Twelve Days - December 22 - Ben/Leslie
Title: So Much Easier
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: Parks and Recreation, Leslie/Ben, kissing on a playground.
For: shornt
Word Count: 522
Rating: PG
Summary: Leslie wants to take him on a tour of Pawnee's parks.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Most of his days for the past month have been spent arguing with Leslie Knope, so it might not be surprising he tells the cameraman:
"My job would be a lot easier if she'd been fired."
But to people who know Leslie, it probably makes sense when he adds:
"I'm glad she didn't get fired."
He smiles before ducking his head down to get the sun out of his eyes.
*
Leslie wants to take him on a tour of Pawnee's parks. She insists, *persists* and Ben would like to say that he has willpower, that he's detached from this enough so as to make it easy to say no, but...
He'd be lying.
(On the plus side, Leslie seems to have that effect on a lot of people.)
So here he is, visiting his third park of the day, leaning next to a slide as Leslie extols the virtues of having *open* parks.
"That was a pointed remark, by the way."
He nods. "I caught that."
They share a smile, and Ben briefly worries he'll find himself doing something crazy to get Pawnee out of debt. Perhaps rob a string of banks. Forge paperwork. Instead, he does something which may be more foolish (not because it's a bigger mistake, but because it's more difficult to use logic to stop himself before he goes through with it): He leans down. He kisses her.
There's a moment where she's taken aback -- he knows the difference between a woman parting her lips for a deeper kiss and one who'd be saying, 'hey, what are you doing?' if her lips weren't preoccupied -- and a moment later she's kissing him back, if chastely. Her fingers wrap around his tie.
"Wow." She steps back. When she notices her hand is on his chest, she pulls it away. "Okay."
"Sorry--"
This is when she kisses him. Shortly after that, she pulls away for a second time. "We shouldn't. It would be unprofessional."
"I know."
"And make this complicated."
"Yeah."
He kisses her.
She kisses him back.
"Okay." She nods. "That's it."
"Yeah."
This time, they're both telling the truth.
He'll admit, though, that he wouldn't have minded kissing her again.
*
For the past few days, Leslie and Ben have been dancing around their kiss. Kisses. But not in a strained way... not in a Mark-way (as in, how she felt about him a couple years ago), where she has a need to bring up what happened between them, to obsess over it. It's... they *like* each other, and she's getting more and more used to the idea of that. She should not kiss him again, though. For now. Also, she doesn't mention the kissing to the cameramen (two years ago, if Mark had kissed her... people would have *been told*). She just says:
"My job would be a lot easier if Ben weren't around... I mean, not exactly. It's not his fault. But when he goes, that means things are on the right track. And I want that. I want to have a government that isn't shut down. I want to do real, for the community work. God, I miss work."
After a pause to mourn for all she can't get done, she adds:
"But..." She nods. Smiles slightly. "...I also like having him around. I... I do."
END
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: Parks and Recreation, Leslie/Ben, kissing on a playground.
For: shornt
Word Count: 522
Rating: PG
Summary: Leslie wants to take him on a tour of Pawnee's parks.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Most of his days for the past month have been spent arguing with Leslie Knope, so it might not be surprising he tells the cameraman:
"My job would be a lot easier if she'd been fired."
But to people who know Leslie, it probably makes sense when he adds:
"I'm glad she didn't get fired."
He smiles before ducking his head down to get the sun out of his eyes.
*
Leslie wants to take him on a tour of Pawnee's parks. She insists, *persists* and Ben would like to say that he has willpower, that he's detached from this enough so as to make it easy to say no, but...
He'd be lying.
(On the plus side, Leslie seems to have that effect on a lot of people.)
So here he is, visiting his third park of the day, leaning next to a slide as Leslie extols the virtues of having *open* parks.
"That was a pointed remark, by the way."
He nods. "I caught that."
They share a smile, and Ben briefly worries he'll find himself doing something crazy to get Pawnee out of debt. Perhaps rob a string of banks. Forge paperwork. Instead, he does something which may be more foolish (not because it's a bigger mistake, but because it's more difficult to use logic to stop himself before he goes through with it): He leans down. He kisses her.
There's a moment where she's taken aback -- he knows the difference between a woman parting her lips for a deeper kiss and one who'd be saying, 'hey, what are you doing?' if her lips weren't preoccupied -- and a moment later she's kissing him back, if chastely. Her fingers wrap around his tie.
"Wow." She steps back. When she notices her hand is on his chest, she pulls it away. "Okay."
"Sorry--"
This is when she kisses him. Shortly after that, she pulls away for a second time. "We shouldn't. It would be unprofessional."
"I know."
"And make this complicated."
"Yeah."
He kisses her.
She kisses him back.
"Okay." She nods. "That's it."
"Yeah."
This time, they're both telling the truth.
He'll admit, though, that he wouldn't have minded kissing her again.
*
For the past few days, Leslie and Ben have been dancing around their kiss. Kisses. But not in a strained way... not in a Mark-way (as in, how she felt about him a couple years ago), where she has a need to bring up what happened between them, to obsess over it. It's... they *like* each other, and she's getting more and more used to the idea of that. She should not kiss him again, though. For now. Also, she doesn't mention the kissing to the cameramen (two years ago, if Mark had kissed her... people would have *been told*). She just says:
"My job would be a lot easier if Ben weren't around... I mean, not exactly. It's not his fault. But when he goes, that means things are on the right track. And I want that. I want to have a government that isn't shut down. I want to do real, for the community work. God, I miss work."
After a pause to mourn for all she can't get done, she adds:
"But..." She nods. Smiles slightly. "...I also like having him around. I... I do."
END