Some mornings it was worth getting up early. As dawn was peeking over the horizon, a small buzzing could be heard coming from one of the rooms of the little blue house of Mystery Inc. Slowly, a form stirred among the pillows. Sleepy eyes snapped awake as the sound reached his ears and finally registered what in fact was making the noise. A small cell phone on Vibrate.
As the little thing was silenced, wary eyes gazed over at the other sleeping form. Hidden in the shadows of the dark room, the shape of the other occupant seemed to be still sleeping. Deep and steady breaths rose and fell from the body, giving the indication the other half was still dreaming. A small fit of leg kicking just added to the reassurance of the dreamer, hoping it was a pleasant one at that.
Sliding from among the pillows that made up the duos bed, the silent shadow peered at the red letters that made up the mostly unused alarm clock. 6:01 am stared back in the darkness, in a resentful red that burned the eyes of the still awaking, unhappy for the use of the cell phone instead of itself. But had he used the alarm clock, his buddy would surely have woken up as well.
On tiptoes, the door to the room had been snuck by and replaced to let the other sleep. When things had been so crazy recently, sleep was a precious thing, and he wasn't going to let his pal get up any earlier then he wanted too. It was his special day after all.
Scratching himself in sleepiness, the figure traveled the hallway and entered into the kitchen. To his surprise, a very weary looking Daphne was sitting and sipping her coffee.
"Your awake early." Daphne muttered in the direction of the guy. A death grip upon her coffee if he was thinking of taking it from her, he laughed. She had to laugh as well.
"True, it's kinda the same thing seeing me up this early. But Freddie said that we should try to get ready before sleeping Beauty Wakes up. He and Velma always went out to get the cake and the decorations. I'm supposed to get the house ready by the time they get back. I'm stalling."
He nodded his head. He understood. It was far to early to be awake in general. Even for food, this was early. But there was more important things.
"You haven't gotten him a present yet... Have you?" He hung his head as Daphne hit the nail on the head. The real reason for waking up in such an ungodly hour to be conscious. Sure, during a mystery it was perfectly find, but this was home. It should be an option to wake up at all, let alone early. But he had yet to find a proper present for his buddy, so he was awake.
"Hm... I don't know what to suggest. I had a hard enough time just picking something even with all the resources at my fingertips. He's such a pain to figure out, you know. Such a fickle scruffy little thing. Well, besides food, it's hard to know." He nodded his head again. His buddy wasn't the easiest to shop in a store for. That's why he was going to go outside for his present. Though food was first needed to be had and eaten.
He opted for a light breakfast, only five courses.
With some food achieved, the clock blinked angrily on the oven of the current time. 7:13am. He didn't have to much time to waste, for it was unknown when his partner would wake up. Sighing as he finished up the plates, he trotted out the back door to the backyard in hopes for finding something perfect for his friend's birthday.
Minutes ticked away as he went around the back of the house. A sprig of grass wouldn't work, and a stick was just not enough. A rock was tempting. But as nice of pets they made, it just wasn't what he was looking for. That and they already had one, r'ocky.
A sigh escaped his lips as he heard the van coming back from shopping. Velma and Fred piled out of the van, looking far more awake then he felt, and far more chipper.
"Still no ideas for a present yet?" Fred called back, as he headed towards the back kitchen door with a large package in his hands. The smell alone was enough to turn on the drool as he just knew that was the cake.
"Now now, you know that's not for now. Be patient. He'll be awake soon though, need some help?" Velma offered, he sighed again and nodded. He was going to need all the help he could get.
Velma smiled and walked over to where he was hunching over by the garden. She pat him on the head and gave his hair a ruffle.
"You know he doesn't even need a present from you. He would be more then happy to just spend some time with you. Maybe you can take him for a walk in the part later?" Velma was trying, but it was just making him sadder. He really wanted to find something for his buddy. He deserved it.
While he sulked, Velma was moving one hand around her ear. At closer inspection, a small fly was darting around her head. His eyes got wide with an idea. She dodged the fly a second time as she took note of his look.
"Jinkies?" She asked with a questioning tone to her voice. Its meaning in general was that of discovery, and she bet he was thinking it. He nodded with a grin of his face. Disappearing into the house, Velma sat in puzzlement until he returned with a shopping list. It was loosely scribbled on a piece of paper. He offered it out for her to take it.
Taking the scrap of paper, she looked it over. Peering into the garden, she smiled.
"I think we can pull that off well enough. Sure. I'll help you."
With a grin back, she had him help her to her feet. With list in had, they were off to pull off his idea. It was the perfect present.
--
Only a few hours later, the other body finally stirred to consciousness. Giving his head a scratch, he noticed his buddy was missing. Blinking among the shadows, he took stock of the room. It was quiet but beyond it seemed busy. Groaning with getting up, he stumbled in a half daze to the door.
THUNK
Hitting the door with his head, did little to wake him up. Giving it a rub, he managed to struggle getting the knob of the door open. He really wasn't awake enough for such things. But it finally gave way to the rest of the house.
Blinking away the bright, he squinted to look about. With his ears perking up, he noticed the sounds were coming from the kitchen. And the smell of yummy food reached his sensitive nose. Propelled by hunger, since he had slept through his breakfast and brunch times, he pushed open the kitchen.
"SURPRISE!" The others yelled!
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed friends and family all waiting for him. It was his birthday, he had forgotten.
"Come here old man." Fred came over and roughly grabbed him around the neck and gave him a nuggie. He tried to paw him away, but he was still not awake enough to struggle very well.
"Come on Fred, give the poor guy a break and let him get some food." Daphne lightly scolded the other man, though she was shaking her head and smiling. Atleast she wasn't bring up his birthday punches... but she could be saving it for later.
"Well as nice as food is, we'll get to that eventually. First you need to come outside for a second." Velma grabbed him and tugged his arm to lead him towards the back. "He's been at it all morning and the poor guy has tuckered himself out. But he wanted to make it just for you."
With her urging, he wandered to the backyard where his buddies sleeping form laid curled around his master piece.
In the backyard, there was a small section just for Shaggys carnivorous plants. He and Scooby often worked on it together. Looking down, he noticed that each of the Venus Fly traps seemed to be smiling up at him, wearing the cutest little red bows on. Each of them seemed to be similarly attired with little bows, and set up in little pretty stones was a message and a small glass jar.
Happy Birthday Shaggy- Spelled out in small stones in the middle of all the plants. As if his garden was wishing him a happy birthday as well. And inside the glass jar, (which also had a cute red bow on) was a bunch of flies. So Shaggy wouldn't have to worry about feeding his plants for the next while.
Shaggy couldn't help but smile. It was the best present he could have gotten. Leaning down, he looked at the sleeping form of Scooby. Worn out for getting up so early to get his present done, but it was worth it. He gave his pal a scratch behind the ears, waking the snoozing Dane.
Scooby blinked up at Shaggy and gave his nearby face a lick.
"R'appy r'ithday Raggy."
"Thanks for the present pal. Your the best." He gave the dog a loving head ruffle and stood up.
"Come on old buddy old pal, we got cake waiting for us."
The two disappeared into the house. It was said that it was the best birthday he had ever had... At least until next year.