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

[erratic_hematic]

Spike is happy to wrap his arms around her, but he's more than a little apprehensive about feeling a different sort of magic. His experiences with Sunshine's magic haven't exactly been consistent since he's known her. Is seems to have a lot more to do with her and her mood than the properties of the magic itself.

The pat to his arm definitely helps. "Red. Is this gonna zap me?"

[rae_of_sun]

"No zapping," she promises. "I'm not doing anything to you, so it shouldn't feel like much." Which is sort of the point. But she does warn, "There might be a little kick-back from the glass, though, so be ready for that."

Okay. Red. That should be doable. Sunshine lifts her hands to the glass, closes her eyes, pictures the ward, and shoves.

There's a faint shimmer of golden light that ripples down her arms - the come-hither doing its part in Spike's comparatively shadowy apartment - and then the aforementioned recoil pushes her back against Spike's chest, and her eyes fly open. There's the ward, worked into the glass in a rich rose red, and Sunshine lets out a pleased little chuckle. "Ta-da," she says, looking up at him. "See? Easy."

[erratic_hematic]

It doesn't feel like much, that's true, but it definitely feels like something. He's watching her hands, so he catches the shimmer of light and then the bloom of the sigil in his window as she falls back against his chest. He tightens his grip around her, a reflex against the recoil, and his gaze drops back down to her to check that she's alright.

"Yeah, I see." He loosens his grip, one hand sliding along her waist while the other lifts to reach out and touch the altered glass. It's smooth, like the color is just a natural part of the glass. Really amazing, and impressive for as quickly as it was done. He chuckles. "Easy." It wouldn't be so easy, if it were him trying the same thing.

When he pulls his hand away from the window, he chooses to place it back at Sunshine's waist instead of stepping away entirely. He'd been getting used to the coziness earlier, so it seems a shame to have her run off again so soon. He sighs and leans in to brush a kiss against her jaw. "Thanks."

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine leans back against him as he examines the ward, her smile softening. This is the first time since her arrival that she's been in a room with both access points magically covered. By her universe's standards, it's not a thorough job - the wards are both too specific - but it's still a hell of a lot better than nothing. She feels... at ease, as if she'd been walking around with her hackles raised this entire time, and now she can finally relax. Gods, she'd really missed this.

... And speaking of things she'd missed. In between healing sessions (which Spike had submitted to with widely varying degrees of grace), they'd spent most of the past two days either asleep or sniping at one another in ill-disguised concern. His current sweetness is more than welcome; enough so that she elects to set aside her to-do list for a bit in favor of giving Nice Spike a little encouragement.

To that end, she slides one of her hands over his with a contented little hum, then turns her head so she can kiss him properly, her other hand reaching up to card through his hair. She pulls back just long enough for an exceedingly polite, "You're welcome," then eases her lips over his once more, languid and teasing.

[erratic_hematic]

Spike moves to the side and they turn to meet each other face to face. He meets the kiss, allowing her to set the pace, and his hands shift down to her hips. He barely tightens his grip before he pulls her closer, and presses back into the kiss. This is definitely what he wants right now. The past couple days hadn't exactly been good for anything but sleeping and healing. Now that he's healed, he's inclined to prove it.

He nips at her bottom lip, then pulls away from the kiss to pay attention to that spot on her neck just above the pulse point. "Stay," he breaths out, then leans in to kiss the spot again.

[rae_of_sun]

He does tend to go for the pulse points, doesn't he? Typical vampire. Her necklace is resigned to it at this point - she doesn't even have to go out of her way to shut it up - but it still gives her an illicit little thrill, and she utterly fails to suppress a shiver as he devotes his full attention to her neck.

"You should be recovering," she parrots (in a much more gentle tone than he'd used, thank you very much) before nipping at his ear. "And I'm losing daylight." Both perfectly good excuses (well, okay, the daylight is a good excuse, the recovery one is just obnoxious see-how-you-sound point proving). Good enough to theoretically outweigh that simple request, so it's a little surprising how inclined she is to take him up on it.

Far more surprising is the way that one word sends warmth blooming out from the general area of her diaphragm. Her fingers reflexively tighten their grip on his hair; she has to remind herself not to pinch. Gods. She really, really wants to stay. This is a problem. Probably.