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]

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."

[xie_er]

He realises, as soon as Tony speaks, that of course he'd be the one to say the right thing - when it comes to Kevin at least. He's still a dick, but he is Kevin's best friend, and it's clear to Xie that he probably knows him best.

"He's right, you know." He says, because of course he's not going to admit that out loud.

[weird_cop]

Kevin offers Tony a weak smile to say that fine, he'll stop being silly.

"Thanks. Lisa's right, too. You're a survivor. That's why - I never needed a bar-code to know that."

This is about the time that Rebecca Lofthouse lets herself in, and nods to all of them.

"Ready, Xie?"

There's a table and two chairs at the side of the room. They can sit there while Kevin and Lisa work on the blanket.

[xie_er]

Xie just smiles at him softly - lovingly, really, not even trying to control his expression.

Until Lofthouse comes in and he pulls his gaze away quickly, face carefully impassive again.

"Ready." He agrees, finishing off his cup of tea and standing to go and join her at the side.

This is much easier than the last couple of statements he made, it's straightforward and thorough - and his contempt for his kidnappers is dripping from every word.

[weird_cop]

She doesn't even discourage the contempt. They weren't exactly high level at wat they were trying.

Still, it takes some time, and across the room Lisa keeps flinging indetectable spells at him, and Kevin blocks them.

It's much much easier than Kevin expected, and after a couple, he says:

"Try Tony."

That's more difficult, he finds, and he makes Lisa try Xie again.

It's easy, he finds, almost instinctual.

Like the magic doesn't count him as a different person.

[xie_er]

Xie is vaguely aware of the experimentation going on behind him, but he doesn't feel anything. It should probably be distracting but it's easy enough to tune out, any conversation just becoming oddly comforting background noise.

Once he's done with the statement, though, he turns back to look at them.

"How did it go?"

[weird_cop]

"Great," Kevin says, flush with the happiness and pride that comes from achieving something in his speciality.

"Like we're one person."

"Come here, let me show you the hand movements."

He beckons Xie over to join them, and shows him the basics so they can synchronise the movement, make it look like it's him throwing the blanket.

"How did yours go?"

[xie_er]

"That's what it's supposed to be like."

He means the bond in general rather than that spell, he knows - has always known - how it's supposed to feel. There's a synchronicity to the right bond, a feeling of completeness that he's always been chasing.

A feeling he has now.

Not that he says any of that, he just moves over to join them and practice the hand movements.

"Fine, it was probably the easiest statement I've had to give"

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods his thanks to Lofthouse, even if she didn't hear the sentence that prompted it, and she nods back anyway.

"Oh," she adds, suddenly, "before I forget..."

She picks up a small shopping bag from the corner and passes it over. As well as the evidence bag containing Xie's switchblade, underneath is a fabric wrapped set of throwing knives - the very edge of legal.

She glances at Kevin, who gives a quick explanation: "London-made. Scrap from London yards, melted and reforged in London; crafted in a London-based armoury. They'll protect against London magic. Thanks for getting them, Ma'am."

[xie_er]

Xie snatches up the switchblade with a grateful look and it almost immediately vanishes into his sleeve. Something in him relaxes to have the comforting weight of it back.

He pulls out the fabric wrap with a confused look, though he doesn't waste any time unrolling it to see what's inside. His eyes widen a little and he draws one out to inspect it as he listens to Kevin's explanation.

"Thank you." He says genuinely, then after a moment thinks to repeat himself out loud to Lofthouse.

He tosses the knife a few times, getting a feel for it, then flicks his arm straight out to the side without even turning his head. It flies, arrow-straight, and buries itself right in the centre of the taped X over Zhao's picture. He smiles, a little smugly.

"They're good."

[weird_cop]

"Good shot," says Costain, obviously reveling in the sheer violence to a photo that had it coming.

Kevin looks down at the floor, to all the world looking like he's too shy to accept real thanks, especially with the way he blushes.

"That was so fucking hot."

[xie_er]

Xie smirks and stands, sauntering over to the board to pull the knife out so he can slide it back into place within the fabric and roll it back up. It probably looks like he's just smug about Costain's praise, but that confident swagger is all for Kevin.

"How much longer do you have to work?"