Roommates, part 2/?
Title: Roommates, part 2/?
Author: sunnyday678
Characters/Ships: Ben/Leslie
Rating: G/PG - early chapters; PG-13/R - later chapters
Summary: Leslie invites Ben to be her roommate; begins at the end of "Master Plan".
Disclaimer: I forgot to mention this when it came to chapter 1, but it should be clear: I don't own 'em.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the comments and encouragement after I posted Chapter 1! Hope you enjoy this next installment...
(2 - part I)
Ben showed up at Leslie's door a little after 10AM the next day, Saturday. Before he knocked he stood up a bit straighter and blew out a breath. He couldn't believe he was doing this.
Thinking back, he couldn't quite figure out how he'd been talked into it. He and Leslie had ended up staying at the bar another couple of hours after she'd suggested he move in, talking through the strange proposal and learning more about each other in the process. His questions for her were pretty standard:
Did she have any other roommates? (No.)
Any pets? (No, even though she loved dogs, cats, and fish. But not turtles. Not that she didn't like them, she just didn't have an opinion on them.)
How close did she live to City Hall? (Close enough to walk if it was snowy and she didn't want to drive her car, or if she thought of a good idea while on one of her morning walks and needed to jot it down in her padfolio.)
Her questions on the other hand were, like Leslie herself, more unusual:
First, and as she said most importantly, did he watch the History Channel, and if so, what were his top 3 favorite shows? (Yes, and The Presidents, Ancient Discoveries, and Ax Men. She looked disappointed at his Ax Men choice.)
Would he like to join the Pawnee Cross-Stitch Club, which met in her living room the second Wednesday of every month? ("No, thank you," he said simply.)
Did he know how to operate a waffle iron? ("Yes," he said, his face marked with some confusion. He decided to dismiss the silliness of the question, though, to keep the conversation moving. He went on to say that he was a pretty good cook, and that Chicken Parmesan was his personal specialty, but she interrupted him with another question. He couldn't tell if she was unimpressed, or uninterested.)
They lobbed questions and answers back and forth, stopping to order some chicken wings when they got hungry. The questions subsided while they ate, and they settled into what felt like to Ben a comfortable silence. While they ate, Ben looked up at Leslie every now and again, smiling when she licked a little hot sauce from her fingertips.
He caught himself staring at her when she pasted a Post-It Note on the bar in front of him. Without him noticing she'd jotted down her address and had gathered up her purse. "See you tomorrow morning at, well... At home!" she chirped. She slid off her chair and Ben watched as she left the bar, her hair seeming to glow in the sunshine.
They'd talked for the better part of two hours about him moving in, but they'd never actually shook hands over the deal, or said in plain English, 'Okay, this is happening.' He didn't see her for the rest of the day, and even though he could have called her office phone to confirm things (he hadn't even gotten her cell phone number or home phone number), he didn't. She had seemed so upbeat when she'd given him the Post-It, and Ben still wasn't keen on being labeled a hypocrite by the other Pawnee government employees, so he'd resigned himself to this. Besides, if things went horribly wrong, there was always room for him back at the Pawnee Super Suites. They wouldn't fill up given the fumigating, right? he wondered.
Just as he was getting up the nerve to knock, the door flew open. Leslie stood there, with a big smile on her face -- the biggest smile Ben had seen yet (he'd been keeping a mental inventory). He still felt unsteady and uneasy about all this, but she looked so excited that he couldn't help but smile at her in return.
"Um, good morning," he stammered. "I, uh, brought donuts." He held up the Dunkin Donuts sack in his left hand, which Leslie quickly grabbed. Her smile grew wider. "Thank you! Did you get any with sprinkles?" she asked as she turned away from him, walking into the house. He looked on either side of him, a little confused what to do since she hadn't exactly said to come in. But she'd been expecting him, or so it seemed, and appreciated the donuts (at least until she discovered none had any sprinkles), so he carefully took one step through the door.
"Do you want any coffee with yours?" she called from the kitchen, turning back toward him to find him lingering in the doorway. "You can come in, you know, and set down your suitcase." Then she giggled. "Has anyone ever told you you look like a traveling salesman?"
Ben frowned, looking down to examine himself. He had on dark khakis, a green plaid shirt with grey tie, and his tan coat. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. In fact, this is pretty much how he'd dressed every day since he'd met Leslie, so he couldn't figure out what was so funny about it now. Then he noticed that he was still gripping his rectangular, brown suitcase in his right hand. It was an old fashioned model to be sure, but Ben preferred it to modern suitcases with rolling wheels, which always seemed to trip up even on a smooth floor. Plus, it had been his dad's, so carried some sentimental value for him. He set it down on the floor, looking a little sheepish, and shut the door behind him before walking slowly toward the kitchen.
He thought it had been the suitcase that made him look a little formal, but after getting a closer look at Leslie, he did feel pretty overdressed for a Saturday morning. She was wearing cropped black sweat pants, and a navy T-shirt that on the back had an image of a snowglobe and read "Pawnee Snowglobe Museum: Our Globes Don't (Snow)Blow!" Her hair was pulled back and she didn't have any socks on, and Ben took notice of her red toenails, raising his eyebrows a bit.
She stood over the box of donuts. "Hmm, no sprinkles..." she mumbled, sounding a little annoyed. But then she looked up at him brightly. "No worries: I like chocolate cake ones, too!" she said with a chocolate cake donut resting between two fingers. She took a big bite.
Ben smirked. "You're in an awfully good mood today..." he said cautiously, as he reached for a plain glazed donut.
"Yes," Leslie said, after she quickly finished her bite. "The more I thought about this plan, the more I liked it. Or so it seemed, the pro's column on the pro's/con's list I made got really long..."
"On the surface, it seems pretty insane, right? I mean we barely know each other!" she said, gesturing wildly with her donut, her eyes looking a little manic. "But I will do anything to keep my friends' jobs safe, and this is just one of the ways I plan on proving to you that I can be budget conscious and frugal and... Ooh, sorry!" She had started to jab at him with her finger to really emphasize her point, but forgetting about the donut in her hand had instead smeared some glaze on his tie, only making it worse by trying to wipe it off with her other hand.
Ben's whole body stiffened under her touch. He clutched his donut tighter between his fingers, his eyes darting around the kitchen, unsure where to look. She kept smoothing her hand over his chest, and he silently gulped. But she appeared completely unfazed by all this -- if anything she was growing more determined to get the glaze out. Ben had to distract her.
"Uh, don't worry about it," he said quickly, taking a tiny step to the side. He didn't want to offend her, so made it look as if he was reaching for a coffee mug, rather than trying to put some distance between them.
He also changed the subject. "You're right: we don't know each other, and me moving in, even if it's temporary, is really disruptive for you, I'm sure. So if you don't want to do this, I truly understand." He meant what he said. He eyed Leslie carefully and held his breath, not knowing what to expect next.
Leslie's lips formed a little smile. "Thank you, I appreciate that," she began, quietly and sincerely. "But I really do want to do this. Yes, a big reason is because I wouldn't sleep well at night knowing I didn't do everything I possibly could to help my department and help my friends. But, I must confess something..." Her smile became a little sly. Ben's eyes grew wider and he unconsciously leaned in to her a little. "I miss having a roommate! I haven't had one since my freshman year at college -- Becky, was her name. After that I was an RA so had a room all to myself, and after that I moved back here to Pawnee and got my own place. Besides, I never had a roommate before college, because I was an only child! So I've really missed out not having someone to watch movies with at night, eat waffles with in the morning, have bunk beds with..."
"Bunk beds?" Ben squeaked out, interrupting her.
Leslie looked confused for a moment, and then recognition dawned on her face. "No, I don't have bunk beds!" she laughed. "I have a spare room for you, remember?" Ben's panic-stricken face relaxed as she gave him an easy smile. "I just mean that it'll be nice to have someone around."
Ben smiled back. "Yeah. It will be nice."
On to chapter 2, part II: http://sunnyday678.livejournal.com/2012/02/20/