Notes: this slice-of-life piece is meant to take place after my "Masks of the Gorgons" fic in my Season 2 project. The focus of this piece is on Shaggy, in honor of what would've been Casey Kasem's 89th birthday—Shaggy being a music buff is absolutely a nod to Casey's other career as a DJ. Shaggy did seem to be excited about attending a Bee Gees concert in one of the early episodes with Scrappy (the specific one escapes me), so I extrapolated it, saying that Shaggy seemed to like 70s music the best. As for the specific song I had in mind that Shaggy was listening to, it was The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

As for the mentions of Vincent, Boris, and Voudini being able to sing… that's also a nod—the real Vincent Price and Boris Karloff could sing very well (even if they didn't that much—still, do a youtube search for them singing "The Two of Us" as a duet; it's all kinds of awesome), as could Christopher Lee (who, as I've mentioned before, seems to be the inspiration for Voudini; he's got a metal cover of "The Impossible Dream" out there, among others).

For Vincent, life at the castle was, once again, as it had been in the last year—full of noise, yes, but also full of family now. Gathering the Masks of the Gorgons and then capturing the sisters of Medusa in the Chest had been somewhat of a practical test for him and his apprentices to see if they were up to the challenge of Pallas Athena's set of tasks that she had for Vincent.

They had passed the test—though not without hiccups, mostly from Vincent trying to push them away to keep them safe. But they were stubborn when it came to their concern for him, and had found their way back—and for all his power, Vincent had not been able to send them away again, for he wanted their company, as selfish as it seemed to have them in the line of fire as a result. But they had insisted, and he had given up the fight.

He was glad that he had relented; they were all so happy here at the castle—himself included. In hindsight, it had seemed so impractical to have resided in such a large castle alone for three hundred years; rooms were now being used that hadn't ever been touched since the castle's creation. On one particular morning, Flim-Flam was with Scooby and Scrappy in what had eventually become their game room; Daphne was taking a break from her article writing to practice her self-defense moves on a punching bag in what had become an exercise room. And Shaggy… Well, Vincent had lost track of him, but he knew from experience that Shaggy would be easily found once mealtime rolled around.

Deciding to do some crystal-gazing, Vincent had headed up to his study, but paused in the corridor just outside the study as Shaggy himself now emerged from the study; the young beatnik was wearing a pair of large headphones over his ears and was holding a broom in his hands, sweeping the floor while keeping time with whatever music he was listening to.

"Shaggy…?" Vincent asked, arching an eyebrow.

Shaggy didn't seem to have heard him; he twirled the broom around like a baton and danced back into the study, sweeping some more.

Vincent took a moment to stare incredulously at the spot where Shaggy had been moments before; he'd seen something like this before, when Zomba had trapped them all in the world of that old movie—while Vincent had been distracting Zomba, Shaggy had inexplicably started vacuuming the laboratory floors while lost in another world thanks to those headphones. Vincent had been too preoccupied with eluding Zomba at the time to question it; perhaps now was his chance.

He walked into the study, pausing again to see Shaggy still dancing and sweeping; he was clearly enjoying himself, and Vincent found himself reluctant to interrupt him, but Shaggy then did a three-quarter spin—and froze as he saw Vincent in the doorway. Blushing slightly, Shaggy removed his headphones and managed an embarrassed chuckle.

"Uh… hi there, Mr. V. I hope I wasn't preventing you from using the study."

"Not at all," Vincent said, trying not to reveal how amused he was. "I was just curious as to what exactly you were doing."

"Oh, this?" Shaggy asked, pulling his phone from his pocket—the headphones were still attached to it. "This is how I unwind; I can't just sit still and listen to the music—I gotta be doing something, and cleaning seems to work out for everyone. My mom definitely took advantage of that—always tried to get me to listen to music just before we had company coming so I'd help get the house in order."

"Naturally," Vincent mused. "What are you listening to?"

"The Who."

"Yes, I suppose that is grammatically preferable—who are you listening to?"

"No, Mr. V—that's the name of the band," Shaggy explained, trying not to laugh. "They're called The Who."

"I imagine that must cause some confused conversations when discussing them," Vincent replied, clearing his throat to cover up his embarrassment at his gaffe.

"Like the one we just had? Yeah, kinda. Some of the bands from the 70s had interesting names—The Who. The Rolling Stones. The Four Seasons. Queen. And my favorite, the Bee Gees."

"That's the kind of music you like?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Shaggy grinned. "Some of it's kinda deep, you know?"

"Well, I don't know about that," Vincent snarked. "The last time you and the others tried to get me to listen to this… Queen, you played some utterly nonsensical song that starts off talking about regret and then branches off into singing about Galileo. I didn't really understand what that was about."

"Yeah, you're not alone in that," Shaggy said. "I don't think anyone is supposed to know what that middle part of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is about."

Vincent let out a quiet scoff.

"Well, as long as you enjoy it, that's the important thing," he decided. "We all have our own music tastes."

"You're telling me," Shaggy grinned again. "The way the rest of us fight over who gets to play their playlist or pick the radio station in the van…" He trailed off. "Hey, I just realized—we never let you pick the radio station or the playlist, huh? Well, you never really tried to claim a turn."

"I pick my battles."

"Yeah, I guess we're kinda determined when it comes to picking our music," Shaggy mused. "But do you have any music you like?"

"I suppose I'm rather biased—I happen to be acquainted with a highly talented musician—or, I suppose, he would be a highly talented musician if he'd chosen that path," Vincent said.

"Really?" Shaggy asked. "An undiscovered amateur? Who?"

"You've met him—my old friend, Voudini."

"…You're kidding."

"Just because you haven't heard him sing, it doesn't mean that he can't," Vincent replied, suppressing a laugh. "In our younger years, he even had the chance to play Apollo's Lyre."

Shaggy nodded.

"That's neat."

"…You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"…No, Sir," Shaggy admitted. "Now, if you're telling me that Mr. Voudini could play Brian May's Red Special, well, then I'd understand that."

"I have no doubts that he could—anyone who can play Apollo's Lyre can play just about anything," Vincent mused. "He had planned to sing at last year's meeting of our Order in New Orleans, but… circumstances ended up preventing that."

"Yeah," Shaggy sighed. "Man, I'm just glad Mr. Voudini got his mana back in the end."

"As am I," Vincent agreed.

"…So, what kind of music does Mr. Voudini sing?"

"He's accumulated a repertoire of various genres from various sources—mortal and otherwise, and numerous languages. As a goodwill ambassador of the mages to the Elves, he even sings in their language—Quenya." He paused at the look on Shaggy's face. "And I've lost you once again, I see."

"Yeah, sorry," Shaggy said, with another embarrassed chuckle. "But I think I get it—Mr. Voudini likes a whole bunch of different stuff. Are you like that, too? I mean, it's kinda hard for me to see you as the rock&roll type. You seem more of a classical guy to me—Bach, Mozart, all of those guys."

"Hmph, is that meant to be a quip about my age?"

"No—not at all!" Shaggy promised. "Like I said, that's just my guess based on your aesthetic." He gestured at the Gothic décor around the study. "I mean, I see this and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor immediately comes to mind."

"I suppose you have a point," Vincent admitted. "But, in actuality, I'm rather partial to musical theatre."

"…Showtunes? Really?" Shaggy asked, surprised. "Like, I never would've guessed."

Vincent shrugged.

"Well, I don't broadcast it, do I? Voudini would be the first to reveal his musical tastes and talents; I, on the other hand, keep both of those quiet."

"Yeah, you sure do…" Shaggy began, but he trailed off. "Waaaaaait a second. Both? As in… your musical talents!?"

Vincent froze.

"…Did I say that?"

"Yes. Yes, you did," Shaggy insisted.

There was a long pause.

"So I did," Vincent admitted. "Well, you were clearly enjoying yourself before I got here—far be it from me to continue interrupting you."

"Hey, like, wait a minute!" Shaggy exclaimed, as Vincent turned to leave the study. "You can't just drop a detail like that and walk off without a demo!"

"Can't I?"

"Well…" Shaggy trailed off, unable to come up with a counter-argument. "I mean, I'd like to hear you sing—I'm sure the others would, too."

"Hmm, well… Boris and I can both carry a tune, it's true, but Voudini is the one you really want to hear," Vincent replied, modestly. "He's far better at it."

"And I'd like to hear him, too," Shaggy said. "But, I mean… it's you. Of course we're gonna want to hear you."

Vincent paused again, marveling at the situation. It wasn't so much the conversation itself that surprised him, but the fact that Shaggy—who had been shaking in fear of him during their first meeting—could be so casual now about something like singing when he was addressing the most powerful warlock in the world. After all these long months, Vincent had to wonder if there were times that Shaggy (and the others) simply forgot about his powers and abilities in their eagerness.

Honestly, Vincent didn't mind. After nearly a year of feeling as though there would forever be a disconnect between himself and the others simply because he was a warlock and they were mortals, he welcomed this.

"Some other time, perhaps?" he said, at last.

"…Is that a promise?" Shaggy asked.

Vincent arched an eyebrow at him again, and Shaggy just stared back, biting his lip to keep from smiling too much.

"Very well," Vincent said. "You may consider it one—but do note that I did not specify when that other time will be!"

"Hey, no problem, Mr. V—this'll be worth the wait!" Shaggy insisted.

"Hmm, we'll just have to see about that," the warlock responded.

There was no changing Shaggy's mind now, he realized as he left the study and Shaggy resumed his cleaning/dancing.

Well, Vincent now had plenty of time to practice, anyway, as well marvel at how his apprentices' presence in his home had led to conversations that were most unexpected—but most certainly enjoyable.