12555/Buffy meets the (backup) Watcher.

Buffy meets the (backup) Watcher.
Date of Scene:	14 December 2020
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Constantine helps Buffy cast a ward around the Magic Box. Nolan drops in for a visit.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Constantine, Deadwatch

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Buffy Summers has posed:
It's early morning and the Magic Box isn't quite open for business to the public. With Giles away and Willow busy, some precautions were made to increase security. For one thing, a proper magic ward needed to be set up to prevent mishaps from happening again. Unfortunately Buffy's not the greatest when it comes to magic and she is currently fumbling through a magic book, trying to figure out how to 'set' the crystals before laying them about the perimeter and creating said ward.

"Gee, why do they have to have sooo many different crystals? These all look the same to me.." she groans as she inspects the show box size of crystals of all shapes and sizes, trying to figure out the best ones to choose for this spell. "Oooh this better not explode in my face. Where's Willow or Giles when I need em?"

Constantine has posed:
Constantine wasn't immediately evident, looking more like a crumpled pile of tarp in the corner as he unfurls himself slowly, his cigarette sliding out of his coat first, puffing away before he drags his scarecrow frame up to his feet.

"I ain't sure idle curiosity counts much in the 'needin capacity, Slayer me girl, but I don't imagine they got stuff what'll blow yer features off hangin' 'round for any rum tugger to tug," he says. "I imagine Giles'll be back eventually, to take the heavy burden o' Watchin' from around me slender neck, especially since I ain't official a Watcher type person, just doin' a wee bit of a favor for an old bastard what's owed, but at least yer easy on the eyes I suppose."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers groans as she stares at the corner where Constantine is..Looking like a crumpled pile of tarp. Or something. She knew that Willow had a lot of respect for him, but she wasn't entirely sure what to think of him.

"...Say what now? I mean, geez, your accent's way worse than Giles, and where is Giles anyway? He'd know how to deal with this. I mean, are you even a real watcher?" she smirks at the whole 'unofficial' part. "Ohhh I get it, this is more a 'favor for a friend' thing. Well I hope I don't have to..Take orders or anything. I mean, you're supposed to be a wizard or something right? I'm sure you'd have better luck setting up a ward on this place than me. I dunno the first thing about magic, but I'm betting regular burglar alarms aren't gonna cut it in a magic shop."

Constantine has posed:
Constantine takes a long drag of his cigarette, puffing like a bedraggled dragon. "I can tighten up the wards for you, luv, easy as baby's candy, especially since all the necessary doodads and components happen to be right at our fingertips here. Giles has business of his own and it ain't none o' mine. If he wanted ye to know, I imagine he woulda told ye, wouldn't he? Wizard, sorceror, exorcist, man about town, I got lotsa titles, but simple enough I do magick and I do it better'n most by a fair bit, no matter what Harry Dresden says."

"And...what accent?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks and says nothing about the accent. Hey she's American, everyone else has an 'accent'. "Alright 'tough guy', show me what your made of. Willow seems to hold you in high regard..But I'm not so sure. If you're my watcher then show me how to set up this ward using these crystals, don't just do it for me."

Her ha el eyes glint with mild amusement, oh, she's gonna enjoy this,"Oooh by the way, you *have seen the gym in the basement right? Giles usually lets me use him as a human punching bag.."

Buffy does peer at him rather scrutinizingly, "Orrr do you plan to teach *me* self defense skills?"

Constantine has posed:
Constantine walks over and examines the crystals, letting his fingers trace through them, "They did a good job, mixin' 'em up. Half these crystals ain't but trinkets, glittery baubles for yer amateur types. Takes a discernin' eye t'see the real stuff," he says with a wink.

He selects a few from the group, grabbing a bit of chalk from behind the counter and moving around to start scrawling sigils at five points in the room, "Won't be no sparrin' with me, luv. My hand-to-hand skills ain't much more'n hittin' a bloke over the head with a beer bottle. Which, no lie, is pretty effective."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns, and shrugs, "Okaay, so sue me, a lot of stuff got mixed around when those thieves broke in and overturned a bunch of stuff the other day. How can you even tell the difference? They all look the same to me."

She follows after him as he starts drawing weird things with that chalk, "Okaay, sooo what are you doing now, exactly? Oh, this is the perimeter thingy, right? Like a pentagram?"

As for sparring, Buffy just laughs, "Hah! I'd honestly feel bad about sparring with you, you wouldn't last five seconds in the ring with me..Why exactly did Giles put you in charge again?"

Constantine has posed:
Constantine finishes drawing the sigils, dusting his hands for a moment, "Somethin' like that. Five points for five elements, feedin' the power o' creation into your hands," he says. He takes the crystals one by one and places them over the sigils, a flare of power glowing for a moment as they affix in place. No glue, no tape, no tacks, just power.

"Giles put me in charge 'cause I've felled more demons than most angels an' I don't got a hero complex that'll make me fuck things up tryin' to prove myself t'you. Most times, I'll let ya loose to do what ya please. I ain't got no interest in bossin' you around. But if I do tell ya to do somethin', it'll be cause I mean it and not doin' what I say would probably get ya skint up," he says, affixing the last of the crystals. There's a brief flash of energy, the weight of the air shifting a bit as skeins of energy connect the five points, a pentagram, yes, but more than that.

"As fer knowin' which crystals is wich, it's all in the angles, jus' like anythin' in life, ya ken?"

Deadwatch has posed:
She /said/ to come visit 'The Shop' the next time he was in Sunnydale. Even gave him the address. So after he chased down a few spirits on the run from Gotham, and 'helping them fully cross over', he decided to limp a few blocks to the adress given and..

"Ugh, really? Pastels?" he asks, looking at some of the posters outside the shop, then at the sign. "I swear t'god that if this place is run by Wiccans I will lose.. my.. shit.." he gripes, just as he reaches for the door and enters..

Just as a flash of energy ripples along the walls, windows and doors of the shop, the ward coming down like a roll down garage door. Since he is over halfway in the door as it happens, the energyblasts him FOREWARD, like a watermelon seed being squeezed between a kid's fingers, and he is thrust INSIDE the shop, landing on his face, more or less.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers hmms, and is not totally clueless. She knows enough about magic to know that the pentagram was important and had so,etching to do with the five elements. "Right, right. Umm...Soo you're empowering the perimeter with protective magic to set up a ward? Hmmm.."

Shes pretty impressed at how those crystals stay up by themselves. "Soo what about the crystals? Telling the good from the bad? What's that have to do with angles..You mean like facets or whatever?" Buffy smiles at his boasts. "Maybe I underestimated you. I mean, sure, I've killed hundreds of demons myself but..Angels? Aren't they the good guys?"

Buffy wasn't expecting to see anyone enter this early in the morning and while the sign said closed, the door was open while she worked on setting up the outside display.

Oh dear, there's Nolan. Bad first impression. "Nolan! Hey, are you okay?" she steps towards him, giving the once over, offering him a hand up if needed.

Constantine has posed:
Constantine shakes his head, "Thinkin' angels are the good guys is probably part o' the problem. Angels might be worse than demons, cause angels do think they're the good guys, even as they slaughter the firstborn and turn birds into salt. Angels ain't made t'think, they just do as they're told. No mercy, no reason, no makin' friends. Pray all ye want, if an angel decides you gotta die for the greater good, ain't much stoppin' 'em. Unless you got my help. I've slapped a few wingy bitches 'round in me day," he says.

When Nolan is flung in, Constantine cocks his head, pushing his hands in his pockets, "Another o' the motley crew, I presume," he says. "T'help you understand the angles, you're going to have to work on non-Euclidean Pre-Cambrian calculus and geometry, so you can do the math necessary to determine the exact mana-bearin' potential of each crystal in accordance wit' the Hermetic Rites of Solomon and then..." he stops and snorts and breaks into laughing, "Just tuggin' yer pigtails, luv, s'all a matter o' feel. We gotta get your senses up, let you learn the feel o' magick in the air."

Deadwatch has posed:
Morning is to Nolan what evening is to most other people.. The end of the working day. SO he didn't even THINK about walking into a business at that time of day.

ANyways, it takes a moment for the stunned psychic/sorcerer/whatever-the-hell-he-should-be-called to get his wits together and with a pained grunt he rolls over on his back and stares upwards.. and right at the blonde.

"You think this is the first time's I've been blasted by a dropping ward and onto my face?" he asks, annoyed, and reaches for her offered hand.. since his forearm crutch was blasted from his hand. He winces in pain as she helps him to his feet, the leg with the brace more unstready than usual. "And shouldn't you be setting wards at Dusk? Easier to stabelize them." he tells her, but then frowns. "Wait, you can sety wa...."

He stops and sees the guy in the ruffled coat, with the cigarrete, and raises a brow. "Crew? What crew y'talkin about?" he asks, slowly. "And are you the caster for this ward? You didn't even call out the all clear! Thats rank amateur....." he then stops, like something else has caught his attention, and looks toi the empty spot between beside Buffy. "He's /who/?!?" he asks, and waits a moment, like there is going to be a response, but there isn't one.. or is there? Because his eyes go a bit wider. "/Thats/ him?" he asks no-one, then looks at John again, frowning. "You sure, because he smells more like ass than /I/ do.." he then blinks. "Sorry." he directs to John. "No offense."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns a little, "Well, that's totally not confusing. I thought demons were often corrupted angels. Heck, I know someone who claims to be a forgotten angel, although.." she sighs, "Okaay, I guess even he said angels abandoned him. So confusing, I thought good and bad were more clear cut.."

All that talk of math and calculus and other weird words is giving her a headache though and she groans, "Awe Cmon, really?" fortunately he's joking and Buff just rolls her eyes, "Yeah, real funny.."

As for No,an's response, Buffy winces as she pulls him to his feet, "Sorry, wasn't expecting anyone to enter at that precise moment, and we weren't exactly open for another five minutes..You okay?" she repeats.

Another arch of the brow and amused shrug, "Talking to your ghostly friends again?" to Con, she shakes her head, "Nah, this is Nolan, he's a..Psychic consultant? Helped me out a few times. Nolan this is Constantine. I guess he's my stand-in Watcher? Kinda?"

Constantine has posed:
Constantine lights a fresh smoke off the old one, snuffing the butt with his fingers and dropping it in his pocket, "How you know so well what ass smells like? Where you been' puttin' yer nose, mate?" he says. "If you think good hygiene an' snappy clothes have much to do with bein' a wizard, you ain't met many wizards, I'd wager. Also: give an all clear, what're we, playin' snooker? Where'd you learn about magic from, Harry Potter?"

"Anyways, chuffed t'meetcha an' all that. I'd apologize fer sizzlin' yer arse, but really it's yer own damn fault."

Deadwatch has posed:
Holding out his hand, Nolan's fore-arm cructh sails from it's spot a few feet away and into his grasp.. causing another wince since the hand that holds the crutch appeares to have been mangled sometime in the past.. heavilly scarred and with prison tattoos on the knuckles, only seen because he wears fingerless gloves. "Wouldn't call these one's 'friends', Buffy. They're locals, not part of my posse." he tells her as he brushes dust off his pants.

Then he looks to COnstantine and rolls his eyes. "Did I say it was a bad thing, dude?" he asks, "ANd look at me." To be fair he isn't much better dressed that John is. Shabby black business suit, probabbly from burlington warehouse and at least tyhree fashion generations old, crinkled white shirt with no tie, and wearing a beat up leather jacket that lookes like it may have had gang-patches on it long ago but have either been torn off or worn away. "And trust me, my nose ends up in LOTS of places I dobn't always intend it to." he tells him.

"ANd no, I haven't met may wizards. Because most of them are self righteous asswhipes with inferiority complexes trying to prove otherwise. All scope, no fucking vision. I had to find my own teachers. SO don't fucking blame me if I don't always get it right. THe dead don't always remember everything they learned and there is only so many books or scrolls vailable for those not born in the fucking spotlight to access."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks as the two Wizards start to exchange blows. "Hey c'mon! No need for barbs, Cmon! I thought you wizardly types would c'mon along better! Nolan, welcome to the Magic Box! We were setting up a new ward for the place after someone recently broke in."

She frowns as she steps towards the front desk, pulling out a binder, "I'm still checking inventory but so far, besides a few crystals and potions, it looks like an ancient Chumash shield was stolen. That's really the most worrying item.."

Constantine has posed:
Constantine blinks and takes a long, deep drag on his cigarette as he looks at Nolan, "Awright there, old son, didn't mean to get your dander up. Don't get yer knickers in a twist, I'm only tuggin' your tail. T'be fair, first thing you did was call me a smelly arse."

"Chumas shield, huh? Definitely not a piece you want runnin' around with some strange bugger. I know we're all for magic and keepin' the wards strong, but you do have a security system an' cameras, right? You get anything on the CCTV?"

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight ughs and rubs his face with his free, and good, hand. "Dude, I'm from /Gotham/. Take 'smells like ass' as a fuckin compliment. Trust me, plenty of worse things to be called. And, for your information, they ain't /my/ knickers." he says, and pulls a pair of INTENSELY DEEP red and expensive lace panties from his pocket. "But I wish I knew WHO they belonged to..." he says, completely deadpan and serious before pushing them back into his pocket.

HE then looks to Buffy and raises that brow, and his mismatched eyes comb the place a moment. "YOu had a break in?" he asks. "EWhat did they take? The ABC's of Thaumaturgy? Green Eggs and Alakazaam? Cause this placed seems a lot.. tamer then I would expect a magic store to be."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods slowly to Constantine, "We have cameras, but honestly they're old and glitchy, possibly due to all the magic going on. Honestly we hired a new girl, real sloppy, didn't even set the alarm on." she shrugs, "Soo it was dark and grainy but I made out two humanoid feline figures lurking about." it's not a lot but it's something.

As for the shield she nods, "It is worrying, that shield, if the charms removed or it's broken , will release something dangerous, but I need to do more research." yeah research is not her forte.