Roommates, part 2 - continued/?
Title: Roommates, part 2 - continued/?
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 don't own 'em.
Author's Notes: Yeah, so I took a lot of liberties while describing Leslie's house...
Missed a Previous Chapter?: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2, part I
(2 - part II)
"Let me give you the official tour!" Leslie cheered, setting her mostly eaten donut directly on the counter and rubbing her hands together to get the excess glaze off. Ben took another bite of his donut, and grabbed a paper towel to put it on.
As he took a step in her direction, she whirled around. "So this, of course, is the kitchen. Feel free to look through the cabinets, the drawers for anything you need. And I organized the fridge last night so you'd have space for your stuff, although we can share too, of course." She opened the fridge and Ben smiled when he discovered two of the four shelves were emptied out. Meanwhile, her shelves had an alarming number of whipped cream cans cluttering them...
The kitchen walls were painted a soft yellow, and the cabinets were bright white. There were sugary cereal boxes, cans, measuring cups, and other things cluttering the counters, but there was enough space available, he thought. The kitchen was relatively small, with a bar that helped to divide it from the living room. The living room walls were a neutral, off-white color, but it was hard to tell because there were so many posters, plaques, and frames hung up. Ben scanned the room, noticing among other things several autographed headshots (Were those politicians?), posters promoting various Parks & Rec events, and photos of Leslie with people he recognized from her department. There were several stacks of books, magazines, and file folders, some on the side of the couch, others under the coffee table, others around the TV... Every chair around her dinette had a stack balanced on it. But like the kitchen, it wasn't so much clutter that he thought Leslie was messy -- just a pack-rat.
She led him down the little hallway off the great room. "That's my room," she said, with a wave of her hand but nothing more. The door was cracked open slightly so Ben could see just a bit of what was inside. Unsurprisingly he spied more stacks, but also a bed with a light purple quilt on it and a large window over it. The sunlight poured in, giving the entire room a warm glow.
"And this is your room!" Leslie said triumphantly, as she opened the door to the room directly opposite hers. Inside was a twin bed with a navy quilt laid atop. A small, narrow window with Venetian blinds was over the bed, and Leslie had opened it so a slight breeze and fresh scent filled the room. Two worn, wooden egg crates were stacked on top of each other next to the bed, and Leslie had put a large, white ceramic lamp on top. The walls in the room were bare except for a banner with a photo of a shaggy, brown pony that read "Lil' Sebastian: Star of the Pawnee Harvest Festival!" Ben shook his head a bit in confusion...
The biggest presence in the room was a huge cherry wardrobe that sat on the wall opposite the bed. "This is beautiful," Ben remarked, grazing his hand over the wood. "It's an antique," Leslie said, walking around Ben and opening up the double doors. Inside were several shelves and a mirror was affixed to the right door. Leslie's hand traced over an etching on the inside of the left door that read L+W. "It belonged to my grandparents -- Leslie, who I'm named after, and William. Everyone called him Bill though."
Ben and Leslie were standing side by side, the wardrobe doors opened around them. Ben caught sight of Leslie's face in the mirror, and she looked a little wistful and faraway for a second but then quickly turned to look up at him. "So, what do you think?" she grinned. The window in Ben's room didn't show as much sunlight as the one in Leslie's room seemed to, but it didn't seem to matter because her eyes and grin were so bright. "Wow..." Ben breathed out, taken aback. "So you like it, then?" she said, her grin only growing wider. This startled Ben, awakening him from his daydream and causing him to lose his balance for a moment. Knowing he couldn't -- make that shouldn't -- touch Leslie in that moment, even though she was so painfully close, he steadied himself on the left door of the wardrobe. It wobbled back and forth loudly. "Whoa there -- it's an antique, remember? You break it, you buy it." Leslie said, shutting the right door. At least that distracted her, Ben thought, but wishing he hadn't looked like a klutz in the process.
"Oh, almost forgot," Leslie said, walking briskly out of the room. Ben followed, trying to keep a better distance from her. Leslie flipped a light on in a third room. "This is the bathroom. No bunk beds, but we do have to share a bathroom." The bathroom was very old fashioned looking: the floor was made up of black-and-white tiles, and the bathtub stood up on little feet. A white shower curtain encircled it, and the walls were painted the same yellow as was the kitchen. Ben noticed a basket on the floor full of Leslie's things -- makeup, soaps, lotions, and whatnot. He also noticed a toothbrush holder on the edge of the sink with two slots -- one reserved for him.
"This is great -- really, Leslie, thank you," Ben said, trying to come back from his awkward display in his room a moment ago. "You have a really nice home. It's leaps and bounds above the accommodations at the Super Suites," he grinned. She returned the smile easily. "Hmm, that's not a very high bar to exceed," she replied in a mocking tone, as she turned to walk back down the hallway. Ben followed her into the living room. "True, but I mean it: I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here." Leslie flopped down on the couch. "My pleasure," she said, with a small smile.
"Well, make yourself at home!" She picked up a padfolio and pen from the coffee table, and was immediately lost in thought. Ben took that as a cue to retrieve his suitcase from the foyer and head to his room to unpack.
He folded his clothes on the shelves of the wardrobe, and put his cologne and deodorant in there too, pausing on the "L" etching in the door.
He wandered down to the bathroom, and gulped as he put his shampoo bottle on the shelf in the shower next to Leslie's.
He caught a sight of his worried eyes in the mirror above the sink as he carefully placed his toothbrush in the slot next to Leslie's.
And when he sat down on his bed, he took a long deep breath when he caught sight again of the little of Leslie's room he could see: soft purple quilt and even softer sunshine.
It was official: Ben Wyatt had a crush on his roommate. It's going to be a long summer, he thought, as he leaned back on the bed.
On to chapter 3, part I: http://sunnyday678.livejournal.com/2012/02/23/