A/N: Hi there, guys! Here's my first Shenny fan fiction. Hope you guise like it. ^^ Happy Saturnalia, everyone!
The lively samba music has finally come to an end, a number of couples have exited the dance floor to make way for new dancers, and Penny can't be anymore relieved to be back at Bernadette's side.
"Wow, Penny, you were really heating it up back there." chimed the shorter blonde in her Disney-princess-like voice.
"Thanks, but it would have been better if that old man's hand didn't wander about every five seconds." replied Penny, a slightly annoyed expression visible on her face as she took her purse from Bernadette.
It didn't take long before Sheldon and Amy emerged from the crowd of dancing couples and joined the two waiting women.
"Whew! We were brilliant, weren't we?" remarked a seemingly ecstatic Amy as she took her place beside Penny.
"Yeah, you guys were rocking it!" Bernadette replied with much enthusiasm.
"What can I say? This dancing king, right here, is a natural. I would've stumbled upon my two left feet if it weren't for him." Amy chortled as she motioned at Sheldon, who was standing next to her.
"Well, I may not have a lot of practice, but I can still certainly recall the pointers Mrs. Figgins gave during my lessons with her." Sheldon said with a smile, obviously pleased with himself.
Just then, the band started playing a new song.
"Oh! I love this song!" Penny suddenly exclaimed as she heard the music. "My girlfriends and I always danced to this back in Omaha whenever we attended social dances."
"Ah, yes. 'Quizás, Quizás, Quizás' by Osvaldo Farrés, also known more commonly as 'Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps'…" Sheldon started in his usual walking encyclopedia tone. "…one of the classic songs for ballroom dancing. I believe this particular tempo is best suited for rumba." he continued as he looked at the girls.
"Wow, Sheldon. You sure do know a lot about ballroom." Bernadette remarked at Sheldon's statement.
"I did some researching while I was taking lessons back then. I figured I needed to become more well-informed on the subject as my mother and sister wouldn't stop pestering me about 'going to dances and mingling with the lasses'." replied Sheldon, his hands doing air quotes at the last part of his statement.
"Okay, let's put that research into good use, then. C'mon, Sheldon. Let's dance!" Penny suddenly blurted out as she reached for Sheldon's arm to take him to the dance floor.
"No thanks. I think I've met my dancing quota for tonight." Sheldon replied as he resisted on Penny's pulling.
"C'mon, sweetie. Just one more dance." Penny persuaded, not letting go of his arm. "Amy, let me borrow him for a bit, okay?" she called out to her bestie as Sheldon tried to pull away from her grasp.
"Oh, sure, bestie. It'd be a thrill to see the both of you swaying your hips to the music." Amy called back with a smile and an assuring nod.
"Couldn't you just opt for other dance partners? As you may have noticed, there are a lot of available men in this hall." Sheldon said as he tried to pull away once more, but Penny's Nebraskan hands just wouldn't let him go.
"I've had enough of creepy, old, groping men for tonight. C'mon, Sheldon, the song won't play forever. Please? Just this once?" Penny looked at Sheldon with the same googly-eyed stare she gave him back then when she asked for him to sing her "Soft Kitty", the day she broke her shoulder. For some odd reason Sheldon couldn't come up with, he just couldn't say no to that face.
"Oh, alright. One final dance and then we're going home. It's already a few hours past my sleeping schedule and my REM sleep would be greatly affected by now." Sheldon replied, looking defeated. Penny gave him a big smile and tightened her grasp around his arm as they made their way. Sheldon just shook his head at her sudden burst of excitement.
"Oh, bummer. The song's already ending. I guess we'll just have to wait for the next song, then." Penny uttered while looking up at her dance partner, when they finally got to the dance floor. She noticed him slowly surveying the area as he stood there in front of him, as if he was looking for something, after what she said.
"Wait here." Sheldon told Penny after a while.
"Why, what are you gonna do, sweetie?" Penny asked. Sheldon wasn't able to reply as he was already making his way to what appears to be the band's location.
Penny could only wonder what the Dr. Whack-a-doodle would say to the band members, let alone why he decided to approach them. She turned her gaze back to Bernadette and Amy. Apparently they also noticed Sheldon at the band area and she could see them talking to each other, probably trying to also guess why he was there.
Just then, she heard her favorite song play again. She couldn't help the smile forming on her lips as she saw Sheldon returning to her.
"Sheldon, honey, why did you do that?" she quickly asked him as soon he reached her.
"Well, I believe my hesitation to join you earlier was to blame for you not being able to dance to a song you seem to really like. So I went to the band and asked them if they could play the song again." Sheldon said in a gentle, very un-Sheldon-like tone, and smiled shyly at his awaiting dance partner.
"That is so sweet of you. Thank you, Sheldon." Penny smiled at him.
"Perhaps we should start dancing before the song ends again. I am certainly not going back there." Sheldon then replied with a smirk on his face, offering his hand to Penny.
"Right." Penny gave a soft chuckle, took Sheldon's extended hand and they finally danced.
The moment they started dancing, Penny noticed a certain grace to Sheldon's movement. He wasn't the completely awkward lanky guy she knew. As if she was seeing a whole new different side of Sheldon. She didn't notice this a while ago when she and Bernadette were still watching Sheldon and Amy dance.
Every step, every sway of their hips, and every twirl were in perfect synchrony. It was like they knew each other's movements all along, except that was really not the case. Penny didn't know Sheldon, or even herself, was this perceptive when it comes to dancing ballroom.
Penny felt like all that's happening that very moment was a big movie scene. She could imagine herself wearing a beautiful evening gown and Sheldon, in a sharp suit. She could imagine them being the only couple left dancing and the rest of the hall was just standing by to watch them twirl around the dance floor. Penny's cheeks warmed at the thought.
As they continued dancing, Sheldon was reminded of a scene from one of the cheesy dance movies Penny forced him to watch with her. He would never admit it out loud, but he liked the similarity.
Nothing else was said as Penny and Sheldon danced. They were just staring into each other's eyes, as if they were both lost in the moment.
A final dip was made as the song came to an end. For a moment, they just stood there, still looking into each other's eyes. Then they heard the applause from all round the ballroom hall.
Penny and Sheldon both looked around to see that they were standing on the middle of the dance floor and everyone else was just standing by the sides to applaud them.
It all felt surreal for Penny. She looked up at her partner to see Sheldon looking a bit stunned at their audience's reaction. She gave the arm she's holding a little squeeze to jolt him a bit and gave him a smile. Sheldon smiled shyly back at her. She then motioned for them to give a little bow to the audience for their appreciation. Another round of applause was given to them as they hurried out to the side.
They finally reached Amy and Bernadette, who were all smiles and both women were doing little jumps.
"Oh my gosh! You guys were totally on fire! Did you see how all those people cheered for you?" Bernadette greeted them ecstatically.
"It was like watching Scott and Fran dancing up-close." Amy said dreamily, her hands clasped close to her chin.
"Yes, well, if you ladies are through with day-dreaming about movies, let's get going. I still have important work to do tomorrow." Sheldon interrupted, as if nothing happened a few minutes ago, and made his way out of the hall. The three ladies chuckled at him and followed suit, walking side by side.
"Penny, look at you. You're blushing red!" Bernadette pointed out and teased as they walked on.
"Really? Oh my gosh! I totally had no idea." Penny replied, surprised, and covered both of her cheeks with her hands. She wondered if Sheldon noticed anything when they were dancing.
"Well, who wouldn't be blushing after dancing with a totally smokin' dance partner like Sheldon?" Amy said with a smile. "We should do this more often!" she added.
Penny wondered for a moment if she could handle any more dances with Dr. Whack-a-doodle.
"Um, actually, I think I've reached my dancing quota for now." Penny said, spacing out for a bit as her thoughts drifted back to a certain pair of piercing blue eyes.