LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Barrel gave Lillith a very confused look as she approached him. That look...was kind of what she gave Lock when either one of them implied trouble elsewhere, and truthfully, Barrel wasn't sure how to handle it. He gulped as she ran her finger over his collar, then yelped in surprise as Lillith pulled him up.

Shock was already trying to hold back her laughter. Lock just looked intrigued. Sobki was looking between the two brothers because Lillith was Lock's girlfriend, and that was sure to cause a problem - but he and Shock both didn't seem to care, so Sobki relaxed with the knowledge that this wouldn't cause an issue among the trio.

Lock and Shock both absolutely lost it when Lillith went from lustful to chaste and dropped Barrel. Shock laughed even harder when Carmilla choked. Barrel just sat there, confused at first, then horrified, as if he'd only just realized this game could backfire on him too.

Shock took a bit of mercy on her little brother.

"Your turn to return fire, Barrel," she said.

Barrel nodded. He quickly grabbed the bottle and span it to take his turn. He looked almost relieved when it landed between Carver and Carmilla. Since Carmilla wouldn't go for it, he could easily opt out unless Carver wanted to screw with him.

Which, honestly, he preferred over Lillith screwing with him. The older twin was usually so reserved and polite that seeing this side of her completely threw him for a loop.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock and Barrel both ignored Chad as they fought, then settled down. If Lock heard Agatha's comment, he either didn't acknowledge it or was too distracted cuddling up against Lillith to care. Shock heard, barely bit back her snickering, and hid her smirk behind another drink of pumpkin lager.

If only Agatha knew...

She watched as Lillith finished her sip of wine and took her spin. Barrel wasn't paying attention to that or Agatha, as that tussle with Lock worked up his appetite and he went for the snacks he had in the panel beside him.

The bottle landed as he slugged down another drink. Lock and Shock were laughing already. Barrel finished his swig, then looked down at the bottle. The few seconds' delay made his siblings laugh even harder as he realized it landed on him and that he was next to get a kiss.

It was a good thing he's already swallowed, or his spittake would have covered the platform. If Barrel wasn't already ghost-white, he would have paled.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock took Lillith's kiss with enthusiasm and returned it with equal passion. He threw his arms around her and tilted his head for easier access for the both of them. His tail wildly twisted and twitched behind him. When Lillith pulled away, Lock grinned, then nuzzled into her chest, solely to stick it to Chad what he had access to.

"Too hot for you to handle," he said.

"Worse than the poison puff," Shock said.

That got another round of laughter from the trio, and a laugh with an attempted stifle from Sobki. The trio were happy enough to let Chad think it was the poison puff, as it meant they could screw with him again at a later date. Barrel returned Carver's popcorn toast. After that, all of them settled down again as Agatha took her turn. When the bottle landed, Lock's only disappointment came in that he had to let go of Lillith.

He shrugged, waited for Agatha to finish topping off her drink, and leaned over the panel between them to kiss her cheek. It was a faint peck, just enough to be felt for a fleeting second. Lock then took his turn and went back to snuggling against Lillith.

Barrel giggled at how quickly his older brother kissed Agatha and then got back to his girlfriend. Sobki kept one eye on Chad, and the other on the bottle. Shock simply kicked her feet and waited for another opportunity to mess with the game.

The bottle spun a few times at a high speed before it slowed as it approached Carmilla again. This time, it creaked right by her and landed on Agatha. Lock looked up from his comfortable spot and shook his head.

"We just did that."

Before anyone could say anything, he flicked the bottle into another spin with his tail so he didn't have to get up again. Shock watched the bottle. Lock's lazy spin technique sent the bottle not only spinning, but spinning away from the roulette wheel's center. With a flick of her magic, she not only kept the bottle from spinning too far, but let it land on an interesting prospect, mostly just to see what would happen.

"Better pucker up, you two," Shock said to her brothers with a devious edge to her voice.

Both of them caught that little note in her voice that she'd done it on purpose just to mess with them, not that either of them could call her out on it without ruining the trick. Barrel shrugged as the bottle's top pointed at him.

"Lock needs to be put to bed anyway," he said. "I'll rock him first."

Sobki glanced at Barrel and tilted his skull.

"Isn't he older than you...?"

"Yeah, but he's still the baby," Barrel said with a grin, "because we can hold him like one."

Lock flipped him off.

"Pick me up, and I'll kick your ass."

Barrel stood up and casually walked across the roulette wheel to get to Lock.

"You'd have to escape first, baby-legs."

Lock scrambled to his feet and bolted around the roulette wheel, with Barrel giving chase. Shock cackled as Lock tried to avoid their little brother. Sobki just readied himself to grab Chad in case he tried to interfere. They were on trickster turf, Chad had already insulted them, and that last remark about the twins had clearly tested what was left of their patience. While he was hoping the human boy would learn a thing or two, Sobki didn't think the lesson should come at the expense of getting involved in one of their bonding fights.

Lock's small, spry size made evading Barrel pretty easy - at first. The alcohol in his system made him slightly miscalculate an evasive tactic, and that was all it took for Barrel to catch him, forcibly cradle him, kiss his temple, then toss him onto the nearest couch.

As Barrel turned to head back to the roulette wheel, Lock got up and made good on his earlier threat. He jumped up and - on the landing - planted both feet firmly against Barrel's rump to knock him over. Barrel went down with a thunderous crash. Lock crawled over Barrel's back to put his little brother in a headlock, used his tail to bind Barrel's wrists together, and gave his little brother a painful noogie. Barrel tried to throw him off to no avail. Once Lock got him to properly submit, he grinned, reached down to give Barrel a return kiss on the temple, then let him go.

Shock, who had been laughing herself sick, calmed down enough to comment.

"Aww, you two really do love each other! You even kissed and made up!"

"Fuck off, Shock," Lock said, though by his smile and playful tone, it was clear he didn't mean it.

"Yeah," Barrel agreed. "Fu--!"

"Language!" his older siblings said together.

Barrel just pushed himself up and stuck his tongue out at his siblings - he had to shift his head to either side to give them both a proper view. He then took his seat as Lock settled down by Lillith again.

"All right," Shock said, in a "moving right along" tone. "Take your spin, Lillith."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock's tail twitched in amusement.

"I did go for quality," he said, "unless you're saying your sister isn't?"

"I'd say he picked the quality twin," Shock agreed.

Her wicked grin widened at Carmilla's disdain. Barrel, amused by Carmilla's reaction, just giggled where he sat.

Lock's head snapped to face Chad. His tail twitched again, though this time, with clear annoyance. That annoyance increased with Chad's insinuation that he didn't know what he was doing. Barrel, as he sat beside Chad, snerked at his brother's expense. Shock glowered at Chad from behind a sip of pumpkin lager. Sobki, sensing danger, leaned over and gave Chad a soft slap at the back of the head.

"Not cool, bro," he said.

Lock narrowed his eyes at Chad and scowled.

"Because they aren't a 'set'," he said. "They're two completely different monsters who happen to look alike, and I'm dating the one that likes me."

Shock started to say something, only to snicker at the insinuation that Lock needed Chad's help to woo over Carmilla. She quickly took another sip of her drink to save face. As funny as it normally was to take hits at Lock's ego and rile up Carmilla, she didn't want to give Chad any credit. Barrel was halfway through a set of giggles before he followed his sister's lead.

Lock's scowl slowly became a pleasant grin.

"And because it's more fun to fuck with Carmilla this way."

That got a chorus of laughter from his siblings, with Shock in particular happy enough to let loose after reigning it in.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock and Barrel both watched the bottle with keen interest. Of the two brothers, only Lock held any semblance of dread of it landing on him. He doubted Chad would go for it, but on the chance he did...he was pretty sure that wasn't the kind of show Lillith would want.

And also, the cheap beer might taste better than Chad's lips.

Barrel, on the other hand, enjoyed the trouble fix from everyone else's growing horror. When it slowed down, both tricksters grinned and waited with keen interest to see which unlucky ghoul would have to pucker up...and then it landed on Chad. Both of them frowned, but grinned at Carver's suggestion.

"Yeah!" Barrel agreed.

"Spin! Spin!" the brothers cried together.

If anyone considered trying to call it as Chad's turn, their hopes would be dashed with the boys' support. Shock calmly sipped her drink and ate up the rest of the group's misery at Chad's second turn. At the blond boy's declaration that he'd get to kiss someone next time, she hid a smirk behind her glass.

Not on your pitiful life, she thought.

Even she wasn't that cruel. Still. The tension in the air with each of his spins filled her with wicked glee. Sobki and Carver's spins both ended up being boring. Shock pulled her glass down with a neutral expression on her face. Carmilla's turn was next, so she could definitely liven things up a bit.

All three of the tricksters laughed as Carmilla downed another drink before taking her spin.

"Working up some liquid courage there, Carmilla?" Lock asked.

"It'll definitely make her more fun to talk to," Shock said.

That sent her brothers laughing again.

"Probably working up enough for when she lands on Carver," Lock said with a playful wink and a small nod to the pumpkin creature's fanged mouth. "Don't worry, she doesn't bite."

Shock took advantage of Carmilla's fury to nudge the bottle as it slowed towards Agatha. It creaked past the blank segment until it just barely landed inside Lock's. Lock gave Carmilla a few seconds of horror as he glanced at her, glanced up at Lillith, back at Carmilla, back to Lillith, then finally looked back to Carmilla.

"Pass," he said. "If you've kissed one, you've kissed both."

He nuzzled up against Lillith and grinned.

"Besides," Lock said. "I think I picked the better twin."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Spin the Bottle Shenanigans

Based on actual scientific dice rolls.

*1 - Chad - Always lands on himself first, no matter what speed/direction he tries. It lands between Carmilla/Agatha, and he accidentally sets the standard for no kiss if it lands between. Everyone else goes along with it.
2 - Sobki - Chad/Barrel (no kiss)
3 - Carver - Chad/Sobki (no kiss). These two get TL;DR’d
*4 - Carmilla - Lock (he declines)
5 - Agatha - Lock. She assumes Barrel’s helping rig the game and it wouldn’t be subtle if she landed on Barrel first. Lock gives her a quick peck on the cheek, then sits down.
*6 - Lock - Agatha. He laughs and comments how they *just* did that, and respins. Shock’s brothers are not immune to her toying with the game. Respin lands on Barrel. Barrel shrugs and gives his older brother a peck on the forehead. Lock exaggerates his disgust.
7 - Lillith - Barrel. She gives him a quick kiss on the lips. Barrel is confused because he just now realized this is part of the game’s trick, and it can backfire on him too.
8 - Barrel - Carver/Carmilla. Carver offers (“We both know Carmilla won’t, so I’ll do it. Also, I taste like popcorn.”). Barrel kisses, then jokes about how their pumpkin taste could be improved.

*1 - Chad - Barrel. Shock picked him deliberately because she thinks there’s a chance he might suck it up if it landed on Lock. He’s all, “no homo,” and Barrel, having figured out the trick now, pretends to pout. Everyone else is amused as fuck at Barrel’s lateness to the party re: game rules.
*2 - Sobki - Carver. They plotted with Shock to do this solely to piss off Lock and steal his thunder on the off chance he got Sobki. They dip Sobki for the kiss. Sobki is confused, but willing.
3 - Carver - Carver/Carmilla. Decides “fuck it” and offers a kiss to Carmilla.
*4 - Carmilla - Barrel (decline)
5 - Agatha - Lock - respin - Lillith (Agatha declines)
**6 - Lock - Sobki. Lillith messed with it this time because she really wants to see them kiss. Lock tops Carver by tossing Sobki up in the air, catching him, then dipping him. Sobki is once more confused, but willing. Lock flips Carver off while kissing. He decides to get a victory drink, and that's when he starts declining into tipsiness.
7 - Lillith - Lillith/Barrel (no kiss)
8 - Barrel - Agatha. Gentlemanly kiss due to height differences. Agatha swoons. Barrel is none the wiser.

*1 - Chad - Sobki (decline due to Sobki’s teeth, and also no homo)
2 - Sobki - Carmilla (declines like a goddamn gentleman)
3 - Carver - Lock/Agatha. “Cool, I get to kiss both of you!” Chad’s jaw drops. “That was an option?!”
*4 - Carmilla - Agatha (friendly cheek peck)
*5 - Agatha - Shock lets the bottle slow down as it approaches Barrel to get her hopes up, then continue on to Chad for horror factor, then it stops between Chad/Sobki. Agatha is relieved that it skipped over Chad and a smidge disappointed it didn’t quite get to Sobki, since Barrel showed earlier he doesn’t mind kisses in the context of the game and doesn’t consider it cheating.
6 - Lock - Lillith. He is very tipsy by this point, complimentary, and pretty much all over Lillith anyway. She kisses him to make him STFU. Agatha thinks this is where Barrel learned how to be a gentleman, because he damn well didn’t learn from Shock.
7 - Lillith - Agatha/Carmilla. Shock senses trouble potential and changes her mind about playing. She doesn’t know who is getting pissed or why, but she puts effort in it to get a trouble fix - and because she expects Chad to act inappropriately, which he does. She ends the kiss to boot him, but Barrel beats her to it.
8 - Barrel - Doesn’t get a turn because Shock derailed the game. Agatha is simultaneously relieved that Chad’s getting booted and pissed because she was certain that she was going to get the “real” kiss this time. Game changes to roulette.

* = Shock fucking with the game
** = the one time Lillith fucks with the game

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Sobki took initiative with Chad and led him to part of the roulette wheel to sit beside him, and thus take up a spot so no unlucky ghoul would end up stuck there. As there were sixteen segments, it was easy enough for each player to pick one to sit on and leave one panel as a gap between them so they could clearly see when the bottle went between two players.

Barrel offered his empty Frankensteiniken's bottle to use for the game and set it on the small platform in the middle of the wheel where his drums usually sat. He then got a glass of cider, some snacks, and took a panel on Chad's other side. If he tried to move, Barrel would insist he stay put. Once the blond boy was situated, Barrel arranged his snacks on the panel next to him, but away from Chad.

Lock lead Lillith to take their seats next, though he gave an admirable glance to Sobki on the way. His body felt a bit warm, but Lock attributed it to excitement more than the punch he had. He had Lillith sit by Barrel solely to break up the pattern of boys. It would also allow Agatha to sit somewhat across from Barrel, which he was sure she'd appreciate - and would amuse the shit out of the rest of the group. Once situated, Lock crossed the spare panel to nuzzle against Lillith. His tail twitched with excitment.

Shock waited for Agatha to take her seat so she could strategically place herself behind her. It wouldn't do to risk the other witch getting even a hint to her powers. She casually pulled herself up on the small stand with the skeleton sticking out of it to get a good view of the game. She also made sure she could see the bottle so she knew where to direct it for the ultimate trouble.

When Carver suggested Carmilla hang out with her, Shock gave Carmilla a devious grin and even patted the (admittedly small, which in and of itself was an insult, as there was no way Carmilla would fit) space beside her on the concrete platform. The younger vampiress's sudden change of mind sent her into a bout of wicked laughter.

"You're risking Chud over me?" she said sweetly.

Shock took a sip of her pumpkin lager.

"I'm offended," she continued, though without a single iota of seriousness. "Surely I'm better company!"

That got her brothers to laugh too. Shock did take pride in being the worst monster in town. She waited for Carmilla to take her seat between Agatha and Carver, before she spoke up again.

"Since I'm not playing," Shock said, "I'll save us all some time and pick who gets first spin."

She took a drink of her lager as she pretended to think, then looked around the circle.

"And I think..." She looked to Sobki, solely to get a few hopes up, then Lillith for a bit of discomfort, as she was taken, then Barrel to rile Agatha up a bit, before cycling back to Chad, "...our little party crasher can go first."

The tone in her voice and evil smirk on her lips said all it needed to:

I want to watch every one of you suffer.

Shock waited for Chad to take his spin. The first time, she didn't have to do anything, as it landed back on him on its own. But on his second attempt, Shock waited for the bottle to start slowing down. As all eyes were horrifically glued to the bottle in anticipation and not her, she was a little less subtle than usual as she carefully directed the bottle to slow down with the threat of landing on Carmilla, barely inch its way to Agatha, then finally clearly land between Agatha and Carmilla, and thus spared them both from Chad's lips.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Sobki got a bit into the groove and allowed Carver to take him and twirl him in their vines. He glanced around the room at Carver's suggestion. Admittedly, there wasn't a single person here he wouldn't mind landing on - even Chad - though he'd probably turn down Carmilla, as he was pretty sure she wouldn't reciprocate.

"Sure," he said. "Sounds fun."

Lock smirked as he glanced up at Lillith. He immediately sensed potential trouble, though it took a back seat as he found some eye candy.

"I'm game if you are," he said. His glance shifted to Sobki. "And if you don't mind if I land on your ex."

Barrel kept dancing. He grinned at the suggestion. Like Lock, he also sensed trouble. Unlike his older brother, it sounded more like something he might want popcorn for.

"Sure," he said.

Shock excused herself from the dance to get another glass of pumpkin lager. While she knew trouble was brewing as well, this wasn't really her brand of it. Nevertheless, she allowed their guests to choose whether to join or refrain while she poured her glass and got a feel for the room.

"Count me out," she said at last.

She grabbed a few scream cheese bites to munch on while everyone else got settled.

Who are your writing influences?

My writing style is probably somewhere between Mary Shelley when I get verbose and descriptive, Bruce Coville and Paul Dini for actual story telling (my childhood in a nutshell), and R. L. Stine for formatting (and the occasional "there's another plot here you completely overlooked. I'm taking it since you aren't doing anything with it"). There's probably influence from other authors mingled in here and there, since I tend to read things I find interesting, but don't always pay attention to who wrote it.

Not even kidding about the formatting. I once picked up a Goosebumps book to double check something, and I noticed I basically do the quick, "one-two sentence paragraph, dialogue, one-two sentence paragraph, dialgue, etc., with the occasional-long-paragraph-to-break-things-up" thing Stine does. Unlike Stine, I write chapters more than four pages when I'm writing actual stories and not RP. XP

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Barrel shrugged Carver off of his shoulders so he could lead Agatha away from the snack table. On the way to the dance floor, Barrel followed Chad's line of sight and frowned. With the recent events at Jack's house in mind, he elbowed Chad with some force to show he meant business and leaned down close to his ear to make sure the other boy heard him over the music.

"Don't stare," he said sternly. "Ghouls don't like it."

Or rather, Shock in particular didn't like it, had recently come down from an incident that put all her senses on alert and he didn't want to set her off again and risk ruining the fun, but Barrel was just smart enough to not single her out to Chad.

Barrel found a place on the roulette wheel with enough room for his long legs and large feet. Where Lock and Lillith danced with grace and clear knowledge of the other one's movements, Barrel moved like an unbalanced spider in roller skates on a freshly waxed floor. The most finesse he showed was taking care not to step on Agatha's feet or bump into her accidentally.

With the party starting to get into the swing of things again, Shock pulled Carver over to dance with her and Sobki.

Lock sulked for a moment at being denied a kiss and downed the rest of his punch. He walked over to the snack table to set the cup by his beer before wandering back to Lillith. His mood lifted upon seeing Barrel and Agatha. He snickered at his little brother's wilder dance style and how he tried to account for Agatha while doing it. When he returned to Lillith, he hopped straight onto her hip and nuzzled her neck. He could get a kiss later. Right now, he wanted to enjoy his new-found good mood.

Shock kept herself between Carver and Sobki, one so there was no chance for Chad to try and cut in, and for another, to plot more trouble, with some excitement of doing it right under the crocodile teen's nose. She wove between her best friend's vines and sometimes gripped them for a more complicated move. It also allowed her to tap her fingers and give Carver a message, albeit in parts and pieces so Sobki didn't catch on.

How do you feel about roulette?