Lock grinned.

"You've got such a great big sister, Carver. Unlike [i]some[/i] of us..."

Shock immediately stopped laughing.

"Take it back!"

Lock's grin widened.

"I mean, if I'm not your favorite anymore..."

He laughed as his older sister tackled him. Lock and Shock tussled for a few moments, before it ended with Lock pinning his older sister front first with her hands behind her back and his tail around her throat. Shock tried to kick or throw him off, but to no avail, and grudgingly conceded.

The rest of the day went as it normally did for the tricksters. Barrel got to the scorpion tanks, then made only himself a good dinner out of pettiness. Lock set up a practice session when his siblings and Carver weren't too busy, then made a quick, simple meal for the rest of them. Shock had them refresh tomorrow's plan: she'd handle the fog juice concoction in the main square, while her brothers and Carver used their slingshots for stragglers in the cemetery and the pumpkin patch.

When they were ready to head to bed, the three of them climbed up to the tree house. Shock always headed to the armory to change into shorts and a tank top. Barrel usually just threw off his hoodie to sleep in the old shirt underneath, while Lock traded his normal pants for pajama pants. Neither of them cared if Carver was in the room.

Lock found the trio's favorite pillow first and claimed it. They always fought over it, and it often changed heads in the night, but there was an unspoken agreement that the first to grab it got to start with it, and any method of gaining it first was fair game - like how Shock sometimes grabbed it before leaving the room to change, or how Barrel sometimes hid it during the day.

Shock joined her brothers and Carver a moment later. She kicked a few blankets away from her favorite spot on the floor, where a slightly uneven board stuck up and perfectly dug into her back when she rolled onto it. Such a delightful unrest it always brought, and with their big day tomorrow, she wanted to be as restless as possible.

"Do we understand the plan, geniuses?" she asked.

Lock threw his hands behind his head and rested against the favored pillow.

"I do," he said, then pointed to the youngest trickster with his tail. "Barrel might need some flashcards, though."

Barrel shoved him and stuck out his tongue.

"I don't have to talk to anyone this time!" he said.

"Can't flub up a script if you have no script," Shock said with a grin.

Barrel pulled a pillow to his face and screamed as his siblings laughed.

"I hate you all," he muttered.