she can tell that her question takes him out of his zone too quickly for comfort, but in his typical ‘shaggy’ way he adjusts back and focuses on the question that broke their comfortable silence. his momentary, dopey look of confusion earned a giggle from scooby as she sat at the old, wooden piano that was pressed against an even older wall, and the gentle twinkle of it seemed to jumpstart his brain for an answer.
it’s enough to make another giggle bubble from her lips as scooby adjusted herself on the piano bench and pushed the cover up off of the keys. they were stained and yellowed with age, but that didn’t even touch the dip that came with each note. it made scooby cringe, but she kept plunking out notes —- Ab down to C and then a jump over to E. she had taken lessons when she was younger girl and even had an upright piano like the one she had just introduced herself to.
❝ my parents always used to say that it was the one thing that i never ran away from. apparently i was a little bit musical back in the old diaper days. ❞
she pushed a few chords and took a quick look around at the old building that mystery inc. had taken up for the night for investigation into a ghoulish encounter over the weekend. it was storming outside and if edgar allan poe could have written about that night then he probably would have. scooby and shaggy had partnered up to take the rooms on the lower level, velma was trying to do some research into the spirit that supposedly invaded the halls while scrappy helped with some equipment, and fred and daphne had taken the upper level. they all played their parts and it was strange, if she really thought about it, how the universe interconnected in such a way to bring them all together. some form of destiny.
❝ you’re telling me that we could have been in a band this whole time? sure would have saved us a bunch of fainting spells by ghosties! ❞
shaggy saddled up to her on the bench and made a show of cracking his knuckles before he laid out a quick rendition of hot cross buns. scooby threw her head back with a laugh, but in doing so she happened to shift in just the right way to make a loud C R E E E E A K erupt from the bench. immediately, she nearly jumped into shaggy’s arms and let out a loud, ❝ uh oh! ❞, only for her face to flush with embarrassment when she realized that she had, yet again, overreacted. luckily, scooby knew that shaggy would never make fun of her and mean it. mostly because if she hadn’t jumped onto him first then he would most definitely be in her lap instead.
❝ zoinks! watch out for creaky benches, scoob! ❞
the two of them burst into a laughing fit and then a long moment of silence passed between them as she laid her head on his shoulder, her arm snaking through his. it was definitely not the best of moments to get their cuddle on, but scooby couldn’t help it. the piano had played a note of nostalgia inside of her and the only family she had left to spend the moment with was on that bench with her. shaggy continued to play soft notes, the two of them ignoring the fact that freddie would totally be burnt about them not searching the rest of the rooms, and it was almost enough to make the young detective fall asleep right then and there. almost. maybe if she had a velma-specialty round of scooby snacks and a pillow it would have been a sure thing.
but also there was the ticking of the clock.
at first it was just a few t i c k s and t o c k s here or there, nothing to really focus on, but soon it turned into a rhythm that went against the version that shaggy was playing enough to warrant some attention. scooby’s eyes opened in a flash and she sat upright, nearly scaring her musical companion out of his seat next to her.
❝ it’s a standing piano! ❞
❝ yeesh, scoobs! you got me on that one! ❞
he was holding his chest as if his heart was going to leap out of his chest, but all scooby could focus on was the piano. it was a standing piano, and everyone who ever owned one knew that it was better to pull it away from the wall to get the best sound. she rushed to the wall and gave a soft tap to it, her ear pressed firmly to the wallpaper as if it could spill secrets to her. sure enough, the knock sounded even more hollow than it should have for an old house like the vanderwhal estate. she hurried back to the bench and pulled it away, nearly knocking shaggy onto his butt, and then waved to usher him to the opposite end of the piano than where she was.
❝ shaggy, help me move this thing forward. ❞
they pulled on ONE, TWO, THREE and heaved it away from the wall until the space was just big enough for someone to fit behind it. the clicking of the clock seemed a little louder and that was enough to keep scooby going as she searched the wall, knocking every so often to try to find a switch or hitch of some sort. after a few moments, her fingertip hit a small ledge and she slid her hand until a tiny switch was found. with a C L I C K she flipped it the other way and a heavy motor began to whir as the wall caved in and slid to reveal a dark passageway.
t i c k —– t o c k , t i c k —– t o c k
down that passageway would be a clock and perhaps more answers to what was going on in the vanderwhal estate, and scooby was scared to death. her knees began to shake and her fingers twitched–or…maybe that was because a warm palm slid against hers as shaggy interlaced their fingers together. she swallowed the lump that played catch in her throat and raised her brows in question.
❝ like. you don’t think that you’re going down there alone, do you? can’t let you have all the glory. ❞
shaggy shook her head immediately. they were a two-for-one deal —– always. but the reassurance that came from the warmth of his palm and the support in his gaze made her feel invincible once again, even if she knew that chances were they would be running out of the dark tunnel sooner than they would like to admit (spoiler alert: they did). so, with shaggy rogers’ hand in hers, scooby doolittle whipped out her flashlight head band and slapped it on top of her noggin and flicked it on. the lure of the ticking clock was almost seductive as…
❝ do you think that velma will give us monster scooby snacks for finding this thing? ❞
#the amazing digital circus
#love and deepspace
#lana del rey
#photography
#bloodymary
