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]

"Alright. Go, everyone out."

Kevin wastes no time at all in assuring first the Ambulance driver and then Quill that he's good, Xie has him, he's going to look after himself he promises now get out.

He lies on the couch, head on the armrest, and stomach as flat as possible, stares at the ceiling, and gently exhales.

"Hey."

Gently, softly.

"You really scared me."

It's like a confession.

[xie_er]

Xie has curled up in the armchair, suddenly very grateful for the link meaning he doesn't have to talk. It's easier physically, but also right now it's somehow easier emotionally too.

He doesn't respond right away, taking a moment to process his thoughts and try and work out what he wants to say.

"Because I left the house, or because I got hurt?"

Could have died is probably more accurate, maybe even nearly died, but that's a little too much to give voice to, even mental voice.

[weird_cop]

"The latter," Kevin replies.

"I mean, I was scared as soon as I realised you'd left. But because I thought you were going to get hurt."

There are a lot of feelings to be expressed around the fact of his leaving, but Kevin feels that this is the part it's most important Xie knows.

[xie_er]

"I didn't mean to scare you" Xie replies, because it's true, he didn't set out to scare Kevin and he didn't think he'd scare Kevin, because while he knows that Kevin cares about his wellbeing in a general sense, he'd never realised he meant enough to him to feel fear when he was in danger.

He looks up at the ceiling, takes a breath.

"I was scared too. When I realised you were running out of power. I didn't want to see you hurt."

[weird_cop]

"I know" to the first. He knows Xie didn't mean to scare him, because he doesn't think Xie has really believed that Kevin cares about him as a person, rather than a job. Kevin himself didn't realise how that fear would get him.

He waits for Xie's confession and then:

"Thank you. For saving my life."

[xie_er]

Xie is quiet for a long moment, wondering if he really deserves that thanks. Wasn't it just selfishness? He saved Kevin because he didn't want to lose him.

Except if they break the bond he'll lose him anyway, and maybe if he was cynical he could argue that protecting Kevin in that moment stopped the risk of Yifu taking him back, but truthfully he knows; he wants Kevin safe, with or without him.

"You saved me first." he says, echoing Kevin's words from the warehouse - but he doesn't mean him showing up there, he means from the very beginning. He took Xie away so that Yifu couldn't sacrifice him, he took the blindfold off, let Xie see Yifu for what he really was - or, more accurately, let him see what a bond could be like for him.

[weird_cop]

Kevin doesn't press for those details; he takes the general meaning and implicit thanks together.

"I didn't want to just take it," he offers now, in explanation for all his behaviour regarding Xie's power. "But I thought - if I asked you'd say 'I can't stop you' or 'that what it's there for,' or find another way to make me feel guilty. I didn't realise you could give it."

He reaches for it now; doesn't take any, just holds the power where he can feel it. Bright and strong and alive, he can see what Xie means now about it being meant to be used.

"That felt like it took a lot of effort. I'm... I'm sorry I was an ass about it."

[xie_er]

Xie huffs quietly at the apology, thinking back to all the times they spoke about it and realising, now, how his word choices were taken every time. He shakes his head.

"I never realised I always made it sound as though I didn't have a choice in the matter, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty I just... couldn't understand why you wouldn't. I understand now. I want you to use my power.

He thinks for a moment and then shrugs, feeling the pull of his injury and thanking the hospital painkillers that it doesn't hurt right now.

"I didn't know I could. It did take effort but I was..... desperate."

[weird_cop]

"I'm glad it worked."

He's not sure how else to say how grateful he is for it, for Xie giving it to him like he did, for offering it now.

"I'm glad you're here."

[xie_er]

Is he? Really? Glad because of the power or the help or...

He decides to stop second guessing everything. To actually just accept what Kevin is telling him and to be a little more honest in turn. He takes a breath.

"I want to be your Familiar."

It might be the tiniest bit apropos of nothing, but if he doesn't get it out now, he might lose his nerve

[weird_cop]

Kevin closes his eyes for a second.

"Okay."

Then he opens them again, turns his head to look directly at Xie.

"I want that too. I don't know how it's going to work, but... Okay, let's figure it out, together."

[xie_er]

Okay? Is it really so simple? Well, no, but somehow also yes. It's not like anybody can stop them - not without arranging another extremely powerful ritual to attach him to somebody else.

Maybe he'll still have to go the prison, but whatever happens the bond will still be there.

He feels a flood of relief when Kevin says okay, but it's nothing compared to how he feels when Kevin says I want that too. It's almost overwhelming, for a moment, to release all of the worry he's had built up, all of the regret and pain and complicated feelings around Kevin not wanting him, especially since realising he wanted the bond to stay. He has to close his eyes for a second just to let it wash over him.

When he opens them again, he smiles tentatively.

"Together." He agrees.

[weird_cop]

Kevin returns the smile, relieved at how easy that was, almost crying from the flood of emotions.

It's going to be weird and complicated. There will he legal proceedings and criminal trials and Kevin can't imagine the Met will be happy about any of it, but he doesn't care right now.

He tugs lightly on the power between them, no stronger than pulling on someone's sleeve.

"Don't yell at me, but I'm going to do your shoulder first so you can look after me while I'm invalided."

It's a pragmatic decision he's already thought about. His stomach will take a few days, his arms another few more. Xie might as well be mobile through that time.

[xie_er]

It's funny, he thinks, if it were Yifu, he'd be claiming something that benefitted himself was for Xie's good. Kevin's 'it's so you can look after me' just so he can heal Xie first is basically the opposite.

He frowns disapprovingly, but then sighs and nods - he knows there's not much point arguing, and as long as Kevin uses his power he can live with it. Especially because his injuries are more minor, Kevin can still get started on his own when he's done.

"Fine, as long as you actually let me look after you."

Kevin's going to learn how little Xie actually knows about cooking and deal with it.

[weird_cop]

"Come over here so I can get at you."

Kevin marvels again, as he pulls Xie's power into him, how much there is and how relatively little it takes. He actually starts on one of his arms - the one that didn't already have injury upon injury heaped on it before the most recent burn - to give him enough mobility so he can actually touch Xie's shoulder.

It takes a while, but with the amount of power Kevin has to work with, he finds he can make big changes quickly. And there's something pleasing in the circle of drawing out the power, circling it through his own body and easing it back out into Xie's.

[xie_er]

Xie nods, shifting over to sit beside the sofa, turning his injured shoulder towards him. There's something comforting, something right about feeling his power flow in to Kevin. Which is a bit weird, because it never quite felt like that with Yifu, it had always felt more like it was being taken, with Kevin it feels like sharing.

There's something meditative about it, just sitting quietly at Kevin's side and letting the power circle between them, feeling the strength return to his shoulder. He even feels like the bruising is easing, like the roughness in his throat is being soothed.

[weird_cop]

"I knew you were powerful," Kevin remarks, as he finishes, "People kept saying it. But this is so much. I feel like I only used like, half."

It felt right, though. Xie is right in that. He moves the power smoothly into his stomach without much second thought, figuring that the quicker he can at least sit up comfortably the better.

[xie_er]

Xie ducks his head almost sheepishly, hiding his genuinely pleased smile at the compliment.

"I didn't know how powerful I was for a long time, I didn't have anything to compare it to" He admits.

He rolls his shoulder experimentally, stretching his arm out. He stays where he is, settled comfortably on the floor.

[weird_cop]

"Me neither, I guess. Just feels a lot."

He almost makes a joke about trying other familiars, seeing if this is a lot. Decides that's a terrible idea and not a funny joke.

Kevin falls back into his meditation, drawing leisurely on what is available of Xie's power, enjoying the feeling of having it offered. Then, when he feels like he's made a good progress, before he reaches the bottom of the well, he lets go, and experimentally attempts to sit up.

"Yeah, okay. This will do."

[xie_er]

Xie hums in agreement.

"I've heard people say it's a lot. Someone compared me to Zishu once, and he's supposed to be quite powerful." He's not boasting, just matter-of-fact, perhaps a touch disbelieving - he isn't sure if that was somebody actually telling the truth or if they were just trying to flatter Yifu by complimenting Xie.

It hadn't worked, Yifu had been very polite at the time, but Xie hadn't needed empathy to know he was angry. And that he was going to take it out on Xie.

He almost wants to remember those times, now, it makes it easier to deal with his death.

He looks up, nodding approvingly when Kevin sits up without any apparent issues.

"Feeling better?"

[weird_cop]

"Yeah."

Kevin nods. Physically at least, he feels much better, though he'll probably have a better idea when the painkillers wear off. Unfortunately that means he has to face up to some other thing soon enough.

"How are you doing?"

[xie_er]

Xie folds his arms on the couch beside Kevin and rested his head on them, tilted to look at him.

"Much better" He answers, then decides to offer a little more - he guesses Kevin is asking about much more than just his injuries.

"Physically, anyway. Everything else... Will come. I think it will be okay."

He's surprisingly hopeful about it, despite how he's feeling right now, at least he knows he'll have Kevin.

[weird_cop]

"I'm here if you want to talk, he offers, simply.

"And if you don't, I can offer distractions in the form of TV and being beaten at chess."

[xie_er]

"Thank you." He isn't ready, now, he thinks, but when he is, he knows Kevin will be there.

"TV? I'll go get snacks?" he suggests

[weird_cop]

"Sounds good."

Kevin curses the lack of modern technology when he has to get up to physically put a disc in the player, but then sits back on the couch with plenty of room next to him.

"I can't wait until we get clearance to break the circle. I miss Netflix."