Kim and Elin part 2

Elin sighed as she recognized what Kim was trying to do. She wanted to just tell Kim that everything was fine and there wasn't anything to worry about, but he couldn't say that it wouldn't happen again if she did that. As a result, she was wondering if this would be when they're officially no longer together.

In a way, Elin thought it'd be a good thing. That she'd be able to hope that Elysia would be interested. Yet, at the same time, she worried that without Kim, she wouldn't be able to get anyone who would be interested in her, since Elysia might be only interested in her as a possible friend rather than what Elin would like.

Still, that didn't mean that she should just let Kim get a pass on how she had treated her. It felt like it could be the start of a bad cycle, like the endless loop Jonas had helped her figure out how to get out of. As if Kim didn't know what the problem was, then there would be little hope that a repeat performance wouldn't occur.

Though, she wished that she could tell Kim what the problem was, but if she did that, she worried that Kim wouldn't recognize the problem as easily if it came up again another time. Since she wouldn't have realized what she had done at that time anyway without help.

Elin wished she could talk to anyone about this, but if she did, she wasn't sure what to ay about it or that anyone would be willing to actually listen to the problem. As it wasn't one that was easy to relate to as far as Elin was concerned.

However, she couldn't just let Kim go. She wanted to be with her. She even almost started giving her a linear explanation of what she did and when she did it. If she had, then they'd be working through it, but she doubted that it would be as good as if Kim realized what she did on her own. Especially when it came to the likelihood of it happening again. Which is what she wanted most of all.

The fire popped suddenly, pulling Elin out of her thoughts. The sun hadn't gone down far enough yet to have eliminated all light outside of the light from the fire in front of her, but it was getting close.

She could feel her stomach complaining about not having anything in it, but she didn't feel like cooking that night. She knew she had a few options that didn't require her to cook, but those were items she thought of a better to snack on while they moved from one location to another place during the day. Not for a meal at the end of the day.

She figured that Bart had to have gotten a boar by this time, though he couldn't be completely sure. Or even how long it might take them to bring it back, clean it, and start cooking it. All he could be sure of was that her stomach didn't want 'later,' it wanted to get filled right then and there.

"I'm not sure I can come up with what it is that you're upset about," Kim said from behind Elin, startling her. "Would you be willing to give me a hint?"

Elin looked at Kim levelly, at least happy for the distraction from her stomach's complaints about being empty.

"You want me to give you the answer?" Elin asked, more to clarify than to offer.

Kim opened her mouth, about to speak, but then closed it and shook her head. "I'd like to, but I know you're not going to," she answered. "What I'd at least like is a hint. Something to at least help me work at figuring out the rest."

Elin sighed. She wasn't sure what kind of 'hint' to give, at least without giving it all away, but she could accept this. As it would still require Kim to work through what she had done rather than Elin just giving her the answer.

Yet, she wasn't sure the best way to word it so that it would be understood without telling her everything. Especially with how she wasn't sure how to describe it in the first place to herself!

"Let's just say you weren't always paying attention to me," Elin said, hoping this would work. "You didn't always listen."

Elin winced as those words came out. That was the heart of the problem, as far as she was concerned, and she just went out and said it. Like that wasn't the real issue for her. Like she didn't just give the whole problem to Kim on a silver platter.

"Thanks," Kim said, and walked away again, leaving Elin a little confused. Did she really need time to work out that those were the issued that she'd been upset about? Or was she not sure herself?

Elin sighed. Being able to read another person's mind would be so much easier at the moment. Like with Owen's system, but she was afraid that if she could, that she'd use it too often and that it'd create a rift between them that couldn't be bridged. All because she would have kept reading Kim's mind whenever the was a problem.

Which she was certain would be the crux of the problem there. Though, she couldn't say how she'd respond if Kim came right back to her, claiming to have figured out the problem and everything from her 'hint.'

When the sky got dark and started to fill with star, Elin felt surprised at two things. One, that the hunting party hadn't returned yet, even without a kill, and two, that Kim hadn't approached her again.

Though, it was the second one that occupied Elin's thoughts the most. Especially with what her 'hint' was to her. Why it was taking her this long to figure it out, Elin couldn't figure out herself. She was confident that she'd have been able to figure it out herself with what she had aid, so why Kim wasn't when Kim was so much smarter than her, she was having trouble working out.

In fact, it annoyed her when the hunting party returned, not just with a boar, but also with a white tailed deer. Which almost looked like the deer she remembered sometimes being able to see outside her father's house through a window.

It wasn't the fact that she'd be able to get something to eat soon, although, mostly meat was getting rather tiring for her, but the fact that Kim still hadn't come to talk to her, even with her hint that was pretty much the problem.

She wasn't sure if it was deliberate on Kim's part or not, but it certainly aggravated her. Though, she tried to keep herself calm by coming up with excuses, such as she was like Elin and hungry, which made thinking harder. That she might want to bring it up in the morning, making it seem like she put more thought into it than she should have.

Elin was debating if she should just go to bed when she was done eating an hour later, about the time the first piece of venison and pork were nearly done cooking, when Kim sat next to Elin.

The way she sat down made Elin feel like she was there to talk rather than get some dinner, although she doubted that Kim wouldn't mind doing both at the same time. Which only irritated Elin more, though she didn't really understand why. After all, eating while talking would be good. As if she needed some time to think of what to say next, all she'd have to do was take another bite and she'd have a short reprieve.

"What took so long?" Elin asked, surprised at the fact that her question actually came out. She hadn't planned actually asking that, but it was a little late to not ask it now, so might as well say the rest. "That hint was pretty much the issue. It shouldn't have taken that long to figure out."

Kim nodded, as if she agreed. "That definitely was the tip of the iceberg, but as I thought about it, it became clear that there was more to it than just that."

Elin blinked. "What's an 'iceberg?''

Kim chuckled, earning a scowl from Elin. "Don't worry about it," Kim replied. "An iceberg is a chunk of ice that float in water, usually the ocean. When it's visible, all you can see is the tip, not what's under the water, which can be a lot more than you might think."

Elin crossed her arms, though she had a feeling that the gesture might be meaningless if the cooking meat finished before the issue was dealt with. "That doesn't explain why you took so long."

Kim gave her a crooked smile, which almost looked painful to Elin. "It's more that the more I thought about it, the more I realized how I was taking you for granted," Kim replied. Then hastily added, "And not just for not listening to you. For expecting you to know what I know at time, for expecting what I was focused on to be what your priority to be." Kim sighed. "And that's just the start of it."

Elin nodded, though she was a little fuzzy on a couple of the items Kim listed. However, she didn't plan on objecting. Especially how it explained why Kim had taken so long with her thinking about Elin' 'hint.'