"Flowers for Sheldon..."

"Flowers for Sheldon..." Part XXV...

"Flowers for Sheldon..."

Summary: Leonard and the gang discover Sheldon has taken advantage of Penny's request for help with her binge drinking to make needed improvements...

Disclaimer: BBT is all Chuck Lorre's...

Part XXV...

"So let me understand this..." Raj hesitated, sitting in Howard's mom's living room, eyeing Howard carefully... "You called me over here first thing this morning because you think Sheldon's neural upload is now 'taking over' Penny's personality, superimposing Sheldonian traits on her?...Am I getting this right?...Or failing to capture the full essence of the paranoia...?"

"Leonard thinks so too..." Howard frowned... "He was the one who came to me with concerns...Though he's backing away now..."

"He does tend to be fairly sane most of the time..." Raj nodded carefully...

"Raj?...You can't say you haven't noticed..."

"Howard...Penny is thinking faster and her bon mots are a bit more sophisticated, true...But becoming Sheldon2.0, the female version ala Jeff Goldblum becoming BrundleFly in "The Fly" ?...Come on, dude...Even if I believed it was possible via the neural upload...Which only exchanges information..."

"...And therefore, potentially, memories..." Howard noted...

"Fine...Howard...Even if I believed it could happen, Penny's personality is far too strong...Sheldon's, for all his arrogance, would run and cringe in some corner of her mind like a whipped poodle if it ever came to a confrontation..."

"But..."

Raj put up a hand..."I haven't seen Sheldon in Penny, Howard...Yes, I see her rattling off answers in high-level quantum physics and neurobiology that I can barely follow...Mastering the complete text of Shakespeare...And coming up with revolutionary advances in AI, off the cuff...But I still see a sweet lady who cares enough to help a younger actress, who's kind to an old lady actress, protected Sheldon from Leonard's understandable wrath, delighting that her best friend is finally getting some from her robotically repressed lover, and is no different from the girl we knew, except perhaps in being a little more tolerant and kind toward you, sir..." hard stare... "And you might remember that..."

"I do..." Howard, earnestly... "And that's why I don't want to lose her...Raj, you haven't seen the latest changes...I wouldn't be concerned if I didn't honestly believe there was something going on..."

"Well...But you said Leonard..."

"He doesn't want to believe he's sleeping with his roommate...Natch..."

"Gee...Thanks for that image, dude..." Raj blanched...

"He's in denial..." Howard shrugged... "But he did see the Sheldon virus manifesting..."

"What does Bernadette say?..."

"She thinks I'm a little crazy too..." Howard sighed... "But she admits she hasn't seen Penny since the play and that she does remember Penny seeming a little...Compulsive..."

"Even if so, a common trait among geniuses...We all share it to some extent..." Raj noted... "Her mind works fast, she moves from point to point quickly and focuses more intently for briefer periods...It's not something to exaggerate..."

"At least, for her sake, give me the benefit of the doubt and observe her today...Bernie's promised to, too..."

"I don't want to freak her out, spying on her...She's had enough of that to put up with recently...And if she catches on, which she will, it will make her a bit paranoid..."