Chapter Text
It was a slow day at Morris' Antiques.
With no customers in over an hour, Xie Lian had been asked by the owner—Morris—to drag some stock out of the back and display it. No need to waste time standing at the register if no one was around to buy anything.
Xie Lian dragged out box after box, sorting through the various antiques as his mind wandered. There were only three hours left in his shift, and then he could go home and see if Professor Mei had graded his Pompeii paper yet. For all his insistence on punctuality, he was a very slow grader.
As he sorted through the fourth box, something caught Xie Lian's eye. It was a hint of red.
For some reason, his heart beat faster.
He dug through the box faster, unearthing an unassuming pair of old, worn, red dice. The moment he had them in his hands, a strange feeling washed over him. A feeling like... possessiveness?
Xie Lian had never felt anything like it before. He wasn't a very materialistic person, but he felt in that moment that he would die to keep those dice in his hands.
Though the feeling was uneasy, he padded his way towards Morris' office. He knocked on the door.
"Yes, what is it?" Morris asked, putting down the magnifying glass he'd been looking through. Xie Lian stepped into the room, his eyes wandering over the various antique knickknacks displayed on the walls. Morris' personal collection.
Steeling himself, he spoke up. "Um, sir? How much are these with my employee discount?"
Morris grabbed his glasses and peered at the dice. "Those? I was gonna put 'em in the 50 cent bin. You can have 'em for free."
"Really? But they're so nice..."
"Really," Morris replied. "They're pretty, but they're worthless."
Xie Lian had the distinct feeling that his boss was wrong in his appraisal, just this once. But he had no evidence, and something in him really didn't want to turn down the offer, even if it made him feel a bit guilty.
Well, he would pay Morris back later if it turned out they were actually valuable.
After finishing sorting the last box, he took his position at the checkout counter. The minutes ticked by with no customers coming in... still a slow day. He took out the dice and idly rolled them.
Snake eyes. Typical. He chuckled.
Xie Lian stood outside his apartment door.
Disoriented, he blinked several times and looked around. He definitely could have sworn that he had just been at work. But checking his phone, three hours had indeed passed.
Was it such a slow day that he had dissociated his way through his entire shift?
Concerned, he let himself into his apartment and locked the door behind him. And suddenly, panic washed over him.
What had happened to the dice?!
Furiously, he fished around in his pockets, letting out an audible sigh of relief when he pulled out the small objects. Somehow they just felt right in his hands. He never wanted to be parted from them, even though they had given him snake eyes.
"I forgive you, dice," he said. "It's my luck that's the problem, not you."
And now here he was talking to them.
Xie Lian felt ridiculous.
But not ridiculous enough to hide the dice away. He slipped them back into his pocket and opened his laptop, checking Blackboard for his latest grades.
Professor Mei still hadn't graded his Pompeii paper.
--
The next day in archeology class, Xie Lian listened intently as Professor Mei Nianqing explained that he'd been delayed on grading the papers, but they should all see their grades by the end of the day. That explained that...
He then launched into a lecture about his personal work on Pompeii, the subject that had given him his PhD. How he'd been invited to personally see the site a few years ago. How disappointed he was in the general quality of the papers that semester. Xie Lian's hope of getting a B dwindled.
Xie Lian fiddled with the dice in his pocket as Professor Mei went on and on. They were a comfort in the face of what was almost certainly a terrible grade.
How a pair of dice that his boss had deemed worthless could be a comfort was still beyond him. But still...
Xie Lian didn't let the dice stop him from listening. He paid attention and participated when called on. When class finished up, he glumly packed his things and made his way towards the door, steeling himself for the inevitable terrible grade.
"Xie Lian!"
Xie Lian stopped abruptly as Professor Mei called out his name.
This couldn't be good. If he was being singled out for his paper, he must have gotten an F for sure. Nervously, he approached.
"What is it, Professor Mei?" Xie Lian asked.
"That's Dr. Mei to you," he replied sharply.
"Oops. Sorry, Dr. Mei," Xie Lian said.
Dr. Mei waved him off. "It doesn't matter. The important thing is your paper."
Xie Lian gulped.
"It was beautiful. The best I've ever seen from someone outside of this major."
What?
"What?"
"I'm serious," Dr. Mei said sternly, regarding him critically through his half-circle glasses. "Now, Xie Lian, I am going to be frank with you. You are one of the brightest students I have ever had, and if you wanted to work with me to get your PhD, I would pull all the strings I have to make it happen."
Xie Lian was floored.
After all the misfortunes in his life, he was shocked he had made it into college in the first place. To be told such a thing...
"But Dr. Mei, I'm not even sure that I want to get a PhD," Xie Lian said.
And in archeology, no less. He'd been planning on being a social worker!
"That's fine. Take some time to think about it," Dr. Mei replied. "Just remember, your talent is something that ought to be nurtured. I mean it."
Xie Lian pondered that as he slowly walked away. He'd always been told how talented he was as a child, but it had never amounted to anything, so he figured it wasn't really very important. But...
Suddenly, Dr. Mei clutched his head, his eyes glazing over just a bit as he stumbled. Xie Lian rushed back over to him.
"Dr. Mei, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm... I'm fine," he said, looking up at Xie Lian. "I'm merely tired. I think I'm still jet-lagged from my trip to China."
"Are you sure?" Xie Lian asked.
Dr. Mei waved him off again, then gave him a broad smile. "I'm certain," he said. "Now go enjoy your day. You've earned it."
--
As Xie Lian walked home, his mind turning over Dr. Mei's offer in his head over and over, he walked past an alley with some smoking teens.
One of the teens called out to him. It was honestly a bit intimidating, so Xie Lian didn't answer.
But the teen called out again. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"
Xie Lian sighed and turned around. "Yes?"
The teen looked him dead in the eyes and called him a racial slur.
Xie Lian woke up at home.
This time, he was definitely concerned. Although it hurt, the slur was nothing he hadn't heard before. Certainly nothing that would have made him dissociate to the point of being unable to remember his walk home.
And it was the second time this week it had happened.
How much time had he lost? He checked his phone again and gave a small "Oh no!"
He was going to be late for HEMA practice!
Xie Lian grabbed his fencing gear and rushed out the door.
He ran all the way to practice, already out of breath before the actual exercise began. He dashed in as they were doing footwork.
"Xie Lian! Take the fourth row!" the leader, Constance, shouted out as he came in.
"Okay." He looked around as he put his gear down and got into position. "Where's Shi Qingxuan?"
"They're sick," said Dylan, another member. "They said so on Discord."
"Oh..."
Xie Lian was honestly a bit disappointed. Since Feng Xin and Mu Qing hadn't talked to him in years, Shi Qingxuan had become his closest friend. He had wanted to talk to them about everything that had happened recently, like Dr. Mei's offer and his dissociation spells.
But still, he wasn't going to let it distract him from his sword time. Honestly, he preferred Chinese martial arts, but HEMA was what they had in his area, and getting to use a sword was better than not getting to use a sword.
He'd always been talented at swordplay, as well. Another useless talent. Fencing wasn't going to make him money.
But it was going to make him feel better.
They got into pairs to practice, and Xie Lian let himself get lost in the rhythm of swordplay. All his troubles seemed to melt away whenever he held a blade, even a dull practice one. If only he could afford more of them for his personal collection...
Maybe once he graduated, he'd have that kind of money. Or maybe not, in this economy.
His mind strayed back to Dr. Mei's offer.
Archeology... It admittedly had always fascinated him. Whenever he saw remains of the distant past, he felt nostalgic somehow, as if it was where he belonged. He didn't want to be one of those annoying people who thought they ought to be born in another era, but he really felt it sometimes.
The modern era had many wonderful things, but he had always felt out of place there. Maybe he could work with Dr. Mei studying that new site they had found. What was it called? Wuyong? He was certain it was one of the things Dr. Mei had gone on about in his lecture. A newly-discovered kingdom that had been buried by a volcano.
It made his heart hurt to think about it. An entire kingdom gone, just like that...
In his distraction, Dylan managed to get a hit in on him. "Yes!" Dylan shouted. "I never beat you!"
Xie Lian smiled mildly. "Good job," he said. Dylan whooped with his fist in the air.
The rest of practice went by uneventfully. At the end, Xie Lian checked Discord on his phone and sent Shi Qingxuan a get well soon message.
No reply. Oh well. It was probably nothing serious.
At least he hoped not.
Honestly, he was more concerned about himself. If he had health insurance, he would have gone to get his dissociative spells checked out.
Oh well.
All he could do was hope that it wouldn't come back.
His hopes were realized as he managed to walk all the way home without suddenly waking up in his apartment. He let himself in and locked the door behind him, letting out a sigh.
The dice were still in his pocket. He took them out and rolled them again.
And then he woke up outside, the full moon shining down on him.
Oh dear.