auf wiedersehen, darling (Jim/Karen)

[dollsome]

Title: Auf wiedersehen, darling
Pairing: Jim/Karen
Word Count: 372
Summary: Jim and Karen discover that The Sound of Music just isn't quite as cheerful when you're a grown-up.
Author's Note: For challenge #1, 'movies,' over at office500. WHICH WILL LIVE, DAMMIT! If only because I force it to. And, look, I'm blending my Elsa issues with my Karen issues! I've got mad skillz, y'all.




“Ouch,” Jim says through a mouthful of popcorn, shaking his head in pretend dismay. “Boarding school threats. Ice cold.”

Karen hasn’t seen The Sound of Music since she was ten, and it’s not like she was exactly broken up about that or anything, but it’s Sunday afternoon and apparently, they’re one of those really thrilling couples who can’t find anything better to do than watch ABC Family. (Which, if you want to know the truth, she doesn’t really mind. Lazy afternoons with Jim make this feel less like Scranton and more like home, whatever that means.)

“You know,” she decides after a moment’s consideration, “I think she gets a bad rep.”

“Oh yeah?”

Karen shrugs. “Well, yeah.”

“Enlighten me, Filippelli.” He turns to look at her when he says it, and there’s a little bit of a smile curling the corners of his mouth up.

“Well,” she says, and pulls her legs up onto the couch so she’s sitting criss-cross, her right knee over Jim’s leg, “it’s pretty obvious the Captain’s got all kinds of emotional issues, and Elsa’s the one who gets to have all the fun breaking down those barriers. And then as soon as all the hard work’s done, this cute little nun breezes on in and steals him away.” She pauses – for impact (and maybe so she can take a second to convince herself that she’s not paranoid or overidentifying or anything). “That sucks.”

Jim frowns a little. “I never really thought of it that way.”

“That’s okay,” she says, and doesn’t realize until afterward that it sounds like she’s forgiving him for an apology he didn’t even make. “I don’t think you’re supposed to.”

“But still,” Jim protests, and grimaces back at the TV screen. “Now this is just depressing.”

Karen bites her lower lip. “Yeah.”

They change the channel just as Maria’s coming back, because who needs shiny happy musical reunions when you’ve got reruns of That 70s Show? Jim chuckles along with the laugh track; the sound is warm and comfortable, and she feels so stupid for worrying in the first place. (And yet.) He wraps his arm around her like it’s the easiest thing in the world; she leans into him.

Comments

[bittersweet-99.livejournal.com]

That was genius. :)

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Poor Karen. That's amazing.

[anoel.livejournal.com]

Aww that was cute. If only I wasn't so much of a Maria/Captain shipper, I might actually buy it. Which pretty much says a lot about the whole situation. The end is just perfect though with the comfort.

[snoopypez.livejournal.com]

::sniffles:: I love you, Karen! :(

[fireworkfiasco.livejournal.com]

"it’s pretty obvious the Captain’s got all kinds of emotional issues, and Elsa’s the one who gets to have all the fun breaking down those barriers. And then as soon as all the hard work’s done, this cute little nun breezes on in and steals him away.”

....BUT WHAT IF THE NUN WAS THE ONE TO CAUSE ALL THOSE EMOTIONAL ISSUES IN THE FIRST PLACE, SHOULDN'T SHE HAVE A SAY IN THE...JUST REWARDS.

I think I'm reading too much into this.

Besides, Julie Andrews as a nun was smokin'.

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice!

[agate.livejournal.com]

Oh KAREN. I really don't want to see her get her heart broken. This was great.

[sunshine-queen.livejournal.com]

Why'd you pic that title?

[sweet-seventeen.livejournal.com]

Oh, Karen. I think too many people over look the fact that she is so, so doomed. And she didn't do anything to deserve that. *sniff* I hope she gets to leave with dignity. *blinks* Oh, hey, I liked this story, too! Hahaha. Good stuff. :D

[miss-bennie.livejournal.com]

Oh, KAREN. This was lovely and heartbreaking and of COURSE Karen is the Baroness and now I want to watch The Sound of Music and feel sad for her. Because now I suddenly feel sad for the Baroness, and that has not happened before.

[michellek.livejournal.com]

Oh, Karen. ♥ This was lovely.

[pennylane83.livejournal.com]

Poor, poor Karen. This was really wonderful, and oh MAN I want Karen to stay around so, so badly but I just know it's not going to end well. :( Oh, and thanks for opening my eyes to the plight of the Baroness- I really had never looked at it that way before!

[irishmizzy.livejournal.com]

Oh, Karen. *sniff* Woe. This was so, so lovely.

(Ha. I totally watched The Sound of Music when they had it on ABC Family this month. That channel, man, it can suck me in like none other.)

[missxterious.livejournal.com]

it was good.
but i dont support the KIM relationship.

dont get me wrong. i like karen.. shes cool... but she is not the one for jim. and jim is being stupid for not going for pam!
i guess its too soon.. and too hard to go after her again..

im so depressed because of all this!
and i feel bad for karen. in my opinion, i dont think she should hang onto him so much if she feels he still wants pam.
i guess i probably shouldnt be posting this here. theres a lot of KIM fans....
but im a JAM fan all the way baybayy!

sorry.

[hobviously.livejournal.com]

Perfect and true. Thank you.

[liminalliz.livejournal.com]

I love this!

[passionflows.livejournal.com]

This is really, really lovely. Much love!

[gulliblesnail.livejournal.com]

Oh, Karen! This is so lovely, especially with the "it sounds like she’s forgiving him for an apology he didn’t even make" moment. It makes me sad for what might happen to them on the show, and I just hope that their relationship gets as much care as you put into it here.

[honey-wheeler.livejournal.com]

You know, I was watching The Sound of Music when it was on the other weekend (like, uh, three times or something - whatever, I was avoiding studying for licensing exams!) and I realized I'd never noticed how royally screwed the poor Baroness got when I watched it as a kid. I mean, dude, sucksville for her, right? And poor Karen. Sigh.

All of which is to say: nicely done and *sniffle*.

[sfaith.livejournal.com]

Oh, dude. I noticed that dynamic when I was in that show in high school (one of my very good friends played Elsa) but I would never have thought to parallel it to the Pam/Jim/Karen situation. Excellently done, you!

[girlcontinuum.livejournal.com]

Oh, Karen. A fantastic parallel and a fantastic fic.

[insiliarius.livejournal.com]

I love this. I, like Karen, have not seen The Sound of Music in years, but I can totally see that dynamic.

(Which, if you want to know the truth, she doesn’t really mind. Lazy afternoons with Jim make this feel less like Scranton and more like home, whatever that means.)
Aw.

[diabla71588.livejournal.com]

As someone who is terribly upset by not only the current Jim/Pam situation, but also the inevitable fate of Karen (who is *awesome*), I love this story to bits. It's short but so effective- really conveys the unfairness of the whole 'love triangle' on Karen. She's the one who finally pushed Jim into a grown-up relationship, not the teenaged-girl-type infatuation he had for Pam (not saying that it's not true love, b/c it totally *is*, but it wasn't the maturest of love, with the jealousy-fueled basketball and the saving of yogurt lids and hot sauce packets), and yet she's not the one who's going to get the real, enduring relationship in the end.

Sorry for the mini-rant, but this fic just hit me hard b/c it's so.friggin.true. Great job!