Barrel grinned and took a hefty gulp of his wine. He suddenly felt a lot better about the whole thing. Agatha's current good mood rubbed off on him, and throughout the rest of dinner, Barrel found himself actually enjoying her company once they got the awkwardness out of the way. Without the stress of worrying about screwing up, it was easier to just talk and relax, like dinnertime was [i]supposed[/i] to be. By the time he brought out dessert - with a quick sugary topping he took a few minutes to pull together - he was damn sure they'd have access back to the shop by morning. Not to mention he had a new way to squirm out of trouble in the future. Barrel decided to keep Lock's advice of "sincere gestures, sincere intentions" in his back pocket just in case he ever needed it again.

He [i]hoped[/i] he wouldn't need it. Tonight had been pretty stressful.

Barrel was still in good spirits as he walked Agatha home and bid her a good night. Lock was still gone by the time he got back. Barrel briefly wondered where his older brother had gotten off to, before he decided he didn't care. Mission accomplished. With Shock and Carver still at Medusa's, Barrel went to tend to the scorpion nests he didn't get to due to dinner preparations to get that out of the way before his older sister got back.

~~~

Over the next few days, Lock [i]finally[/i] got Lillith to speak to him again. After two weeks of silent treatment, he was desperate for affection and putty in her hands to make it up to her. Shock and Barrel figured they weren't going to see much of him until the next band practice. For Barrel, it partially worked out because it meant some reprieve from drum practice and his older brother's frustration. On the other hand, it also meant there was less of a chance of Lock and Shock picking fights with each other, which in turn meant the time he spent tending to the scorpion nests came with a higher chance of Shock lurking over his shoulder and watching for any screw-ups.

If anything, his accomplishment at securing access to the witch's shop again greatly lifted Barrel's mood and made his punishment a little less stressful.

For her part, Shock was still somewhat pleasant thanks to their fun on Halloween, having feasted again on trouble after having to serve their punishment. That she didn't go out of her way to antagonize Carmilla when they crossed paths in town spoke well enough of it. Overall, it seemed that Jack's lesson stuck with the three of them...for now.