SF Chapter 73: Back to LA IV
After teasing Lexi a few times, Penny received a message.
"Oh, Bernadette texted that they're already back from dinner," she said, reading the SMS on her phone.
"Nice, we can go there," Daniel spoke, already standing up. "So they're dating?" he asked about his cousin.
"Yep, they make a really cute couple," Penny said with a grin.
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"Hey, Daniel, come on in," Leonard smiled when he saw his cousin show up after knocking on the door.
"Wow, our star is here too," Howard commented since Alexandra was walking in as well.
Raj whispered something in Howard's ear.
And his friend added, "Yeah, you can use us if you need to train how to kiss a nerd guy."
"Yeah... no," Lexi replied, stone-faced.
Penny ended up asking, "What is wrong with Sheldon?" when she noticed he was sighing.
"No - no, no. Don't, Penny. Why?" Leonard made a tired face.
Sheldon replied, "Tonight was supposed to be Halo night. We do it every week, at the same time," he emphasized.
"Not only are we not playing, but we also had dinner at a completely different restaurant," he made a gesture, showing that he was talking about himself, his roommate, and Bernadette, "And the reasons are be-"
"Hang on a second," Penny interrupted him, "what do you mean you had dinner at a different restaurant?"
"That I had dinner at a restaurant I had never eaten at before," he replied as if he were explaining it to a child.
She took a deep breath, but continued, incredulous, "With Bernadette and Leonard?"
"That's what 'we' means, plural. Besides, I made sure to make a gesture with my hand to signal who I was referring to."
"And," he continued from where he had been interrupted, "the reasons are because part of our group feels like watching a meaningless teen TV show."
"While others," he looked judgmental at his roommate, "wanted to commemorate how many weeks he has been in a relationship."
"Why do you hang out with him again?" Bernadette finally asked, making an annoyed face. It was already bad enough that he had joined their dinner date.
"Well, we like Leonard..." Howard explained.
Raj nodded beside him.
"What magic did you do, Dani, to make him go to your premiere without complaining?" Alexandra asked her friend.
But Sheldon replied first, "I was feeling particularly generous because of his present." He gestured toward the Stormtrooper standing in the corner of the room.
"Huh, funny. I was also feeling very generous because of my movie's success, that's why I bought presents for my friends and family," Daniel thought out loud.
"Oh, yeah, Leonard, these are my gifts to you," he said, handing a bag to his cousin. "You decide how to split it up and who gets what," he added.
"Whoa," Leonard exclaimed, noticing there were some comics inside the bag. "Uncanny X-Men #266, Amazing Spider-Man #300..." he kept reading the issues.
"Good, I don't have these ones," Sheldon looked at them in delight.
"Who votes for Sheldon to get nothing?" Howard called out, receiving a few raised hands.
Seeing that the quartet was about to start negotiating and arguing about it, Penny pulled Dani and Lexi away, quietly saying "sorry" to Bernadette and leaving her other friend there.
The trio went to Penny's apartment and kept talking while drinking some wine.
"Okay, time for me to go," Lexi remarked, a little tipsy, noticing the two of them were already rubbing against each other.
"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Penny, who was already pretty drunk, smirked.
Daniel didn't bother to say anything. He was kissing Penny's neck.
Alexandra didn't say anything either. She simply stepped closer to her friend and planted a deep kiss on her lips.
Daniel widened his eyes as he watched the two girls, and then Lexi leaned in and kissed him as well.
"Maybe another time," Alexandra said, standing up as if she hadn't just done anything. "Thanks for today."
Then she headed back to her apartment.
"She really is playing hard to get," Penny muttered still a bit surprised.
Daniel shrugged and lifted Penny into his arms. "Let's make sure she hears what she's missing."
"You're right, you damn rat bastard. I've gone three weeks without getting any."
"I will compensate for it," he smirked. "...do you have any Pringles?"
Penny slapped his arm but laughed.
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The next day, everyone was gathered at Leonard's apartment again. The guys were dressed in paintball gear.
Penny announced while sipping her coffee, "I forgot to tell you guys yesterday - I'm finally having a party next Saturday, so if you're around, come by."
"A party?" Leonard raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
Howard joined the conversation. "A boy-girl party?"
"There will be boys, there will be girls... and it is a party, so..." Penny replied, then added, "It just a bunch of my friends, some beer, a little dancing. Oh, and it's going to be a costume party."
Sheldon, who was meticulously preparing his breakfast, looked at her. "Is there a theme?"
"Um, yeah. Costumes."
"Yes, but are the costumes random or genre-specific?"
"As usual, I'm not following."
Leonard explained to her, "He's asking if we can come as anyone from science fiction... fantasy..."
"Sure." She nodded.
Sheldon started listing them off. "Comic books?"
"Fine."
"Anime?"
"Of course."
"TV, film, D&D, manga, Greek, Roman, Norse gods..."
"Anything you want, Sheldon," Penny said, already losing her patience early in the morning. "Okay? Any costume you want."
Then she changed the subject when she saw Daniel coming down the hallway, also dressed in paintball gear. "Didn't know you played paintball, Dani."
"Yeah, I do," he replied. "But I still prefer laser tag," he added.
"So you can play in a suit," Leonard revealed with a slight smile. "Are you okay, Lexi? You're quiet and seem tired," he added, noticing that she looked like she hadn't slept well.
"She might have stayed up watching Urban Cowboy last night," Daniel commented, receiving a glare from her and a pinch from Penny.
"Anyway, Penny, I'll go with my Sonar Batman suit to your costume party," he added, remembering she had asked what he would wear.
"Oh, don't remind me of that atrocity called Batman Forever," Sheldon scoffed.
They finished their coffee and went out to play.
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After paintball, Daniel went back to Malibu and stared at his two brothers, who had very different expressions on their faces.
[Daniel, Charlie and Alan commentary]
"So, to sum up everything I missed," Daniel began, looking at Charlie.
"Kate blurted out to you, Charlie, after your date: 'I have a ten-year-old son, two mortgages, private school bills, a full-time job, custody battles, alimony battles, child support battles, car pools, and drum lessons. Do you really want to be involved in this?'"
"Wait, she bought a drum set for her ten-year-old son?" Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly what I pointed out," Charlie nodded.
Alan stared at them in disbelief.
"Anyway, she knew you wouldn't get involved in all that mess, so it ended up being a one-night stand."
"Pretty much it," his brother confirmed.
"Now you, Alan, were also at one of the single moms' houses. But not with one - with two very thirsty single moms," Daniel emphasized.
"You had the chance to have a threesome, but ended up getting hit by the door. That's because you were eavesdropping on their conversation, and one of them suddenly swung it open."
Alan said nothing else, but his bruised face and broken nose spoke for him.
"God gives lemons, Dani," Charlie remarked. "Some people make lemonade. Our brother squeezes them straight into his own eyes..."
[Commentary ends]
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