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 snorts, shaking his head slightly in amusement.

With the conversation over, he calls Du Pusa and spends a couple of minutes checking in before explaining why he's calling. He doesn't share it over the link, but mostly because they're talking in rapid Mandarin and he isn't sure if Kevin is fluent enough to catch all of it... and maybe a little bit because he wants to pre-warn Du Pusa what's going on, and get a read on how terrible a meeting might go before he subjects Kevin to her.

When he's done, however, he does call over the link.

"Du Pusa's going to make some calls and suggested we meet this afternoon?"

[weird_cop]

"Great," Kevin replies. "I'll continue to wade through this stuff. Think there's anything I should focus on?

With both Tony and Xie following leads, he's feeling hopeful, almost optimistic. He's even beginning to think he understands some of this magic stuff.

[xie_er]

"If there's anything to do with these auctions that might be useful" He suggests, figuring it wouldn't hurt to be as prepared as possible.

He, meanwhile, texts Lisa a list of designer clothes to be retrieved from the things taken from his apartment; if he's going to show up at this thing not associated with them, he's going to look as far from a cop as possible.

[weird_cop]

Those are probably still in your apartment. Can you get them yourself or are we your courier service?

She adds an upside down smiley face because of course she does.

Kevin agrees, and starts by searching the notebooks. "Looks like Lisa and Tony know a lot about them as well... Oh.

He chuckles, unsure how that comes off down the link. "They went to the first two without me. I'm learning to see what it looks like when I make notes while really angry."

[xie_er]

I had no idea things were still in my apartment or that I was allowed to go there

Also you are my courier service. I can't drive and Kevin is busy with the notebooks

"Are you going to be mad we're going to this one without you?" He asks - it's faintly teasing, since he doesn't expect him to actually be angry. He might be frustrated, admittedly, but they both know why Kevin can't go to this one.

[weird_cop]

Lisa sends him a thumbs up in response to that. She'll get the things collected and dropped off.

"Oh yeah, furious."

He's sarcastic back to acknowledge that he knows Xie is joking.

"Okay this is weird. There's like - objects, yeah. Like the things from Zhao's place, and this Lightning Tip, but... stuff like 'a favour from Brent' or 'popularity and love' They're not as common, but - do you reckon that someone could put memories up on here?"

[xie_er]

He sends her a heart emoji, because he does actually appreciate her doing that. And because it's her.

The question from Kevin gets some consideration.

"That would make sense, the Lightning Tip must take the memories in a state that they can be used, and I can see why someone would want your memories and the information attached to them, so why not auction them off? They're probably worth a lot" He agrees

[weird_cop]

"My notes say that you can buy things using money, or..."

He's quiet for a second, making sure he's reading it properly.

"...Sacrifices. Blood. Oh god, body parts. I've writen 'a lifetime's happiness' in whatever the handwriting equivalent of bold font is and underlined it angrily. Remember what Tony said yesterday?"

'Your happiness,' he had said to Lisa.

[xie_er]

"Do you think they had to trade it for something, or that somebody stole it from her like they stole your memories?" He asks softly. If it's the latter, he a little bit wishes he was still allowed to kill people.

"Whoever stole them, though, they might be planning to bid with them." That's good, it means there's more chance he will show up at the auction in a couple of days. He must be looking for something more valuable than the Lightning Tip, or he wouldn't have needed to go to these lengths.

"We should ask Lisa to see if we can get approximate values for the listings in the next auction, see if we can narrow down what they might be after"

[weird_cop]

"Trade," Kevin says with certainty. "If it had been stolen she'd have said, I think."

"I haven't said what she got for it - but I have written some monetary values next to it. Apparently it beat a bid of Sixty million, but later sold for two hundred thousand. Looks like value is hard to predict."

[xie_er]

"Makes sense for something like that" Xie says after a moment "different value to different people."

Kevin's memories are likely to be just as variable.

Luckily they don't really have to worry too much about the value right away, just about getting the person who has them before he can use them to bid for something else.

[weird_cop]

"This is important," Kevin adds after a moment t "You can't follow or trace anyone entering or leaving the auction. And there's no violence allowed either. So if you find them you'll just have to remember what they look like and search for them afterwards, or... I don't know, strike up a conversation there."

[xie_er]

"They're not going to want to talk to Tony and Lisa if they work out who they are" He says thoughtfully. The two of them could remember and try and locate the person afterwards, but that's a risky proposition.

"Thanks to all those news stories a lot of people know I'm Yifu's heir, I'm sure I could find something they want and arrange a meeting..."

Whether it's offering to hire them for a job or buying something they have, or trading something he can claim he has, there's options.

[weird_cop]

Kevin wonders if he should ask about the news stories, then figures he can guess well enough and doesn't want to press for something he'll hopefully remember at some point.

Though there are questions he could ask.

"Do they know you work with us, now? Is that going to be a problem?"

[xie_er]

"I'm not sure how well known that is" He admits. He hasn't been seen with them that much, mostly he's been out in animal form, and he doesn't know how widespread the knowledge of 'Xie' and 'Scorpion' being the same person has actually managed to get.

"I think this will be a good test, we'll be able to tell pretty quickly if people know I'm working with you"

[weird_cop]

"That scanning gesture didn't show anything like it," Kevin says. "I looked it up, it's one of the first things I investigated.."

He pauses, thinking of how he freaked out - it was only two days ago, wasn't it?

"The opposite, in fact."

He wants to apologise for his reaction. He's not sure how he feels about Xie's history, but he's spent enough time with the man that he would trust him ore than anyone else. So it's more or less forgiven

[xie_er]

"Something we can use to our advantage, at least until word spreads" He suspects the fact that he isn't actually police helps with that, maybe it will never say anything other than what it does.

When things are back to normal, though, it won't matter even if it does, because Kevin will be around to block anybody reading it anyway.

Hopefully.

[weird_cop]

"Right," Kevin agrees.

All of this talk about deception and keeping information to their advantage and testing ideas, though. He knows it's his job, and it's probably odd to not be used to it, but it still makes him nervous.

"Be careful, won't you?"

[xie_er]

It genuinely takes Xie a moment to understand what he's saying - his first instinct is to be offended, to assume that Kevin is implying he might do something wrong and ruin the mission, but he realises after a beat that Kevin is worried about him, and the danger he's putting himself in.

He knows it's just Kevin's way, still thinks that Kevin's care over him started out as just his usual care-for-another-human-being and transitioned into something that was more about him as a specific human being, but it still makes him feel a little of that now-familiar warmth and affection.

"I will"

[weird_cop]

"Sorry," says Kevin as soon as that pause is over, "you know what you're doing, and I get the impression from these books that I'm usually the one doing reckless and dangerous shit."

Not that there aren't things here that imply the others have done stuff, but Kevin's descriptions of his own sacrifices and rituals have been detailed about what he did.

[xie_er]

"You definitely have a knack for reckless and dangerous shit" Xie agrees dryly, but there's a hint of fondness too - after all, he wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for Kevin doing reckless and dangerous shit.

It's funny, really, because for all Yifu used to call him impulsive, reckless was never really Xie's style. Dangerous, yes, but well thought out. Most of the time.

Kevin seems to bring out the reckless in him, though.

[weird_cop]

Kevin smiles when he picks up that fondness, with only a little regret that he doesn't quite reciprocate. Is it weird to miss something one doesn't remember? Probably.

He's about to ask Xie if he knows about some of the stuff he's been reading about, when the doorbell rings.

It's Lisa, with a suitcase and mulyiple garment bags, and another bag of takeaway lunch.

[xie_er]

Xie comes to the door as well, eyes lighting up when he sees the bags - he loves Lisa a little bit for transporting them properly = and coming forward to take them off her hands.

"Are you joining us for lunch?" He asks/offers, eyeing up the takeout bag.

She's definitely his favourite.

[weird_cop]

"If you'll have me," she says. "We discussed among us how likely it was that Kev would forget to eat because he was studying, and decided on takeout."

Kevin isn't sure how he feels about being so blatently called out like this by a relative stranger, but he decides to be comforted that she knows and cares for him, and receives the bags in order to transfer them to plates.

"Oh," Lisa adds, turning to Xie. She digs in her jeans pockets and brings out his spare set of keys from his apartment, which she dangles in front of him. "Tada!"

[xie_er]

"Oh, good." Xie takes the keys with a nod, tucking them into his own pocket "Now I won't have to break into my own place again."

If the police are done with it, though, he wonders if he should just pack all his things and sell up. He doesn't particularly want to live there again, any more than he wants to live at Yifu's mansion. Except, he realises, he can't sell, because he never actually owned the place, Yifu did, so it's just as tied up as everything else until the estate is sorted out.

It is a space he could go and work on the potion, at least...