Chapter Text
Xie Lian stood in the middle of a beautiful and serene forest. The trees seemed to carve a path forward for him, the light of the setting sun just peaking between the many leaves to dance along the path of the forest floor. He took slow and careful steps forward, feeling as though something invisible was beckoning him to move forward despite himself.
As he moved down the wooded passage, suddenly a delicate silver butterfly flitted across the sunlit path, immediately garnering the man's attention. Xie Lian took a knee and offered his finger for the small creature to perch, which the butterfly did, though only for a moment before quickly flitting off somewhere behind him. He turned around, seeing the sharp winged creature fluttering down a path in the woods he somehow hadn't seen moments before. The most beautiful scarlet flowers grew on either side of the path, immediately making the man move closer to the flower ridden path.
"Xie Lian.." A seemingly disembodied voice called to him, though he paid it very little mind. The feeling of beckoning was even more intense than it had been before, making it impossible for the man to consider turning around or stopping. He kept walking down the new path the butterfly seemed to show him, it's beauty only growing as he realized it was no longer daytime, the silver light of the moon and stars now illuminating the groves of red flowers. Even more of the same alluring silver butterflies as before began to appear out of the wood work as he began to see the shadowy figure of a man at the end of the path.
"Xie Lian!" The disembodied voice called to him yet again, he took rushed steps towards the figure turned away from him. He couldn't make out any details, but he was sure this was what had been leading him here.
"Xie Lian!!!"
Xie Lian's eyes snapped open as he felt his shoulders being shaken and he was ripped right out of his dream, his friend's voice having finally broken through his subconscious. He slowly groaned as he moved to sit up, rubbing his eyes. "Oh thank goodness finally, I thought you were never going to wake up for a moment!" Shi Qingxuan cried out dramatically from their spot crouched next to the couch, dragging a hand down their face in relief.
Xie Lian let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck abashedly. "Oh sorry.. Good morning, thank you for waking me up anyways." He said with a little smile on his face. Even fully awake now, certain images from his dream seemed to be glued in the forefront of his mind.
Shi Qingxuan only shook their head, moving to stand up. "Well, you should go get washed up, I'm almost done putting together breakfast now. Neither of us are working so I wanted to make it a self-care day, my treat. I could use one, and you definitely could. Plus, there's someone I still need to introduce you to!" They said with a big grin on their face, not giving Xie Lian the time to argue about it before disappearing into the kitchen. He knew better than to try to argue with them at this point anyways, so he got up and made his way to the bathroom. He saw a stack of clothes already sat out on the counter, making a mental note to thank Shi Qingxuan later on for his thoughtfulness. He stripped down from the sleep clothes he had been given for the night, tossing them in the basket in the corner.
As he stood waiting for the water to warm up, he found his eyes unintentionally stuck on himself in the bathroom mirror. His brown hair now reached an inch or two below his shoulder, longer than it had been in many years. It felt nice, finally being able to do something like growing it out again. Any wounds he had when he started living with Shi Qingxuan had fully healed up by this point, even the nasty final yellowing stage of bruises that never seem to fade. Of course, he wasn't quite lucky enough that the shackles tattooed around his ankle and throat or the scars along his body would fade the same way, unfortunately. Xie Lian's hand slowly moved up to touch the graying tattoo, taking a slow breath before closing his eyes. He had known how strange the shackles tattoos were from the start, but trying to return to a somewhat normal life with them had definitely been a challenge he was still learning to deal with.
After several moments, he collected his thoughts and finally moved to the shower to actually clean himself up. Despite his situation, he was still thankful for everything he had in the moment. Immediately after leaving Jun Wu's home, he had been living on the streets and essentially being a beggar and trying to sell off scraps he collected to get by for food. Even then, he was happy with what he had, though the relief of the first shower when he started staying with Shi Qingxuan was enough to make him second guess that.
He was incredibly thankful for what they were doing for him, having vehemently refused it at first to not impose a burden on them. Of course though, Shi Qingxuan had never been one to take no for an answer very easily, he learned quickly. He had been staying with them for close to two months at that point, and they had really grown to be the closest thing to a real friend he experienced in years. Conversations were always easy, even when Xie Lian was quiet and didn't have much to say at the beginning, Shi Qingxuan easily filled the space for him until he could. They never expected him to explain how he ended up here or what happened, he was just allowed to exist peacefully around them. Though, he very much wanted to pay them back for everything, so most of his days were still spent trying to collect whatever scraps he could to sell and picking up any little odd jobs he could find, whatever they may be. He had been convinced to take the day off to 'relax' after enough begging by Shi Qingxuan, and he really wasn't one who could deny them anything.
Xie Lian soon finished his shower, carefully getting out and drying himself off. He slipped on the clothes Shi Qingxuan had left folded for him, seeing he had been dressed in a silk white blouse and flared black trousers this time, along with a thin grey scarf to cover his neck since he was almost certainly going to be dragged along somewhere in public today. While their clothes were highly unfamiliar for him, he really had no room to complain as he was happy to just be wearing clean clothes, as his time on the streets did not do good things to the clothes-turned-rags he had arrived at Shi Qingxuan's home in. He took care of everything else he needed to before exiting the bathroom with a plume of steam, his mouth immediately watering as the smell of the promised breakfast hit him.
Immediately following his nose, he walked into the kitchen and found Shi Qingxuan setting their bowls on the table. He gave him a big smile, happily saying "Thank you!" as he moved to take his recently claimed seat.
"Of course! We have a busy day so you'll probably need it for energy." They hummed out matter-of-factly as they sat across from him. Xie Lian laughed nervously before taking a bite, immediately humming in satisfaction at the food before returning to the matter at hand.
"So what exactly.. did you have in mind? It seems like you already have this planned." He stated as he took a few more bites of the food. Shi Qingxuan definitely wasn't a chef but their food always did the trick, and turned out better than anything Xie Lian himself could do anytime he tried.
"Oh, well of course I already have this mapped out. I've been waiting for this since you started staying here but I wanted you to get more comfortable first. First, I want to do some shopping so you can start building your own wardrobe up a bit, don't worry I'll help you with that. That'll probably take a while because I have a few stores I wanna hit, I figured we could go get a late lunch after that." Shi Qingxuan rattled off as he started on his breakfast.
Xie Lian laughed a little at the sureness of it, shaking his head. He didn't feel like he needed a lot of things, but he knew there was no point in arguing about it when they had already decided it would be happening. "Alright, understood. Anything else on the Shi Qingxuan-genda today?"
They immediately nodded before starting again, "Mhm! After that I want you to come with me to finally meet He Xuan! I know I've talked your ear off about him so you know, but he's really nice once you get to know him! He owns the bar I've been working at and tonight he'll be working at this nice tattoo shop his buddy owns. So, I figured if you're okay with it, we could get tattoos! I don't know how you'd feel about it, but doing stuff like that always makes me feel better, that's one of the first things I did when I finally got away from my family. It can be part of your fresh start!"
Xie Lian immediately gulped at the suggestion of getting tattoos, the thought of the ones marring his neck and ankle popping into his head. He really had no problem meeting the guy Shi Qingxuan had been talking about since they met, if he was anything like how they described he was sure he'd like him, it was just the tattoo part of it. He turned the idea of it over in his head, trying to ignore the fear that crawled into his mind at the memory of the ones he had. He could always reject it, he had been given the option, but what did he really have to lose at this point? If he continued making all of his decisions out of fear of the past or what could happen, he'd never do anything again. Plus, what if it did make him feel better like Shi Qingxuan said it would? He'd never know until he gave it a shot. "Okay. Yeah, okay.. I'll do it." He eventually decided, giving them a determined look.
Shi Qingxuan immediately gasped and jumped up from their seat, a big smile immediately taking over their face. "Wait- Really?! I was like one hundred percent sure you were going to say no, hell yes! Do you know what you're gonna get?" They asked excitedly, putting their hands on the table as they leaned over it slightly. Xie Lian laughed in response, immediately shaking his head.
"Well, not yet, I had never thought about that sort of thing. Give me the rest of the day though, I'll think about it." He said with a confident nod. They nodded satisfied and sat back down.
"Okay, good. I have a couple more things to do to finish getting ready, but we'll leave right after that!"
They both contentedly finished the simple breakfast, Shi Qingxuan excusing them-self right after so they could quickly finish getting ready. Xie Lian gathered up all the dishes, deciding to cleanup since Shi Qingxuan was nice enough to cook for him, even while allowing him to crash in his home. He was thankfully able to get them all washed up, just having gone to the door to slip on his shoes when Shi Qingxuan came bounding out of their room, slipping their shoes on as well. After making sure they had everything and were ready to go, the pair quickly left the apartment, heading to Shi Qingxuan's car to get their day started.
"I'm so excited! It's been a while since I've been able to go shopping like this, or get a tattoo! You'll have to see He Xuan and his friend's work, it's so good." They rambled happily as they drove.
Xie Lian smiled and nodded along, internally just as excited as his friend was. It had been so long since he'd been able to go and pick out whatever things he wanted, he couldn't even remember the last time actually. He was definitely a little nervous about the tattoo part, but he was just trying to block that out the best he could. "Yeah, I'm excited too. Have you gotten anything done by He Xuan before or is this your first one?"
"He's done all of my more recent ones actually! Ever since I found out he does that on the side, I've been going to him. Plus, since he and the owner are friends or whatever he always gives me good prices. I don't know who will all be there working tonight or who will end up doing your tattoo but I'm not worried about it either way, their prices are always pretty good." Shi Qingxuan said, glancing at Xie Lian with a big grin. The duo continued to chat aimlessly throughout the ride to their first stop of the day. Thankfully it helped Xie Lian get over some of the nerves he had been feeling, as going in public areas like this always tended to make him paranoid he would run into someone he didn't want to see.
In the end, they ended up going to five different stores in total, leaving with at least something from all of them. Of course, Shi Qingxuan made him try on several different things at each stop to make sure he was happy with how everything fit and to make sure there weren't any better options he was missing. He got a variety of things so he at least had the basics of a wardrobe that were more what he was used to. Before they left the last store, Shi Qingxuan got him to change in the bathroom so he could feel more comfortable for the tattoo appointment. He wore a cream knit turtleneck sweater to cover his throat and tan pants, changing into the pair of new shoes he had been told to get as well before they headed out to get food.
They stopped at a simple little hole-in-the-wall noodle shop to grab their late lunch, Shi Qingxuan evidently rushing through his food likely in hopes to get to see their mysterious He Xuan sooner. It took them no time before they were paying and getting back in the car for their last stop of the day. "Have you decided what you wanted to do for your tattoo yet? If you haven't I'm sure they have some flash designs ready." They said as they drove, glancing over at the man in the passenger seat.
Xie Lian stayed silent for a few moments, looking out the window as they drove. "I.. I think so. I've been thinking about it, and I think I want to get one for my mother. Her favorite flowers were gardenias, so I think I want to get one of those." He said with a smile.
"Aww, that's so cute! I love that idea, you should definitely do that!" Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, glancing over at Xie Lian for a moment. "Have you thought about what placement you want for it yet?" They asked after a moment, to which Xie Lian nodded again.
"Mhm! I think I want to get it done on the front of my shoulder, maybe going down my arm a bit." He said calmly, his gaze focuses on the buildings they sped past. Shi Qingxuan 'Ooh'ed in response, nodding in agreement.
"I hope you end up liking how things go, it would be so fun if you could come with me more often for this sort of thing!" They said hopefully, the two continuing to chat as they drove.
Not long after, they arrived at the tattoo shop. Although it looked like they were ready to jump out of their seat to go see the mystery man they had been telling him about, Shi Qingxuan sat in the car for a moment after taking out the key, looking over at Xie Lian and calmly asking, "You sure you're okay with this? I know getting a tattoo can be nerve-racking and seem like a big decision." Xie Lian nodded firmly.
"Yeah, I'm okay, I've got this. Let's go." He took one more deep breath before he got out of the car, looking up at the sign of the shop. It had red flowers engraved along both sides, with big lettering that read
GHOST CITY TATTOOS