Fic -Eye opener

[cornerofmadness]

Title --Eye opener
Author-- cornerofmadness
Fandom -- The Big Bang Theory
Disclaimer -- not mine
Rating -- teen
Characters/Pairing -- Penny/Leonard
Timeline/Spoilers -- set soon after the Star Trek con episode.
Word Count -- 561
Warning -- none
Summary -- She wasn’t expecting to see this.
Author’s Note -- I love TBBT but it makes me nuts that they keep perpetuating the idea that women don’t like comic books, SF and anime so I wrote this. It's for fanfic_bakeoff's spicy prompt 'rough.'

XXX


While she sort of wanted to forget the whole ‘Thor’s Hammer’ argument, Penny had to admit that she, Bernadette and Amy all felt a little bad about giving the guys such a rough time over the comic books and the comicon. She felt really bad that Leonard and the boys had been stranded on the side of the road and worse that people actually saw them in their get-ups like that. She was helpless to erase the auto theft pain, but she and the girls could make it up to the guys for giggling at them.

That’s how she ended up at a small anime con in Pasadena. Stunned was only the tip of the iceberg. Bernadette stood there, mouth hanging open and Amy stared at the crowd like she could dissect their brains and understand their behavior with her gaze alone. Penny didn’t understand it. She expected geeky guys. She even recognized Stewart and Captain Sweat Pants – though those sweat pants had been exchanged for a jodhpurs and he had on a long red wig.

When Howard, especially, had talked about girls at comic book conventions, Penny had the idea they were few and far between and a bit overweight or homely. Sure some were, but that could be said of people in general. There were a ton of girls, many of them hot and barely dressed. There might even be more girls than guys and Penny hadn’t been prepared for that.

A girl walked past with red hair and a crazy kind of armor on. “Erza,” Leonard hissed in Penny’s ear, anticipating her question, but the answer didn’t help. A cute young guy – really cute, wow was he cute – came by in a white wig with some kind of scar that ended in a star painted on his face. Penny watched his black clad butt for a few seconds before remembering she was here with her boyfriend. Another girl bounced – a lot really – by in a tube top and a wrench in her hand.

“See, that’s the costume I wanted you to wear,” Leonard said. “We would have gone together.”

Penny eyed the strange red jacket he had on and the long blond braid – Leonard looked horrible blond – and the metal covering one arm. He had told her who he was supposed to be but she forgot. “I don’t get it.”

“See sweetie, when we agreed with you when you all claimed girls don’t like this stuff, we just did it to make you feel good,” Leonard replied, eyeing a young man with blue flame devil horns and a tail. Penny suspected it would be Leonard’s next costume. “Actually, a lot of girls like comic books and anime. They even speak Klingon. We just didn’t want you to feel like you were on the outside because you don’t get it.”

Penny huffed at him. “Okay, Leonard, show me the dealers’ room you were talking about. Maybe next time I will wear the tube top.”

He swallowed hard. “You have the right hair for Winry.” He kissed her, taking her hand and led her into the throng of costumed weirdoes.

Maybe she could learn to like this. Hey, there were voice actors coming in the afternoon. Maybe she could make useful contacts there. She had done dumber things with worse guys. It was worth it to make Leonard smile.