Unsurprisingly, seeing William was actually sort of made him feel even lazier than usual than the other way around. He slipped inside anyway, surveying the scene.
"I take it you're are busy," he mused, biting back a grin. "Working on election stuff?
"Yeth," said William, removing the pen from his mouth. "I mean, yes. Along with the rest of the edition. I have four new reporters and I still have to write the sports myself," he grumbled, half to himself.
Sports. A vague memory flashed in his head of a time long before he even knew Dunder Mifflin existed. Something he hadn't thought about in years.
"Do you not like writing sports?" he asked, noticing the slightly sour look that flashed across William's face. He found a seat that wasn't covered in papers of some kind and sat down.
"I'm not the biggest sports fan, you may have noticed," William said, with a slightly wry, but mostly unamused smile. "I doubt I'd even attend the games if it weren't for the fact no one else on staff is bothering to go and record them."
There was a time Jim did have goals. And sure, a lot of them had been met the last year - getting married, starting a family - but there was also that pesky career goal, too. He had given up on that one as the years in Dunder Mifflin passed by. He had opportunities, sure, all through his twenties - go back to school, find something else, but he always found excuses to not go for it.
It seemed now an opportunity was presenting itself again, almost on a silver platter, really. William needed someone to write the exact column he always wanted to work his way to writing. Jim didn't know if it was some kind of sign or what.
"...I'm just curious," he said, feeling the wheels turning in his head. "How much time do you spend on that column? A lot, a little...?"
"Actually writing it?" William said, moving around the press and rearranging some type. "Maybe half an hour to an hour. Having to sit through several rugby matches watching grown men fight over a small ball made out a dead animal? Hours more than I'd prefer."
But they were always scheduled. Jim saw the notices on the board. That meant Jim could work around it without worrying about having to suddenly leave Pam alone with no warning. Really, there was no excuse -
- Except the fear of being horrible at it, of course. Jim wasn't used to testing waters, especially when he didn't have to.
"You know," he said, trying to sound casual, though his thoughts were going a mile a minute. Maybe he should talk this over with Pam. Maybe this was a really, really bad idea. Maybe, maybe, maybe. "I, uh, really like sports."
"I - uh. Might've done a couple pieces a while back. Sports columns, I mean. Freelance stuff. It's been a while," he admitted. Was he seriously going to do this? He thought he had put the idea behind him a long, long time ago. After a pause, he continued, "But, you know, if you need help, I don't have too much to do lately."
"I'd really appreciate it, as a matter of fact," William said. His last sports writer had been a troll; as long as Jim could hold a pen the right way up and knew sports terminology* he was good enough.
It was just sports, after all.
*Words like 'terminology' being ironically unnecessary.
"Uh. Wow," he said, before nodding his head. "Yeah, alright. Are you looking for the article to be in the format of the stuff you wrote in the last edition?"
William nodded. "Yes, more or less. Maybe with more references to ... the things about the games that sports fans actually care about. If there's space to fill I might ask for something longer, maybe an opinion piece on the state of-"
William started to pace, in a way that Jim might not be himself familiar with but any one of his reporters would. There was gesticulating involved.
"-general indolence with regards to the creation of sporting leagues to occupy the idle hours that are in such overabundence. Maybe not in those words, I don't think the people who read sporting columns would get past the word 'indolence'."
Jim followed his movements with his eyes. He had a feeling he was seeing the work side of William for the first time. It kind of made him feel like he had a job again, only William was definitely nothing like Michael.
"Yeah, uh, I think I can put that in simpler terms," he said, sounding somewhat amused.
"Fantastic," William said, clapping his hands and swiftly moving to sit down. He started rifling through documents. "I don't suppose you went to the rugby games that were held a while back? If not, I have some notes you can write up, you can probably get a quote from either or both of the team captains if you're feeling particularly ambitious."
"Didn't go to the game," he admitted. He wasn't a huge rugby fan. "I can talk to the people, though, definitely. Just hand over the notes and give me a deadline."
His laptop was wedged on the side of the press, and he had been peering at that sporadically, too.
There was a lot of busy to overspill, really.
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"I take it you're are busy," he mused, biting back a grin. "Working on election stuff?
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"Do you not like writing sports?" he asked, noticing the slightly sour look that flashed across William's face. He found a seat that wasn't covered in papers of some kind and sat down.
Reply
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It seemed now an opportunity was presenting itself again, almost on a silver platter, really. William needed someone to write the exact column he always wanted to work his way to writing. Jim didn't know if it was some kind of sign or what.
"...I'm just curious," he said, feeling the wheels turning in his head. "How much time do you spend on that column? A lot, a little...?"
Reply
Reply
- Except the fear of being horrible at it, of course. Jim wasn't used to testing waters, especially when he didn't have to.
"You know," he said, trying to sound casual, though his thoughts were going a mile a minute. Maybe he should talk this over with Pam. Maybe this was a really, really bad idea. Maybe, maybe, maybe. "I, uh, really like sports."
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"Enough to write about them?"
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"I - uh. Might've done a couple pieces a while back. Sports columns, I mean. Freelance stuff. It's been a while," he admitted. Was he seriously going to do this? He thought he had put the idea behind him a long, long time ago. After a pause, he continued, "But, you know, if you need help, I don't have too much to do lately."
Reply
It was just sports, after all.
*Words like 'terminology' being ironically unnecessary.
Reply
Reply
William started to pace, in a way that Jim might not be himself familiar with but any one of his reporters would. There was gesticulating involved.
"-general indolence with regards to the creation of sporting leagues to occupy the idle hours that are in such overabundence. Maybe not in those words, I don't think the people who read sporting columns would get past the word 'indolence'."
Reply
"Yeah, uh, I think I can put that in simpler terms," he said, sounding somewhat amused.
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