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]

"Da Wang didn't mention them, but he said something about her looking for power." Du Pusa offered - he didn't have enough time to give her the full story without arousing suspicion, so he'd focused on the key points, assuming that Tony and Lisa could fill in about what happened at the auction.

She swears in Cantonese at the comment about her now being one of the more powerful witches in the country. For somebody so self-assured Xie could seriously underestimate his own power, and Du Pusa knows exactly whose door to lay the blame at for that.

"I promise to not let you catch me doing anything you need to arrest me for." She says with a smirk.

[weird_cop]

"That's all I ask," Kevin says, glancing at her sideways to return the smirk.

"You've always been a good friend to him, and I kept you apart a long time. Thank you, and sorry."

He pulls up at the house he believes to be the right one, and immediately swears when he sees the knife in the door, the Sightedness of it making it stand out clearly and brightly to Kevin's eyes. But he knows it means they've moved on.

"Fucking love that man," he mutters, pulling the cord from the hood of his sweater, which he ties around the handle in a complicated knot while muttering under his breath.

But he does this one handed, because with his other he's got his phone out again.

"Jimmy. Get uniforms down to my current location, with the full set of our lot. It's another Witch House and I don't want anyone going in without Sighted back up. I'm going to get my partner back.

"Yes, I've got back up. Look, if the target is smart, she'll be heading out of town where you lot are as useful as any copper, no offense.

"Get Lisa to text me everything that happened today and I'll put it together on the road."

As he heads back to the car he carries the knife dangling from the cord, watching the way it swings heavily in one specific direction, towards what looks from here to be a multistorey car park.

"Why don't you give him a call?" Kevin suggests as he starts up again. "Tell him..."

He had a potential story lined up, but falters on it, the words sticking in his throat against the need to hear Xie's voice in his own head.

"Tell him anything she wants to hear. But check that he's okay."

[xie_er]

Du Pusa inclines her head at the apology, but doesn't give any further comment.

When she sees the knife she echoes his irritation, recognising the meaning as well. Frustrated as she is, she knows to stand back and let him do his thing - he's got to preserve the scene or whatever it is cops do. At least it seems like he's planning on letting somebody else do that while they continue on looking for Xie, because if he wasn't she would have gone without him.

She follows him back to the car, pulling out her phone as they set off and giving him a call.

"Package delivered." She says as soon as he answers. She can't ask if it's safe to talk - if it isn't, even just asking is a risk - so instead she says "I'm just going on a trip with a friend, but call me if you need me."

There's a pause where Xie must say something and she laughs casually.

"Don't worry, we've got all we need to navigate, we're not going to get lost."

Another pause.

"No, I think it'll be a short trip. You don't need anything now, do you?"

A final pause before she says her goodbyes and hangs up, looking over at Kevin.

"He's fine, he's still with her and she is working with other people, so it won't just be the two of them when we get there."

[weird_cop]

Kevin nods as he passes the next knife at the car park, noting its position and moving on. He'll pick them all up later.

He really is glad she's here. She oozes confidence, shares his concern for Xie (and his frustration at those self destructive tendencies that leads him to give up something as important as this bond just to get Kevin's memories back), and her attitude stops Kevin from getting caught up in his own self-pity.

He gives her his phone and gets her to relay anything Lisa says, while they put together a plan.

--------------

Mina's idea of telling Xie about her 'operation' is a curated version of her life story. Old money, trained as a solicitor, she taught herself the London magic before she even went to that city. She started tracking Ghost Valley and then Five Lakes through the legal reports, and realised that there was a magical tradition involved that didn't rely on being in a specific place, making the kind of sacrifice London requires. So she researched that as well, built up her own power.

She asks Xie questions, but along the lines of 'what makes you happy, what do you like to do,' that show that, for all her meticulous planning, she's happy to adapt her plans to include him at a very high level.


"I said I had a hotel room," she says as she turns into a country road. "It's really a country AirBnB. The whole house."

Not actually booked through the app, or anything traceable.

[xie_er]

She takes his phone and reports on Lisa's messages, responding whenever he asks. When she's not looking at the phone she's scanning for signs of Xie's knives to direct them, though Keving seems pretty good at spotting them himself.

~~~

Xie calls upon his years of listening to Yifu brag about what he was doing in order to listen attentively and properly respond to anything she's saying - in truth he is paying attention, it's just he's carefully stripping out the information that might be useful and making note of it to report back later.

He gives her vague answers, never quite lies but never quite the whole truth either, mostly implying that he's happy to just follow her lead - he'll work on his own plans for revenge in the background, but he'll obviously let her know what they are so they don't clash with anything she had planned.

"Are you staying here long, or moving on soon?"

[weird_cop]

"Let me know if you need any help with that," Mina says, regarding his plans for revenge. "My resources are at your disposal."

She pulls up outside a house that gives off massive 'country estate' vibes, her car wheels crunching happily along the gravel of the drive as she pulls up.

"That depends on what shakes out about tonight, I think. I know no one will have traced me from the auction, but there were more people willing to side with the Met than I expected. I'm certainly not going to go home until I know no one's grassed me up."

She grins at him as the get out of the car. "If you want to order anything in to make the place more comfortable, then let me know."

[xie_er]

Xie just nods along with her words, not letting his face betray how wrong she is about being traced. He only hopes his trail is enough to bring back up to the right place.

As if in answer to his thoughts, his phone rings then and he tugs it from his pocket with his uninjured hand.

"Du Pusa." He says, not waiting for permission before answering it.

"Good, thank you."

"I hope you know where you're going."

"Good. Don't be away too long."

"No, nothing, I'm still with Mina, working out what I can do to help her and her friends. I'll let you know if I need anything."

He says his goodbyes and hangs up, tucking his phone away with a brief apology.

[weird_cop]

"Oh, don't apologise," Mina tells him airily, tossing her keys to a young valet who approaches from the side of the house as she waves a hand to invite Xie up to the front door. "Is that your friend from earlier? Is everything okay with the merchandise? I hope it's proving helpful."

Everything about the way she acts and moves now is the gracious host, comfortable and safe and magnanimous. Not quite treating him as an equal, not quite fully patronising. A powerful woman welcoming him into her home.

"Let's find you a room. I have reservations at the nearest Michelin Star for this evening."

[xie_er]

"That's her," He nods "everything is fine, another friend is working to make use of the information."

Which is true, in a way, just not the way he intends her to think.

"A room would be good, I could do with freshening up a little." He doesn't have a change of clothes or anything, but he hasn't done too much to make him feel like he needs to change, he just wants to deal with the cuts on his hand and, truthfully, spend a few moments away from her to steel himself for yet more play acting.

If Du Pusa and Kevin are on their way, though, he doesn't think they're making those reservations.

[weird_cop]

In the entrance hall, a woman is waiting, dressed in a smart skirt suit and giving personal assistant. Mina greets her as Lucy, and asks her to show Xie to the second bedroom.

Which has an ensuite, expensive if generic toiletries, and very plush towels. And a Wifi password, and somewhere to charge his phone.

"I'm sorry about the scarcity," Lucy tells him. "But we'll get clothes and anything you need in as soon as we can."

She hands him a business card. "Text me if you need anything urgently. Or yell my name, I'll be in the house."

[xie_er]

He takes the card and tucks it in his pocket, thanking her.

As soon as he's alone he texts Du Pusa to update her on what's happening and where he is - hopefully the trail is enough, but he can add a few details that might help them navigate all the same. Then he moves to the bathroom to tend to his wounds, minor as they are.

(In the car, Du Pusa reports on Xie's texts, and replies that they're on their way)

Then, he realises, the only thing he can do is wait. He still has one knife but there's little he can do with it, and he has no magical ability of his own to deal with the situation, he just has to sit here and hope that rescue is on its way.

This is his least favourite part of the plan. If it can even be called a plan.

[weird_cop]

At this very moment, Kevin is finally telling Du Pusa what his least favourite of the plan is.

"You know," he says conversationally, "I'm outside of London, I don't have my bond, and that ritual sucked out nearly all of my personal power. I may or may not be fucked, here."

But Xie told hm to come get him, so. He's coming to get him.

He calls the Thames Valley Police on the way, tells them he's from a specialist Met unit about to conduct a specialist operation and they are to be ready for clean up and not interfere. He tells them to call Detective Superintendent Lofthouse to complain.

And as he hangs up he turns into the driveway, the knife on his dowsing pendulum swinging wildly, and uses the handbrake to stop.

He gives Du Pusa a nervous I'm sure this will be fine smile, and walks up to knock at the door of the house.

[xie_er]

"You have me, and Da Wang can do a lot of damage even without magic, that's not nothing." She offers. Admittedly, his power is in service to someone else, but she's trying out optimism.

"This must be it." She says, looking up at the place. She spots the spots of blood on the drive as they walk up to the door, and decides not to bring Kevin's attention to them.

When Xie hears the knock on the door he just knows, which is stupid because it's not as though there's any kind of link or magic telling him that it's Kevin and not any of her allies, but he does. It's not magic, it's... trust. Faith. Love.

So he stands, leaves the guest room and moves to the top of the stairs, waiting. Resisting the urge to answer it himself.

[weird_cop]

It's not nothing, and Kevin himself can still swing a punch without magic, but he's aware of what he's facing.

The door is answered by the valet from earlier: a red-headed young woman in her early twenties, who was clearly expecting an Amazon delivery or something, and looks confused when Kevin is not actually carrying anything. Lucy, appearing at the top of the stairs at around the same time as Xie, looks just as confused.

"Hey," Kevin says, brightly, smiling disarmingly. "I'm looking for my boyfriend, is he here?"

[xie_er]

Had they coordinated better ahead of time, Xie probably would have suggested some kind of subterfuge, but he has to admit that the utter confusion Kevin managed to course with a single sentence is kind of worth it.

He also hadn't expected the warmth that flooded through him at hearing those words and knowing that, if nothing else, Kevin had his memories back. He knew that already, but there's a difference between knowing it and knowing it.

He makes for the stairs, strolling down them casually as much as he wants to run.

"Took you long enough."

[weird_cop]

Lucy stands up straighter, staring at Xie, and then starts down behind him, staying behind him as she moves, her heels clicking sharply on the stairs.

Kevin has used sheer force of personality to gain entry by a step, and he looks up to see Xie comes downstairs. His face lights up, the first time he's seen that face since remembering how much he loves it. There's no way he could suppress that adequately if he was going to try for some sort of undercover story.

"We stopped at Beaconsfield for a cheeky Nando's," he lies.

He's fighting an urge to rush forward and kiss his boyfriend, but this is when Mina appears from a ground floor door, and she and Kevin immediately recognise each other.

"Boyfriend?" she says sharply, incredulously.

[xie_er]

Xie rolls his eyes in fond exasperation, but he can't help the swell of love he feels - both for Kevin's terrible joke and the way he looks at him. It's stupid, probably, to have missed him as much as he has, but nevertheless he's missed him.

Xie steps closer, intending to kiss him as well, but that's when Mina interrupts.

"Oh," he drawls casually, glancing over at her with an innocent expression "didn't I mention that?"

[weird_cop]

"You didn't tell her?" Kevin sounds shocked. And to drive home the point, he does grab Xie by the hand, pulls him to him and kisses him, hard, like he's been wanting to for days but didn't want to until he could feel this again.

"You stupid..." he stops kissing Xie when he remembers he can't kiss and talk at the same time, giving just enough space so he can lean his foreheads on Xie's and finish his sentence.

"...self destructive idiot. I love you."

Mina's face contorts from a look of fury into a mocking smirk.

"How sweet," she says, and raises her voice to include everyone in the room, pointing at Kevin.

"Kill that police officer."

One thing she does know is how to put magic into an order.

[xie_er]

Xie just shrugs, a smug smile on his face - a hint of a laugh escaping as he's pulled in, before it's swallowed up in the kiss.

"I love you too." He murmurs back, squeezing the hand holding his. The world feels a little bit more right to have him there, even without the bond.

(And that, in itself, is comforting, to know that their love still exists even without the magic)

Then, suddenly, nothing is right at all.

Kill that police officer

It's an order, it's direct, and it has emphasis behind it, and Xie's switchblade is in his hand before he can even stop himself. Du Pusa grabs hold of Kevin and yanks him back just before Xie's hand slices towards him.

Xie's expression is horrified, but he lifts the blade ready to throw it instead.

"Which ones do you want me to handle?" Du Pusa asks - does he want her between him and Xie, before he does something he'll never forgive himself for, or does he want her to take on the lackeys so he can focus.

[weird_cop]

Kevin is not completely unsurprised - it's either copper instinct or she just gave that vibes, but he lets go of Xie and pushes him away even as he's yanked back.

He points Du Pusa at the redhead, who has unfurled a whip from her back, and at Lucy, who has materialised a glowing golden trident out of thin air, and is leveling it at Kevin.

Kevin looks at Xie, horrified but more sad than angry, and nods to him.

He understands. He's going to make it right.

But he also spent months preparing for this exact fight, and now he only has a more intimate knowledge of how Xie's body moves.

He steps backwards and spins in sync with Xie's throwing arm, letting the knife pass within an inch of his torso, but switches his focus to Mina, at whom he lashes out one of his magical laser blasts.

"You are so under arrest," he tells her.

[xie_er]

Du Pusa grins and practically dances towards the two other women. She spins out of the way of the redhead's whip and distracts Lucy with a kick to the head that she somehow manages to make look effortless.

She dives in closer to the redhead and blows her a kiss - a kiss, along with a cloud of glittering purple dust that has her swaying on her feet.

Xie, meanwhile, is grateful that he dropped most of his knives en-route because it means he's suddenly without a weapon. He can't tell if Kevin is trusting or stupid or both when he turns his attention to Mina instead, especially when it gives him a chance to dive after his fallen knife.

Except, with everybody else distracted, it gives him a second to pause. He picks up the knife as planned, but he doesn't immediately move for Kevin, doesn't lift it to throw right away - instead his arm moves slowly, shaking with the effort of stopping himself. He can resist the order, he has to.

[weird_cop]

"I don't think I am, actually," Mina tells Kevin.

She draws on the apparently bottomless well of magic now available to her and throws up a shield to divert his magic, before holding her hand out in front of her and using the same magical construction that Lucy used to weave together first a round orb, and then dropping it into a huge staff, from which she sends a powerful bolt at him.

Kevin ducks out of the way, but at the same time he darts towards Xie, grabbing for the wrist holding the knife.

"Xiexie," he mutters, when he sees the effort going into not stabbing him.

[xie_er]

He thinks, actually, that this might have been one of the stupidest choices he's made. Kevin had always seemed to be able to handle himself when he refused to draw on Xie's power, he thought it would be safe...

He never should have lead Kevin here, he should have just let him be with his memories.

"Stay away from me, please." He murmurs back, strained. He forces trembling fingers to open, lets the knife drop, but the order is still there in his head, still pushing him to try something else.

Despite his best efforts, his free hand snaps out, curls around Kevin's throat. Starts to squeeze.

[weird_cop]

"You know I can't," Kevin manages to breathe out.

Maybe if Xie hadn't told him to follow then, he'd have waited, made a plan, reconstituted and come after him with his power intact. But he would have come. Hell or high water, he would have come for him.

Then there is a hand around his throat and he chokes, eyes snapping wide.

He steps back onto a soft, and brings up the opposite arm to jam his fist into the crook of Xie's elbow.

At the same time he's trying to move, keep aware of the space, and to maneuvre so Xie is between himself and Mina.

But as long as Xie looks like he's winning, Mina is content to watch.

[xie_er]

Xie lets go with a gasp, forces himself to stumble back. His eyes are pleading with Kevin, begging for forgiveness even as he fails to find the words.

He steps back again, once again shaking with the effort of it, the need to put distance between himself and Kevin. His gaze drops to the fallen knife and his every muscle screams at him to grab it, but he pushes back.

"No" He grits out, clenching his fists, turning to Mina.

"I won't do it."