(5) How to Shut Up

It was an awkward day when Ryan returned to the office. He had been gone for a few months, visiting Thailand with some of his friends. In that span of time he had expected things in Scranton to stay exactly the same. And they were for the most part. He entered Dunder Mifflin to find Pam seated behind reception, making faces at Jim; Dwight was standing behind Michael's desk, nodding as his boss addressed the camera. And he knew without a doubt that it would be mere minutes before Kelly came running up to see him, probably giving him a hug and talking a mile a minute about what he had missed.

It was nice to know that he would always be able to count on Kelly's devotion to him, even if she was a bit of a headache. These thoughts distracted Ryan from the fact that everyone had fallen silent upon his entrance. Pam and Jim exchanged a concerned glance before looking back to Ryan.

"Hey guys!" Ryan smiled. "I'm back…"

"Yeah… welcome back man." Jim gave him a half-hearted handshake. "How was Thailand?"

"Great… great. Did some soul searching, found a new level of peace…"

"RYAN!" Michael's excited voice came from his doorway. Ryan's face fell as Michael hurried towards him for a hug.

"Actually," He pulled away as quickly as possible, "Michael, I need to go back and say hi to Kelly."

With that statement the mood in the room became incredibly tense, to the point that Ryan noticed. Even Michael looked a little crest-fallen.

"No one told you?" He asked.

"Told me what."

"Michael, no!" Jim warned.

"What?"

"Nothing, just go back and see Kelly." Jim said quickly before pushing Michael back into his office and closing the door.

"What's going on?"

"Someone should tell him about that snake--" Ryan heard Michael's tone through the door before Jim cut him off again. With a shrug he made his way towards the annex, aware that all eyes were on him.

Everything seemed normal in the back. Kelly was leaning against Toby's desk, talking a mile a minute. "Poor bastard," Ryan said to himself before opening the connecting door.

"Ryan." Kelly said in a surprised but ultimately unenthused tone.

"Hey Kelly…" He put his arms out, ready for a hug. But she didn't move, Toby however had spun around in his chair to face him. "No hug?"

"No hug." She replied, crossing her arms.

"Okay, what am I missing?"

"I've started dating a grown-up." Kelly smiled. "It's been a nice change." With that she left the annex.

"Is that it?" He asked Toby. "Michael was acting like something big happened."

"Michael doesn't like the guy she's dating."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks that the guy stole her away from you."

"We broke up before I left. If anything I would feel bad for the guy."

"Why's that?"

"Kelly talking at work is one thing, but listening to her chatter on and on… last thing you hear when you go to bed, first thing you hear when you wake up."

"It hasn't been that bad actually." Toby shrugged. Ryan froze.

"You're dating Kelly? You and she are…"

"Dating." Toby nodded.

"Good luck man. You have to know how to shut her up. I always asked her about world news, that gets her quiet."

"That's alright, I found another way."

"Really? What is it?" Ryan seemed interested more then angry about this. Kind of like two scientists discussing a similar experiment.

"Hey Kelly." Toby called to her, she looking up from the kitchen where she was watching the two men talking. She came back into the annex and retook her place by Toby, who had stood up.

"Yes?"

"Did you watch Girls Next Door last night?"

"Oh my God yes! At first I thought it was going to be hard to keep watching, because I'm watching a new episode but I know that all of the girls have broken up with Hef already. But I was totally okay to watch because they were having one of the big parties in the backyard and oh my God, Holly had the cutest outfit! And I have to make you watch sometime because Bridget has got the most adorable dog! I would totally kidnap it… or dog nap it I guess." Kelly continued to talk, not stopping for a breath. Ryan watched quietly, waiting to see what new method Toby had figured out.

"Mm hmm." Toby nodded, he had been listening as intently as possible before placing a hand behind her neck and pulling her into a kiss. It was sweet and the unexpected nature of it caught Kelly off guard. A moment or two passed before Ryan felt uncomfortable enough to make his presences known. Toby moved back to his chair and Kelly struggled to maintain her grin.

"Okay… I'm gonna go… back…" She giggled and gestured toward her desk.

"How did you…? That actually…" Toby just shrugged, Ryan was confident that it was the first time he had seen the man smile.

Ryan Talking Head:

"I'm actually pretty okay with this. He actually got her to stop talking, so maybe that's fate or something trying to tell us something. Despite what Michael says, I will not be challenging Toby to a duel… who am I? Dwight?"

Ryan listened to the documentarian for a moment before his eyes went wide.

"Seriously? They dueled?"

Toby Talking Head:

"Yeah… we started dating… I've been told that I'm awesome… so… can't really argue with that." Toby smiles to the camera. "I should get back… to the annex." He smiles again then leaves.

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So, that's that. Hope everyone enjoyed. I have another idea rolling around in my head and provided that I can avoid such a long bout of writer's block I'll try to have that up at some point. So keep an eye out. I've enjoyed and appreciated the reviews. Thanks as always.