Velma Dinkley double-wrapped a length of tartan ribbon around her middle finger before slipping the looped ribbon through. Admiring the package she'd wrapped with the sort of precision her physics teacher praised her for, she said, "I hope Shaggy looks at it before he rips it to pieces."

Daphne smiled at the vague note of consternation in her friend's voice as he added a flourish of curls to the green ribbon topping the gift she bought for Fred. "It's not pizza wrapped with bacon, is it?" Velma shook her head. "It'll live." Daphne set aside her gift and braced herself against Velma's bed, swinging her legs back-and-forth casually while Velma donned her winter coat. "What's going on between you two, anyway?"

Velma frowned. "Daphne, there's nothing 'between' me and Shag. We're just friends." Daphne always sees the dramatic, soapy possibilities in everyday life, even when there were none.

Daphne smiled as she shoved her arms into her own woolen coat. "Are you sure? Don't tell me you don't notice the way he tries to hold your hand back on the McGreevy case."

"We were climbing out of a well," she pointed out, tucking her hair into her orange woolen hat.

Daphne gave a frustrated sigh, her red hair bobbing against her neck. "And he held your hand for five minutes longer than he needed to!" She tucked a scarf around her neck with a dramatic sigh. "You don't notice the small things, Velma."

Velma gave Daphne a smile in return as she picked up the small pile of gifts they'd spend the afternoon wrapping. "Tell that to my trigonometry teacher."

"That's not what I meant," Daphne frowned, as they left Velma's bedroom and headed down the hallway, to the main staircase that would take them out to the streets of Coolsville. "You don't notice the small things about people," Daphne smiles. "As an actress, noticing how people treat each other is just one small key to mastering the art of performance."

"You're a regular Divine," Velma remarked, as the started down the street.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Daphne smiled, and the two girls walked together to Shaggy's house.


***

The Roger's Christmas party was already in full swing by the time Velma and Daphne got there. They doffed their coats into Shaggy's eager hands and fondly endured the slobbery greeting of Scooby, who was festooned with bright sprigs of mistletoe.

Velma resisted comment on Shaggy's nuclear-bright green sweater as she patted the great dane's head. Scooby stood on her shoes, his tail whapping enthusiastically against the floor, drizzling it with mistletoe petals.

"Hiya Scoob," she says. "You'll get your present later."

"Raww!" Scooby said. "Rat arout now?"

She glanced up at Shaggy, who had been exchanging peasantries with Daphne. "Like, not 'til Fred gets here, man." They'd agreed to swap together, in any event.

"Like, go on and grab a snack," he pointed to a card table which had been haphazardly covered with a holly-printed cloth and bowls of peanuts, popcorn, and snack mix. A bucket filled with ice and bottles of soda sat beside it, near an entertainment console. A Bose stereo played Christmas tunes as strands of multicolored lights blinked on and off around, over and beside it.

Velma's keen sense of observance served her well as she drifted through the somewhat-quiet party. The Roger's living room was similar to that of every other house on Coolsville - spacious, well-constructed, white-walled. She took a handful of snack mix and a bottle of orange pop and settled down on a couch to observe the party.

When Fred bustled through the door with a fruitcake tucked under his arm, Velma suddenly noticed that the other people at the party were kids, too - there didn't seem to be an adult in sight anywhere. She tried to make eye contact with Shaggy, but he was too busy trying to make sure the Mathletes all had enough soda.

"Hey, guys." Velma shifted her gaze away as Fred bent over to buss Daphne on top of her head. Shaggy finally arrived to greet his friend. "Happening party, Shag," said Fred, placing a small stack of presents atop the pile Velma and Daphne had made on Shaggy's coffee team.

"Thanks, Freddy!" He grinned. "Like, do you guys want to sing? I've got the karaoke machine all set up."

"Not me, thanks," Velma said.

"Aww, like, why don't you try it, Velms?" Shaggy wondered.

"Because I sound like a frog when I try," she laughed. "I'd be glad to listen to you guys, though."

She kept her promise, too, sitting and swaying in tune with the music as she finished off her snack mix, her gestures just a bit behind tempo but gilt with the rhythm of the music. Fred and Daphne went first, selecting "I've Got You Babe" from the list of tunes.

She frowned - though they were all friends now, Velma couldn't quiet get used to Fred and Daphne's newfound couple hood. Her own attraction to Fred bubbled just beneath the surface of her skin, hopelessly unrequited now, she knew. The sight of them kissing at the end of the song sent her from the room, to huddle on the staircase in quiet embarrassment.

"Velms?"

She blinked at Shaggy's appearance, the brightness of his sweater still somehow blinding. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Like, are you all right?"

She shrugged. "It's just...weird sometimes," she said. "Fred and Daph get along like chlorophyll and sunlight," Shaggy's brow went up, his eyes showing his utter confusion. "They like each other a lot. But, well..."

A deeper furrow of his brow, then clarity reached his eyes. "Oh. Ohhhh..." he frowned. "Aww, Velms," he sat down on the stairs beside her without asking. "That's, like, a bummer, man."

"It's okay." She shook her head. "It was just a little crush."

His eyes went downcast for a second. "Yeah." He brightened abruptly. "Zoinks! I've got something for you."

She smiled. "I know - we all bought something small for each other." That was the deal they'd struck back in November.

"It's not that. Like, I got you something I didn't want to give you in front of everyone else."

"Oh," Velma remarked softly. She waited for him to run upstairs and then back down again, listening to Scooby deliver an off-key rendition of "The Pina Colada Song" in the living room.


Shaggy jogged back downstairs, handing her a small package wrapped in a small square of the Sunday comics. "Merry Christmas, Velma."

She smiled up at him as she carefully unwrapped the gift, unfolding the paper neatly, folding it in half crosswise for future use. She opened the small velvet box inside and pulled out a tiny silver magnifying glass pendant.

"Jinkies, Shag!" No boy had ever bought Velma jewelry before. She held it up to the light and stared through the glass.

"It's, like, a welcome-to-mystery-solving gift," Shaggy grinned. "D'you like it?"

She nodded. "It's the nicest thing I've ever received," she said, quite seriously. Shaggy's gift was still in her purse, and she felt a tad of guilt as she handed it to him. "Merry Christmas, Shag."

He eagerly ripped the gift open, his mouth dropping open in delight. "A coupon book from Pizza Heaven!" He grabs her about the neck with a quick squeeze. "Like, this is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me, Velms!"

"Really?" she asked, stiffening awkwardly in his embrace.

"Uh huh," he smiled. "You're the sweetest."

She allowed herself to rest in his embrace for a minute. "Shag....your folks aren't home, are they?"

He stiffened, too. "They, like, said they'll be home for Christmas Eve," he explained. He smiled. "I guess that's why I threw this party. Like, those guys don't have anyone to party with either."

Velma smiled. "You're such a nice guy, Shag." Her hand lingered for a second too long on his arm. She looked into his eyes for just a quarter of a second. He's such a nice guy, and he's being so good to her...

Shaggy looked up. "Hey Velm. We're, like, under the mistletoe."

Velma looked up. "So we are."

The spark was small. It started somewhere deep inside of her chest and seemed to catch and glow within her cheeks and her heart.

When they separated, she noticed that his eyes sparkle just after he's been kissed.