SystemofEleven

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lillith raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not that far of a walk."

She suddenly smirked and pulled on his leash just enough to put pressure on the back of his collar. "And I do believe I gave you an order. Which you have not immediately followed. How do you think you should be punished?" she asked sweetly.

Carver hid a smirk by pretending to continue looking for a rat hole.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver nearly snarled at Lock, but clenched his jaw shut and let the sound come out as one of surprise. He had to take a moment to work his features into an expression of innocence and curiosity.

"I, am sorry," he said. "I did not, see you, there. I was, chasing, a rat. I, could not, see, where it, went."

Lillith chuckled at the childish monster. She stepped over to the wall and peered over. "Well, I don't see it anywhere, so I think it made a sneaky escape while it had the chance. It might have burrowed under the wall, though."

Carver perked up and dropped to his knees to peer at the base of the wall, as if looking for a hole. "Under, where?" he asked excitedly. "I can, scare it, out!"

"Under-- Oh! Stars above my coffin, that reminds me. I forgot something at the manor. We simply must go back for it. It was good to see you again, Corvin. Come, pet." She turned back the way they came, keeping her 'pet' on a rather short leash.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Friends are, always, good," 'Corvin' replied with a smile. He waved as Behemoth got back to work, then wandered off toward town to look for Lock. He was likely still attached to Lillith, but the pumpkin creature was running a number of plans through his empty metal head on how to get around that.

First, he had to get out of the pumpkin patch, though. Carver had made a habit of just using his vines to climb over the walls, rather than bothering with the gates. The pumpkin patch was separated into a few different sections by winding inner walls, so that Behemoth could more easily keep track of which pumpkins had been planted how long before and therefore notice if they weren't growing as well as they should. Useful in tracking time with the monotony of daily life in Halloween Town, but not so useful in allowing a direct path from one end of the patch to another. Luckily, Finkelstein's latest sentient creation had all but been built for getting into, over, and through things most monsters simply weren't capable.

Carver cheerfully made his way to one of the inner walls and reach up to pull himself over -- and realized his arms didn't have the length, height, or leverage to properly reach over the stones to get a grip on the other side. With the seven inches he had lost in the body upgrade, the wall now came to just at his shoulder level. His new metal fingers were strong, but they weren't flexible enough to reach around the top and gain a grip on the other side. He hopped a couple of times, trying to get some kind of purchase, but it just... wasn't working. He didn't have enough pushing power in the legs of the exoskeleton, and the construction as a whole was also significantly heavier than the old design. He could only get his feet a couple inches off the ground.

"Tryout this new body, carver. It's so much more resilient, Carver. Your hooligan friends won't be able to damage you anymore, Carver," he groused quietly to himself as he glared at the infuriating barrier with crossed arms.

After a moment, he stomped off to try a different section of the wall. Maybe one of the more craggly areas would have a rock jutting out somewhere he could use as a foothold. There were the gates, still, of course, but he refused to use those on principle. He'd never bothered with them before, and he wasn't going to start now!

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Carver, a pumpkin, head? Seems, interesting," he replied with the tiniest of smirks. "I look, forward to, meeting, her."

Carver started to correct Behemoth but quickly shut himself up before saying that the hill could unwind to provide a path over the wall directly into the pumpkin patch. Corvin wouldn't know that. Yet... He made a mental to note to manipulate one of the other citizens into telling him about that, so he could use it as an excuse when the trio needed him for a lookout.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Youngins?" 'Corvin' asked. "My size?" He frowned thoughtfully. "I think, I met some, yester, day. One said, her name, was Shock. She was, very nice, to me. But, the witches, did not seem, to like, her very, much."

"It is, a good view," he agreed when they go to the stone wall that separated the pumpkin patch from the graveyard. "I think, that hill, would be, a good spot, to watch, for birds."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver nodded and followed along, nodding and listening contentedly as Behemoth showed him the ropes of pumpkin farming. Again.

One of his oldest friends, the caretaker of the pumpkin fields had taught him everything he knew about the growing and harvesting of the plants over the decades, and Carver never quite tired of hearing the simple but earnest words and seeing the happiness Behemoth clearly felt at having someone to share it with. The big monster had the same passion for pumpkin farming as the witches had for potion brewing and Finkelsteins had for science. Unlike the witches and the Finkelsteins, however, Behemoth was quieter and sweeter about it; Carver never felt like he was being lectured, even when that's what was technically happening.

There was of course the secondary bonus that Carver got to rest his "automaton" voice for a while. It helped sell the bit, but even he found it annoying after a while.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

'Corvin' took the hand when offered. "It is, nice to, meet you." He nodded solemnly at Behemoth's further description of his job.

"That is, a very big, pumpkin head," he responded with a smile, sounding suitably impressed. "How did, you make it, grow to that, size?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver waved at the birds a little bit more, then turned to face Behemoth. "Thank, you," he responded. "My name, is Corvin. Hello."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

'Corvin' wandered into the pumpkin patch and looked around for birds to chase. Behemoth could get very focused on his work, but his work involved making sure nothing was awry in the field so he would definitely notice the newcomer eventually. The pumpkin creature didn't want to come across too strong by approaching his old friend first. Needed to make it seem like he belonged there, not that he came looking for something...

Carver spotted a crow perched on a pumpkin stem and made his way over to it. He pounced in its direction and made a metallic roar that resonated in his chest as the bird flew away. Two other birds popped into view as the sound startled them into flight as well, and Carver ran after them to make sure they didn't land again.

That roar was cool, though; he'd have to remember to make use of it next Halloween.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Now, why would I spoil the surprise?" Carver said sweetly. "I only explained the juice because Lock isn't here to hear it. You two will just have to wait."

He waved and made his way toward the ladder. "Now if you'll excuse me, 'Corvin' is going to go get familiar with Behemoth. After all, I'm going to be living in the pumpkin patch for a while..."