Fic: Close Second (1/?)
Pairing: Ben/Leslie
Author: liebfraumi
Word count: ~2200
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Clearly I don’t own P-Rex or I would play B-Ball with Detlev Schrempf in my backyard every day.
Timeline/Spoilers: 3x06/AU-ish
Author’s Note: This was prompted by something I read (probably) in the kink meme. Ben´s younger brother is visiting him in Pawnee and hits on Leslie. The first chapter has a lot of Wyatt Boys backstory.
Amuse-Bouche: "Ben shook his head, tried to leave the old feelings of envy towards his brother alone for the moment and concentrating back on his new feelings of bliss toward a certain deputy director."
Two million teddy bears to the greatest beta person ever: rikyl Thank you for insightful comments and general awesomeness.
As a child, Benjamin Wyatt hated weekends. These two days were the only time his parents were forced to spend time together. And even though he was only 9 years old, he knew it was time not well spent. They fought about money and irresponsibility. His father was not good with numbers and his mother was busy with his baby sister. Three children and no plan, this was their life in a nutshell.
As the oldest, he became the responsible one, helping to shield his younger siblings from the craziness inside the little house that never seemed to be filled with laughter or affection. As an adult he often thought, having children right out of college was probably not the best idea for his parents. He was an accident and he often wondered if his parents had really married out of love. But then they had Michael, a close second, only 22 months after Ben’s birth.
In one of his better moods his father had told him they were trying to have pictures of a baby holding a baby. Ben held on to this little piece of information like a lifeline, picturing his parents young, hopeful and a bit silly. They had Abigail 8 years after his brother in a sad attempt to save their marriage, and it made everything worse.
Whenever their parents fought, the Wyatt boys would escape to the basement, where they would put on the TV with maximum volume and watch cartoons for hours. They did not talk or dare to look at each other, just sitting and waiting for the storm to pass. Feeling scared, but grateful for not being alone.
Michael took it the hardest when their parents finally decided to do the reasonable thing for once and divorce. Thirteen-year-old Ben was relieved and hoped that now the four of them could be a happy family. He wanted to become a grown-up so bad.
The oldest Wyatt was an excellent student, participating in all kinds of extra-curricular activities in the afternoon trying not to be at home. When he ran for mayor his senior year, both of his parents were extremely proud. But after Ice Town went up in flames and his valedictorian speech was cancelled, the last thing he wanted was to go to his high school graduation. He only went because his mother quietly reminded him that since he was soon leaving for college it would be the last time the family would be together. To Ben´s surprise even his father had shown up. His parents sat as far away from each other as possible.
So Ben had two photographs to commemorate this utterly disastrous day, one with his mom, Michael, and Abby, and one with his dad, one arm around his son and the other around the waist of his then-girlfriend Michelle, looking incredibly bored. That picture was never framed or looked at.
***
The other one was sitting behind his desk in Pawnee, when Tom came to ask him to join the Parks Department at the Snakehole Lounge later that evening. After declining the first invite, Ben patiently listened to Tom’s attempt of convincing him: “Dude, Dennis Feinstein’s parties are always dope. And the girls there are always high-end, VIP, classy chicks, but not too classy. If you know what I mean.”
Ben knew exactly what Tom meant, but after so many years on the road he had sworn to himself not to get attached, even if it was just an invite to be one of the dudes. He simply wasn´t a guy who randomly picked up women in bars. He could sense the state of emptiness that meaningless drunken one-night stands would leave him in.
He mostly stayed by himself in every town he was sent to, except the occasional herbal tea sessions with his overly-enthusiastic partner Chris, that sometimes could not be avoided.
Ben was more a coffee kind of guy, who also loved baseball and Miller Lite, but as far as sports buddies go, his travels had made him get used the fact, that sports bars can also be frequented alone.
“This night is gonna be dope. So, are you in or are you out?”
Tom’s question catapulted him back to the present, and he was a little surprised at Tom’s persistence. Then it hit him.
Of course, Leslie, in her never-ending enthusiasm and sometimes frightening thoughtfulness had to be behind this. The thought of her made him smile and he felt an overpowering desire to give her a hug.
Tom´s face lit up as well, and he clapped his hands: “Great! See you at 9. And please bring your best game, dude. And by game I mean a killer suit.” And with that he was gone.
Leslie Knope…Leslie…wanted him to come tonight. He tried to downplay his reaction to that revelation but suddenly he felt deliriously happy. His thoughts spiraled into a full-blown mental investigation: Tom was too self-obsessed to care if the state auditor who was leaving in a few weeks joined him and his friends. Ben knew he was not wingman material even though he owned several pairs of killer Ray Bans, on which Tom had complimented him on several occasions. Being the son of a Sunglass Hut manager had its advantages, especially when the vintage ones were the glasses du jour.
On occasion, he and his brother would fight for the coolest models to show off in high school, and Michael, having been the lucky one with girls, had always pulled it off better. Not at high school in general-his grades were abysmal-but he was always acing at looking fly.
Ben shook his head, tried to leave the old feelings of envy towards his brother alone for the moment and concentrating back on his new feelings of bliss toward a certain deputy director.
His thoughts meandered again: Leslie Knope was the only person in Pawnee who had showed him passion, in good and bad ways. She hated him at first, called him a jerk but that was only because she had the instinct of a lioness protecting her cubs, when it came to her friends and co-workers. He admired her tireless efforts to make a difference in her community, her bubbly personality, enthusiasm in overdrive, her intelligence and eyes that had the same color as the wild cornflowers on a mountain meadow…Wait. Where did that come from? Ben immediately felt ashamed for his sappiness and put his face in his hands, rubbing his forehead so intensely as if his fingertips could erase all these tormenting thoughts.
“Having a headache?” asked a familiar yet slightly annoying voice behind him. The body to which the voice belonged was wearing incredibly tight bike shorts and a T-Shirt that could be interpreted as body paint. “Do you want me to get my herbal belt and make you a feverfew smoothie against your migraine?”
“No thanks, Chris. I´m fine,” Ben said, trying to sit upright in his chair and look energetic. “Just a motivational massage, you know. We can always achieve more by challenging ourselves. Don’t stop believing, right?” The moment this gibberish left his mouth, Ben felt embarrassed : A Journey quote? What the hell, Wyatt?
But Chris, enthusiastically nodding, smiled at him and seemed to have forgotten his initial offer: “Ben, you are absolutely right. This is literally the best approach to life in general! Hey, what do you say, after my workout, we meet up to talk some more about that? Meet you for a Smoothie at Sue´s Salads in 3 hours? “
Ben was horrified at the thought of having to talk philosophy with Chris again or hear about his colon one more time. “I am sorry, would love to, but I have to go shopping. Do you know a good place to buy suits?”
***
The truth was Ben had plenty of suits. But tonight seemed like a big deal, since Leslie would be there and she wanted him to be there. Suddenly, he could not bear the thought of another Nicholas Sparks movie night at the Pawnee Super Suites.
Later that evening, Ben realized that the mirror in his motel room was not big enough to get a good look at himself. Was his ass looking right in these jeans? Ben knew he was not what you would call a jock and girls in High School had made that abundantly clear, when they asked him if his brother was seeing anyone at the moment. It was embarrassing really, since he was the oldest and therefore the one who first got a car. That should have counted for something? But his Dad’s station wagon and all the cool sunglasses in the world could not get him the kind of attention his athletic and also artsy brother got. Ben was good at numbers and at debating, but Michael could sing, dance and play all kinds of sports. He was a lot taller than Ben, with broad shoulders and sun-tanned skin. He looked just like their father, whereas Ben took after their mother’s side.
Being practical and earnest, only the shy girls fell for him. And since Ben was shy and awkward himself, their subtle signs of attraction went mostly unnoticed. The bubbly, outgoing and strong-willed female classmates saw what they liked in Michael, and they went for it. His brother was also a guy’s guy. Guys just loved to hang out with him, talking sport and girls. Ben was the one who went shopping for the family, picked up his sister from school and sometimes, when his Mom had to work late, cooked dinner.
At age 16, Ben had only kissed one girl from his debating team, while Michael was already going steady with a girl from Ben’s class. They made out in their living room while Ben was doing his homework - secretly slamming his head into the wooden desktop from time to time, when the giggling suddenly turned into the rustling of clothes and heavy breathing.
The first girlfriend Ben ever had complimented him on his ass, while they were making out after school. It was the first good thing a girl had said about his physical appearance, and it stuck. Even though after two months, she started dating the basketball star of their high school. So much for physical confidence.
Standing with his back turned to the closet mirror, rubbernecking to catch a glimpse at his own ass in his new jeans -Joey’s Jeans Joint in Pawnee was unsurprisingly still stocked with 90s-Cut Levi’s that Ben loved - he wondered why he was all of the sudden so anxious to look good. And casual, and fun and interesting… he completed his own thoughts. Did the light-blue shirt he picked out convey all these characteristics? As much as one shirt could, he thought, sighing.
He hated that since he met Leslie, all his carefully erected walls and principles came tumbling down. He tried to shut down a summer concert only to find himself, minutes later, paying a curly-haired egomaniac of a children’s singer an obscene amount of money to perform anyway.
What had gotten into him? She. With her undefeatable optimism and wicked charm, of which she oftentimes was even not aware of. That was, besides a brilliant mind, the most sexy quality a woman could have in Ben’s book. It was not naiveté; it was innocence in the best way. It was having a heart with a twinkling eye.
Picking up his cell phone and keys, this trail of thoughts stopped him dead in his tracks. Good lord, what was next? Would he recite sonnets as soon as he got to the club? This had to stop. He was leaving in a few weeks and getting involved with all the people would only make it harder when he got to his new assignment. But he could not bring himself to put down his wallet from where he picked it up as second ago. Why was it so hard to follow his routine this time? Roll into town, hack up the budget and leave. Limit personal contacts to a minimum.
The truth was that most of the time, no one bothered to invite him to anything, since he was the enemy, the threat to the people’s job’s future.
Except for her. She yelled at him, caring loudly. He was not used to this. Leslie was a threat to his carefully constructed armor. From the very first moment her words and actions had pierced the protective shield that he had put around himself, much like the one the Rebel Alliance tried to destroy on the forest moon of Endor… Ben turned on last time to look in the mirror and stuck his tongue out at himself. “Note to self,” he thought, “never ever bring Star Wars up around Leslie tonight.” But as nervous as he felt, Ben knew that a few beers would certainly challenge his pledge.
He was so happy that Leslie no longer considered him a thoughtless jerk with a heart of stone. She wanted to be friends, even though he tried to gut her department’s budget with a machete. For the first time in a very long time, he wanted to get attached. Wanted to drink beers, mingle and chat.
By the time he arrived at the bar, Ben had almost convinced himself that becoming friends with Leslie Knope was everything he hoped for. But if he was really honest with himself, this wish was only a close second.
Author: liebfraumi
Word count: ~2200
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Clearly I don’t own P-Rex or I would play B-Ball with Detlev Schrempf in my backyard every day.
Timeline/Spoilers: 3x06/AU-ish
Author’s Note: This was prompted by something I read (probably) in the kink meme. Ben´s younger brother is visiting him in Pawnee and hits on Leslie. The first chapter has a lot of Wyatt Boys backstory.
Amuse-Bouche: "Ben shook his head, tried to leave the old feelings of envy towards his brother alone for the moment and concentrating back on his new feelings of bliss toward a certain deputy director."
Two million teddy bears to the greatest beta person ever: rikyl Thank you for insightful comments and general awesomeness.
As a child, Benjamin Wyatt hated weekends. These two days were the only time his parents were forced to spend time together. And even though he was only 9 years old, he knew it was time not well spent. They fought about money and irresponsibility. His father was not good with numbers and his mother was busy with his baby sister. Three children and no plan, this was their life in a nutshell.
As the oldest, he became the responsible one, helping to shield his younger siblings from the craziness inside the little house that never seemed to be filled with laughter or affection. As an adult he often thought, having children right out of college was probably not the best idea for his parents. He was an accident and he often wondered if his parents had really married out of love. But then they had Michael, a close second, only 22 months after Ben’s birth.
In one of his better moods his father had told him they were trying to have pictures of a baby holding a baby. Ben held on to this little piece of information like a lifeline, picturing his parents young, hopeful and a bit silly. They had Abigail 8 years after his brother in a sad attempt to save their marriage, and it made everything worse.
Whenever their parents fought, the Wyatt boys would escape to the basement, where they would put on the TV with maximum volume and watch cartoons for hours. They did not talk or dare to look at each other, just sitting and waiting for the storm to pass. Feeling scared, but grateful for not being alone.
Michael took it the hardest when their parents finally decided to do the reasonable thing for once and divorce. Thirteen-year-old Ben was relieved and hoped that now the four of them could be a happy family. He wanted to become a grown-up so bad.
The oldest Wyatt was an excellent student, participating in all kinds of extra-curricular activities in the afternoon trying not to be at home. When he ran for mayor his senior year, both of his parents were extremely proud. But after Ice Town went up in flames and his valedictorian speech was cancelled, the last thing he wanted was to go to his high school graduation. He only went because his mother quietly reminded him that since he was soon leaving for college it would be the last time the family would be together. To Ben´s surprise even his father had shown up. His parents sat as far away from each other as possible.
So Ben had two photographs to commemorate this utterly disastrous day, one with his mom, Michael, and Abby, and one with his dad, one arm around his son and the other around the waist of his then-girlfriend Michelle, looking incredibly bored. That picture was never framed or looked at.
***
The other one was sitting behind his desk in Pawnee, when Tom came to ask him to join the Parks Department at the Snakehole Lounge later that evening. After declining the first invite, Ben patiently listened to Tom’s attempt of convincing him: “Dude, Dennis Feinstein’s parties are always dope. And the girls there are always high-end, VIP, classy chicks, but not too classy. If you know what I mean.”
Ben knew exactly what Tom meant, but after so many years on the road he had sworn to himself not to get attached, even if it was just an invite to be one of the dudes. He simply wasn´t a guy who randomly picked up women in bars. He could sense the state of emptiness that meaningless drunken one-night stands would leave him in.
He mostly stayed by himself in every town he was sent to, except the occasional herbal tea sessions with his overly-enthusiastic partner Chris, that sometimes could not be avoided.
Ben was more a coffee kind of guy, who also loved baseball and Miller Lite, but as far as sports buddies go, his travels had made him get used the fact, that sports bars can also be frequented alone.
“This night is gonna be dope. So, are you in or are you out?”
Tom’s question catapulted him back to the present, and he was a little surprised at Tom’s persistence. Then it hit him.
Of course, Leslie, in her never-ending enthusiasm and sometimes frightening thoughtfulness had to be behind this. The thought of her made him smile and he felt an overpowering desire to give her a hug.
Tom´s face lit up as well, and he clapped his hands: “Great! See you at 9. And please bring your best game, dude. And by game I mean a killer suit.” And with that he was gone.
Leslie Knope…Leslie…wanted him to come tonight. He tried to downplay his reaction to that revelation but suddenly he felt deliriously happy. His thoughts spiraled into a full-blown mental investigation: Tom was too self-obsessed to care if the state auditor who was leaving in a few weeks joined him and his friends. Ben knew he was not wingman material even though he owned several pairs of killer Ray Bans, on which Tom had complimented him on several occasions. Being the son of a Sunglass Hut manager had its advantages, especially when the vintage ones were the glasses du jour.
On occasion, he and his brother would fight for the coolest models to show off in high school, and Michael, having been the lucky one with girls, had always pulled it off better. Not at high school in general-his grades were abysmal-but he was always acing at looking fly.
Ben shook his head, tried to leave the old feelings of envy towards his brother alone for the moment and concentrating back on his new feelings of bliss toward a certain deputy director.
His thoughts meandered again: Leslie Knope was the only person in Pawnee who had showed him passion, in good and bad ways. She hated him at first, called him a jerk but that was only because she had the instinct of a lioness protecting her cubs, when it came to her friends and co-workers. He admired her tireless efforts to make a difference in her community, her bubbly personality, enthusiasm in overdrive, her intelligence and eyes that had the same color as the wild cornflowers on a mountain meadow…Wait. Where did that come from? Ben immediately felt ashamed for his sappiness and put his face in his hands, rubbing his forehead so intensely as if his fingertips could erase all these tormenting thoughts.
“Having a headache?” asked a familiar yet slightly annoying voice behind him. The body to which the voice belonged was wearing incredibly tight bike shorts and a T-Shirt that could be interpreted as body paint. “Do you want me to get my herbal belt and make you a feverfew smoothie against your migraine?”
“No thanks, Chris. I´m fine,” Ben said, trying to sit upright in his chair and look energetic. “Just a motivational massage, you know. We can always achieve more by challenging ourselves. Don’t stop believing, right?” The moment this gibberish left his mouth, Ben felt embarrassed : A Journey quote? What the hell, Wyatt?
But Chris, enthusiastically nodding, smiled at him and seemed to have forgotten his initial offer: “Ben, you are absolutely right. This is literally the best approach to life in general! Hey, what do you say, after my workout, we meet up to talk some more about that? Meet you for a Smoothie at Sue´s Salads in 3 hours? “
Ben was horrified at the thought of having to talk philosophy with Chris again or hear about his colon one more time. “I am sorry, would love to, but I have to go shopping. Do you know a good place to buy suits?”
***
The truth was Ben had plenty of suits. But tonight seemed like a big deal, since Leslie would be there and she wanted him to be there. Suddenly, he could not bear the thought of another Nicholas Sparks movie night at the Pawnee Super Suites.
Later that evening, Ben realized that the mirror in his motel room was not big enough to get a good look at himself. Was his ass looking right in these jeans? Ben knew he was not what you would call a jock and girls in High School had made that abundantly clear, when they asked him if his brother was seeing anyone at the moment. It was embarrassing really, since he was the oldest and therefore the one who first got a car. That should have counted for something? But his Dad’s station wagon and all the cool sunglasses in the world could not get him the kind of attention his athletic and also artsy brother got. Ben was good at numbers and at debating, but Michael could sing, dance and play all kinds of sports. He was a lot taller than Ben, with broad shoulders and sun-tanned skin. He looked just like their father, whereas Ben took after their mother’s side.
Being practical and earnest, only the shy girls fell for him. And since Ben was shy and awkward himself, their subtle signs of attraction went mostly unnoticed. The bubbly, outgoing and strong-willed female classmates saw what they liked in Michael, and they went for it. His brother was also a guy’s guy. Guys just loved to hang out with him, talking sport and girls. Ben was the one who went shopping for the family, picked up his sister from school and sometimes, when his Mom had to work late, cooked dinner.
At age 16, Ben had only kissed one girl from his debating team, while Michael was already going steady with a girl from Ben’s class. They made out in their living room while Ben was doing his homework - secretly slamming his head into the wooden desktop from time to time, when the giggling suddenly turned into the rustling of clothes and heavy breathing.
The first girlfriend Ben ever had complimented him on his ass, while they were making out after school. It was the first good thing a girl had said about his physical appearance, and it stuck. Even though after two months, she started dating the basketball star of their high school. So much for physical confidence.
Standing with his back turned to the closet mirror, rubbernecking to catch a glimpse at his own ass in his new jeans -Joey’s Jeans Joint in Pawnee was unsurprisingly still stocked with 90s-Cut Levi’s that Ben loved - he wondered why he was all of the sudden so anxious to look good. And casual, and fun and interesting… he completed his own thoughts. Did the light-blue shirt he picked out convey all these characteristics? As much as one shirt could, he thought, sighing.
He hated that since he met Leslie, all his carefully erected walls and principles came tumbling down. He tried to shut down a summer concert only to find himself, minutes later, paying a curly-haired egomaniac of a children’s singer an obscene amount of money to perform anyway.
What had gotten into him? She. With her undefeatable optimism and wicked charm, of which she oftentimes was even not aware of. That was, besides a brilliant mind, the most sexy quality a woman could have in Ben’s book. It was not naiveté; it was innocence in the best way. It was having a heart with a twinkling eye.
Picking up his cell phone and keys, this trail of thoughts stopped him dead in his tracks. Good lord, what was next? Would he recite sonnets as soon as he got to the club? This had to stop. He was leaving in a few weeks and getting involved with all the people would only make it harder when he got to his new assignment. But he could not bring himself to put down his wallet from where he picked it up as second ago. Why was it so hard to follow his routine this time? Roll into town, hack up the budget and leave. Limit personal contacts to a minimum.
The truth was that most of the time, no one bothered to invite him to anything, since he was the enemy, the threat to the people’s job’s future.
Except for her. She yelled at him, caring loudly. He was not used to this. Leslie was a threat to his carefully constructed armor. From the very first moment her words and actions had pierced the protective shield that he had put around himself, much like the one the Rebel Alliance tried to destroy on the forest moon of Endor… Ben turned on last time to look in the mirror and stuck his tongue out at himself. “Note to self,” he thought, “never ever bring Star Wars up around Leslie tonight.” But as nervous as he felt, Ben knew that a few beers would certainly challenge his pledge.
He was so happy that Leslie no longer considered him a thoughtless jerk with a heart of stone. She wanted to be friends, even though he tried to gut her department’s budget with a machete. For the first time in a very long time, he wanted to get attached. Wanted to drink beers, mingle and chat.
By the time he arrived at the bar, Ben had almost convinced himself that becoming friends with Leslie Knope was everything he hoped for. But if he was really honest with himself, this wish was only a close second.