Owner	Pose
Giles	It's late evening at the Magic Box. Late enough that the shop portion of the building is closed up for the night. The back has lights on, though, just vaguely visible from the store front windows. In the back, the excercise mats have been folded out of the way to reveal a silver spell circle that Giles had had set into the floor at some point. It's relatively new. He hadn't even told anyone he was having one put in. And yet, there it is. Giles is in the back, getting the supplies needed for this set out and ready to go. He'd sent a message to Willow the previous day to arrange for this time and place to get one of the talismans for the shield ready to go. Tonight it will be a binding spell set into a talisman.
Willow Rosenberg	Willow came directly from work. "Hey Giles, should I turn off the lightss ?" Regardless, she put the 'Welcome' sign to 'Please Come Again!', and turned down the lights, and made her way to the back room. Now Willow noticed right away. In fact she practiced larger circles with Tala. That this one was imbued with silver was impressive. "Very neat. Is it part of the circle, the silver I mean? Or does it need to be cast for this particular circle?" She could think of several instances where each one could be useful.
Giles	This is probably the first time since Giles had the circle put in where it's been needed. It's maybe teen feet across, so could comfortably accommodate several people inside or outside of it. Most of what he does with it, he stays outside the circle. Or those working with him. Or, more often, those he's working with. Giles might be a practiced warlock, but he's not strong enough to be what anyone would consider a /good/ one. Except perhaps if he had borrowed power to back up the knowledge he possesses. Giles nods to the question "The circle is actually all silver." Upon closer inspection, the silver has been either engraved or cast to hold a pattern. That pattern is a simple celtic braid. "Treat it just like you would a circle of salt. You imbue it with the power, just as you would the salt circle once it's laid."
Willow Rosenberg	"Wow. May I?" Now the old Willow probably wouldn't have studied it so carefully, and certainly wouldn't have bent over it and perused it. "I've been thinking of putting one in the apartment. Silver, huh?" Permanent.. hrm.
Giles	Giles nods. "Of course you may," he says. He studies Willow, almost surprised at the request. Less because Willow is curious about the circle, and more because he's surprised that she'd asked when she wouldn't have before. But he seems pleased with the change, if the warm smile is anything to judge by. "They're quite nice to have when time is short," he says. Clearly, he approves of her notion of having one put in the apartment. "This one is fixed in place, but if it should need to be removed, it can be with a little work." He gathers candles, and moves to put them in place around the circle in a set of five.
Willow Rosenberg	Willow was, frankly, amazed at Giles' work. In fact she was so very impressed she forgot herself, and began to mutter over the circles. At first the circle was woken up gently. Around the circle hints of silver began to glow. And dies down. She smiled, and it might have been apparent that she's lost in her own world. Her hands raised, palms up, and the time she began to force it with an old spell, a protection spell (just to see if she could do it), and instantly it began to glow. And glow. And GLOW as the circle was imbued with her magic. Willow looked, for a moment, as though her hair was blowing about, and her eyes were ablaze. And then.. nothing. As quickly as it was there, and was gone. Willow blinks, and nods. "Niiice."
Giles	Giles pauses in setting down the last two candles as his circle starts to glow. Willow would be able to feel his magic, threads of it, throughout the circle. And another's. Giles hadn't made the circle, but he'd been there during the creation process and had claimed it as his. His magic as a warlock isn't very strong, but what he has, he knows how to use to the fullest. He squints a little as the glow brightens, and brightens more, and more. "Uh.. Willow..?" He sounds just a tad bit nervous, that his circle might explode, but there's nothing of fear in him. When the light goes out like a switch being flicked, Giles looks from the circle to Willow, back to the circle, and back to Willow. "Oh good. This is going to be easier than I thought," he says thoughtfully. He's looking at Willow in a new light. Like she's a full grown, adult witch now, instead of just a kid who dabbles now and then. Giles crouches down to set the fourth candle in place. He steps around Willow, staying outside the circle, and places the fifth. "I have the talisman over there, on the table," he says, nodding toward it. The talisman that had been chosen, a feather hanging from a beaded cord, rests atop the table. The shield itself is downstairs, still in the protective spell emplaced by Zatarra.
Willow Rosenberg	"Huh?" *blink blink* "..oh.. OH.. Oh.." She suddenly realized what she has done, and blushes. "I was just testing.. It wasn't you who made it, was it?" Yes, she has picked up the different aura that wasn't Giles. That, too, is fairly new about Willow. "Did you pick the talisman?" Something tells her that Giles had help. Probably from Mercy?
Giles	Giles smiles gently at that blushing and explanation. "Testing is fine. And no, I didn't make it. I have the knowledge, but not the necessary skills or power," he admits. "It was made by a friend from England." That counts Mercy right out of the running for who had helped him make the circle. He walks over to the table and picks up the talisman. A leather thong with its tiny intricate beadwork that looks like it was made by a native American. The feather is beaded right into the bottom of the beadwork, those beads crawling up the feather shaft and onto the feather itself. The pattern is very native and reds and yellows. "Hm? Oh. Not precisely. I spoke to a Native American I know, and this is what he suggested." He holds it up for Willow to be able to see it.
Willow Rosenberg	Willow didn't think that Mercy helped with the circle, but she stored the actual information in her brain. You never know what will be useful. As for the feather.. "Oh. I thought she might have. There is always a residual magic between two people. You could have brought that to the shield." She looks at what is offered. "It looks alright. I like the reds and yellows."
Giles	Giles blinks, and blinks again. "Residual.. between two.." Giles blushes. He shakes his head. "No. I got it at the suggestion of a shaman I know. His aunt makes these." So, made by a real native American. Who might be an actual descended of the Chumash people and have the right blood. Stranger things have happened! This is Sunnydale, afterall.
Willow Rosenberg	"You could have fooled me, the way she put her hands close to your hands, not realizing that she did. I thought you realized.." And there she stops. "Ewww. I didn't mean sex. Anyone can have sex." Willow backs herself down for one moment. "I mean, there are some rituals that can depend on sex." She thinks of those pagans rites she had been part of. "But I meant there is something between you that goes deeper than sex. I thought you had gleaned on the add to the rituals for the Chumash shield. Though now that I think, that would be more powerful when we are putting it in the ground and putting our protections to keep it safe."
Giles	Giles nods and then nods again. "There is something deeper than..." He takes a breath. "Between us." Nope. Not going to say it. "But no, I wouldn't use anything that had residual magic to it. That can interfere with what the spells are meant to do. Yes, it can augment them. It can also be used as a conduit to get around spells." So, on the one hand, yes. It can make rituals and spells stronger. But if the spirit or whatever being dealt with knows of that sort of magic and how to use it... Bad juju. He brings the feather over to the circle and steps within to lay the beaded feather in the center. "Shall we?" he asks as he steps clear of the circle. Giles walks to the table to retreive a book. He hands it to Willow. "This is the spell we'll be using. It's a binding spell." The spell seems to be in ancient Sumerian. Giles is ready whenever Willow is, it would seem.
Willow Rosenberg	"But surely you must know that the magic of two people can create something *more* powerful that one or two persons alone. You would have to be much more powerful than the spellcaster.. who.. oh.." Willow frowns. She'd never had this thought before: maybe he didn't like it because he wasn't all that powerful? She took up her place on the opposite, forming East to his West. "Ready when you are." The spell seems simple enough, despite the old language.
Giles	"Yes, well.." Giles trails off for a moment, expression kind of faraway as he thinks about.. well. Probably Mercy. "Mercy's.." He trails off again, and then blinks and focuses back on Willow. "Doesn't do magic," he finally finishes. "But you are probably right. I'll.. consider that for.. er.. next time." Oh dear. Giles is all kinds of flustered. Giles doesn't seem to mind that he's not all that powerful. He's just aware of his limitations. He settles down to sit cross-legged and nods to Willow. "I'm ready," he says. The spell really is simple enough. Even with the old language. A binding spell, set into the feathery talisman to be placed on the shield at a later time. Giles speaks the words of the incantation, each word spoken clearly with a measured cadence.
Willow Rosenberg	"Giles.. Mercy doesn't have to be magical. The magic is the two of you. Together you fit like the sun and the moon, yin and yan, two hands holding. It has nothing to do with sex or what you individually do." Sure it would be more powerful if she were magic (and there were some who would say she was). But Willow took up her place, speaking in the spaces his voice left, keeping it smooth without a 'hole' in the binding spell.
Giles	Giles opens his mouth and then closes it again. He looks thoughtful and he nods slowly. What Willow says makes sense. He turns his full attention to the spell, shoving everything else away, for now. And it takes time, and a great deal of power, but the magic gathers and weaves itself around and through the talisman, settling into it as though it had always been there. And then the final words are spoken, and the spell is done. Giles takes a dep breath. He looks weary, tired. Major spells take it out of him, and this had been a major, if simple, one. "Very well done, Willow," he says, his voice soft.
Willow Rosenberg	When Willow is done she is the opposite of Giles, peaking with the spells completion. Of course, she ties all the loose spell energy into the spell to make it stronger. (She didn't ask him, it just came to her.. weird..) And then they were done. "Is that it?"
Giles	Giles didn't make any effort to tie up all the loose spell energy. It might be that he didn't notice it until after it was done, and he nods his approval. He leans forward and gets to his feet. "That's it," he affirms before walking around and blowing out the five candles. He leaves them where they are, for now, so they can cool down. Once the five candles are out, Giles walks over to the kettle and turns it on. "Would you like a cup of tea?" He looks to Willow as he asks that question.
Willow Rosenberg	"Really, after that, we should have wine!" Willow sounded serious, but she rarely drank. Boggle.? "Whatever you are having is okay with me. Earl Grey?"
Giles	Giles blinks at Willow. "Well. I don't have wine, but I think I do have a bottle of scotch," he says. He sounds a little surprised! Boggle indeed. "But yes, I was going to have Earl Grey. I need the pick-me-up." Giles putters around. Two cups are brought off the shelf above the kettle while it warms to boiling. Two tea bags, one for each cup. "Sugar? Cream?" He gets the little box of sugar cubes down and one out and dropped in one of the cups. Then he glances to Willow, waiting.
Willow Rosenberg	"No sugar. No milk. Thank you." For all the times she had had tea with him, he never remembered what she drank in it. Willow cants her head to the sides. "I think I tried scotch with Spike. Do you have cookies?" Suddenly she had a craving for peanut butter.. or or or! Scottish shortbread.. mmmm Scottish shortbread. "So, is that all is except burying the shield?"
Giles	Giles nods and makes sure the box is closed before he puts the sugar back onto the shelf. "You're welcome." The kettle finishes about now, and Giles turns it off before lifting it to pour it into both cups, one at a time. "Uh, no. No cookies. I'm afraid I ate them all," he says. Sadly, he has no Scottish shortbread, nor peanutbutter. He had, as he said, ate them all. He puts the kettle back onto its holder after making sure it's shut off, and picks up the two cups. He carries them to Willow, offiering her the one with no sugar.