FF: Take a Bow (Part 1)

[cypanache]

Title: Take a Bow (Part 1)
Pairing: Leslie, Ben, Leslie/Ben (with cameos by almost everyone else)
Word Count: ~7,900 (this part)
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: This starts after 4x03 "Born and Raised" and will proceed to move through canon up to 4x06 "End of the World" at which point it will likely take a hard left unless canon really surprises me.
Author's

Comments

[shornt]

Oh my gosh, all your Leslie groundwork as you wrote this REALLY paid off. That is spot on to me - and kind of this weird twisted thing of how Ben had to wait for her to like him as much as he liked her, and now she has to wait for him to be okay with breaking up as much as her, and wow. I just really love that whole chunk of Leslie's perspective and just a really great interpretation of what's going on in her head.

That part with Ben and the superhero shirts absolutely broke my heart; I adore it in the saddest way. And when he told Tom that he was his hero? Drunk or not, that is probably my favorite fic world exchange between the two of them ever. So sweet, and really, it makes sense.

But I think the Leslie/Ann scene in this is my favorite part, because it rings so true to their relationship. Ann trying to tell Leslie how people cope with break-ups and Leslie just not GETTING it. Ugh, that was really maybe the saddest part of this to me, that Leslie just doesn't do relationships in the same way and doesn't really understand how to mourn one once its gone.

And, to wrap up...

“Oh, right. Sure. Yeah of course. Take, um, you know time. That you need. All the time. I’ll be just right down the hall. In the Parks Department. It’s a left at the water fountain just in case you’ve forgotten.”

That might be my favorite line of Leslie dialogue you've ever written. Just. Perfect.

[cypanache]

Thank you and thank you for your help with this. It's been really helpful for me to have all of you be willing to listen to me ramble through everything while trying to sort Leslie out.

I'm glad you enjoyed both the Tom/Ben and Leslie/Ann friendship portions of this fic as both friendships will continue to play a fairly good size role for these two as we go.