the hell out of me too," Penny agreed. She sighed rubbing her head, "I hope Leonard just leaves me alone. The last thing I need is him coming into the restaurant and making trouble. It doesn't pay much but I need the job."

"Actually Penny…" Sheldon regarded her thoughtfully. "Why don't you move in here? We could clean and paint Leonard's old room. Make it yours. And we could set up a Penny Blossom station out here. Your old website was quite a success. We could change the order system to reflect what you have in stock so we needn't resort to caffeine and sea chanties in order to fill next day orders."

"It did make money," Penny mused. "If we could figure out a way to keep the glitter from getting everywhere…"

"That was problematic," Sheldon agreed. "But I'm certain that between the four of us we could come up with some method of containing your materials."

Howard looked up from where he was assisting the locksmith, "You need a static machine. You know Sheldon, like they use to make grass for model train terrain?" The short man regarded the Texan thoughtfully, "And didn't you promise me you'd stop all this?"

"I promised I'd stop pussyfootin' around," Sheldon's twang was in evidence. "I never said I'd jump in the swimmin' hole without my skivvies on."

"Sheldon," Howard's voice had a tone in it that Penny had rarely heard. When the little man put his foot down he really meant it.

"Fine," Sheldon wasn't quite sulking though he did look put out. "I agreed I'd make a clean breast of it. Though why I have to do it right now…"

"Because if you don't you'll figure out a way to get out of it, you thrive on loopholes Sheldon and we all know it," Howard grinned at him and Raj chuckled.

"He has you there Sheldon."

"So he does, by the short and curlies," Sheldon muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Penny looked at Sheldon. He was fidgeting and leapt up to mess around with his whiteboard. The same one she'd been drawn to when they first met. Before Leonard had distracted her by whining that he had a board too.

"Part of why Leonard's behavior towards you was so intolerable to me is that I value you very highly," Sheldon told her. "You are the one who's taken care of me when I was sick. You were irritated but you did it. You're my best friend. Not Leonard. You challenge me. You prank me. And you respect me, as a person. It doesn't matter to you that I'm a genius. No more than it matters to you that Howard is Jewish or Raj is Indian."

"Well no, you guys are my friends," Penny had never felt so confused in her life. Wait, yes she had but every time Sheldon had been involved somehow.

"Sheldon wants you to move in with him," Raj told her after taking another fortifying sip of beer. "Eventually he wants you to start dating him. And maybe turn Leonard's old bedroom into your office for the Penny Blossom business."

Sheldon's face was turning red over his cheekbones. Penny stared at him, "Is that what Howard wanted you to tell me?"

"Yes," Sheldon's voice was low and he was looking at his feet."

"Okay," Penny nodded.

"Okay?" Blue eyes speared her, "Penny that is a very noncommittal reply."

Penny smiled slightly, "Okay, I'll move in with you. Okay, we can start dating. Okay, eventually we'll turn that room into an office. Or something else." She leaned over and took his hand. "But sweetie… you're going to need to get used to me. Being around. Because I'm not like Amy or you. I don't live in my brain."

"You're going to have to kiss her," Howard told him helpfully from the doorway. "Along with other things."

"Why do you all assume that I have no experience with 'other things' as you so charmingly call them," Sheldon shook his head. "Just because I do not choose to indulge in carnality doesn't mean I haven't in the past."

Penny grinned at him, "Well we'll go slow. It'll be good for both of us. And with my furniture in here you won't miss the tables or chairs." She slanted an amused look at Raj and Howard, "Hey, he was a teenage boy at some point. Hormones are powerful things. Even if you are a genius." She squeezed Sheldon's fingers gently. "I wasn't imagining the way you looked at me when we first met."

"No," He smiled back at her. "You didn't."

"And when did you three start conspiring against Leonard?" Penny looked around the room.

"Almost immediately after they came to Texas and got me," Sheldon rose when the kettle whistled and began to make tea. "They explained what Leonard had done, how he'd threatened them. And we began to put together just how long Leonard had been planning to sabotage me."

Howard came back in with the new keys and gratefully took the cup of tea Sheldon handed him. "Admittedly, it took us some time. We had to figure out when the can opener was added. I loaded key tracking to Leonard's computer and a virus that let us copy his internet history."

"I nosed around the university," Raj smiled. "Leonard wasn't as subtle as he thought he was. Not if you know him. And knew what he intended."

"And I took on the burden of acting as if I'd been made a fool of, which I had been, and thus Leonard got to mock me at every opportunity." Sheldon grimaced. "When we thought we had enough evidence of malfeasance we went to Gablehauser."

Howard nodded, "He got us all in his office and interrogated us until he had the whole story. Every little bit. The man can get information from a stone." He held up a hand to stave of Sheldon's objection, "Yeah I know, I don't mean literally. I just mean he gets you to talk and you remember more than you ever thought you would."

"But without Leonard admitting what he'd done there wasn't any way for Sheldon to…" Penny looked at him. "Everyone still thought you were an idiot."

"Yes," Sheldon nodded. "They did. Which is why we began to subtly needle Leonard."

Howard laughed, "Subtle hell, I started to give him shit night and day about his girlfriend and how she couldn't hold a candle to you or Bernadette."

Raj grinned, "And I did my best to flaunt my money. While Sheldon just made him look like an idiot every time he opened his mouth."

"Surprisingly, Leslie Winkle was also quite helpful in regards to upsetting Leonard," Sheldon mused. "Unintentional though it might have been."

"So basically you were winding him up until he exploded and baited him into saying he was going to leave." Penny summed up.

"Yes. Which, of course, meant that the dissolution of our agreements had to be done." Sheldon grinned. "Raj talked Priya into looking over the content and wording so it was iron clad and couldn't be contested legally once it was signed, witnessed and notarized."

"Leonard used to complain about your contracts all the time," Penny grinned. "You knew he wouldn't pay any attention to what he was signing. He never did."

"As is evidenced by his actions today," Sheldon grinned back. "Now all that needs to be done is moving his belongings out, your things in, and helping you get your finances on track. I think with a smaller portion of rent you'll find that much easier. And I will help you make a budget. You'll be able to adhere to it with ease."

Penny smiled and sipped her tea, "When do you want me to move in?"

"I'll have movers here tomorrow for Leonard's things. We could have another team of them move your furniture and I could help you with your belongings," Sheldon suggested.

"The landlord is going to be irritated with me," Penny realized. "I've got three months left to go on my lease."

"I think he will forgive you, considering he advertised it as a building with an elevator and did not specify that said elevator was broken," Sheldon pointed out. "Also, you've had difficulty paying the rent and have been late a couple times. He might very well be pleased you are no longer solely responsible for an apartment."

"That's true," Penny nodded slowly. "Okay. I'm going to go home and start getting my clothes put in boxes and stuff."

"I will spend my time tagging Leonard's belongings," Sheldon smiled at her. "Thus all will be ready for swift removal. I've already engaged a storage space for his things."

"Got it all figured out don't you Moonpie," Penny grinned at him.

"Penny nobody but my Meemaw—"

"Calls you Moonpie," Penny finished. "Well obviously that's not true because I call you Moonpie too. You just don't like it." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and took the new key to her apartment before leaving him to stare after her.

Penny grinned as she put the finishing touches on a Penny Blossom. She'd branched out from hair clips to headbands and decorated flip flops. A local craft store had offered a workshop on jewelry making and she'd gone out of curiosity since it was free.

Sheldon had needed to help her rework her budget so she could afford jewelry making supplies. But now the jewelry she made was one of her biggest sellers. Howard had made sure her website didn't have any next day options unless someone was willing to pay for FedEx. And it had to be something she had in stock. No more staying up all night to fill orders.

Sheldon had shaken his head over her cheap tools and contacted his mother. No one did bargain hunting or home crafts like a Texan housewife he'd explained. Goods were cheaper in Texas as well. Mary was happy to shop around and find good quality tools that wouldn't break in the middle of a project. Then he'd bought them for her, as an investment in her business, he'd smiled.

If she hadn't been in love with him before that would have done it. Not the money, but the way he had such faith in her abilities. She might never be a famous actress, though she wouldn't stop trying. Being a working actress was good enough for her, though it was still a few parts away. But she didn't have to put all her creativity into acting. Making her jewelry and her Penny Blossoms was as satisfying to her as Sheldon's work was to him.

And when he got stuck she usually had just enough of a mess to unstick him.

Although that was a last resort now that they'd added kissing and all the attendant activities to 'the equation'. Kissing had a remarkable effect on Sheldon's brain.

Penny smiled. He thought she had no clue that he, Howard and Raj were conspiring again. Something slightly more benign this time around, but she was sure she'd enjoy the surprise, whatever it was. Comicon was around the corner and she'd promised to go in costume with them. Nurse Chapel was just up her alley.

She smiled as the light sparkled off the ring on her finger. Sheldon's Meemaw had given him her grandmother's wedding set. It was a beautiful old fashioned setting. The diamond was sizeable enough to make her girlfriends squeal without being so big it was gaudy. That had been another surprise.

Penny grinned as she turned off her soldering tools and made sure everything was unplugged. She figured if Sheldon wanted to surprise her she'd let him. His surprises had a way of changing her life. For the better.