FIC: Filling Holes (Office/Parks & Recreation x-over)
Title: Filling Holes (1/??)
Author: Allaine77
Characters/Pairings: I don't want to divulge any pairings yet. I'd be giving something away, and I don't want to do that yet for another chapter or two. But I promise, this story will feature a femslash pairing with at least one woman from The Office.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The first three seasons of "The Office", and the first two episodes of "Parks & Recreation".
Summary: There are holes in people's lives. Some are metaphorical, and some not. But they all need to be filled. Even the ones you didn't know you had.
___________________________________________________
Chapter 1
In less than a week, Ann had gone from "outspoken citizen" to "subcommittee member" to "dimly suspicious this would end in disaster". It was not a smooth progression, and it certainly didn't have the destination she'd had in mind.
It had seemed relatively simple in her mind. It still did, in fact. It wasn't even about the park for her. Sure, a park would be nice. But Ann just wanted the damn pit - as in, the big fucking pit in the middle of a residential neighborhood - filled in. It had been easy enough for a grown man to fall in and break both his legs. If an adult could fall in, then certainly a child could. Why didn't these parents get that? They were so busy whining about having a park nearby (and really, was having a park nearby that horrible?) that they were forgetting the real problem. That should have been the question asked during canvassing. "Would you rather have a park in your neighborhood, or a giant hole that poses a substantial risk to your children's lives?" Maybe then they wouldn't have bitched about "barbecue smoke".
Ann liked the smell of barbecue smoke, for the record.
The questions, however, hadn't been up to her. She hadn't even know about the whole canvassing thing until Leslie pulled the three-ring binders out. Even if she had known, she still would have left it to Leslie's judgment. She worked in government. She worked in parks. She was experienced about this kind of thing.
Leslie, unfortunately, wasn't too bright.
Ann couldn't muster any hostility or frustration with Leslie. She really was trying. She'd gone out on a limb for Ann since that initial public forum, with very little prodding, and her belief that local government was supposed to make life better was almost palpable. It was sweet. But words would come out of her mouth, and Ann would scrunch her face and think, "Does she hear herself when she speaks?"
She had known people like that in her life. Usually they opened their mouths, and Ann got out of the way before the inevitable fallout cold-cocked them between the eyes. Absurdly, however, part of Ann wanted to protect Leslie from herself. Well, she WAS a nurse.
And Leslie, piss-poor champion she was turning out to be, was probably her best chance anyway of getting the pit filled. Ann had no desire to start from scratch and petition a different city department. As for Leslie's team, Mark was definitely the smart member of the bunch, but Ann could see the world-weary cynicism in his eyes. Mark didn't care. He'd do his job, but it didn't matter to him personally if the pit was filled. If only Leslie's passion could be combined with Mark's competence!
As for Tom, well, he was a total asshole. She'd known people like that too. Who hadn't?
Never mind how uncomfortable those damn filmmakers were making her . . .
Maybe she should just move a little farther from the Sullivan Street lot. Andy wasn't exactly mobile, but Ann had a second dim suspicion to go with the first - that her taste in men hadn't improved.
So Ann was starting to regret speaking out at the public forum, starting to regret moving in with Andy, starting to regret even moving to Pawnee in the first place. But maybe Leslie would prove her wrong.
Ann sighed. She'd probably regret wanting to protect Leslie too.
To be continued . . .
Sincerely, Allaine
Author: Allaine77
Characters/Pairings: I don't want to divulge any pairings yet. I'd be giving something away, and I don't want to do that yet for another chapter or two. But I promise, this story will feature a femslash pairing with at least one woman from The Office.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The first three seasons of "The Office", and the first two episodes of "Parks & Recreation".
Summary: There are holes in people's lives. Some are metaphorical, and some not. But they all need to be filled. Even the ones you didn't know you had.
___________________________________________________
Chapter 1
In less than a week, Ann had gone from "outspoken citizen" to "subcommittee member" to "dimly suspicious this would end in disaster". It was not a smooth progression, and it certainly didn't have the destination she'd had in mind.
It had seemed relatively simple in her mind. It still did, in fact. It wasn't even about the park for her. Sure, a park would be nice. But Ann just wanted the damn pit - as in, the big fucking pit in the middle of a residential neighborhood - filled in. It had been easy enough for a grown man to fall in and break both his legs. If an adult could fall in, then certainly a child could. Why didn't these parents get that? They were so busy whining about having a park nearby (and really, was having a park nearby that horrible?) that they were forgetting the real problem. That should have been the question asked during canvassing. "Would you rather have a park in your neighborhood, or a giant hole that poses a substantial risk to your children's lives?" Maybe then they wouldn't have bitched about "barbecue smoke".
Ann liked the smell of barbecue smoke, for the record.
The questions, however, hadn't been up to her. She hadn't even know about the whole canvassing thing until Leslie pulled the three-ring binders out. Even if she had known, she still would have left it to Leslie's judgment. She worked in government. She worked in parks. She was experienced about this kind of thing.
Leslie, unfortunately, wasn't too bright.
Ann couldn't muster any hostility or frustration with Leslie. She really was trying. She'd gone out on a limb for Ann since that initial public forum, with very little prodding, and her belief that local government was supposed to make life better was almost palpable. It was sweet. But words would come out of her mouth, and Ann would scrunch her face and think, "Does she hear herself when she speaks?"
She had known people like that in her life. Usually they opened their mouths, and Ann got out of the way before the inevitable fallout cold-cocked them between the eyes. Absurdly, however, part of Ann wanted to protect Leslie from herself. Well, she WAS a nurse.
And Leslie, piss-poor champion she was turning out to be, was probably her best chance anyway of getting the pit filled. Ann had no desire to start from scratch and petition a different city department. As for Leslie's team, Mark was definitely the smart member of the bunch, but Ann could see the world-weary cynicism in his eyes. Mark didn't care. He'd do his job, but it didn't matter to him personally if the pit was filled. If only Leslie's passion could be combined with Mark's competence!
As for Tom, well, he was a total asshole. She'd known people like that too. Who hadn't?
Never mind how uncomfortable those damn filmmakers were making her . . .
Maybe she should just move a little farther from the Sullivan Street lot. Andy wasn't exactly mobile, but Ann had a second dim suspicion to go with the first - that her taste in men hadn't improved.
So Ann was starting to regret speaking out at the public forum, starting to regret moving in with Andy, starting to regret even moving to Pawnee in the first place. But maybe Leslie would prove her wrong.
Ann sighed. She'd probably regret wanting to protect Leslie too.
To be continued . . .
Sincerely, Allaine