Shaggy let out an exasperated sigh.
"Velma didn't believe me." Shaggy told them.
He finished off a rather short and intense conversation with Velma.
Daphne wasn't entirely convinced, but replied. "What do you mean she didn't believe us?"
She briefly saw the aura of betrayal that would cause her most trusted friend to dwell on something so painful.
"It's like this Daphne…" Shaggy answered, he began his sentence merely as a thinly veiled distraction trying to prevent the conversation from carrying on.
"Daphne, please-"
"What did she say?"
"It's just…I mean you definitely don't wanna know…"
"Shaggy, what did Velma tell you?"
"Trust me on this one." Shaggy said, giving her a clipped reply. He pretended to sound disinterested the longer Daphne questioned him.
He was only trying to spare Daphne's feelings.
"Go on," Scrappy said, glaring at Shaggy with widened eyes. "What about Velma?" the fierce determination of the puppy's eyes softened to a silent plea.
"And why won't she believe you?" FlimFlam demanded. "She's your friend, isn't she?"
A roaring silence fell upon the room again. Was it the second, or the third time this happened in a span of a few minutes?
Shaggy was beginning to lose count between his disrupted responses.
Every second feeling prolonged as each of them waited awkwardly for someone to say something again before he quickly shut them down.
"Shaggy, what the both of you need is a trip to the emergency room," Velma's voice was an echo inside of Shaggy's head. "and it appears to me Daphne could definitely use some supplemental oxygen and medications to curb her altitude sickness."
He refused to humiliate Daphne.
Shaggy overheard Velma crack open a book.
"Have you never heard of acute mountain sickness?" Velma said, sadly. "You sound nauseous right now."for once she anticipated Shaggy's response. "None of you are used to high altitudes or even remotely capable of coping with oxygen thin air."
He didn't have time for her text book diagnoses.
Wasn't this conversation supposed to be between friends?
So far he only made an acquaintance of Vincent after he formed a covenant with the chest of demons forcing him to accept responsibility. Why bother him at all with Velma's reductive conclusions relating to their trauma after Daphne's bout of lycanthropy?
"It's like a hangover," Velma exclaimed. "You're sick. I wouldn't be surprised one bit that you guys must feel pretty dehydrated. I doubt that you and Scooby would even feel like eating a heavy meal until after you descend. Not to mention all that dry air and pressure will only manage to reduce your taste buds."
Before Shaggy unceremoniously hung up on Velma.
Surprisingly Velma was right.
No doubt he was suffering from the effects brought about by their inability to acclimate themselves to a high altitude after he drove off to the Himalayas. He refused to even admit that he was suffering from those exact symptoms after she doubted he was telling the truth about the chest of demons and the cursed village that drugged Daphne's drink.
He wouldn't let Velma have the satisfaction of knowing altitude sickness was apart of the problem.
When it wasn't true.
Most of it.