Daphne sat on her bed resting against the wall which her bedroom shared with Velma's. She was drinking from a mug of coffee; half listening to Fred and half listening to the conversation coming through the wall. Shaggy and Velma were going out for a meal to celebrate their first year together. It was a big date; both were excited by what was in the offing but exactly what was a closely guarded secret. Daphne couldn't help but have a sense of quiet satisfaction at this as Shaggy and Velma were 'her' couple, over the years she nudged, nurtured, hinted, cajoled and finally after a few false starts they'd stuck together. Neither of them had had a fantastic time growing up, both had been taken advantage of by others and been the butt of countless episodes of bullying and cruel jokes hence they had erected quite impenetrable exteriors to protect themselves, but since finishing school, and especially since they'd got together the walls had started to come down.
Despite being 'her' couple neither had told Daphne where it was they were going so she was trying to get the inside track on things. Both of them had been out and brought outfits for the occasion, a red-letter day in of itself. There was even circumstantial evidence that Velma had brought some special lingerie to wear. Daphne had found tissue paper and an unfamiliar box from an up-market lingerie boutique in their recycling box yesterday. All this confirmed to Daphne the importance of this event, hence her keen interest so she focused on the voices coming from the other side of the room…
"Right Shaggy you ready? It's almost tie-up time" said Velma.
Daphne's ears pricked up hello she thought and adjusted her head so she could hear the conversation more clearly.
"You bet Vel, I'm really looking forward to this, I couldn't sleep last night" said Shaggy, even through the walls Daphne could pick up the excitement in his voice "Like are you ready?"
"Sure am, I am so ready for tie-up time. Could you give me a hand putting these on?" Daphne's eyes opened wide, this was way better than listening to Fred drone about how his traps will appear in the next music video of the metal band Slightly Tempered. There were some sounds of movement and a few muffled noises. The goings-on on the other side of the wall now had Daphne's full attention, as Fred's voice faded into the background her imagination went into overdrive. They'd knocked the walls down so much they'd started building their own dungeon.
"Tighter round my ankle please Shag."
Daphne eyes widened, never in a million years had she thought Shaggy and Velma would be into this.
"That's better, that doesn't slip about now; can you do the other one just as tight please."
"This one's fiddly, it's going to come undone it you move too much"
"Well that's no fun, I want to move…" Daphne put the mug to her lips to hide the expression on her face "…say go get Daph she'd love to help get me ready for tonight."
Pffffffffffff! Daphne sprayed coffee everywhere.
Fred sat there stunned and dripping in coffee as Daphne rushed coughing and spluttering out of her room. She burst through the door to Velma's room to see Shaggy kneeling in front of Velma.
"Hi Daph, what's wrong?" said Velma.
"Like good timing Daph, I was just about to come get you" said Shaggy.
"These boots are great but we can't quite get the laces done properly on this one."
"Oh" Daphne paused, trying to get a handle on the situation "Boots?"
"Yes, my new boots, Shaggy helped pick them out" Velma showed off a pair of lace-up knee-high patent-leather boots.
Daphne wondered if she had slipped into a parallel universe, Shaggy was in a suit; black shoes, black trousers, the jacket was folded neatly over a chair and he wore a crisp white shirt with a dark green tie. Velma was in a long flowing red skirt, matching boots and earthy-coloured silk blouse and crushed-velvet shawl which perfectly highlighted her freckles, there was even a little bow in her hair.
"Big night tonight: going to Thai-up, that new restaurant in town. I managed to get tickets to its grand opening" Velma's eyes sparkled.
"Oh Thai-up, Thai-up, that kind of Thai" Daphne stumbled on as she fought to get on-top of the conversation and hide the fact that she had been listening in.
"Yes, Thai as in Thailand, what kind of Thai did you think I meant?" Velma's expression was unreadable.
"Oh, em err nothing much, that's the only kind of Thai I thought you were talking about, not any other kind of Thai, no just that kind" said Daphne slowly dying of embarrassment "Still I'm jealous." Thai-Up was a very new and fancy restaurant; there was already a long waiting list to book a table. The grand opening was an invite-only full red-carpet affair.
"Right that's why we need help with this boot so we can get going."
"I'm on it Vel" Daphne knelt down and took off where Shaggy had stopped.
"It's easier if you stand up, I'll re-lace both of them" said Daphne slipping into a more professional mode.
"Thanks" Velma stood up and hiked her skirt up so it wouldn't get in the way. Daphne could see translucent black silk stocking with a hint of suspenders, a first for Velma as far as Daphne could remember. Daphne knew the contents of Velma's wardrobe quite well; these were new and very classy. There was even a hint of perfume coming from her wrists. Shaggy's shirt and trousers has a crease you could sharpen pencils on, then it hit her, she was glad to be kneeling down, he'd ironed. Shaggy never ironed anything aside from tortillas.
"There all done, bet that feels better."
"Thanks Daph, they sure do. Time to get going." said Velma when all was done "don't wait up."
Daphne half woke up at the sound of Shaggy and Velma coming in, she rolled over at looked at the clock; midnight had been and gone a long time ago must have been one hell of a date she thought. She couldn't help herself as she listened to them enter Velma's room.
"OK Shaggy, I tied you up, now I'd like you to really tie me up" there was a pause; then resumed in sultry, seductive tones "I'll make it worth your while."
Seconds Fred burst into Daphne's room woken by the sounds of coughing and spluttering from Daphne, he was asking what the matter was; could she breathe, what was she choking on? He patted her hard on the back; he had his cell phone out ready to dial 911.
Daphne was red in the face, waving her arms about. Fred knew he needed to get help fast.
"Velma! Velma! Get in here quickly Daphne's choking" shouted Fred.
"Stop it Fred. I'm fine" wheezed Daphne.
"No Daph, you need first aid, I have to get Velma" Fred got up and headed for the door; Daphne tackled him to the ground.
"No! They're emm, she's all tied-up right now, nononononono I mean she's busy, busy that's it."
Fred and Daphne paused at the sound of laughter coming through the wall from Velma's room; somebody was even hitting the bed as they laughed.
"Ooooooh!" growled Daphne "those two!"
Daphne jumped off a bemused Fred and stormed straight into Velma's room where she proceeded to deliver several blows with a pillow to each of the helpless figures which only made them laugh even harder. With honour only partially satisfied Daphne returned to her room, fished out the ear-plus she used when trying to sleep on a plane, turned the radio on and went to sleep.
It wasn't till after lunchtime when a still not with it Velma finally made an appearance, in body if not in spirit. From above the sound of Shaggy getting up could be heard. Daphne could wait for revenge, she wanted to know about the date and with Velma in such a fuzzy state-of-mind she had a good chance of getting all the details. Daphne wandered over, puzzled as to why Velma was wrapped up in long sleeved pyjamas as it was a warm day. Perhaps she was having one of her allergy days, both of her wrists looked red and there were faint red marks coming from each corner of her mouth. There was something else odd; Velma was wearing a choker round her neck she couldn't remember Velma wearing a choker yesterday but it did suit her but the colour wasn't quite right. Perhaps Shaggy brought it for her which would explain the imperfect colour match. Daphne paused and looked closer there was something long and thin hanging off it; Velma put her hand to her throat, flushed a deep red, and rushed back upstairs.
"Emm Velma, is that one of Scooby's collar and leads you're wearing?"
(A/N inspired by 'Velma Nude' by DrewGardner on DeviantArt)