Chapter Text
Leslie liked to live her life by a series of codes. It kept her focused, and it was so satisfying to be able to see them all written down in her “Leslie’s Codes for an Awesome, Successful Life” binder. She could easily rely on them to help her make decisions.
“What should I eat?”
Breakfast food is always the right choice.
“Should I stay up all night to craft the perfect congratulations gift for Andy’s first day at the shoe shine stand?”
Feelings are best expressed when accompanied by elaborate presents.
“How should I react after that public forum?”
When people yell, they are just caring loudly.
Lately, Leslie had been acting in direct violation of one of her top 5 codes.
Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries.
She couldn’t help it. Ben had become one of her favorite hoes! He was not a beautiful, exotic ray of sunshine like Ann, but he was fun. He understood what it meant to love what you do. He also knew what it felt like to always be driven to do it really well. The best part of their friendship was that he brought out her inner-nerd into the open; she really embraced it. For example, she always loved the idea of a secret, complicated handshake shared between friends, but she had never had a willing partner. It was just too sad when she tried it on her own. Ann was sweet to try once, but her heart was really not in it. Ben, on the other hand, had added 3 new moves to their handshake. The new moves really rounded the whole thing out.
Leslie found herself spending more and more time in Ben’s office. Workday mornings, she could often be found with Ben at JJ’s Diner working through a mountain of waffles. She also started texting with him. Granted, they mostly talked about work, but, for Leslie, this was a dream scenario. A bro-ho with whom she could dream up ways to improve Pawnee while, instead of listening kindly while increasingly glazing over with boredom, he actually seemed almost as excited as she was to plan. Except, with his help, their plans were more balanced, more pragmatic. They made a good team.
Beyond the violation of her code, her friendship with Ben was odd because, not that long ago, Ben had been someone she had practically hated. Okay, maybe she had actually hated him a bit. Mean Ben, coming to tear down everything she had built. Though, as perfect, sensible, wise hoot owl Ann had reminded her, she had been Mean Leslie to him, too. At first, she thought she was just passionately defending her hometown from the enemy, but she wavered when she saw the cracks in Mean Ben’s façade – he was actually hurt by some of the things she said. Then, when he bought Freddy Spaghetti to save the concert (that she wasn’t supposed to organize), she saw that Ben could actually care about Pawnee. It wasn’t his fault he had a terrible job.
As their unlikely friendship grew, she found her email inbox contained more and more emails from Ben. Some were short – quick questions about the Parks Department or Pawnee. Some were longer – an analysis of an article on the growth of small cities in the Midwest and a particularly memorable (if odd) discussion of the impact of Twin Peaks on modern television. She found herself texting him funny things she thought of during the day or pictures of cute squirrels she saw around town. When she came into work, she found herself walking slowly – loitering, really – in case Ben might arrive and they could walk into the building together. She didn’t think much of it – she did the same things with Ann! Right?
What even Leslie had to admit was markedly different from her friendship with Ann was when she and Ben were physically in the same place. She liked looking at Ann – she was so beautiful and Leslie’s heart filled with love and admiration when she saw Ann’s perfect face. But Leslie never felt compelled to keep looking at her. She knew Ann’s face well and could bring it up in her mind’s eye whenever she needed a bolt of inspiration or something to calm her nerves. On the other hand, while she hadn’t thought much about Ben’s face, she couldn’t stop looking for it when he was nearby. When she walked past his office, she automatically threw a sideways glance to see if he was inside. When he came into her office to speak to one of her colleagues, she looked for his face in profile or in whatever reflective surface her eyes could find. She didn’t do it on purpose. It was like her eyeballs had a mind of their own.
Once, he caught her. He was in the courtyard chatting amicably with Chris, and she was blatantly staring at him through the window. She was so absorbed in looking at Ben that she had forgotten the email she was typing. She was in the middle of signing her name “Leslie Knopeeeeeeee” when Ben abruptly looked at her. They both jumped, startled by having caught each other in the act. Ben quickly turned back to Chris, laughing manically at whatever Chris had just said. Leslie grabbed the phone too forcefully and smacked herself with the force of her upwards pull.
“OUCH!” she yelped as she dropped the phone with a clatter.
Chris heard the commotion and turned to the window.
“Leslie Knope!” he said while rewarding her with his signature point.
She waved feebly while holding her tender cheek.
“Hi, Chris. Hi, Ben.”
Ben’s face was still flushed from their prior eye contact but smiling broadly at her. Her stomach did a flip. She lamely pointed at the phone.
“I have to make a call!” She said too loudly.
She held the phone to her ear and tried to focus on dialing anyone’s number. But all she could do was smile stupidly.