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Sheldon had been preparing for weeks for the few days that could turn into another set of weeks of isolation. Some might have figured he was preparing for nuclear fallout - or that he was just damn tired of all the terrorists running around - but really, he was just getting ready for another video game extravaganza. It had already begun a few days prior with Moden Warfare 3 and Arkham City but it really was to go underway when Skyrim arrived on his doorstep in a gigantic nearly-can't-get-it-through-the-door box (thank god for Amazon, now he didn't have to wait in the hassle of lines).

But all that planning and gathering of munchies and essentials (heat up dinners, take-out menus, lots and lots of soda and cigarettes) and letting his family know that he'd see them at Thanksgiving and yes he'd be okay if they didn't hear from him, had all seemed terribly pointless when his XBox controller ran out of juice hours before. The controller was usually pretty good on power, which is why he never considered getting a recharge station, and batteries were usually plentiful but Murphy decided to show his ugly head with leaving his apartment barren of AAs.

So Sheldon had to venture out (not daring to stop at his much closer work as he had told Gail he would be on vacation) and gone deeper into town to get his batteries, and a pack of his more expensive brand of cigarettes, which as luck would obviously have it that he would be near Ellie's choice of eatery.

The mane of blonde was easy enough to recognize from the sidewalk, the thing attached to her arm was a different story. And as much as Sheldon tried to avoid ... well... anything, this was a cause of stopping. Ellie was someone he seemed to regularly encounter and a cast was a cast so he tapped at the plastic wall to get her attention with a very disturbed look on his face.

The hell did she do to herself....

No, he couldn't hear her. Sheldon could see her lips moving in the familiar form of his last name but given that Ellie didn't say a lot in that exchange it wasn't hard to decipher. The hand wave too, but he didn't heed that obviously.

But it also meant that he wasn't going to get an answer through the thick plastic. He mentally groaned, wondering why he was indulging in such a manner, he was the type to just keep walking without a thought. But this was Ellie Spectre, the girl who had crept into his social circles for some reason and some how; he honestly felt like a typical high school girl gaining gossip material as he double tracked to the entrance of the restaurant and made his way to the outside. Thankfully, no one questioned him as he got through.

The mint haired boy honestly would have sat down at the chair opposite the blonde if it weren't for her feet taking up the space, so he chose to continue standing - it was probably for the best, after his brain kicked in that he was doing something out of the ordinary and he should go home and kill dragons. Sheldon's free hand, devoid of bag, raised and pointed at the blue monstrosity that had eaten half of Ellie's upper body. His question coming up again but in a single word, "Um?"

Well, it was really too late now to turn back from this stupid idea. Conversation had been engaged and Sheldon now just felt more compelled to find out what happened, get it over with and then get back home. It was the easiest route, his brain processed after it had clicked what he was doing.

And a chair was being offered, Sheldon liked sitting down. So he did, hanging the plastic bag off the back of his seat and shifting the chair to get a comfortable sitting position. The menu went unnoticed, even though it was pretty much hurled at him - maybe he was getting used to Ellie's behavior towards him. Lunch would really be nice and real food would be so ideal compared to what he was always eating, but eating with Ellie meant he was going to be staying longer than he probably wanted to.

But food. Sheldon found his hand creeping over the menu, flipping to the first page with the appetizers and the smaller and quicker to eat portions of food.

"So, I gather you're not going to tell me what happened." It wasn't a question really, Sheldon had gathered she wasn't going to share as his first two prompts at the cast had been scoffed off. Oh good, they had chicken fingers.

Sheldon scoffed at the idea and for a moment looked appalled at her suggestion before pulling his features back to his usual placid look. "Why would I ever consider this a date?" He asked with a roll of his eyes. The better question would be why he would even consider dating Ellie, but asking that aloud would probably earn him a jab in the arm. And the blond now had a weapon.

Though, why he considered doing much with the girl really had to present himself in question when she called him a jackass. Friends liked to call each other names in jest, but he never really considered anyone to be on such a friendly term so obviously it was a bit unsettling to hear. His yellow eyes narrowed at the girl across from him as he closed the menu softly and scooted it away.

"Excuse me for being curious." He told her flatly, debating now on just getting up and leaving. Really, all this was probably from the deep dark corner of his being that still cared about people he knew, especially when one of them was this injured.

Ellie's explanations helped ease the situation at least a little. Sheldon was still a little bit of a grump over the blonde's initial choice of words, but it at least helped him remain planted in the chair. That and the sudden wave of hunger that hit him. Damn smell of food.

He didn't respond, especially not even to comment on the whole friend bit without risking opening up another possible can of worms or something. Not with this girl even though he wasn't sure how much of a friendship this really was. So Sheldon simply hummed, a little agreeable in tone.

About her cast, well, the corner of his mouth twitched into something of a frown from not getting much else and really, now he was wondering if it was worth more prompting and badgering. Probably not. Sheldon rolled his eyes and sighed, "fine."

With the question about his bag, Sheldon's eyes shifted to the direction of where the bag hung on the back of his chair and shrugged, "just some batteries, week long gaming ate all the ones I had."

With the menu gone, it was one less thing for Sheldon to play with with his idle fingers so he went to making circles on the tabletop with his index finger.

"Just normal AAs for my controller and whatever else ever needs batteries," which wasn't a lot these days with everything being able to just recharge through AC power. "I never really needed the recharge station, batteries are more simple." That and it was just something else he would need to buy. True, it would be cheaper in the long run... Sheldon shrugged.

"I've probably gotten all of them that you've heard about," he mused, mostly in spite of himself. It was nice to have his collection up and running again, the summer had such a dry spell. It hurt his wallet though, "there were a lot that came out in the last few weeks. It was weird." The boy sighed, defeated as he leaned his head on his propped hand.

It wasn't hard to miss that disapproving tone in Ellie's voice, "I only managed to get most of them thanks to preordering and putting money down when I had it," he didn't have the best job, but it paid for all the little luxuries he liked to acquire; especially when collector's editions were involved. It also didn't hurt that his parents also helped him out from time to time, this was probably something Sheldon was going to leave out for now.

"That's usually the case," Sheldon had to agree. By this time a busboy finally came around with water for the mint haired boy along with any drinks the duo had ordered.

"I can see you enjoying either of those games, but I see you more of a Saint's Row type of person," Sheldon offered his opinion after popping a straw into his cola. Though, he had heard the multiplayer was a lot better in SR, he preferred Modern Warfare since he wasn't much of an online player.

"I was playing a little bit of Skyrim, the gameplay is amazing."