"After dinner," Shock said, "then you're on!"

~~~

He took a quick glance around the room, mostly to notate where things had shifted. Barrel knew he wouldn't get more than a cursory glance or two, but he'd gotten good at picking up on where things were quickly. Rat tails, alligator eyes - actually, he should probably pick more up; Shock sometimes went through them like candy - worm's wart...the usual Halloween Town favorite ingredients. On another shelf he noticed potion bottles, then talismans and likely cursed objects. Boxes and barrels of unknown objects were awkwardly stacked around, some of which Barrel suspected would go onto the fallen shelf once it was back in place.

It had only taken but a few seconds to mentally place where things were before Agatha showed him the shelf. Barrel calculated the best spot to get some leverage and moved to the front...only to find Agatha pretty close by. He awkwardly glanced at her, until she moved on her own, before he crouched down to get a good grip.

Carver was right. She [i]was[/i] keeping a close eye on him.

Barrel braced himself, then pulled the shelf up from the floor, then carefully pushed it back against the wall.

"How'd you guys knock this down to begin with?" he asked.

He turned to Agatha when she spoke to him.

"Oh, you know," he said with a shrug. "Band, cooking. Nothing too much, really."

Barrel smiled a little as thoughts of earlier came to mind.

"What, me?" he asked, with mock innocence, though he knew no one in town ever believed him or his siblings, at least at first. "Nah. At least, not tonight."

He was quiet for a moment as he looked her over. [i]Was[/i] she keeping an eye on him? Or was she just being polite? It was difficult to tell. If Barrel noticed her shifting, he didn't indicate such, or at least, he tried not to.

[i]She might think I'm up to something[/i], he thought. [i]Why[/i] else [i]would she ask about what kind of trouble I've been up to?[/i]

He quickly spoke again to break the silence.

"Lock got on Shock's nerves earlier, but that's always fun to watch."