"It'll Be Fun"

Summary: Penny wants to crack the outer shell of Sheldon, one step at a time. Fluff ensues.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters unless Mr. Prady and Mr. Lorre want to share ; )

It was Anything Can Happen Thursday, and Howard, Raj and Leonard were of course, bar cruising. Penny had recently had her love for clubs dwindled over time and had found hersef finding herself spending almost each of these nights with Sheldon,and more, since the others were often out of the apartment lately. Due their increased alone time, Penny found herself marveling at even the smallest movements, sparkles in his eyes, changes in his expressions, and changes in the tone of his voice when he talked about varying subjects. Penny realised he enjoyed teaching her even the smallest things, from his physics work to the smallest tidbits of trivia information. She found him captivating, and was soon conducting her own experiment: to find out what Sheldon was like inside his shell, and find out what makes him tick. This would be the first night she would be conducting the experiment.

"Please, Sheldon?" begged Penny. "It's Anything Can Happen Thursday'! That means anything can happen!"

Her pleas were met with the same weary look she came to know so well. "I am well aware of what the name implies, Penny," he started, slowly building up into full lecture mode. "But, not just 'anything' can happen, we're still bound by the laws of physics, so there is still a limit as to what will and can happen. And besides, I told you I don't sing; much less karaoke."

Penny pouted and scooted closer, unleashing the full force of her puppy eyes on him. "Pretty please?"

"Penny, I am no stranger to the puppy eyes treatment, Missy used that on me one too many times growing and have now found myself immune. And I already said no."

"But didn't you once say, 'When one understands the laws of physics, anything is possible'?" Penny smirked.

Sheldon frowned and gave a slight twitch of his lip in annoyance. "Regardless," he said. "You know I don't sing."

"Don't, or CAN'T?" Penny asked, knowing she was slowly winning in their little war. "I bet you can't."

Sheldon paused his game and turned away from his laptop. "Are you suggesting I can't sing? Penny I have heard your attempts at the vocal musics, and I am confident I can, and will be better than you, by tenfold if not more." Penny gave him a daring glare. "Ready to put your money where your mouth is?"

Sheldon returned the look that always preceded his accepting a challenge. "While I will ignore that innacurate metaphor, I will ask; what are the stakes?"

Penny grinned triumphantly. She had won, for now. "Hmmm...Let's see, well let's keep the scoring simple: we'll let the crowd decide, whoever gets the most applause wins, and the stakes...Well, what do you want if you win?"

Sheldon sat up straighter, a smile lighting up his eyes. Note to self, thought Penny. He likes it when I dare himand likes the prospect of victory. "Well," he mused. "For starters, you can make me spaghetti with hot dogs whenever I want for a month, three rides to the comic book storewhenever I want, within reasonable parameters, and next Anything Can Happen Thursday, we will do whatever I want, with no complaints. And, should you somehow win, what would you like as your victory spoils?"

Penny smirked. "Well...You come with me to practice driving, take me drinking and dancing next weekend, and likewise, we do whatever Iwant for next Aything Can Happen Thursday. And no complaining, no matter what it is."

He stood and went to his desk and got a pen and paper. "We'll want to get this down in writing, " he said as he copied down the terms of their agreement. Once it was signed and copied and laminated, Sheldon grabbed his jacket and apartment keys. "Do you know anywhere where they will have karaoke?"

Penny smiled widely. She didn't care if she won or not, because she was getting what she had planned for in the beginning. Sure, she had heard him sing a few times, when he sang her Soft Kitty after that problem with the shower, and the time he had sung show tunes at the Cheesecake Factory after she had, unbeknownst to him, slipped rum into his "virgin" cuba libre. But those were simple little tunes, nothing very serious in the way of music. She wanted to hear him sing a real song, one that meant something to him personally, to see what kind of effect music had on him.

"Of course I do, sweetie, don't worry I'll get us there in one piece. Just give me a few minutes to doll myself up and we'll go." Sheldon decided to wait for her in her living room, straightening her coffee table by habit, not even realising what he was doing. Within minutes, Penny had come back out of her bathroom withher makeup done very ligthly, and her hair held back with a Penny Blossom, and dressed in a loosely flowing, vibrant red dress that swished pleasantly around her legs.

Sheldon stood their awkwardly waiting for her in the hallway in his spiderman shirt, orange thermal, khakis and hideous windbreaker. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, shall we go, then?"

"Yup!" she replied enthusiastically. They walked down to the lobby in silence. "So," said Penny. "So, any idea what song you're going to sing?"

Sheldon thought silently. "i haven't really given it much thought..."

Soon they were at the car. "And good news1" said Penny. "The check engine light is finally off!" They drove in comfortable silence a very short distance to the karaoke bar. "Well, Moonpie, let's do this. You excited?"

Sheldon followed her out of the car. "I suppose," he said. "And I've told you, only meemaw can call me Moonpie."

To Be Continued

A/N: Weeeellll? What do you think? I don't know if anyone actually reads these authors notes, but if anyone has any thoughts, be it constructive criticism, ideas on the plot, or more importantly, ideas on what song Sheldon should sing! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it so far!