The new people were alright, Jim decided. Andy was clearly a little…off—Pam had noticed that right away and correctly steered him towards Dwight, whom he had a lot in common with in the way that hydrochloric and sulfuric acid had a lot in common:  both dangerous, not great together. Karen, on the other hand, seemed pretty normal, in a good way. She wasn’t Phyllis, who he thought of as his work mother, or Pam, who he was very glad he was dating, but she seemed like she could be a friend, like Toby or Kevin only, well, a little less of a sad sack. Not that he didn’t like Kevin and Toby—they were good people—but Karen just seemed fundamentally different.

He had agreed to Pam’s suggestion that they should invite her out with them this evening—after all, the two of them would be going to his place together afterwards, so it wasn’t like they wouldn’t have time to debrief together, in every sense—and now that they were here he was content to sit back and watch Pam and Karen together. Karen was sharp, that was the difference between her and all the Scrantonites—himself included. She had a wit, which had come out when Michael had tried to do standup about the new hires (a terrible idea since he clearly hadn’t done any research about them or about how to do standup) and he’d heard her whispering to herself under her breath. She dressed more formally—though that might just be an attempt to make a good first impression. She was alert and held herself erect in a way that only Dwight did at Scranton, but she didn’t give off the Dwightlike vibes that Andy gave off.

All in all, a good person to have on their side, he thought as he walked towards the two of them from the men’s room. And it would be nice for Pam to have another friend besides himself and Izzy—though he definitely hoped Pam didn’t end up living with Karen, since once they moved in together he was hoping they’d never live apart.

**

Pam was surprised that Jim was letting her lead with Karen, although she had to admit that there was something exciting about having another young woman in the office, so maybe it was more that she had taken the lead and let him follow. Right now they were sitting in August Coffee sipping their drinks (tea for her, a mocha for Jim, cappuccino for Karen) and she and Karen were talking about Jan.

“I don’t know, I’ve always found her really supportive.” Karen had just suggested that Jan was, perhaps, a little too focused on herself. “She’s given me help without my asking, and don’t get me started on what she did for Jim…”

“For Jim?” Karen turned in her chair towards this new object of their conversation, who was apparently checking out the decorations on the wall on his way back from the bathroom.

“Yeah. He was supposed to…well, it’s not really a secret, so I suppose I can tell you.” She realized halfway through the sentence that maybe Karen didn’t know about the switcheroo with Ryan. “He was supposed to take Ryan’s job as your ARM, but, well, he didn’t.” And now she was blushing in front of her composed, beautiful new potential friend. Great. “And, um, Jan was really helpful in making that work out. So he could stay here.”

“So that’s what it was.” Karen slammed her drink down. “They told us there was a new ARM and then jerked us around for a month before this muppet shows up and acts like he’s God’s gift to—well, everyone.”

“He hit on you, didn’t he.” It wasn’t a question. Pam had sometimes gotten the sense that Ryan would have hit on her if Kelly hadn’t kept an eye on him, and there was no doubt he would have hit on someone who looked like Karen once freed from that connection.

“He tried,” Karen snorted.

“Yeah. Well, I’m afraid that’s kind of Jim and my faults.” Jim slid into his chair as she said it and she turned to him. “Isn’t that right?”

“Isn’t what right, Beesly?” Jim grinned.

“It’s our fault that Ryan ended up in Stamford and hit on Karen.”

“Oooh. Yeah, sorry.” He grimaced at Karen. “I hope you’ll forgive me. I had strong reasons for needing to stay in Scranton.” He put his hand over Pam’s. “Ryan was really my only option.”

Karen looked between them. “So you two are…what. Dating?”

“Yes.” Jim and Pam spoke together.

“I knew it!” She took a drink. “I suppose I can forgive you…as long as you’re serious about her.” She gestured at Pam with her cup. “I wouldn’t want to be stuck with Ryan Howard over a mere fling.”

“Oh, I assure you I am.” Jim grinned. “As I’m pretty sure you knew before you asked it.”

“I had an inkling.” Karen smiled at them both. “So, you two…I’m currently living in a hotel, courtesy of Dunder Mifflin’s expense account, but I’d really like that to stop as soon as possible. Where should I be looking to live?”

“Funny you should ask.” Pam bounced in her seat. “We’re looking for a place ourselves.”

“Want to join forces, then?” Karen picked at the label on her cup and Pam suddenly realized that the other woman was actually nervous. She looked at Jim and got a brief nod in response.

“Absolutely we do.”