As the sun rose the following morning Fred, Daphne and Scooby were up and about trying to pack. There was no question of waking Velma, it was 50/50 if she'd even wake up today after the exertions of yesterday.
"Don't worry gang, I'll take care of her while you are at the convention" said Shaggy "She wasn't that keen on going anyway"
"Are you sure Shag?" asked Fred, already knowing the answer
"Trust me guys," replied Shaggy "it's not only Daph who knows how to pamper Velma."
"Well just don't over do the food Shaggy, you're cooking for Velma not Scooby." said Daphne as she went up to see Velma, she knocked on her door and stuck her head inside "Velma, are you awake?"
"mmmmnnnn" came the muffled reply
"Fred, Scooby and I are off to the convention, Shaggy will look after you. Don't forget to get some rest and take those painkillers, we'll see you in a couple of days OK?" a snore was the only reply Daphne received.
"How's she doing?" called Fred
"Sleeping like a baby, she's fine" Daphne replied heading back downstairs
"Raaah raby Relma" chuckled Scooby.
"She needs the rest, those were some brutal ice-hockey games she played yesterday." said Fred wincing from the memory of yesterdays all-day women's ice-hockey marathon.
"You said it Fred, I lost count the number of times she got slammed against the wall. Man, girls play rough." said Shaggy.
"Yes, but she gave as good as she got, especially at the end." replied Fred
"That's my Velma... I mean our Velma" said Shaggy awkwardly.
Daphne winked at Shaggy "She needs to rest up for a while, I'm sure you'll find a way to keep her away from the rink for a few days" and smiled innocently.
Daphne had been the first to notice the change in Shaggy and Velma's relationship. They were now the closest that they had ever been. Their on-off relationship and been very much on for quite a few months now and showed no signs of dampening down. She had spent ages discussing this with Fred, mostly talking at Fred about it if the truth were known. Daphne suspected the change started when Velma was hospitalised with a bad head injury she received whilst on a case. Shaggy had been very supportive during her recovery, this made a deep impression on Velma and she had responded with warmth towards him ever since. The experience had also touched Shaggy and he had remained very attentive towards her even when her recovery was well under way.
Then there was the time when they all thought Velma had been eaten by a monster leaving just her clothed skeleton behind, that had forced Shaggy to face up to his feelings about Velma. That's when it all came together for them thought Daphne. Shaggy had shown a level of physical courage Daphne had never seen before, but only when Velma was in danger, Velma had made sure that she was the bait rather than Shaggy so she could be sure he was safe and the two of them had show open displays of real affection towards each other. Daphne had since spied them cuddling up together on the sofa, holding hands when out walking together and, after checking to see that they were not being observed, passionately kissing; they had even been sneaking off to 'look for clues' while the gang had been on cases, the same thing she and Fred used to do when they were first dating. But maddeningly for Daphne, neither Shaggy nor Velma would acknowledge that they were officially an 'item', and Scooby wasn't talking either no matter how much she tried to bribe him.
While Fred and Daphne packed the Mystery Machine Shaggy had a quick word with Scooby
"Sorry I can't come along Scoob, but I need to look after Velma. She overdid the ice-hockey yesterday and needs the rest."
"Ro rorries Raggy" replied Scooby "Raggy ret rovey-dovey rith Relma" he chuckled
"Shhhh Scoob, it's still a secret. Careless talk costs Scooby Snacks" he said sternly
"Rorry Ragggy" Scooby replied.
"Good, looks like Fred and Daph are nearly ready, here's a few boxes of snacks for the trip." Shaggy handed over an armful of boxes to Scooby who dashed off to pack them in the van. Daphne came in to check that they hadn't left anything behind
"You ready to be the 'Face of Blake' at the Fur, Fashion and Fancy Vans convention Daph?" asked Shaggy
"Suppose so, but I'd rather be the Face of Blake for their beauty products than canine grooming and van cleaning. No free samples for us yet, the first load of the products got stolen before they left the company warehouse..." Daphne saw the look on his face "Don't worry Shaggy, dad's investigation team is on the case, not us." Fred came in to say it was time to leave, Shaggy waved them off "Give us a call when you get there!" he shouted as the Mystery Machine drove off.
After the gang had left Shaggy busied himself round the house. A few hours later he thought he could hear some movement from Velma's room so he went to see if she was up. He knocked on her door "Velma, are you up?"
"mmmm?" came the reply
"Do you want some breakfast?" he asked
"Oh OK." came a quiet replied.
The mass of aches, pains, bumps and bruises slowly coalesced into a just about awake Velma which sat up in bed, put on her glasses then promptly went back to sleep. She was awoken by knocking on her door
"Room service" called Shaggy
"Come in Shaggy" she replied then stretched and yawned. A couple of trays piled high with food, fruit juice and coffee with legs underneath entered the room
"All your favourites Velma, told Daphne I'd pamper you. She told me not to make too much food so I've only done two trays." Velma smiled at Shaggy and swung her legs out of bed and sat on the edge while Shaggy loaded a table with the food and moved it in front of her. Velma patted the spot on the bed next to her
"Thanks Shaggy, come and sit here, I think I'll need a bit of help with all this." She said looking at the food before her
"I did a bit extra as it's nearly lunchtime now" said Shaggy sitting next to her
"Oh wow, I didn't think it was that late, have the others gone to the convention?" she asked as they cuddled up to each other
"Yeah, they got off OK. First things first, painkillers for you, Daph's orders." Shaggy handed her two large tablets and a glass of water.
Velma took the tablets "Thanks, Shaggy, I can't decide which part of me hurts the most so don't squeeze me too tight."
They both tucked into the food while Shaggy described what he had been doing while she slept,
"I've cleaned the kitchen and done all of your chores for today and those that you hate doing for the next couple of days."
"Aww, thanks Shag" she said hugging him. In his own way Shaggy did know how to pamper her. Velma, as a practical person, appreciated practical pampering, sure the sessions that Daphne would take her on were nice, but nothing actually got done. She now would have a few easy days with the time to concentrate on her projects; finish a series of gadgets that Fred wanted to install on the Mystery Machine, and Shaggy, though the gadgets would be taking a back seat.
"A few days of peace, quiet, and no Daphne" sighed Velma "I'm sure she's spying on us"
"Scoob thinks so too" he replied
"I feel a bit guilty, she knows, but us not saying were together is just teasing her" she said.
Shaggy nodded "She knows Velms. I guess your right; let's tell her when they get back."
Velma let out a sigh of relief "I agree. I don't think I could stand another pamper session with her, it's like the Spanish Inquisition but with hot tubs and scented candles."
Much to her surprise Velma ended up eating much of the food Shaggy had made for her. She collapsed back on the bed "Thanks for the food Shag, boy was I hungry" she said gently stroking his back "Help me up when you're finished, I need to get moving." She curled up next to Shaggy and fell asleep whilst he finished his breakfast. She awoke a couple of hours later to find herself tucked up in bed again. Velma decided it was time to face the inevitable and see if any of her limbs were still in working order, got dressed and went down stairs. Shaggy was sitting on the couch sifting through his collection of recipe books. "Let's go for a walk, I think my legs still work." smiled Velma so hand-in-hand the pair went for a gentle stroll around their neighbourhood working out the stiffness in her limbs. As they approached their house Velma remembered a question she had been meaning to ask Shaggy for a while.
"What have you and Fred been working on in the garage?" asked Velma
"Ready for a surprise?" asked Shaggy
"Probably" replied Velma. He led her to the garage door
"Close your eyes" he said. She did and heard the sound of the garage door being opened. "Here you go" she opened her eyes and saw an old pick-up truck, painted green with orange trim and interior.
"What's that?" she asked
"It's my dad's old pick-up truck, he said if we could get it running again, we can have it. I was going to call it the History Machine." he said
"The History Machine?" she said.
"Yep on account of it being so old, the idea is we have a back-up to the Mystery Machine" he replied.
"How did you help out?" asked Velma
"Mostly by dropping spanners on his head, I also picked the colours and took it for a couple of test drives. It was a great time" sighed Shaggy "Me and Fred really connected." Quite literally thought Velma shaking her head, all of a sudden the pamper session Daphne had dragged her on didn't seem too bad after all. At least they didn't involve dropping heavy metal objects on each others head.
Returning to the house Velma prepared them an afternoon snack and they collapsed in a heap together on the sofa to watch a couple of shows of the science of cooking.
"Making ice cream with dry ice! I have got to try that" said Velma.
"And I have got to eat it. Hey look, we've got a message" said Shaggy "I suspect it's Daphne saying they got there OK" and indeed it was.
"Well they sound happy, the Fur, Fashion and Fancy Vans convention is right up their street" said Velma. The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful. Velma was able to finish off some of the Mystery Machine upgrades and Shaggy cleaned and polished the pick-up truck.
That evening they settled down together to watch TV, Shaggy sat on lengthways on the couch and Velma sat between his legs and rested back on him, her head resting on his chest, his arms round her waist with her arms holding his. Both were slowly falling asleep and neither wanted to move. Just before he dropped off to sleep Shaggy thought about tomorrow. The only thing they had to do was the weekly shopping, after that they had a free day. He was too tired to think of something to do, but was sure that something would crop-up.