A/N: For my muse, and InkSpellWeaver. I'm not happy with it, but my muse seemed to be, and if she's happy then I guess I'm happy. I may rewrite it, though I have about twenty gazillion projects to start off on, so this is kind of back-burner-ish.

"So you're a homeless man, eh?" Fred asked, his hands on his hips. "Just what do you have to offer Velma?"

Velma rose from her seat. "Fred, stop. He's...you don't understand, he's the right one for me."

Fred quelled her with a glance and an upraised hand, turning to fix Shaggy with his gaze. "I'm only concerned for you, Velma," he said without looking at her. "Sometimes you make decisions that aren't the best in the world."

Shaggy pressed back into his seat. "Like, um," Shaggy said. "Unconditional love?"

Fred made a small noise, neither disagreeing or agreeing. "Go on."

"Uhh...perspective on, like, her work? Someone to be there for her? Someone who...grrk...lov-has Scooby?"

Fred hummed, looking like he agreed with the last. Daphne even at that moment was scratching behind Scooby's ears, smiling as Scooby batted at her with his paw.

Velma cringed in on herself, not meeting Shaggy's gaze when he looked at her.

"Um," Shaggy said, taking in a deep breath and desperately looking away from Fred, "Try some of my Scooby Snax while I, like, try to...um..."

If Fred hadn't been directly in front of him, Velma quite thought that Shaggy would have made a break for it some time ago.

Fred pulled one from the tray Shaggy had made before Fred burst into Velma's house.

He took a bite.

Fred made interesting expressions, Velma noted. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed before this, and goodness, the noises he was making made Daphne look up and stare oddly at him.

No, never mind; everyone was staring oddly at him, including Scooby.

Fred lifted a hand to point at Shaggy. Shaggy cringed back further into his chair.

Fred took a breath, looked at the rest of the Scooby Snax in his hand, and lowered the pointing finger.

He took another breath. "I withdraw all objections. You're a fine man, Shaggy, and I'd be proud to welcome you to the family."

He finished the rest of the Scooby Snax in one bite, dusted his hands off and held his hand out for Shaggy to shake.

Shaggy hesitated until Velma smiled at him shyly, and then shook Fred's hand.

"Wow, Velma," Shaggy said after Fred had gone. "That Fred of yours has a pretty firm handshake. Like, ow."

"He's not mine," Velma said. "If anything, he's Daphne's. But I used to have a little bit of a crush on him."

"Really?" Shaggy said. "I guess I can see the attraction."

"Yeah, but," Velma said. "He's not mine to share and - I have you and Scooby now, don't I?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Even though I'm only really using you to get to your food," Velma said, and juggled a Scooby Snack between her hands.

"Even though," Shaggy echoed, his eyes on her.

Velma took another bite of the Scooby Snack in her hand, slow and caressing. It crumbled on the tip of her tongue, the hot sweetness of it melting. Every bite subtly different, with elemental undertones of pepper or sea-salt. A moan forced itself through her lips, low and husky. Shaggy eyed her, appeared to be debating with himself, and kissed her.

Scooby whined.

Two

The darkness was absolute.

If it hadn't been for Velma's immense trust that Fred wouldn't lead her into a wall (or at least that, if he did, Daphne would do things so painful to him that the amusement at it wouldn't be worth the pain) she would have been freaking out about now. Being blind had been one of her greatest fears for years, especially after the first time she lost her glasses and tripped down a flight of stairs.

"Pothole," Daphne said, and Fred's calming hands steered her to the left.

Up ahead, a dog barked, and Velma found herself smiling. Now she knew where they were going. Ok, she didn't, but they were heading toward Scooby and Shaggy, and everything would be fine.

"Door," Daphne warned. The creak of a door. Cool air assaulted her. The air-conditioning humming in the corner, Daphne's heels clicking on tile. Food. Glorious food, food sizzling, the heat and the smell of it, delicate seasoning and the roar of chatter and pastry, baking bread sweet and high in the oven. Fred's hand lifted from her left shoulder and knocked on the metal in front of them, clanging it.

A dog barked from inside. Scooby?

Fred's knocking stopped as the door creaked open. He guided her into the room, and left her there, the door closing behind her.

"Shaggy?" Velma asked, completely blind. "I can't see."

"Your glasses are, like, on this time, right?"

"Ha-ha," Velma said. "I can't undo the knot, Fred tied it too tightly. Could you..."

"Sure," he said from behind her, long fingers getting into the knot and flicking the tails of the blindfold open. He trailed his fingers down the back of her neck. Velma didn't try to hide how much that casual sign of intimacy made shivers run down the back of her spine. Her face flooded with heat, more so than the room itself.

Wrapping an arm around her, Shaggy moved to her left and tugged the blindfold off in one movement.

The room revealed itself to be a kitchen; full of stoves and shiny chrome ovens and all sorts of appliances she had no idea how to use.

"You like?" Shaggy said, and Scooby rolled over onto his back, whuffing.

Velma knelt to give him a belly-scratch.

"Lunch is, like, served," Shaggy said, carrying a plate over to her.

Three

"The sky," Shaggy said. Scooby huffed and turned over on his side, batting lazily at Shaggy with his paw. Shaggy batted lazily at Scooby's side to get him to stop. "Do you see the sky?"

"Yes," Velma said. "I do see the sky. Why, it's right above us."

"In front of us," Shaggy said. "It's the sky."

"Was there a point to this discussion?"

"Does there have to be a point?"

"...You have a point."

"Cool."

Velma laughed.

"Jinkies," Velma said. "Don't you have to get to the restaurant?"

"Nah," Shaggy said. "I took a day off. It's a slow day anyway, they don't need me."

"Oh."

"And I get to spend a summer day with you."

"Ohh."

"Talking about crime fiction, like."

"What?" Velma said, shocked out of her hazy mood. "Why do you want to -"

"Just kidding," Shaggy said, his hand trailing over her stomach and resting there. Velma took his hand with hers and entangled their fingers, watching the sky.

The clouds passed.

"That one looks like-" Velma said, to fill the silence.

Shaggy pulled her over, kissing her cheek gently.

"Um," Velma said, and breathed in the scent of baking bread on his clothes, rich and deep.

Four

"You know what?" Velma said.

"Like, what?" Shaggy said, disoriented. He kissed her forehead, lingeringly, gently.

"I like running."

Shaggy darted a side glance at her, easily keeping pace with her.

"Even though it usually means that you're late to something and that Daphne will cause us bodily injuries. Painful bodily injuries."

Shaggy hummed, but increased his pace a trifle.

"Really, I guess," Velma said, "I like us running...together."

Scooby barked.