Chapter 03 –
They were playing an online RPG and suddenly, Becky shrieked.
"How could you! How could you! I thought you were my friends! We were all supposed to be friends!"
She suddenly got up and was going away from the room, in hysterics.
"Becky..." sighed Leonard, unusually calm in this situation, "It is just a game. It is not a real war. Please, calm down and take a deep breath."
"Oh, so, now you're going to be condescending? After all, you were the one who killed my character! Thanks a lot, by the way!"
Wolowitz and Raj exchanged amused and worried glances. Sheldon looked extremely concerned.
"Becky..." he cut in, boldly, with all the courage he could muster, "I know how you feel, believe me, but it is war and someone had to win! You must understand that."
"Oh, so, that's it? A great excuse coming from Sheldor! It was your fault, anyway! You pointed out I was a 'nuisance'! Thanks!"
She ran away from the room and shut the door.
"Oh good, now she hates me." said Sheldon, sounding as heart-broken as possible.
"So what?!" answered Wolowitz. "She clearly has issues and even I can see that, if I overlook the fact that she is so hot."
"Well, it was your fault, as she pointed out, Sheldor." said Leonard, amused as hell, but not daring to demonstrate.
"My... my fault?! And how, pray, was it my fault?! It was everyone's fault! It was even Koothrappali's fault, because, even though he didn't talk, he acted!"
"Yes!" agreed Raj, "But she only blamed you... mainly. She didn't even mention me. Or any of us, for that matter."
"Haha, good point, Raj." said Leonard.
"I think you should probably... apologize." said Wolowitz, trying to hide his smugness.
"Drat. You are probably right. Wow, Wolowitz. Sometimes you can really surprise me."
That said, Sheldon left the room.
"Oh, I do hope he has found his match... I hope she is as beautiful as crazy.", said Howard, vengefully.
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Sheldon knocked on the door three times and, between every three knocks, he would call her name: "Becky. Becky. Becky."
But she just wouldn't answer...
It seemed she was really angry.
And then, he realized there was some loud music coming from inside the house. Probably that was the cause of her deafness.
There was no helping it. He simply opened the door and entered the house. He would have to apologize twice now, but it was her fault for listening to music so loud. Didn't she know that listening to loud music over a long time could cause conditions such as tinnitus?
She suddenly ran into Sheldon, wearing nothing but a 'My Melody' pajama top and some cute random underwear, but she was definitely not planning an exhibition of it.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" she shouted at him, ready to attack.
"Could you please turn down the volume?" he asked, politely, even though quite scared.
"What?!"
"Please, turn down the stereo volume so I can talk normally, without having to raise my voice so."
She simply could not believe that guy. She did what he asked, to see where that was going.
"Thank you. Now—"
"Um... Sheldon, you must understand, this is very... no, this is beyond awkward."
"Please, don't interrupt me. So, as I was saying..."
"Hey! You don't get to say what I do or what I don't do in my house, mister! For what it's worth, I should be calling the police!"
"But why would you do that?"
Becky couldn't help herself but look at the floor and smile, once again.
"What the hell. Come on, Sheldon, I have to talk to you too, anyway. Come, let's have a seat."
Sheldon followed her to what seemed to be her living room. Perfectly clean and organized. So many books. A laptop... Lots of DVDs... A few CDs... A huge TV that somehow seemed a little out-of-place in all that simplicity, but bless her, the girl managed to pretend the TV belonged exactly there.
"Oh, wow." he went straight to her DVD collection.
"You have the Star Trek Original Series and The Next Generation!"
"Oh, yeah, I thought you might like those. Feel free to browse through my collection. I wouldn't mind to lend you any of them, but please, I beg you, do not tell anyone that I am lending you stuff, if it comes to that. I don't want people to get the wrong idea, you know...
"Becky, what do you do for a living, to have such fancy things? Even an iPod!"
She smiled, bitterly.
"I am still jobless, but it was all thanks to an inheritance. My Father. He was a good for nothing alive, but proved very useful in death."
Sheldon was shocked.
"Sheldon, honey, are you okay? You seem a little... agitated... Here, come, you should probably sit down..."
"No!" he stepped away from her, abruptly, "I have to choose a seat, first."
"Um... okay, please, suit yourself..."
Sheldon kept sitting and testing every chair and seatable piece of furniture he could find.
"Why don't you say whatever you said you had to say while I find a place to sit?" he solicited.
"Um, sorry, don't think I can. You are totally distracting me, fidgeting like that."
"I am not 'fidgeting'!" he said, a little out of breath with all the movements, "But I wouldn't expect you to understand—OH! I found it!"
He chose the left corner of Becky's padded sofa.
"How nice!" she said, satisfied. "But... What if this place had already been chosen...?"
Sheldon looked at her, horror-struck, realization hitting him.
"Oh, no..."
"Sorry Sheldon..." she said, disappointed. "I'm afraid there's not much I can do about that. That seat has already been claimed."
"It's okay, I understand." he got up, "I'll stand. It's fine."
Becky started laughing.
"Don't be ridiculous! Come on, sit wherever you want, silly."
"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to take away your seat..."
"Sheldon! Please!" she was still laughing, "My favorite corner is the right one. Come on, I'm sorry, don't give me that look! The seat is yours." she tapped the cushion, to make her point.
"Oh, all right, then... Okay." he finally sat, making himself comfortable.
"So... what is it you wanted?" - she sat way too close to him, for his own comfort...
"I... Well, I..."
"Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street
Faster than the wind
Passionate as sin, ended so suddenly
Loving him is like trying to change your mind
Once you're already flying through the free fall
Like the colors in autumn
So bright just before they lose it all"
"What is that... noise?" he asked, completely losing his focus.
"Noise? What... noise? I don't hear a thing."
"Well, there's no wonder you can't hear 'a thing!'" he said, standing up and gesticulating towards the stereo.
"Um... okay, so, I will just turn the stereo off."
"Oh no, please, don't do that! It's your house and I don't mean to trespass."
She looked at him smiling, and said:
"But you wouldn't trespass, Sheldon. Not ever. Even if you tried."
She started to do something with the stereo for Sheldon's relief, since he swallowed hard and really started fidgeting.
"You okay, Shel? Is something the matter?"
"Don't call me that." he said, trying not to feel whatever he was feeling, while she was delicately touching his hands and arms, and even risking to caress his hair.
"I should go home now." he said, now not daring to look at her.
"Why? Don't go. Please, stay."
"Why?" he stared at her, hardening his expression.
"Because. Well, because I am asking you to. Please, stay for the night. You can sleep wherever you want."
"Um, I don't know..."
"Why, you don't know!", she was touching him, even though lightly and in no places that she shouldn't, but she was touching him, nonetheless, "I thought you knew everything. Now you are disappointing me."
"I don't mean to disappoint you. All right, then. I'll stay."
"Good. Thank you for understanding, Sheldon."
"It's okay. As long as I can choose where I can sleep."
"Oh, yes, but of course! Please, make yourself at home. While you choose, I'll see what else I can do for you."
He was severely confused. He didn't really know why he was there and didn't really know where he was anymore. It was like the Twilight Zone.
"Oh no!" said Sheldon, apparently in some kind of panic.
"What, baby, what is it?" Becky ran to his support.
"Tonight is Halo Night. Plus, I still have to go to the Comic Book Store!"
"Okay, okay, Sheldon..." Becky said, "I can see this is too much for you. I'm sorry for putting you through all this pressure. Please, you can go home."
She sounded highly unhappy and disappointed, even though she was trying to hide.
"But, I..." he said, "Well... I suppose I could at least go to the Comic Book store, couldn't I?"
"Oh darling, but of course you could!" said Becky, obligingly, taking him to the door. "It's not even eight yet. I know they are still open because I went there to see if it was worth it buying some Hellboyinstead of downloading. In the end, I realized I had lost way too many installments, counting also B.P.R.D., so... yeah."
"So... You also like Hellboy?"
"Why, of course! Are you crazy? What is there not to like? Plus, that guy there, I guess his name was Stu, nearly gave me away all the 'Arkham Asylum' installments. I could have married him, I swear to God I almost lost my wits... If he wasn't such a nice guy, he might have taken advantage. Or maybe he was just... dumb slow?"
Sheldon didn't say anything. Sheldon couldn't say anything. It was unbelievable.
"Anywho, like I said, 'Hellboy' was already a hopeless case, so I ended up downloading it. I'm considering dating Stu, but then, I would feel as cheap as a Ferengi..."
"You know, you shouldn't download comic books illegally. It's bad for the artists." It was so easy to converse with her.
"I know and I am sorry. But Sheldon, what the hell would you have me do? If I were to buy everything I want, I would have to be, like, a zillionaire or something! And don't you dare to give me that look, mister! I do support the artists! I buy as many books as I can, but heck, who the hell is going to support me? Not the artist!"
"Hum. You certainly have a point... I might start considering downloading a bit more..."
"I can show you some cool torrent sites where you can dodge malwares easily."
"I am the one who will show you how to do such things. I can show you how to never need things such as 'antivirus' again, for example."
"Seriously?! I tried that one once, you know... I was really into that hacking shit, but in the end, I only crashed my computer. Sad story..."
"You are a noob, so you shouldn't mess with stuff only experienced people can deal with."
"Ooooh, I am so sorry, Wil Rosenberg! Thanks for showing me my place!"
"You're welcome. And I am probably late for Halo Night, thanks to you. Do you drive? Because I don't. You must take me to the Comic Book Store."
"Ask nicely, please? I am not your bitch, honey. Unless you let me call you Shel."
"Most certainly not! Please, take me to the Comic Book Store. How is that?"
"Much better. Anyway, you know, you totally owed me one... Let me just put some pants..." she ran to her room and grabbed whatever she could to cover her bare legs and also grabbed a 'Pinky and the Brain' t-shirt.
"I know no such thing. Why do I owe you anything?"
"Because, mister, you helped on my character's death. That's why." she said, while locking the door.
"Oh. Well... Like I said... It was a war."
"Whatever, I don't care anymore. Because, Shel... I'd give you the world."
She didn't mean to have said that last cheesy bit out loud, but it just came out. Sheldon looked as astonished as she did, but at least he didn't say anything. Only when they got into her car, then he wouldn't stop randomly chattering.