"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]I'll[/i] 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 [i]worse[/i]. Something he can't prevent, even if he sees me coming."

Jewel sighed. "I am not defending his actions, but you [i]must[/i] 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 [i]did[/i] 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 [i]you[/i] 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 [i]this[/i]--" 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 [i]leave[/i]?"

She sighed again. "He really isn't... [i]that[/i] 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 [i]thunk[/i] 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 [i]delicate[/i] task, such as mixing highly reactive chemicals one drop at a time, or wiring a particularly powerful machine?”

“[i]Fiiiiiine![/i] 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 [i]that[/i] 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.