SystemofEleven

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver sat quietly on her stool. Lock quickly realized his mistake and didn't try to keep at her, so she didn't feel a need to say anything. Instead, as soon as she heard the word "purple", she held up two fingers, silently counted them down, then pointed at Shock. At the name "Charmelia" she unfurled the vines around her chest to make it seem like she was a little bit bigger than she was.

"Don't call me that!" Carmilla snapped, baring her fangs at Shock. She stood straighter and squared her shoulders, appearing even more strictly rigid than Lillith, her high collar fanning out like a cat raising it hackles. The vampiress only mostly settled down when Lock used the word "better" even though everyone knew that's not what he meant by it.

Carver made sure Lock wasn't focused on her, then mimed a very enthusiastic and spastic drum banging. As soon as Barrel started up, she let loose a vine to serve as an angrily waving tail while going through the motions of trying to grab something from someone.

Shock broke her glaring contest with Carmilla and glanced over at the pumpkin creature, who immediately fell still and switched to looking bored.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla wasn't trying to put her singing forward to the exclusion of all else, but she did catch herself putting more focus on one than the other as they played. She tried to correct for it, which resulted in overcorrecting, and then she had to correct for that. Honestly, she wasn't sure which would bother Lock more -- the fading of the synth or the inconsistency between the two -- so she was pretty much just waiting for him to call everything to a halt and chew them all out anyway. Again.

Unlike her sister, Lillith didn't think so much about the technical aspects of the singing. It kept her a few steps behind Carmilla in terms of vocal purity, but it freed her up to pay more attention to her instrument without getting distracted or confused. When the music stopped, she pulled out a small file and began working on sharpening her nails.

Carver looked at Lock, her mouth shrinking to form a short flat line. "It's not an orchestral xylophone. It doesn't have a c-sharp," she reminded him dryly. "I also told you this last week."

Carmilla crossed her arms, head held high. "And unlike the purple--," she caught herself before saying something that might instantly lose her this opportunity. "Unlike Shock, I'm basically playing two instruments at once. Maybe you could put her on the synth while I'm singing, so that she has more to do and I can focus on my voice."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lilith knelt down to allow it, gave his ear a gentle bite, then returned to tuning her theremin like nothing had happened. Carmilla quickly stashed her copy of the new song and began setting up her own instrument. She didn't particularly approve of her sister's relationship with one of the trip, but it wasn't worth arguing over and it did come with perks by association.

Carver climbed down the first ladder and poked her head through the window curiously. "That was fast. What, no pre-practice cat fights today? Whose deathday is it?"

She didn't wait for an answer before completely entering the lair and heading over to the xylophone. Unlike all the other instruments, hers didn't have any electric components or complex mechanisms that needed to be checked over before playing. She picked up her mallets and twirled them between her finger vines.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla beamed, but tried not to look too smug or arrogant. After all, the trickster siblings were all known to be rather capricious, and she didn't want to give Lock a reason to change his mind. She was pretty sure she could take Shock if she decided to start a fight though. And anyway, vampires were above that sort of thing.

Lilith accepted the sheet music with a raised eyebrow. The overlapping wordless vocals, combined with a focus on the theremin, made for an eerie, enchanting effect; the periodic rising of the drums and xylophone with only light background screeching added an increasingly ominous air. She wasn't overly romantic herself, but she appreciated the gesture.

She also wasn't naive; it wasn't unlikely that Lock had prepared this a while ago and kept it ready for a time he was most interested in frustrating his sister.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lilith ignored the siblings' laughter and glided over to double check her theremin was set up properly. Carmilla smoothed out her expression carefully.

"Not the lead position, but maybe a lead position. Just in the parts of the songs that aren't screeched, to get the best use out of my singing voice. Don't you want your music to sound the best it possibly can? I'm wasted singing nothing but background."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla scoffed. "It doesn't make me sound good. I do that. The potion just makes it so I can sing for longer without damaging my highly developed vocal cords."

Lilith simply shrugged. "I didn't say you had to stop teasing him, only that there was no point. I don't care either way."

The twins waited for Shock to descend, then motioned for Carver to go next. The pumpkin head shook side to side. "One more smoke break," she said. "You go on ahead."

Both shrugged and stepped off the ledge into the ravine. They fell slowly, still holding their umbrellas over themselves, and only turned into bats just as they reached the window. It didn't take much flapping to swoop into the lair and down to the floor. They returned to their normal forms in a small puff of smoke, and carefully stowed their umbrellas away again.

Carver took a seat on the rope bridge and rested one arm on what functioned as a knee joint. She expected she'd have a good five minutes, at least.

Lilith straightened her dress, then stepped over to Lock. She bowed her head a bit but finding him still too far down to reach, she casually lifted him by his waist to kiss him properly without disturbing her posture. Carmilla waited for her to put him down before gliding forward.

"Hey Lock, could I have a moment?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla scowled. "I can screech just fine. Your slightly improved range doesn't make up for your lack of skill when it comes to actually singing."

Lilith rolled her eyes at the lover boy comment. "Teasing your brother about me doesn't work when he isn't here, Shock. Call him whatever you want; it won't peel any of my skin." She glided after Shock and her twin followed her sourly, muttering to herself. If not for their supreme vampiric grace, one might have described Carmilla's movement as 'trudging'.

Carver took up the rear. The pumpkin face resumed its normal expression, and she flicked one of her blades in and out idly as she walked. If she heard Carmilla's under-the-breath passing shot about the eldest trickster's temptress skirt being wasted on such a bitch, she said nothing.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver's mouth line stretched and curled upward when Wolfman glanced at her, forming loose swirls at its corners. She purposefully took as long and deep of a drag as she could. Her whole body appeared to smoke as he continued on his way, moving to the other side of the path. Once he was a bit farther away, she tossed the cigarette to the gutter.

"Sure, but does she know that? Sometimes acting like you know can be just as useful." Carver went quiet as the door opened, one side of her mouth uncurling to form a smirk.

The two vampiress sisters paused in the doorway to open their umbrellas. Carmilla raised her head and sniffed disdainfully at Shock. "A squeaky wheel is better than one that's not moving at all. How unfortunate that there's nothing that can improve your voice."

Lilith sighed. "May we please move toward the Lair while you two are sniping at each other? I'd like to get there before the sun goes far enough down that I have to hold my umbrella sideways." She hid a quiet yawn behind three fingers. "It's far too early for it, anyway."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver leaned against the wall as she slowly inhaled the smoke. She didn't have to exhale, as it simply leaked out through the pumpkin vines that formed the flesh of her chest. Her latest face was fairly simple: a few thin lines skimmed from the surface to create the impression of eyes sewn shut, and a long thin hole that formed a twisted grin in its resting state. A natural crease in the gourd served as a brow ridge, and the curved stem hung in place of a ponytail per her usual. Her last head had been extremely detailed, with depth and shading that looked exquisite even in sunlight. Once this head reached an annoying level of rot, she'd probably do something like that again. She had just felt like mixing it up this time around.

"Hey," she shrugged, "At least she has the spray. How much more whining do you think she'd get up to if she didn't?"

Carver flicked some ash off the end of the cigarette, then handed it back.

"Besides, it provides all sorts of extra ammunition for you. Have you gotten her to admit how she figured out whatever daywalker was using it in the first place? Agatha did say she brought the basic recipe in herself, after a jaunt in the Human World. One has to wonder where she got it and how she learned it was a thing..."

---

Meanwhile, Lilith flicked a lace hand fan placidly as she waited for her sister to finish the transaction. Carmilla read the instructions on the bottle, ensuring nothing had changed -- it never did, but she always checked -- and opened it to take a suspicious whiff. Just one mislabeling of an ingredient had been enough to scare her into paranoia for an afterlifetime; the witches never did figure out what had caused the mishap, after all. Why did they even keep garlic blossoms in their shop, anyway??

Agnes tapped her long fingernails on the counter impatiently. Finally, the younger vampiress handed over a small bag of dead man's toes and packed the bottle into her handbag.

"Thank you for your purchase!" Aggie called cheerfully from her end of the room. "The Witch's Shop is proud to provide the best bargain in town!"

The twins thanked them politely, and glided toward the door.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Twin ideas:

Lilith is generally the more reserved and elegant one, partially out of a need to live up to a self-imposed concept of what a well-bred vampiress should be, and partially as a result of having to hold Carmilla back when she gets a bit too… Carmilla. She is patient, long-suffering, and used to going along with what the strongest personality in the room wants, but if she does reach a point where she thinks that rebellion or vengeance is necessary or useful, she can come up with creative and concise plans toward that end. She tends to see Carmilla as slightly more impulsive and self-centered than she actually is, and when they switch places, tends to play Carmilla as being a few shades shy of thoughtless and a bit more entitled. Her personal tics and “tells” include biting her lip when she’s considering lying, placing her hands behind her back or clasped at her waist to enforce her posture while standing still, and her glances toward people other than the one she’s talking to.

Carmilla is generally the more hot-tempered and party/sporty one. She’s used to having to pull her sister along when Lilith gets caught up in studies or is hesitant to quickly come to a solid conclusion or active decision. She likes to dive into things feet-first, not entirely without looking where she’s going to land but prepared to improvise as she goes. Her schemes generally have more variables than Lilith’s, which she adjusts to as she thinks of them. She’s not self-important, but will not take rejection or criticism sitting down when she believes that she has rightfully earned something. She is stubborn, and once she decides to do something, there is no stopping her -- including herself (she took those singing lessons for a reason). She sees Lilith as slightly more withdrawn and status-concerned than she actually is, and when they switch places, tends to play Lilith as a few shades shy of compulsively orderly and a hair more stand-offish. Her personal tics and “tells” include making direct eye-contact just a little bit more than normal, occasionally running a hand through her hair as if to make sure it hasn’t fallen out of place, and rocking back from her toes to her heels when she wants to change subjects.