That's the jingle bell rock!

[a_mouse_duh]

Karen hadn't found anyone named Brodie or Nick yet, and she was beginning to think that Karen (the other Karen, that is) had made them up to make it seem like all the guys she knew weren't gay. Being a matchmaker was hard, especially with imaginary straight people.

That wasn't to say that she had given up, though. No, she still thought Karen was

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[formerfratboy]

There were days that Nick wished that he hadn't even bothered to leave his room. His room was warm, and there were books and blankets and things to keep him amused and, most definitely, there weren't teenage girls dancing around.

This was one of those days, where he wished that he'd just stayed in bed.

He smirked at the girl, then flopped down on one of the sofas, mug of steaming coffee in one hand and a book in the other. If the couches weren't so much more comfortable than his bed, he probably wouldn't have bothered to leave at all.

[a_mouse_duh]

Karen turned, still dancing, and spotted the man.

"Hi!" she said. She didn't stop the routine. She'd see it through to the end. "Don't sit on my cake! I'm almost done!"

Turn, squat, slap thighs like this...

[formerfratboy]

Nick raised his eyebrows. Good god, sometimes he really didn't miss Vegas.

"Your cake is fine," he said, settling down against the couch and opening his book. "I'll even watch it, make sure no one else sits on it."

[a_mouse_duh]

"Thanks!" She kept dancing, right til the end of the song, at which point...it started up again. Panting a little, Karen stopped, staring at it.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Maybe it was stuck on repeat.

[unchosen_son]

Sam Winchester wasn't scared of much. Not after he had seen some of the worst things the shadows had to offer. But standing there and watching this, he got a little scared. Not even for himself, but god help Dean if he saw this. Or...wait, was that Veronica's friend? "Lilly?" he asked, confused.

[a_mouse_duh]

"No! I'm Karen!" said Karen, a little breathlessly, as she hadn't stopped dancing even when she'd seen the boy enter the room. Boys liked to watch her dance, usually. "It's okay, though! Everyone makes that mistake!" She twirled, swivelled her hips, twirled again. She was so out of practice. She was pretty sure she was out of time with the music.

[unchosen_son]

Yeah, the fear was slowly giving way to horror, mostly because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be watching this, what with the groveling and all. This probably constituted something wrong and he immediately stared just to the side. "Karen," he repeated, eyes on boring concrete. "Hi, Karen," he greeted warily.

[a_mouse_duh]

"Hi!" She sang the next few verses of the song, spun around a few times, and smacked into the wall.

Definitely out of practice.

"Ow," Karen said, rubbing her nose as she righted herself. The last strains of the song died away, only to begin again at the first. Karen turned and frowned at the jukebox. Shaking her head, she decided to ignore it. She was all worn out now and wanted to eat her cake.

"Hey! Do you like cake?" she asked the boy. "I have some here. Now, where did I put it..."

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica walked into the rec room with the intention of curling up near the fire and reading. What happened instead was that she caught sight of the blonde dancing and swallowed hard, something tightening in her chest. She wasn't Lilly and Veronica knew it, but seeing Karen there still made her miss Lilly, made her mind slam backwards through time to a summer afternoon spent dancing on Lilly's bed in the Kane estate, singing along to crappy girl pop she wouldn't be caught dead listening to now, back before everything had fallen apart completely.

She stared for a long moment, then took a deep, shuddering breath, shaking her head, her expression clearing so no trace of hurt remained.

[a_mouse_duh]

"Hi Veronica!" said Karen, pleased she'd remembered someone from the party, considering how drunk she had gotten.

She didn't notice the look on her face until it was gone. "I love this song! I - we - used to dance to it every year at the Winter Talent Show!" She spun around, swayed from side to side and put her arms up, waving those too until the song ended. Then, breathing hard, she turned to Veronica with a big smile.

"I should teach you the routine and then we can perform it on that big stage outside!" The jukebox seemed to take its cue and, with a click, started playing Jingle Bell Rock again.

[neptune_sleuth]

That was enough to knock the memories from Veronica's head. Her mouth hung open in shock for a moment as she blinked at Karen, then shut her mouth firmly again, eyes narrowing as she shook her head. "I... think I'll pass," she said, "but... thank you for the invitation. I'm not much of a dancer." She laughed awkwardly. "I fell off the stage being a flower in ballet class when I was seven. It was all downhill from there!"

[a_mouse_duh]

"Well, when you learn it step-by-step it's much easier," said Karen. "Hey, where's my cake?"

[themistermaster]

The drumming was getting mildly irritating - not particularly bad, but loud enough and persistent enough to be distracting. He'd been spoilt on the Valiant, really - an entire world at his feet and an immortal Jack to torture. Now that had satisfied the drums. Trapped on this pathetic little island, he didn't have such luxuries.

Music helped, though; certain kinds of music, something with the right kind of rhythm. The problem with that was the jukebox in the rec room wasn't exactly... cooperative. Most of the time it refused to play anything for him at all. But it was worth a try, which was why he wandered into the rec room to find a teenage blonde dancing along to Jingle Bell Rock.

[a_mouse_duh]

Dancing and singing, as a matter of fact. Quite loudly. She smiled and waved happily at the man as she saw him come in, but didn't pause in the routine, continuing to sway her hips, flail her arms and spin around. Miraculously, she didn't break anything.

When she was done, she stood there breathing fast, and then decided it was rude she hadn't introduced herself. "Hi!" she said to the man. "I'm Karen! That song is the best, don't you think?" As if on cue, the jukebox started playing it again. "Okay, I'm not doing the routine again," she said, "Unless you want to see the whole thing?" She beamed at the man.

[themistermaster]

Well, if he needed further evidence that whoever was controlling this place was doing it out of pure sadism - and very twisted sadism, even by his own standards, which was saying something - that was it. What kind of plan could require her to be here, after all?

'No thank you,' he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. 'It was wonderful, though.' It was only centuries of practice that kept the sarcasm out of his voice.

[a_mouse_duh]

"Thanks!" If Karen had beamed any brighter she would have gone supernova.

"I'm Karen!" she added.

[unextrordinary]

You know, I'm ninety-eight percent certain that it's girls like Karen that give us all a bad name. Mind you I'm not the slickest salamander in the shed and i certainly am not great at doing things on my feet, but I am not looking like I am have a coordinated seizure to Jingle Bell Rock.

"Thank God," and then I realise a bit too late that I've said it outloud and I nearly choke on my drink as I try to drink faster to make up for it. I did not say that. I look around, but there are no distractions from this. "Crap, trapped."

[a_mouse_duh]

"Hi Meg!" said Karen, waving. "I'm just-" spin, wave arms, grab hips, twirl, "-doing the Winter Talent Show routine! I used to dance this every year with Regina and Gretchen and then Cady!" Somehow she was managing not to trip over her feet, though that had been a real problem in rehearsals.

[unextrordinary]

Of course she did, and of course it was for a pagent. It always is. I am not surprised at all. It's how it is. I can't even fake this enthusiasm, still I kind of half-smile and give up, and lean against the couch. "Of course you did," and I wince for a moment. "Isn't it a bit...ehm, risque?"

[a_mouse_duh]

"Well, it is if you don't learn the steps properly and fall off the stage!" The song finished and Karen stopped, catching her breath. "That almost happened to me one year. I might have been seriously injured if Regina hadn't grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up!"