SystemofEleven

Banding Together in Halloween Town

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."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

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."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"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.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

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

Banding Together in Halloween Town

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.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

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.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lillith covered her mouth daintily to hide a hint of a chuckle when she saw the eldest trickster stumble out of the front door. As much as she wanted to be worried about Shock's health after that explosion, she knew just enough about the situation to find the whole thing politely amusing. Jack and Sally were not in the house, and no one trusted any of the trio into their homes without an escort at the minimum. Which meant that Shock had snuck in, and obviously for some sort of prank. Which meant that all the various substances covering her were almost undoubtedly from her own trick.

Carmilla was not nearly as dainty or polite. The sight of her nemesis covering in multicolored mess and running down the steps sent her into peels of laughter. The wall around Jack's property and the small crowd of gathered monsters only blocked about a third of the stairway from view, so when Shock suddenly went from halfway down the steps to completely out of line of sight in an instant, the vampiress easily guessed what had happened. She had to sit down on the fountain to contain herself as she guffawed even louder.

Agatha merely grinned and watched the whole spectacle in satisfied silence with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lillith jerked her head in the direction of the gate when she heard the explosion. Plenty of monsters in Halloween Town -- her boyfriend's family included and doubled -- had a certain enjoyment for pyrotechnics, but Agatha was not particularly one of them. Whatever "funny" thing she had cooking, this was probably not it.

As Lock let go to grab her hand and run toward the sound, she leaned down to scoop him up and place him onto her hip. She loved her little devil dearly, but those short little legs were definitely not going to be able to keep up with her. Especially once she kicked her vampiric speed into gear.

When they reached the square, it took the young countess only a moment to decide that joining the crowd of concerned monsters heading toward Jack's property would only put the two of them in the way. Instead, she swerved to join the other teens clustered at the fountain.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "What happened?"

"We don't know yet," Agatha replied. Technically, that wasn't a lie; Barrel hadn't told her what Shock was going to do, so the witch had no idea what specifically had happened.

She also didn't need to expand her observations of the event from any outside perspective, as the clattering racket hadn't stopped. The twins stared at the house as all manner of crashes, thumps, bangs, honks, and splats echoes down toward the onlookers.

Carver reached to grab his popcorn. There still wasn't a hatch in his chest. He had no popcorn. The orange creature began to vibrate as he could do nothing to properly acknowledge the entertainment and drama that was about to go down.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lillith stifled a yawn. "You're lucky Carmilla woke up extra early for her voice exercises, today. I may not have bothered to get out of bed, otherwise. Why did you want to meet during daylight hours, anyway?"

--

Carmilla looked at Barrel, her attention drawn away from the topic at hand, though not in the direction he'd intended. "Now I know why you and your sister can barely manage the notes you're given to work with. I practice my singing every day -- twice, even, if it doesn't interfere with Halloween preparation. I'm not surprised neither of you have the dedication to put any more than the bare minimum of work into it."

Agatha was too polite to roll her eyes at the disdainful sniff that followed the vampiress' comment. Carver, on the other hand, was not.

Luckily, he was already into his 'Corvin' act, so it took minimal effort to refrain from doing so. Instead, he waved in response to the introduction and focused on continuing the conversation as it had turned. "Band, practice?" he asked.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Agatha smiled at her boyfriend. Of course, Barrel was fully capable of catching rats on his own, and even if he wasn't, some of the shops in town sold the meat and other parts of rodents cheap enough to make up for it. It was so touching that he'd pretend to need help, just to make Corvin feel welcome and included. If it had been one of his siblings, she would have assumed they were setting Corvin up for something. But Barrel was far too sweet for that.

The witch was about to reply when she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye -- movement that she was specifically waiting for. She waved to the bat.

Carmilla saw the wave and banked down to land next to her friend. She hovered about chest height for amoment before changing into humanoid form with the usually poof and smoke. "Hi, Agatha. What's so important you interrupted my vocal routine with a demand to come down here?"

Agatha opened her mouth to answerbluntly, then quickly closed it. She glanced at Barrel. On the one hand, he had requested her to interferewith Shock's prank. But on the other, flat out admitting what she had done wouldn't play into his preferred subtleties. She cleared her throat as an excuse for her slow response.

"Well, I was doing some divinations the other day, and drew up a rather interesting prediction for... a significant source of amusement, involving someone with a particular color scheme," she explained. "It couldn't tell me when the event would occur, but it gave me a location, and a particular sign to look out for."

"And I suppose that sign occurred recently." Carmilla raisedan eyebrow. "Is that really all you have? The way you called me, all rushed like that, I would have thought you'd have more details than that."

---

Lillith picked Lock up to kiss him, then set him down again and took his arm. "That sounds like a lovely idea." She smiled. "Before that, however, how about we take a stroll in the town square? Stretch our legs and enjoy the evening smog, you know."