Author's Notes: Rivvy: …this is probably my favorite chapter so far, I think.

Torpe: Well, kiddies, do you know what 'torpe' means?

Disclaimer: ...S'up?

"Like, think you could take Scoob here to the dog park later? It's close by, you two can walk, and he'll show you the way." Her Uncle asked innocently early one morning, on his way to the restaurant, halfway out the door, before popping back in and handing a blue leash to her. It had been several days since the peanut butter/hair incident,

Nora was so tired she could barely remember her own name, and her response was "Sure. Yeah, okay. Bye Uncle Shaggy." And maybe "can we have mac 'n cheese for dinner?" But regardless, she had said yes. And worst of all, Scooby had heard it. Nora might as well have been his new best friend the way he acted when she grudgingly clipped his leash to his collar. Scooby shot out the front door and she followed right behind, barely touching the front steps before Scooby took off left, and dragged her down the sidewalk.

"My god, what had I been thinking, saying yes to this? A dog park of all things?" She grumbled to the passing cement blocks, the Great Dane practically loping foreword in his excitement.

'Because you actually are starting like your Uncle, and deep down, you're starting to like Scooby, if just a little bit.' Came a little voice in the back of her head.

'Oh, shut up!' She snapped right back. One dog and her Uncle did not make up for that incident so many years ago. That scar would never go away. She had told herself to try and tolerate Scooby-Doo, and so far she was doing better than she expected, given the circumstances. But Scooby acted hardly like a dog, he didn't bark, didn't growl or tear apart his toys or the neighborhood children with his large, pointed-

Nevermind.

Scooby pulled her down the sidewalk, and while Nora briefly wondered if she'd been kidnapped, it wasn't more than ten minutes later they rounded a corner to see a large enclosed area surrounded by a high wire fence and signs posted on every side.

Dogs enclosed inside, barking, running, chasing...

Nora swallowed hard. 'What did I get myself into?'

"Um, so, how does this work?" Nora, though she'd never admit she was actually talking to the huge dog let alone asking it something, stared at Scooby curiously. Scooby looked around at the other dogs in the park, whom were running freely and playing, then back to Nora. Then for good measure, he pawed at his leash.

"Oh, right..." Nora mentally slapped herself. Scooby turned his head so the girl could easily reach the clasp of his leash. Problem was, it was an old leash; no, not old; vintage, thus resulting in a lock that refused to unclip without giving up a proper fight. As Nora battled the leash, Scooby looked around, hoping to see some familiar snouts.

A medium sized dog yipped as he trotted and jumped running everywhere but to his owner. She ran frantically trying to grab him, but was the dog too speedy, giving little hope to the girl, chasing her ebony-blur of a hound.

Another dog, with fur that had every shade of white, brown, black, and gray in it, lounged in the shadow of a tree, trying to cool down in the unforgiving heat. She watched her companion, a Golden Retriever with an elegant coat of his species' namesake, frolic much more obediently with his own master than the previous pup with the obsidian fur.

Then, he saw her. He wasn't sure if his heart or tail was beating faster. He stood from his sitting position, unaware Nora still hadn't disconnected his leash from his collar. "Scooby, hold on." He couldn't help it though! A German Shepard named Kayla, a name Scooby knew all too well, jumped into the air, twisting as she caught a frisbee, then landing with grace. Scooby's tongue couldn't seem to fit in his mouth anymore, nor his heart in his chest; he wanted so bad to play with Kayla. He barked a greeting to her.

He didn't hear Nora's command. He took a few steps forward towards the female dog. "Scooby!" Nora hissed, "Wai-!" But it was too late. Scooby was off like a shot, dragging an unsuspecting Nora in the dirt behind him. She screamed as they blasted past the Golden and the mutts, and the others present that went unmentioned. She kept screaming, through the bushes, over the rocks, and by the tree. Scooby came to an irrupt halt in front of Kayla. Nora kept flying though, and landed in the pond. Scooby was then the one being pulled as he landed on top of her.

He was pushed off she sat up and sputtered water and seaweed. She was cut and scrapped, and everything in between. The leash gave her burns on her hands and arms. "That's IT!" She screamed. Scooby shrunk, hoping not to be noticed and was all but doing an impression of a fish when she grabbed his collar and found some unknown strength as she practically threw him onto land.

"BAD DOG!" She screamed. Everyone had been staring at her. She was humiliated, but her focus was on the Great Dane.

"Rog? Rere?" Scooby questioned.

Her hand flat, her smack his back haunches. "BAD! GO!" She screamed once more and stomped after him. He tucked his tail between his legs, suspecting it would get marched upon by the blonde otherwise.

-0o0-

Finally letting himself get caught, the black dog pressed against his owner, whom was kneeling, afraid of the three minute new-comer of the park. The girl pushed her glasses back into place on top of her nose as she looked up and the red head with the Golden whimpering between her legs. "Some people just can't take care of their dogs."

The red head raised an eye brow back at the girl. Though, there was a more important thought of concern. "Wasn't that Scooby Doo?" The red-head asked suspiciously. The other shrugged, and in that second of letting go of her furry-friend, he took the chance to run again, and she took off right after him. Watching this, the red head sighed to herself and shook her head.

-0o0-

Nora stomped up the pond's edge. She stomped past the frantic black dog and its bespectacled owner, stomped past the red-head, and finally found herself in front of a small dirt trail leading into a forest. A sign on a tree read 'Dog trail' and 'please pick up after your pooch!' with a box filled with plastic bags. Well, she had no idea where that stupid giant klutz had gotten too, and still feeling sore about the whole thing, Nora headed down the trail, not particularly caring where Scooby was or what he was doing. And although Nora paid attention to the first sign, she did not see the piece of paper tacked under it, rounded at the edges, that showed a picture of a Doberman and a small paragraph that read 'Lost Doberman, answers to 'Killer' if seen, DO NOT approach, known to be dangerous, please call '855-293-1314' or 'Animal Control'.

Ten minutes down the trail, and Nora found herself feeling oddly better, the woods were expertly laid out, with winding, but not dizzying trails, and although she did walk by or spot some dogs and their owner's not far off, they didn't say much and she didn't say much back and the dogs just trotted by, tongues wagging with tails and panting happily.

Mindlessly rubbing a particularly itchy scratch on her arm, the teen rounded the bend of the dirt path leisurely, and then stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. It was a dog, somewhere between a medium and large size, square build and short, black coat. The dog was compactly built and athletic-looking, showing speed to its body but some of its ribs peaked on the dog's chest.

One more valuable thing Nora noticed before she took off in the opposite direction-the dog was growling and heading straight for her.

Nora had never thought about trying for the track team, but the way she was flying, and if she made it out of this alive, her distraught mind considered the sport for her while the rest of her body freaked and screamed right along with her.

'It was a doberman...!' She thought, and as Nora tripped over a root, maybe thirty feet and a hill away from the exit/enter to the dog trail, she landed, hard, on her stomach and swung around to her back and up on her elbows in the time it took for the black dog to skid to a trot and snarl loudly. As it closed the space between her, Nora took some condolence that she had at least identified her killer.

As the dog advanced on her, snarling all the while, Nora raised her arms to shield her face, the vicious creature dived for her and-

A big brown blur knocked the doberman right out the air and sent it FLYING.

Nora watched, eyes the size of dinner plates and her voice hiding somewhere, as her savior landed in front of her, placing it self between her and the Doberman. Scooby-Doo had always struck Nora as a goofy dog, easily frightened, (the spiders-in-the-bathroom-incident had proven that,) lovable and friendly. She had never seen him guard anything, he wasn't vicious, didn't act like a guard dog of any sort. But the dog between her and that Doberman was all fury and growls and hair raised between his hackles. Scooby dug his front paws into the dirt, his blue leash dangled behind him, and he growled, deeper than that other dog's by far.

And if Nora had doubts that this wasn't Scooby-Doo before, than the curt "Rack off," aimed at the Doberman was any indication.

Not to be out done, the Doberman turned its sights to Scooby and lunged at him, taking his leash in its jaws and hooking a set of claws into his shoulders. Big mistake. Scooby was bigger, in muscle and height, and apparently angrier, because Scooby swung his neck, his leash and the Doberman, away from him and slammed the opposing dog into a tree trunk.

It was easily the coolest thing Nora had ever seen.

This time the Doberman seemed to learn its mistake, because it picked itself, slowly, up from its landing and started limping away, picked up speed and headed deeper into the forest. The adrenaline from nearly getting eviscerated by a dog started ebbing away, and Nora's breathing began to turn to normal. Brown with black spots filled her view as Scooby suddenly poured over her, sniffing and licking to see if she was alright. Nora reacted by taking Scooby's large head in her hands, and saw only large big eyes full of that unconditional love dogs have she had forgotten about.

Tears came to the teen's eyes as she was overwhelmed with both joy and guilt. "Scooby, I'm-I'm so sorry! You're a good boy! You're a really, really, good boy!" By this point she had thrown her arms around his neck and was crying into his fur. Scooby didn't flinch and felt instinct take over, just letting her cry onto him. One of his front legs wrapped her in a hug, the best he could do for being a dog at least.

When she had calmed down, Nora looked straight into Scooby's eyes with her own, still wet with tears. She looked back at his tail-end. "I'm sorry, if I hurt you," she apologized, ashamed of ever striking the hound.

"Raw, rit's rokay," he smiled and gave her a lick.

"No, it's not," she replied. Nora patted were Scooby had been hit and a slight rub, as if to massage the sting away. "What now, Scooby Doo? What would you like to do?" Before he could answer a grumble came that made Nora jump and spin around, looking to see if the Doberman was back for round two. The noise, previously mistaken for a growl, came again, only louder. Nora looked back to Scooby, "Was that...your stomach?" Scooby grabbed his stomach with one paw and gave a sheepish chuckle. Then, Nora's stomach replied in a similar manner. She blushed, and copied the Great Dane's action in grabbing her stomach. "Hey, how about I buy you some victory lunch, pooch?"

Scooby's head began to nod up and down, Nora was afraid it would come off. "Reah! Reah!" He jumped onto her, knocking her down, and licked her face. Nora, though, did not yell, nor complain. She laughed, loud and happy.

"Okay, come on, boy."

She got up and began to walk to the exit, only to hear something hit the ground with a THUD! She heard it a second time, and a whimper. She spun around to see Scooby limping up to her while trying his hardest not to set his right paw down. How could she have missed it? His shoulder! It was bleeding! Scooby hadn't left that battle with the Doberman unscathed.

"Scooby!" Nora knelt in front of him. Then a thought flashed into her mind. 'What am I going to tell Uncle Shaggy?'

O000O

"Like, a Doberman! Zoinks, poor Scoob!" And then an-almost after thought, as it finally sunk in, "Like, poor you! Norry!" The girl found herself swept up in a pair of long thin arms and into her Uncle's chest.

Scooby watched this dazedly from the couch where he was settled on, shoulder bandaged, with all his shots and drugs and all from the vet in his system. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he drifted off to sleep, his humans sitting on the floor below him, discussing the day.

As Nora re-accounted her story for about the third time that day, (she had been interrogated by that redhead and her friend the minute she'd half carried half supported Scooby out of the woods.) The two girls turned out to be just a few years older than her, both concerned in that dog-lover way, and since they knew Scooby and Shaggy as regulars, it wasn't long before the redhead had her cell whipped out calling the Park vet and the blonde was helping Nora stem the blood and cooing and petting at Scooby like a true dog lover.

Nora then had to tell the Vet everything she'd experienced, from walking the woods, what trails she took and the Doberman's weight and health condition as Scooby was being treated. There were two cuts that needed stitches, but not many, some small scratches that would get treated just to be on the safe side, and of course the poor brave hound needed rabies shots too.

Then, because Scooby was in no condition to walk home, let alone walk very much in general for fear of the stitches being opened, Nora had to wait on one of the benches just outside the park, Scooby's head in her lap, for Uncle Shaggy to get off his shift at the restaurant and pick her up.

Getting Scooby home was no easy task, since whatever they put in Scooby's system to take any pain away also took all logical portions of his mind away too. He lumbered through the door and onto the couch, and Nora, nearly in tears over the entire day, just dropped to floor beside Scooby and told her day to her Uncle between hiccups and sniffles.

Somewhere in her story she might have cried just a little, because Shaggy panicked and fell to his knees in front of her and rubbed her shoulder awkwardly.

If Nora thought her Uncle would kick her out for hurting his beloved pooch, then maybe the doc had, like, given her some of that stuff too, cause there was no way in, like, heck, he was gettin' rid of his favorite niece for something that wasn't her fault.

"Uncle Shaggy, I'm your only niece." Nora gave an embarrassed laugh.

Standing up, her Uncle towered over her. "An', like, that's what makes you my favorite, kiddo! No competition, right Scoobo?"

"Ruh-huh…" Came a sleepy mumble from the couch.

"But seriously, Norry, I'm not mad, I'm more relieved you're okay, and Scoob, too. Scooby-Doo is my best friend, and he's your Uncle too. If that Doberman, like, attacked me Scooby would do the same thing. Though, like, the only thing I've ever seen him guard is his plate on spaghetti night!" Shaggy chuckled, helping his niece to her feet. Rubbing her shoulders up and down, Shaggy pulled her back and looked her over, "C'mon, kiddo, let's, like, hit the hay, as they say. We need to get some shut eye, you've had along day. …Cool, I rhymed!"

Scrubbing the palms of her hands into her semi-dry eyes, Nora bit back laughter at her Uncle's antics, "Okay, Uncle Shaggy."

O000O

Shaggy woke up the next morning with some kind of odd weight on his shoulder. Without much thought, he mumbled, "Like, Scoob, you feeling better, man?"

"Ruh-huh," came an answer from the couch. (His dog was hurt, of course Shaggy gave him the couch! He was happy to sleep on the floor with nothing but an old rug separating himself from the hard-wood floor.) Shaggy's eyes shot open; if Scooby was still on the couch, then, what-? Shaggy heard the soft snores of his niece. She had slept in the living room, unable to be alone and feel comfortable on the upper floor. Not wanting for the girl's sleep-cycle to be interrupted, of course Uncle Shaggy had let her sleep down stairs with her uncles.

Shaggy relaxed and sighed in relief, even with the small amount of warm drool on his arm from the girl. Skillfully, Shaggy managed to somehow switch places with an over-stuffed pillow -in contrast with his bony-shoulder- and slipped into the kitchen. "Like, Scooby Doo, I'm going to cook us up some chow for breakfast. Stay here with Norry, 'kay?"

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby saluted his master, and curled up beside the girl.

Shaggy, taking the day off for his two beloved family members, took his time cooking. He took pride in his creations, before devouring them in a single bite, no matter the size of the meal. Just as he had finished, Nora walked into the room, rubbing her eyes free of sand, dust, whatever the preferred term was, with Scooby right next to her.

"Mornni', uhn-ahhn-ah-cal, Shaggy," she greeted with and loud yawn that brought tears to her eyes.

"Like, morning to you too, kiddo. You hungry?"

Nora nodded, still groggy from sleep, and dropped ungracefully on a bar stool, stretching cramped muscles. Scooby followed, a little stiffly, but got himself up and sitting into the chair across from Nora. She stared at him.

"You are the strangest dog I've ever seen."

"Rog? Rhat rog?"

Well, that explains that. She thought. "What's for breakfast Uncle Shaggy?"

Shaggy turned from the stove with a flourish. "Like, leftover mac n' cheese omelets!"

"Ro Roy!"

"Oh…kay." Still, Nora was the first to admit after breakfast that is was possibly the best omelet she'd ever eaten, despite its…flavorful ingredients.

"You took off work Uncle Shaggy? What are we doing today?" Nora asked as she dried the morning dishes. She stood stationary, because Scooby had dropped back onto the floor after wiping the kitchen table with a dish towel for Shaggy, and was now currently curled around her feet, content to sleep the day away and recover.

"Hmm…like, no idea." Shaggy thought out loud as he rinsed a plate, then handed it to his niece. "Oh! I got it, Wanna help me clean out the attic? Well…it's less an attic more a nook, perhaps a cranny…but like, it's got a window seat thing and its carpeted and, zoinks, a closet too! You can have that for your room, kiddo!"

Scooby moved his head on her foot and snored. The way her Uncle had described her room made her think he was more excited to have current company than she'd thought before. She wondered if he and Scooby-Doo got lonely in this house all by themselves.

"Okay, Uncle Shaggy, that sounds nice."

"Great! We'll like, finish the dishes, wake up Scoob here, and head on up to the nook, I mean attic, I mean, your new room!"

O000O

Daylight or not, Nora was first up the stairs to the attic. She held both her broom and dustpan Shaggy gave her in one hand, grabbing the doorknob with the other. The door didn't so much as budge, resulting in Nora almost hitting her head on the wood. She grunted and growled until she finally barged through with aid of her shoulder.

"Ooow!" She whined to herself. Sticky door. She rubbed her shoulder, which was still sore from her little adventure when Scooby personally introduced her to the dirt in the dog park. Not long after, Shaggy stumbled into the room with a bucket of water and a mop while Scooby hobbled in with the dust cloth in his curled tail and one in his mouth.

"Okay kiddo, Scooby can handle the dusting, and I'll, like, clear some of these boxes out of here. Just start sweeping, 'kay?"

"M'kay!" Nora, whom had never been too keen to clean, agreed merrily and got right to work. After a mere few minutes Shaggy had to switch places with Nora. How was he supposed to know muscle could come in such a small package? Not ten minutes passed when Nora asked, "Uncle Shaggy, silence makes me nervous. Can we turn on some music?"

"Like, sure thing, Norry," Shaggy said as leaned his broom against the wall. "I think there's an old radio somewhere in here…ah, hem…" Shaggy bent over some boxes and Nora could hear objects being moved around and one, apparently made of glass, broken. After another two minutes of searching, and about three minutes screaming upon discovering a spider or two, Shaggy finally found the little old black radio, which was older than dirt.

Nora looked skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised with that it worked perfectly and worked with batteries, which were almost as old as the radio itself. Scooby dragged his tail across the radio, shining it up, even just a little a bit.

A spider scuttled across the bedside table that Nora set the radio down on, as the girl began fiddling with the dials.

"Zzzt-Everybody's…bzzzt….love today-"

'

"And know you know the rest-"

"'Cause you're hot 'n your col-"

"That I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fu-" Shaggy's hand shot over Nora's shoulder for the dial and turned it hard left.

"Zzzpt! "She can't keep dying over this, because it's just killing me," The radio practically screamed.

Nora pulled back after a few chords of this song, clapping her hands together, "Hey I love this song! By Chronic Future!"

She did not notice her Uncle and his dog detach themselves down from the ceiling at the loud blasting music. This band sounded like they were confused between rap and hard rock, and quite frankly it was not the bubblegum music either of them was used too. Still, they laughed sheepishly to each other, and then continued to their work. Things began to move much faster with Nora practically bopping around the room in tune with the music, all rock or hard, rather loud metal.

"Like, I know I'm getting old if I start thinking this music is too loud, Scoob." Shaggy addressed once to his dog with a small smile, who nodded in agreement while Nora danced on the other side of the room.

In no time at all the room had lost boxes and layers of gloom and dust. All that was needed was a new set of sheets for the twin bed in the corner, Nora wanted a pillow for the window seat, and Shaggy promised a bed side lamp and to fix the fan first thing in the morning.

"Morning? What time is it?" Nora popped her head out from the closet.

Shaggy checked the cat clock Scooby had dug out and hung and set. "Like, almost five thirty! Zoinks, we've been cleaning the whole day, time sure flies when you're having fun!"

Nora blinked. "What time did we eat breakfast?"

Shaggy shrugged, "By the time we woke up…we like, kinda slept in. It was more of a brunch really. About eleven we ate? Yeah, we've been working the past four hours, like woah! How about we, like, go out for some chow and some dessert, my treat."

"Wow, thanks Uncle Shaggy! That sounds great! Do I have time to shower first though? I'm all gross from the dirt," Nora informed her uncles, all the while emphasizing her point by patting her shirt, creating a small dust cloud.

"Like, sure thing, we'll make a date of it! Scooby'll wear his best collar."

Nora looked back over her shoulder on her way down the ladder, "Oh, that reminds me, can I pay for Scooby's food? I promised him yesterday as thanks, an' all." Stitched shoulder or no, Scooby still found enough energy to knock Nora down to her back at the foot of the stairs and lick the daylights out of her.

O000O

Later that night, she was surprised when Scooby followed her up the stairs and into her loft, now bedroom. But she didn't comment, he was probably just curious, wanted to sniff a few things then, she hoped, he would head back downstairs to Shaggy. She was surprised he was able to climb all the way up there, or that he hadn't ripped open his stitches yet.

It was late in July, the time between air conditioning and those stifling nights you wanted, but couldn't afford, cool air. She wouldn't need the covers, so there was no point in unmaking the bed; she simply pushed her suitcase off the top of her bed (it landed with a pitiful thunk,) and took its place, sticking one pillow under her head and stretching out across the expanse of it.

Nora watched the streetlight from outside rest on the slanted ceiling, and listened to the snuffling sounds coming from the area her suitcase went off the bed. The floorboards creaked and groaned closer to the bed, and the snuffling noise stopped altogether. The bed suddenly sagged in unison with a giant figure suddenly blocking out the streetlight. Scooby scooted around in a circle a few times by Nora's side, and then settled down beside her, apparently content. A huge sigh heaved from the dog.

Up until now, Nora had, admittedly, been too unsettled to speak or move. Now she swallowed the rock in her throat. "Uhm, Scooby-Doo?"

The shadow lifted a pitch black head, its dog collar tinkling at the movement. "Res?"

According to what little she knew of having a dog, dogs belonged in the kitchen, or better yet, in the backyard. She had seen Scooby's dog house in the backyard, she had just never seen him in it. Although, she had also seen a big blue and yellow dog bed in the kitchen corner too.

That only led Nora to assume her Uncle's dog slept with him, which was fine with her, since she didn't particularly care for dogs much herself, but any dog she came across always seemed to be deluded in her hesitance, and would crowd her and sniff her.

So why did she originally assume Scooby-Doo would be any different?

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

"Nevermind. Good night, Scooby-Doo."

"Right-right, 'Rora." The shadow's head disappeared, but she felt it hit just beside her elbow, as her arms were tucked up under her pillow.

A/N:

Torpe: Tackled the beast today, i.e. I cleaned my own room. Yeah, time really does disappear when you're fighting off a half dust-dirt/half dog fur monster with a dust-pan as it spits out old socks you haven't seen in months at you, along with your favorite hoodie you swore to the Heavens above that your very life depended upon you getting. No, to answer your question, it's not often that I'm bored.

Also, we don't any of those songs above; forgot to mention them in the disclaimer, and yes, I'm that lazy.