Lillith paused, two plates in her hands. "Something 'going on'?" she repeated suspiciously. "'Intruders peeking in'? Should I be on my way to warn the Pumpkin King about an impending explosion of some sort?"

Lock playfully twitched his tail. He crossed his legs and rested his hands over his knees. He made sure she could see his fingers.

"No, nothing like that," he said.

At least, nothing was going to explode. But Lock knew he had to be careful. He'd already let a hint of trouble unwittingly slip.

"It's almost October," he said reassuringly. "We've never pulled anything too big before Halloween. Otherwise, Jack wouldn't let us go out."

Which suddenly gave him an idea of how to better allay her suspicions. Lock gave her a devious smirk.

"Halloween Town has nothing to worry about aside from a little trick here and there. Unwitting mortals, on the other hand..."

Lillith watched him -- and his hands -- closely as he spoke. She thought for a moment, then nodded and relaxed. "I rather pity whatever mortal she chooses as her target, then."

She set the plates on the blanket, then shifted into a bad and flew the short distance to his shoulder. "You still could have come out and said hello, though," she whispered with a bite to his ear. "Even if they didn't tell you I was there, you could have chosen to come calling."

He smiled at the bite and gently nuzzled his cheek against her.

"I got caught up in a few things," he said, "but we'll call this payback against my inconsiderate siblings."

Lock reached up to pet her small head. He made sure to get that one spot behind her ear that she always had difficulty reaching.

Lillith closed her eyes and leaned up against his neck. When he rubbed that one part behind her ear, she flopped over sideways and hung upside down from his shirt. The little bat let out a trill that almost sounded like a purr.

After a moment, she switched back and returned to unpacking the picnic basket. Out came two goblets, two sets of rather fancy silverware, some small sandwiches for Lock, a blood pie for herself, some blood wine to share, and a short black candle scented with widow spider musk.

"So Shock has been working on something to terrorize the humans, Carver's been making herself a new head, and Barrel has probably just been eating his way out of an early grave. What have you been up to?"

Lock kept petting her until she went back to her normal form. He shifted a little as she set things down for their picnic.

"I've been doing some of the grunt work for Shock," Lock said, "to get on her good side, but...well, I'll cross that grave when I get to it."

He took a ravenous bite out of one of the sandwiches before he continued.

"And Barrel might be eating his way out of the grave, but his cooking speaks for itself."

In the rare times Carmilla and Lillith joined them for dinner, blood pudding was on the menu. And in all of Halloween Town, only the vampires made it better. It was their specialty, of course.

"And speaking of Barrel," Lock continued, "I've also been helping him practice, which is pretty much a full-time job in itself."

Lock's tail twitched as he shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. It wasn't just with drums, either. Part of that included quizzing Barrel on potions when Shock got fed up with tutoring him, not that Lillith needed to know that. Shock even made flashcards - some of which, Carver illustrated out of boredom - that Lock could just use for review. They worked well enough that Lock seriously debated finding a way to put playing the drums in flashcard form.

"He's not dumb," Lock said, "but there are some things he struggles with. Thing is, I can't tell of this is one of those things, or if he just does it to annoy me."

He took a sip of the wine.

"What about you?"

Lillith nodded along as he spoke, daintily helping herself to a piece of her pie. "Little bit of column A, little bit of column B, I imagine," she said in response to is comment about Barrel. "It's likely that he's less motivated to overcome any difficulty he has, because he finds it amusing to watch you get frustrated."

"As for me, we've been rehearsing for our Halloween performances, both here and in the mortal realm. We've had them all mastered since June, but the elders want to ensure we don't fall out of practice."

"Work, work, work, huh?" Lock asked. "Sounds like we've both been busy."

He had to admit, this was nice. As he sat with Lillith and enjoyed his time with her, he'd nearly forgotten about the band meeting. By the time they finished and headed back, though, he more than remembered.

Might as well face the music. Literally.

In the time Lock and Lillith were gone, Shock got a few recordings of their practice sessions. She played them back for the group to determine which round was the best, to make a master tape later to torment Lock. After almost two hours passed, and they saw neither tail nor wing of Lock and Lillith, she called it for the day.

Barrel went to the kitchen to get some snacks and tea. By the time Lock and Lillith returned, the instruments were put away and most of the group was calmly sitting on the roulette wheel, enjoying snake skin chips, critter cookies, and bloodroot tea. As Lock crawled in through the window, he even noticed Shock casually refilling Carmilla's cup for her as the lot of them laughed at a joke Carver told.

The surreality of the whole scene made him inwardly quail.

"How nice of you to finally join us," Shock said without looking up. "Practice went well, by the way."

"And no craters," Barrel said with a grin.

He stuffed another handful of chips in his mouth.

Lillith flew in behind Lock and landed on his shoulder. She looked back and forth between Shock and Carmilla, then slowly put her ears down and leaned against his neck.

Carmilla casually sipped her tea, holding back a smirk. She and her sister didn't fight publicly the way the trio did, and in fact rarely properly fought at all, but when they did, they didn't bother with short and easy methods. They hadn't hit each other since long before they came to Halloween Town. Lillith knew she was in trouble, and Carmilla didn't even have to look imposing to make her twin nervous.

Carver blinked slowly at the couple, like a cat expressing its undisturbable self-contentment and utter refusal to acknowledge any potential threats. "Welcome back. Did you have a nice date?"

Lock reached up to give Lillith a reassuring pet. He groaned internally, but tried to play it off casually.

"Yeah," he said, though he kept his tone careful.

Not too much enjoyment, but not too casual, either.

"So, um...I guess same time next week?"

Shock finished the rest of her tea in one quick gulp, then glared at her younger brother.

"Or maybe we should start two-and-a-half hours later so you two can bump headstones first."

That got Barrel to giggle. He didn't bother to try to stop, as he wasn't the one in trouble. Shock ignored him and pushed herself up. She crossed her arms as she stared Lock down.

"We'll just have a nice tea party in the meantime. Because that's why we meet every week."

Lock sensed danger and barely kept himself from stepping back. Shock then turned her glare to Lillith. A devious little smirk formed on her lips as she noticed the bat's ears lowered in fear.

"Of course, you're not entirely at fault."

With that, she gave a casual glance to Carmilla.

Lillith's ears were most certainly not lowered in fear. She was from Halloween Town, after all, and loved a good fright as much as anyone. What she didn't like was knowing that something was coming, but having no idea what to prepare for. She could fairly easily escape if Shock tried to physically attack her, but that clearly wasn't the imminent threat. Carmilla wouldn't let the trickster do that -- but she wasn't even moving in preparation to defend her. So that meant whatever was coming had been green-lit by her sister.

Lillith was not scared. Her ears were lowered in suspicion, trepidation, and an internal debate about whether she actually regretted causing this. She didn't want to know what the two of them could think up if they actually worked together on a vengeance plot.

Carmilla watched her sister duck, inwardly satisfied for the moment, though not enough to call off the rest of the plan. She held out a dainty pinky and took another sip. The vampiress said nothing; it was quite possibly the only thing she could think of which could be arguably more disturbing than Shock being cordial.

Shock's smirk widened, satisfied enough at the vibes she got from the vampire twins' silent communication.

"But like I said," she continued. "Practice went well. I think Carmilla and I nailed 'Siren Song'."

Lock looked between Carmilla and his sister. They actually worked together?

"It's true," Barrel said through another mouthful of chips. He swallowed, then grinned. "I didn't think Shock could sing that high, but she did."

Shock gave Barrel a playful smack. Lock still didn't believe it.

"You're fucking with me."

Shock rolled her eyes and sarcastically sang a few of the notes in question. Lock quickly deflated. Shock then turned to Lillith.

"Carver figured out the theremin pretty quickly," she continued, before shifting her glance back to Lock, "and, oh, you're going to love this."

She gave Lock her sharpest smile. She enjoyed his shock and building fury.

"Barrel played perfectly."

Lock's eyes widened.

"What?"

"I didn't miss a single note!" Barrel said proudly.

"It seems all that practice finally paid off--" Shock started.

"--And you missed it!" Barrel cheerfully finished.

"No, you didn't!" Lock cried. "You never do a new song right!"

His siblings both held up their hands for their brother to see.

"No tricks!" Shock and Barrel said together.

"And more than that--" Barrel said.

"--We have proof," Shock said deviously.

She reached into her pocket and held up the little cassette tape in two fingers. Lock's tail whipped into a frenzy seconds before he marched over to his siblings, briefly forgetting about Lillith on his shoulder.

"You did that on purpose!" he screamed. "Just to spite me! I knew you could play it right if you wanted to!"

Barrel stuck out his tongue.

"Nuh-uh!"

Shock smirked and held the tape out of Lock's reach. If he wanted it, he would have to fight her for it.

"Maybe next time, you won't ditch your band," she said sweetly.

Carmilla smiled sweetly when Lock looked at her, but continued to remain silent. When he marched over to the group with Lillith still in bat form on his shoulder, she slowly and calmly stood up. She glided to get right in front of him and stared down at them with an intensity in her eyes that only matched the sickly sugariness in her smile. She still gave Shock room to maneuver and taunt her brother, but made sure he would feel closed in by her presence and position.

Carver took advantage of the couple's position and point of focus to slip quietly behind them, preparing her vines to grab as many limbs as she could if either of them tried to fight or flee.

"I--!" Lock started.

But he had no argument, and he knew it. Carmilla's stare combined with Barrel's amusement and Shock's wicked glee all did their part to make him feel even more embarrassed. Embarrassment only fueled his building anger. With a low growl, Lock launched himself at Shock.

"Give it!"

Shock barely managed to toss the tape to Carver before she moved her arms up to block him. Lock only got one hit in before he found himself pulled back.

"Hey!"

Carver used one vine to shove the tape into her mouth and drop it through her throat hole into her cage. The rest of her vines shot out to wrap themselves around Lock's ankles, tail, and forearms. She had just enough to get two on each limb without costing herself control of her own body.

Lillith shot off of Lock's shoulder, successfully dodging both a vine that unwrapped itself from Lock's arm and a swipe from Carmilla, and flew up out of their immediate reach. She transformed and stood upside down on the ceiling. On the one hand, she wanted to defend Lock, but on the other, the two of them were significantly outnumbered and the tricksters did have a standard policy of fighting things out and then being best friends again five minutes later. It might be better to just let them get it over with.

Carmilla tilted her head up to grin maliciously at her sister, then turned away and helped Carver get Lock fully tied up and pinned down.

The thin bars of Carver's cage were great for keeping things inside. They were not so great for slipping fingers through to get something out, not that Lock could with his limbs bound. Between Carver, Carmilla, and Shock, he could barely move. Barrel managed to stop laughing long enough to assist.

And by "assist," it meant picking up the bowl of snake skin chips and sitting down on his older brother while the girls finished binding him. Lock grimaced. Unbeknownst to all but Lillith, this was the second time today.

"You all suck!" Lock cried.

Shock stood up to properly admire her handiwork. An amused smile crossed her lips.

"Mmm, I think that's Lillith's job," she said, with a knowing glance to the ceiling.

"Yeah!" Barrel agreed, then looked confused. "...Wait, I don't get it."

Shock just patted his head. Barrel actually did have a thick skull. Sometimes, she wondered just how thick. Lock gave up his struggle. Shock turned back to him.

"But I think the only one doing any sucking is gonna be Lock."

She smirked as she got down on one knee to better be at his level.

"Sucking up that is."

Lock glared up at her. Shock locked her gaze with his and glared right back. As her smile faded, Lock sensed his sister's unspoken words.

You left me with her.

He tried to keep up his own glare as Shock towered over him. Behind her, Barrel sat still and quietly watched his siblings with tense anticipation, aside from the crunch of chips. Shock leaned in closer and lowered her voice until only Lock heard her.

"You owe me big."

Lock tried to stand his ground, but he knew better than to push his sister any further.

"L-like I don't already know that?" he asked.

Shock's tone went colder than the grave.

"Glad we're on the same page," she said, "because I have half a mind to revoke my permission until you get your head out of the storm clouds."

Any attempt to keep face drained, because Lock knew if Lillith made any attempts to see him without Shock's permission to allow her here, his older sister would retaliate, and the extent of that retaliation would depend on her mood. Lock gave her a defeated sigh.

"Fine, your highness," he said. "Can you let me go now?"

Shock glanced to Carver, Barrel, and Carmilla, and pretended to ponder.

"Hmm...should we?"

"I'm good," Barrel said with a grin. "This is much better than the floor!"

"Barrel!"

Once Lock was properly incapacitated, Carmilla stepped back and turned away to let the tricksters finish their... ahem, internal affairs. She waved ever so blithely to Lillith. "I'll see you at home, my dear sister. I have some... chores to finish."

Carver gave Carmilla a salute with her one free vine. "Have fun! Be sure to let me know how it went, next week!"

With that, she focused back on the task at hand, and poked her captive's hair. "Anybody know how much pink dye we have left? I think I have some of my mother's lipstick in me, too..." The lower lids of her two bottom pairs of eyes lifted upwards to squint in a sly grin, while her topmost eyes widened in glee. "It's the kind that won't wash off without those special make up remover pads. Soap doesn't do shit for it."

Lillith seemed to vibrate as she struggled to decide what to do. On the one hand, Carmilla had used the word, "finish," which meant if she hurried, she might be able to haggle her way into avoiding whatever her sister had planned. On the other hand... With Carmilla gone, Lillith might have the strength and speed to overpower the tricksters and save her boyfriend from--

...Actually, if she was completely honest with herself, she did think he would look kinda hot with lipstick that on any level went with his black pleather pants, and if they did manage to hold him down long enough to dye his hair... Well, she could use that as leverage to make him give her a proper struggle on their next date morning...

She nodded to herself quietly, gave Lock one last apologetic(ish) glance, then flew out the window after her sister.

"Probably just enough to dye his horns," Shock said sweetly. "Think you can hold him still long enough?"

Lock struggled again.

"You wouldn't--!"

He knew they would. He tried a different tactic.

"Lilliiiiiith! Help!"

Lock watched the ceiling. He saw Lillith nod and come down...only to fly out the window after her sister. Which only got his own siblings to laugh that he'd been abandoned.

"Damn it, Lillith!" he cried. "You traitor!"

Shock grinned at Carver.

"Toss me the lipstick."

As soon as the pumpkin creature retrieved it from her cage, Shock had Barrel hold Lock's head still so she could carefully paint the dull rose pink onto Lock's lips, with a further threat that if he moved them too much, she'd make him look like Clown. Lock grimaced. If it were red or black, he might not have minded too much, but no. The one color Carver stole had to be pink, and it would horribly clash with his red hair.

Once the lipstick set, Shock allowed Carver to let him go. The glower she got from Lock triggered another fit of laughter. Barrel fell over too.

"So pretty!" he said.

"Screw all of you!" Lock cried.

"I'll get the drill," Shock offered.

Lock flipped her off, then headed out of the lair.

"I mean I could probably hold him for several hours, unless his girlfriend decides to sacrifice herself to come save him..." Carver tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes, taking a moment to sense where everybody was. When she felt Lillith fly out after Carmilla, the pumpkin's eyes opened just long enough to squint back down to slivers as the corners of her mouth slid upward. "And there she goes. We can do whatever we want, now."

She cackled as she pulled out the lipstick tube and passed it to Shock.

After she let Lock go, she simply nodded appreciatively while the others laughed. "Nice line work, Shock. Accentuates and exaggerates the curves of his lips, without going noticeably out of bounds. Very tasteful. I like it."

"Years of practice," Shock said with a grin.

Of course, she got her practice from the art up in their tree house. Shock tossed the lipstick back to Carver for safekeeping.

Over the following week, Lock spent a good chunk of his time collecting forget-me-lots, powdering and storing the ones that already dried, and helping Shock coach Barrel on potions. He also used a mask to hide his face to go to the Witches' Shop for something to remove the lipstick. Agatha gave him the run-around about the potential mischief he could cause with it, and after having her fun, finally sold it to him after promising a date with Barrel.

Well, he wouldn't call it a date, but sure, he could probably trick Barrel into meeting Agatha sometime next week. And speaking of dates, Lock made sure to arrange one with Lillith. He didn't want a repeat of last week.

By the time the next band practice came around, Shock was in a better mood, as the plan was coming together. Barrel was late again, probably doing whatever down in the sewers. Lock made his way down the slide after Shock to at least get things set up. Shock landed first, then stepped out of the way so Lock wouldn't crash into her. She straightened her skirt, then calmly walked to set up the microphone. Lock went to his guitar case to tune it...only to find that the strings were missing.

"Shock!"

Shock turned to him.

"What?"

Lock pointed to the guitar.

"Where are the strings?"

"How should I know?" Shock asked. "I'm not in charge of your things."

"You did it to punish me!"

"I did nothing."

Lock growled as he caught the specification.

"Who did, then? Barrel? Carver?"

Shock shrugged with a smirk. Lock tackled her. Shock went down, but carefully positioned her body as she fell. She leaned back to throw her brother off of her. Lock slammed hard into the floor, but recovered quickly. He dove for his sister's legs as she got up. The two of them would still be brawling as the others arrived, with the only care to keep the fight away from the instruments.