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]

"The doctor will come and see you in the morning, try and get some sleep." The nurse assures after giving the monitors a quick once-over to make sure there aren't any issues, he's pleased to see the heart rate has calmed down again so he's content to leave them to it. "You too." he adds to Xie, given that he somehow looks as though he hasn't slept in a week.

Xie doesn't even turn to look at him, his gaze is focused entirely on Kevin. He shakes his head at the apology, trying to squeeze his hand again.

"Get some sleep, I'll be here" It's easier to talk in Mandarin, takes just that little bit less energy to stay coherent - though it's still a lot of energy. He never thought he'd deteriorate this quickly but he feels like his every nerve is on fire with need. He's not quite losing his mind but everything is just more difficult, more grating. He needs Kevin to get better so they can bond again.

(And he hates himself, just a little, for that being his most pressing concern)

[weird_cop]

Kevin opens his eyes again, devastated to see Xie in so much distress, and gives a barely identifiable nod of his head.

He mouths I love you before letting his eyes fall shut again.

Except he doesn't try to sleep. He steadies his breathing and focuses his attention inside, meditating so he can replenish his magic.

He does eventually drift off, though, and when he wakes in the morning he feels like he might be able to try again.

The pain isn't any better, though.

[xie_er]

When he does wake up, he'll find Xie in exactly the same position - sitting by his bed, Kevin's hand clutched in his own (they're trembling worse now) and staring fixedly at him. His eyes are a little blood-shot.

He doesn't say anything, but there's expectant pleading in his look.

He's very quickly getting the sense, though, that it's going to take some more recovery before Kevin is really up to the task. He's trying not to think about it.

[weird_cop]

That look terrifies him, just a little. As he wakes up and realises what's making Xie so desperate, as he gets to grip with how bad he must be feeling, Kevin is hit by how casually cruel he'd been about thus possibility for so long.

He squeezes his hand again and closes his eyes without saying anything.

He pulls all the power within him together and twists it carefully before sending it out to find the bond again.

It feels so different from the last time. He doesn't need to move or draw any circles because there's nothing to sacrifice to, and he acts slowly and deliberately, restrained by his physical wounds and his lack of power.

For a long time there's nothing except the slow sap of power as he uses it up in the attempt.

Then it finds something, and the feeling is like a shock of static electricity as groping fingertips finally find a metaphorical handrail.

And then his power runs out and he gasps in frustration as it slips from him.

[xie_er]

He feels it. He can feel those tendrils of achingly familiar power reaching out to him. He can even reach back, will himself to meet them, and for a moment it's there - then it slips out of his grasp and there's nothing he can do to chase it, to grab hold again and help it get the rest of the way.

He cries out, desperate and frustrated and almost physically pained by the need, by how close it was only to fail again, and he feels raw and broken and desperate but he also feels guilty because he can see, he can, just how hard Kevin is trying, and how difficult this is for him, but there's nothing Xie can do about it.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he mutters, pulling his hand away from Kevin's because he can feel himself wanting to grab on painfully tight and he doesn't want to hurt him more than he already has "This is my fault."

[weird_cop]

Kevin gasps again when Xie pulls his hand away, and tries to follow him, stopping at the pain in his shoulder.

"I can do it," he says. "I just need time to replenish my power fully."

Or get to London, where he can tap into the power there. But how do you explain that to a doctor?

"Stay with me. Please."

He realises how pathetic he sounds, how pathetic he feels. But he can't stop remembering how it felt when Xie broke the bond, to not have him. And he chose that.

Xie is acting like this because he's unbonded, but je was fine for those brief minutes Kevin saw him bonded to that woman. What if he decides someone else can give him what Kevin can't?

[xie_er]

"I know..." Xie says, he understands that time is needed, but it grates at his every nerve to have to wait.

"I... I'll stay." It aches to be here without the bond, but it would ache even worse to be away from him. Even now he itches to grab hold of his hand again and never let go.

Kevin is right, technically any bond would do, and Xie is honestly a little bit terrified that he'll grow desperate enough to consider it before Kevin is well enough, but right now he's set - he never, ever wants to go through any of that again, he wants Kevin. He wants that bond. Anything else is a pale comparison, nobody else could feel so right to be bonded to.

[weird_cop]

"I'm sorry," Kevin says again. "I should have just waited and stolen you back. But I thought... I don't know what I was thinking."

He was thinking that his boyfriend had left, and told him to come after him, and he wasn't going to be apart from him for a second longer than he had to.

"I miss you."

[xie_er]

"No I... I told you to come for me..." It's a struggle to speak coherently, but he's forcing himself to manage, this is a conversation they should have - and Kevin shouldn't be sorry. This is his fault, all of it, he'd been so focused on getting Kevin's memories back that he'd done something to hurt them both.

"I miss you too." He says, broken. Despite all his attempts he reaches out again, grabs Kevin's hand, clinging to him.

[weird_cop]

Yeah, but Kevin doesn't have to do do what Xie tells him. There's no magic bond giving him compulsions.

He's just an idiot in love.

"We don't have to talk about it now," he says finally, recognising the difficulties for both of them, for different reasons.

And also because he should be angry, and he'll get around to telling Xie off later.

He drops into Mandarin just because it seems more comfortable for Xie, and he only has one thing to say.

"I love you."

And that's when the door to his room opens to admit the promised doctor.

[xie_er]

"I love you too" He returns, squeezing his hand. If he was in his right mind, he'd move aside for the doctor, but he doesn't budge an inch.

The doctor gives him a concerned look, but focuses on Kevin.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, checking over the chart and looking at the readings from the machines first of all.

[weird_cop]

"Everything hurts," Kevin croaks out helpfully. "But apart from that, great."

Behind the doctor, Tony stands in the doorway for a second, before coming forward and resting a hand on Xie's shoulder: a gentle hint that he should move back.

"You should have got a request to move him to a London unit," he's saying. "It's not personal, it's just that these are the kind of burns our unit deal with."

This is not true, but they haven't figured out a good story. It's just important to get Kevin back into the boroughs ASAP so he can access the magic.

[xie_er]

The doctor chuckles slightly.

"That is to be expected, but we can look at your pain medication." He says, looking down at the chart again.

Xie flinches at the touch to his shoulder, and though it looks like he's going to resist for a moment, he does finally let go of Kevin and push his chair back to give the doctor more room.

"I believe we did get that request, yes," the doctor agrees, glancing up at Tony "it's being processed, I just need to confirm that your friend here is well enough to travel. I don't expect there'll be any issue."

[weird_cop]

Tony stays by Xie, but moves his hand to the back of the chair, smiling at the doctor. "We'll be out of your hair as soon as we can," he says.

He glances down at Kevin and smiles a bit wider.

"You want anything?"

Kevin shakes his head. "Pain medication," he repeats. "And a full report of everything you found in the houses."

"Get healed up first, mate. Work later."

[xie_er]

"Ah, one of those types are we?" The doctor says jovially "Rest is part of the healing process, young man, so I would follow your friend's advice." He says to Kevin, stern but kind.

"The nurses will bring you some more painkillers soon," he adds "but I'm happy to clear you to be moved, someone will be by later to let you know when we can get that arranged. Get some rest."

He glances over at Xie before he leaves, frowns slightly.

"That goes for you as well." He adds. Xie doesn't respond, so the doctor glances at Tony instead "See if you can get them both to get some sleep?"

[weird_cop]

Tony smiles reassuringly at him.

"Will do," he confirms. "Not sure if that's possible but I'll do my best."

When the doctor's gone, he looks at Xie, and hardly needs Kevin to explain: "I need ot be at full magic strength before I can do the ritual."

"Right," Tony says. At least all Kevin needs is painkillers, but Xie is a different problem.

"I'd lose my job if I suggested downers," he says after a second. "You had anything to eat, even?"

[xie_er]

Xie drags his gaze away from Kevin to give Tony a slightly glassy-eyed stare, like he can't quite understand what he's being asked.

That's a no, in case he hasn't figured that out. Xie hasn't eaten since breakfast yesterday, he didn't sleep at all last night and he quite possibly hasn't even drunk anything in about twenty four hours. In short, it's not just the lack of bond that's making him a bit weird right now.

"I'm fine." He finally says, in defiance of literally all the evidence.

[weird_cop]

Tony stares at him steadily for a second, his blank face carrying all the 'you are fucking kidding me' he can manage, before looking at Kevin, shaking his head and turning out of the door.

"Gege, come lie on the bed with me."

It's probably not approved of in the hospital, but Kevin shifts on the bed to make room.

A couple of minutes later, Tony returns with a protein shake and a bottle of water from the vending machine, and a blanket from charming the prettiest nurse he could find.

(It was the nurse form last night, just coming off his shift.)

[xie_er]

Xie is as helpless to resist the instruction as he would be if the bond was still in place. He stands on shaking legs and climbs, somewhat awkwardly, onto the bed next to Kevin, curling into him as much as possible while still being careful of his injuries.

He actually drinks the water and the protein shake without much complaint, which is something, before immediately lying back down next to Kevin.

"I'm sorry" he says quietly "You're hurt."

He shouldn't have to be looking after Xie, Xie should be looking after him. Neither of them should be looking after anybody, actually, because Kevin should have enough power to heal himself. Xie's power.

[weird_cop]

"Yes," Kevin says, kissing the nearest part of Xie's head that he can reach.

"But only for now. I'll be fine in a few hours. I need to rest first."

Rest, recuperate his power, then bond with Xie and he'll fix everything.

[xie_er]

Xie nods. He knows he should try to rest as well, but he feels too on edge. Still, it's a little better now he's actually put something in his stomach, and being close to Kevin and knowing he's okay, he just has to wait a little longer.

Maybe if he just closes his eyes he'll be able to sleep...

[weird_cop]

Whether Xie can sleep or not, Kevin can - or at least he can when he's given a nice dose of the good painkillers, and finds himself unable to do anything else. The staff do lok disapprovingly at the partner curled up next to their patient, but the honour guard of police and analyst taking up seats in the waiting room have all been adamant that whatever's up with him, being by Kevin is the best thing for them both.

He's woken up to be moved, but doesn't say anything in the ambulance. Instead he lies quietly, staring up at the vehicle roof, and quietly meditates.

No one at the new hospital is exactly sure why he's moved there - they certainly don't have the specialist burns care that the other trust believed they had. But it's within the M25, and there's a spare bed, and Lofthouse pulled some fantastic sleight of hand with the paperwork.

"I call it the Quill maneuvre," she explains to Xie. "After James walked out of a morgue, no one likes to pay too much attention to my team's medical records."

Either way, eventually there is a bed, in a room, in London, with some privacy.

[xie_er]

Xie might sleep, he might just straight up pass out, he doesn't actually know. He doesn't feel like he's slept, but time moves in fits and starts so maybe he did after all.

He allows himself to be removed from the bed when Kevin is moved, and stumbles after him, zombie-like. He won't be kept from the ambulance, but at least he doesn't make a fuss, just sits there quietly on the journey and continues to watch Kevin intently, like he's going to disappear if he looks away for too long.

He does let himself be pushed onto the spare bed when they arrive in the new room, partly to get out of the way so they can get Kevin properly settled, and partly because he still doesn't look like he's had any sleep. He nods at Lofthouse's explanation, even manages a soft huff of something like laughter, though speaking is far too much effort.

Once they're finally left on their own, he's out of the bed like a shot, moving to Kevin's side to take his hand again.

[weird_cop]

Kevin is already moving, albeit slowly, out of his bed. He huffs his own laugh when Xie takes his hand.

"Alright. Help me. I want to sit on the floor."

He shouldn't. He shouldn't be moving out of the bed, his hip screams from the effort and he can't sit properly, just lounges slightly with a tilt to one side. He's probably doing damage to himself, but if it goes to plan he can fix this.

He also shouldn't have to. He's not intending to have to use the power of London for this, but he's not willing to give up this time. He wants to be able to draw a circle and make a sacrifice as soo as he needs an extra boost.

But despite the tears in his eyes, he's smiling as he reaches for both of Xie's hands.

[xie_er]

Xie wants to protest, wants to tell him it's fine, to keep resting, that he should stay in bed and look after himself.

But the ache of need is making him selfish and even as he hates himself a little bit for it he helps Kevin out of the bed and on to the floor. Kneels in front of him and takes both his hands with an eager desperation.