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]

The funny thing is, Kevin doesn't know he's doing it right now. And the reason he's doing it now is because he's unsure about himself, still finding his way, and by telling Xie he knows that he can be guided if something seems off. So if Xie feels trusted, there's a reason for that.

Of course, Kevin doesn't realise the implications, he's just grateful for everything Xie is doing for him.

He repeats his thanks to the owners, is enthusiastic with his praise for their food, and acquiesces when they demand, in English, that he look after Xie and make sure he comes back soon.

He will, as well - he can see the smile on Xie's face.

[xie_er]

Xie leads them back to his apartment to check on the potion - it's cooled enough for him to work with now, so he gets started on fashioning it into the incense form it needs to be.

"It will need to rest for a little bit to finish drying out," he explains as he works "but it should be ready by this evening. We can take it with us and try it at home after dinner?"

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods his agreement.

"Sounds good," he agrees, happy to take Xie's lead on the best way to approach all of this. He settles back into the same chair to rest his chin on his hands and watch him work, partly seeing what he can learn about the process, but mostly admiring the evident skill involved (and how attractive Xie's face is when he's concentrating.)

When Xie is finished, Kevin helps pack everything up, but pauses before they leave, reaching out to take Xie's hand.

It shouldn't mean anything - he's been taking his hand a lot over the last few days, looking for reassurance and contact.

"Hey, thanks for everything. I know it's a long shot, but I just wanted to say it doesn't matter if this is what finally works. I'm just grateful that you're doing so much for me."

[xie_er]

Xie packs the formed incense carefully into a box for transport and sets it aside while they pack everything else up.

When Kevin catches his hand he pauses, glancing back at him curiously - he doesn't think anything of it at first, since it is becoming quite commonplace now, but when Kevin thanks him his breath catches for just a moment.

"I just wish I could do more." He says softly, in lieu of being able to explain what he's really thinking, which is how unfamiliar it is to be thanked for his efforts before they yield anything, efforts that might not yield anything. Yifu didn't care about effort, he cared about results.

[weird_cop]

"I know," Kevin says, because that is clear in everything Xie is doing - that he really wants to help, and it means a lot to Kevin, that someone cares this much about him.

"I know you'll work it out eventually. I can see how smart you are, how hard you're working."

He matches the soft smile, and for a second lifts his other hand, compelled to touch Xie's face. The only thing that stops him is the thought that it wouldn't be fair, just yet, not when he doesn't feel the way Xie deserves him to feel.

"I trust you."

[xie_er]

It's nice, in a way, to have that trust, even without everything else that came together to build it up before Kevin lost his memories - but it's bittersweet, knowing how close and yet how far they are from everything Xie remembers and Kevin doesn't.

The certainty, too, is at once a comfort and a pressure. What if he doesn't work it out?

"You've been working hard, too." He says after a moment "We'll work it out eventually."

[weird_cop]

Kevin squeezes Xie's hand one more time before letting go.

"We will," he agrees. Even if the incense doesn't work, if there's nothing at the auction tomorrow, if all their trails lead nowhere, they'll work it out.

But for now they have a pleasant drive home, and no time this evening to think about work, because Tony and Lisa show up with bags full of Nando's, plenty of beer, and Kevin's old Xbox.

"We'll get this set up first," Tony tells him, "and then we're watching this."

The DVD in question is The Prestige. Tony and Lisa had a long conversation about non-crime non-ghost related movies that would be fun to watch for the first time again, and also had hot men in it.

When Lisa explains her reasoning, Kevin can't exactly fault it.

[xie_er]

Xie confirms, unsurprisingly, that he hasn't seen it either - though he does that through the link, because he doesn't want to risk another 'Shrek' situation and he knows Kevin's knowledge of pop culture right now is actually worse than his, so he won't know to be surprised about anything he has or hasn't seen.

It's kind of nice to get to experience it for the first time together.

It's actually a pretty pleasant evening, getting lightly drunk and way too full of chicken and enjoying the movie - he actually manages to stop worrying about everything that's going on, just for a little bit.

[weird_cop]

Tony and Lisa curl up together on the couch, leaving chairs for Kevin and Xie. Which is probably for the best, because as Kevin gets a bit of alcohol in his system he feels like he would probably be curling up against Xie. He's going to have to face up to this later, but if he gets his memories back tomorrow, he figures he won't have to broach the subject of how he wants to act more like boyfriends right now.

He entertains himself by passing commentary and theories through the link, not saying much out loud in case the other two drop spoilers, but he does enjoy the movie, and the chance to relax with friends.

He figures out the twists in advance, but it's still fun getting there.

By the time the other two leave, he's relaxed, a bit tipsy, and grinning cheerfully at Xie.

"Wait, I didn't have to stay sober for the insence, did I?"

Because he did not.

[xie_er]

Xie laughs slightly. He's also glad they're not in the same chair because he desperately wants to kiss Kevin in that moment.

"If you did, I would have told you when you started drinking." He reassures softly - he has no reason to believe being drunk or not would change the way the incense worked. If anything, being that relaxed would probably make it work better, not that he's optimistic it's going to work at all.

He's stayed sober, mostly, because he wants to be able to keep an eye on Kevin and keep his head if anything happens. Mostly he's remembering Kevin doing himself an injury trying to fix the memory loss with magic.

"Do you want to do it now?"

[weird_cop]

Kevin would be insulted - except that even now he's aware that he absolutely is the kind of idiot who might need to have an eye kept on him in these circumstances.

"If you think now's the right time," he says, ready as always to defer to Xie's expertise.

Xie is, it turns out, correct in his decision not to be optimistic. But lying on his bed, meditating and breathing in the smoke, at least serves the purpose of relaxing Kevin, helping him clear his head even further. He eventually drifts off, and though his dream of being lost and wandering returns, it doesn't come with the same feeling of fear and loneliness that it has previously.

He awakes in the morning with no more memory than what he has of the last few days, but feeling at least a little more relaxed. It's tempered, though, by the knowledge that the auction is today, and he's going to have to stay at home and let his friends make all the risk.

It leaves him nervious again, and he attempts to cope with it by cooking as complete a breakfast for Xie as he can. If Kevin can't go with him, he can at least send him off with a full stomach.

[xie_er]

Xie leaves him to it most of the evening, though he periodically reaches out through the link - not to actually say anything, just to check that everything seems to be okay. He's pretty sure the modified version of Drunk Like a Dream would, on someone without any hidden or missing memories, have a very similar effect to the original and he's not really in the mood to be thrown back into his own memories right now.

When he does come to bed, once Kevin is asleep, he opens the window to clear some of the excess smoke while he gets ready for bed. All caution aside, he does still end up having vague dreams about his parents. They're pleasant enough, but it does leave him feeling unsettled in the morning.

He brushes it aside to focus on Kevin, but he can tell almost immediately that it didn't work. At least they have the auction...

He showers while Kevin makes breakfast, going through his extensive skincare routine as well as his extensive haircare routine. He's about to play Xie Wang, spoiled heir, so proper preparation is important.

He does pause in getting ready to come eat breakfast before he does his hair and get dressed - if he waits until he's done it'll be cold by the time he gets to it.

[weird_cop]

"Morning."

Kevin goes for meaningless small talk over breakfast, occasionally referencing the movie last night (Hugh Jackman is hot maybe they can find more of his work?) and what Tony has told him about the game he's supposed to play today. He doesn't focus too much on the auction or anything else until they've eaten and Xie has time to finish getting ready.

He looks good. Kevin guessed when Xie spent so long in the bathroom that he'd have something to show for it, but he looks good. Kevin has to consciously make the effort to think of it as showcasing artistic talent, rather than giving into the temptation of just telling Xie he looks hot.

"I hardly recognised you." he says instead.

[xie_er]

The comment startles him for a moment, until he remembers that, well, this probably is the first time Kevin's seen him like this.

Sure, he still wears his braids most days, but he bothers slightly less often with the jewellery, and he only occasionally wears a little eyeliner and mostly wears jeans and t-shirts, so he supposes there is a pretty big difference when he's got the full hair and makeup and the tailored designer clothes - like the difference between a celebrity in real life and on the red carpet.

It makes him feel a little self-conscious, which is weird because he would have thought that putting all this back on would make him feel more like himself, not less. He supposes it's because all of this was a mask, a shield he could hide behind, or maybe it would be more accurate to say it was a costume, he put it on to help him be the person he thought he was supposed to be - he didn't need any of that with Kevin, he could just be who he was.

He has his knives, too, carefully concealed (they'll do a search, sure, but they'd be more suspicious if he didn't bring weapons, with his reputation) - except they're not the ones Yifu had made for him, most of those are left in police custody and he doesn't care to get them back, he has the set that Kevin gave him. Nobody who sees them would know the difference, and it makes him feel better.

"Do I look okay, though?" He asks before he can stop himself. He knows, really, that he looks good, but he seeks the validation all the same.

[weird_cop]

"You look okay." Kevin says quickly, wanting to soothe over any of his startlement. "You look good. I just haven't seen you like this. Well, I probably have, but you know."

Now he's second guessing himself.

Fortunately that's when Tony and Lisa show up again, and they have also put on a costume of sorts. In fitting in with the kind of vintagey, pseudo-Victorian London based attitude that Xie will have seen at the New Age fair, they've both leaned into that garb. In Lisa's case, this is a vintage waistcoat over a white shirt and tweed trousers. Tony, though, has swapped his leather trenchcoat for an antique tailcoat, and wears it with the kind of attitude that suggests he's dying to finish the look off with a top hat.

He grins at Xie, admiring his look in turn.

Kevin had expected them all to be dressed for the occasion, he just wasn't sure what to expect.

"Now I'm really sad that I'm going to miss out on this."

[xie_er]

Xie gives Tony a disparaging look, letting the formerly-familiar smug superiority settle over his face as he gives him a once over.

"Well." He says "At least we know there's no way anybody's going to think I'm there with you."

He keeps it up for a beat longer before allowing a hint of a smile through so Tony knows he doesn't really mean it (or, he does, but not in the bitchy way it came out), he's just... practicing.

He feels a bit weird, letting Kevin see that side of himself when he doesn't already remember it, but he wants to get used to the act again.

"You look lovely, Lisa." He adds, haughty expression dropping again.

[weird_cop]

Tony rolls his eyes at him, because he happens to think he looks pretty snazzy in this getup thank-you-very-much, and he knows the act at this point.

Lisa just grins a bit self-consciously.

"Not as good as you," she says.

They both check in on Kevin, confirm he's doing okay, before Tony flashes his car keys. "We'll give you a lift to the area, drop you off and then turn up a bit later, so we don't show up at the same time. In case the clothes don't get the message across strongly enough."

[xie_er]

Xie is actually starting to enjoy sniping at Tony, it feels more like banter these days than anything malicious, and it's kind of nice to get to be bitchy from time to time.

He thanks Lisa, then nods in agreement with Tony's plan.

"Sounds good."

He's pretty sure they could be convincing enough even without separating their arrival times, but he's not going to object to any extra precautions.

"I'll keep you updated." He promises Kevin before they leave.

[weird_cop]

The auction is taking place at the old British Museum tube station, which can only now be accessed by access tunnels from Tottenham Court Road, so Tony and Lisa drop Xie at Centrepoint with directions before driving off to park. When he goes to the unmarked door in question, there's a man wearing an old bus conductor's uniform holding the door open for people who approach him.

As it happens, no one checks Xie for weapons, nor do they ask for an invitation - just the fact that he knows where to go is enough. The crowd walking down the tunnel are as unchatty as any crowd of Londoners who happen to be going in the same direction; some dressed in the strange tattered vintage style Lisa and Tony had opted for, but a number of people in modern dress, sometimes oozing wealth in ways that make them stand out.

Some of the crowd look at Xie and recognise him, some don't give him a second look. A couple of people throw the barcode gesture at him and raise their eyebrows.

[xie_er]

Xie feels much more comfortable with his weapons in place, so he's glad they don't bother to check - it does mean he reassesses, slightly, his estimation of the possible danger. He's hardly going to be the only person here with penchant for concealed weaponry.

(Not to mention the probable magical threat)

He lets himself fall back into the old patterns, saunters along and shows people as little interest as they show him - if he recognises them and deems them worthy, he greets them with a nod, but otherwise people get ignored. The first time somebody does the barcode gesture he just gives them a cool stare, almost daring them to act on the information they've learned. Internally, he's a little concerned - he should have had them check, before they left, that there wasn't anything in it (now) that would ruin their plans. He doesn't think there should be, but it's a concern - he'll get them to check later, just in case.

Mostly, he just projects exactly what he wants to project - bored heir waiting for something interesting to happen.

[weird_cop]

The auction itself is set to take place on one of the platforms in the disused station, and the crowd start assembling there before the auction, in a mass that gets a bit tighter with the crowd.

There are a few more people who recognise Xie there, and one man in particular gives him a knowing smile. He hasn't thrown up a barcode gesture, but he still sidles over in order to introduce himself, a sly grin on his face.

Except before he can say anything, he looks past Xie and changes his tone.

"Watch out, mate."

He nods quickly in a gesture to encourage Xie to look behind him, where Tony and Lisa have just entered, neither looking in their direction.

"Fucking filth," Xie's new acquaintance says, gesturing so they can put some distance between them and the cops. "Don't worry, the pact is in place."

[xie_er]

Xie just watches him - cool, but vaguely curious. He doesn't return the smile, just waits expectantly for the introduction.

He glances over his shoulder and allows his lip to curl into a sneer before turning his back to them.

"Good." He says, moving with him as he heads away from them "Still, best avoided. Thank you for the heads up...?" he trails off expectantly, waiting for that introduction.

[weird_cop]

"Al," he says, nodding in greeting.

"Don't worry, I know who you are." So there's no need to say it out loud, is the meaning. "You here looking for anything interesting, or just scoping the scene?"

[xie_er]

Xie inclines his head slightly, acknowledging the implicit meaning behind his words. He smiles faintly at the question.

"Let's say... scoping the market." He says slowly "I'm interested to see what sort of appetite there is for certain lots."

[weird_cop]

Al raises both eyebrows at that. He'd be interested in seeing what lots Xie is interested in.

Before he can answer though, all attention is turns to the stage at one end of the platform, where a woman wearing an antique wedding dress is taking stage and starting her spiel.

She introduces herself as Miss Haversham - emphasises the er and scoffs at Dickens. From the reaction of the crowd it sounds like she's done the same thing at every auction previously. She reiterates the pact - no one can be harmed, or followed from the auction, so everyone is safe. Bids can be made in the form of money (some people boo) or the more traditional barter system, and everything will be fairly considered.

The first item, for example - a bell from a ship salvaged in the Docklands, with some power people in general seem to already be aware of - is sold to a woman who offers a week of insomnia.