So, I know what you're thinking. Why start a new Scooby-Doo story now? Truth be told, this idea came to me on a whim, and while I will tell you now that this will be a short story compared to the others, I just wanted an excuse to write for A Pup Named Scooby-Doo again. Plus, I like the idea of Kid!Daphne and Kid!Shaggy falling in love with each other, so there is that, at the very least. So, sit back and relax as we go through the first chapter of a new Pup!Shaphne story! Anyway, enjoy!
Today was the worst day of a very young Daphne Blake's life. As of current, she was walking back home after suffering through what she deemed a very bad day... she couldn't help but let it affect her as she recounted the day in her mind, piece by piece.
It was bad enough when her favorite hair brush had gotten broken by its bristles, that she could live with. But things turned sour when she had actively missed the bus for school. It wouldn't have been so bad, but both her personal butlers, alongside the family cars, were gone for the day, with her family out on a small business trip. This forced Daphne to walk to school, which wouldn't be a bad thing, if it weren't for the mud that she had to step in, which covered her go-go boots. Even though she made it to school all the same, classes went okay for the most part, but then her lunch had been ruined by a food fight that was started intentionally, with gobs of cafeteria slop covering the poor girl...
Of course, the covered Daphne felt disgusted by the fact that every bit of her body had been covered in disgusting food, mud, and the fact that everything seemed to not go her way... even the popular troupe Daphne hung out with at times seemed a bit disgusted by her appearance and intentionally shunned her, causing Daphne to get even more upset. What made matters worse, one of the boys she had a puppy crush on, a young handsome man from out of town known as Baylor Hotner, had said to a group of friends that she had overheard, that Daphne was way too snobbish and too prim, proper, vain and rude to ever consider girlfriend material...
She wouldn't deny that she was a vain person, but to hear someone say it in a mocking way slashed her heart into millions of pieces as she felt more and more depressed by the wayside. That was why, once the bell rang three o'clock, she just gathered her things and walked out, too depressed to even meet with her friends in the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency. She had originally planned to meet up with them to see if there were any mysteries that popped up, but even SHE wasn't in the mood to do any mystery solving right now... besides, Velma did a lot of the work, she could probably handle it, when Freddy wasn't being obsessed with aliens or Shaggy gobbling down a lot of food, and Scooby just being his adorable puppy self. They probably didn't need her anyway... especially not in a wardrobe that was dirtied beyond recognition.
As she kept walking though, she kept thinking about what Baylor said, about how boys wouldn't find her cute because of her snobby attitude and 'complainer-like' stance on the world... she can't help complaining, she only does it to help reel in sanity from the people she gets surrounded by! And yet, nobody cares to listen to her. She felt humiliated, upset... covered in food stains and mud... oh, truly, TRULY, this was the worst day of her life... what didn't help factors was the rain coming down in buckets, soaking the poor girl even worse than she already felt.
So, by the time she had arrived back at her home, she had a VERY disheveled appearance, and nobody was around to help or talk to her... all she wanted to do was get out of her oh-so ruined clothes, put on her robe, curl up and cry her little eyes out... wanting today to just be over by the minute.
As she was just changing into her bathrobe, she heard a knock on the door from downstairs. For half a moment, she expected one of the butlers would answer, but a second knock reminded her that they were still gone. Feeling she had no choice but to answer, she sighed as she walked downstairs, right towards the doors as she opened them.
There, standing in front of the door, was a smiling brown haired boy around her age, wearing his signature green shirt, blue baggy jeans and white shoes, giving a smile as he had his hands behind his back. Sitting beside him was the ever so loyal brown furred with black spots Great Dane canine puppy, looking up to the girl with a smile.
"Like, hi, Daphne." Shaggy said with a nervous smile.
"Riya, Raphne!" Scooby grinned.
Daphne gave a slight sigh as she looked down. "Hello, Shaggy, Scooby... this is not really a good day for me right now..."
"Like, I know that." Shaggy sighed. "I noticed you've been having a bit of a rough day... and I thought I'd come over and cheer you up... me and Scooby, of course."
The young girl looked towards Shaggy in confusion as she asked, "What about the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency?"
"Fred's out on a convention involving aliens, and you know very well Velma had to go to an electronics class around this time." Shaggy said. "Like, can we come in?"
Daphne clearly hesitated as she looked up towards her friend. She wanted so much to shout at them because of her bad day... but no, they didn't deserve being yelled at when all they were going to do was be nice to her... and she could use someone to talk to... two someones in fact.
"Please come in, Shaggy. I really want to vent..." Daphne sighed as she led both Shaggy and Scooby inside as she sat down on the couch, her eyes still full of tears, her once snobbish demeanor upset by the balance, and her nails completely ruined. However, she couldn't take the time to care about it as she started to sob and cry, whilst talking about her day.
She could feel the tears flooding the room a bit, and somehow, in someway, going in the direction of Scooby, who had somehow brought out an umbrella from hammerspace and opened it to divert the tears away. Still, she told them everything, from her hairbrush being broken, being late, getting mud on her shoes, the food fight, her ruined clothes, her crush insulting her and deeming her rude and vain, to even the freak rainstorm she had to walk through.
Daphne sobbed as she finished her story, "It feels like everything in the world is out against me, and I feel unloved... why is it ME that's having the bad things happen to me?! WHY is it me that's suffering? And am I really... that rude and snobbish to everyone?!"
She devolved herself into tears once more, though this time, they were covered by Daphne's face as she cried through her arms. Scooby looked over to her in symapthy as he said, "Rahhhh... rou roor ring..."
As Scooby approached her and put his head down on her lap, Daphne unconsciously put her hand on Scooby's head and rubbed it as she tried to calm down a bit. Shaggy took a deep breath as he walked over, his hands still behind his back. "Like, I'm sorry you had to go through that... believe me, I'm sure there's a lot of us have bad days similar to ours... but listen, I don't think you're rude at all. You're vain, yes, but... rude? No, I think you're a good, smart girl... not up to Velma's levels, but you keep us grounded..."
Daphne looked up at Shaggy, her face strewn with tears as her mascara was running. Shaggy sighed as he said, "Who else is going to calm us down and try to tell us that there's no such things as ghosts and monsters, even though we KNOW there are..."
"Oh, Shaggy... you're being ridiculous..." Daphne sniffled, though a small hint of a smile came out for a brief moment.
Shaggy caught it, though as he gave a grin. "See, like, you're smiling already. And you know it's true. Like, I'm sorry you had such a bad day, but I'm sure tomorrow will just be an even better one. I've had my share of bad days, both me and Scooby... but despite that, we picked ourselves back up and faced the world and what it threw at us. And you know what we do when we think back to bad days?"
"What's that?" Daphne asked, cocking her head curiously.
"Like, we laugh, man!" Shaggy chuckled. "It's the only medicine to help us through the days..."
Daphne paused a bit as she laughed in return. "I suppose you're right..."
"And don't worry about what Baylor said about you. So what? You don't need him to like you. Like, Fred, Velma, Scooby and I already like you. We all have our flaws, but we overlook them because we're very good friends..." Shaggy explained. "And I bet any GUY would be lucky to have you... a guy that can take the chance to know you first..."
"Awwww, Shaggy... you're so sweet..." Daphne said as she put her arm around the boy, making him blush.
"Like, you're the cherry on the sundae, Daph. Some people don't like it, but it's the perfect topper." Shaggy explained. "And people knows that cherries are perfect on sundaes, no matter what."
The young orange haired girl was slowly beginning to laugh at Shaggy's corny comparison, but she was slowly turning around. "Oh, Shaggy, how did you ever get to be so thought provoking..."
"Like, I'm not just the cowardly guy all the time, you know." Shaggy explained as Scooby gave a smile. "Anyway, I wanted to give you something to cheer you up."
Daphne looked up in curiosity as Shaggy pulled out a small wrapped box. Daphne gasped as she took the gift. "For me? But why? It's not my birthday or a holiday..."
"Does it have to be a holiday to give someone something special?" Shaggy asked. "Besides, I think you need it..."
"I-I don't know what to say..." Daphne said as she stared at the box.
"Go ahead and open it." Shaggy said with a smile.
Daphne hesitated at first as she unwrapped the gift and opened the box. Her eyes sparkled in delight as she noted a beautiful green scarf laying around the box. "Oh my... Shaggy, you bought this?"
"Yeah, well... I'm sorry it doesn't match your clothing. I wanted to get you a red scarf, but they didn't have any, and green was the only on-" Shaggy tried to explain, only for him to get engulfed in a hug.
"I love it. I'll find the right clothing color for it to match..." Daphne grinned as she stared at the scarf. "Perhaps purple? That seems to be more perfect with this beautiful scarf... oh, Shaggy, it must have cost you a lot..."
"I've been saving a lot of money from my allowance..." Shaggy chuckled as Daphne looked up at him with a grateful look on her face. "And besides, you always said 'clothes makes the girl'... right?"
"It does... it truly does..." Daphne sniffled a bit as Shaggy pulled out a cloth and wiped the ruined mascara off her face. "Thank you, Shaggy..."
Shaggy didn't know what caused him to do this, but he wasn't thinking as he went up and kissed her on the cheek, causing Daphne to blush. Shaggy smiled as he rubbed her hair. "Like, don't mention it..."
He then paused as he noticed the clock. "Oh! Like, Scoob and I need to get home. Are you going to be okay?"
Daphne giggled as she looked towards Shaggy. "Y-yes, I think I'll be fine. My parents are going to be back from their business trip anyway, so I'll see you both tomorrow."
"All right..." Shaggy smiled as he got up, with Scooby lifting his head and giving a nod towards Daphne.
"And thank you, Scooby. You're a good, one of a kind dog." Daphne giggled.
"Rank you!" Scooby grinned as he went towards Shaggy's side and pointed towards the door. "Rome on, Raggy, rit's Raghetti Renesday!"
"Like, wouldn't miss it, Scoob!" Shaggy laughed as he turned to Daphne. "I'll see you tomorrow, Daphne."
"Y-yeah... of course." Daphne giggled as she watched Shaggy and Scooby go out the door. After a moment, she looked towards the scarf as she looked at it with a smile.
She had to admit, it was a beautiful scarf... of course, she made a note in her mind to try the purple clothing she had in the back tomorrow to wear the green scarf... but still, she couldn't help but thank back to the kiss on the cheek Shaggy had given her.
She couldn't explain it, but she felt... a little different that day. Sure, she felt a lot better when Shaggy visited her home, and with Scooby there as a comfort dog, it certainly helped... and sure, Shaggy's advice was nothing but corny, but she couldn't help but find it endearing... and the fact he gave her a present and a kiss... she remembered hearing from her parents about how they each exchanged presents and kisses whenever they were in love...
In love? Was this what was going on? Was Daphne... falling in love with Shaggy? She looked up to see heart symbols floating all around her. She sighed happily as her eyes lidded over and held the scarf closely. Sure, it may have been seen as Shaggy comforting Daphne... but to Daphne, it felt like it was more... more like... a sign of true love...
But how to act on it? She gave a small smile as she remembered something of an old wive's tale she heard, about how a man gave a woman a nice gift, and in return, on each day after that, the woman returned the favor with one gift a day, plus a kiss...
Normally, she wasn't one to believe in fairy tales, but... it felt like fun. After all, it couldn't hurt... right?
She gave a smirk as a new idea began to cook up... a brilliant idea, if she should say so herself...
And that's the first chapter completed! How did you guys like it? And yes, like I said, this is going to be a short story, so don't expect it to be too long! Next time, on the next day, Shaggy and Scooby decide to have a round of Commander Cool... only for Daphne to come in on their little play date... with a seemingly different attitude towards Shaggy than usual... how will it play out? You'll have to wait and see! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, everyone!
