LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock intended to kick Carmilla down, but with the vampiress shifting at the last second, she couldn't move her legs quickly enough to land on her feet. She landed hard on her ass, particularly her tailbone, and barely bit back a noise of pain as she collapsed onto her back. She stayed down, but grabbed for Carmilla's ankle as the vampiress landed.

"Speak for yourself."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock kept a careful eye on Carmilla and waited for her to buy her items and head for the exit. She smirked as she waited for Carmilla to get in just the right--

Yes, there!

She quickly swung and let go of the wedding broom. Shock then aimed to use Carmilla to cushion her fall.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock tightly gripped the wedding broom. Fortunately, part of the handle jutted out from the rafter it was glued to, giving her a convenient hold to grab onto at the last second. Her feet kicked at the air in a pitiful attempt to keep the ladder steady. Shock glared down at Carmilla.

"Oh, you're gonna be sorry!" she cried.

Shock mentally calculated her height from the ground, and to the nearest shelf. Probably shouldn't risk toppling it over if she jumped to it; that was not damage she wished to pay for. If anything, she at least had no fear of falling down at an inopportune time thanks to the Godzilla glue.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"I didn't put this one up," Shock shot back. "Carver did."

She smirked.

"So you can wait like the rest of us, Your Highness."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"In case you haven't noticed," Shock said, "I'm busy. Or are you just as blind as a vampire as you are as a bat?"

Shock leaned over to chip off some glue shards directly over Carmilla both to inconvenience the vampiress and to make her point.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Throughout the day, Lock made a few attempts to talk with Lillith, only to be stonewalled every time. Fine, so he told a few little lies to cover for his sister. No one got hurt, and it was a really good prank, so what was the big deal?

He got more desperate as the day went on, even attempting werewolf pup eyes and knowing gestures with his tail to try to sway her.

Yet Lillith held firm.

By the end of the day, he'd all but given up trying, and just did the mundane tasks she assigned him.

~~~

Shock was currently trying to think of a way to switch out the wedding broom with Agnes', and thus didn't put nearly as much effort into getting it down as the other two. That it required the ladder and caution gave her more excuses to take her time. She gave a side glance to the door, scowled when she saw Carmilla, and went back to chipping off glue.

She ignored Carmilla and Agatha for the most part, until Carmilla cleared her throat.

"What?" she asked.

She knew what. She didn't care.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock stumbled back when she pushed him. A few of the monsters at the pumpkin carving station stopped to stare for a moment.

"Okay, to be fair, that first one was true," he said, with an amused smirk and a flick of his tail. "We never have. Until now."

The smirk quickly faded as she continued to speak. Lock just sat there for a moment, ignoring the slimy feel of the pumpkin guts seeping through his clothes. He stood up and tried to go to her, but she had already become a bat and hovered above him. That Lock had no response regardless said enough.

Another moment passed before he realized that some of the other monsters were still staring. Lock glared at them when he noticed.

"What are you looking at?" he demanded.

His tail threateningly flicked behind him, and it was enough for the pumpkin carvers to suddenly remember they had a task to do and get back to it. Lock quickly wiped the pumpkin guts off, dipped his hands in the fountain as he passed it to clean them, then went to go do the pumpkin delivery.

He also promised himself he'd find a way to make it up to Lillith.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock gave her a playful smirk as he held up his hands and tail to show all three were empty.

"Oh, come on, Lillith," he said. "I don't have anything on me."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock smiled when he saw Lillith, and was actually glad for the new task. He was getting sick of the feel of the pumpkin guts on his hands.

"Sure thing," he said, with a flick of his tail.

Before getting to the task, Lock approached Lillith, wanting a quick nuzzle first.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock just kept chipping away at the glue, completely unaware of Agatha's thoughts. She would retain her good mood until the drollness of her punishment overrode the high.

~~~

Once the wall was fixed, Lock assisted at the pumpkin carving station to clean up bits of shell and guts for compost, and to place the seeds in a bucket to give to Behemoth later. Here and there, he took a break and carved a pumpkin, both to help out and to break up the monotony of the task. He'd even taken one of Carver's lazy "tombstones" from the previous day and detailed it a bit more.

Lock finished the tombstone pumpkin, then went back to collecting pumpkin innards and flesh. He reminded himself that there was less than two weeks to Halloween, when their punishment was over.