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

[xie_er]

Xie laughs, flicking the knife out again and twirling it between his fingers before tucking it away again.

"Fine, no lawyer." He agrees.

He nods, grabbing the box and the guitar case.

"Ready."

[weird_cop]

Kevin was hoping no anyone, bit he hadn't retrieved it if he didn't think there was a risk.

His eyes don't track the knife, but he watches it anyway, out of habit. Except rather than making him cautious, he feels better than there's a knife at his side.

Back home, he retreats to the kitchen, thinking about enchiladas and mole, but not without a new folder of documents - general specialism things that have been waiting for his eye.

The possibility of his name being dragged into the paper is thrown right to the back of his mind.

[xie_er]

Xie disappears up to his room - when Kevin next goes to the bathroom he'll find it has been slightly taken over by all of Xie's products, but for now he'll find the door locked and the shower running.

It's time for a very lengthy reunion with his skincare routine. And his haircare routine.

He's going to be a while.

[weird_cop]

The next few days are blissfully quiet. The press run with a few stories about the extent of Zhao's crimes, which keep public interest up but are nothing the team didn't already know. The lawyers... seem to behave themselves. Kevin gets to apply his specialism to minor cases that make him feel useful.

Things get a bit more relaxed in the semi - they get a car of their own (a little e-Golf) that gives them the freedom of the suburb - local supermarket, public library and all - and Kevin even drops in to his lockup to get some pans and cook books.

And a locket with Joe's portrait, that quietly goes around his neck.

And when his wounds are entirely healed, and no big drama has happened for days, he spends an afternoon dedicated to making wontons.

[xie_er]

Xie swaps to playing his old guitar, revelling in the sound quality and the familiar feel of it. He still wants to keep the newer guitar, though, and keeps the two of them on stands side by side in his room.

He lets Kevin do the driving because it's another thing he's never had reason to learn (sometimes he wonders if Yifu deliberately kept him from learning the kind of skills that would make him more independant) but he has gotten comfortable enough to actually ask to be driven places when he wants to go to them. He's comfortable enough, in fact, to occasionally be a little bit demanding about it.

(He's not a complete brat... just a bit, sometimes)

He's delighted to have his products back, and delighted to have his switchblade too - occasionally he twirls it around his fingers while they're watching TV, barely even aware he's doing it. He keeps it hidden away in public, of course, but he always carries it with him.

He's doing it again, now, just rolling it around his fingers as he sits in the kitchen watching Kevin cook.

[weird_cop]

Oh yeah, Xie's a brat, and Kevin is now beginning to get more comfortable teasing him about it. He just never uses the word 'spoiled,' because. because. Zhao didn't spoil him.

He glances over at the switchblade occasionally, but usually with a smile when he does so. He likes that it's out, likes what its presence does for Xie.

(He wasn't nothing, before Zhao. This knife proves that.)

He's also interested to see if it will ever gain something like power, in the fingers of someone who has meaning with it.

"Taste this," he says, idly tossing one of the dumplings over.

[xie_er]

Xie finds he doesn't mind so much being called a brat when it's Kevin doing it - it's never vicious, the way those kinds of words were from Yifu, it never sounds like he means it, it's just part of their banter and Xie knows he can snipe back without it being a problem.

The first couple of times Kevin glanced over when he was playing with the blade, his fingers would falter, it would almost look as though he was going to put it away - until he catches the smile, and relaxes, and realises he isn't being judged.

Xie snags the dumpling out of the air with casual ease and takes a bite. He considers it for a moment and then nods.

"It's good" He says, the rest of it already halfway to his mouth

[weird_cop]

Kevin glows under the praise, always loving it when something he's good at makes someone happy.

"I'll freeze most of them," he says, referring to the feast sized array he's prepared. "But I'll get the soup on now so we can have them fresh."

[xie_er]

Xie is still trying to find ways to repay Kevin, and this one is easy - he's seen how much Kevin enjoys it when his food is appreciated, and his food is not difficult to appreciate, so Xie always makes sure to mention it.

(Kevin's food is so easy to appreciate that Xie has had to start going for jogs around the neighbourhood so he doesn't put on too much weight. It's also because he just likes the chance to stretch his legs and get out the house, even if only for half an hour. It means he has to get Kevin to let him out the wards every time, but that doesn't stop him)

"What's your favourite food?" He asks suddenly, realising he doesn't know.

[weird_cop]

"I don't..." Kevin starts, prepared to say he has no particular preference as long as it's good food, but stops himself in order to think and give the fair answer the question deserves.

"I'm really fond of a barbeque," he says.

They have a back garden here. It's covered in concrete and dead pot plants, but it exists.

[xie_er]

Xie frowns thoughtfully, gaze straying to the kitchen window. He's been trying to think of something to do with his time other than watching TV and playing his guitar, what about some gardening? It would take some effort but it would be good, productive work, and at the end of it they could have a space where Kevin could invite the others for a barbecue...

(He's starting to think about this place long term, he's vaguely aware of that in the back of his mind, and he maybe shouldn't, but it won't take that long to clear out the pots and get some fresh plants in there)

"Good to know." He says, a little distractedly as he starts running through possibilities.

[weird_cop]

"You're plotting," Kevin says accusingly, watching Xie's eyes stray.

He doesn't mind, as long as Xie isn't plotting to kill Tony, that's okay. But he does find the fact amusing - and the thoughtful expression on Xie's face is intelligent and attractive, an he likes that too.

"What are you plotting?"

[xie_er]

Xie immediately gives him an innocent expression as if to say plotting? Me?

It doesn't last very long before he smiles slightly and nods.

"I was thinking if I tidied up the garden you could invite the others round for a barbecue." He admits. He's still a little hesitant about sharing when he has plans like that, since it's the kind of thing that Yifu was always so dismissive of, but he's trying to push past that, knowing he can trust Kevin.

(The day he'll truly have gotten over it is the day he admits that he's been dying to tear off the wallpaper in the living room and redecorate)

[weird_cop]

Kevin's eyebrows shoot up, and he glances outside again.

"It'd take some work," he admits. They probably can't break the concrete, anyway, but - actually, having the team over for a barbecue, maybe even Peter and Sarah or even little Jessica Quill - when the weather brightens up, that sounds amazing.

"Yeah, that'd be lovely."

[xie_er]

"I don't mind work." Xie says immediately, like he's worried the objection is a precursor to saying no. He relaxes, though, when Kevin agrees to it, and smiles.

"I'll start on it tomorrow, then." He says decisively. Even if it's just making a start on clearing things and deciding what he's going to need.

[weird_cop]

"And I'll prep the car for the inevitable trip to the garden centre."

It's going to feel so fucking domestic, Kevin thinks. Walking the plant aisles, making fun of gnomes, maybe stopping at the café for fresh baked buns.

He doles out two bowls of soup and brings them to the table, sitting next to Xie, marvelling in the back of his mind how much difference the new conditioner has made.

(Kevin himself is still just happy to have decent cocoa butter in the bathroom.)

At some point he's going to have to think about after the safe house, but while Xie's future is still in the air he's been trying to avoid it.

"Also some herbs are just better fresh, if you want my input."

[xie_er]

It is going to be unbearably domestic, but Xie is honestly looking forward to it. He never got to do anything like that with Yifu, wouldn't even have dreamt of asking, and maybe he's just being foolish indulging in these desires with Kevin when there's nothing there... but Kevin lets him, so he will.

"A herb garden is a good idea." He agrees - it would make him feel useful, as well, to cultivate herbs for Kevin to use. Maybe even some vegetables.

He tucks into the soup with a small, pleased noise. Planning gardens and eating home made soup... he's starting to realise, himself, that he's really not as spoiled as Yifu liked to pretend. He enjoys simple pleasures, it was Yifu who had all those impossible standards and fancy tastes.

[weird_cop]

Kevin is quiet for the first few mouthfuls of soup, enjoying his handiwork and watching Xie enjoy it, and mulling over a few things in his mind.

And then thinking about some of the things he's been trying not to think about because that's fucking unprofessional and also incredibly inappropriate but also - this connection is empathic, right? And the Sight is usually reliable at that.

So eventually he brings it up.

"Hey," he says, trying not to make this sound like a big deal. "I've been thinking about.. this whole thing."

The bond, and the living situation, and the court case and his job and... everything.

"About what we said about figuring out how it would work."

[xie_er]

Just when Xie thought he could trust the soup...

He swallows his mouthful, tries to speak and fails so he just takes a bite from another dumpling.

"And...?" He prompts cautiously, warily. He doesn't want to be pessimistic, not when Kevin just agreed to the garden idea, but he can't shake the fear that he's about to take it all back and decide Xie is more effort than he's worth after all.

The lawyers probably didn't help. The papers even less.

[weird_cop]

It's actually unfortunate. Kevin hadn't intended this and it's not why he made the soup.

"Not in a bad way," he adds quickly, trying to reassure Xie as soon as he catches the worry. He's vocal with the knee jerk reassurance but slips into the link for honesty.

"Just... a sense check. Making sure that it was still working for you. That you didn't want anything else."

'Want' is doing a lot ofnwork there and he knows it.

Want... out. Want to step back. Want to look for another witch (Kevin doesn't know how that would work but he'd try.)

Want... more?

[xie_er]

He's still tense about it until the explanation comes, and then he allows himself to relax. This isn't about Kevin not wanting it, it's about Kevin making sure he still wants it...

Right? Not him trying to get Xie to be the one to say it...

He really needs to stop second guessing everything, trying to figure out what the right answer is and just be honest about what he wants.

"I still want this." He says, firm and certain despite the slight delay in answering "I want to be your Familiar. I want you to be my witch."

He wouldn't normally bother phrasing it both ways round, but he's aware how uncomfortable some elements of the bond make Kevin, he doesn't want to remind him of that, would rather make it sound more even.

Anything else, though... did he want something else? Did Xie want to be Kevin's Familiar or just Kevin's - and the reverse, too.

He's been trying to ignore it, he really has, but sometimes it's harder to deny than others.

[weird_cop]

Kevin tilts his head, studying Xie as he thinks, trying to figure out what's going on in Xie's head, to guess at the second guessing, and hope he's right.

"I want to be your witch," he echoes, that slightly unfamiliar phrasing emphasising the two-way nature of the partnership.

"And."

He doesn't trail off, he just says the one word sentence and reaches over to the hand holding Xie's chopsticks, brings them down to the table.

And leaves both hands there.

[xie_er]

Xie stares down at their hands for a long moment like he doesn't quite understand. He's tried so hard to clamp down on those feelings, those desires, so sure that Kevin wouldn't be interested in anything like that, counting himself lucky enough that he wanted Xie at all, but...

He threw himself at Yifu, didn't want to do the same to Kevin, not when some tiny part of him wonders if he was the one who ruined it by being so demanding of his affection - it's a thought he'll never voice, doesn't think he could stand the pitying denial he'd be sure to get. He's needy, he knows it, he wanted Yifu to pay attention to him, to be loyal to him, to acknowledge him - he still hasn't quite come to terms with the idea that those aren't unreasonable things to want.

"Really?" He says, taking the risk to allow the hope in his tone

[weird_cop]

Kevin smiles rather than answering him.

He knows it's ill-advised. He's not over Joe yet. Xie has yet to figure out what a healthy relationship looks like.

And there's a loud voice in his mind saying that the hole he feels - of having someone to talk to, live with, be outside of the life, that doesn't need to be filled with a romantic or sexual partner.

But fuck that, he wants this and he's pretty sure Xie wants it. And its not fair on Xie to put the burden of the first move on him.

Kevin lets go of his hand, but only to take Xie's face in both of his hands and kiss him.

[xie_er]

Any uncertainty and tension just melts out of Xie as their lips meet, as though he couldn't quite believe any of it until that moment.

It's hard to misinterpret that, though. Hard to second guess how right it feels, like something has been just slightly out of sync but now it's clicking into place.

Xie reaches up to curl his hands around Kevin's face in turn, leans into it and parts his lips, seeking to deepen the kiss.

His own thoughts echo Kevin's, a little, they both probably haven't really recovered from their previous relationships, and maybe that makes this a bad idea, but it's hard to convince himself of that fact. Hard to deny that maybe, actually, this is exactly what they need. That maybe they can work through it all together.