Lately, Penny's exhausted. It takes her a few nights to realize it's because she's too stupid to go to bed when she's actually sleepy.

"Just one more link," she always tells herself as she's combing through Wikipedia.

Because lately, she has several notebooks of subjects and phrases to look up, thanks to Sheldon, and she's completely surprised that she's starting to understand it. Not really the subject matter, but the lure of it all...she's beginning to understand why she should respect Sheldon's work.

She's also beginning to see two things: 1) the appeal to immersing one's self into topics that are so far reaching and in depth that it would take a lifetime to sift through it all and another lifetime to understand it and, more importantly, 2) Sheldon is starting to respond to her.

It's a lot like that first day they met (Penny concedes she has Leonard to thank for reminding her about that). She can see sparks of interest in Sheldon's eyes and it's interest in her because she's respecting him and what he does. But so far, they're just sparks. Penny is willing herself to be patient, though. She's actually proud that she can recognize it.

True to his word, Sheldon has been keeping track of his vitals for her, three times a day. Like most things, Sheldon is extremely consistent so, now that Penny has spent weeks observing him, she can tell, with a glance, when he's exceeding his typical physical parameters.

Plus, he has a pulse point on his neck that beats so much faster when he's agitated.

She's kind of half dozing on the couch when Sheldon's familiar knock sounds on the door.

Yawning loudly, Penny gets up and answers, smiling sleepily up at him.

"Will you be joining us for dinner tonight, Penny?"

Penny's eyebrows raise and she checks her watch. Huh. Dinner time.

"Not tonight, Sheldon," she says, yawning into her hand. "I'm beat. I think I'll just stay in and, you know, pass out on the couch."

"Are you ill?" he asks and she swears she's hallucinating because it sounds like he's concerned.

"No, just very tired. Oh, while you're here, could I get your clarification on something?" she asks, being careful to maintain eye contact with him. Penny's discovered Sheldon responds the best when she gives him her complete and undivided attention.

She is rewarded with a pause while he regards her features and she holds his blue eyed gaze that much longer.

"With what do you require clarification?" he finally asks.

Penny waves him in and digs around for a particular notebook while he seats himself on her couch.

"I wrote some notes the other day and I can't seem to decipher them. You were talking about quarks," Penny says. She's very careful, this time, to keep her eyes on her notes and not look at Sheldon. She doesn't want him to respond just yet and she knows if she looks at him he probably won't stop talking for ages. The urge is very strong to look, though, because she can see him, in her peripheral vision, sit up with interest.

"I must have been writing too quickly, though," she continues, "because I can't seem to make heads or tails of this and, well, since you're the expert..."

She hands him the notebook and it's open to a page with a few items flagged for further research if she could decipher what she wrote. Penny is watching Sheldon intently, now, while he quickly scans over her writing. She's delighted to see his eyebrows raise and a small smile tug at his lips.

"Oh, I recall this conversation," he murmurs. "I see. It's no wonder you're confused. Your handwriting appears to have been rushed that day indeed."

"Yeah, I know," she replies.

"Here," Sheldon says, turning to show Penny the notebook. Their knees are touching and, if she leans just slightly to the left, she would be leaning on him, but Penny resists. "Where it almost looks like 'radon' you really mean 'hadron'."

Penny tilts her head. "It says 'hadron'. If you squint. And tilt your head."

And this is where Penny does get a little smug, though she tries very hard to not show it. Before the experiment started, or even a week ago, Sheldon would have responded with a biting remark about her intelligence being that much lower than his. And he wouldn't have been wrong. After all, almost everyone, and probably everyone in Pasadena, is less intelligent than Sheldon. But the point is he isn't rubbing her face in it. He is responding to her with the same respect and curiosity she is showing him.

"And this word should be 'strange' and not 'strangle'," he continues.

"Ohhhh. That makes more sense," she replies. And she really means it. "I mean, 'strange quark' is still kind of awkward, but 'strangle quark' makes even less sense."

Penny picks up her laptop and leans back on the couch, punching in the new terms for a quick look. She leans her head on the back of the couch, just for a moment, and doesn't even notice when she nods off.

Sheldon barely manages to catch Penny's laptop before it hits the ground. He looks up in alarm and is surprised to find that she's fallen asleep. She really must have been exhausted.

Gently, he puts her laptop down on the coffee table and regards her sleeping form for a moment.

Penny is changing. True, she would never reach the same level of intelligence as he, but Sheldon recognizes that Penny is attempting to connect with him on-well, near-his level. And he's grateful.

Curiosity gets the better of him and he starts flipping through the rest of the notebook. There are pages upon pages of handwritten notes, all in Penny's girlie, loopy style and all pertaining to any number of things he's said over the last few weeks regarding his work. If it was Leonard or Raj or anyone else in the physics department, Sheldon would accuse them of trying to steal his work and deride them for even attempting to understand what he's doing. But this is Penny. She has no connection to physics or even science, really, and she's taking far better notes than even some of the students he has tutored on occasion over the years.

The most amazing part is that Penny makes no attempt to hide that she's not trying to really understand his work-almost no one actually does-but she is trying to be cognizant of its existence and doing a far more thorough job of it than Sheldon thinks is strictly necessary.

Is she doing all of this research just for the experiment? If it was Sheldon, he would have said "yes" with no hesitation, but Penny is a different matter.

He doesn't know what to make of the situation and, for the moment, Sheldon doesn't even try.

Instead, he places Penny's composition notebook down neatly on the coffee table and is surprised to see at least half a dozen more on various surfaces of the apartment. He stares at her sleeping form again and begins to gain new insight and appreciation for the kind of person Penny is.

"Penny," he speaks, voice soft but audible. She stirs, but doesn't wake, and it's just enough for Sheldon to guide her to a less painful position.

When he's sure she's as comfortable as he can make her without waking her, Sheldon takes one more curious look at his neighbor and quietly leaves.

Raj is the first one to notice. He's been friends with Sheldon long enough to be familiar with his habits, but it's his time as his co-worker (employee, if he's wants to be perfectly honest), that gives him the insight to notice when Sheldon's behavior is actually changing.

It's nothing major, really, but it's enough to pique Raj's interest.

It's almost as if Sheldon is distracted, somehow. That never happens, especially not at work. But twice this week, Sheldon's been in the middle of working through an equation and then stopped suddenly to scribble something on a Post-It note. And there was even one moment where he flat out said, "I've lost my train of thought."

Raj just gaped at that, but moved on.

Now, though, Raj is pretty sure Sheldon's behavior changes have to do with Penny's ongoing experiment. At first, he'd laughed it off like the rest of the guys, believing that either a) Penny would give up or b) Sheldon would get so fed up he'd make her stop.

To everyone's surprise, neither party gave in. In fact, it almost seemed like Sheldon was more than happy to participate. Well, except for that initial temperature and blood pressure taking thing, that part was still non-negotiable but Penny never questioned it after the initial restrictions were set.

So, Raj had done his own little experiment, but it was really just the observation stage. And what he found both explained a little as to why Sheldon wasn't objecting to Penny's experiment, and astounded him.

When Raj first got to know Sheldon, the taller man's extremely idiosyncratic behavior was so out there that it took him completely by surprise in a way that culture shock never did. He was never really sure why he stayed friends with Sheldon, but Raj had found himself, like most people, adapting his ways to fit into Sheldon's world. It was very, very rare for Sheldon to concede anything and, in the end, it was almost always easier to just give in and move on.

A similar kind of thing happened when Penny entered the picture. She took situations in her own hands, as if the entire world was her rodeo and she was determined to be the champion. She bowled right over him, Howard, and Leonard. When she got to the immovable wall that was Sheldon, though, she didn't really stop. She found other ways, ways that well and truly perplexed Sheldon into acquiescing to her whims way more than he ever had to any of his other friends.

But he was still Sheldon and she was all Penny. They butted heads often and she always called him out when his demands went way beyond persnickety. And then the experiment happened and that's when Raj saw it.

They were adapting to each other.

Back in New Delhi, when he was a young boy, Raj used to have to endure being babysat by his grandmother every day after school when his parents worked the night shift. For the most part, he hated it. His grandmother was very well entrenched in the old ways and she never let him do anything cool. But things changed when his father brought home their first computer and, after his grandmother got over the fact that his father had brought the thing into the house (she'd used some very strange old phrases Raj had never been able to properly translate), Raj showed his grandmother how to use the Internet. More specifically, he showed her where to find old American soap operas and classic Bollywood films she loved but could no longer watch because she'd worn out the VHS tapes and no one sold them anymore.

They'd come to an unspoken understanding, then, and Raj and his grandmother began to appreciate each other more. Years later, just before he'd left for America, she'd told him that he would need to forge new relationships.

"Rajesh," she'd said. "Relationships are about compromise. Remember that. For two people to have a relationship, whether it is family, friendship, or something romantic, there must be give and take on both sides."

Unfortunately, he hasn't really had an opportunity to exercise the romantic side of relationships, but with the guys, he's managed to forge strong friendships. Except with Sheldon. For a long time, Raj believed Sheldon never gave anything to their friendship. It wasn't until his visa was in danger of being revoked that Raj finally understood. Sheldon had given him three things that were very precious to Sheldon, but taken for granted by others: his time, his mind, and his consideration.

With Penny, Raj realizes he's in the unique position of watching both Penny and Sheldon negotiate the give and take necessary to have a meaningful relationship. She already has Sheldon's time because she pretty much takes it. His mind she doesn't really need specifically, but she's learning to respect it. His consideration she actually earned with the Leonard Nimoy napkin.

But there's a new element in the Penny and Sheldon paradigm and Raj is pretty sure neither party realizes it, yet. Raj knows physics is the love of Sheldon's life and everything else is secondary. If there is one constant in Sheldon's world, it's that his focus is always on the physics. Until now.

Penny is about to receive the one thing none of them have ever gotten from Sheldon willingly: his attention.

The next day at work, Penny's in the middle of scribbling notes between tables when Bernadette catches her.

"What are you doing?" the shorter woman asks.

"Oh, nothing," Penny blushes, stuffing her composition notebook back in her locker.

She manages to squeeze past Bernadette and attend to her tables, but her respite is short-lived. They hit a lull in the day and Bernadette casually corners Penny.

"So."

"So," Penny replies, trying not to fidget. It isn't as if she's doing anything wrong.

"You've been different, lately, Penny. What's going on and why do you keep dashing to your locker to write in a notebook?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asks with a grimace.

"Not really," Bernadette admits. "But I'm curious. You used to be obsessive about the gossip magazines or texting someone but these days..."

Penny considers for a moment and then decides it won't hurt to have another opinion to go to, especially a female one. So, she launches into a highly abbreviated description of what she's doing.

When she's done, Bernadette doesn't say anything. Penny starts to wring her hands and her mind creates different responses.

A) Bernadette bursts out laughing and completely humiliates her.

B) Bernadette belittles her experiment and humiliates her.

C) Bernadette says something derogatory about Sheldon (because, face it, everyone says something derogatory about Sheldon) and, in the end, humiliates her.

The answer ends up being D) none of the above, and Penny is delightfully surprised.

"Huh," Bernadette finally says. "That's kind of neat."

"You don't think it's weird?" she asks, tentative.

"No, not really," the other woman says. "It's sort of like a psychological experiment. It sounds like this Sheldon guy-wait, is he Tuesday hamburger guy?"

Penny nods.

"Oh! Okay. That makes way more sense."

"It does?"

"Sure," Bernadette answers. "I've seen him a few times. Everyone else thinks he's crazy but he's just very specific. He's also very consistent. Like I was saying, it sounds like he's very set in his ways and you're just trying to figure out how to dislodge him. Are you sure you don't secretly have a thing for him?"

Two weeks ago, Penny would have immediately burst out laughing and fervently denied any interest in Sheldon. Right now, she's pretty sure she doesn't have an interest in Sheldon, at least not romantically, but it isn't really funny. She's come to realize, much like Bernadette, but taking much longer to understand it, the kind of man Sheldon really is. And, truth be told, he isn't a bad kind of man to know. Sure, Sheldon is peculiar, but Bernadette is right, he is very consistent. Penny might go so far as to say stable.

"No, no," Penny says, calm. "I really am curious to see if I can evoke, you know, normal responses from him. I'm surprised you picked up on Sheldon's character so quickly. "

Bernadette shrugs, her curly hair bouncing. "I read people well," she says. "Plus, I've done my fair share of experiments."

"You have?" Penny asks, clearly surprised. She then immediately feels guilty for never really having taken the chance to get to know Bernadette even a little.

"I'm a microbiology graduate student," Bernadette explains. "Micro-organisms aren't nearly as expressive as humans, but they have their traits if you observe them. My powers of observation have pretty much increased by orders of magnitude, so I pick up on things in people pretty quickly, too."

Penny blinks, taking in Bernadette's words. It's clear the other woman is a smart cookie. Not Sheldon smart-almost no one is Sheldon smart-but maybe Leonard smart...and less condescending.

"Would you be willing to help?"

"In your experiment?" Bernadette asks, surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, as someone to bounce ideas off of, and stuff," Penny explains. "Other than the guys, I don't really know many science types."

"Well, like what kind of ideas?"

Penny shrugs this time. "I don't know. What should I try?"

The conversation continues in spurts throughout the rest of the shift and Bernadette ends up following Penny home to continue the conversation.

They meet Howard and Leonard in the lobby. The moment Howard turns around is the exact moment Penny remembers Bernadette is another female and she just barely steps in front of the shorter woman before the full force of Howard's leer can reach her. She attempts to give Howard a significant "Don't be creepy" look which, of course, he ignores.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asks, sauntering towards them, hips first.

"I'm Bernadette."

Penny sends up a silent prayer that lightning will strike Howard before he's too embarrassing.

"And I'm-"

Leonard interjects, stepping in front of Howard. "I'm Leonard and this is Howard."

"Nice to meet you," Bernadette says, shaking both their hands.

Penny virtually yanks the other woman back when it's clear Howard's about to try some really bad pickup line while holding Bernadette's hand. He frowns, but stays blissfully silent.

"What are you guys up to?" Penny asks, voice too loud and too fast.

"Just got home," Leonard says, ushering them up the stairs. "It's 'Anything Can Happen Thursday' so we just got back from dinner. Sheldon didn't feel like being spontaneous so he and Raj ordered in."

"Oh. Bernadette and I just got off shift," Penny offers.

"Oh, you know each other from work?" Leonard asks, eyeing the shorter woman.

"Mmhmm," Bernadette replies. "I work there part time to pay for grad school."

"You're in grad school, huh? For what?"

Howard is unusually quiet, but Penny doesn't think about it. She's pretty sure he's staring at their backsides since he's behind them, but as long as he's only looking...

"Microbiology," Bernadette replies.

"Huh, that's pretty interesting."

"What do you do?"

"I'm an experimental physicist at CalTech," Leonard answers.

"Oh! That sounds interesting, too. I was just telling Penny that experiments are the best part of science..."

Bernadette and Leonard continue their conversation on the way up the stairs and Penny doesn't really mind. She's actually observing how Bernadette approaches Leonard. He's not as peculiar as Sheldon, but maybe she'll learn something.

As the conversation continues, Penny realizes she feels a little jealous. On the one hand, it's kind of nice not having Leonard pay so much attention to her-she's known for a long time he's had a crush on her but she never had the heart to let him down so she's focused on not leading him on-but she's also not really used to any other woman paying the guys any attention (she refuses to acknowledge the Alicia incident).

Beside her, Howard makes an irritated noise. She tries to pay him no mind, but she can practically feel waves of jealous indignation emanating from him. Thankfully, they reach their floor and Penny is able to pull Bernadette away from the guys and into her apartment before either have a chance to invite them over.

"What was up with that other guy?" Bernadette asks when they're in the privacy of Penny's apartment.

"Who, Howard? He's just...Howard."

Bernadette raises an eyebrow.

"Really, he's harmless. He talks all big and struts his non-existent stuff, but he's harmless."

Bernadette shrugs and takes a seat on the couch, dislodging a notebook along the way.

"You have...a lot of notebooks," she observes.

"Yeah," Penny replies, putting the one from her work bag on the table. "Keeping up with Sheldon is pretty exhausting."

"And exhaustive," Bernadette murmurs as she flips through a notebook, marveling at the wall of text that greets her.

"If only my classes had been half as interesting as Sheldon," Penny sighs as she sits down and flexes her tired feet.

She looks up when Bernadette doesn't make a remark and is greeted with what Penny can only describe as a poignant look.

"What?"

"Are you sure you don't have a thing for Sheldon? This is a lot of notes for a bet."

"Well," Penny hedges. "Okay, so, maybe I'm at least a tiny bit interested. I mean, how can I not be after spending all this time with him and deliberately knowing his business?"

Bernadette gives her another look, this time a little more sympathetic.

"Are you sure you can handle the outcome, Penny?"

And Penny seems to shrink even further into the couch.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I realized this...flaw...in my plan the other day and I started questioning what I was doing. Part of me wants to flee," she admits.

"Well, as long as you know what the end result could be," Bernadette says. "What kinds of things have you been thinking about as ways to woo Sheldon?"

Penny sits upright. "What?"

"What?" Bernadette repeats, confused.

"What was that bit about wooing Sheldon?"

"Uh, well, that's what you're doing, right?"

Penny stares, realization starting to dawn.

"Penny, what did you think you were doing when you decided to seduce Sheldon?"

"I...I'm not really sure," she says as she slowly falls back to the couch. "I thought I was just, you know, finding things that would interest Sheldon and...oh, crap."

She throws an arm over her face as the full ramifications of her actions really start to drive home.

"I am wooing Sheldon, aren't I? Especially since I'm doing this the 'scientific' way."

Bernadette gives her a sideways look she can see from under her arm. "That's sort of the entire point of the experiment, Penny."

"Hey, I didn't really think it through at first, okay? It was just, you know, a stupid bet."

Bernadette shakes her head and rises, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"You don't need my help, Penny. You already know what to do," Bernadette explains. "Besides, it's getting late and my mother will likely call soon to check up on me."

Penny smiles as the other woman rolls her eyes.

"Sorry I dragged you over here," she says, getting up to show her friend out.

"It's no big deal, I was curious to see what you were up to but, really, you don't need my help."

As Penny opens the door, they spy Howard across the hall. Luckily, he's turned away from them so he doesn't see as Bernadette makes a funny face. Leonard sees, though, and grins conspiratorially.

"Okay, Ma!" Howard yells into his phone. "I'll be home soon!"

He hangs up the phone and sighs, shoulders drooping.

"Mothers," he mutters. "Sometimes you just want to kill them."

"But you gotta love them?" Leonard asks.

"No, no," Howard answers. "I just really want to kill her most of the time."

"Your mother is overbearing, too, huh? I'm just glad mine hasn't called, yet," Bernadette says.

And then her phone beeps.

"Oh, look, not a call, but a text," Bernadette murmurs.

Penny watches as the strangest moment happens. Bernadette looks up and her eyes meet Howard's and, for the first time since she's met him, Howard's expression is genuine. She can almost hear an audible click between him and Bernadette.

"You live at home, too, eh?" Howard says as the pair head down the steps, Penny and Leonard forgotten.

"Yeah, it cuts down on costs while I go through grad school..."

"Did we just...witness a moment?" Penny asks.

Leonard shrugs. "I think so. At least this time the moment's with someone Howard's height."

They say their own goodnights and Penny shuts her door, thinking about what just happened. Bernadette and Howard just had a significant moment. Would she ever have one with Sheldon?

It takes her a moment to realize she already had one, that first day they met at his whiteboard. It's just that at the time, Sheldon wasn't adept at social interactions to go anywhere with it and she was still hurting over Kurt to really do anything about it. Penny bites her lip and worries maybe it's too late for her and Sheldon.

She immediately berates herself for the thought.

"I gotta stay optimistic," she says to herself.

After all, she said she was determined to win. Penny would just have to make do on the moment she shared with Sheldon years ago or make a new one.

It isn't until Raj mentions it that Howard also notices something is changing with Sheldon. He's just as abrasive as he always is to them, but his behavior towards Penny has...shifted...a little bit.

Howard is pretty sure he never would have picked up on it, even with Raj's words, if he hadn't met Bernadette and formed a connection with her. He's gone on a couple real dates with her, now, and he's realizing the benefits of an exclusive relationship. Not that what he has with Bernadette is close to being serious or even a real relationship, but the fact that he's been out alone with her more than once and on purpose has given him hope.

Sure, his eyes still stray to other women, but he's more aware that Bernadette is (probably) watching him, too, so the words that normally would follow the sight of a pretty lady don't come out as much anymore, even when he's not with Bernadette.

And it's that parallel he draws with Sheldon, although not really directly. It's both a parallel and an opposite. Maybe more of a tangent. Trigonometry aside, Sheldon's never given a woman the time of day other than literally. Many have thrown themselves at him, but he's never spared a thought cycle out of the ordinary about it.

Now, Howard notices that Sheldon pays more attention to Penny than he ever used to. At first, Howard thought Sheldon was just trying to make sure Penny wasn't going to spring some weird test on him or something and maybe in the beginning it had been like that. But lately, as he spends more time with Bernadette and his eyes wander less, he wonders if maybe Sheldon is growing to prefer Penny's company much like he's learning to prefer Bernadette's.

It's a perfectly logical and human kind of reaction and one that Howard is more than happy to follow through like a normal human being. He doesn't really apply it to Sheldon outside of that initial thought, though, because really, Sheldon is far from a normal human being. It was probably just Sheldon's way of evolving past the need of preferred human relations into whatever it is crazy super genius people do.

Leonard's in his lab when Howard finds him.

"Hey, Howard," he greets when he notices him. "What's up?"

"Have you noticed anything different about Sheldon?"

Leonard looks up and tilts his head, thinking. "Not particularly. How do you mean?"

Howard fidgets a little. "I don't know how to describe it. He's just...different. Mostly towards Penny."

And then Leonard understands. "Oh! You mean the experiment?"

"I guess," Howard shrugs.

In a moment of clarity, Leonard realizes that he has been processing Sheldon's gradual shift but not really acknowledging it. But, now that Howard's mentioned it, he can't stop his brain from putting it in front of him.

"Yeah, a little," Leonard admits.

"Oh, good, I'm not the only one," Howard exhales in a big rush.

"I think he's changing. I never thought it would happen, but it seems like Penny's experiment is actually affecting him."

"It's weird, right?" Howard asks as if he's unsure.

Leonard nods. "Just a little."

Howard's phone rings, then, and he pulls it out. "Gotta go, bro. Bernadette."

"See ya," Leonard calls to Howard's quickly retreating form.

And now he's left with his own thoughts.

Ever since Penny's experiment began, Leonard's been uneasy. After all, he had agreed to help her seduce Sheldon when he'd rather Penny seduced him or the other way around.

But now, as the weeks have gone by and Penny's actions are having an effect on his previously immovable roommate, Leonard feels different. He feels, oddly, free.

It's as if all his pent up frustration and yearning for Penny have been replaced by...contentment. Leonard realizes that he's come to terms with Penny and her preference for Sheldon and is surprised to find that he's not a bitter, angry little man like he thought he'd be. Truth be told, even just a few weeks ago he was very nearly that man, but he's grown a little, moved past the petty little things that have kept him down.

He's still smiling at the revelation when Leslie Winkle walks into the lab.

"Hey, Leonard," she calls, giving him a little wink.

Leonard is immediately on his guard. He knows that look, has been on the receiving end of it before and fallen for it.

"Hey...Leslie."

"So," she says, drawing out the word as she approaches him. "Doing anything tonight?"

Leonard takes a moment to think, really think, and he realizes he's very grateful for the freedom he now feels. He's not going down this trap again, at least not on Leslie's terms.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he says, with confidence.

Leonard grabs his bag and, after making sure all his lab equipment is off, strides right out of the room without another word or look for Leslie Winkle.

Penny stares at her laptop and the document that's open. She's been continually writing her findings and what she's been doing and she's quite surprised at how much information she's gathered. In fact, she's actually pretty much done with her project and her paper is just a conclusion away from being ready for "publication." Truth be told, the only person she's going to allow to read the thing is Sheldon and a hard copy at that.

But it's the conclusion that has her worried. She'd gone into the bet pretty much hell bent on winning but, because Penny went into the project headfirst, she'd neglected to see the one major flaw in her experiment.

Sighing, she sits back and stares up at the ceiling.

"Screw it," she mutters.

Penny turns back to her paper and continues writing. The conclusion might cost her the bet but she has to do this objectively...scientifically.

When she's done, she brings up Sheldon's calendar and schedules a time to present her findings. Penny deliberately picks an Anything-Can-Happen Thursday during dinner time when the other guys will probably be out. And, if they're not, she'll reschedule.

Her e-mail pings and she's unsurprised to find a meeting acceptance from Sheldon. Smiling, Penny gives her research another once-over and continues with the finishing touches on the conclusion. If she's going to do this right, the paper has to be perfect.

Anything-Can-Happen Thursday comes way faster than Penny wants but she's standing in her apartment, waiting for the appointed hour. She's just finished putting her paper together in a three-ring binder, the pages encased in sheet protectors. She's pretty sure she'll rip a page or all when she's presenting them to Sheldon so she needs to make sure that won't happen.

Half an hour earlier, as she paced her apartment, Penny heard the other guys leave and the second hand on her watch seemed to tick ever ominously forward.

Finally, it's time.

Penny stands and smooths her skirt. She's dressed for the occasion, the same suit she wore to traffic court. She grabs the binder and heads across the hall.

The door opens before her third knock can finish and she's looking up into Sheldon's expectant face.

"Hello, Sheldon."

"Hello, Penny."

They stare for a moment and it's not awkward at all. There's a whole lot of expectation, though, and the tension wavers slightly as Sheldon steps aside to let Penny into the apartment.

He takes his place in his Spot, but Penny remains standing.

"So, how do you want to do this?" she asks. She's proud her voice doesn't waver even though she's a ball of nerves on the inside.

"The project is yours, so I leave it up to you to present your findings in whatever manner is appropriate," he replies.

Penny takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a brief moment. She thinks about this like an audition, a reading.

"Well," she begins, opening her binder. "As you know, for the past several weeks, I've been conducting an experiment to answer the question as to whether or not homo novus can be seduced using the only means available to homo sapiens."

Penny talks for a long time, essentially reading from her paper and showing Sheldon various graphs and charts she's put together with the data she's gathered. He is, thankfully, quiet and doesn't interrupt her. She realizes, as she's speaking, that this is exactly how it should be. The subject matter might be unorthodox, but this isscience.

She gains confidence as she talks and all too soon, the ever important conclusion is upon her.

Sheldon is completely immersed in Penny's presentation. He's fascinated by the detachment she's managed to take to the subject matter given the parties involved. He'd thought for sure she wouldn't be able to make the objective separation necessary to make the research seem credible. He was sure she'd make it personal.

But, if there's one thing Sheldon has learned in the past several weeks, it's that Penny is a professional. When she wants to be. And he can tell she very much wants to be. She is taking this very seriously and Sheldon completely understands and treats this presentation with all the respect Penny has earned.

"In conclusion," she says, and Sheldon sits up. This is the part he's most interested to hear.

"The physical evidence, such as an elevation in body temperature and heart rate in homo novus when in close proximity to homo sapiens under specific conditions, clearly indicates that homo novus is, indeed, susceptible to seduction."

Penny pauses and Sheldon is relatively sure she's waiting for him to make a comment. But he's treating this like a proper presentation and will hold his comments to the end. He nods his head to her to continue.

"However, prior to the commencement of this project," she continues, "I, as the primary researcher, failed to realize there is a significant flaw in the subject matter and hypothesis. That is, there is no proven scientific method of measuring the effectiveness of seduction. The factors involved, which include but are not limited to emotion and attraction, are not strictly measurable and are, for the most part, subjective. Thus, though a great deal of research has been conducted and an equally significant amount of data gathered, I am forced to concede that I cannot, in the spirit of science, draw any official conclusion."

Penny carefully closes her notebook and sits down in the armchair.

The room is completely silent and Sheldon realizes it's his turn to speak.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Sheldon doesn't know what to say. He'd had a number of comments to make during the course of Penny's presentation but given the conclusion, he doesn't know if they apply anymore.

In effect, Penny is admitting defeat because she cannot, scientifically, prove that homo novus can be seduced.

It should make him happy. He should gloat that he has won.

But, while Penny discovered the general flaw in the project as a whole, Sheldon has discovered a flaw in the gathering of empirical evidence.

Only Sheldon, as the subject, can shed light on whether or not homo novus was seduced. He cannot refute the physical evidence; he felt them after all. But only he knows his emotional state, his level of attraction, all those items that have no method of measurement.

It's up to him to validate or negate Penny's project.

He looks over at her and it's clear that she is waiting for him to respond. The project started as a bet and while the both of them very much want to win, the overriding factor is this is also science.

Sheldon sits up and places his hands on his knees. He looks at his hands for a long moment and thinks about the past several weeks. He cannot deny that there has been a shift in the relationship between them as a direct result of the project.

He looks up again and she has what he believes is a pensive look on her face. Sheldon opens his mouth and then closes it. Taking a deep breath, he finally decides on the best course of action.

Slowly, deliberately, Sheldon stands.

And then sits back down on the center cushion of the couch.

Penny's jaw drops open.

"What?" she manages.

"I believe my actions are quite clear," Sheldon replies.

"But, I just said I couldn't scientifically prove that I seduced you."

"Homo novus," he corrects.

"Yeah."

Sheldon nods and looks down at his hands again. "While I agree with the assessment, I've come to realize the one piece of data you could not gather was what I as homo novus was actually experiencing."

"Well, no, I couldn't really ask you, Sheldon."

"Indeed."

Penny thinks for a moment and then speaks, "I guess the project was flawed from all sides, then."

"It appears so, but I am a scientist, Penny, and given the level of commitment from you and the amount of effort you put into it, I cannot, in good conscience, deny that you did have an effect. Thus, your hypothesis was correct and the Spot is yours for a week."

Penny breaks out into a huge grin and stands up, moving towards the couch.

"I promise I'll take good care of it, Sheldon," she says before carefully sitting down.

She can feel his eyes on her and she turns to look at him. They speak no words. Slowly, the high of Sheldon's defeat wears off and his words finally sink in.

"So, I seduced you, huh?"

Sheldon looks away suddenly and she's surprised to see him blush. On instinct, Penny raises her arm to put it around him but she stops. She's not throwing her research away now that the project is over. She'd promised herself she'd do this right.

"So, what's next?" she asks, voice soft.

He whips around to look at her, surprise in his eyes.

"I was given to believe that once the experiment concluded, there would be no more need for interaction."

She grimaces at the word "need" but moves on.

"Sheldon, something I didn't really think about when we started this whole thing was what would happen with either result. It was...naive of me to believe we could conclude an experiment based on human emotions and expect to continue on the way we used to."

"I admit I was not prepared to deal with the effects of your experiment," he says, then smiles. "I didn't expect you to be successful."

She grins back at him. "I know. But, now that I have..."

"You are much more experienced at this than I, Penny."

Penny laughs, then, and turns away for a moment. She doesn't know why she thought Sheldon would just understand. Half the time, even she doesn't understand.

"Sheldon, relationships take two people."

"Of course."

"It doesn't work if both parties aren't...how do I word this...fully involved," she tries.

He tilts his head as if he's processing new information.

"Sheldon, if you don't want to do this, we don't have to. It's your choice, too."

"Oh," he says, but then he's quiet again.

Penny doesn't say anything, though. She's already committed to continuing this relationship, no matter where it goes. Now it's his turn.

After a few long minutes, Sheldon turns back to her.

"I propose another experiment," he says.

Penny frowns, confused. "What?"

"I would like to conduct an experiment to determine if it is possible for homo novus to successfully carry out a relationship with homo sapiens."

Penny blinks, processing Sheldon's words. Did he just...? She smiles broadly.

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper, are you asking me out?"

Sheldon shifts his weight. "Oh, lord. This cushion is wholly inadequate."

Penny's grinning now and she waits for Sheldon to look at her again. When he does, she sees something she's never seen before in his eyes: insecurity. She has to consciously stop herself from reaching out to physically comfort him.

"I think I would like to participate in that experiment," she answers.

"Good," Sheldon says, smiling in return. "Good."

End