That they even showed up was a small relief to Lock. He smiled at the vampires as they arrived, and was even extra polite to them. Shock just gave Carmilla a small smirk, but didn't start up her usual sniping. She was still [i]quite[/i] satisfied from kicking the vampiress around and winning their fight. That Carmilla had wisely avoided her since only added to her good mood. Barrel hardly had any trouble with the drums. If anything, practice that week went as perfectly as it could.

With the band back together and mostly getting along again, and the prank preparations in its last stages, Lock convinced Shock to hold of for just a few more days. He and Lillith had been together for five regular years. With how he and his siblings aged, though, it was slightly over a year of their growth period. Time was always strange to them, to just know that after a certain amount of time passed, they'd gone to the next age. The Halloween following this one would mark his seventeenth year. Barrel would be sixteen, and Shock...

Lock tried to shove that thought back. That she'd be the first to actually reach adulthood, and it wasn't something he wanted to think about.

Instead, he thought of that haunted clearing by the lake in the Hinterlands where they planned to meet. Of a long walk and a midnight swim, then a retreat to the hidden cavern nearby where Lillith could be protected from the sun, and the both of them could be protected from prying eyes. He got Barrel to make some blood pudding to take with him, and carefully packed Lillith's gift: a small bottle of nightshade perfume.

Lock held the basket with his tail as he climbed up the rope ladder. The cutlery and dishware wouldn't be as nice as the ones Lillith brought when she did this, but they were spotless, and he picked some of the few plates that weren't chipped or cracked. He shifted the basket to his arm once he reached the bridge. Shock, Barrel, and Carver were up in the tree house playing cards. He smiled a little as he heard laughter from Carver and Barrel because Barrel played a particularly brutal move against Shock. Shock cursed him out, but that they started the next round without any further violence said all it needed to.

Things were back to normal, and as he headed for the Hinterlands, Lock was better able to put his focus on the date.