(Untitled)

[jim_halpert]

Another one gone.

The feeling of dread Jim had felt when he'd gone to talk to Tim earlier that day and found nothing that indicated he'd been around - or ever been around - had quickly nose dived into a sort of numb acceptance. He'd looked everywhere, talked to anyone who'd know, and, nothing. It was like he just vanished out of thin air.

He had

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[this_is_pam]

It wasn't difficult to tell, upon catching sight of Jim, that something was wrong. Although she paused a moment, not sure if it would've been her place or not to ask what had happened, Pam found herself unable to stay away anyway. Especially with things finally more normal between them, it wouldn't have seemed right to just leave him like that. If he wanted to be left alone, he could tell her that.

"Jim, hey," she said as she approached, her concern already apparent, leaning forward for a moment before she changed her mind and took a seat beside him instead. "What happened? Are you okay?" She could only hope that it wasn't too serious, that no one was hurt or anything. After only two months on the island, thinking of disappearances wasn't her first instinct, no matter how early on she'd been faced with the trouble they caused.

[jim_halpert]

He'd be lying if he said his first instinct hadn't been to tell her to leave. If anyone reminded him of what just happened, it was Pam. He just didn't have the energy to do it, though. He'd been alone for a few hours now with the knowledge he now had, and any kind of human interaction was suddenly more welcome than even he expected.

Still, he didn't really know how to answer her question but the blunt way, in the end. "Tim's gone."

He felt his stomach twist again, and he knew it was because just saying it outloud made things so final. He had to find people soon to tell them. He had to do a lot of things he didn't want to do. He just wasn't sure when he could find the will to get up and do them.

[this_is_pam]

It wasn't just because Pam had liked Tim the few times they met that hearing the news hit her hard, nor was it entirely for Jim's sake, though that was a big part of it. Having found out as soon as she did about people disappearing -- namely, herself -- made that all seem harder to deal with, now, and at the very least, it didn't seem right for Jim to have to go through that again. She didn't need to have been around long to know that he'd already been through enough

[jim_halpert]

The offer was there, but Jim found himself unwilling to take it. There was no denying, not in the state he was in, that her mere presence was comforting. It always had been, as much as he tried to ignore it.

"No," he said, quietly, his voice cracking with emotion he wished wasn't there. Tim was gone. The three words kept repeating in his head, and he didn't know how to handle that alone. "Stay. Please."

It couldn't be comfortable for her either. He was vaguely aware of that, but it was drowned out by the part that was only thinking of him now. If it got really bad, he knew she could leave whenever she wanted to.