"Hope is a waking dream" Aristotle.

Married life was a wonder and a delight, Wei Ying decided. Lan Zhan was a thoughtful husband who somehow always knew what Wei Ying needed, and for himself, it seemed Lan Zhan only wanted Wei Ying.

But there were times when he thought Lan Zhan looked pensive, or deep in thought, and from the slight frown on his face, Wei Ying was worried about what it could be. At such times, he ventured to ask, but Lan Zhan resorted to other means and talk was forgotten.

So Lan Zhan didn't want to talk about it, then.

Which was a shame, because otherwise, how could Wei Ying help him? Lan Zhan was famously tight-lipped about things he thought were not worth mentioning, but Wei Ying was still fascinated about everything to do with his husband, and this was one mystery he knew how to solve easily.

With drink.

Sober Lan Zhan was silent; drunk Lan WangJi was most definitely not.

That night, Wei Ying put his plan into action. With four bottles of Emperor's Smile on the table, he waited for his husband to come home, and he didn't have long to wait. He was sitting at their table in the Jingshi watching the door, when it opened and Lan Zhan walked in.

The epitome of perfection, Wei Ying saw him enter, an expectant smile on his face, which only grew more when his eyes rested upon Wei Ying. To anyone else, there was hardly any change upon that ivory face, but Wei Ying had learned to read him well by now.

He stood, observing the laid out contents on the table first, before his gaze moved to Wei Ying, and his expression softened immeasurably. His black hair impeccably styled in Lan Sect way with a silver headpiece, his white robes starched and stiff, hiding the wonderful soul who resided in that body.

Wei Ying sighed.

He waited as Lan Zhan settled next to him with an unconscious flourish as his robes were adjusted before he sat down, and Wei Ying beamed at him, delighting in the fact that Lan Zhan always conducted himself like a Prince, and it was totally unintentional.

He made an entrance even without trying.

So, a little humbled, Wei Ying stared at him, watching those alluring golden irises scan him from head to toe, noting the way Wei Ying was lounging rather than actually sitting.

"What are we celebrating?" Lan Zhan finally asked him, having exhausted every avenue of thought in wondering what it could be.

"Oh...no reason. I just wanted some company while I drink, and who better than my husband?" Wei Ying sat up and poured out the wine into two cups.

"Mn. It will be short company." Lan Zhan added truthfully.

They both knew his capacity for alcohol was almost non-existent.

"Doesn't matter, Lan Zhan. It's the taking part that counts. Now, bottoms up."

They both picked up their cups and emptied them. Wei Ying crawled over to Lan Zhan's lap and made himself comfortable, although there wasn't much time...he had begun to count down in his head and was just in time to be the soft landing Lan Zhan needed.

While he was passed out, Wei Ying finished off another couple of jars, reminding himself why he had started this in the first place.

Thirty seconds later, a bleary-eyed husband woke up, giving him a silly smile when he saw him.

This was questions-and-answers time, and Wei Ying was going to take full advantage of it.

"Lan Zhan....has anything been bothering you these last few weeks?" Wei Ying asked, jumping straight in.

Lan Zhan stared back at him for a full minute before the question was understood. He nodded sloppily, resting his head against Wei Ying's shoulder.

"Let's take this off, shall we?" Wei Ying said gently, removing his elaborate hairpiece.

Lan Zhan with his exquisite hair up was stunning anyway, but now with those gorgeous locks loose and framing his face, he looked hot in a ravishing kind of way. This softer look suited him, his elegant features highlighted by the light of the fireplace. Wei Ying found himself feeling extremely grateful that he was the only one who got to see Lan Zhan like this.

"Now, tell me. What is troubling you?"

"Wei Ying."

Of all the possible answers, Wei Ying was not expecting that one.

"I'm troubling you?" He asked in disbelief. "Me?"

Lan Zhan nodded slowly, as if not trusting himself with the weight of his own head.

"Why?"

Lan Zhan pulled away to reach under the table, his hand searching for something in particular, the tip of his tongue hanging out like a cat's, from the corner of his mouth. He grunted in satisfaction as he planted the item in front of Wei Ying.

"What's that?"

"Punishment. Rule book."

"Lan Zhan....why do you have this?" Wei Ying picked it up and thumbed through it, recognising his own writing. "This...used to be mine..."

"Mn. Was Wei Ying's." He struggled to keep his eyes open. "Every day, Wei Ying...with friends...not me...only when punished."

Wei Ying stared at him, trying to make sense of it.

There was so much hurt in those golden eyes...

Was Lan Zhan still thinking about the past? Still thinking about the time they did not know each other well, and Wei Ying had mistakenly assumed Lan Zhan hated him whenever he was brusque towards him? To be fair, it was hard to read Lan Zhan then, compared to now.

But if Wei Ying applied the knowledge that Lan Zhan had told him later, the fact that that he had fallen in love with Wei Ying from their rooftop duel, then everything made sense. Of course Lan Zhan would be hurt because being a tactile person, Wei Ying was always touching someone, whether it be hanging off their arm or shoulders, or hugging his brother. There was always a friendly pat on the back or a shove to show affection, but it was always with someone one else.

Not him.

Not with Lan Zhan.

Why was he still thinking about this?

Could it be, the depth of his feelings and in his mind, unrequited love because Wei Ying was attracted surely, but love was so far out of the picture, it was not even considered, was still hurting him to this day?

Wei Ying blinked back tears, hoping he was wrong. His throat felt congested with tears that he wouldn't let himself cry, because...because it was too sad. Given the events that happened later and his own consequent death, this pain that Lan Zhan was hanging onto only became more condensed.

He drank straight from the jar, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure in his chest, thinking hard.

There must be a way to change this, make Lan Zhan understand that not only now, but in the past, he, Lan Zhan, was the only one Wei Ying wanted, especially like that, in a romantic way.

He could alter memories with the right sort of talisman, but artificially inserting positive ones could lead to seriously messing up Lan Zhan's mind, and was not an option. Perhaps a more organic approach would be better.

He would have to go back into the past, albeit a re-constructed one, because it wouldn't do to have himself come face to face with past Wei WuXian...that could start another hive of problems, and make all of this far more complicated than it needed to be.

Lan Zhan had fallen asleep for real now, and Wei Ying finished off the rest of the Emperor's Smile. He stood up and helped a tottering Lan to bed, still thinking hard about how to go back and fix this.

Lan Zhan was remarkably pliable when he was lying down, and Wei Ying only had to remove his boots, and outer robes, and Lan Zhan would be ready to sleep. But just as he was about to pull the blanket over his body, Lan Zhan grabbed him and arranged his body next to him, holding him in a vice like grip.

"Sleep." He was told, and then silence.

Those arms were not going to let him go any time soon, and he was tired...Wei Ying fell asleep to the sound of gentle breathing in and out, and the whisper soft feeling of a chest rising in sleep.

*******

The problem would not go away.

Like a tic hanging on for dear life, Wei Ying kept thinking about how to change those memories, and how to do it safely too. It was no child's play to tamper with the past, and it wasn't something simple like a dream...or was it? If he was able to construct a dream that felt longer when it was experienced, to last for weeks instead of a day, would that work?

Lan Zhan was no stranger to inedia, but that was while practising core strength. However, Wei Ying had heard of a plant which, even by consuming one leaf, was able to keep the body alive for weeks. That was also a possibility.

And then, he hit upon the solution. Wouldn't it be great if he could fit all of the time he spent studying at Cloud Recesses into a single night's sleep? Then, no need for messy solutions, he could do it in one night, and Lan Zhan would experience three months of their time together.

There was no one he could experiment on for this, and he sort of did not want to tell Lan Zhan about it, in case he tried to talk him out of it, and besides, wouldn't it be great if Lan Zhan woke up feeling fantastic about their past, and have no idea why?

It was the least intrusive method.

So Wei Ying set about trying different talismans, tweaking the strokes and changing up the different components to write the correct characters. He wanted to bring them back as they were, because if Lan Zhan was fully accepting of their relationship and aware that they were married in the future, it would make this whole thing easier.

Of course, he would have to put himself inside the dream too, and that meant he needed two talismans.

Now that he had a foolproof plan, Wei Ying was much happier.

Tonight was the night, and after tonight, Lan Zhan would be much happier.

*******

A/N

This was inspired by Readaholixc who said, wouldn't it be nice if Wei Ying invented a talisman that allowed him to go back inside their past and change their memories so they would be less painful?

So this is what I came up with, watch out for part 2.

What do you think? Will it really be as simple as that? Or can something go wrong?

Have a wonderful day everyone, and eat lots of chocolate 🍫 !