Oh, oh, oh it's magic (Xie and Kevin)

[xie_er]

Zhao Jing used to be a nobody, born into influence and wealth but always in the shadow of those around him. In magical circles he was even worse, a barely-remembered witch that didn't have enough power for any familiar to even consider looking twice at him.

Somehow, though, after many years (and a few suspicious deaths), he's managed to climb his way to the CEO of Five Lakes, his power - of both kinds - growing exponentially.

The previous CEO was surrounded by some unfortunate rumorus before his death, so Zhao Jing has been focused on repairing the reputation of he company and solidifying his support, mundane and magical, which means it is far too delicate a moment for Xie to be in the spotlight, even if he was promised he'd be allowed to stop hiding when the position was in Zhao Jing's hands.

He just has to wait a little longer, that's all, and it's not like it's difficult to only appear in his animal form whenever Zhao Jing is in public, just uncomfortable, and the last thing they need is for somebody to recognise Xie for any of the things he's done to help his witch get where he is today, when his position is still so precarious...

He tells himself all the excuses he's heard from Yifu, repeats them in his head like a mantra as he sits through all the meetings and negotiations, a little black cat and Zhao Jing's feet, watching the men and women he's speaking to for anything Yifu can use. He hangs around when Zhao Jing steps out the room, listens to what they say behind his back - that's his job with normal people, to be a pair of ears they don't realise are there. Even paranoid types who scan for bugs would miss him, which he finds funny, privately, because he is a bug of a sort.

Not that he's allowed to take his original animal form - a scorpion would be out of place if anybody caught sight of him, and Yifu doesn't like the idea of him hiding in pockets or anything like that. He says it's dangerous, that something could happen to him, but Xie privately thinks he just finds the form creepy. Even around other magical people, the cat is preferred - his job with them is to be a reminder that Zhao Jing has a familiar, and a relatively powerful one at that.

It's hard for familiars to change the form they can take, but he did it, for Yifu.

He tells people the cat is called Scorpion, and that somebody else named him - which is technically true, Xie does mean scorpion, and his parents named him - and that he's vaguely embarrassed to have such a fiercely named cat.

(He doesn't tell magical people anything at all, they know Xie isn't a pet so they're less likely to ask, at most they will wonder why his familiar always stays in animal form. Zhao Jing just tells them he's shy. He isn't, he doesn't care about people seeing him, but it's easier to do the things Yifu wants him to do when nobody knows what he looks like)

Xie hadn't always known he was powerful - when Yifu had taken him in he'd been told he wasn't much, but that maybe he could be useful. Later, when some witch had made an offhand comment about it, the story had become that Yifu recognised his power and took him in before anybody else could steal him away, that he just wanted to protect Xie from the people who would use him for his power. Xie was already so far gone by that point that he accepted it, that he told himself he was lucky he had Yifu to protect him, to guide him.

It's funny how easy it is to lie to yourself.

When the meetings are over for the day he finally shifts back to human form, spending a few minutes stretching out the kinks that come from forcing himself into a form that isn't quite his, especially with how much he's had to do it over the last few weeks, and then going in search of something to eat. He could probably just head back to his own apartment since he doesn't think Yifu needs anything else from him, not today, but the outsiders have all left and everybody in Yifu's manor at least knows Xie, even if they don't know that Xie and Scorpion are one and the same, so it's safe to be around them.

He likes to spend as much time here as he can get away with, likes to remind Yifu he can be useful in other ways... and maybe he likes to keep an eye on this new apprentice Yifu has taken on. He doesn't understand why he needs anybody else when he has Xie, but the last time he'd questioned somebody new in the house Yifu hadn't spoken to him for a week, so he doesn't voice that thought out loud - he just watches the guy suspiciously every chance he gets, and wonders how easy he would be to get rid of.

He's halfway to the kitchen when something makes him stop. A tug of power, the vague echo of chanting, there's a ritual happening and something about it is drawing him close. He frowns, confused, and follows the pull...

Comments

[weird_cop]

When he pushes the door open, Kevin can't help checking that the necklace hasn't returned - Kevin's not sure he'll trust Xie on that for a while.

Then he brings in the plate and sets it down on the bedside table.

"If you let it cool a bit it should be easier to eat with one hand," he says, and then hesitates awkwardly before sitting halfway down the bed.

"How's the shoulder?"

[xie_er]

It actually hasn't - it's still sitting on top of the dresser where he left it yesterday. He tells himself it's because it's too much effort to get back on, but in reality the guilt of the situation is weighing on him and he isn't sure how to handle it, so he's trying to ignore it.

He nods, slightly, half expecting Kevin to just leave again but not entirely surprised when he sits.

"Sore, but no more than expected." He says simply, hesitating a moment before glancing at Kevin's hand.

"Did you do the meditation today?"

[weird_cop]

He nods, turning his hand over to show Xie the back and front, the very limited way the fingers flex. There's probably nothing visible, but he felt a difference when he did it.

"Healing in the morning, I'll replenish after lunch, and then I've got some other things to try, so I'm a bit less helpless next time."

What Tony has not told Kevin is how Xie feels about him using his power. Kev still thinks that's taken as read.

[xie_er]

Xie just rolls his eyes but doesn't comment. What's the point? He's tried to tell him half a dozen times to just use the power available to him, but he's clearly not going to change his mind.

Tony may not have said anything to Kevin about it, but the argument at least cleared up Xie's misconceptions about Kevin's problem with using his power.

Sort of.

He's stopped thinking that the issue is that it's Xie's power specifically, but his interpretation of Kevin's thinking is still a little twisted. He knows Kevin doesn't want to 'take advantage', but he isn't sure if that's from some patronising morality or just because he doesn't want to get in trouble for doing it. He has held on to the idea that Kevin thinks he can't possibly give his consent because the bond itself was forced, so he should probably just give up trying to tell him to do it.

He's also pretty sure there isn't going to be a 'next time', because he can't imagine they're letting him outside of these wards any time soon, even with the chip removed.

"I thought I'd wait until you're healed, to start the ritual to remove the bond. It takes some time to complete but it can take some of your power when it happens, we shouldn't risk that when you're still healing."

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods faintly.

"I read it," he says. Of course he had really, he's the only one with the knowledge to really parse it.

He almost says 'are you sure?' But knows (wrongly) that being free is better than being bonded to either him or Zhao.

"You should wait until you're healed as well. It's going to take a lot out of you."

And he can't help. And that knowledge frustrates him on its own. He doesn't realise that if he feels useless and impotent, it must be worse for Xie.

[xie_er]

Privately, Xie thinks him being healed or not won't really make a difference, it's going to be torture either way. It's probably better, though, if he's stronger when he starts his body will be able to handle it a little better, there's not a risk of it actually killing him.

A tiny, horrible part of him wonders if it would be better if it did, but that's not a very strong part - for all his issues and uncertainties, for all the dread he has about the ritual succeeding, his drive for survival is stronger.

"Once we're both healed, then." He nods

[weird_cop]

"I'm sorry you have to wait that long," Kevin says, still operating under the assumption that Xie wants out.

"Though I guess it'll give me time to improve my chess game."

It's a feeble attempt at a joke, because he has to broach a subject that he doesn't want to.

"Xie," he starts seriously. "I have to ask you about this morning."

[xie_er]

Xie nods - he's sorry too, in a way. As much as he doesn't really want to do it and kind of wants to put it off, another part of him can't stand the anticipation and just wants it over with.

He snorts slightly at the comment about chess and actually starts to relax a little - until that serious tone brings all the tension he was feeling right back.

"What's there to ask about?" He says dismissively

[weird_cop]

"I've never seen you act out of rage like that before," Kevin explains as a preamble. "I'm not surprised it was Costain who brought it on - he's an asshole who gets rises out of people without even trying sometimes. But he pisses me off, and he gets a cracked rib and a bruised face.

"How badly would you have hurt him, if your shoulder hadn't stopped you?"

Xie threatens to kill people all the time - threatens. Zhao used to call him impulsive, violent, but he still always had control. Kevin's more worried about how reliable that control actually is.

[xie_er]

No, Xie thinks you haven't. He always held himself in check before, when somebody pissed him off too badly he'd usually just fantasise about killing them rather than actually doing it. If he ever lost his composure it was never anywhere Yifu could see, because Xie couldn't stand it when he took that concerned, fatherly tone and talked about him controlling his impulses and being less reckless.

He'd spent so many years trying to reign in his temper, because how badly would it reflect upon Yifu if he was still just a thug? Just an uncivilised barbarian...

Maybe Yifu is right, if he still can't do it after all this time.

He considers the question, though.

"Not that badly, I didn't even have a weapon." He's not a brawler, he would have got a few hits in, maybe got his hands around Tony's throat, but it wouldn't have lasted very long before somebody stopped him, or before he got control of himself.

He sighs.

"I might have wanted to kill him, but my shoulder wasn't the only thing stopping me." He says, hoping that makes sense - the lack of weapon, the sheer stupidity of the action, everything Yifu drilled into him about self-control, the presence of other people, there were a dozen factors that limited the damage he would have done. He didn't even really hate Costain enough to want to actually kill him, although in that moment it had been close...

[weird_cop]

Kevin thinks about this for a second.

"Okay," he says.

He wanted to have this discussion without judgement, a serious talk about if you are going to be a threat how can we mitigate it? and he hopes that he's managed it as best as he can. He'll trust Xie - for now - because he wants to.

"I don't blame you for wanting to, anyway. You won't see him again until he's ready to apologise. And then only if you want to."

[xie_er]

As uncomfortable as the conversation is, he can understand the need to ascertain if the dangerous criminal is going to need watching more closely, even though he's had access to kitchen knives this whole time and the only person he's injured with one is himself. He is, however, a little surprised he isn't getting a lecture, a tedious monologue about self control peppered with the threats of what they would have to do if he couldn't behave. It was just.. a conversation. A check in.

It's weird to be treated like a fucking adult after all those 'diminished responsibility' conversations. He almost wishes they'd just make up their mind.

And then... and then Kevin says he doesn't blame him. That Tony needs to apologise. That, essentially, the fight wasn't his fault.

He could, he suppose, put it down to another 'poor little Xie-er just can't help himself' but it doesn't feel like that. It feels like Kevin is acknowledging that Tony made a dick move and Xie was justified in being angry about it. He wasn't overreacting or getting carried away or whatever else Yifu would say to downplay his feelings, he just... reacted, to someone being a dick, like anybody would.

It feels good, which is probably stupid, but it does.

"Thank you." He says after a moment, and he tries for casual but there's something a lot more genuine in it that he just can't quite hide.

He covers it up by sniffing disdainfully turning his nose up.

"Maybe I'll never want to. Maybe I'll make him stay in the basement whenever he's here until this is all over with."

[weird_cop]

Kevin wouldn't blame him for that either.

"Then I'm going to have to find someone else to watch the Lionesses with," he warns. Jokingly, though. He's hoping Xie will watch it with him even if he's a dick about it.

That brings up another thought, though.

"It's lucky you won," he says. "They wouldn't have been able to clear the bystanders in a pub."

[xie_er]

Xie could say he can still watch it with Tony, it's just even more excuse for Xie to stay away, but instead he rolls his eyes and mutters, begrudgingly, that if he must watch the stupid football, he can watch the stupid football.

His mood is starting to lift a little, but it drops again at the comment. He nods slightly, expression serious.

"They wouldn't have had a plan for that setting, which would have made them sloppy," because he has no doubt they'd have still tried "easier to beat, but yes, far more chance of collateral damage."

[weird_cop]

"I don't think they know where we are here," says Kevin. "I don't know where we are, here. But there shouldn't be anyway of tracing the storage unit to anywhere else, and the entrance has been moved. No one's going to come here except through the tunnels."

Which means they can't leave even for the pub, but at least they should be safer.

He sighs, and moves to stand. "I better go get my food before it's too cold."

[xie_er]

Xie nods - he still had the tracker in him when they arrived, but if his suspicions are correct they wouldn't have been able to trace it within the wards, so they might not even know yet that it's been destroyed.

He's pretty sure they're not going on any more field trips, though.

"Yea, go ahead." He nods, moving to reach for his own plate - it will have cooled down enough now that he can, as Kevin said, eat with one hand.

He'll figure out what they've actually got here to entertain themselves after lunch. And decide what he's going to do about his hair.

[weird_cop]

Kevin stands - and his eyes flick to the necklace on the dresser as he does, it's just so prominent, it takes up the whole room. He wants to confiscate it, but there's an attachment there that he can't break; he's sure it's related to the magic of it at this point and he won't push it. He suspects Xie will have to break that voluntarily.

He hasn't told any of the others about it though.

Kevin doesn't disturb Xie the rest of the day. He eats his lunch in the kitchen, meditates again to replenish his power, and then practically meditates again, as he tries to figure out the most appropriate way of asking his old 'friends' for help.

Eventually he sits on his bedroom floor, takes one hand in the other and squeezes - not enough to harm the healing process, but enough to hurt, until the pain rises again and fills his consciousness, and then he keeps going.

He dedicates the pain to the Rat Queen - the squirming angry creature of the dark and the damp, who would bite rather than accept kindness, all hate and fear and hunger.

I don't know if he's yours, he admits. But I know you don't want Zhao to win this. Give me the strength to protect him. To fight that fucker. I dedicate this to you.

He bites down on his need to cry out in pain, but allows himself the occasional grunt as he concentrates, then presses down harder, until he cannot even form the dedication in his head, and all he can hear are the screams he's not making, the laughter of the assassin who mocked him, and his vision goes black.

He comes to in the evening, soaked in sweat and his hand throbbing, but he doesn't seem to have set his healing back.

He stumbles into the shower before he can think about dinner.

[xie_er]

When Xie knows Kevin is in his room, he wanders around the house, actually exploring the new place a little in a way he didn't get a chance to earlier. He's still shirtless but it's not like there's anybody around to care.

It doesn't take him long before he's bored, and he's almost tempted to go and bother Kevin but something stops him. Maybe it's because he isn't sure he actually wants to be around people, maybe it's because he's still, even know, figuring out where the boundaries are, what his relationship with Kevin is supposed to look like, maybe it's because he doesn't want to get yelled at for disturbing him...

Or maybe those are all excuses and some part of him can sense that there's something going on behind that closed door, something that shouldn't be interrupted.

He feels uneasy, though, for most of the afternoon. Like he's in pain but without actually being in pain, like the echo of it somewhere in the back of his mind. He can't make sense of it, so he just tries to ignore it instead, finds some shitty paperback romance book in the living room and lounges on the sofa trying to read it.

He manages to focus on it long enough to get a couple of chapters in before he senses the movement from upstairs and he pauses.

"Everything okay?" He doesn't even know what possesses him to ask, and yet...

[weird_cop]

"Yeah, good"

Kevin answers from the shower as he lets the cold water ru over him, occasionally dipping his hand in and out again when the water pressure is too much.

The answer is both automatic and true - he feels like it went well but he's not sure why Xie asked.

"Oh sugar was I loud?"

[xie_er]

Xie could blame the book for the places that question took his mind, but really how else is he supposed to interpret it other than (what he thinks is) the truth? He raises an eyebrow, glancing up at the ceiling.

"No." He replies, and there's the faintest tinge of amusement to his mental voice. He wouldn't have suspected at all, he thinks, if he hadn't asked that question.

"We all need alone time now and then" He adds pragmatically, not wanting him to get embarrassed.

[weird_cop]

There's a moment when Kevin realises what Xie means, and almost corrects him, but decides that its okay if he thinks that. The truth would just make him angry at Kevin for doing too much.

"I'll put dinner on in a sec. Can you give me a hand?"

He smirks to himself.

Literally. Then we'll have a full pair."

[xie_er]

There is a moment, a moment, where the request for a hand conjures... images.

Maybe he needs some alone time of his own if he's having those kinds of thoughts about Kevin. It's just because he's the only person around, and the one he's talking to right now, that's it.

He realises he's taken too long to reply.

"I hope you realise I'm rolling my eyes at you." He replies, hoping Kevin will think he was just groaning at the comment and not getting distracted thinking about... anything else. "Yea, I can help."

[weird_cop]

"I would expect nothing less,," says Kevin, not too naive to realise he may have committed accidental innuendo, but deciding to pretend it didn't.

"Great, I'll see you down there."

He dresses his hand, something he hasn't really been doing, but it's still throbbing and he doesn't want to risk hurting it more. Then in a fresh shirt and sweatpants he heads down to the kitchen.

Noodles are easy enough, familar enough, and don't need too much two-handed work when someone is very good with knives. But he's glad when they can sit finally, stop doing anything.

"Did you happen to check our dvd collection?"

[xie_er]

Xie eyes up the dressing on his hand and tries to resist the urge to ask about it - is it worse, or should he have been doing that the whole time? Either way he's annoyed. Between that, the refusal to use his power to heal it, and using his own power to heal Xie, he's starting to think Kevin just isn't very good at taking care of himself.

There's a part of him that wants to meddle, wants to bully him into looking after himself better if he won't let Xie do anything about it, but he stamps down on it. Kevin doesn't want his input, doesn't want him, so maybe he should just let him make his own stupid decisions and focus on himself.

There's something about making dinner that he enjoys, it makes him feel productive, useful - it also helps that they're making something so simple and he doesn't have to admit that he really doesn't know a whole lot about cooking. Cutting things is fine, easy, knives are knives, and he can make educated guesses about most things Kevin asks him to do, so he's pretty sure he gets away with it.

(Yifu has a chef, and if he ate at his own apartment it was mostly takeout, Yifu might not have been free with his affection, attention or kindness, but he was free with his money)

He drops into a chair at the kitchen table and nods.

"Not much, a couple of movies is all. I guess they didn't have time to stock it up like the last place..." He pulls a face "They'll be bringing the rest of the stuff from there, right?"

[weird_cop]

"They'll want to sweep it," Kevin says. "First our lot, checking with the Sight... and then the usual lot in case of other mundane bugs we didn't catch."

Having paused in the middle of that sentence, he explains:

"They're going to be mad about the necklace. I'll handle it."

He feels extra protective after this morning, like he doesn't want his team around Xie right now, like they can't be trusted.