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crack_van2013-06-19 10:52 am
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-06-19 10:52 am
Entry tags:
"next stop, the world" by synecdoche (PG-13)
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt, Ann Perkins/Chris Traeger, April Ludgate/Andy Dwyer
Length: 11 chapters of about 3-4k words each
Author on LJ: synecdoche
Author Website: None (but LJ is all fic)
Why this must be read: This is another post-"Li'l Sebastian" entry, albeit one that's longer and a bit more upbeat than some of its peers. But this was an early favorite of mine when I began digging into Parksfic, and with good reason--didn't we all wany Leslie and Ben to find a way to navigate their relationship and her campaign? Throw in some surprisingly good Ann/Chris business and a dash of April and Andy actually kinda acting like adults on occasion, and you've got a recipe for awesome.
The Bulge is packed full of gay men and ladies by the time Leslie and Ben walk through the doors, which is perfect because then if they want to kiss, nobody will notice or think to ask. After she grabs them some free drinks, they find a kind of dark corner and Ben gives her that perfectly long sweet look of his, like he's saying Leslie you are the most perfect woman I really like you just let me stare at you but with his eyes. She could look at him looking at her like that basically forever. Except that'd leave no time for things like making out, which is what they do next. He runs his fingers against the line of her face while his tongue curls against hers and she just melts against him, heart thumping to the beat of the music. How did she get this lucky? After a long perfect moment they come up for air.
"Do you want to dance?" she yells, still with her hand on his. For all that it's busy, she's kind of a hero here and eventually someone's bound to notice that Awesome Leslie Knope is making out with Adorable Ben Wyatt in the corner if they keep on like this. "I really like dancing here! They're really good!"
"I guess," he yells back. He has this special talent for sounding like he doesn't care while shouting, which is really cool if you think about it. Especially if you can deploy it at will, which he definitely can, in the past few weeks she's heard him yell her name and sound really enthusiastic about it, which is also a pretty special talent.
They make their way to the dance floor. He's dancing his dorky, shoulders-up shuffling moves with this concentration that should be painful to watch. Maybe it is for other people. She just joins in, moving them closer to the dancing mass of people, lowering her shoulders opposite him. It's like magic -- or maybe the Miller Lite working -- he relaxes just the slightest bit and he looks great. Like, so great that these gay guys are totally checking him out, and Leslie has to scoot a little closer so they get the message, this guy is taken. Ben leans towards her and kisses her, quick and intense, and her toes start to tingle. That might be all the wine she drank before she got here. It's mostly him, though.
They groove a little more, bouncing up and down in time to the thumping beat. There's sweat, sticky on her eyelids and running down the line of her spine. She reaches over and grabs Ben's hands just as the music settles into a slower song and obviously it makes sense for her to dance up next to him. That's what she'd tell anybody from City Hall, if they saw her. Obviously a slow song means you need somebody to dance with. Or else you just look stupid.
He smiles down at her. It's a small smile but it goes all the way to his eyes.
"I really like you," he says, cupping her cheek with his fingers. All these feelings, warm and gooey, are bubbling up inside her.
"I'm running for mayor." It feels so amazing to say those words, to get to tell them to her special man friend in a club in which she is universally adored.
The thing is, Ben isn't smiling anymore. He looks more like he did the first time he walked into the Parks department, ready for everyone to get him, closed off and angry. I thought you were a fascist hardass. A cute fascist hardass.
"Ben? Say something." She feels like a damsel in a particularly melodramatic movie, and if Leslie Knope is anything, she's never been a damsel in distress.
"Um. That's great. I. I have to go. See you tomorrow?" He walks through the crowd of people, parting through them without looking back at her even once, before she could crack a joke about what happens when there are two mayors in one club.
Which might actually be the reason he left. Or maybe it was the secrecy? This might actually be their first real obstacle, but dammit, this is her big night.
Luckily, the next three shots are free and, no matter what, at the Bulge, Leslie Knope is a national treasure. She doesn't tell them she's running for Mayor of Pawnee, though. It seems like you never know what's going to make people go off in the opposite direction.
next stop, the world
Pairing: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt, Ann Perkins/Chris Traeger, April Ludgate/Andy Dwyer
Length: 11 chapters of about 3-4k words each
Author on LJ: synecdoche
Author Website: None (but LJ is all fic)
Why this must be read: This is another post-"Li'l Sebastian" entry, albeit one that's longer and a bit more upbeat than some of its peers. But this was an early favorite of mine when I began digging into Parksfic, and with good reason--didn't we all wany Leslie and Ben to find a way to navigate their relationship and her campaign? Throw in some surprisingly good Ann/Chris business and a dash of April and Andy actually kinda acting like adults on occasion, and you've got a recipe for awesome.
The Bulge is packed full of gay men and ladies by the time Leslie and Ben walk through the doors, which is perfect because then if they want to kiss, nobody will notice or think to ask. After she grabs them some free drinks, they find a kind of dark corner and Ben gives her that perfectly long sweet look of his, like he's saying Leslie you are the most perfect woman I really like you just let me stare at you but with his eyes. She could look at him looking at her like that basically forever. Except that'd leave no time for things like making out, which is what they do next. He runs his fingers against the line of her face while his tongue curls against hers and she just melts against him, heart thumping to the beat of the music. How did she get this lucky? After a long perfect moment they come up for air.
"Do you want to dance?" she yells, still with her hand on his. For all that it's busy, she's kind of a hero here and eventually someone's bound to notice that Awesome Leslie Knope is making out with Adorable Ben Wyatt in the corner if they keep on like this. "I really like dancing here! They're really good!"
"I guess," he yells back. He has this special talent for sounding like he doesn't care while shouting, which is really cool if you think about it. Especially if you can deploy it at will, which he definitely can, in the past few weeks she's heard him yell her name and sound really enthusiastic about it, which is also a pretty special talent.
They make their way to the dance floor. He's dancing his dorky, shoulders-up shuffling moves with this concentration that should be painful to watch. Maybe it is for other people. She just joins in, moving them closer to the dancing mass of people, lowering her shoulders opposite him. It's like magic -- or maybe the Miller Lite working -- he relaxes just the slightest bit and he looks great. Like, so great that these gay guys are totally checking him out, and Leslie has to scoot a little closer so they get the message, this guy is taken. Ben leans towards her and kisses her, quick and intense, and her toes start to tingle. That might be all the wine she drank before she got here. It's mostly him, though.
They groove a little more, bouncing up and down in time to the thumping beat. There's sweat, sticky on her eyelids and running down the line of her spine. She reaches over and grabs Ben's hands just as the music settles into a slower song and obviously it makes sense for her to dance up next to him. That's what she'd tell anybody from City Hall, if they saw her. Obviously a slow song means you need somebody to dance with. Or else you just look stupid.
He smiles down at her. It's a small smile but it goes all the way to his eyes.
"I really like you," he says, cupping her cheek with his fingers. All these feelings, warm and gooey, are bubbling up inside her.
"I'm running for mayor." It feels so amazing to say those words, to get to tell them to her special man friend in a club in which she is universally adored.
The thing is, Ben isn't smiling anymore. He looks more like he did the first time he walked into the Parks department, ready for everyone to get him, closed off and angry. I thought you were a fascist hardass. A cute fascist hardass.
"Ben? Say something." She feels like a damsel in a particularly melodramatic movie, and if Leslie Knope is anything, she's never been a damsel in distress.
"Um. That's great. I. I have to go. See you tomorrow?" He walks through the crowd of people, parting through them without looking back at her even once, before she could crack a joke about what happens when there are two mayors in one club.
Which might actually be the reason he left. Or maybe it was the secrecy? This might actually be their first real obstacle, but dammit, this is her big night.
Luckily, the next three shots are free and, no matter what, at the Bulge, Leslie Knope is a national treasure. She doesn't tell them she's running for Mayor of Pawnee, though. It seems like you never know what's going to make people go off in the opposite direction.
next stop, the world