LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Barrel gave her a small salute.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, before turning to Agatha. He did have to try to keep her distracted too, after all. Barrel gave her a little smile. "Besides. It's always more fun when you're learning with someone."

The bell rang again as someone else entered. Aggie turned to see who entered.

"Witches' shop, the best bargain in--"

Barrel knew by how Aggie deflated who had arrived.

"Oh," the taller witch said. "Hello, Shock. Hello, Carver."

Aggie turned to Barrel with that stern look. He held up his hands in defense again.

"I-I didn't know she was coming in, I swear!"

Shock glanced at the shelves to try to find the swamp smoke, then ran a hand through her hair to subtly pawn Loki from her ear.

"Relax," she said. She pulled off her backpack and held it up. "I'm just here to make a delivery, then I'm off."

Aggie gave her a suspicious nod, then called to the back. There was no way she could keep an eye on the three of them by herself.

"Agnes!" she called. "Scorpion delivery!"

In the few seconds Aggie turned away to call for the smaller witch, Shock set Loki on the shelf while Barrel blocked Agatha's view. Agnes quickly came from whatever she was doing from the back to crawl up to the counter. By this point, Shock held a bottle and read the label - one away from the swamp smoke - then put it back in a calculated ploy in case one of the witches saw her reaching for the shelf.

Just a customer looking at the merchandise, even if an unpleasant customer. Carver would have to signal to Loki which bottle to push, but she could do that easily.

Shock walked up to the counter with the backpack and carefully set it on the counter. She didn't need to say another word as she started pulling jars and bottles from it, while Agnes took inventory of what she had and calculated payment. Both of them were so used to this routine that they didn't bother with small talk. Barrel tried to keep Aggie and Agatha focused on him.

"So, uh, about what we discussed," he said. He tried to play it off as keeping this on the down low with his older sister right there. "You're sure beetle's eyes aren't a good substitute for spider eyes? They seemed similar enough, but I don't want to ruin the recipe..."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Why was he being the convincing one? Shock was much better at this, despite her reputation as the worst of the three of them. Still, don't panic. Just...keep their attention on him.

"Well, formal would prevent an explosion," Barrel said with a shrug, "if I knew what I was doing..."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Barrel was taken aback. Did he do something wrong? Sure, Agatha was always watching him, but he didn't think she'd be upset about asking one of her aunts for help. He quickly racked his mind to salvage this. If anything, he at least had Agatha's attention.

...Maybe he could work with that.

Barrel held up his hands in defense.

"I-I never said you weren't!" he said. "I just...didn't think you'd...want to...umm...teach me?"

Aggie quickly stepped in.

"Perhaps we can both assist," she suggested. "True, you're skilled, Agatha, but you still have more to learn yourself. Besides..."

She gave a pointed look to Barrel.

"It wouldn't hurt to have a second set of eyes to keep him out of trouble."

"Trouble?" Barrel asked, innocently. "Who said anything about trouble?"

Aggie crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. Barrel stretched and put his hands behind his head.

"All right, you got me," he said. "But I really do want to learn!"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock shifted her backpack. Loki's tail and limbs loosened around her ear, with just enough grip to stay in place. If she stopped and listened, she'd hear a faint, rhythmic hiss, but she knew well enough that her scorpion had decided to take a quick nap. Shock smirked as she listened to Carver.

"It could be the end of our fun if Agatha gets mad enough for him to figure it out," Shock said, "but we'll just find a new source elsewhere."

She pondered the offer.

"Bet taken," she said, "since we've been planning this for months, and he just celebrated their anniversary last night, and still didn't get warm feet."

They cleared the hill that blocked the tree house from the town and were almost to the main gate.

~~~

Barrel just kept his grin. Good, he had Aggie's attention. Now to keep it.

"Well, a lot of stuff I cook with anyway, I found in the spellbook," he said. "It didn't seem too much different."

He gave a quick glance to Agatha, and actually mentally thanked Shock for all the lessons. Barrel spoke with confidence as he told her:

"I actually knew that. Same thing with white baneberry and doll's eyes."

He smiled at Agatha.

"I'd like that--" Barrel shot a glance at Aggie. "--but I'd like an experienced teacher, too. If-if it's not too much trouble."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"I've never seen Agatha be vengeful," Shock said, "and Lillith can get pretty clever when she's upset. So I'm sure Lock thinks her inevitable revenge is worth it."

~~~

The little bell to the witch's shop rang as Barrel entered, a wide grin on his face as usual. He carefully scoped out the shop. Agatha was behind the counter, as usual, Aggie was stocking, but he didn't see Agnes. Okay, he could work with this. Shock said she'd prefer working with the little witch anyway.

Agatha perked upon seeing him.

"Hi, Barrel!" she exclaimed. "What can we get for you?"

"Um..."

Barrel glanced over to Aggie.

"Actually, I...well..."

Come on, he told himself. You practiced this. The whole plan requires this.

"I was wondering if you could help me with...potions?"

As he thought, that got Aggie's attention. The tall witch turned her head to face him.

"Potions?" she asked.

"Y-yeah," Barrel said. "It's not too different from cooking, and I've been reading this spellbook..."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock ran a finger along the back of Loki's shell.

"You'll get her next time, precious," she cooed.

The scorpion settled back into place and went back to happily munching on the waffle piece.

Barrel brought the next round of wailing waffles to add to the stack.

"It actually won't be that hard," he said. "They keep their brooms behind the counter so they're always at the ready. If I can get Agatha and one of her aunts to focus on me, that'll give Shock time to grab them once the swamp smoke starts to spew."

"Preferably Aggie," Shock said. "It's harder for Agnes to see behind me without leaving her stool."

"And they won't be thinking about their brooms," Barrel said. "Just evacuating the shop."

"Right," Shock said.

She pet Loki again.

"And this little demon's going to knock the bottle over," she said. "Harder to blame any of us if we're nowhere near it."

"To add to the confusion!" Barrel said proudly.

"They won't know it was a trick until they see the brooms glued to the wall," Shock said with a grin.

The sound of footsteps echoing in the lair sounded. By their weight and tread, Lock finished his bath and was finally joining them. The little devil slid into the dining room.

"Oh, we're going over contingencies?" he asked with a grin to mirror Shock's. Lock grabbed a plate, having caught the tail end of the conversation. "Don't forget order of arrival."

"Right," Shock said. "Barrel was going to go in first."

"Give them a 'heads up' that you're on your way with a delivery, and try to distract with potions in the meantime," Barrel said with a nod.

"Maybe not even mention that," Lock suggested. "Just distract."

Barrel pondered, then nodded in agreement.

"There's a few extra jars of tails in the prep room," Shock told Carver. "Since you'll be 'assisting' me with the delivery."

"And I'll run in after with the venom vials you 'forgot'," Lock chimed in, "then look around while I'm there."

They knew better than to come in all at once. Nothing would get the witches' attention more.

"Swamp smoke is pretty thick," Barrel said. "It should only take a few seconds to fill the shop."

"And while Barrel's escorting Agatha and hopefully one of her aunts," Shock continued, "Carver will place the wedding broom on the ceiling while Lock and I get the witches' brooms. We're gonna have to be fast: grab, glue, and go."

Lock and Barrel nodded.

"I'll try to toss one of the brooms your way on the way out," Barrel said.

"And I'll try to 'escort' whichever witch I'm working with," Shock said.

She pondered.

"I can use Loki as an excuse to delay or run back in if I have to."

"So...I'm possibly doing double broom duty," Lock said.

"Unless Carver can handle two at once," Barrel suggested.

"Either way, I'll get Agnes' broom under her cargo pants," Shock said.

Lock glanced to Carver.

"Don't forget to be near something corrosive," he said. "So I can 'help' when you have trouble walking."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

If anyone noticed, there was no indication, not that he'd have much shame if he was seen. Lock tried to at least free his tail, as he wanted to touch her, but his ankles were bound too tightly to gain any leverage. He didn't stop struggling, even as she set him down.

"Define 'good'."

Lock winced at her careful touch, but gave into her kiss. He held it as long as she would let him. The second she left, though, he tried to free himself. Even in the darkness of the cave, the moon gave him just enough light to see the shape of his bindings. It took a few minutes, but he managed to free his ankles. When Lillith came back, he'd be standing with as much of an inviting pose as he could with his hands still bound behind his back, the pants hanging off his tail, and a smirk on his lips.

The rest of the night went by in blissful torment. By morning, they'd be curled up together, scratched and bruised and happily in pain. At some point, Lock let Lillith put in the new earring. A small sign that she marked him as hers, and the new weight on his ear was taken in with pride.

They both rinsed off the following evening before they headed back into town. Lock happily clutched her hand as they walked, and carried the basket under his other arm. At the cemetery, they kissed again before parting ways.

Lock stretched a bit as he walked. Lillith's torment left him delightfully stiff, but as soon as he got home, he needed a bath, and then he and his siblings had work to do.

Shock was down in the lair. After Oogie passed, Barrel took over the kitchen. The bedroom was used for whatever purpose the trio needed at the moment. There was one more room back there that had been redone. As a child, Shock trained scorpions for use in her trouble. Over the years, she'd become Halloween Town's expert on them, and bred them for the town. Shelves holding several small tanks and supplies lined most of the walls. A large table in the center held a bigger tank, venom extraction tools, and other necessary equipment. The remaining wall space had the framed remains of favorite pets long since passed, carefully pinned and marked with their names.

There were very few things Halloween Town could trust from them: trouble, double-crossing, and the best-bred scorpions they'd ever seen. Shock always kept the best ones for herself, but the witches since made a deal with her for their stock of scorpion claws, tails, and venom. Her wares were the only thing anyone in the town could trust came untainted from her or her brothers, and Shock herself set that standard, as it would only take one ruined potion to lose the business.

That didn't mean there weren't ways around it for other trouble...like using a delivery to help distract some of her targets to acquire a broom. Or make an accident happen.

Shock gathered a few vials of venom and carefully packed them in a backpack with some jars of various scorpion parts and old rags between them to help cushion them. She then went to one of the tanks and opened the lid to retrieve the scorpion inside.

"Up for a little trouble, Loki?" she asked.

The scorpion hissed and crawled into her hand. Shock smirked and lifted her pet up to her left ear. Loki crawled up behind her ear and hooked his tail over it to hang from it. His tiny claws and pinchers gently nipped her earlobe to keep himself positioned like an earring. Some of his legs further tightened along the rim of her ear to keep himself stationary.

Shock reached up and lovingly ran a finger along his shell. Loki let out a strange, but contented sound as he settled in place. Shock then grabbed the backpack and headed to the dining room for breakfast.

Barrel was preparing a stack of wailing waffles for them. Shock came in and set her backpack down before taking her place at the table beside Carver.

"Is Lock back yet?" she asked.

"He's getting a bath," Barrel said, "but he'll be down soon."

"Good," Shock said.

She took one of the waffles, then broke off a tiny piece to give to Loki. Like a true spoiled pet, Loki happily devoured it, and especially enjoyed the little wail that emitted as he chewed. Shock ran the tip of her finger over his head. The insects that crawled around the lair and their tree house gave her more than enough to feed her stock, and for the most part, Shock only gave them the best insects, but once in a blood moon, she let her favorite pet of the moment share with her.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock kicked and struggled, but she had his tail wrapped around one leg and both ankles bound to keep all three limbs contained within a few moments. He pouted when she finished.

"Why?"

The pout became a frown as she shifted just within his vision and pulled her stockings back on.

"Errands? On our anniversary?"

More than likely just to frustrate him. Lock struggled again as she picked him up and tossed him over her shoulder.

"Lilliiiiiiith!"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock smirked at her grin. Whatever she intended to do, he earned it, and looked more than pleased with himself, particularly when her legs trembled. She moved off of him. Lock frowned that she ruined his fun, but when she started to search their things, his smirk resurfaced. He tried to break his forearms free from her grip, but Lillith held firm. When she yanked him closer, he didn't fight.

At least, not until she pressed him forward and ensnared his wrists. She'd find the key still in one of the locks to place elsewhere at her leisure. They were thin like mortal cuffs so they could easily fit in a back pocket, but far more durable, which was necessary, given their brand of fun. Lock found himself pressed into the ground. Delight rippled down his spine as she nipped his ears.

"Certainly not drag me off to the cavern," Lock said coolly, "to do unspeakable horrors..."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock barely managed an, "Isn't it?" before he found himself pressed under her body. He gently nipped at her breasts and slid his tongue over her skin, more than content to enjoy the opportunity. One leg remained hooked over her back as his other foot slid over the the round contours of her backside, caressing her as best he was able to, given the circumstances.

He moved his tail both with more care and vigorously. Lock felt how she moved over him and readjusted when necessary to torment her as much as he could, never allowing her too much satisfaction before he pushed another button.