Radio Silence.

Staring at her cell, a few minutes ago all of the texting stopped. Not a peep crossed her phone, the little device sitting silent beside her. Getting a little miffed, she shot a hot look at the small machine. Daphne had sent several messages back to the gang, but not a peep back from any of them. Not even more from Velma, who had been arguing with her just a second ago...

"Is everyone ok?"

As the time ticked by, Daphne's annoyance turned into concern as they wouldn't respond to her messages. Her only thought was that maybe one of the towers or something had been cut out, preventing them from answering. But she still had bars, so that couldn't be it... could it?

But as Daphne was distracted, racking her brain for the answer to why they weren't responding to her messages... her room all of a sudden went dark!

Looking around wide eyed, her hand flew to grip the little phone that had been sitting in front of her. Flipping the screen outwards, Daphne used the little light from her phone to cast a smidge of brightness into her now black room. And the fact that it was that dark, surprised her! She didn't know it had gotten so late. Her mind had been far too caught up with the little phone in her hands, then where the sun had up and gone. Her room became a foreign set of shadows and eerie noises as she just became aware of the fact the wind had picked up outside and began to rattle her windows a bit. Small bits of a draft snuck past the woodwork, and made sure to brush against Daphne to make her shiver. Adding to the creepiness factor that had crept in and was making itself at home.

"Hmph."

She was getting really annoyed at how often her room was able to spook her like this. Darting to her closet, she plucked a robe from the hook on the back of the door and pulled it close. It was warding off the chill, and giving her a bit of comfort against the gloom around her.

Everything was off.

Her clock by her bed, the little power button on her laptop, and even the little green light from her cell phone charger. All the familiar sources of light, were nowhere to be found.

Seeking out her familiar fuzzy slippers, they at least matched her pajamas she had been too lazy to get out of earlier. (Since nothing had been happening, she hadn't seen a reason to change out of it.) With warm footwear to match the robe, slowly Daphne moved to try to find out what happened to the rest of the gang.

She was hoping that it was just a blown breaker from the duo, and that Velma was either giving them a lecture or was fussing over fixing the broken piece to have responded. Thinking of them getting chewed out, she found herself growing sad. Not realizing how lonely she was feeling all of a sudden. Sure, she had been talking to everyone for hours, but she hadn't actually seen anyone for even longer than that. Recalling that the last time she been in the same room as them, was at breakfast that morning.

Using the glow from her cell, she cast the light into the hallway. Sweeping the weak shine across, she only saw more darkened rooms. Fred's room had also gone completely dark, his clock absent and other light sources were gone from sight. Confirming that it seemed to be a blackout situation. Or at least, that her room's condition was not a localized occurrence.

So Daphne moved on to the next floor, hoping to find answers there. Giving the railing a grip with her free hand, she eased herself down the squealing stairs and found herself greeted by a source of light! With the sounds of crackling, and popping... Daphne assumed that someone had lit the fireplace!

So someone had to be close, if the fire was going.

Eager to see someone with her own eyes, she moved towards archway that led into the living room before two shadows darted into her path. They barred her way, crossing something between them to prevent her from going inside. Taking a step back, she was surprised before she shone her cell light at them to identify the pair. It was Shaggy and Scooby, both wielding some type of long pronged sticks.

"Halt! You are about to enter the Kingdom of Fluffy-Fortress-of-No-Reception...alot" Shaggy tried to get the sentence out with a straight face, holding his guard position and not letting Daphne pass. He was dressed in his classic set of pajamas she had gotten him a few years ago, topped with his sleeping cap hanging crooked upon the fluff that was his hair. Scooby also had a matching cap, and little bunny slippers.

"I thought it was Pillow Stronghold of No-cell-service-atude?" Chimed in Velma, somewhere beyond the guards in the living room.

"No no, it's the Land of Caffine, Chocolate, and no Texting." Voiced Fred, also somewhere in the room beyond. Not all that creative, but certainly straight to the point.

"Sounds good to me!" Daphne moved towards the guards, but they still stood fast, not letting her by.

"You are dressed for the occasion to enter these lands..." Shaggy said, nodding towards her pj's, and hamming it up. "But you must give up that which is most precious to you!"

"Rah rah!" Turning around, Scooby picked up a box from behind him, which rattled as he brought it around. Catching a small glance at the box, written on the side wrote 'Banished'. Inside sat three other phones, the reason why she was unable to reach them all earlier. He shook it again, offering it to her to make her decision. Give up her phone and come enjoy the bounty, or turn back and return to the darkness.

Clearly, it was an obvious answer to Scooby. She would be a fool to turn down food!

Holding on to her phone for a second, who was she to break protocol? The smell of hot chocolate had already reached her, and was starting to make her drool. So she had no restraint with snapping the cell phone shut and tossing the little device into the box. Tossing her arms up, she wanted to show that she was 'hands free' now.

"Welcome!" "Relcome!" Uncrossing their sticks, Shaggy and Scooby made sure to clear the way for Daphne. Adding a little bow for a flourish.

Moving past the duo, Daphne was greeted by the sight of the 'kingdom' the rest of the gang was taking about. With huge spans of pillows, blankets and moved furniture, the living room had been turned into a huge pillow fort! With various tunnels and sections, it had to have been one of the biggest set-ups she had seen with her own eyes. And there seemed to be blankets from every inch of the household, including the piles of beanbags from the basement. The expanse stretched across the living room, and seemed to continue throughout the dining room and beyond.

In awe, Daphne moved into the room. Her eyes tracing the arcs and curves of the blankets as they interwove and connected across the room. Though there was a space in front of the fire place to make sure nothing caught fire as they enjoyed the warmth and light from it. As she moved further into the room, there came a sound from her one side.

"HISSSSSSSS..."

Set up in her favorite spot, a blanketed Velma clutched tightly the prize in her hand. She was trusted to be the keeper of the Chocolate, and she was still annoyed at Daphne for the earlier texting. So she didn't want to give up the box to the redhead that had come into her space. The Chocolate dragon was protecting her hoard.

"Here here... I'll go tame the dragon so she will share with you." Fred patted Daphne on the shoulder, handing off a big steaming cup of hot chocolate while he moved to talk Velma out of her protest. Daphne moved herself to the stacked beanbags beside the fireplace, with the guys quickly joining her by the fire. Scooting a bit to dig themselves into the beanbags, they then started stacking their skewers with marshmallows and thrusting it into the fire. But only a few seconds ticked by till Scooby passed his stick to Daphne, while he trotted off to get a new box of graham crackers from a nearby stash.

Watching the fire and the marshmallows she was entrusted, Daphne made sure to not let the fluffy white snacks burn too much. While Scooby would eat it anyway, there was a matter of flavor. And she wanted to make sure that if he would offer them to her afterwards, she preferred a light browning compared to charcoal. The Dane returned swiftly, with a box in tail and relieved Daphne of her yummy burden. Offering her one of the three snacks from the stick, Daphne took her payment and the offered graham crackers. It wasn't a perfect s'more yet, but she would wait until Fred had come back from his quest for chocolate-y goodness.

Settling back down and enjoying her hot chocolate, she was able to take in the sights around her. Leaning over, she braced herself on an elbow to look at the huge catacombs of blankets beside her. She knew that the chocolate dragon must have had a claw in aiding sir Fred in its construction, though Shaggy and Scooby made a mean pillow fort in the past. So it was clear that their combined efforts and made a large enough expanse to cover the whole first floor. She admired its complex networking, and was reminded of an episode of some TV show she had watched that had been the largest construction she had ever seen! It stretched all across a dorm room, through the halls and rooms. Though Daphne figured Velma didn't need a dismantle cord, like in the show, when they already had a self-destruction build in… Just add squeaky toy!

Turning back to the fire, she took another sip of her drink before her whole world shifted. The bean bag under her jumped up, as someone had dropped into the chair from behind Daphne and displaced the beads inside. Almost choking on the liquid as it rushed into her mouth, she was about to see who nearly killed her with hot chocolate when something darted into her view.

Seconds ticked by, as mind was trying to translate all the things it had just received. Coughing a bit to clear her throat, her mind also registered the heat upon her otherwise cold back. With her front being heated from the fireplace, her backside had been slowly getting colder without more than her pj's and robe as protection from the chill. This warmth was from a body, resting against her own. And at the size and position it was against her back, she knew who it was. It was also an indication on who it was, as her mind was finally able to see the object before her. It was a chocolate bar.

"Can't have a proper s'more without this..."

Came the small voice from the defeated dragon, now settled against her 'foe' from earlier. Daphne was her best friend after all, and as much as the woman frustrated her, she was not mad enough to keep her from enjoying the whole point of getting her down here in the first place.

"Thanks!"

Taking the chocolate gently, Daphne beamed a smile even though Velma couldn't see her face. Though when she faced the fire to start making her s'more, she made sure to lean her own head back to lightly bonk their resident genius on the top of her head. An act she could only do in this position. Which earned a return light bonk before Daphne was able to bring her head back forward.

Daphne watched as Fred settled in another beanbag beside her, offering another cup of hot chocolate and moving to make his own s'more to her right. Looking left, Shaggy and Scooby sat on the other side with their skewers going, offering it to Fred so that he could build his own. And Velma sitting behind her… Lightly munching away on what Daphne could only guess was her own s'more sandwich. Taking a big bite of her own, Daphne sighed in contentment. It was a great way to end the day, and it certainly was more fun than just sitting up in her room, alone.

And there they sat, quietly enjoying each other company, only talking on occasion to offer another round of snacks or drinks. Daphne was enjoying the simplicity of the actions, when she noticed that Velma hadn't said much in the last little bit.

"Don't move… She's fallen asleep."

Fred spoke softly, pulling one of the nearby blankets that wasn't too tied up in the pillow fort, which could be wrapped around them both. Daphne also getting it, since they were leaning against one another. Focusing on her back, Daphne could feel the soft rhythm of Velma's sleeping breath and the light wheeze that came from her breathing in. Holding back a laugh, she didn't want to wake her, or let her know that she was making tiny, but cute snores. If she only had her recorder!

YAWN

Came from her one side, feeling a new weight as Shaggy leaned over and rubbed a sleepy eye, fighting off another yawn. This one was then accompanied, by Scooby who was now scooting his paws across Daphne's lap and under the blanket around her. Pinning her legs now, under the pair of warming puppy feet. Looking surprised, she cast a glance over at Fred, who just yawned and tossed his hands up in defeat.

"Can't fight it, might as well join it!" He snickered quietly, and snuggled against her other side. Pulling another blanket over himself as he settled into his bean bag and Daphne's shoulder.

So there she was, pinned from all sides by her friends, them getting their well-deserved revenge against her for the messages she bugged them with. But she couldn't fight against the comfortable warmth and creeping yawn that was bubbling up.

Yaaawn!

Hanging her head in defeat, she might has well give in. It wasn't like she was going anywhere. And it wasn't exactly like this was something she hated. Quite the opposite, as one of the main reasons she loved a good mystery, was working so closely with the people she lived with. And here they all were, although asleep… it wasn't a bad way to end the night. Hoping that at least in the morning, she would be able to explore the pillow fort, before Scooby got to it. If she could move... that is. Resigning herself to her fate, she relaxed and leaned against her friends.

"Oh well, at least Shaggy's hair makes a great pillow. Night you guys…"