Chad grinned and chugged some more beer. “Now [i]that’s[/i] getting into the party groove! Count me in!”

Agatha hesitated. On the one claw, she could use it as an excuse to kiss Barrel without having to try and navigate his preference for nuance and subtlety. And it might be nice to get a small chance with Halloween Town’s favorite heart throb. 

On the other claw, she didn’t want to potentially interfere with whatever relationship Sobki was in currently, and she [i]definitely[/i] didn’t want to cheat on her own boyfriend, even as part of a game. And what would happen if she landed on Chad? She grimaced slightly at the thought.

But… It [i]did[/i] provide a potential opportunity to finally cross a relationship benchmark with the person she most wanted to. 

But what if Barrel wouldn’t want to sully the experience of their first kiss with the casualty of the game? What if he was saving it for something special? Was he already planning a particular set up?

Agatha fell quite silent for a long moment as her thoughts drifted to all the possibilities of such a plan. A dark tunnel, perhaps? The air filled with the fluttering noise of bats dancing in the air around them, a curtain of poison ivy and African strangler vines parting before them…

Lillith gave a glance about the room. Like Sobki, she didn’t particularly see anyone among the normal Halloween Town teens that she would have any real issues kissing. Chad was a different story. He might be reasonably good looking by mortal standards, but she was far from mortal with far different standards, and his low level of physical attractiveness was further washed away by his abysmal personality. Of course, she [i]was[/i] perfectly capable of reaching forward to tap the bottle away at a speed he wouldn’t be able to track with his eyes…

The elder vampiress shrugged. “I suppose I see no harm in playing.” 

And she [i]definitely[/i] saw no harm in her current boytoy rubbing teeth with her old one. The two of them had parted ways amicably, and Sobki was still the heartthrob of everyone in their age group (or at least those who swung that direction) for a reason. Lillith knew the two boys wouldn’t mesh well enough to go particularly far, but she would still very much enjoy watching them at the starting line.

When Barrel chimed in with the most casual, “sure,” he smiled like he knew something no one else did. Agatha’s thoughts stopped in their tracks for a moment.Then they suddenly went into overdrive as she began to connect all the pieces. Of [i]course[/i]! This [i]was[/i] his plan! He must have set the whole thing up with Carver ahead of time.

[i]Tricksters have to be subtle[/i], Agatha reminded herself, [i]so he prefers carefully applied nuance.[/i] A grandiose display of romance wouldn’t be in his style, but manipulating a supposed game of chance to guarantee a kiss from his sweetheart [i]would[/i] be. 

Of course, that would only work if she was playing the game with him. So his casual response must have been intended to indicate it was alright! 

Feeling rather proud of herself for having caught his hint, the teen witch took a moment to calm and compose herself before trying to make an equally casual, “I’ll join.”

Carmilla scowled as she surveyed her options, and bit down the jealousy that her sister had the whole room of her choosing, while she… had Agatha, which would be weird given their friendship, Carver, who she [i]might[/i] consider just for this, and… Shock.

Ugh. Why did a part of her enjoy that option? 

The purple bitch’s current outfit really wasn’t helping. Well, either that, or it [i]was[/i] helping, but her personality was working heavily against it. Those shorts barely covered what they needed to, and the high top socks… tended to drive one’s gaze in a particular direction.

[i]Yech! No! Not going there![/i] Carmilla shook herself and tore her eyes away before anyone could notice where they had wandered. There was no way she was going to get pulled in by that!

...Hhhnnnnnnng. But maybe if she landed on Shock, she could get the whole thing over with and be able to shake herself out of it easier in the future, after knowing from [i]experience[/i] how bad it was.

...But what if it wasn’t bad? Would that make things worse going forward? Wait, [i]no[/i]! There was no way it [i]wouldn’t[/i] be bad; it was [i]Shock[/i]! How had her thoughts even gotten that far?

When the oldest of the trio decided to sit the game out, the dilemma pretty much solved itself. Regardless of how she felt about the trickster being the only solid option for her, the removal of that option left her with no reason to play.

“No, thank you. Not worth my time,” she sniffed.

Carver waved the tips of his vines at Shock and Carmilla. “Alright, then. You two can hang out in the corner and have a pleasant conversation with each other while the rest of us play.” The pumpkin creature put the slightest emphasis on [i]pleasant conversation[/i]. 

The younger twin’s eyes widened, before she quickly snapped, “[i]Fine[/i]! I’ll play your stupid game.”

Carver smiled innocently up at her. “Whatever you like.”

Agatha blinked in surprise at that turn of events. [i]There’s really only me and Carver for her to kiss. I’m not sure she’s into Carver, and if she landed on me, it’d be a courtesy to just turn it down. Unless…[/i] 

OH! Right! With so many people playing and watching, Barrel wouldn’t have a way to manipulate the game without getting caught. But Carmilla [i]could[/i], using her supernatural speed.

Of course her best friend was in on it!