Little earthquakes.

[neurotic_barbie]

The air sat still and gauzy over the beach, the movement of the waves a mere ripple; nothing more than a vague whisper in the background. The day seemed still and sluggish, the sun a yellow blossom tracing away the hours in a lazy arc across the sky

Comments

[jim_halpert]

Jim had been certain the construction zone that he saw in the distance had not been there when he left his hut in the morning. Chewing thoughtfully on his mango, he continues to walk closer, the mess of supplies becoming more and more obvious.

And among it, there was Elliot. He raises a brow slightly, debating whether he wants to ask or not. In the end, he decides he does and makes his way over, standing a foot or so away from her.

"...Elliot, what are you doing?"

[neurotic_barbie]

"I am...relaxing!" Elliot announced, waving a languid arm. She sort of wished she had two big, beefy, oiled-up men waving palm fronds at her. This mental image in conjunction with Jim standing right there turned out not to be very pleasant, and she grimaced suddenly to herself. Skinny, oily chicken arms. Ewww.

"How are you? Forgive me if I don't get up. You look really funny upside-down, by the way," she added cheerfully.

[jim_halpert]

"I'm alright. And I've always wanted to know how I look upside-down, thank you," he replies a little dryly, walking a bit closer to inspect the items near her.

"I sort of figured the relaxing part out. What's with all this...stuff though?"

[neurotic_barbie]

"I," Elliot said in a very self-important voice, despite the fact she was currently sprawled like so much undignified, crumpled laundry on the ground, "am going to build a teepee."

She looked extremely serious. Almost ridiculously so, in fact.

[jim_halpert]

"You're building a teepee," he repeats. Why is he surprised? This was Elliot. Of all the people he knew, Elliot definitely seemed to be the one he could imagine taking up this kind of task.

It was good to see she hadn't changed much in the near month of not seeing her.

The next obvious question slipped out of his mouth: "...Why?"

[neurotic_barbie]

"Because I don't want to live in the compound anymore, and teepees are easy to build," Elliot said matter-of-factly. "According to my friend Sleeps With Bulls, anyway."

Sleeps With Bulls was actually the nickname of a part Native American surgical resident back at Sacred Heart who...hadn't been all that discriminatory when it came to women he, uh, bedded.

[jim_halpert]

He frowns a little.

"Did something happen at the compound? And, you know, there's the Green Arrow Estates just up the beach from here - Ollie runs the area. My friend Pam lives there. I'm sure you could get a hut yourself and have people make it if you want something a little...easier that teepee building."

Beat.

"Wait, you know someone named Sleeps with Bulls?"

[neurotic_barbie]

"Oh, I had sex with Smith again, so I decided I better get the heck out of dodge if I didn't want to end up pregnant again, which I don't," Elliot said, her voice never wavering from its light, conversational tone. Her bright smile didn't so much as flicker, either.

"...Er. His actual name was Manny," she added, after a second's pause.

[jim_halpert]

He stares at her, silent for a moment.

"...Oh. Uh. Well. That's...more than I wanted to know. But hey, that's good. About the...no pregnancy thing, right? Kids are a handful."

He would assume kids made by Smith would be a little more than a handful, actually.

[neurotic_barbie]

"Yes," agreed Elliot. She managed to sit up, pushing too-long bangs out of her face. "But I don't really want to talk about that."

She glanced over her little pile of supplies. "I just hope it doesn't rain."

[jim_halpert]

He glances at the sky. It certainly didn't look like it was going to rain any time soon.

"I don't see any rain clouds. You should be fine. Have you had any...experience making teepees before? Might take a while longer if you don't have an idea what you're doing."

[neurotic_barbie]

"The best-laid plans are laid with no plans at all!" Elliot huffed. "Stop harshing my buzz, Jim-Bob. Everything will work out. You'll see."

[jim_halpert]

Jim could technically fight that logic, but he decides it best not to.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologizes with a slight snort. "So, what...you're going to build it by yourself?"

[neurotic_barbie]

"Unless one of my nice, wonderful, beefy-armed man-friends wants to help me, yes," Elliot replied. She tried her puppy-dog eyes on Jim; it probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a try.

[jim_halpert]

"Beefy-armed man-friends?"

He even knew that didn't fit his description in any shape or form but she was staring at him in a rather pathetic manner. He sighs at length, shaking his head.

"I don't know any beefy-armed man-friends of yours, but I'll guess I can try giving a hand if you don't mind a twig helping you out."

Regardless of the fact he was not a fan of manual labor, he also didn't like thinking she was without shelter.

[neurotic_barbie]

Elliot grinned dazzlingly up at him, and shuffled forward, throwing her arms around his legs.

"Thank you, Jimmy!" she said, her voice slightly muffled by his pants-leg. "I promise I'll make it up to you. Anything you want, I'll do it. I'd get down on my knees for you!"

There was a pause.

"In the figurative sense. Not literally, since I - I mean - it's not that I wouldn't, but - I'm sort of on my knees now actually, not that I would - I think I should shut up now," she decided, letting go and putting her face in her hands.