It wasn’t that Jim was worried.

Really, he had perfectly acceptable reasons to think about Dwight’s well-being, all of which did not include what Pam kept saying it was. It wasn’t as fun messing with him when all he did was mope all day. In fact, it kind of made him feel like an ass, to the point all pranking had stopped a good week ago. He didn’t even have much fight in him anymore, which was half the reason why Jim did what he did in the first place.

And okay, maybe he didn’t exactly enjoy watching his deskmate look miserable, either. He knew what it was like to have someone he liked dating someone else in the office, after all, and Angela seemed to particularly like to be cruel sometimes to the point even Jim was sort of annoyed at her. But still, that wasn’t worry. That was just…commiserating.

And feeling bad wasn’t the same as worry, either. Feeling bad was what he was feeling watching Dwight at that very moment.

“This has to end.”

He saw Pam glance up over the rim of her glass and follow his gaze. It was Kevin’s birthday, and it seemed a good enough reason for Michael to force a mandatory get-together that somehow managed to be nothing about Kevin and all about him. Angela and Andy were sitting together at a table, and Dwight was sitting off to the side, watching them. When he noticed Pam and him watching, he stared down at the drink he had instead, scowling.

“You should talk to him,” she suggested, quietly.

“I doubt he’ll listen to me,” he replied. And, okay, maybe part of that was his fault. Or most of it. But Dwight had never made it easy for him, either.

Pam shook her head, a small smile forming, like she knew something he didn’t. “I think he’d listen more than you think.”

There really wasn’t much he could argue. She was nudging him off the bar stool he had been sitting on before he could even think twice about what he had just sort of agreed to. He shot Pam one look over his shoulder before heading toward the table.

He sat down in the seat next to Dwight, putting his beer on the table. The other man eyed him suspiciously almost immediately.

“What do you want?” he asked, shortly. Jim could see this is already going to go wonderfully.

“I can’t sit?” he asked, picking up his beer to take a sip of it. Dwight squinted at him, his expression unchanging.

“I know you’re up to something,” he accused, and, okay, Jim knew it wasn’t exactly an unfounded worry, but still. He was trying, and Dwight was making it hard.

“Just drinking my beer, buddy,” he replied, cheerfully. It was an offputting statement, apparently, because for a moment Dwight didn’t seem to know what to say to it.

“I am not your buddy,” he muttered, stiffly. Jim caught him out of the corner of his eye glancing at Angela again when Andy burst out into an obvious forced laugh.

“They’re a weird pair, huh?” he asked, casually, sipping his drink again. He could see Dwight’s face darken, and Jim could swear he was clutching the drink in his hand tighter.

“He doesn’t really like her,” he muttered.

“He probably doesn’t,” Jim agreed, glancing over his shoulder at them for a second before looking back at Dwight. “I worked with that guy for six months. He hit on everyone that was female and moved. I doubt this is serious to him. He just likes getting what he wants.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” he exclaimed, then paused when he must have realized he said it like he was a little too interested in the subject. He cleared his throat. “What I meant to say is that I’ve noticed the same thing. It’s a…shameful display. Completely inappropriate behavior for work.”

“It probably won’t last long,” he offered, carefully trying to make himself sound like he was just talking outloud and not saying the things to make him feel better. Dwight still didn’t know Pam or he knew, so he had to do this in a roundabout kind of way. “Andy gets bored pretty easily.”

Dwight didn’t respond for a long moment, and Jim wondered if that was the end of that conversation. He had just been about to take another sip of his beer when Dwight spoke again. “Question.”

Jim looked over at him, idly tapping his fingers against the bottle. “Yeah?”

“Say there was a man who wanted a certain…item. A one of a kind one, and extremely…valuable,” he began, and Jim knew right then he was actually, truly asking for advice. “And just about when he went to buy the item, another person, who clearly has not earned the right to have this item steps in and takes it anyway. What would you do, if you were the first man?”

It was the most bizarre way of explaining what was going on Jim ever heard. And there were so many ways to mess with him, really, but the more Jim thought about it, the less he was inclined to do it. He didn’t hate Dwight; he annoyed him, sure, but he also was a pretty good friend when he wasn’t busy being an idiot, and he also did save him from getting pummeled by Roy.

“Well, if I were that person, I’d wait for a while and see if the person actually could afford the uh, item,” he replied. “And maybe I won’t get it, but at least I know I tried. I’d think I still had a pretty good chance, though, so if I didn’t try, I’d regret it.”

“That’s stupid,” he replied. Jim realized he must have immediately assumed he was going to say something bad, because the second after he said it, he paused, then narrowed his eyes slightly. “Continue.”

“Well, maybe uh, I would just need to show I deserve the item more than the other one,” he explained, and he wished Pam was actually hearing this. He was almost proud of himself for keeping up with the weird analogy Dwight posed for him. It was weird, realizing he actually did want to help. “And maybe the seller just had a bad experience with someone like me, so it might take time. If the item is worth it…”

“It’s worth it,” he interrupted, immediately, with enough force that it actually surprised Jim.

“Wow. Okay. Well, then it should be pretty obvious what the person should do, then, right?”

Dwight’s mouth formed a thin line before replying, “Perhaps. You surprise me sometimes, Halpert.”

Jim had a feeling that was about all he was going to get as a response. He wasn’t even sure if it was an insult or a compliment, but he had done everything he thought he could do. “I surprise myself. I’m gonna head back to Pam. See you later.”

It wasn’t until he turned that he realized Pam was staring right at them. She swiveled in her bar stool, as if that didn’t make her spying on them obvious. He sat next to her, hiding his smirk.

“How’d it go?” she prompted, barely waiting for him to put his now empty bottle on the bar. “I uh, could only see there was no bloodshed.”

“We talked about…buying stuff,” he replied, honestly. He laughed when she shot him a confused look. “Don’t ask. Um, I just…told him to keep trying. That she’d see Andy for what he is eventually and that there’s always a chance. Only…not in those exact words.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “So what words did you use?”

He snorted, covering her hand with his. “I think it’s easier to just say what it meant. I had to put it into Dwight logic.”

She looked amused, leaning forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. They started gathering their stuff, then, after they got up and wished Kevin a final ‘happy birthday’. It was when they were walking out that she finally really responded. “Well, you did a good thing, you know. I knew you car—“

“Finish that sentence and you’ll be walking home,” he warned.

“Cared,” she finished, smugly. “Don’t even try to deny it.”

“I hope you’re ready to take a cab,” he joked, pretending like he was really shunning her from his car. She laughed, grabbing his arm when he started unlocking the driver side door. “And don’t think –“

She silenced him by tugging him to her by his coat’s lapels, so that his body was pressed against hers and hers was against the passenger door. She stood on her toes to kiss him properly. It took seconds for him to give in, relaxing in her grip, his own hand moving to rest on her waist.

“What was that?” she asked when she pulled away just slightly, her mouth nearly against his lips still.

“I hate you,” he grumbled, even as the smile crept onto his face. “I’m still not admitting it, though.”

She reached up to cup his cheek. After holding his gaze for a few seconds, she slowly smiled, patting his cheek once. “You don’t have to.”