9100/Relaxing In The Shop

Relaxing In The Shop
Date of Scene:	07 September 2019
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Wanda and Giles discuss the magical horrors occuring.
Cast of Characters:	Rupert Giles, Scarlet Witch

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Rupert Giles has posed:
The curtains on the windows are pulled closed and the interior of the Magic Box is dim. The place is quiet, for the most part, and the shop is closed. Well, it SHOULD be closed. Rupert Giles, distracted by the sensations in the air, has forgotten to lock the door or turn the sign around. Normally he would be open right about now, but he has 'closed' early to attempt to figure out exactly what is going on. He felt the ripples in the air the moment they began, and they have been driving him a bit batty ever since.

His coat is off and slung over the back of a chair, and the sleeves of his button-up shirt are rolled up to his elbows. He leans over some old tome, chewing idly on a pencil as he turns pages. A stack of similar tome is nearby on the table. Lost in thought, the man ponders what could be happening...and if his ragtag young associates can help in any possible way.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The swirl of scarlet energy in an out of the way place nearby goes unremarked by people as Wanda Maximoff teleports near to her destination. Though magic is behaving squirrely, thankfully her own chaos powers are a mutant power and not magic to be affected. But she has definitely sensed what is going on.

She's dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a dark skirt and boots that cover most of her calves, with a purple blouse as she walks over towards the Magic Box. The sign says the place is open, so despite the dim lighting visible through the windows, Wanda opens the door to step inside. She looks around once inside, closing the door behind her. Her eyes drift across the room to fall on the only other person here. Her boots sound softly on the floorboards as she makes her way over to him. "Hello, do you work here?" she inquires softly, her words softly accented.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Honestly, Giles doesn't even hear the door open and close, even with the ring of the small silver bell on it. Only the voice brings him from his distracted state. He glances over and blinks, his brow furrowing a moment before he replaces his furtive expression with a friendly one.

"Oh! Oh dear. Yes, apologies. We should be closed. I can help you, however. Must have forgotten to turn the sign." The man's voice is smooth, and his British accent is crisp and notable. Refined, even. He rises to his feet and closes the book he had open in front of him on the table. "This is my establishment," he says with a smiles, reaching up to slide his glasses back on.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda walks the rest of the way over to Giles. She has a famous enough face a s an Avenger, though it surprises her sometimes how many people don't recognize her unless she's in her uniform.

Probably has something to do with the bustier.

"I'm Wanda Maximoff," she tells him. "I had it from a knowledgeable friend that the Magic Box might be the kind of place that is more than catering to just the casual wicca crowd," she says, suggesting the place actually knows something about magic and not just selling items to pretenders.

"I was wondering if I might speak to someone here, if so, and share observations with them about some happenings of late," she offers.

Rupert Giles has posed:
The man squints a bit at her once she provides her name. It takes him a brief moment, but only because he rarely meets Avengers, honestly. He ends up stepping forward and offering his hand. If shaken, she might note that it is suprisingly rough for a man running a shop. They are the hands of a fighter. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Maximoff. I am, of course, familiar with your escapades. Rupert Giles."

He considers her inquiry for a moment as he runs his fingertips lightly across the edge of the table. He finally nods and turns back towards her. "It is true that we provide for both those interested in their personal faiths, as well as practitioners. There are not as many of the latter coming through as you would think. They tend to go to...less reputable shops, run by less reputable individuals." He chuckles and shrugs his shoulder. "Which is fine by me. We do alright. So, Ms. Maximoff, I am assuming you're talking about the energy in the air? The bleeding ley lines and the effects on the world? Whatever it is, I have been sensing it."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff shakes Rupert Giles' hand with both of her own, giving him a soft smile. "And a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Giles. Please, call me Wanda," she tells him before letting his hand go. His comment on why she must be there gets a slow nod from the auburn-haired woman.

"Yes, I'm afraid the phenomenon is not just local, either. I have been searching for any previous happenings of a similar nature. But have had no luck there. I thought perhaps inquiring amongst knowledgeable others in the... community... might yield better results," she says to him, her head tilting to the side as she regards the older man with the bit of a librarian look to him.

Rupert Giles has posed:
The man considers his as he smooths down his shirt. "Curious." He purses his lips for a moment in thought, and then he nods to himself. The man turns and makes his way towards the ladder that leads up to older texts. "Anything else for me to go on? Any exact occurences other then the sensation in the air? It might help me narrow things down a little bit."

Giles peers up the ladder and places his hands on it before he glances back towards the young woman.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda follows Rupert over to the ladder. "Only that the energy seems like it is flowing away from the Earth. It is being sent somewhere else, through some sort of portal perhaps? Though we are still investigating there, I thought perhaps continuing to pursue root causes might shed light," she tells him.

Wanda pauses to glance at a shelf, picking up a good luck charm. "Very nice," she comments of the craftsmanship and the efficacy of the charm, before placing it back upon the shelf. She turns back to Giles as she moves closer to him. "In particular, if there were anything related to the weather and such a phenomena, that might be significant to me."

Rupert Giles has posed:
"Are energies lower then they should be in addition? Are our ley lines and nexus points being siphoned by some force, perhaps?" He frowns softly, as if not like the sound of that possibility one bit. "Weather? Hmm. Yes, I believe I have a text from Friar Heig from the 15th century. He was a bit obsessed with weather and such. I have his book because he also spoke quite a bit about demonic infilitrations in monasteries at the time that were not simply paranoia. Might be something there."

He slides the ladder a few feet to the side and then climbs up it, peering over the shelves.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda nods her head back to Giles. "Yes, magic that is being worked is being affected, and it is like the ley lines themselves are perhaps having their energies directed away from the planet," she tells him.

Wanda's head tilts for a moment. "Friar Heig of Bavaria? Agatha has mentioned him but I've never heard of a text from him surviving," she says, unable to keep the interest from her voice. It causes Wanda to give Giles another, more thorough look. Interesting.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"Not many have, I feel. He had that whole 'accussing a Bishop of being a demon' backfiring on him thing happen. Most of his books were destroyed so he wouldn't corrupt the locals." He makes a small scoffing sound and leans out from the ladder to slide a very old book from the shelf. "Here we are. I also have a book from Niles Boulier, an occultist from Jazz-era Chicago. He wrote a very fascinating treatise on the Friar...and his rather untimely demise. But that one is not on the shop's collection, I am afraid."

The man climbs back down the ladder and holds the book out to the woman.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Really," Wanda says with interest. "I'm afraid the matter at hands has some urgency to it. But perhaps when there is a more quiet moment, I might return and we could discuss it further?" she asks the proprietor. Agatha Harkness's information on the quality of knowledge present within the shop seems on the money. Which comes as no surprise to Wanda.

The Scarlet Witch takes the offered book, the way she handles it showing care for the rare item. She opens it slowly, scanning the pages one by one. "He wrote some of it in Coptic," she comments, a rarely known language used by the early Christian Church, basically Egyptian written with the Greek alphabet." She skims a finger over it, clearly reading the language well enough. Though she comes to a part that causes her brow to furrow. "Ancient origins lost to time. Separate and opposed by nature. Guarded..." she says and then pauses as if she's having trouble with the next word.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"That sounds fine," Rupert responds when she mentions returning when this current bit of drama is over. "We always welcome the company." 'We'? Perhaps he means the other people, whoeever they are, that help him run the shop. He adjusts his glasses as he leans in over her shoulder to take in the word she is struggling with.

"Ah. That's a slang word. Well, an abbreviation is a bit more exact, I suppose." The man then tells her the word she is struggling with, whatever it happens to be. He steps back, then, and picks his coat up from where it lays over the back of a chair. He walks over to the coat hooks beside the door and hangs it up there. What an odd man, in an odd little shop in the middle of a suburb of Bludhaven.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's head tilts to the side again, regarding Rupert Giles as he fills in the unfamiliar meaning for her. "Thank you," she tells him in her English that is softly accented with a bit of Eastern European sound to it. Wanda returns her gaze to the text, reading on.

"Only the one section that seems related to the orbs. But no mention of this sort of effect. Only the possible dangers of having them all together. Which... was the case, though some are separate now," she says. Not sharing the information that 'separated' means 'stolen from SHIELD lockup', not when she doesn't know Giles that well.

Though at the rate of how useful he is being, that may change in the future.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"If you leave me some form of contact information then I would be happy to contact you once I can peruse the treatise on the Friar that I have at home. It's in one of the boxes in my attic. Likely hidden amongst the tree decorations or something like that." He chuckles softly and reaches out to gently take the book back from her.

"If you're interested in that sort of information that is."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda pulls a card from a pocket and offers it to him. "Certainly, just contact me at Avenger's Mansion," she tells him. "I truly appreciate your time on the matter. And I will have to come by another time to take a look around your shop as well," she comments, turning to glance around the place. "There are probably a few items you could help me keep in stock," she comments.

She turns back around to smile warmly towards Giles. "You have been quite helpful, Mr. Giles. I look forward to getting to speak with you more in the future," she tells him.

Rupert Giles has posed:
    he man chuckles softly as he takes the card. "Admittedly that is not a phrase I ever expected to hear." He pockets the card and moves towards the front door of the shop. He opens it for her.

"You are welcome through these doors at anytime, Ms. Maximoff. Please, be safe in the danger that is no doubt forthcoming."