"I will teach you to dance if you wish, Penny."

Four pairs of eyes immediately landed on Sheldon, who calmly carried on eating his Thai food.

"Um, Sheldon? How…and when… did you learn to dance?" Leonard had thought there could be very little his roommate could say that would surprise him anymore, but this admission had managed it. He tried to picture the lanky scientist twirling about the room with an actual human being in his arms, and couldn't do it. Surely he couldn't get that close to anyone without a level 4 biohazard suit to protect him?

"My mother made me learn as a child." Sheldon scowled slightly at the memory. "She insisted on making us attend the dances in the church hall. Obviously I was highly proficient at it, however Missy would regularly stand on my toes. In fact, I believe that was intentional. Certainly I instructed her as to the correct technique often enough, so there really is no other valid explanation".

The rest of the guys looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Then, as one, they turned to Penny expectantly. "So, Penny…are you brave enough to let the esteemed Dr Sheldon Cooper PhD teach you to dance?" asked Howard, wagging his eyebrows suggestively "or would you prefer to let me show you a few moves?" Penny considered the options for a nanosecond. She really didn't want to embarrass Jake at his company's formal dance next week, and the choice between the two men was a complete no-brainer. She looked at Sheldon.

"Ok, Moonpie. When do we start?"