She'll teach those hatches! [Open to Multiple]

[rae_of_sun]

Well, if there's ever been a reason for Sunshine to start pushing herself in the magic-handling department, the arrival of a mega-toxic kali nightmare goon from wherever-the-hell - and a subsequent text containing a ward symbol against said nightmare goon - definitely qualifies. Gods, has she missed wards. And, okay, she finds it a little hard to fully trust the effectiveness of a ward symbol drawn by… well, anyone aside from an accredited wardsmith (herself included)… but if there's even a slight chance that it'll work, she will gladly wallpaper the entire damn building with the thing.

Better to start small, though, especially if what she's going for is 'permanent.' Which is why she's standing outside her own apartment door with the little image of the symbol pulled up on her phone. She examines the picture with a tight little frown, memorizing the details in case intent is not enough. Then she tucks her phone into the back pocket of her shorts and braces her palms against the door.

Okay. She can do this. It's big - far bigger than anything she's attempted before - but it's only wood. Easy compared to metal or stone. And her grandmother said she could do anything in bright sunlight, and there's plenty of that shining in through the window at the end of the hall, all of two feet to her right. So.

Sunshine shuts her eyes, pictures the ward symbol as clearly as she can, and shoves.

A bolt of power runs down her arms and into her door, the recoil strong enough to force her back a pace. She opens her eyes, regains her balance, and takes in her new door.

At first, she thinks it was a bust; the change is so subtle. But then she realizes that the ward symbol is there, right in the middle of her door and as large as a dinner plate. It's visible only because the grain of the wood abruptly changes direction, like an incredibly fine inlay. She steps closer and runs her fingertips over the line where symbol ends and door begins, but she can't feel a seam.

"Gods," she breathes. Could she darken it? Probably, yes, if she tried again. Make it a bit more obvious, if that's what's needed. A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. It worked. How's that for permanent?

Okay. She'll come back to her own door later. First, she has to do Spike's. And then the main entrances. And then the windowsills. And then literally every other flat surface she can reach.


[ooc: Sunshine is gonna spend the day WARDING ALL THE THINGS, so feel free to have your character run into her in any given hallway, down by the front door, or even up on the roof. Pretty much anywhere in the rebel apartment building is fair game. And hey, she'll probably ward your door if you ask nicely.]

Comments

[fucking_ebay]

"I know who sent it," confirms Peter without pausing his work. "And it's probably legit."

It's not like he wants to help Gabe dupe people if it turns out to be another lie, but Peter decides to hold his tongue about the Godzilla thing. If he's wrong to trust Gabriel this time, the worst that will happen is that they'll cover their doors in graffiti for no reason. He doesn't want to think about what will happen if he doesn't trust Gabe and is wrong about that. Anyway, Satan doesn't seem like the kind of joke an archangel would make. "He's a dick, but I don't think he's lying."

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine nods. Considering the circumstances, she's willing to take this guy's word for it. 'I don't think he's lying' is better than 'I literally have no idea who the hell he is,' which is where she's coming from.

"Well." She looks over his work thusfar, wondering how an offer of assistance would be received. Permanent marker doesn't exactly scream 'I take pride in my work,' but he is being very careful, and he hasn't left off working to talk to her. So, it could go either way. Worst case scenario is that she wounds some random guy's ego; best case scenario, she makes his life a bit easier. And safer.

"If you want something a bit more permanent than marker, I could take a crack at it." After a beat, she adds, "I'm a magic handler," by way of explanation.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter finally pulls the marker away from the door and stands up straight to turn and really look at her. 'Magic handler' isn't much of an explanation in a world where rift powers can make that mean just about anything, but he wonders if her offer means that she, unlike him, has practical experience with sigils.

And let's face it, more permanent protection is good when Gabe's throwing out warnings that the devil himself has come to town. Peter caps the marker and takes another step back, waving a hand at the door. "If you think you can do better." He can always finish drawing over it in marker if it turns out she can't.

[rae_of_sun]

Well, yes and no. She definitely knows wards, it's just creating them that's so far outside her wheelhouse that by rights, she shouldn't even be attempting this. Or considering it. Leave it to the experts. Except there aren't any experts (any resident wardsmiths or wardskeeps have had two whole days to at least cover the front door, which hasn't happened), and the text did make it sound like making the symbol was enough. As much as that goes against her own preconceived notions of How to Ward Things, she's willing to go out on a limb if it'll mean that thing can't start stalking her building.

So. Sunshine plants her palms against the door. There's no direct sunlight here, but that shouldn't matter; she's not tired yet, and Yolande's come-hither has done some flash stark wonders for her ability to function in the dark. She shuts her eyes and frowns a little, picturing the symbol - and, okay, picturing the total banishment of those unfortunate marker lines. Her light-web glimmers, unbeknownst to her, and she gives the wood a brisk, business-like shove.

By the time she opens her eyes, her light-web has faded. More to the point, there's a nice, big ward symbol on the guy's door, dark enough to noticeably contrast with the existing wood. And any traces of marker have vanished.

Sunshine grins. "Ta-da," she says.

[fucking_ebay]

That has to be the single most magical-looking act of magic Peter has ever seen. He steps forward and cautiously runs his fingers over the mark, then holds up his phone to compare. It's picture perfect; even aside from the difference in media it's incomparably smoother and cleaner in its lines than what he was doing.

"That...yeah, that's better," he admits. "Did the rift give you that? And will you do my window?"

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel has finally caught up with all the things he absolutely needed to do, and warned all the people he needed to warn, so now he's merely checking that things are still going to plan. First on the agenda: check that Peter has actually put up the sigil and that he hasn't accidentally warded the place against him instead of Lucifer.

He pulls to a stop when he notices the sigil in the front door, but not drawn on- integrated. It looks nice, but, he notices, it could be a little clearer, so he reaches out and alters it slightly before he walks in. His drawing probably could have been clearer, he thinks as he heads up to Peter's, but he had been in kind of a hurry.

By the time he reaches the correct hallway, he's happy to find both Peter and the person who's been putting up the sigils. And...oh right. They've met before, and it hadn't gone particularly well. "Hey Peter," he announces as soon as they notice him, "I came to make sure you weren't having trouble drawing something more complicated than a stick figure, but it looks like you found help."

[rae_of_sun]

"Nah, it's-" Sunshine starts, but then she's interrupted by the familiar gleam of a certain Norse god's shadows. She does a double-take, because oh no ugh why is this happening, then takes an uneasy step back. She's not entirely certain she wants to be associated with all of her totally magnificent work if it means more attention from this guy.

She should probably say nothing, just excuse herself and leave, but instead she deadpans, "Greeeat."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter might have liked to know it was possible to ward his flat against Gabriel a few months ago. Nowadays that's not so high on his list...or alright, on his list at all. While Gabriel had said he'd be coming by, Peter somehow still isn't expecting him...and that Gabe actually shows up when there's supposedly a devil on the loose and he should presumably be busy with other things makes Peter wonder if maybe this is another Godzilla.

"You said permanent," he says, oddly proud of the mark on his door for all that he had nothing to do with putting it there. "Doesn't get much more permanent than that."

Why no, he doesn't make much of the tense undertone. Sigil girl is just weird, probably.

[has_a_horn]

When Gabriel reaches them, he pats Peter on the back, glad to see him well. Then he turns his attention to the door. He runs his hand over the sigil, observing the smoothness of the transitions.

"You're not wrong." He can feel the power in it, so it's definitely close enough, but that's not going to stop him from making some small alterations. "Rae, isn't it? This is good. Could be tighter, but that's my fault. I was kind of in a hurry when I drew it." He presses his thumb against one of the lines, extending it by another inch, then makes a couple more alterations- straightening lines, tightening curves. When he's done, he takes half a step back. Yes, it's much stronger now.

After a moment of consideration, he moves back to the door and presses his hand to the door above the sigil. He wipes his hand across the wood, leaving behind a short but intricate line of text, inlayed in a shining silver metal. He smirks at it, then turns to Peter, "This one won't do anything, but it seemed appropriate. 'Bout as close as I can get to 'fuck off' in Enochian."

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine folds her arms and tries not to wince as he says her name. Well, this is just friggin fantastic. She hadn't exactly vetted the source of the text, but she also hadn't even considered it would be him, and now she feels like ten different kinds of dumbass. Yeah, great, just slap up a mysterious symbol on the recommendation of a trickster god, what could possibly go wrong?

After giving his alterations a suitably dubious frown, she narrows her eyes at Loki. "So," she asks, endeavoring to sound unimpressed and not just nervous, "what does that thing really do?"

[fucking_ebay]

Peter wonders privately why Gabriel didn't come over and do it himself to begin with when he can just miracle it into place like that. He scoffs out a laugh at what he's told is extremely appropriate signage, lifting his own hand to run his fingers over the delicate metal lines. The letters are familiar, but Enochian magic was just one of many things about which he taught himself, not a specialty like Kabbalah, and he'd need a dictionary to do more than sound it out (which he does under his breath). That may need to change now that he's aware it's really what applies to Gabriel...and to the devil.

At least, what supposedly applies. He glances at this 'Rae' person, gaze flicking between her and Gabe. "You know each other? And I swear to God, Gabe, if this is another Godzilla we can skip right to the part where we have a drink after, because I do have better things to do than chase whatever cosmic laser pointer you've set up this time."

No. No, he really doesn't. He, too, is trying not to sound nervous. He wants this to be a prank, because if it isn't he's pretty sure they're all fucked.

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel focuses on Peter a little more as he starts sounding out the words. That's interesting. Peter's definitely more informed than he thought he was. "We met once. I told her I was Loki and it spooked her off. Looks like that hasn't changed."

"I feel like the boy who cried Godzilla here," he sighs. "It does what I said it does. My big brother's no joke."

He sets his hand on the sigil, "This is just a protective sigil. It should keep him from entering or taking anything from inside." He rubs a finger along Lucifer's name, pointing it out. To them, it probably doesn't look any different than the rest of the text. "This is the most important part. Fuck that up enough and you could be locking me out." That's a bit of an exaggeration. They'd have to place his name there instead, and as far as he knows it's not written anywhere to find.

[rae_of_sun]

Oh, should it have changed? Sunshine glares over at whoever-the-hell, unsure of who he's even supposed to be anymore and not even a little bit sorry for her own suspicions, whether they're technically warranted or not (which they very well might be, judging by these Godzilla comments).

Disregarding the ward-fuckery and Godzilla-related comments for the moment, she focuses on not-Loki(??). "Yeah, well, that's what fucking happens when you walk up with blinding face-shadows and introduce yourself as a trickster god," she snaps without sympathy or shame. "And if that was a lie, why should I believe these have anything to do with actually keeping that thing out of my building?"

[fucking_ebay]

"Yeah, going to go ahead and say you brought this on yourself," says Peter, referring to both his own doubts and to the death glare Gabe's getting from Rae. For a moment Peter thinks maybe he ought to not go around telling people who Gabe is when Gabe spent so long keeping it a secret, but it looks like that ship has sailed and it's the only reason Peter's leaning toward this being very real.

"He's the archangel Gabriel," he says impatiently. "He just goes by Loki when he's being a bigger asshole than usual. He's a giant dick, I'll give you that, but I don't think he's lying about this."

[has_a_horn]

"Face-shadows?" Yeah, he's going to want to ask more about that later. She's obviously got magic, if she can set up wards this way, but it looks like there's more to it than that.

Peter's explanation is endearing, but doesn't do very much to help the situation. He rolls his eyes at him before turning back to Rae. "Thanks, Peter. I was Loki, actually. Sort of a side gig. But what he's saying is true. I'm an archangel. I know my shit. And these will keep him out. If you don't want to believe that, fine. Don't put it up. I just want people to be safe."

[rae_of_sun]

Screw you she's never explaining it.

Points to Peter for his support; that actually does more to convince her that maybe the wards weren't a colossal waste of time and energy at best (at worst, some kind of toxic kali mischief that she'd unwittingly been aiding and abetting) than anything 'the archangel Gabriel' could say.

"You're an angel," she scoffs. It's not even a question. She has met an angel, and you, sir, are no angel. "And did you say that thing from the park is your brother?" Because that right there is another large tally mark under the You Are The Last Person Whose Advice I Should Take Regarding Literally Anything header.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter thought it sounded like something Gabe did on purpose.

"Trust me," says Peter, who has given Sunshine no particular reason to trust him. "He's an angel." Enforced truth-telling will do that for you. And don't they have more important things to talk about? Like, say, how the space protected by the ward is defined? "Is it going to keep him out if it's only on the door?" he asks Gabriel. "I have a window."

One window. His flat bears a striking similarity to a shoebox in both shape and size.

[has_a_horn]

"Yeah. He's the original fallen angel. I never Fell. Big fight around the dinner table about that one." Understatement of the century.

Gabriel gives a thoughtful 'hm' at Peter's question, not really wanting to deal with Sunshine's anger at the moment. "It wouldn't hurt, but I doubt he'd try to get in that way." An entrance is an entrance, but he couldn't just teleport into the room. He'd have to teleport outside, then get in through the window. Gabriel doubt that Lucifer's pride would allow him to try that without a desperate need.

"I can do his window," he says to Sunshine, "If you want to keep moving."

[rae_of_sun]

Conundrum. She does want to keep moving; she just hasn't decided if she should be putting up more wards or quietly taking down the ones she's already done. You could say she's not sold on anything 'Gabriel' has to say, as the only thing she knows about him is that he lies for kicks. Peter believes him (and least on this one), but she only met him two minutes ago, so how much should his opinion be worth, exactly?

Peter's shadows don't suggest that he's in on any large-scale pranks in poor taste. She can't read Gabriel's.

"Yeah, okay," she finally says, though she doesn't make any move to actually leave. If they both go inside, she can examine the adjusted ward more closely without having to deal with either of them breathing down her neck.

[fucking_ebay]

"Isn't he going to notice we've locked him out of every room in the building? If I'm going to get his attention, I'd like to at least get full protection out of it."

Sorry, Sunshine, Peter's ready to just talk shop with Gabe on this one. What he's not saying (not out loud) is that he has the feeling that just knowing Gabe has already put him in danger.