A/N's Notes: Rivvy: You know I feel like I'm saying less and less as these chapters go on.
Torpe: I've gotta jar of di-irt! I've gotta jar of di-irt! And- ..Aw man! Now I have to remember to put another thing in the disclaimer... -huff-
Disclaimer: Shaggy and Scoob ain't ours, nor are those lyrics above. So, let's all just do a Chinese fire-drill; 'Kay?
Shaggy yawned and stretched as he cracked his back. 'Closer to the fridge or not, I have to get off this couch soon.' He shuffled his way to the kitchen, picking up empty bowls and spoons, and what ever else was left over from the one-girl snacking session as quietly as possible, being careful not to make any loud noises that would cause his niece or dog to stir. Once he reached the sink he began to wash the dishes immediately. He hummed a soft tune and continued to do so for about ten minutes until he was satisfied with his work.
Shaggy turned on his heel away from the sink when he tripped over Scooby Doo. "Woah, like, Scooby Doo, what's up?" Scooby looked anxious, and took hold of his owner's shirt in his teeth. He pulled him to the threshold that connected the kitchen to the living room. "Like, can't wait for some food, right Scooby? I was just gonna, like, wake up Nora and see what she wants to eat now."
"Rurry, Raggy! Rora's rick!"
Shaggy stared at Scooby, "S-sick? How so? She's not, like, throwing up, is she?" Scooby didn't answer but simply pulled harder on the over-sized shirt Shaggy wore. Shaggy took cautious steps to the living room, peeking around the corner only to see the same bundle of comforters and pillows had not moved. "Scoobo, she's just tired," Shaggy reasoned.
He walked over to the large armchair and in a gentle voice asked, "Like, Norry. Kiddo. What do you want for breakfast?" No answer. Shaggy spoke a smidgen louder and carefully gave one of the small girl's shoulders a shake. "Nora, co'mon sweetie," the pet name sounded ridiculous coming from him, but he didn't want to set the delicately blooming flower off on a murderous rampage.
Still no answer.
Scooby whined as he placed a cold nose on Nora's cheek. Shaggy's voice grew to a normal speaking voice, stern with worry, "Nora? Nora. Wake up." The gentle touch to her shoulder became a firm grip on both her upper arms and violent shake that could wake a drunk from their stupor. "Nora! Nora! Open your eyes, kiddo!" Shaggy was considered paranoid, and his dog followed suit, so when Nora's eyes lifted open, there was a unanimous huge sigh of relief. She did not jump out of his arms only stared up at him dimly with an unfocused expression.
"Uhhm…" Nora seemed beyond coherency as well, and two seconds after looking at her Uncle sleepily her head lolled back in sleep.
"Zoinks…please just be sleep." Shaggy moaned softly. Deciding to face the dragon in girl's skin, he shook his niece again; trying to remember if unconsciousness was one of the curse's symptoms.
He didn't think so.
"Nora, rise and shine!" This time, Scooby-Doo followed Shaggy's distress call with his loudest bark he could manage, nearly turning it to a howl, startling Nora out her sleep.
"Mom? When did you grow a beard?"
In Scooby's excitement, he tackled her and licked her face happily, earning Nora's unfocused gaze "And when did we get a horse?"
Shaggy stared at his niece, and blinked; once, twice.
Nora's gaze sharpened considerably, her cheeks puffed out like a little chipmunks, and, hair standing on end, she shot up out of her tangle of pillows and blankets, taking a small tumble to the floor. Without missing a beat she jumped up, shoved aside Shaggy and knocked over Scooby in her rush to the kitchen as her head disappeared over the sink and her braid flew back and forth. Shaggy and Scooby were right behind as soon as it registered, and Nora's stomach emptied its contents into the sink. Hoping to be helpful, Shaggy timidly flipped on the facet as it gushed out water, drowning out Nora's gags.
Patting her back anxiously, Shaggy frowned as Nora continued to dry heave, painful, throaty gasps rattling the girl to the core until she was clammy and shivering in a cold sweat from the exertion of forcing her body to quell its upheaval. "K-kiddo?" Nora saw more than felt long skinny fingers curl carefully around her arms, as they began holding her up.
Nora pulled away and leaned heavily on the counter top. That dreary gaze was back again, her entire body seemed to be in a fog as Shaggy watched his small niece stare at him. Nora's legs buckled out from under she mumbled something incoherent. The beatnik dropped down in sync and caught her as she fell, lifting her body up as Scooby nosed her arm up onto her stomach, tucking his niece in his best friend's arms.
"Zoinks! Scooby-Doo…I think something's really wrong with her…"
Scooby's ear dropped, "Reah." He stared at the girl for a second before staying behind to turn off the faucet as Shaggy headed toward the sofa. Trotting evenly after Shaggy, he found both humans settled on the couch, Shaggy still holding Nora, but trying to elicit a response from her.
"Raggy! Look!"
Both of them started when Nora groaned and lifted a hand to her head. "What hit me?" She whispered, then paused as she tried to levy where she was, Shaggy's bony body so different from her last resting place. Shaggy moved to speak, when Nora spotted him through her fingers, and spread them to stare at him. His heart sunk at her next comment as he realized she was delirious.
"Mom?" It came out pitiful, relieved, all the sounds of a happy child at seeing their parent. Nora smiled, small tears at the edge of her eyes left over from throwing up, "Mom, I missed you, I'm really glad you came back."
Noting her glazed over expression and slow moments, Shaggy only closed his eyes and bit his lip. He let Nora hug him, let her hide against his shoulder and over Nora's own shoulder, shook his head at Scooby, bringing a finger up to his lips.
Scooby dropped to the floor and rested his head on his paws, confused and distressed.
-0o0-
Nora slipped back into a state of blissful unconsciousness after that. When she awoke the entire affair was forgotten, and replaced with dizziness that was set off by simply lying still, and ringing in her ears. Shaggy tried desperately to remember back to his days of hiding from Sugey as she complained of her girlish symptoms. He wasn't sure if he recalled dizziness, -"But, like, it would make sense, right? From the blood loss?"- but he was pretty sure ringing in ears wasn't one of them.
He smiled as he chuckled, "Like, maybe someone is talking about you?" Nora wasn't amused.
"Ugh...Uncle Shaggy," Nora whined, "My head has a pulse..." Her pulsating headache was accompanied by her other pains, to which Shaggy offered the girl two ibuprofen.
"Like, did you have any more after we went to bed? With your weight, (-"WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT?"-) you can only have two of these every six hours or so."
Nora, fighting off a wave of nausea while laying back on the couch, spoke her groggy thoughts, "How come?" She scratched her suddenly itchy stomach. It felt raw. Had she been scratching for a while without paying mind to it? 'What ever….not important.'
"'Cause you can, like, over dose and get really si-," A look of pure realization hit Shaggy. "Nora?" He asked, almost in a warning tone. The girl in question lost all the color in her face. Shaggy asked once more, "Nora?"
"Uncle Shaggy...I think I," Nora fumbled over her own words "-Uncle Shaggy, um, I-I, I screwed up." Shaggy crossed the room in a matter of two strides as her grabbed the hem of her shirt. He lifted it just enough to see a large rash developing on his niece's belly. Nora began to cry; as she always did when she got caught. "I'm sorry. I d-didn't-didn't-" Shaggy neatly tossed her over his shoulder and took off for his van. "Where-*hic*-are-"
"The hospital," he answered curtly. No 'like's or 'man's about it. Just, 'the hospital'. Just as they arrived, Nora began to panic about her blurred vision.
Nora was forced to go through the rest of her first period without a single pain-killer. Between her Uncle and Scooby, the house was in medical cabinet lock-down for her.
-000-
Finally, a week later, Nora was back to normal. Or, as normal as one could be in a place like this. Today was Tuesday, and Tuesdays meant Shaggy was covering both lunch and dinner, and it being already two in the afternoon, the house was quiet save for the owner's niece and his dog.
Nora twisted her hair back and forth, back and forth, into three separate strands as she sat cross legged in a kitchen chair. Scooby watched from the floor, mesmerized by the ridiculously long strands swaying to and fro. As the parts took their familiar place into plaits, Nora quickened her weaving pace until the entire length of her hair was nearly done, and she could wrap it around to her front and better tighten the hair into tucks.
Scooby-Doo watched all this with simple intent, ever curious and wondering.
His tail thumped when Nora fixed her gaze on him. Her face dropped back into a frown, ever since her curse had ended, Nora's cruel streak at Scooby had come back. And why shouldn't it? She had forgotten completely of her silent promise to respect the dog she had made to herself.
'He's just a dumb dog anyway. He's nice, but stupid. Like all dogs.' She thought, tying off her braid tighter than she needed to.
Scooby grinned, then got up and laid his head on her knee. She pulled away with a small shriek, shaking her knee to make the dog move. He withdrew his head, but as soon as she settled back down, Scooby-Doo dropped his head back on her knee. Her heart pounding and her palms sweaty, Nora went to push the dog's head off of her. Her hand had just made contact with his fur when he…whined.
She stopped. It was a puppy's whine. One that begged acceptance and love. And it was adorable, even coming from Scooby-Doo.
Without even thinking, Nora ran her hand through Scooby's fur, trapped in remembrance. It was soft and at the same time, coarse. He laid his head back on her knee, whining again, but with less conviction.
With a memory running wildly through in her mind, she felt suddenly lonely. And running her hand through Scooby-Doo's fur was comforting. She petted the dog and he settled in even more and she didn't feel the sudden, urgent need to push him away.
At least not until the mail slot chunked its way open and let the day's delivers fall to the floor at the front door. With a startle Nora jumped away from Scooby as if he'd bitten her. She rushed to get the mail, Scooby sat back on his rump with a disappointed thump and decided he was hungry. Smacking his lips at the idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the Great Dane began to bustle about the kitchen, gathering bread, peanut butter and jelly from bread box, cupboard and refrigerator, in that order.
When Nora turned the corner with a handful of mail, the sight before her was one she decided she'd never forget. Scooby-Doo at the counter, up on two feet, spreading jelly on a butter knife generously on a slice of bread, and humming to himself.
Drawing up an eyebrow, Nora shook her head. "What the heck are you doing, dog?" She quipped, Scooby turning around in mild surprise.
"Randwich!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "Rant some?" He brandished the knife, now slathered in extra nutty peanut butter.
"I'm good. Thanks." She declined, but headed toward Scooby to place the mail on the counter top where her Uncle could easily reach it. She sighed. 'No post card from mom yet.' Having placed the mail, she swung away haughtily from the goofy dog, just as Scooby slammed a piece of bread on top of a two inch section of peanut butter.
Nora's braid swung behind her, leaving a long trail, and catching on something that made a very familiar sound like bread being placed on peanut butter. It squelched as both occupants of the room turned to look at the long trail of plaited hair leading from the back of Nora's head to Scooby's sandwich.
"Ruh-oh." Scooby supplied quietly.
Nora became rather calm at the moment. But then suddenly her shoulders started lifting, her spine curving as she drew a hand back and pulled her long hair out of Scooby's peanut butter and jelly sandwich very slowly. Scooby's stomach dropped to his feet and suddenly he lost his appetite as Nora's hair released with a squelch and came free, covered in the sticky substance.
"Oh my god." Nora stared at the tangled mess with an astonished stare. Her face twisted into something resembling the Creeper's face and Miner FourtyNiner all at once.
Her voice rose. "Scooby-Doo I'm gonna kill you!"
The scene was much like the one of Nora's first day at her uncle's house, though the roles were reversed. Scooby ran for his life throughout the house as Nora chased him; Hell hath no fury. The poor dog tried to calm her, "Rora! Ri'm rorry! Rit ras rah raccirent!"
Nora slipped on the rug and slid on the hard wood floor when failing to mimic Scooby's sharp turn as he dashed to run around the couch.
"Nothing gets peanut-butter out of HAIR! Why can't you be a normal bloody dog that eats kibble?" She screeched as tripped over a chair she couldn't see through her rage. Her braid was whipping wildly behind her as she ran. It occasionally hitting a wall or her back, smearing the peanut-butter and jelly mix onto her shirt and whatever else it made contact with.
Now, Nora always kept her hair long. It was one of her mother's (insisted) wishes...requests...okay, demands. And even though she took a bit of pride in how well she could keep her hair neat and well-maintained, Nora always told herself that once she was out on her own, she would bob her hair. Or even at least cut her hair to shoulder's length, just because she wanted to. It was just something she wanted to do, eventually.
Peanut-butter could make this come true, but Nora couldn't see the advantage of it at the moment. All she saw were scissors coming her way and hacking off the braid.
Scooby made a mad dash for his doggy door. Nora followed him, right into the door. Her face made contact with a loud THUD! She staggered backwards a few steps, rubbing her nose and forehead. She growled as she grabbed the doorknob so tightly her knuckles turned white. She ripped the door open and whipped her head from side-to-side, looking for Scooby Doo. No dog in sight.
So it had to be done the hard way, had it?
Nora scowled out the door, slammed it, and stalked up stairs, after obtaining a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawer, the dog forgotten. She paused at the bottom of the stairs considering moving something large and heavy over the doggy flap and bolting the door, but her sticky hair got the better of her attention and Nora headed up the staircase anyway. She got into the bathroom, and shut the door. Standing erect in front of the mirror, Nora tenderly picked up her braid and moved it over her shoulder, holding it just above the end of the peanut butter tangled mess with pinched fingers. If she removed the entire part that was covered in peanut butter, she would be losing over fourteen inches of hair.
Nora moaned, dropped the scissors and crumpled down on the cool linoleum, unable to bring herself to close the blades over her precious braid.
Much later than night, Shaggy popped through the door, only to discover Nora sitting at the kitchen table with a plastic bag knotted around the end of her long braid and scowling.
When his niece fixated her Uncle with a glare that could melt the Snow Ghost Monster, Shaggy gulped and nearly lost his grip on the Chinese food he'd brought home for dinner.
He sheepishly held up a carton of food, "Uh,like…Moo Goo Gai Pan?" He offered.
Nora pulled of the plastic bag, revealing a brown mess of braided hair in stiff stale peanut butter. "Can I have peanut butter with it?" She glowered.
It took fifteen minutes to figure out what happened from Nora, who was more pissed than anything, and to find Scooby still hiding under the backyard table, who was more scared than anything.
Shaggy finally convinced Nora that cutting the mess was the only way to go, and did she really need that much hair anyway?
"No. No, you're right Uncle Shaggy." Nora sighed and handed over the cutters. "Could you do it, please? Quickly?"
Her Uncle smiled happily, dropping his shoulders as he relaxed. Nora turned around and Shaggy took the clump carefully in his hands, drew it out, and with a fluid motion snip! The peanut butter was gone and the braid hung pathetically in Shaggy's hands. He threw it away before Nora could turn around and see it, and gestured encouragingly to Scooby-Doo, (who was still cowering under the kitchen table) to come forward as Nora calmly re-braided her now back length hair.
"Rora?" Scooby spoke through a pathetic whimper. She flicked her eyes at him, but said nothing. Scooby hung his head, and, in the epitome of cuteness, laid his head on her foot, staring up at her with big doe-eyes. "R'im sorry." He offered.
After a second, Nora nodded acceptingly. "Thank you Scooby. I know…you didn't mean it." 'That doesn't mean I'm going to completely forgive you though. Who would?'
Late that night, everyone around the tv as they ate had everyone read their fortune cookies out loud at the end of the meal.
"Like, le'see here," Shaggy squinted to read his scrap of paper in the tv's glow. "You can always find happiness at work on Friday. Well sure ya can! Friday's Fish Fry night!" The beatnik laughed with pleasure.
"Rish fries, rum!"
"Okay Scooby, your turn."
"Ro-kay Raggy….rere it ris, "Rour many ridden ralents will recome robvious to rose raround rou….ruh?"
Shaggy shrugged, "Like, who knows man? Maybe you'll, like, save one of our skins or something?" Shaggy chuckled at the thought, then asked Nora what hers read.
She unfurled the paper and stared at the words.
"What is it kiddo?" Shaggy leaned foreword across the couch, curious.
Nora cleared her throat, and, in a rather quiet voice, read "To love is to forgive."
A/N: Torpe: Guess who just joined the real world and is no longer using dial-up internet? YAYS! But I'm still cheesed off that, for what ever reason, my firefox won't work. UGH! Oh well...I hoped you enjoyed the chapter kiddies.
