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]

"It's the worst part of my job, too."

He's sorry, Xie.

"Hopefully this will be the last time someone kidnaps you. Other than me."

[xie_er]

"It better be." Xie says darkly.

He sighs, and then smiles slightly.

"You're allowed."

[weird_cop]

Kevin leans over, kissing Xie as he stands, and brings his tea mug with him.

"Allowed to kidnap you, got it. Though let's not get carried away with anything too kinky in case it gets too close to home.

"Have a nice day, sexy."

He heads up to the loft, and then does spend much of the morning chatting through the link like he's texting home.

[xie_er]

Xie laughs lightly, kissing him back.

He actually does the washing up while he's away, and then goes to get dressed, responding to Kevin's comments throughout the day as he goes.

He steps outside of the wards to call his lawyers later in the morning. They deny leaking the information to the papers, but Xie lets them know he's not happy about it anyway. He really does have half a mind to just fire them, but he knows they're good lawyers and he wouldn't have the first clue where to find a replacement that he can actually trust.

Well, not that he can really trust them, but he is very stern with them about his expectations and tells them he wants to know every argument they're going to make in court before they make it.

When he's done, he goes back inside and asks Kevin if he's coming home for lunch or not - not demanding, just genuinely curious.

[weird_cop]

"Yeah," is the reply, though it sounds a bit distracted. "Something quick, though, I'll probably take it back to the portakabin."

He's already coming down the stairs from the loft as he does so.

"You wanna come back and get the statement out of the way? How did the lawyers go?"

[xie_er]

Xie nods, going through to the kitchen to put the kettle on in preparation.

"I can do that." He agrees, partly because he would like to get it out the way and partly because he's curious what's put that distracted tone into Kevin's voice. He wrinkles his nose at the question about the lawyers, though.

"About as well as can be expected. I'll be glad when I don't have to deal with them anymore."

[weird_cop]

"Does that mean you don't want a lawyer present? It's not a questioning, literally just a witness-slash-vic statement so there's no real reason to bother."

He comes up behind Xie, knowing he can't sneak up on him, and puts one hand on his waist while the other moves hair so he can kiss his neck, a passing affection on the way to the fridge and the tupperware inside.

"But I do want to try something out with you, if you're up for it. Technically you don't even need to do anything so it can happen while you're talking to Lofthouse. Might be distracting, though.."

[xie_er]

"I don't need them getting involved in this as well, so no, I don't want a lawyer present"

His frustration melts away a little when Kevin comes up behind him, and he leans into the touch with a faint smile.

He glances over his shoulder at the question, eyebrow raised.

"Sounds intriguing. What do you have in mind?"

[weird_cop]

Kevin grabs some pre-made dumplings out of the freezer, sticking them quickly in the microwave to defrost as he heats up a pan. The kitchen here is so small he can do most of this while keeping a hand lightly in contact with Xie as he does.

"There's a spell most people in the city's underworld use when encountering people. It kind of - I call it 'reading your barcode,' gives you basic information about someone. We can blank it out, but usually we each do ourselves. I want to practise blanking it if Lisa tries to read you."

[xie_er]

"So you can blank it if somebody else tries to use it?" Xie guesses - it makes sense, it would be a useful thing to be able to do, and it's not like Xie would be able to block it himself.

It's not a spell he's ever heard of before, but that's been a common occurrence with the kind of magic Kevin does. Familiars aren't tied with any particular type of magic themselves, but he's only ever really experienced Yifu's variety most of the time.

It does make him wonder, though, if anybody's used it on him before, if they've learned things without him realising...

"What sort of thing does it tell you?"

[weird_cop]

Kevin shrugs.

"Just like... surface level stuff. Stuff about your... identity, I guess? If you think about the question 'Who are you?' It's a UC's worst nightmare 'cause we're always cops, no matter what we're pretending to be.."

He pulls Xie's arm to wrap around him from behind as he fries up the dumplings.

"It's also the world's best gaydar. The first witch to use it on me immediately spat out the word 'sodomite,' but she was a bitch as well as just really old."

[xie_er]

So somebody using it on his human form would immediately know he was a Familiar... it definitely isn't common amongst Yifu's circle or their little 'secret' wouldn't have stayed that way for long.

He allows himself to be pulled, curling contentedly around Kevin and resting his chin on his shoulder, happy just to stay there and watch him cook.

He snorts in amusement at the story.

"I can see why it would be useful to block, then."

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods.

"The assholes yesterday were using London magic, so we think that's how they knew you were his familiar. But if I can blank-it, especially if I can blanket both of us with one gesture, it'll be useful. Even just knowing blanket can get a person respect in the right circles."

[xie_er]

Xie considers this for a moment and then smiles slightly.

"Could you teach me the gesture, too?" He asks "If we can make it look like I'm the one blanking it, that would obscure things even further, right?"

It might not ever come up, but it's worth being able to do, just in case.

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods. "Yeah, that's a good plan. We'll see how convincing we can make it. It's not even that complicated, just a handwave. You just need to lok like you're doing something."

Whether Xie can even do it without the Sight would be another question.

Kevin doles out bowls of fried pierogi for him, Xie, and a bigger one for sharing, scatters spring onions, over them, and pulls Xie in for a final kiss before they go back to work.

"Ready?"

[xie_er]

Xie grabs the teacups and one of the bowls and nods.

"Ready." He agrees - at least, he's ready to get this over with. After a nice, home-cooked lunch with his boyfriend.

(And he's not going to think too much about that, he's not, he's allowed to call Kevin his boyfriend in the privacy of his own head. Working out what they are officially can come later, he has too much else to think about)

[weird_cop]

Back in the portakabin, Kevin puts the sharer bowl somewhere where people can use them to supplement their own packed lunches, and Quill is quick to share his view that Keving being able to teleport to his kitchen for lunch is something they should have implemented years ago.

Kevin invites Xie to sit next to him on a part of the table where he, Tony and Lisa have bene huddled, figuring out the implications.

"Xie had the idea that if we show him the hand movements, we could fake it so it looks like we're both using blanket," he tells them. "One person doing two might still draw attention, even if we do figure it out."

Tony nods at Xie, thinking that's a good idea.

"Yeah, that could work."

[xie_er]

Xie settles comfortably next to Kevin, letting the conversation happen around him as he eats. He still doesn't feel entirely part of the group, especially when he's in their space rather than the safehouse, but he's a lot more comfortable around them than he used to be, and when Kevin draws him into the conversation by mentioning him he nods slightly.

"I thought it would be worth trying, at least." He offers.

(The fact that Tony said it could work is encouraging, Xie is pretty sure he wouldn't say something like that about one of his ideas if he didn't mean it)

"I would like to see it, though, I'm interested in what it looks like, and what it tells you."

[weird_cop]

"Want me to do Kev?" Lisa asks. Kevin is about to offer to do Lisa instead, but realises that the information wouldn't be that easy to share through the link. Anyway, she raises her hand and flicks fingers in his direction.

Instinctively, because he wasn't expecting it, Kevin flicks his splayed fingers back, with the second nature relflexes from having learned it many times.

Lisa rolls her eyes.

"You weren't supposed to blanket, Kev."

"Sorry."

The second time he holds his hands steady, and while nothing happens that's visible, even to the Sight, she reports back:

"There we have it. Policeman, gay, Londoner, Sighted." she pauses, blinks, and grins. "Blessed by the old gods and the Saviour of London."

Kevin, obviously unexpecting that last lot, stares.

"Are you kidding me?"

Tony jumps in with a reading of his own, and laughs.

"Fucking hell, Kev."

Kevin blushes darkly, suddenly dropping his eyes to his food.

[xie_er]

Xie nods, leaning back slightly to watch. He has to suppress a smile when Kevin reflexively blocks it, though he takes a moment to study the movement - he knows he'll get Kevin to show him again, but it at least gives him an idea. It seems simple enough to learn.

He wonders if he could learn to do the reading movement as well. Wonders, in fact, how many spells he could pretend to do that Kevin would be able to actually do. He still isn't entirely sure the use for such subterfuge, but it's interesting to think about.

The information gained has him raising his eyebrows - it's clear from their reactions that it's a fairly big deal to have that kind of information attached to him, even if he couldn't already tell that just from hearing it.

He glances over at Kevin and the urge to kiss him on the cheek is suddenly so overwhelming he has to use all his willpower to stop himself. He's used to that, sort of, but truthfully the urge to do something affectionate in public was never this strong with Yifu.

He slips a hand under the table to squeeze his thigh, unable to resist doing something.

"What do you get from me?" He asks, curious - and wanting to distract attention from Kevin's blushes.

[weird_cop]

Kevin has now read Lisa and Tony and informed they have it too - the Saviour of London bit, not the blessed part which is from his series of dalliances.

Lisa turns to Xie, ignoring the hands - Kevin did place his hand over Xie's to return the squeeze briefly.

Having waved her fingers, she says, more thoughtfully, less teasing:

"Well, I can tell you're a familiar. And that you're gay. Some hints about a tough childhood which is hard to put into words. I can see all the people you've killed..."

But she pauses, looking for a word that takes a second to come to her.

"You're a survivor."

[xie_er]

He expected the familiar part, and the gay part, but the rest is a surprise. The childhood comment makes him slightly uncomfortable, though it's not because he's thinking about the whole victim/pity thing, it's because he views his 'childhood' as the time before Yifu, and it's a time that Yifu always acted as though he should be ashamed of, that he should be trying to put that behind him.

It's strange to think all that effort was for nothing, that it's written on his soul for anyone to see. Well. Anyone who could see.

The people he's killed is unexpected but he thinks it makes sense - if they can pick up what Kevin and the others have saved, of course it would show what he's destroyed, especially when assassination was such a big part of who he was for so long.

Then she calls him a survivor, and it feels right. He's strangely proud to have that be something that can be read on him. No matter what the world has tried to throw at him, he's found a way through.

He can't quite place why it means so much to hear it, until it suddenly hits him - it's the opposite of what Yifu always tried to tell him; he was nothing without Yifu, he was helpless and spoiled and lucky to have Yifu's support and guidance. He'd fall apart without him. Well, fuck that. He's stronger and tougher and better than all of that.

"Well." He says after a moment "Some of us have to rely on ourselves. We can't all be blessed by gods." He did ask to cause a distraction, but now he'd quite like that attention back off of him, sorry Kevin.

[weird_cop]

Kevin had been watching this with a small smile of his own: pleased that Lisa can see what he knew all along.

Now he looks back at his food, feeling flustered, and not necessarily in a good way. Like he's been called out on privilege. Like the kids are calling him posh.

"I rode the Hell bus for that."

[xie_er]

"I didn't say you didn't deserve it." Xie says, softly, more apologetic than defensive.

He really didn't mean to touch on a sore spot, but he isn't quite sure how to fix it or distract attention again. He glances at Lisa, wishing for a moment that he could talk telepathically to her to ask her to help. She seems like she's good at this kind of thing...

[weird_cop]

Lisa meets Xie's eyes, and actually isn't sure what to say, though Kevin does reach out through the link to try and reassure Xie that it's okay.

"I know."

Tony though, he nudges Kevin in the shoulder.

"Don't be like that. You frigging worked for what you got. None of us were willing to do what you realised you had to in order to save the frigging day. Be proud of it, mate."