Title: The Morning Routine Conundrum
Description: Penny and Leonard start their day. Written for tonks07 for The Big Bang Theory Comment Ficathon. Prompt: Leonard/Penny - morning routines
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Genre: Gen, Het
Characters: Leonard/Penny
Word Count: 618
Disclaimer: The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, and produced by them along with Lee Aronsohn. It is a Warner Brothers production and airs on CBS. All characters, plots and creative elements derived from the source material belong exclusively to their respective owners. I, the author of the fan fiction, do not, in any way, profit monetarily from the story.
Rating: G
Feedback: Accepted with love and squees.
7:20 AM
Leonard awakes to the sound of a door opening and shutting, and then another door opening and shutting. He mentally presses the snooze button.
7:30 AM
"Girls just wanna have fun; ohh, ohh, girls just wanna ha-ave fun," comes pouring out of Penny's alarm clock. She made a New Year's resolution to be an early riser—to get more done. She rolls over in bed, checks the time and then hits the snooze button four times.
She'll start tomorrow.
7:45 AM
Leonard awakes when he hears a loud flush of the toilet. A door opens and closes. Then another door opens and closes. Leonard rises from bed, grabs a towel and heads to the bathroom.
8:06 AM
Penny awakes to hunger pangs. She groggily fights to free herself from the mound of blankets, pillows and comforters on her bed, and makes the bleary-eyed journey to the kitchen. Half-asleep, she pours herself a bowl of Lucky Charms. Returning to her bed, she makes herself comfy as she tunes in to one of the morning shows. She doesn't care what anyone says; Al Roker is a little cutie.
8:10 AM
Leonard finds Sheldon in the kitchen finishing a bowl of Big Bran.
"Didn't go so well on the john this morning, I see," he quips.
"Quite the contrary. This bowl of Big Bran is a preemptive strike. As you surely know, we will be hosting a site visit from the National Science Foundation today. I refuse to allow the university to intimidate me into creating some faux environment to parade myself before the 'big dollars' like some… show pony at a rodeo. For the love of humanity, I'm a theoretical physicist. As long as I have paper, pencil and a computer with enough RAM to run a high-end simulator… I'm at the top of my game."
Leonard looks at Sheldon for a moment, motionless and blank. "Yeah, Sheldon," he says flatly, then opens up the refrigerator, grabs a bag of Skittles and empties the contents into his mouth.
8:30 AM
Penny's watching the cooking segment on "How to Make Spinach Fun" when she's reminded of an awesome spinach dip she tried on the catering cart at her last acting gig. Which then reminds her that Pasadena Shoe Warehouse owes her a royalty check. She heads for the door to check her mail, then remembers that she's only wearing panties and a t-shirt.
After some deliberation, she decides to find a pair of pants.
8:32 AM
"Time to go!" Leonard announces to his roommate, who has somehow managed to make his way back to his bedroom. He gets no response. "Fine. I'll be in the car, Sheldon," he yells and, grabbing his messenger bag, opens the door. He finds Penny standing at her door as well.
"Hey," he says.
It takes her a minute to answer. "Hey."
They stare at each other an awkward minute. He's sure they can be friends in spite of the breakup, just as soon as things stop being… weird.
"I was just going back in," she says abruptly, and ducks back into her apartment, shutting the door with just a little too much force.
8:40 AM
"So let's play a game," Sheldon announces on the way in to work.
"Let's… let's not," Leonard says. The rest of the way, they ride in silence.
8:40 AM
Penny takes her empty bowl to the sink and drops it in. She ambles back to her bedroom closet and pulls out the Superman T-shirt that Leonard never came back and got. She puts it on, turns off the TV, and – climbing back into bed – pulls the covers over her head.
She's not quite ready to face this day.