Chapter Text
A pleasant breeze drifted through the campsite set back from Coolsville Beach. The Mystery Inc. crew sprawled comfortably around a large fire that Freddie had been preening over since they had arrived earlier that afternoon. Having just solved a tricky mystery spirits were high- and so was Shaggy.
The Masked Marauder of Middleton had started like any other mystery that the gang investigated. A call from someone who was worried about the well being of a small town and some strange occurrences. As kids they had started solving mysteries in Coolsville, the town they lived in. That eventually morphed into them traveling to solve larger scale mysteries. Middleton wasn’t so far away but they had begun to get calls from out of state.
Their reputation preceded them. They each had natural strengths, and frequently the mysteries felt like they had a prescribed formula. Freddie fell into the leader category- making a game plan and taking action. Daphne was a bit danger prone but could charm her way out of most situations. Velma was the brains- she did all the heavy thinking. While Shaggy and Scooby were the comic relief/resident scaredy cats/bait. They were comfortable and their friendships came easily. They were actually gearing up to start traveling more when they got the call from the mayor of Middleton.
Daphne gracefully sat down on the log next to Velma cracking open a beer. "You really saved the day V!" Daphne smiled. A huge grin and slight blush enveloped Velma’s features. Daphne and Velma had worked together to get the boys out of a booby trap and outsmart the old janitor; flipping the usual script. It felt good to be the one that cracked the case and not just the nerd who lost her glasses.
Not that she was trying to prove anything- Velma was pretty well adjusted. And within the past year she had settled into a confidence that looked good on her. Part of that was discovering a certain section at the library and finally having the vocabulary to name how she felt. The other part was a chance meeting, she was at the library to research optical illusions and mirages for a case. She was walking with a big stack of books and accidentally bumped into someone. Someone very cute.
She had bumped into a gorgeous woman. After her shell shock Velma recovered enough to help the other woman pick up her books while apologizing profusely. The woman introduced herself as Shelley Longmire; a professor of gender studies and sexuality at one of the nearby universities. She invited Velma to sit at the table where she was working and the two really hit it off. This initial meeting sparked a super short lived romance and a lasting friendship and correspondence. Mostly Velma was just happy to have someone to talk to about queer theory because in the words of Shaggy, “Identity is wild man.”
Sitting next to Daphne on the mildly uncomfortable log Velma felt buoyant and slightly reckless- ready to take on anything with her best pals by her side. Maybe that was why she chose to join in the revelry that evening. Velma tended toward being more reserved when the gang was partying. She was no stranger to having a celebratory drink after a job well done. That was a pretty normal occurrence, but she knew her limits. It usually only took two drinks and she would get a little too silly. Now and then she would hit one of the joints that Shaggy seemed to pull from nowhere to constantly light up. That usually ended up with her needing to be horizontal immediately and spending the rest of her waking hours puzzling through fractals. That was of no concern tonight though and took a drag when Shaggy passed the joint her way. Inhale, everything becomes timelessness and sensory pleasures, exhale. Cough.
She passed the joint to Daphne who gave Velma a knowing looking relishing the brief brush of fingers during their exchange of goods. Dinkley would probably be laying flat out somewhere within the next 45 minutes but those lidded eyes and the goofy smile made up for it. In Daphne's opinion Velma was the cutest member of Mystery Inc. In some ways so strong but in other ways totally hopeless. Daphne had been shamelessly flirting with Velma for the last few mysteries and so far it seemed that Velma had no clue. No pot for Daphne tonight, not in the mood. She felt electric and didn't want to be too muted.
She took a sip of one of the craft beers Shaggy had spent 20 minutes trying to decide on at the store- until Daphne had offered to buy both of the six packs he was choosing between. Despite being a human garbage disposal and eating almost everything Shaggy had a very particular palette concerning beers. The funny part was usually she agreed with his beer taste. Tonight was no exception- he had picked a gose and a double ipa. Both of them light and summery- great for a warm evening outside.
Scooby was curled up at Shaggy’s feet dozing. Shaggy was absentmindedly scratching behind scoob’s ear while he debated with Freddie about the benefits of hops and barley.
“I’m gonna go pee” Fred said getting up and stumbling a little bit.
“Careful bud, that IPA is 10%” Shaggy warned. Shaggy busied himself making a monster sandwich snack in Fred’s absence.
Daphne focused her attention back on Velma who seemed to be deep in thought staring at the fire. Daphne waved her hand in Velma’s line of vision.
“You good Dinkley?” Their eyes met and and Daphne felt the electricity from earlier light up her chest.
“Ha yeah … just thinking.” Velma’s sheepishness was incredibly endearing, she was grinning and spacey. Daphne didn't want to make her self conscious but she was so dang cute. Daphne bumped her shoulder into Velma’s playfully. They smiled at each other and Velma made her adorable stoned thinking face again.
“Um Daph, can I put my head on your shoulder?”
“Yeah of course V.” Trying to answer without betraying how exciting that actually felt for Daphne. They scooted into each other and Daphne felt the warm soft hair on her shoulder. Her hair smelled of cinnamon and older books. Daphne rested her head on Velma’s and enjoyed the rush of having the person you're crushing on sharing close personal space.
“Like did you guys hear that?” Shaggy and Scooby were on high alert.
“Hear what?” Daphne couldn't hear anything other than the pounding of her heart beat ringing in her ears. Velma sat up straight. They all stilled ears straining for some sort of sound.
“You're being paranoid guys” Velma scoffed as she moved to rest her head back on Daphne’s shoulder.
And then they heard something. A rustling scraping coming from 15 feet behind their campsite in the woods. Shit Shaggy was right. He and Scooby were clutching each other. They froze.
“That's definitely something and it's headed our way.” Daphne groaned. Ok time to make a plan she wasn't too drunk to do that. She motioned to the group to keep quiet. The sound was getting closer and everyone else around the fire looked like they were about to cry. Okay weapons. Daphne grabbed one of the large logs from the firewood pile. This would have to do.
From behind a tree next Shaggy and Scooby a figure with a terrifying face loomed into view. The two of them scrambled to get out of the way at the same time and tripped over each other. Daphne was getting ready to mount an attack when something else caught her attention.