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

xie_er posting in

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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

weird_cop

"The stuff stains dark, though."

Kevin is pragmatic in his approach to stabbing.

"Anyway it'd warp the MDF."

Why is there so much MDF?

From:

xie_er

"Serves them right for not using proper wood." Xie sniffs disdainfully.

He wouldn't trust anybody else to decorate his house anyway. He'd decorated his apartment himself whenever he had spare time. He thinks about decorating the safe house again, then realises suddenly that he probably owns his apartment now. And Yifu's mansion. And half a dozen other properties.

Depending on how many of them are still part of the estate, anyway. That's one use for the lawyers at least, they can work all of that out for him.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin would be a fan of burning Zhao's mansion to the ground if it came to it. He hasn't really considered Xie's apartment as a future home, but if pressed he might admit to the occasional idle fantasy.

"I take it back anyway I think blood stains would improve that."

From:

xie_er

Xie isn't really sure he'd want to live in either one, they just... belong to a part of his life he doesn't want to go back to, now. Especially the mansion. Maybe he could sell them, use the money to buy a home that suits the two of them...

It's strange, probably, to be thinking about such things - even idly - the same day they kissed for the first time, but the fact that he belongs with Kevin isn't really up for debate, even if they don't work out romantically. It's not that witches and Familiars have to live together, technically he hasn't lived at the mansion for a few years, but it just feels right to consider a life with Kevin.

If he stays out of prison, that is.

"Fire would improve it more"

From:

weird_cop

"In fairness, I've seen worse. That kitchen in the back is legitimately haunted."

It's so weird, the way the woman keeps coming in and out of the frame. It took Kevin a minute to figure out what was wrong.

From:

xie_er

Xie twists his head to look up at Kevin, startled.

"It is? And you can see it, even on film?" He asks, genuinely fascinated. It's obvious enough from Kevin's tone that he's not just being euphemistic, it's actually haunted.

He didn't know Kevin's Sight included ghosts too, he wonders what else it includes that he hasn't thought to consider.

From:

weird_cop

"Yeah I never figured out if it's an electromagnetic thing or not, but it shows up on film."

It makes some movies unwatchable, through no fault of the film makers. One actor carries a particularly disturbing ghost through all of his roles.

"I think she must be the ex-wife of that guy. He's still guilty about moving on."

From:

xie_er

"Maybe he subjected himself to that awful decor as punishment." Xie observes, twisting back to look at the TV.

Still, his mind is still on the Sight, and after a moment he speaks up again.

"The next time something like that shows up, can you show me?"

From:

weird_cop

Next time.

Kevin is quiet as he realises that he's used the shared link to show Xie his viewpoint in the safety of their home, and once in the frantic rush on a fight - Xie thinks that the Sight is an occasional thing, and not a filter that he sees the whole world through.

"Yeah, next time we're out I'll show you what the city looks like."

From:

xie_er

Kevin is mostly right - he assumes that the Sight is limited to certain objects or things like ghosts, so he figures there's probably not much worth looking at in the safe house, he doesn't know what else he can see with it so he's not completely sure how it works - he's interested, though, he just isn't sure what questions to ask.

He nods agreement to the offer, already looking forward to it - and readjusting his idea of it based on the statement, because while he imagines there probably are a lot of ghosts or magical objects in the city, he gets the impression it's far more than that.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin settles back again, but not before kissing Xie on the top of his head and running his fingers lightly across his forearm.

"I keep forgetting I can just share things with you. I want to show you how I see the world.

From:

xie_er

"I'd like to see that" Xie admits - the idea of Kevin letting him see the world through his eyes is almost weirdly romantic? That he'd share something like that, let Xie in, it's hard for him to express how meaningful it feels, but it does, somehow.

As the latest episode continues, the warmth and comfort of the moment feels like it's seeping into his bones - or maybe that's just sleepiness. Either way his eyes keep sliding shut.

"Bed after this one." He says, even his mental voice sounding ready for it.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin agrees, realising he's sleepy himself - partly lulled into it by how relaxed he is.

"Where do you want to sleep tonight?"

That's up for Xie to choose, Kevin himself quite happy to take things slow or to sleep with Xie in his arms, however he chooses.

From:

xie_er

Xie considers the question - he knows, immediately, what the answer actually is, but he is contemplating what the answer should be.

Then he decides he's too tired to care and, honestly, he'd also like to know up front if Kevin is going to be the kind of person that doesn't want Xie in his bed outside of more carnal activities. He doesn't think he is, but it's better to know.

"With you? If you don't mind?"

From:

weird_cop

"I don't mind," is the immediate reply, Kevin's arm slipping from Xie's arm to settle warmly around his waist.

"Wherever you're happy."

If Xie does need space, wants to keep his own room, obviously he can. But Kevin is happy to share immediately.

From:

xie_er

Xie isn't quite ready to give up having his room, but he equally wouldn't be surprised if he never went back to sleeping in his own bed after tonight.

He's concerned, briefly, that 'wherever you're happy' might not mean Kevin's happy, but right now he's willing to take the acceptance at face value. He's not picking up any strong emotions to the contrary, anyway.

He tilts his head up so he can lean in for a kiss - his way of saying, without words, that he's happy wherever Kevin is.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin leans down and kisses Xie, long and happily, moving only when Xie's ready.

As the show finishes, he wraps his arms around him again, kisses him again, and lets Xie stand before he follows him up to the bedroom.

He doesn't even realise he's stopped thinking of it as 'his' bedroom almost immediately.

From:

xie_er

Xie, of course, is slightly less used to that kind of shared thinking - he'd wanted it, but still, Yifu's bed was still Yifu's bed. It will take him a little longer to feel as though anything is theirs rather than Kevin's. He knows he's a welcome guest, at least, but still a guest nonetheless.

He's at least comfortable enough to go through his usual night-time routine, just in Kevin's room instead of his own. Once he's gone through his skincare regimen and stripped to his underwear, he sits on the bed to start undoing his braids. Halfway through the first braid he pauses, thoughtful, and then looks over at Kevin almost shyly.

"...Do you want to...?" He offers, lifting the braid towards him.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin's bedtime routine takes about ten minutes - and five of that is spent in the bathroom - so he's already sitting in his underwear at the head of the bed when Xie sits. He'd been ready to watch, but flattered just to be invited to do so.

He immediately brightens and scoots down when invited, kneeling on the mattress next to and slightly behind Xie, happy to take that lovely hair into his fingers again.

He's deft and quick and tender, running each undoes braid through his fingers.

"You have such beautiful hair."

From:

xie_er

The enthusiasm is gratifying, and Xie can't stop the warm smile from spreading across his face as he drops his arm and settles comfortably so Kevin can work on his hair. He'd thought he was being a little selfish - it had been so nice to sit and let Kevin undo his braids last time, he just wanted to experience that again - but Kevin makes it clear that he enjoys the process as well.

"I should, you've seen how much work goes into it." He comments, softly amused - but the compliment only makes him feel even warmer, and that touch of pink is back to his face.

From:

weird_cop

Kevin smiles, not lifting his head from the work he's focusing on.

"That's part of it, but a lot of it's you. All the work in the world wouldn't give me hair like this."

Which is unfair, probably.

From:

xie_er

"I like your hair, it suits you." Xie responds without a second thought.

"I like that you like my hair, too. He adds, a little more hesitant but no less genuine.

He closes his eyes, just enjoying the fingers running gently through his hair

From:

weird_cop

"Thank you," Kevin replies to both. He moves a little bit closer for warmth, but lets himself fall quiet as he works through the braids carefully, letting the rhythm of the action become meditative.

He eases the final one out and lets it falls back into the waves of Xie's hair, before using the whole of his hand to gently stroke it, from Xie's head to his shoulders. Then he lifts it away from his shoulders entirely to gently kiss Xie's bare shoulder, just below his neck.

"Ready for bed?"

From:

xie_er

Xie is not entirely sure he's ready for this to stop, ever. He wonders how often he can get Kevin to do this, at what point asking will become annoying instead of pleasant.

Still, his braids are our and he has no more excuse, and at least the kiss softened the blow of him being finished a little.

He hums softly in agreement, words being beyond him at the moment whether out loud or through the link, and twists around to catch hold of Kevin and pull him in for a proper kiss.

Then he moves to get into bed.

From:

weird_cop

There will come a time, probably, when Kevin is tired or impatient or sick and doesn't want to had this time to his bedtime routine, but it's not now. Now he loves the closeness and the intimacy of it.

He kisses Xie back, smiling into his mouth as he wraps his arms around him, enjoying the sensation of bare skin in his arms.

He leans back, holding the covers up so Xie can scoot under with him, and returns his arm around him.

Later in the night he'll probably roll over so they're sleeping next to each other rather than wrapped up, but for now he just wants to hold him.