Drabble: (a pair of parenthesis) (Parks & Recreation, Ann/Leslie, G)

Info: written for the first weekly challenge at girlgay

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“Okay,” Ann says, slowly toeing off her shoes so they tumble to the floor. It’s potentially dangerous to interrupt Leslie while she’s reading, but this is like, her fourth re-read of the Harry Potter series in just the time Ann’s known her, so it can’t be that engrossing, right?

Of course, she starts regretting it when Leslie very deliberately sets her book down (it’s the one about the prison, Ann knows that much) using her finger for a bookmark. “Yes, Ann?” she asks cooly from her place propped up against the pillows. Ann stares up at her and flops onto her back to their eye contact isn’t as direct.

“I know you like Harry Potter,” Ann muses, her right shoe finally slipping off her heel, dangling from her toe. “But I guess…” and here Ann trails off, feeling like her shoe. Is it too early to ask about this sort of thing? Do girlfriends even care about their girlfriend’s choice of fantasy novels? Instinct says yes, but there’s still that small part of Ann that feels so out of her depth concerning “this gay thing” (as he mother calls it, tersely, over the phone). And really, if she actually thinks about it, “this gay thing” is no different from that straight (or kind-of-straight) thing she did for her life until, well, she met Leslie. The difference is Leslie herself, that Ann actually cares how much whipped cream she likes on her hot cocoa, that she prefers a certain brand of highlighters, that she likes Harry Potter, and — "Well, I was wondering what other sort of books you liked."

Leslie's smile comes slow, but bright and wide. She reaches for a real bookmark and sets her book on the nightstand. "Ann Perkins," she says, making a come here gesture with both hands, “You’re not going to get out of reading Rowling’s masterpiece just because I happen to enjoy a myriad of literary titles — including, but not limited to my collection of Fabulous Women Political Figures non-fiction.”

Ann licks her lips, shrugs, and smiles. “I figured. But it can’t hurt to ask.”

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