[IC] Banding Together in Halloween Town

[LePouvantail]

"Sure," Barrel said. "Maybe some poison to go with it."

He pondered a moment.

"Or wine. Wine would make it taste great. Probably better than the cider we've got."

Barrel turned to go.

"I'll see if I can catch them, then. Go ahead and tell him if you see him, though."

[SystemofEleven]

Lillith nodded and waved as Barrel left, relieved that he had caught on and been relatively subtle about the presence of alcohol and invitation to bring wine. She then turned to Vlad and politely requested to take a bottle or two of blood wine.

It took a bit of persuasion, but eventually her father acknowledged that one bottle diluted in another [public? shared?] beverage likely wouldn't cause anyone to become inebriated enough to cause too many problems. He also trusted Lillith to keep herself well below her limit, and ensure everyone at the party maintained a certain level of decorum. Carmilla... Well, he at least trusted her not to get out of hand in front of other people.

[LePouvantail]

After some searching and no success in finding Wolfboy, Barrel headed back to get started on making party snacks - and fending off his siblings from taking too many. Lock and Shock both came back with their spoils, each with a decent-sized keg of spirits that they carried back to the lair. They temporarily rigged the old birdcage elevator to get the kegs up into the tree house, then held onto them to go down the slide for the easiest transport.

The next day would be spent setting up the sound systems for the party as opposed to band practice and getting all the instruments into the scorpion room for safekeeping, which was then locked tight. Shock refused to risk any harm coming to them, and she damn well didn't want to risk her wares. Oogie's room, they left open in case a guest needed to lie down. With their unspoken agreement that no one liked being in the lair alone, and especially not that room, they all agreed with just as much silence that the atmosphere from the party would grant some reprieve for a little while and counter the unsettling nature of the room for a few hours.

It was the extent of their courtesy and hospitality.

Barrel was in the kitchen most of the day, almost up until the party was set to start. Lock and Shock set up the kegs and dragged the dining room table out for easier snack access. They also double-checked all their traps to make sure no drunken guest would accidentally set something off, then turned on several of the old casino lights to bring some fun to the darkness.

Even the trio had to admit Oogie had a sense of flair with the blinking lights, ultraviolet decorations, and colorful torture devices that gave the entire room a sense of creepy wonder.

There was certainly no party like a trickster party anywhere else in Halloween Town.

[SystemofEleven]

Carver, true to their style, got to the lair first and helped set up -- taking advantage of that process to hide a few more cameras to get multiple shots of any potential shenanigans, from different angles. Once that was done, he proceeded to flop across one of the couches and luxuriously drape all of his vines over the entire piece of furniture.

"Yo, BARREL!" she hollered toward the kitchen. "You remembered to get more popcorn, right? I haven't had any in AGES!"

[LePouvantail]

Barrel poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Already on it," he said. "It's popping now."

With the other smells coming from the kitchen, though, the popcorn was subtle in comparison, not that Carver would be able to tell.

Lock ran back and forth from the kitchen to drop off any snacks Barrel finished making - and swiping one here and there between trips. Tentacle surprise bites were always better fresh. For once, he didn't bother wearing his boots, which did put him at his natural height. Not only was this a casual gathering, Lock admittedly liked the texture of the stone floor and giant roulette wheel under his bare feet. Plus, if anyone said anything about it, he'd punch their lights out, damn whoever it was.

Some static crackling could be heard echoing from the slide. Shock came out a moment later, having had to go into the ravine and into the hidden cavern where the more sensitive wiring was hidden in order to fix some of the more annoying wiring that hadn't been used in a while. Her hair looked more wild than usual, and an occasional blue electric charge glowed under her pale yellow skin. Like Lock, she wasn't wearing any shoes either, and decided the outfit she wore when they wrecked the Finklestein lab was perfect for celebrating said wreckage, as it provided the reason they were celebrating: getting Carver's body back. Lock smirked as he looked her over, particularly her hair and the blue charges that shifted under her skin.

"Wrong wiring?" he asked.

"Old wiring," Shock said, "and a refresh."

She shook her head to show off the strands of hair that now better resembled lightning bolts.

"Just in time for the party, too." Shock looked up at the window that served as the main entrance. "And a little door prize for one of our guests."

She and Lock cackled at that. If she was careful not to touch anything that would conduct the charge, Shock could pick an unwitting victim to release the rest of the charge on. Lock picked up one of the smaller cups from the table and poured a small sip from each of the two kegs they had, both to make sure they functioned properly, and to taste their wares. Behemoth's pumpkin lager was top notch, as usual - did he detect a hint of crushed vanilla beetle? - and the rotten apple cider was certainly the best in Halloween Town. He didn't have any more than that, as he needed to watch his limit for later.

The tests accomplished, Lock set the cup down on a nearby cement block with an imprisoned skeleton sticking out of it. They didn't bother with other surfaces to set things on; many of Oogie's old torture devices were flat enough. He flicked his tail and checked the time. They hadn't specified anything, but "night" in Halloween Town was often understood as "anytime after sundown." And as the sun was about gone, he expected the always-prompt vampire twins to arrive soon.

[SystemofEleven]

Lillith and Carmilla were the first to arrive. Barrel hadn't specified exactly what time the party was supposed to start, so in preference of arriving fashionably early than fashionably late, they reached the tree house shortly after sunset.

The older twin flew down to the window in bat form. "Hello! May we come in?"

"They'd better let us in," Carmilla grumbled from the bridge. She shifted the too paper bags into one arm so she could make her way down the ladder. "Otherwise I'll just throw all these bottles in and see if they can catch them. And why am I the only one carrying anything?"

"Because I asked you nicely. You can pretend to have put up a fight all you want, but you might as well wait until you can be heard by someone who might actually believe you."

[LePouvantail]

Lock grinned upon hearing his girlfriend's voice. And he knew it was his girlfriend's voice based on her tone, inflection, and politeness.

"Yeah, come on down!"

He ran to the middle of the roulette wheel, where he would be easy to spot. Shock lied in wait nearby for whichever twin came down first.

[SystemofEleven]

Lillith flew down into the lair, over to her boyfriend, and landed in humanoid form directly in front of him. She started to lean in for a kiss. It did not take long for her to realize she was bending over quite a bit more than usual, however, and she stopped shortly before their lips actually met. A quick curious glance downward found the problem.

"No boots today, my little devil?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. She lifted him up and kissed him at her own level.

Meanwhile, Carmilla continued muttering to herself as she maneuvered herself down into the lair with one arm.

Neither of the vampires noticed the faint sparking beneath the skin of one particular trickster lurking in the shadows.

[LePouvantail]

Lock lifted himself by his toes to try to meet her halfway, only for Lillith to stop before their lips even met. He started to answer, when Lillith picked him up.

"Hey!"

She kissed him, to which he grudgingly accepted after a moment. It was to his benefit that Barrel was still in the kitchen, and Shock was waiting for a chance to strike, or Lock would have been more humiliated.

Shock quietly crept behind Lillith in her stockinged feet. There was already music playing, and the vampiress's focus on her boyfriend meant she wouldn't be paying attention to anything else. She felt another wave of electricity slip down her arm and gently touched Lillith at the back of her neck to release the charge.

With any luck, Lock would be collateral damage to her little trick.

[SystemofEleven]

Lillith's surprised yelp was strangled from within as all the muscles in her throat tightened from the electricity that shot through her. Unfortunately for Lock, her hands likewise locked up, preventing him from escaping as the current flowed into his as well. Unlike a normal static shock which was generally limited to a tiny burst, the eldest trickster was able to absorb and hold onto a significant amount of electrical energy. And as such, it took a few seconds for it all to fully discharge into her victims.

Carver let out a hooting whistle, followed a long cackle. His limbs dangled limply off three edges of the couch, but he lifted up a couple vines for an air five.

Carmilla reached the bottom and turned around just in time to see Shock step back, allowing Lillith to finally relax all of her muscles drop Lock to the floor. The older twin then daintily collapsed, herself. Right on top of her boyfriend.

"Lillith!"

Carmilla dropped the bags onto the nearest couch -- and thus, on top of Carver -- and rushed over to her sister.

[LePouvantail]

Lock squirmed in Lillith's grip to try to make her put him down. He squirmed even harder when he caught the residual effects of his sister's trick, due to Lillith's lips against his. When she finally let go, he fell gracelessly to the floor...and became a cushion for his girlfriend.

Shock cackled even louder than Carver at the results. Two bats, one well-placed zap. Even literally, in Lillith's case. She returned the air-five.

Lock managed to push Lillith off of him, but immediately noticed something different. He grinned.

"Your hair - it looks wicked!"

As a result of Shock's prank, all of Lillith's hair stood on end, straight, but at a slight angle behind her head. A residual blue shock rose up it like a Tesla coil, then disappeared. Lock kissed Lillith's cheek.

"Like a completely different monster!"

Shock finally got a hold of herself. She ran her hands through her own hair to get rid of the last flecks of static.

"That was the trick," she said. She gestured to the refreshment table. "So have some treats."

Barrel came out of the kitchen with two large tubs of popcorn to set on the table. He looked over at Lock, Lillith, and Carmilla.

"Aww," he whined. "There was trouble and I missed it?"

Shock walked over and patted his arm - both to comfort him, and to get rid of the last few charges she collected from her hair.

"The party's just getting started, brother dear," she said sweetly.

"Ow!"

Barrel nearly dropped the popcorn tubs, to both of his siblings' laughter. He safely set them on the table, then shoved Shock away from him. She was in such a good mood that she let him get away with it without retaliation. Barrel grumbled and went back into the kitchen to get the last round of snacks.

From the window, a new voice called in.

"Um...I think this is where we're meeting? I heard voices..."

"You heard right," Shock called. "Come on down!"

There was the sound of clinking glass and something crawling through the little tunnel in the window. Lock and Shock looked up to see Sobki's crocodile snout poking into the room.

"Hi, Sobki!" Lock called. "Look what Shock did to Lillith's hair!"

"Let me get down first, then I'll take a look."

Just like Carmilla, Sobki carefully climbed down with one hand, as he held a six pack in the other. Shock came over to assist their guest and took the six pack from him.

"Frankensteiniken's?" she asked, then let out a wicked cackle. "This stuff definitely shocks your system."

At the very least, he brought a decent beer to share. She gave a devious glance behind her.

"I should know."

Sobki awkwardly stood at the bottom of the ladder for a moment, then looked around the room. He'd almost forgotten what the lair looked like. It had been...how many years since the tricksters last hosted a party? He shook himself out of his thoughts - and the fight brewing in the middle of the room - to greet the monster of the hour, Carver.

"So you got your body back," he said, then looked Carver over. "With some new upgrades?"

[SystemofEleven]

Carmilla's expression turned from one of concern to a scowl. "It doesn't look half bad, for something you did on accident. If you were capable of styling hair like that on purpose, you wouldn't have an excuse for how much of a disgraceful mess yours usually looks." She crossed her arms and refused to look at Shock's admittedly improved locks... only to accidentally find herself staring (well, glaring) at the trickster's bare shoulder. She shifted her gaze again, and wound up angrily appreciating the patch of skin between Shock's shorts and thigh-high socks.

Carver snickered in the younger twin's direction. "Careful, there," they told her. "You and your bestie are going to end up sharing lamentations, one of these days."

"What are you-- HEY!" Carmilla turned and snapped at her. "It's nothing like that!"

Carver nodded sagely. "True enough. She's got a wider range of chemicals going around."

"Shut UP!"

The pumpkin creature cackled and redirected his focus, waving to Sobki. "Upgrades are gonna come in a bit. These are just designed to have upgrades added without having to start from scratch every time. Shock's been working with Jewel to make sure everything is going to be as awesome as possible!"

[LePouvantail]

Shock grinned and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You're just jealous mine can float and hold a charge."

She went to the kegs to get some pumpkin lager. Even so, she felt Carmilla's eyes on her. Shock didn't look up, or even in her direction once she had her drink in hand.

"I know my hair is mesmerizing, but don't stare."

She wandered away, fortunately out of earshot of Carver's comment about sharing lamentations. She did, however, catch Carmilla's frustrated response, and that was enough to make her laugh again. Barrel came out of the kitchen with the last two trays of snacks, including some fresh blood pudding cups. He giggled as Carver frustrated Carmilla a second time, and wished he had his hands free for popcorn.

Lock, having taken less of the brunt of Shock's trick, as well as being more used to it, slipped out from under Lillith and started to help her back onto her feet. Once she stood properly again, he nuzzled her waist. A bit of residual static shocked his cheek, not that it stopped him.

"Glad you two could make it," he said.

Lock glanced over at Carver and Carmilla and snickered.

"We knew it'd be more fun with you two here."

One of Sobki's eye sockets shifted in curiosity. He looked over at Shock, who swiped a snack from one of the trays Barrel was setting on the snack table, then back over to Carver.

"Really?" he asked. "I thought they were banned from the lab."

Especially after they broke in the other day. Shock in particular, he didn't expect to have an invitation, let alone be allowed to assist.

[SystemofEleven]

Turning away from her... distraction, Carmilla sniffed disdainfully at both of the trickster ghouls. Truthfully, she was jealous that the impromptu up-do looked good on her twin and would therefore look good on her, but she refused to stoop so low as to request Shock's help in replicating it. When Lock made his own jibe about entertainment, she stomped back to the couch and snatched the bags from Carver.

"Lillith, I carried all of this here. You can make the punch."

With that, the vampiress shoved the bags into her sister's arms. She pulled a bottle of blood wine and a corkscrew out of one of the bags. It wouldn’t likely matter in the long run if she started drinking before the party got into full swing, and besides, she also needed something to make it easier to tolerate being here.

Lilith rolled her eyes, but obligingly took the bags after taking one more moment to pat Lock affectionately on the head.

Carver’s front mouth smirked. “They weren’t, but thanks to Jack and Jewel, Finkelfart doesn’t get a say in the matter anymore. Jack even let them get away with manslaughter, wrecking everything in sight until I was free.” Her back mouth grinned as widely as the puckered lip design allowed. “You should have seen it! Shock even built a bomb and no one stopped her!”

“Bomb?” A voice echoed down as Agatha flew into the window on her broom. “What are we talking about?”

She swooped down to hover by Barrel, careful to try and make her skirt swish in just the right manner for him on the way down.

“Wow, Agatha, even Sobki beat you here! Aunts forget how to close the shop on their own?”

The teen witch offered Barrel a hand to help her down from her broom as she answered the pumpkin creature. “No, I just couldn’t decide what to wear.”

“Don’t you only own two outfits?”

“That's why it's such a hard choice!”

[LePouvantail]

Lock and Shock both snickered at Carmilla's frustration, but let the vampiress have her space. It wouldn't do to wind her up too early so she left before things could really get fun. Besides, that wine might just get her to loosen up a bit.

"Need anything?" Lock asked Lillith. "Pretty sure I can find something big enough to hold it in the kitchen."

His tail found its way to the back of her legs, gave her an affectionate smack at the base of her ass, then ran along her calves. Over at Carver's couch, Sobki looked simultaneously impressed and horrified.

"He...what?" Sobki asked. "Jack? The Pumpkin King let them wreak havoc?"

"Sure did," Lock said with a grin.

Barrel started to fill a plate full of snacks. He had to call a bit across the room to join the conversation.

"It was for a good cause."

All three of them snickered. Shock, having gotten a few things from the snack table, wandered back over to Carver and Sobki.

"It's a shame we didn't get to actually see it go off, though," she said. "All that silicate powder would have covered the lab like snow - and been a bitch to clean up."

She cackled as Agatha finally arrived.

"Oh, just a little trick we played on Finkle-stain," she said, before taking a drink of her lager. "Jack let me make a bomb. It was fun."

Barrel looked up from filling his plate to see Agatha arrive. He stuffed the current handful of snake chips in his mouth so he could offer her his hand to get down.

"Looths guth," he said, then quickly swallowed his chips. "Looks good."

Barrel gestured to the table.

"Snacks?" he asked.

Shock smirked at Agatha.

"Black, or black with a smidge of green. Such a hard choice."

She took another sip of her drink, then made a quick head count, not that there were many guests to wait for.

"Looks like the party's all here," she said, "so let's kick the music up a bit, and Carver, get off that couch so we can celebrate!"

[SystemofEleven]

The next half hour went by pretty smoothly.

Agatha swooned a bit over Barrel approving her dress choice. Barrel shot her a thumbs up.

Lillith mixed up the pumpkin punch in a bowl and took the bottle from her sister just long enough to give the drink a small kick. The two of them then made use of the trio’s least-chipped ceramic goblets, alternating between the punch and straight blood wine.

Agatha surprised everyone by pulling a bottle of high-end vodquila out of her bag. She offered to add some to the punch to increase the flavor range, but Carver recommended against it, citing some science-y jargon that seemed to indicate that the chemical interactions would negatively impact the concoction. Lock backed them up; he didn’t want to admit that he wouldn’t be able to safely drink the punch if it got too alcoholic.

Shock kicked on the music and the party got into swing. Literally, in Carver’s case; he decided to hang himself from the eight ball ceiling contraption and mix upside down high-fiving of his friends with vine flails that passed for dancing.

Even Carmilla was starting to loosen up. She stood at the edge of the roulette wheel with a mildly grumpy expression on her face, tapping her feet and bobbing her head to the beat of the music.

“Yooooooo!” A voice interrupted as a rosy cheeked face popped in through the window. “The Chad is here! The party can now officially begin!”

A moment later, said individual reached to grab the ladder, missed, and fell into the lair.

Barrel, who had been emphatically gesturing as he explained to a politely nodding Sobki how to make jellied slugs without accidentally making slug jelly, suddenly had a mildly heavy box land in his outstretched arms. He looked down and read the label: Bludlite Select.

“Nice catch, bab-BARREL!” Agatha corrected herself quickly. “Nice catch, Barrel!” Internally, she beamed. As much as the youngest trickster tended to play dumb to avoid having his siblings catch on when he was sabatoging their pranks, he clearly was constantly paying more attention to hs surroundings than anyone else. And those reflexes! He didn’t hesitate or even have to look to catch the 12-pack that came flying!

Chad popped up to sitting position immediately after landing on his back. “Woooo! Party boi’s in the ho-ouse!”

[LePouvantail]

Heads snapped in the direction of the window. Normally, there would have been laughter at Chad's expense. Barrel blinked at the box that landed in his arms. He didn't even notice Agatha's compliment on catching it. Lock and Shock stopped dancing and stared in silence for a few seconds as Chad hit the floor. Sobki watched the box land in Barrel's hands, then followed the logical trail to Chad, before he slowly reached up to rub his temples.

Shock looked at her brothers.

"Who invited him?" she asked.

Lock frowned.

"Wasn't me."

Both of them looked at the youngest trickster.

"Barrel?" they said together.

Barrel, still clutching the box of Halloween Town's cheapest beer, quickly went into defensive mode.

"I didn't!" he cried.

Sobki slowly lifted his hand.

"I can vouch for that," he said.

Lillith quietly took a sip of her punch to hide her displeasure at Chad's arrival and made sure to be away from the trio when they inevitably handled this intruder. Carmilla glared from across the room and turned away in disgust. Carver lowered themself down closer to the drama and reached a few vines over to the snack table to grab a large handful of popcorn.

The entire room went silent save for the music still playing in the speakers overhead. The trio looked at each other and mentally deliberated for a few seconds. Lock's tail twitched as a smile formed on his face. The three of them shared a nod, before Barrel set the box down. Finally, Shock looked down at Chad. One corner of her mouth lifted up into a smirk as she shared the decision they made.

"He can stay," she said simply.

Sobki nearly dropped his cup of punch.

[SystemofEleven]

Chad waved a hand at the trio. “Nobody invited me, I just sorta sensed there was a party on, and there’s no party like a Chad party! I even brought booze!”

Carver grinned with both of her mouths, glad she got all the cameras set up beforehand. The guy was going to regret crashing this party, and she was going to relish every moment.

Upon hearing the announcement that Chad could stay, Lillith hid her expression of mild horror behind a long delicate sip of punch. Her sister, on the other hand, made no such attempt to hide her reaction.

Carmilla threw back her entire glass of wine and poured another. She crossed her arms, silently debating with herself whether the entertainment of watching Shock ruin the idiot’s day would be worth the annoyance of dealing with his presence until then.

Chad, completely oblivious to the tension in the room, pulled a can of beer out of his jacket. “You can put that box wherever, dude. I got mine, so that stuff’s to share. Enjoy!”

He then cracked open his can and wandered to the center of the roulette wheel. “Nice light, by the way! Weird choice in music, but I can work with it. Be better with guy singers, though.”

Agatha’s eyes widened. She stuttered some sort of apology and shuffled away over toward the refreshments table. She did not want to be standing anywhere near Chad when the trickster bomb went off.

Carmilla’s eyes flashed at his comment. One the one claw, she wanted to be offended at his callous dismissal of her vocal skills. On the other… Shock was the lead singer for this song, and Lock was the one who wrote it. Which meant she also rather wanted to smirk at her rival and her sister’s boyfriend. Decisions, decisions…

Carver swung himself hard, so that when he let go of his perch, he went flying sideways in a smooth arc. One of the couches broke his fall. He quickly made his way to the refreshments table as well. He was going to need a lot more popcorn than he could reach from up there.

[LePouvantail]

There was no party like a trickster party, either, which Chad would learn by the end of the night.

Barrel frowned at the box of Bludlite and kicked it under the snack table in disgust. He worked hard on those snacks, his siblings went through a lot of effort and bargaining to get the good stuff to complement them, and their other guests put thought and effort into what they brought. This was even more insulting than crashing the party, in his opinion.

Lock gently nuzzled against Lillith's hip in assurance. He and Shock both sniggered at Carmilla chugging down her wine before pulling up their composure again. Shock picked up on her youngest brother's bad mood and decided to help alleviate it.

"Barrel," she said, as she swirled her glass, "my drink's a little off. I think I need to add...er, a little pep to it."

Barrel looked over at his older sister. It took a moment for him to catch on, but when he did, he grinned.

"I'm sure we've got some left," he said, then ran for the kitchen. "Be right back!"

Shock smiled sweetly.

"Such a good little brother!"

She let Chad move around the room, but kept a sharp eye on him. Sobki debated on whether or not he should step in, but decided against it. One, they were in the tricksters' lair. Whatever they had planned, they'd retaliate if he ruined it, and that went double for being on their turf. Two, despite his talks with Chad after Carmilla nearly killed him, they didn't seem to stick. Three, Chad kind of deserved it for not only crashing their party, but insulting them as hosts by insinuating it could only be great with his presence. Sobki wandered over to Agatha to keep her company for the moment. Chad was on his own.

Lock waited for Lillith to finish her punch and was about to ask her to dance...when Chad commented on the music. He glared at Chad, but with a smirk. His smirk widened as he saw Shock just behind Chad...and with her grip threatening to shatter the glass in her hand.

"It's The Devil's Pitchfork," he said coldly. "And it just happens to be my band."

Lock's tail flicked in excitement. He wanted to see if Chad would dig that hole even deeper.

While she waited for Barrel to locate the adder pepper juice from wherever he hid it, Shock calmly strode up to Chad, mostly because she was damn sure he was too full of himself to remember she'd asked Barrel to bring her something - and to ensure he forgot on the off-chance he did.

"So, new guy," she said, with a voice dripping with sweetness. She batted her eyelashes a few times to feign both interest and airheadedness. "Chud, was it?"

Barrel returned from the kitchen a moment later. Shock caught his eye and put an expectant hand behind her back. Barrel made sure to walk behind her and Chad, and calmly dropped the bottle in her hand, before he went over to the snack table to join Agatha, Carver, and Sobki - and also to make sure Carver didn't take all the popcorn. Behind her back, Shock held the little bottle in three fingers, then used her thumb and forefinger to slowly work off the cap.

Lock tried to gently encourage Lillith to dance with him so the rest of the room didn't suddenly feel too awkward. Barrel, for his part, struck up a conversation with Agatha and Sobki, but kept Chad in the corner of his eye.

"Have you guys tried the poison puffs yet?" he asked. "They're to die for!"

[SystemofEleven]

Agatha awkwardly leaned sideways toward Sobki, keeping her eyes on Shock and her current target. “Umm… Is he always like this? Because… I mean… Why do you hang out with him?”

“Oh, sorry dude! Didn’t mean to be rude, there. Super cool you have a band!” Chad nodded approvingly. “Actually, now that I think about it, having chicks is actually a pretty good idea.Give the audience something extra to pay attention to during live shows.” He wiggled his eyebrows with a glance at Carmilla. He didn’t know for sure she was one of the singers, but it was a pretty easy assumption that Lock had recruited his girlfriend and her sister for the show power of hot twins.

Carmilla’s indecisiveness immediately resolved itself. She bared her fangs and took a predatory step forward. She didn’t get far; a vine quickly snaked out and grabbed her by the ankle.

Carver turned so her front face was toward the uninvited guest, but the back side was visible to the younger vampiress. She lifted the tip of another vine in front of her kissy lips just out of his line of sight, then pointed at Shock.

Lillith closed her eyes for a long moment, running an internal monologue about maintaining grace and poise. Then she resolved to ignore Chad as much as possible and just enjoy the party for what it was meant to be. She joined Lock on the dance floor with not a little bit of relief for the distraction.

“Nah, Chud’s the one with red hair and suspenders. I’m Chad!” He shot a friendly grin toward Shock, before looking over at Barrel. “Poison puffs, huh? Sounds spicy! I’d probably need a bit more booze and a really good dare to try ‘em.”

Having suddenly reminded himself of the beer in his hand, he chugged the rest of it and crushed the can against his forehead. “Yo, where’s the trash? Wanna take a long shot!”