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]

"Maybe I could teach you, if I'm as good as you say," Kevin suggests.

Not that there's much room for two people to cook in this kitchen. He wonders why the two of them picked it, if he's such a keen chef.

He also thinks there's probably a reason he hasn't already taught Xie, and that might come up later.

"When we've established I do know what I'm doing."

[xie_er]

"Maybe you could," Xie agrees with a soft smile - it would be nice, he thinks, to learn that kind of skill from Kevin. He probably would have already offered if Xie hadn't been too embarrassed to admit to his failings before now.

"But then I wouldn't get to eat your food all the time." He adds with a faintly cheeky smile.

He doesn't have any illusions that Kevin won't know what he's doing, though if it turns out these memory thieves have affected what is, he thinks, one of Kevin's favourite things (and Xie's, to be fair, he loves Kevin's cooking) he's going to be out for blood.

[weird_cop]

"Maybe I deserve a chance to try your cooking."

Trying to remember how to cook is surprisingly strange. Kevin can operate a toaster, but 'eggs' is vague. He manages to fry them up, but it's simple and doesn't unlock any amazing cooking skills hidden in his brain.

"Hope this is okay."

[xie_er]

"I'm not sure anybody deserves that" He replies dryly, but Kevin does have a point, it probably is unfair of him to just let Kevin do it all, maybe he'd like to have a meal cooked for him from time to time.

"It's perfect" Xie promises - simple doesn't bother him, he's grateful for everything Kevin cooks, though he can tell Kevin didn't seem to have that same comfort in the kitchen that Xie is used to seeing. He tells himself not to read into it, that he's still getting used to things, but it is a little bit concerning...

[weird_cop]

Still, Kevin doesn't mind the experience of seeing Xie enjoy his food. He's not sure how much 'perfect' is just reassurance, but it's nice that he hasn't poisoned him.

He smiles his gratitude and enjoys his own breakfast, feeling again that it's fine.

He's just finished his tea when Lisa rings the doorbell.

[xie_er]

Xie goes to answer it, realising that Kevin probably doesn't feel entirely comfortable that this is his house right now, and smiles at Lisa, stepping aside so she can come in.

"Do I have time to do my hair?" He asks - it's fine if the answer is no, but he'd rather ask the question than not.

[weird_cop]

"Sure," Lisa says. "Take your time."

She lets Xie head upstairs and moves to help Kevin clear the table. To introduce herself really, but also to check in on him and repeat her reassurance that this is nothing that new for their team and that they'll figure it out.

[xie_er]

It's good to get a little breather, to restore his equilibrium and prepare himself for the day ahead. He needs, he thinks, to bring back a little more of his old self. Strong, calm, capable. Adept at potions and ready for anything.

So when he comes back downstairs, not only has he done his braids as normal, but he's also put on his makeup - it's less common these days but not noticeable in itself, as such, except that his eyeliner hasn't been that severe in a while. This is Xie in full scorpion king mode.

[weird_cop]

Kevin blinks at it, then gives an impressed smile. Xie is attractive without makeup, but he's clearly skilled as well.

Lisa raises her eyebrows and smiles immediately. But when Kevin heads upstairs to wash up and use the loo before going, she takes the opportunity to talk to Xie.

"You doing okay?"

[xie_er]

Xie smiles back, pleased at the reaction - it isn't why he did his makeup like that, but it doesn't hurt.

When Lisa asks him he just tilts his head slightly in a sort of nod.

"I'm fine." He says evenly. It's smooth, but not terribly convincing "but I will be better when we fix this."

[weird_cop]

Lisa looks at him steadily.

"I'm going to ask you that question again, later," she says. "And I want you consider talking to me. You can be there for him better if you let someone else be there for you."

She's speaking from.long experience of their tiny, fucked up team.

"We'll fix it as soon as we can."

[xie_er]

He considers this and then nods - he can't promise he actually will talk to her, but he will at least think about it.

"I know." He says, and which statement that applies to isn't all that clear, but he doesn't offer any further information.

"How easy is it to access the things seized from Yifu's mansion?" He asks then

[weird_cop]

"Not too hard," she says thoughtfully. "Lofthouse even has a form letter she can use. We just want to apply our specialist testing equipment to items.

"Plus a lot of it is yours anyway."

[xie_er]

"Isn't it all mine, now?" He asks rhetorically.

"There's some things that will come in useful, alchemical equipment mostly, things I'll need to work on the potential antidote if this does turn out to be some variation of the Soup of Oblivion, I'm assuming Tony filled you in on that theory?"

[weird_cop]

"Some of it's illegal to actually own, and some of the art is under dispute as stolen property," she says lightly.

"But yes, Tony said. We've started looking out for some of the ingredients he mentioned."

She stops in the middle of the conversation though, raising a finger as she listens to see if Kevin's listening.

"Theres another question i wanted to ask. You have an empathic connection, right? Has anything felt... wrong or unexpected?"

[xie_er]

Well, okay, fair point. He doesn't really want to keep most of it anyway, so he doesn't really care about the things the police won't give back.

"That's good. The daylily is the big one, but that might be hard to come by, I have some sources though."

He considers the question, reaches out to check Kevin is still upstairs before he answers, shaking his head slightly.

"Wrong yes, unexpected no. The kind of wrong I'd expect under the circumstances, nothing concerning."

[weird_cop]

Lisa nods.

"Good, I just wanted to check. We know it's really him because of the link but I hoped you'd be able to tell if it was just him."

She shakes her head. "I had to be sure. Thanks."

Instantly she switches subjects back again.

"Good. We'll check all sources. When we get in, Jimmy will give us a full plan, based on everything we got yesterday."

This is when Kevin starts coming downstairs, and Lisa finally gives up on propriety, offers and gives him a tight hug.

"Let's get going."

[xie_er]

Xie nods - he understands the desire to check, but he's pretty sure he would know if there was anything, between the link and the empathy he'd pick up on something like pretty fast. He hopes.

"Sounds good." He agrees when she explains the plan - he sort of hopes he can just get on with his own thing, but he does have to get used to working as part of a team and he is, at least, glad of the help. More people means it's much easier to cover all the bases.

He follows her out once Kevin gets back, locking the door behind them and feeling cautiously hopeful that they're going to figure this out.

[weird_cop]

In the car over, Lisa puts the radio on, mostly so that the talk segments can give Kevin something to listen to.

She also explains some things as they pass - things that Xie can't see, but Kevin is reacting to. That's a haunted house, she says. No, those hooded figures can't be made to go away. That's a ghost ship but it didn't even sink in the Thames.

Right up until.they pull into the lot at Gipsy Hill.

[xie_er]

He's grateful that Lisa is there to explain it to him - to both of them, really, because by explaining it she's sort of including Xie in the conversation, letting him know what's going on around them - but it's also a little bittersweet. It makes him think about that first night in the current house, standing on the balcony and looking out across the view, Kevin sharing what he could see...

He thinks about saying something about it, but decides it might just be one more bit of pressure, one more little nudge of 'this is what we used to be'. If it will come in useful, he'll bring it up, but otherwise he doesn't want to spend all his time talking about them.

[weird_cop]

Kevin sits back, looks out of the window and listens, his brow furrowed as he takes in everything he can see, trying to get his head around the fact that Xie can't.

When they get to the Potakabin, he glances back at Xie again for reassurance, and heads in.

The other three are sitting at a table, but stand as Kevin comes in, Tony coming forward to clap his hand on a shoulder and say how nice it is to see them.

"Good to see you looking healthy, Kev" Quill says. "Right, let's get down to what I'm calling Operation Blue Tang."

[xie_er]

Xie, of course, wonders what fish have to do with anything, but he doesn't ask.

(Maybe Operation Goldfish was too on the nose?)

He slides into his seat - next to the space they've left for Kevin, the seat that wasn't quite as evenly spaced as the others. Normally he enjoys the closeness, but there's that hint of awkwardness to it now. They're supposed to be one person, as far as the magic is concerned, but the synchronicity feels like it's missing.

He's itching to get started, but he knows the briefing is important for that whole teamwork thing...

[weird_cop]

"Here's what we know..."

Quill starts, and the others fill in. CCTV footage shows Kevin changing direction in the way to the car park and heading off, on a journey they're then able to track. A familar compelling spell they've seen before, but Kevin's defences would usually have no problem resisting it. They recovered his abandonned shopping bags...

"But not your holdall," Lisa says. "That's important, that bag has a whole lot of your magical items in it. They made you hold on to it and then removed it from the scene."

[xie_er]

"So do you think they wanted something that was in the bag?" Xie asks, frowning thoughtfully. There would surely be better ways to get it that didn't require taking all his memories, so maybe it wasn't just something from the holdall...

"It could be that the memory loss was just... an overzealous way of removing the evidence of what they did, or that they were after something specific there, too."

Either way, it must have been targeted, which might help them figure out who was behind it...

[weird_cop]

Lisa points at him, agreeing.

"But there's much more common and easier ways of erasing memories. They could have removed that specific incident, or removed themselves. But most memory loss spells -" she glances at Quill and Lofthouse "- look a certain way, focus on the thing being forgotten, not the rememberer. At the very least, as you were in contact when it happened, I'd expect you to be affected."

"Assumption," points out Costain and she acknowledges it, and lets him continue.

"I reckon," he says, "its that second one; that they were looking for something and took Kevin's memories to find it. Which would mean that his memories are out in the world. Bottled, like..." he looks at Lisa... "like your happiness."