But amidst the joys of autumn looms a menace: the inevitable start of cold season.

"Sigh."

Breathing out deeply, Daphne leaned more into the frame of the living room bow window. Her exhaled breath made the nearby window fog up. Originally, she had settled there to read a magazine she had just gotten in the mail. But in the short time she had been settled in the window, she hadn't gotten much reading done. Her mind was elsewhere…

It was just too cold!

"Brrr..."

Using her hands to rub her shoulders, she gave a small little shiver against the chill. The window must have had a small crack in the molding. And it was letting in small bursts of subtle cold air, making the hairs on her arms stand on end. And after a few bursts she couldn't stand it anymore!

"I hate fall!" Snorted Daphne; giving her arms another rub in an effort to warm up.

Looking up from her usual spot, Velma peered over the pages of her current conquest. She had been in the living room long before her best friend had burst into the room in a hurry. And had not had much time to settle back down when Daphne started her grumbling. Figuring this was one of those times, Velma settled a bookmark into place before setting it aside. It wasn't worth the attempt to read, if Daphne was just going to break her concentration over and over again.

"Fall isn't that bad..." Spoke up the young woman from the couch, waiting to see what her friend would do in response. Trying to use her statement as a gauge of how serious Daphne was. This would then change her statements accordingly.

"Well I hate it." Daphne snorted again, into the window beside her. It sounding more like a childish pout, then anything Velma would have to really worry about. Daphne then turned around to give her best friend her full and undivided attention. "It just means that it's going to just get colder. Nothing good will come of it!"

"Well... A decrease in temperature isn't a negative thing. It's bound to happen, as long as we have seasons." Velma mused, trying to point out some good things to Daphne. "It gives us a reason to use the fireplace, and a cup of hot chocolate is always nice in colder weather. Plus all the leaves turning colors, makes a good backdrop for your photography. Isn't that what you always said?"

"Yeah, that is nice... but still!" She said whined. She wasn't even going to consider the comments in her complaints. Even with Velma quoting her own words.

"But still what?" Velma shot her friend a look. Having a feeling there was something more that Daphne wanted to complain about. But unsure what it could be exactly.

"But cold always makes everyone so..." Daphne fussed, getting up off the sill to pace across the living room floor. Earnestly trying to search for the word she was looking for.

"So?" Velma had no clue what Daphne was getting at. Waiting till the woman grasped the vocabulary word she had been seeking. Having the random urge to toss a dictionary or thesaurus at the woman, in hopes that it would make this go quicker.

"So... So... Poofy!"

With an eyebrow peeking over her thick frame, Velma was caught off guard by the word her friend finally fished up. Poofy? Whatever could she mean? Whipping around, Daphne took a stance and defended her claim with gusto! Adding in various hand gestures and jerky movements to convey her option.

"Have you ever stopped to think how hard it is to stay fashionable, when constantly buried under like six layers of clothing?" Daphne said, tossing her hands into the air.

"...How hard it is to show off the latest fashion when there is a thick, poof of cotton barring the way because it's cold? Winter fashions are made more for function then fashion and it drives me nuts!" Daphne ranted, earning her an eye roll from her companion.

"Oh how will you ever cope..." Velma sighed, dripping with sarcasm towards Daphne. And here she had been thinking that there was something actually wrong with winter. At least a viable answer that made some logical sense. Or at least sense to her.

"Oh hush you... You… Little miss Sweater twenty-four seven." Daphne snipped back, fighting to actually find a good enough excuse towards her constantly cotton coated friend. (Say that three times fast XD ) But she was failing to find anything more than her friend's beloved attire, to retaliate with.

"You're just jealous, because I can pull this look off." Shifting her shoulders forward, Velma pouted in such a way that left Daphne speechless. While not totally something Velma wouldn't do, the timing through off the red head enough to let Velma realize what she had done and makes an escape towards her room. It was as she was leaving, that Daphne snapped out of it.

"Hey! Wait Velma! Do that again! I want to get it on camera for evidence!" Tossing the magazine aside, she scrambled after the retreating form. "The guys won't believe me otherwise! Come 'on!"

"Noooo..."

A small chase ensued throughout the house, leaving it a bit worse for wear until Velma took the chase outside. Dodging Daphne's imaginary camera in her hands, she darted this way and that. Velma had been pretty nimble, but her luck ran out as her foot landed on a slippery pile of leaves... Granting the small woman some hang time, until gravity kicked in and ended with an ungraceful landing on the ground with a thud.

"Hoo hoo hoo. Perfect shot there." Daphne held out her fingers, pretending that the box her four fingers made was the lens of her camera. Though, what she would have given to actually have caught that tumble on film. Preferably a video camera, so that she would have been able to slow-mo the scene when she would be re-watching it later. Over and over and over…

"Har har... pfft. You could be nice and help me up, instead of pretending to take pictures of me with my butt in the air." Trying to blow a random bit of hair, that had fallen in front of her eyes.

"Heh, sorry." Moving closer, Daphne extended her hands out to offer to help the fallen brunette. Grasping her hand, Velma pulled to get herself right sided, but then thought of a more devilish idea to get back at the red head. Shifting her weight back, she took Daphne by surprise and tossed her into a nearby pile of leaves. It was bigger than the pile that had taken Velma out in the first place. Gaining her revenge for her friend's earlier actions, Velma was satisfied.

Snorting among the leaves, Daphne found herself buried among the red and orange shades that Velma loved so much. Pushing a few out of the way, she pushed herself up with her elbows.

"Well played Dinkley… well played. I accept my defeat… this time."

Laughing, Velma was happy that Daphne said that, and moved to help her toppled friend. Pushing the leaves off of Daphne, it took a bit to dig her out. Velma had to use both hands to scrape the various leaves and such from her best friend. Thankfully it was easy to find her, as Daphne's purple was a stark contrast against the various autumn shades covering her.

"Man, I'm surprised that there are this many leaves out here. Wow." Velma admitted, making sure to pluck each one off her fashion conscious companion.

"Ugh, see… This is why I hate fall." Daphne snorted, pulling another orange bit out from her hair. Just because they went good together with her hair visually, didn't mean she wanted to be wearing it as an accessory. Velma shook her head, but didn't feel like adding to Daphne's comment. Instead, she shifted her vision to peer around the backyard to see the various heaps of the scattered, fallen foliage.

"Man, we should really clean this up."

Velma sighed, not really jumping to do yard work that day. But at the state it was at the moment, it might be for the best if they cleaned this up in time to put it out for the trash. Coincidentally, it would be picked up the next upcoming day. If they didn't do it now, they would have had to wait till a week later.

"We? Ugh, why should we clean it up?" Daphne snorted, sending a few leaves scattering with her deep breath outwards. Scowling a bit as the leaves went this way and that.

"Well, do you remember last time we left it up to the duo to handled it?" Velma paused, giving Daphne enough time to recall the incident.

"That, and Fred isn't home today." Velma said, listing the only other people besides them that could do it. But she was trying to prompt Daphne to remembering what happened last time the daring duo had been asked to rake outside.

…Velma bet that she would still be able to find some dry crumpled remains in her basement.

Getting a thoughtful look, it didn't take Daphne long to recall the crazy instance that her companion was bringing out… As much as she sometimes wished to have forgotten. It had taken her days to get her hair back under control. She had wanted to kill them!

"...By the way... who let them have those leaf blowers, anyway?" Daphne cast a knowing glance over at the brunette, who rolled her eyes.

"One time! I forgot one time about the Jello incident and let them have keys to my gas blowers... one time!" Velma said with a huff. They had been conniving though. They made sure that she was so deep in thought over a project, that she wasn't paying attention to they were asking her for. And by the time she realized it… it had been too late.

"Well, wouldn't that be two times?" Daphne laughed, pushing herself to her feet and offering her hand again. Figuring that Velma would actually take it and stand up. Though that didn't mean she wouldn't brace herself, just in case. "The Jello incident and last year's man-made fall tornado?"

Taking the offered hand, Velma pulled herself to her feet. Not even thinking about pulling Daphne back into the leaves, since she had already achieved her revenge earlier. She didn't need to do it again, well... not at the moment. Though she snorted at the mention of two times… Even if it was true. The Jello incident had been a similar situation as well... but she tried not to think about it.

"Well, still. I don't trust those two for raking these up. So that means it's up to us to get it done." Velma surmised, making Daphne sigh.

"Fine. But we both are going to do it…"