The second Shock burst out the front door, Lock started laughing. He laughed even harder when his older sister took a tumble down the stairs. He trembled so hard from laughter that he actually squirmed his way out of Lillith's arms, fell off her hip, and onto the ground. That he only laughed even harder showed enough that he wasn't hurt.

Being the tallest, Barrel saw the whole thing over the heads of the few monsters around Jack's gate. He clutched his sides in one arm and placed the other up against the fountain statue for support. Both of the trickster brothers had tears pouring down their cheeks.

With the other two of the trio laughing, a few other monsters started laughing as well, until it started a chain reaction in the rest of the crowd.

Over in the courtyard, Jack quickly went over to Shock to help her up and make sure she was okay. Zero flew up to Jack and licked his skull. Jack gave him a reassuring pet before he carefully knelt down beside Shock.

Shock tried to push herself up. She turned, only to see--

"--J-Jack!"

She coughed out a bit more of the smoke from her lungs. Jack offered his arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Shock moved to take his offer, then froze. She pulled away from him and tried to get up on her own, only for her foot to catch a cobblestone. Jack caught her before she could fall again and helped her to her feet. Shock let him. Her legs shook, but she stayed stable.

Then, in only a second, she seemed to remember where she was and picked up her usual haughtiness. She pulled away to dust herself off.

"I'm fine, Jack," she said, in an attempt to brush it off.

Zero barked and flew up to lick her face. Shock smiled a little, then gently pushed the ghost dog away from her.

Jack nodded. A smile started to form over his skull.

"Well then," he said. "I take it you had fun?"

Shock started to say something, but the ringing in her ears and the dizziness from the fall cleared enough that she now registered the other monsters' laughter from beyond the gate. She froze again. Jack caught something in her face - not even shame or embarrassment, but a distinct discomfort, possibly even fear. Shock pulled away from him and started to run. She shoved the gate open to make a break for it.

Her shoe caught at the threshold and sent her flying forward into the group of monsters. There was enough space between them that she hit the ground.

Over by the fountain, Lock and Barrel laughed even harder, if that was possible. Barrel's hand slipped from the fountain statue, and he joined Lock on the ground.

Shock struggled to push herself up again. They were staring. She didn't care that the other monsters were pointing and laughing, that her own brothers could be heard well over everyone else...only that they were staring and watching her every move.

Shock hated staring. She hated how she could feel their eyes on her, how some of them moved closer to get a better look.

Too many monsters.

Too many eyes.

Shock scrambled to her feet. She had to get away from here, from their staring eyes and peals of laughter. She made a mad dash for the main gate and shoved away any monster in her path, not only to clear a space, but to give the others something else to stare at.

She felt better once she passed the main gate. At least then, she was away from the staring eyes.

Jack stood dumbfounded for a moment, still frozen with his hand outstretched to help. In truth, Shock trying to run, tripping again, and getting away had only taken a few seconds. Jack lowered his hand and watched the oldest trickster flee. He shook his head, then looked back to his tower. He'd have to go in and assess the damage, but at least a lot of the smoke seemed to have cleared from the front door.

Lillith struggled to maintain her decorum, but the surrounding laughter was quite infectious. She managed not to cackle as hard as her sister and boyfriend, at least. Carmilla doubled over, clutching her stomach in unabashed hilarity as Shock tripped again in her attempt to flee.

Once Shock was out of sight and things started to calm down, Lillith got to thinking. Plenty of monsters had called out to Jack when he'd come out of town hall. But whereas most of them had called out in relief, the boys in her group had called out in surprise and confusion. She had an inkling of an idea why Lock was so accepting of a walk through the square, now. He'd undoubtedly known about his sister's prank, and was hoping to catch sight of Jack stumbling out of the house covered in various substances. Unfortunately, she couldn't call him out on that, because then he might start to think about why she had suggested a walk through the square at the most opportune time.

The teens all found themselves drawn out of their respective reveries and remaining chuckles by a string of curses that were now audible without all the other ruckus. Everyone turned to Carver in surprise.

"Corvin?" Agatha spoke up. "Is everything alright?"

Carver quickly shut up mid-rant. He crossed his arms and turned to avoid the girls' gaze. "Apologies," he said tightly after a moment. "I am, having a, mechanical, malfunction. I think, I will go, rest." He stood up and stomped away from the group.

Lock and Barrel were the last of the group to even remotely calm down. Barrel pushed himself up onto all fours and wiped the tears from his eyes, then used the edge of the fountain to help himself get back on his feet.

"I don't think I've ever seen her screw up a trick that badly," he said.

Another, softer set of giggles started again.

"That was-that was great!"

Lock managed to sit up after a moment. He stayed where he was, though his tail was still twitching up a storm behind him.

"Y-yeah," he agreed.

He tried to settle down. Carver's mini-tantrum helped to sober him up. The cursing made him laugh again, though not nearly as hard as Shock's trick backfiring on her. He and Barrel both picked up on the fact that Carver couldn't enjoy the mayhem the way he wanted to.

"You do that," he said with a smile, though he could easily play it off as residual amusement from his older sister's massive failure.

Barrel managed to stop giggling long enough to wave goodbye to Carver, though another glance at Jack's house and the residual smoke coming from the front door set off another round of giggles. Neither of the trickster brothers noticed Jack stroll up to the group of teens. The look on his skull was a mix of concern and amusement.

"Lock," he said, calmly. "Barrel. Did either of you--?"

"--Know about it?" Lock finished for him. He snickered. "No, Jack."

"Honest!" Barrel exclaimed. He giggled again. "Well...not this part, anyway."

"She just said to be in the square in the afternoon ," Lock said with a grin. "And that we'd--"

"--Know it--" Barrel continued.

"--When we saw it," Lock finished.

Both of them started laughing again. Jack sighed and shook his skull. With how hard they were still laughing, they were probably telling the truth - or at least, as much of it as he was going to get out of either of them at the moment. He gave a knowing glance to Agatha, then looked behind him to the tower.

"...All right," he said. "I'm going to see how much damage she caused and give her a chance to calm down. Then I'm going to go talk to her. I want the two of you to stay out of it, no tricks. Are we clear?"

Lock and Barrel both calmed down enough to show their hands. Normally, the rule was they offered no tricks, as it prevented other citizens from asking them to not cause trouble beforehand. As Jack was being lenient and even letting them off, both boys were happy to make an exception to stay out of trouble.

"No tricks, Jack!" they said together.

Jack nodded in affirmation, then turned to go. Lock pushed himself onto his feet and sidled up to Lillith.

"I still owe you a walk," he said. "And since it's probably not a good idea to be home tonight, can I stay with you?"

Barrel realized it too. Carver was probably going to be in the pumpkin patch ranting for a bit. With Shock in a mood at the lair, and Jack heading that way later...

"Rats," he said. "Guess those rats will just have to wait until tomorrow."

But he still had some money, as he was intending to do some shopping anyway. Now he simply had a change of plan...and no one to hang with afterwards, if Lock was going to be spending the night with his girlfriend. Barrel frowned. He could always bum around the sewers, but he'd also been looking forward to a fun evening at home with his siblings, had Shock's trick worked out. Barrel looked over who was left in the group as he giggled again to try to hide his growing disappointment.

Or maybe...

"Hey, Agatha," he said. "Want to go to the Crypt Cafe later?"

Carmilla quickly got a hold of herself as the Pumpkin King approached the group, but made no attempt to hide how amused and satisfied she was with the situation. Once he left, she grinned at Agatha and winked conspiratorially behind Barrel's back. She'd think of a good way to thank the witch for her warning later. For now, she didn't want to risk the boys having their attention drawn back to her friend's earlier comment and telling Shock that there existed magics which could apparently predict her movements.

Lillith gave Lock a congenial nod. "I'm sure I can convince my father that you would cause less trouble with us than with your sister, this evening." She picked him up and set him back on her hip. "Do you still need to stop by the shop, before we continue on our stroll?" she asked with the faintest hint of a knowing smirk.

Agatha's withered little heart did a somersault. He liked what she'd done! And he was rewarding her with a second date! She beamed. She might have to try something like this again, sometime. Of course going after Shock again, especially in any immediate or consistent manner, would be far too dangerous. But perhaps the occasional interference with some of Lock's "projects" wouldn't go particularly ary... Oh, right! She hadn't said yes yet!

Agatha coughed several times to disguise the delay in her response. "Of course, that would be lovely! Thank you," she added politely.

Lock happily let Lillith pick him up again and kissed her cheek.

"I've got my fill today," he said with a grin and a flick of his tail. He nuzzled her neck at the mention of the shop. He was about to ask when he remembered his little white lie. "Nah. I'll do it later."

He turned to Carmilla.

"I know you're gonna want to gloat," Lock said, "and it's your funeral if you do, but save the grave-digging for after practice, 'kay?"

Barrel grinned.

"Great! See you after work!"

~~~

It took a while to wash off the end result of her mischief. Shock took three baths to get most of the goop and spider-webs off, but despite her hardest scrubbing, there were still faint traces of the greenish-gray smoke on her skin. She scowled, but at least it wasn’t immediately noticeable. The hot water had soothed the bruises she got in her tumble down the tower, but her body still ached.

Having gotten as clean as she could for the moment, Shock pulled on one of her few spare outfits: an old dress that now better served as a long shirt, as the hem barely covered what it needed to. The collar was torn one one side and had a strap to keep the garment on her shoulder. The ends of the sleeves were torn at the wrists so she could still fit her hands through them. A pair of black shorts and some striped, thigh-high socks, and she was comfortable enough for the moment. Her normal outfit, she scrubbed twice and hung over the side of the tub to dry.

With the trick having gone awry, and not wanting to be seen or available for a while, Shock went to the slide and hoisted herself inside. Once down, she headed for the scorpion room and locked the door. Barrel was out of scorpion duty for today; she needed to get her mind on something else.

Something other than the dull aches and the staring eyes and the laughter and the feelings of discomfort they brought.

Shock saw her plans on the work table. She glared at them, then ran to the table with a scream and started throwing them to the floor and tearing them apart. That trick should have gone perfectly! No one saw her go in! She had everything set up! And then due to the worst possible luck, everything blew up in her face! Shock didn’t even care about the crowds, only that she tried desperately to find something, someone to blame - and she could only come up with her own clumsiness. No one else knew about this trick, not even her brothers. At least...they didn’t know what she was going to do, or when. And she knew they wouldn’t interfere with a planned trick against Jack, because she’d have their damn heads if either of them had anything to do with it.

Once her fury ran its course and the room was now a flurry of torn and scattered paper, Shock settled down. She still shook with anger at her own failure as she gripped the edge of the work table and tried to calm herself. Her bruises ached again with the knowledge that her failure wasn’t even the worst part.

It was the eyes, and the staring. She was sure every monster in Halloween Town was looking down on her and laughing. The laughing, she could handle, but the stares…

The hungry stares, like they wanted more from her. More than her humiliation and failure. More than simple amusement at the irony of getting caught by her own trick. Shock glanced up at the tanks around her. The only other living creatures in the room were her scorpions. Most of them were skittering around their tanks, some fighting, others burrowing in the sand. None of them paid her much mind save for a glance here and there. That calmed her. None of the eyes in the room with her were unfamiliar, and none of them stared.

Still, Shock couldn’t shake the feeling that somewhere, someone was still staring at her. She glanced behind her as if to catch someone, and only saw her wall of preserved pets.

There was nothing else there.

She then glanced at the shelf by the door, where Loki’s tank and many of her supplies stood on the shelf. Shock walked over and carefully opened the tank's lid, then slipped her cupped hand inside for Loki to crawl into. He immediately sensed her apprehension as Shock held him up to curl around her ear. He gently poked her temple with his tail and nibbled on the end of her ear. Shock smiled a little as the scorpion venom stung, then slipped into her veins. It - along with Loki’s love bites and pinches - calmed her down immensely. The scorpion venom would eventually soothe her wounds.

No longer feeling entirely alone, Shock quickly threw her focus into the scorpion tanks. She checked on the ones that had been infected first to get an update on their health. The healing salve had done a great job, but many of them needed another dose. Shock took them out one at a time, individually inspected them, gently rubbed some of the salve on their shells, and placed them back in the original, now-sanitized tank. After that, she set about her usual routine of feeding, milking venom, separating any that got too violent with each other, checking the tanks she set aside for harvest, and looking for any new mothers to separate into their own tanks to keep an eye on the developing scorplings.

Time passed. While Loki’s gentle bites and pinches remained a constant reminder that she wasn’t alone, Shock still felt wary and uneasy. In the back of her mind, she swore she sensed another presence.

That something still stared.

Ever since Oogie’s passing, it had been an unspoken rule that no one liked being down in the lair alone. Perhaps it was the unpleasant memories of working for the boogieman, the threats of being made into stew if they failed him, and the twisted joy they felt upon completing a task, but always with the thought of failure at the back of their minds. Perhaps they felt Oogie never truly left, that it was haunted. Perhaps some part of them still revered the lair as a sacred, unholy ground to be tread upon with care.

Shock reached up to pet Loki and shoved the thought back. If there was anything down here, he would notice. While she knew her favorite pet could sense her uneasiness, that he was calm himself soothed her. That none of the other scorpions seemed bothered further eased her mind and let her believe that it was her mind playing tricks on her, that perhaps this place simply held too many foul memories to ever truly reclaim it. Calmer now, Shock started to pick up the torn pieces of her failed plans to dispose of.

As Loki gently nibbled on her ear, she briefly envied him. Loki’s world consisted of his tank, food, the tricks she taught him, and their special bond since he was born and showed devious promise as the runt of the brood and outsmarted some of his siblings to get more food. Such a simple creature, having never dealt with the pain and memories and complicated emotions about the lair, or the drudgery of day-to-day life in Halloween Town, or the complex relationships with other monsters or the horror of growing up while everything else stood still. Even more, Loki had never lived his life as a tolerated outcast. He had only ever known her love and devotion, and always lived in relative comfort. Shock gently stroked his shell with a brief smile. Like all her pets, she ensured he had a good life, because something in the lair should have one. The wall of her preserved pets served as trophies that Oogie’s influence couldn’t taint everything down here.

The area cleared, Shock threw the papers away and took a seat at the work table. She then pulled out her ledger to start with the drollest part of her work: checking debts, tracking supplies, and figuring out how to compensate the harvest schedule now that she was behind. While she and her brothers sometimes traded favors for things that they needed, and Lock and Barrel sometimes scoured the forest and sewers for things other monsters found too troublesome to gather themselves, the scorpion business was their quickest, greatest source of income. The infected tank was definitely going to set them back.

She still felt the staring eyes on her as she worked. Shock tried to push that niggling sense away and just focus on the numbers before her. The more she stared, the less sense they made. They even blurred together. Her body still felt stiff and ached. Sitting still, the last of her adrenaline drained as all of the day’s events finally started to weigh down on her now that she wasn't busying herself with scorpion work. Shock rested her head in one hand and stifled back a yawn. She briefly thought of going upstairs, but already her mind felt hazy and weary. She looked back down at the ledger.

Maybe just for a moment…

Shock closed her eyes. Loki still obediently clung to her ear and gently pinched. A moment later, Shock’s arm slipped. Her head fell into the crook of her elbow and curled into it like a pillow. Loki felt her pulse even out. He pinched her ear, but Shock didn’t move. He nuzzled his head against her neck and settled down himself as he recognized Mom was exhausted. He was content to curl up where he was and rest with her.

For a long while, Shock slept, quiet and still. A shadow formed behind her. None of the scorpions paid it any mind. Having been raised here, down in the lair, they knew its presence like their own tails. The eldest trickster shuddered in her sleep as the shadow moved closer to her. Her movement alerted Loki, who looked up at the shadow.

“No need to fear, little scorpion,” it said as it reached a dark hand towards him. Slowly, the shadow became flesh and lightened into a soft, pale gray. The shadow cupped its palm near Shock’s ear to let Loki step down. “You know I won’t harm her.”

Loki chittered, then stepped into the shadow’s hand. The shadow gently stroked his shell, then brought him back to his container. The shadow then plucked a beetle from one of Shock’s jars to give to Loki to munch on. Her favorite scorpion safe and content, the shadow moved back to Shock. She shuddered again, but stilled as the shadow carefully picked her up and cradled her in its arms like an overgrown child. Loki glanced up only once to ensure Shock was fine, then went back to his beetle.

The door to the scorpion room unlocked by itself and opened. The shadow carried Shock across the hall to Oogie’s old bedroom. The door creaked open on its own. The trio rarely ventured in here, save for an occasional private moment to collect one’s thoughts. Lock and Lillith had their fun in here once, but swore to never do it again after noticeable feelings of discomfort. Lock even guiltily cleaned the sheets afterward, which was why they weren’t covered in dust like so many other items in the room. The massive bed waited in a twisted frame. The springs in the mattress were delightfully uneven, the comforter thick and worn. It held a patchwork of card suits and skulls.

Carefully, the shadow set Shock down on the bed and gently crossed her arms over her chest like a corpse waiting for burial. It even chose the springs carefully to dig into her back, not unlike her favorite floorboard up in the tree house. She comfortably settled in, but stilled again.

“Rest, child,” the shadow said. “We’ll meet again soon enough.”

With that, it morphed into the darkness and disappeared.

Carver stomped back and forth around the pumpkin patch for several hours. Behemoth came over a couple of times to try and help 'Corvin' but soon figured out that such a thing was not possible, and left him to his own devices.

[[Note to self: Add detail later. Don't want to make N wait any longer.]]

carver goes back to lab
Takes effort to open front door right when building is creaking from wind
Sneaks inside
Dr is in Carver's bedroom
Carver tries to avoid confrontation because "not in the mood to deal with him"
Dr does not notice that said confrontation avoidance is a Bad Sign
Dr informs Carver they're going to be chained in their bedroom for a month as punishment for wheelchair jam
Carver asks to "at least" be let out for band practice
Dr says no
"But I promised"
Jewel calls in that keeping their word is part of responsiblity and obligation that Carver needs to learn
Dr complains
Jewel tells him she's not going to fix his wheelchair again the next time Carver makes a run for it
Dr begrudgingly allows Carver to go to practice, but they'll have to wear a tracking device and be escorted to and from the treehouse
Carver is still grouchy but lets Dr chain them up without hassle
Dr takes this as a Good Sign

Dark forms surrounded her. Shock tried to make them out, but all she saw were figures twice her height and silhouetted. Some of them, she recognized as wearing hats and coats, while others were less distinct. They all shared one feature:

She saw their eyes quite clearly.

Anywhere she moved, the eyes followed her with hungry longing. Sometimes, the shadows moved and reached for her. Shock backed away and turned to run. But there were more dark silhouettes waiting with hungry eyes. Eyes that looked beyond her. Eyes that didn’t see her as her own monster, but as…

~~~

A deep gasp forced her awake. Shock felt herself sinking as she struggled to sit up. Something bounced and wriggled beneath her. For a moment, she only saw darkness with a few blurs of color. Then, as she regained her senses, she picked out her striped stockings on the ends of her feet, the bright colors underneath them. Her body trembled with the remnants of the nightmare. She blinked a few times to ensure that what she saw before her was real.

Bright patches of card suits and blacklight skulls. A dusty table to her right that held an even dustier set of dice. A large, cracked vanity in front of the bed with a mirror so encased in shadow, she couldn’t even see her own reflection.

Oogie’s old room.

How did I get here…?

Shock briefly tried to recall when she had fallen asleep. She slowly remembered the scorpion room and the ledger, and how the numbers bored her…

Did I come here to rest and not remember?

Her bruises ached. Her earlobe stung. Shock lifted a hand to her left ear. Panic filled her then.

“Loki!”

With some trouble thanks to the creaking, uneven springs, Shock pushed herself off the bed and bolted across the hall to the scorpion room. Relief immediately washed over her when she saw Loki curled in a corner of his tank, asleep.

Maybe she put him back and simply didn’t remember?

Shock reached into Loki’s tank and gently stroked his shell, mostly to reassure herself that yes, her pet was safe and real. Then, she took a final glance around the room. The scorpions were fine. The ledger was right where she left it. But more than that, she noticed that everything about the lair was...quiet.

No clanging in the kitchen from Barrel preparing dinner, no guitar in the main room from Lock’s practice, no laughter or cursing from Carver. A sense of dread filled her then.

I can’t be down here any longer.

Shock turned to Loki and pet his shell one more time. Then, she left the scorpion room and ran for the main lair so she could get back up to the tree house.

As she entered the old casino, her dream came back to her. Some of the old torture devices and skeletons reminded her of the shadows that towered over and stared down at her. Eyes that followed her, and saw her as…

Shock skittered up the ladder and into the window. She practically jumped for the rope ladder leading up into the treehouse. She glanced only once behind her at the window that led into the lair to be certain nothing followed. Shock tried to keep her thoughts back as she went up into the tree house, where she could feel safe and far away from the feeling of being stared at, at feeling like...

The trapdoor leading into the tree house opened. Shock crawled inside and collapsed to the floor. She tried to keep her thoughts back as she took in the comfort and familiarity of the uneven, creaky floorboards, of the painted walls and trinkets on the shelves, the stack of board games and comic books, and the bathtub in its corner with her clothes still drying on the rim.

Yet the word lingered in her mind, the way the eyes stared and unnerved her. How they looked at her and watched her every move as if she were...

…Prey.

~~~

The uneasiness from her time in the lair unsettled her so much that Shock was actually glad when Jack came by to get her to help him and Sally clean up the rest of her prank. Sally had gotten started solely so the paint and other quick-drying things wouldn’t stick and settle and be more of a hassle to clean up later. Shock gave Jack her usual snark to keep up appearances, but realistically, it didn’t take much convincing to get her to come with him to help set things right.

Jack didn’t dwell on the events of the day beyond telling her he felt her public humiliation was punishment enough, and that he was offering her the opportunity to do the right thing without other monsters pointing and laughing. Shock didn’t admit it, but she was grateful that Jack seemed to have taken her earlier discomfort into consideration. And while she disliked cleaning, it was still better than being in the lair by herself.

Lock and Barrel were still gone by the time she returned home. Shock figured they found other things to do to give her space. She stayed up in the tree house and busied herself with repairs that went ignored and sharpening their weapons. While she still needed to crunch numbers, she didn't want to be down there by herself again.

It wouldn't be until the next morning that the tree house - and by that token, the lair - felt somewhat normal again. Barrel had gotten in sometime after she'd fallen asleep. His powerful snores woke her just before dawn, and while she was annoyed at being awake, Shock smiled and gave her little brother a loving shove before settling in to use his soft, massive stomach as a pillow. They stayed that way for another two hours before the youngest trickster shoved her off to go make breakfast.

Barrel knew well enough that his older sister was still on edge, as she hadn't been tossing and turning in her sleep when he got in. Well, it was nothing a good breakfast couldn't fix! And then there was band practice later, where Shock would inevitably pick a fight with Carmilla and feel better, and he'd feel better too by watching the chaos and Lock getting frustrated. Today was sure to be a good day!

He hummed as he cracked a few vulture eggs and started some paincakes, as they didn't need many spices. Barrel frowned at the thought, but shook his head. Carver had kept the more expensive and hard to replace ones for last. Bastard. It would be easier to do a few more tricks than come up with the supplies to trade for them.

Shock came down just as he was finishing up. She took one quick stop to the scorpion room to retrieve Loki before joining him for breakfast. She didn't say much as they ate, but at least she'd seemed to have already gotten out her more violent frustrations from her trick going wrong. Barrel decided to get to the scorpion tanks after breakfast so it was out of the way before practice - and to stay on Shock's good side.

Lock took advantage of staying with Lillith. The little devil, fueled by his sister's massive failure, had gotten his fill of trouble. The elder vampires already knew what had happened before they even got there - word traveled fast in Halloween Town, and even the most ignorant monster would have heard that explosion from the farthest corners of the cemetery and come asking. It helped ease their minds when Lillith talked with her father about letting him stay the night.

That meant he was perfectly behaved at dinner, and when it came time for bed, Lillith bound him to keep him relatively quiet so they could share her coffin. It wouldn't stop him completely from writhing in his sleep, and while he was happy to let Carmilla draw her own conclusions, at least the knocking and movement from inside Lillith's coffin wouldn't keep the younger vampiress up.

Lock stayed long enough for breakfast and amused himself with swapping the heads on the suits of armor in the hall outside the bedroom while he waited for Lillith and Carmilla to get dressed and ready for band practice. Minor trouble that was sure to annoy the elders, not only because of the wrong helmets, but because it upset the dust and spiderwebs and they'd have to wait for them to recollect.

When the girls were ready, Lock happily walked with them to the tree house. His tail flicked behind him as an indicator that he was still in a very good mood from yesterday.

Shock was lying back on one of the couches they had around the main lair for the comfort of their guests. She had her nose buried in a weapons tome when they got in, with her hat tilted to block any incoming guests from her sight. She hadn't bothered to change back into her usual clothes, as she had no plans to go into Halloween Town again today - or the next week.

Barrel was actually playing a good set - which he immediately screwed up the second he saw his older brother. Lock rolled his eyes, but decided to not let it bother him. Yet. He glanced at Shock as he picked up his guitar case. After taking a few seconds to read her mood, he decided to give her a simple greeting - which she returned without looking up from the book with the faintest wave before turning another page - and otherwise leave her alone.

"One of these days, he's going to go off the deep end, with you," Jewel broke the silence. Her legs weren't that much longer than her charge's, but it was just enough of a difference that she didn't need to break her normal graceful stride to keep up with Carver's angry trudging.

Carver snorted bitterly. "He went off the deep end years ago," came the reply. "He should be more worried that I'll completely lose it."

"Like you did at the pumpkin carving stations?"

He grinned sadistically and put his hands into the empty front pockets of his new cargo pants; he'd changed out of the scarecrow costume the night before, into the outfit Shock had helped him pick out. "Maybe. Maybe I'll do something worse. Something he can't prevent, even if he sees me coming."

Jewel sighed. "I am not defending his actions, but you must realize that antagonizing him is just inflaming the situation."

"What, so you'd rather I just poison him into blissful unconsciousness every other night?"

"Well, I did make a lot more progress on my personal projects when Sally lived with us." The female Finkelstein smiled ever so slightly out of the side of her mouth. "I didn't have to constantly put up with him 'double checking' every step of my work."

"So it'd make things easier for you if I drugged him. But do you really think he'd be any less drastic about punishing me after he wakes up? What's to stop him from hooking this--" The pumpkin creature shook his leg to draw attention to the ankle bracelet with its blinking light. "--up to some kind of alarm system or retrieval robot or whatever he comes up with to make sure I can't leave?"

She sighed again. "He really isn't... that bad. It's just... that he only has half a brain, and he tends to forget that."

"You only have half a brain, too. What's the difference?"

"I'm never given the opportunity to forget."

They stopped at the edge of the trio’s property. Jewel turned to fully face Carver. "I'll work on getting him to back off from the chains and the tracker, but I need you to mind your behavior, or I won't be able to make any progress with him. Now. What time should I come pick you up from band practice?"

The pumpkin creature shrugged. "Usually we just go until we finish. Or until Carmilla and Shock get into a fight. Can't I just walk back to the lab by myself? It's not like I'll be able to sneak off anywhere without you guys knowing." He kicked his tagged ankle, the metallic thunk echoing down the ravine.

"If I let you loose by yourself, Harold will put himself into a mood, and there will be no getting you out of those chains any time this month.”

He let out a long, exasperated groan. “And I can’t just call you when practice is over?”

She crossed her arms. “And if the phone rings while I’m performing a very delicate task, such as mixing highly reactive chemicals one drop at a time, or wiring a particularly powerful machine?”

“Fiiiiiine! One sec. I’ll ask Lock if we can give it a specific end time, today.”

Carver made his way across the bridge, down the first ladder, and through the window. “Loooock!” he called across the lair as he continued down the second ladder. He knew he didn’t have to be that loud to get the little devil’s attention; it was mostly to confirm to Jewel that he wasn’t just booking it into the lair where the Finkelsteins couldn’t reach him.

Lock was tuning his guitar when Carver shouted across the room. There was no need to yell, but he was still in a pretty good mood, and up for matching Carver's tone. He turned with a grin.

"WHAAAAAAT?" he shouted back.

It crossed his mind that Lillith and Carmilla would probably be annoyed by them shouting at each other across the room, which only incentivized him to play this game. It also crossed his mind that a change of clothes wasn't going to fool the vampires about "Corvin's" true identity, which further set off his inherent need for trouble.

Shock ignored them as she studied glaive designs. Loki calmly hung on her ear and ignored them too, content enough to quietly sit with Mom. Barrel perked up from his drums and joined the shouting match.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?" he called out with a grin.

Carver dropped the volume to a normal level. "Funkelsnort miscalculated how long it would take to get my new accessory built and properly working." He gestured to the tracking device, its little red light casting warped, blinking shadows against the wall behind the ladder. "And I had to wait for Jewel to walk down here with me."

He wrapped an arm around the rungs of the ladder, halting his descent about halfway to the floor. "Which is why I was hollering. They need to know exactly when practice is going to end tonight, so they know when to come retrieve me. I'm not allowed out of the tower at all anymore, except to practice or for supervised Halloween-prep errands."

There were a few giggles from the boys at "Funkelsnort," but they both sobered quickly. Shock didn't look up from her book.

"Treating you like a baby now?" she asked.

She turned a page.

"Not sure if it's a downgrade from usual or an improvement from 'kitchen tool'."

Lock flicked his tail.

"We don't have a set schedule," he said. "We finish--"

"--When we--" Barrel continued.

"--Finish," Shock said.

Lock set his guitar down for a moment and came over to Carver.

"Guessing she's up there waiting for an exact time? She'll be waiting a while, then." He glanced over at the drum set. "Unless Barrel wants to play his drums correctly this week."

"Hey!"

Lock crossed his arms at his younger brother and pointed to Shock with his tail.

"Shock isn't up to practice this week, so how long we go depends on how well you play."

The twins frowned at "Corvin's" outfit change, odd behavior, and distinctly different speech pattern, but they quickly came to the correct conclusions at the mention of "Funkelsnort" and Jewel.

"Carver?" Carmilla gaped. "Corvin was you?"

Lillith raised an eyebrow. "I shouldn't be surprised you would play a trick like that on us, but I am surprised how far you went to pull it off."

Carver snapped his attention to glare at Lock's girlfriend. "Hey, this wasn't my idea. Finkelstein paralyzed my vines and shoved me into this giant tin can, without giving me any say in the matter. I just figured if I was going to be stuck like this, I might as well take advantage of the only good part of it, and have some kind of fun for a couple days."

"He... did what?" Carmilla's expression remained muted, though her eyes flashed for a moment.

"He put me in an 'upgraded' body that, as he put it, 'prevents me from getting in as much trouble'." Carver grumbled. He crossed his arms, one elbow still hooked around the ladder. "And then grounded me for eternity. So yeah, Lock, I need you to figure out some kind of schedule so that I'll be allowed to stay and practice at all."

Lock groaned. None of the trio liked set details like this. But...he knew someone who did. He glanced to the vampires.

"Can we just have Lillith walk you home when we finish?" he asked, loud enough that Jewel would definitely hear it. "Since obviously a damn tracking device isn't good enough."

Carver perked up. "Actually, yeah! Can she?"

Jewel had mostly only been able to pick up general tone from most of the conversation after the initial yelling stopped, but she rather clearly heard Lock's question -- and its accompanied comment -- as well as Carver's reply. "Why don't you come up here and ask me directly, rather than forcing me to shout?"

Lillith blinked, then crossed her arms. "Why don't you ask me if I want to escort her, first?"

"Him," Shock said calmly, with her eyes still glued to the book. "Carver changed it when Finkle-stain changed his body."

Lock ignored Jewel and gave Lillith his sweetest smile, along with a quick glance to Carmilla.

"Because I know you won't hear the end of it if your dear sister has her chance to sing solo this week cut short because we're on a time crunch."

He flicked his tail.

"And if you have to hear about it, I have to hear about it, so please just save us all a future headache?"

"Oh, sorry. Of course, I didn't know about that," Lillith replied. Carmilla just glared at Lock; she better not have her singing time cut short!

Carver shrugged. "Mostly a response to the boobs I didn't ask for." He flicked the solid bumps that were giving a slight shape to his tank top. "I generally wouldn't care about my pronouns, except dear old Dad clearly does, and his opinions on the matter are stupid."

The older twin chuckled. "Right. Well, anyway, I don't mind walking you home. I just would prefer if I had been asked directly."

"Yeah, that's fair. My bad." He paused. "And Lock's bad, since he did it first."

Lock smirked at Carmilla. He knew the younger vampire would be perfect leverage to get his way, and her glare only proved she was playing right into his hands.

"I'll go with you to make it up to you," he said to Lillith. "That way we both suffer."

And by that, he meant the delay in their date night after practice. Lock glanced to the window again. He sighed and climbed up - with some skill to pass Carver - and crawled into the window to face Jewel directly. ...Well, as directly as he could without climbing up onto the bridge.

"Lillith'll do it," he said, as he curled his body along the curvature of the frame and crossed his arms. "That cool with you?"

Jewel smiled at him, eyes twinkling. "I would appreciate it if she came up here herself, to confirm that. I don't think my husband would be quite content to take your word for it."

Lock sighed.

"LILLIIIIITH!" he called. "For some reason, she wants you to tell her yourself."

He flicked his tail with a smirk.

"Can't imagine why."

Lillith rolled her eyes, but transformed into a bat and flew out of the lair. She landed a couple yards away from Jewel before shifting back. "On my honor as a vampire, and in the name of the Pumpkin King, I hereby swear that Carver will have my accompaniment and supervision on his way home immediately after band practice ends. Is that fair enough?"

Jewel nodded. "Much appreciated. Thank you. You all have fun. Tell Carver I said goodbye."

Lillith waved as Jewel left, then turned back to Lock. "The next time you weaponize my sister like that, I'll point her right back at you. See how you do against an angry vampire who isn't interested in enjoying the struggle."