I absolutely adored this! What I might love most might be seeing Ben through Chris' eyes. I love any fic that looks at their life pre-Pawnee (especially loved how Chris offered to go out for drinks at 10:30am to cheer him up). I'd love to see more scenes on the show between the two reminding us of their life before Pawnee (I believe there was a deleted scene from Road Trip where Ben simply says to Chris "we've spent a lot of time in the car together, haven't we, Chris?")
A nice note on this was how you mentioned that though Chris is friendly with everyone, he considers Ben a genuine friend. I like.
I'm glad you liked it! That's cool, because this started out as kind of jokey ficlet, and then as it dawned on me that Chris has this history with Ben and could "tell" me things about Ben's life before Pawnee, that's when it got away from me and turned into something more serious. I do think they have a sort-of friendship going on, after working together all these years. I was thinking of that deleted scene you mentioned, as well as something Ben said in Indianapolis ("Oh, that's why you kissed him. We all thought that was really weird!), showing that he and Chris actually talked about their personal lives sometimes.
Alternately, their past would also provide some insight into Chris as well, aside from the overly friendly and enthusiastic guy we see on the show. Maybe Ben knows more about Chris' past relationships too (possibly one that was with a co-worker which might explain Chris' no-dating co-workers rule and further frustrates Ben over his sitch with Leslie).
That last bit sounded like a prompt - it wasn't meant to be :) But if you want to take it like that, I won't stop ya :P
I agree, I hope we see more of their friendship next season! The writers probably just didn't have time to do everything they wanted to do in half a year. I'm pretty sure I am DONE writing Chris for now, but that would be interesting to see.
Excellent characterization of Chris. I'd really like it if the show went in this direction and Leslie and Ben went to great lengths to hide their relationship, only to discover that Chris knew and approved all along. That could be hilarious.
I also like to think that Chris is more insightful than he often comes across.
Ha! That would be funny. Although, even though I wrote this, I don't actually believe he knows anything in the show's universe. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Oh, this is so sweet! I love how you made Chris so much more perceptive and knowing about Ben and Leslie...and he's trying to help! It would be wonderful if this is how it really happened! :)
This was so good! Your characterization of Chris is spot-on, and I loved the look into Chris and Ben's friendship, because although the show doesn't really address it, they obviously have a lot of history together. And your explanation of the Chris/Ann dynamic is basically what I imagined it to be like, so that was awesome. Oh, and I also really love the nod to canon with the morning beers parallel.
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A nice note on this was how you mentioned that though Chris is friendly with everyone, he considers Ben a genuine friend. I like.
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Thank you for your feedback!
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That last bit sounded like a prompt - it wasn't meant to be :)
But if you want to take it like that, I won't stop ya :P
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I also like to think that Chris is more insightful than he often comes across.
Fun story, good writing. Well done. :)
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Also, his calling Leslie in for receipts...THIS MIGHT BE MY HEAD CANON NOW.
Sorry. I'm excited.
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