"Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick. Blah blah what it's called in Irish, is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March..."

Leaning on her arm, Daphne craned over her laptop as it sat on her desk in front of her. All her friends had been inviting her to celebrate March 17th, but she really never took the time to find out what the holiday actually stood for. Well, besides partying.

So she looked it up online. It didn't take her long to find, with the right browser. Popping on google, she typed in her search which had led her to the Wiki she was looking at. Sure, she could probably ask Velma to find out the answer, but that would take longer. And she couldn't just skim over the information like the internet, to find what she was looking for. Velma didn't have a search function, though sometimes Daphne wished she had.

"Hm. In the seventeenth century, they made it an official feast day, which has gradually turned into a celebration of Irish culture in general."

Well, her family was generally from over there. At least, she knew she was Scottish. So she bet there had been some Irish in there as well. Daphne wasn't too sure off the top of her head, but her mother would probably know better.

"Heck, she spends enough time on ..." Daphne grumbled to herself, though it could be worse. Her dad was a fan of those online game sites, like Pogo and several other sites. When he got in a groove, it was hard to pry the man away from the keyboard. But at least his avatar on Pogo is well dressed. She mentally nodded, giving him credit at least for that.

Looking back to the screen, she read more on the holiday. She was trying to see if she really wanted to indulge herself this year as well. Last year she had a little bit too much indulging and Velma would be more than willing to retell the tale of that hangover. One she had been hoping to forget. But Velma was more than willing to remind her if she ever had been successful of the latter. Bar hopping wasn't high on her list this year. Maybe staying in... Sounded good. Continuing, she scrolled down to see what else was there about the Holiday.

"The day is generally characterized by the attendance of church services, wearing of green attire... Well, that's a given. I always like wearing green, holiday or not. It just goes so well with my complexion. Public parades and processions... Ah, that's why Velma and Fred are always glued to the TV around this time. They must be watching the parade. Probably safer that way..."

Recalling back to a lecture Velma had given her, she had been grilled on the dangerous days of the year for drunk driving. And March 17th was up there. Not the worst, but certainly better to stay inside that day.

Placing a hand to her chin, Daphne debated what she was planning on doing. Normally, she liked hanging out with the girls, but after last year, she was a bit weary. It wouldn't have been as bad, but the ladies that contacted her this year, were the same ones that pushed her too far last year. And they wanted to do more this time, so she was worried what that might entail. More, isn't always better… She mused to herself.

"That's it! I'll stay in this year." Pushing her chair back, she crossed the short span between her desk and her bed, and she hopped herself upon the plush comforter. Lying sprawled out; she stared up at her ceiling trying to try to make sure this is what she wanted to do this year... Because it meant that she had to call the girls up and cancel.

"Oh! Wait. I forgot!"

Pushing herself up, she reached over and plucked her trusty cell phone from its resting place at the side of her bed. (Well, when it wasn't in her pocket.) Flipping the screen open with an expert motion, she quickly moved herself into a position that allowed access to both hands. With her fingers a blur, she typed up a message that thanked them for the offer, but she had changed her mind and was going to spend it with family that year. Since her mom had begged her. A little white lie, but one that her friends would believe. And also not bother her about it later. Plus, she could always pop in and say hi to her mom, to make not totally untrue.

"I love technology. It makes it so much easier to turn people down without having to hear the disappointment in their voices..."

But saying the words aloud, made her heart sink a bit. She didn't like doing it, but she really didn't want to get sick again. So it was a necessity.

Placing a well-manicured finger to her lips, she nibbled lightly at the edge of it as her mind worked to form a plan for later. She would try to hang out with the girls another day, soon, to make up for not being able to go. So that she still got to hang out, but in a more controlled time that involved less alcohol.

Flipping her phone open one more time, she texted messages to the girls in an apology for missing, and setting up a time they could hang out again in like a week or so. Thankfully, her friends got back to her quickly, and were not disappointed as much as she thought. Then again, she was not exactly known for always keeping her dates previously. Since it was common for a Mystery to pop up out of the blue, and ruin any well laid plans. So her friends were all familiar with this. And rescheduling was common, and accepted practice… Thankfully.

But with her whole day open now... What was a girl to do?

Thunck!

Picking her head up from the bed, Daphne looked over at where the sound had come from. It only took a little bit of scanning the side of her bed, to find the source. Sitting in a neat, but wet pile, was a leash. And it wasn't too hard to guess who it belonged too, but the culprit wasn't too far away either.

Two big dark eyes were staring back at her, barely peering over the side of the bed. The only problem with this covert operation was the fact that there was more Dane head that peeked over, with the addition to the set of eyes. Including two perked, and wiggly ears that were quite obvious. And it didn't need her expert deduction skills, to guess that one.

Now do I ignore it? Or just give in. I can't fight against him for too long... Scooby always wins. Daphne pondered, knowing her record with the dog, was with him in the lead.

Looking away from the leash to decide her tactic only made Scooby more anxious. A clear thud of his tail could be heard beyond the bed edge. Daphne hadn't intended this to be a technique against the Dane, but it was clearly working to some degree. Trying to suppress it, Scooby was unable to contain the excited whine from his shuffle. He really wanted to go on a walk with her.

Placing a hand over her eyes only made the dance worse. But it was the best she could do in this condition. Maybe if she had been more mentally prepared, she could put him through the ringer. But she knew... She just knew... That if she parted her eyes, she would cave under the set of puppy eyes that she could just feel, burning a hole through her hands.

Must not cave... You're a Blake. You are made of stronger stuff then that. Must not cave...

Peeking an eye through her fingers, she got hit with both barrels of Puppy dog pouting, which was doubly effective with only his eyes really showing. Usually his goofy grin took away the effect of his cute look. But with his no doubt smug grin hidden, she was hit with its full potential.

"Alright alright! You win Scooby!"

Slamming her hands to the bed, she forfeit the match. Caving and giving yet another victory to the crafty Dane. Who only whooped in his delight!

"Rahoo!"

Thankfully for Daphne, his victory was taken up with dancing about the room. Which she preferred a lot more than his victory kisses for the loser. That... wasn't something she wanted today. Cute or no, slobber wasn't on the menu.

"Speaking of..."

Pushing herself to a sitting position, she scooted herself to the end of the bed to get up. Looking over, she noticed the still wet leash that adorned her bedside. Sighing, she knew that she had to touch it. She never liked this part of the walk. It was the one thing that she cringed about when it came to Scooby. But thankfully her stuff only got drooled on but accident. He was usually pretty good and had very good manners with that sort of thing.

Thanking herself for the manicure she had early, her fingers were a bit longer with the addition of the fake nails. It allowed her use the nail to push the leash about without feeling the wet presence on the material. Moving it this way and that, she finally found some of the leash that was untouched by his mouth and thus allowed a dry place to pick up the leash.

"Come on you drool bucket, let's get on with it and take you for a walk." But even with the playful insults, the Dane's happy mood could not be dented.

It amazed Daphne, as she moved to get dressed and started down the stairs with him leading. He was a flurry of happy activity, and it was shocking that he wasn't tripping all over himself with his long legs. But somehow, his giddy glee at the idea of a walk kept him from tumbling. The only time his erratic bounding stopped, was as he raced down the stairs. She could almost picture the cartoonish cloud that he would have left in his rush.

"Oh, sheesh... wait up Scooby." Daphne sighed, as she was not planning on heading down the stairs even half as fast, and the hyper dog would just have to wait for her to get there at her own pace.

Well, at least she knew what she was doing for today. At least for the next little bit.

Barks came from the bottom of the stairs, calling up for her to hurry so they could go. Wincing, Daphne hoped that no one in the house had been trying to sleep. Just the kind of wake up call you want... An energetic bark-a-polooza! Apparently Scooby wasn't giving her any choice but to take him for a walk. As she was getting to the last few steps till the first floor, she sighed and she looked down to the leash in her hand.

"That Dane will be the death of me..."

As her foot reached the main floor of their suburban household, Daphne took her eyes off the leash to be greeted by a scene she hadn't expected. Sure, finding Scooby, butt in the air and happily wagging his lower half was more like it... But what... Who was standing next to him was what was throwing her for a loop.

Standing there, in his usual garb, Shaggy seemed pretty normal at first glance. But once you took another look, would reveal the clues that took Daphne by surprise. There was a green, matching leash that sat in his hand. Which looked remarkably similar to drooly one that she had in her own hands. (Though Scooby's was blue.) And you would think it was just Shaggy getting ready to take his buddy for a walk... Had the leash not been clipped to something... someone else.

Leading from Shaggy's hands, the leash lazily dropped for a bit before arching up towards Shaggy's neck. Where a matching collar in green sat around his thin neck. Seeing that she finally came down, Shaggy gave her a goofy smile and moved his hand out to offer his leash towards her.

"Like, um... woof?"

Looking down at Scooby, the dog gave and affirmative nod before settling himself into a sitting position next to Shaggy. Looking up, he offered Daphne a shrug before bobbing the leash in his hand, for her to come and take.

Daphne wasn't sure which caught her off guard more. The fact that Shaggy wanted to get walked as well... Or the fact that he had a matching leash and collar. Though, she could appreciate the latter.