Ben/Leslie fic - A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Title: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Pairing: Leslie/Ben
Words: 2465
Rating: PG-13 (for one teeny, tiny swear word)
Summary: It's Ben's birthday, and Leslie wants to give him the perfect gift. What do you get for the nerd who has everything?
Author's Note: This was written for Hiatus Fest Week 2, prompt #1 - fantasy/fairytale. And because the world can always use more nerdy Ben.
"Leslie, can I take this thing off yet?" He picks at the dark, heavy fabric covering his eyes for a second before his hand is lightly slapped aside. "It's starting to make my eyes itch."
"No, not until we get there. Don't be such a baby, Ben. It's just a few more minutes."
Ben grasps the side of the car door as she makes an unexpected hard left. "Yeah, you said that twenty minutes ago. We've been driving for over an hour now. You didn't have to go to so much trouble for this. It's just a birthday."
"No, Ben, it's not 'just a birthday'!" she stresses adamantly from beside him. "It's your first birthday in Pawnee, and it's your first birthday with me." He feels her warm hand grasp his over the center console. "Of course I'm going to make it special for you."
He squeezes her hand back. "Fine. But if I get a rash and can't open my eyes from this, you're calling Chris and telling him why I can't come in to work tomorrow."
"Deal."
The car slows down, and Ben jerks forward slightly as it finally comes to a full stop.
"We're here!"
Ben doesn't need his eyes to imagine the bright smile that spreads across Leslie's face as she jumps out of her seat and runs around the car to help him out and lead him to their destination.
"Alright, keep coming this way... this way..." She grips tightly onto his forearm as he stumbles on the gravel.
"Leslie, we're not in the middle of the wilderness, are we?"
"There is no wilderness in Indiana, Ben." She has him stop before leading him up a few steps. "Besides, this surprise is better than a trip to a state park."
"Better than a park?" They walk a couple more paces before she halts him once again. "I must really be getting the special treatment."
Leslie laughs. "Only the best for my man. Here, hold onto this for a sec." Ben steps back as she shoves some sort of duffel bag in his arms, and then it sounds like she's using a set of keys to open a door. Finally, he hears the lock click, and she pushes the door open. "Okay, follow me again. Watch the door jamb."
They walk a few more steps before Leslie turns around, pulls the bag out of his hands, grips both of Ben's arms, and pushes him down onto a plush sofa. "Now, just stay here for a second. I'll be right back." He listens as she scurries down a nearby hallway, then starts to push the fabric up off his eyes...
"And don't you dare take that blindfold off!"
Ben sighs and falls back into the couch. He leans his head back onto the soft cushions and tries to relax, until he notices something. He sniffs the air again to make sure. "Leslie, where exactly are we?"
Her voice rings out from down the hall, "I can't tell you until the whole surprise is ready."
"Are we at your house?"
Silence.
Then, "Dammit, Ben! You weren't supposed to peek!"
He grins as he hears her little feet rushing back into the living room. "I didn't look."
"Then how did you..."
His smile grows wider. "Your house is the only place I know that always smells like hot chocolate and brownies." He feels her slump onto the couch next to him. "Did we really just spend an hour driving around Pawnee so you could trick me into thinking we weren't coming here?"
Leslie shifts beside him and mumbles, "Maybe."
Ben wraps an arm around her shoulder and presses a kiss to her cheek. "Well, something tells me there's still a lot of surprise left."
That cheers her up. She hops back off the couch, and he can hear her playing around with the home theater system in front of him. "Can I take this off no-"
"Not yet!"
Ben throws his hands up in the air. "Alright, fine..."
Leslie fumbles around with the electronics for a few more minutes before standing up and announcing triumphantly, "Okay. Everything's ready!"
He starts to move his hands to his eyes before she pushes them aside once again. "Nuh uh. I get to do the honors. We just need one final touch." She clicks the remote. All of a sudden, the speakers blare, an orchestral swell that Ben has known by heart since he was four years old. Her fingers slowly pull the fabric away from his face and light floods his vision. After a moment, his eyes adjust and his jaw drops.
"Oh my god... Leslie..."
She pulls nervously at the white fabric draping her. "So... what do you think?"
Ben can't think. He can barely process this. He is sitting in her house, which is decorated with all sorts of scarves and fabrics and hanging lights, the Star Wars theme is blaring from the stereo next to him, and his girlfriend, Leslie Knope (Leslie amazing gorgeous wonderful crazy Knope), is standing in front of him dressed as Princess fucking Leia.
Complete with side-buns and everything.
There are no words.
He must have been shell-shocked for longer than he thought because Leslie starts to look worried and nudges his leg with her toe. "Ben? You in there?"
He tries to form words, really he does, but nothing seems to come to him.
"I wanted to get the gold bikini," Leslie starts, blushing, "but there are some places metal just shouldn't go." She smooths out the front of the long white dress and grins. "Besides, this way I get this cool gun too."
Ben finally manages to snap out of his stupor and gazes at her in wonder. "Wow, Leslie... just wow." He stands up in front of her and grasps her hands. "And this dress is absolutely perfect."
He looks around the elaborately decorated room in awe. "What is all this?"
"It's your first birthday here, and I wanted to do something really special, so you know that you belong here in Pawnee," she explains, her words ringing with conviction, "With me."
Ben is at a loss for words again. "But why...how..."
Leslie flashes a sly grin. "Why do you think I made you stay at your place last night?" She pulls him back over to the couch to sit down. "We all know how big of a Star Wars nerd you are, Ben." She looks at him pointedly. "You got Tom a Boba Fett t-shirt for his birthday..."
Ben has the decency to look chagrined. "It was a cool shirt..."
"...that Tom will never, ever wear." Leslie smiles and pats his arm comfortingly. "But that's okay, because I know you like it. So, in honor of your first birthday in Pawnee, I wanted to give you a nerd paradise!"
He looks around the room again. "You decorated your living room into a nerd paradise?"
Leslie smiles proudly at her work. "Yep. And Ann helped me, on the condition that I wouldn't give her any of the details about what happens tonight. It's supposed to be Jabba's lair." She turns back to face him. "I was actually gonna pay Andy to come over and dress up as Chewbacca, but then I thought that might be too weird."
Ben grimaces. "Good call."
Leslie slides forward on the couch and points out the food platters on the coffee table. "I even made some Star Wars-themed snacks! Here we have tortillas chips with Dark Side Salsa... some Tusken Raider Taters... these are mini Han-burgers... and for dessert - Wookiee Cookies!"
His eyes widen and he chuckles. "Wookiee Cookies? Really?"
"Yeah, there's actually a whole book full of weird themed recipes like that." She snorts and shakes her head. "Star Wars geeks are weird."
Ben frowns in offense. "Well, at least we aren't as bad as Trekkies..."
Leslie suddenly perks up and claps her hands together. "I almost forgot… presents!"
"Presents?" Ben repeats, confused. He thought Leslie wearing the Leia-buns was enough of a present on its own.
"Of course there are presents, Ben. What's a birthday without gifts?" She pulls out two packages from behind the entertainment center and sets the first one on his lap. "That one's from everyone in the department."
Ben tears into the wrapping, tossing aside the paper and holding the small box in his hands. "The original trilogy DVD set... this is awesome! All I have are my old VHS tapes." He holds the box out further and studies it, touched. "That was really nice of everybody."
Leslie smiles. "It was Tom and April's idea. Tom knew you'd want the original movies, not the prequels, and April figured you'd be too behind the times to ever buy them on DVD."
"I probably should be offended by that, but I'll let it go."
Leslie bounces up and down on the couch beside him. "Okay, now my turn! Here's mine." She enthusiastically shoves the long thin package into his hands before he can even set the DVDs down.
Ben turns the gift over in his hands slowly, then starts gently peeling the tape away from its edges, enjoying teasing Leslie, who is fidgeting in frustration beside him.
Finally, she can't take it anymore and dives over his arm to steal the package from his grasp. "You're not doing it right, Ben!"
He smiles as he watches her rip the gift wrapping to shreds until all she is left with is a long cylindrical wooden case. It's dark cherry wood, so shiny that Ben can see his reflection shining off the top of it.
"That part of the present is from Ron. He made it in his wood-shop."
Ben slowly runs his fingers over the smooth lines of the case, admiring its perfect construction. He's been in Pawnee for awhile now, and he knows that he has slowly but surely become a part of their oddball little group. But he hadn't realized until just this moment how much they have truly come to mean to him, and apparently how much he means to them, too.
They're his family now.
He slides the little gold clasp that secures the case free and opens it carefully. He stares down into the velvet-lined interior in wonder, speechless. A long moment passes before he can finally turn and face Leslie, amazement shining in his eyes.
She smiles gently. "So... what do you think?"
He swallows hard, finally finding his words. "You bought me a light saber."
She nods. "It's a blue one." She looks worried for a second. "That is the good kind, right? The kind the Jedi use?"
Ben grins at her, still half in shock. "Yeah."
Leslie leans over his arm again and points to the base of the light saber. "It's a deluxe model. Look."
He inspects the silver handle more closely, reading the small words running along its base. "You had it engraved." He gently traces the script with his finger.
"Ben Wyatt - Jedi Knight."
"Do you like it?" she asks, a hint of doubt in her voice.
Ben closes the case back up and gingerly sets it on the floor in front of him. He turns to face Leslie, places his hands on either side of her face, and lightly caresses her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. Then he leans in slowly until their foreheads touch and whispers, "It's the best present I've ever gotten."
Pulling her closer, he tilts his head slightly until his lips find hers and everything feels right in the world. He kisses her like he is giving her everything he has to offer. Like he's giving her his heart, his soul, his forever. Ben might not be good with words, might not know how to tell her just how much this gift means to him, how much she means to him. But he will do everything in his power to show her exactly how he feels.
Eventually, air becomes a necessity, and they reluctantly break apart from each other. Ben places a final light kiss against her lips before they settle back against the sofa, Leslie curled into his side, her bun pressed against his cheek.
"Thank you, Leslie. This has been the weirdest, most wonderful birthday I've ever had. No one has ever put this much thought or effort into celebrating my birthday before. It means a lot to me. So... just thank you."
Leslie wraps her arm around his waist and squeezes. "This is just the first of many birthdays, Ben." She looks up into his face and smiles. "You better get used to it."
He laughs, and she unwraps herself from around him to pick up the DVD boxset. "So, what's it gonna be? Empire Strikes Back?"
Ben beams. "You know me too well." She hands him the DVD to put in the player, and they settle back onto the couch to watch.
When Luke is trapped in the Wampa's cave, Leslie and Ben are divvying up what is left of the Han-burgers and Wookiee Cookies.
When Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C3PO are escaping Hoth on the Millennium Falcon, Ben is teaching Leslie the proper way to hold and swing a light saber.
When Yoda is training Luke in the ways of the Jedi on Dagobah, Ben is trying to help Leslie untangle the fake buns from the side of her hair because they’re giving her a headache.
When Han Solo is being frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader, Leslie is kissing a tantalizingly slow trail down Ben's neck, and he gives up paying any attention to the movie.
And when the ending credits begin to roll, Ben is smiling down at Leslie as she snores lightly on his chest.
She looks so peaceful, and Ben really doesn't want to wake her up, but he figures they'll both sleep better if they make it to her bed. He shakes her shoulder lightly until she rouses, then helps her as she drowsily tries to untangle herself from the mess of blankets so she can sit up. Ben rises from the couch first, and since Leslie is still half-asleep, he pulls her up and supports most of her weight as they make their way to the bedroom.
Halfway there, Leslie's head lolls to the side and she pouts, "But we were supposed to do sexy role-playing. I rented the dress and everything."
He smirks and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Just keep the outfit an extra day. We'll leave work early tomorrow."
Ben leads Leslie to her side of the bed, pulls the covers back, lays her down, and tucks her in before kissing her lightly.
"I love you, Leslie," he whispers.
She smiles against his kiss. "I know."