xie_er: (lean)
[personal profile] xie_er posting in [community profile] dollymixtures
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...

Date: 2024-02-29 03:45 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin adopts the persona of a confident man who can definitely afford and belongs in a place like this, and shakes her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

He's registered the flinch, and makes his own mental note to suggest to Zie what he's already thinking.

"I like the ivy."

Date: 2024-02-29 04:30 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin is going through a mental list of things the Lofthouses had told him to look at in a house - check for insulation, signs of damp, etc, but mostly he's enjoying the tour, and delighting in Xie's plans as he makes them.

The study suggestion he moves into the loft, as if they need to have an ops room at home, he says, thenn the notebooks might be useful.

"We can soundproof the third bedroom" he suggests instead. "studio space for your guitars."

Or anything else they want to do with it.

He grins at the kitchen idea, taking a minute to imagine what a good kitchen would look like, and says that the fridge and dishwasher are in entirely the wrong spaces and need to be moved. That's not a no, though.

He's vaguely aware Louise is being made to feel awkward at the way they say so little out loud, but he still forgets to open his mouth.

"I like it," he says at the end. "Big, but I think we could fill it up."

Date: 2024-02-29 06:01 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
"Sure," Kevin agrees out loud, but it's only to get her out of the kitchen so he can kiss Xie.

"Do you have any questions? It looks like there's a lot of work involved."

Date: 2024-02-29 06:26 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
"Oh no, this is all you." Kevin laughs softly. "I'm going to drive you to B&Q and assemble the furniture, but you're in charge of the decoration. I'll just live here and think you're amazing."

But he can't think of any questions he hasn't already asked, so he squeezes Xie's hips excitedly.

"You wanna buy a house together?"

Well, buy a house and have Kevin live in it.

Date: 2024-02-29 06:41 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin will know what he wants, but he'll leave it up to Xie to decide what colour everything is.

He laughs softly at the words, and leans up to return the kiss, taking Xie's face in his hands for a second.

One day he's going to broach that subject, the I don't actually want to get married but I'll civilly partner you if you want a big party subject, but not until Xie is completely independent of Zhao.

So he kisses him instead and eventually breaks away.

"You call her in, then."

Date: 2024-02-29 07:25 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin stands back to watch this, smiling happily and proudly, and feeling a thrill of excitement at the prospect of a new place, together.

He shakes her hand as they leave, and kisses Xie in the car before starting home.

"That makes this morning's failure a bit easier to swallow."

Date: 2024-02-29 07:47 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
"Sounds like a good plan," Kevin agrees. "Do all the legal paperwork from the safety of a hot bath and I'll face the wrath of the teenager all on my own."

Date: 2024-02-29 08:01 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin looks away from the road to smile quickly at Xie.

"Joking, I'm joking. I don't just not mind, I want you to have a break."

Sometimes he feels the strain of being constantly second guessed. He understands why, but this was just meant to be a joke.

Date: 2024-03-08 07:44 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (grin)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Kevin smiles back at him, accepting the apology and trying to express that he shouldn't need to apologise: Xie's insecurities aren't his fault. And then he smiles wider at the joke.

"I don't know, that kid's got the vibe of someone who could take your switchblade away from you."

After a second he thinks more seriously and says:

"It's easier than I thought it would be, being around teenagers. I've kind of avoided kids once I stopped being one. Too many bad experiences, you know?"

Date: 2024-03-11 01:45 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
Still teasing: "Well, he is still a kid"

And then he rests his hand on top of Xie's, squeezing back in thanks for the reassurance.

"Thanks, that means a lot. As long as we can keep them safe and out of trouble, That's all I need."

Date: 2024-03-18 07:48 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
"Thank you," Kevin replies, "for your faith in me."

Back at the house, with a couple of pans simmering on the stove, he pulls Xie to him and wraps his arms around him.

"I know you've got my back, and I love you."

Date: 2024-07-10 08:28 pm (UTC)
weird_cop: (Default)
From: [personal profile] weird_cop
It takes a bit of wrangling to get permission from both Quill and Beth, but by lunchtime the next day Kevin has a rough teaching plan for how to go about teaching a fourteen year old boy how to do magic, that is entirely different from any of the ways Kevin learned.

He starts by explaining to Ezra that there are multiple ways of doing magic, but he was going to teach him the safest, and probably the most reliable way, albeit the way that was probably the slowest for results. He doesn't mention familiars, or the Sight, to start with; instead he starts the boy on simple meditation techniques and Tai Chi, learning to bring magic into himself and cultivate it there.

But as he talks through the theory, Kevin realises that this is just what he needs; the chance to articulate exactly how the magical techniques he learned with Zhao work and to contrast it to the magic of London and the sacrifices. He might not tell Ezra about familiars, or blood sacrifice, or the ghosts that haunt so much of London, but he delightedly tells Xie everything, talking his metaphorical ear off nearly constantly, day and night, as he pulls it all together.

"It's all the same," he realises, "cities like London have just cultivated their own flow through history and architecture and the people who live there. Familiars generate it yourselves, I think. Maybe. That's why your power is so... clean."

Like spring water, rather then the E. coli ridden mess of the Thames. It's the best metaphor he can come up with at the time.

And Ezra, he finds, is a natural. It's almost annoying, how quickly the boy picks up what Kevin had to work his arse off to acheive. He struggles with meditation at first, but Tai chi and movement proves more effective at getting him to apply himself. Then he pools a healthy source of power within himself and starts asking for spells.

So Kevin teaches him simple things - nightlights, water manipulation, and then basic healing. And Ezra applies himself eagerly, dutifully keeping the secret that he promised to keep.

Until a couple of months down the line, when Ezra takes a nasty fall in the skate park when messing one evening after school. After the initial shock as worn off and he realises that he can't stand up on his own, Ezra takes one scan around to make sure there isn't anyone watching, then places his hands on his torn open knee, and focuses on knitting it back together.

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