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In the distance, the sun was starting to set, painting the clouds in shades of orange, purple and pink. Near Coolville’s popular tourist lake, the sounds of laughter could be heard.
Popular.
That was possibly being a little bit kind, as many people had never even heard of Coolville, let alone the lake, leaving it free for the locals for the vast majority of the year (occasionally, the odd group of city based students on a road trip stumbled across the town).
“Chuck us some popcorn Shaggy!” Fred called as he lazily swam towards the shore of the lake, mouth already opening to try and catch it in his mouth.
“Like, it’s all covered in chocolate sauce Freddie!”
“Don’t care! Throw it!”
Using his good arm (having sprained his wrist during one of their ghost hunts), Shaggy gently pulled one of the kennels free of the chocolatey mess, and threw it at Freddie, whooping when the other boy managed to catch it perfectly in his mouth. As the other two girls clapped as well, Freddie threw his hands up into the air in success.
“Bet you can’t do it again!” Daphne laughed, knowing that Freddie would take the challenge.
Her and Velma were also sat on the shores of the lake, although not as closely as Shaggy, neither of them wanting to get wet just yet. Daphne wanted to sunbathe whilst they still had sun to do so, and Velma was reading a book.
Marsupial evolution by the looks of it.
It would probably come in useful one day, most things Velma read did.
“Come on girls!” Freddie called out, having caught another two kernels of popcorn, splashing lightly as he paddled backwards, “I don’t understand why you won’t swim when you’ve got your costumes on!”
“They’re for the aesthetic!”
“What Daphne said.”
“Even Scooby’s enjoying it though!”
Scooby, who was doggy paddling through the water, nodded eagerly in agreement, the cool water probably feeling amazing in the warm summer evening.
Daphne laughed at the sight, as Velma rolled her eyes.
“We already told you this Freddie. Shaggy can’t go in the water because of his bandage, so we’re keeping him company.”
They had volunteered to go to the ice cream parlour instead of here, when Shaggy couldn’t even go into the water, but he had waved off their offer. If he wanted to go into the water, he would dip his toes in.
“You can sit a bit closer, can’t you? Like right next to him?”
Daphne and Velma both rolled their eyes at this.
“Nice try Freddie…” Daphne called out, “… you’re not splashing me!”
“I would never- “
“- Like, you totally would Freddie.” Shaggy laughed, throwing Scooby several pieces of popcorn.
Placing a hand over his heart, Freddie leant back in mock shock, but the grin on his face betrayed him. “Alright, alright… I, Fred Jones promise not to splash Velma or Daphne if they sit next to Shaggy.”
“Oooooor?”
“Or…” Fred thought for a moment, “…Or Daphne can choose all my outfits for the next weeks and Velma can drive the Mystery Machine for that same amount of time.”
The clothes thing wasn’t so bad…. But Velma was one of the worst drivers ever.
She blamed her eyesight.
They all blamed her impatience on the roads.
“Deal.” “Deal.”
In their agreement , they moved their seats so that they were closer to Shaggy, one on either side as they both ruffled his messy hair. Having a multitude of different snacks carefully balanced on his lap, Shaggy beamed and offered them to the girls, continuing to throw the odd piece of popcorn to Scooby and Fred.
It was peaceful, and that was just perfect.
“ROOOOOOOOOO!”
Well, it was peaceful for a short time anyway.
Scooby Doo came charging onto the bank, almost knocking Shaggy and the girls over as he cried out “Ronster! Ronster!”, shaking from his head to the very tip of his tail.
Something must have brushed his leg and startled him.
At least, that’s what Fred told himself as he glanced down into the water. It was probably nothing but a piece of seaweed, but he wasn’t going to take the chance. Almost as quickly as Scooby, he was out of the water and moving to sit next to Daphne, resisting the urge to flick water at her when she smirked.
“It was getting a little cold anyway.” He shrugged it off, refusing to look the others in the eyes…. Especially as he could hear Velma sniggering slightly under her breath.