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D'Artagnan woke up, feeling oddly disoriented, while at the same time safe. And warm, very warm. He puzzled at this briefly until his memory clicked in, and he realized it was Athos snugged up against his back, and Aramis curled up at his front. He figured that Porthos was on the other side of Aramis.
It had been a hell of a week. He shuddered to remember their time as captives of an old nemesis of Treville. Dart had been locked up in a room with Porthos in a mansion in a remote area outside of Quebec City. Aside from an abortive escape attempt that left them a bit battered, D'Artagnan and Porthos had spent their time scheming escape routes and playing twenty questions.
Athos had been paired with Aramis in a separate room. With their captors playing on their individual phobias, things had not been so pleasant for the other two. They did manage to engineer two escapes from their room, but at great cost. D'Artagnan was appalled at how strained and tense Athos had appeared when they were eventually reunited. Fragile was not normally a term D'Artagnan would use to describe his stoic friend, but somehow it seemed to fit this time. And he was more than alarmed at the battered state of Aramis. The man looked like a walking rainbow of bruises and chafed wrists. The particularly bad bruise over his kidneys made D’Artagnan wince to think about it. Thank goodness, Treville had come charging to the rescue when he did.
Speaking of organs causing discomfort, D’Artagnan felt his bladder wake up. He carefully disentangled himself from the others. As he crawled out from the blanket, Athos opened his eyes blearily.
“Got to piss, go back to sleep,” D'Artagnan whispered. Athos nodded and rolled over to close the gap in front of Aramis, just as Aramis quivered and made a small sound. Athos made a shushing sound, and gently stroked the other’s hair. D'Artagnan smiled fondly and went to relieve himself.
Feeling much better and no longer sleepy, he followed the scent of coffee down the stairs to the kitchen, where he found Constance and Treville nursing cups of coffee in peaceful contentment.
Constance looked up and smiled.“Are you alone? I made muffins.”
D'Artagnan gratefully sat at the table and accepted coffee and muffins.
“I’m the only one so far, although Athos did open his eyes briefly. I don’t think he or Aramis slept at all the last two days.”
He paused to take a bite of the muffin, and let out a sigh of bliss. After nearly a week of infrequent, and very bland processed food, the flavourful muffin tasted like heaven.
He continued, “ I’m not sure they slept much even before that since Athos was locked in a closet for two days.”
Treville pursed his lips in dismay. Athos’ claustrophobia was well known to Treville, as well as Constance. Before he could say anything, they heard the quiet sounds of someone creeping down the stairs. Porthos popped his head around the corner.
“Hey,” he said, “got any of that coffee left? I just want to grab some food and then go back up. Hope to keep them sleeping some more.”
As Constance piled a plate with muffins and some fruit, Treville stood and put his hand on Porthos’ shoulder.
“I’ve called Dr. Lemay to do a house call. I thought it would be easier than convincing Aramis to go to the hospital. It sounds like I need Elliot to do a house call, too.”
Porthos nodded. Elliot was the Garrison’s psychotherapist.
“Good idea. Athos was shut in a closet for two days,” he paused as shook his head, “And Aramis… We are gonna need to find a new place to live.”
“One thing at a time, Porthos. You got them to sleep, didn’t you? And you didn’t think that would happen, either.”
Porthos smiled wanly, and then headed up the stairs.
Treville turned to D'Artagnan,“well, I’m off. I’ll come back when Lemay gets here. D'Artagnan, make sure they stay here today.”
“Me? They won’t listen to me!“
Constance patted his hand, “but they will listen to me.”
***
“Come on, ‘Mis. Time to wake up.”
Aramis drifted to awareness. He could feel a warm body under his head and an hand rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades. And then every bruise, bump, and abrasion he had collected over the week he had been incarcerated came roaring to life. He groaned and tried to bury his head further into the safety of the body beneath him. The body twitched and gasped, and an arm wrapped around his head and gently pushed it to one side. Probably shifting it off a sore spot.
Porthos’ voice repeated, “Aramis, it’s time to get up. Or, at least get off of Athos so he can get up. The doctor is here.”
Aramis opened his eyes, “Doctor? Why?”
Athos huffed, “oh, maybe it’s something to do with you appearing all colours of the rainbow and, you know, pissing blood the last few days.”
“He’s right. Treville insisted you either see a doctor or go to the hospital.”
“Knock knock,” Dr. Lemay’s cheery voice sounded in the doorway, “who’s first?”
At the confused looks on Athos’ face, Lemay said, “I need to see you both. Captain’s orders!“
Aramis rolled off Athos and over onto his back and promptly winced. He turned his head towards Athos, “you go first. I need to work up to it.”
Athos glared at him and eased himself to a sitting position. Then he sighed, “Where do you want me, Doctor?“
“Do you want privacy? No? Then, if you can get yourself to the bed, it will save my poor back from crouching down.”
As he was finishing with Athos, he said over his shoulder, “Aramis, you can take your shirt off and get ready to trade places with Athos.”
He stuck a thermometer into Athos’ mouth, and turned around, “good Lord, Aramis!“
“Yeah, he’s been collecting bruises for days.” Porthos chimed in, “you should see his back!”
Athos thermometer beeped. Lemay took it out of his mouth and waved Athos off the bed. “You can go sit over there, Athos. Aramis, please, come over here.”
After much poking and prodding, Lemay stuck a thermometer in Aramis mouth. He took out a notebook and began scribbling until the thermometer beeped. He took it out of Aramis’ mouth, hummed, and scribbled some more.
“Well, Doctor?” Porthos asked, clearly losing patience.
“Hmmm. Not quite finished.” He looked up, “let’s check your kidney function. Go pee in this cup.” He handed Aramis a small paper cup.
Aramis looked at the others suspiciously, “You’re going talk about me behind my back!”
“Of course. Now get out of here so we can do it in peace,” said Athos drily.
***
After Aramis left the room, both Athos and Porthos turned inquiring looks to the doctor.
“Athos, you are running a slight fever, and your pulse is quite high for you. I think this could be from the stress, dehydration, and inadequate nutrition over the past week.” The doctor tapped his pen to his lips. “You’re going to need to take it easy for a week or so, while your body recovers.”
At this moment, Aramis returned, holding a Dixie cup gingerly in one hand. “Where do you want this?” Lemay took the cup.
LeMay performed a quick litmus test, and made a few notes before he looked up.
“Well, Aramis, the good news is that it appears your kidneys are still working OK for now. They are probably bruised so we’ll need to keep an eye on that. Your tendons in your left shoulder and thumb are all inflamed from being dislocated. I suspect that your left collarbone is fractured from the fall down the stairs, or the impact of the rubber bullet but appears stable at the moment so we will leave it alone. You are also running a mild fever. But other than that and an amazing amount of bruising, you seem to be in better shape than I would have expected.”
He raised his finger in the air.
“But, you won’t stay that way, unless you give your body a chance to heal. I am going to give you a mild sedative and painkiller to minimize the stress on your body. With luck, that will bring your body temperature down and speed up the healing.”
At Aramis’ stubborn look, both Athos and Porthos glared.
“Oi, mate, you’ll do as your told,” said Porthos sternly before he turned to Athos and thrust a finger into his chest, “and so will you! Bed rest for the pair of you.” He pushed Athos gently towards the bed, “Now!”
Lemay just looked amused. “Well, Porthos, I see that you have this under control. I’ll just give you both an injection and be on my way. I’ll either return in a couple hours or send someone for a follow up injection. I should have a pill form ready by tomorrow, which will make things easier.”
And with that, he made his way downstairs.
***
Porthos nudged D'Artagnan. The two of them were in the door of the sitting room looking at the sofa, currently occupied by two dozing bodies - Aramis curled up next to a stretched out Athos.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them sleep so much before,” whispered D'Artagnan.
“It’s the drugs. I think Lemay must’ve added something new. Knocked them out without them knowing. Come on, let’s go take a look at those apartments, yeah?”
The two of them quietly left Constance’ home and made their way to Porthos’ car. Getting in, they both looked over at the list D'Artagnan pulled from his pocket.
“So, I found three places that might work. They are in the right radius. They have at least one good-sized bedroom, and they are in the right budget range.“ He paused, “not that I’m trying to pry or anything, but I just thought that since you were sharing, you could maybe afford a higher rent?”
“Yeah, well, you know how Aramis’ mother is in a nursing home?”
D'Artagnan nodded.
“Well, she’s been there a long time and her benefits ran out a while ago so it’s up to her kids to fund it. Mostly, it’s Aramis and Rosalie paying for it. Louisa contributes what she can but she’s got to pay for Danni’s daycare and stuff.”
“Oh.” D'Artagnan nodded,“OK.” He cleared his throat and looked back at the list. “So, ah, should we just go to the first one?“
They drove a few blocks and parked in front of a gleaming new building. It was maybe twenty stories tall with a marble façade and shiny new fittings on the doors.
“It’s nice and close to Constance’s place,” said D'Artagnan.
Porthos squinted up at the looming tower. “Yeah, but it’s kind of sterile don’t you think?”
D'Artagnan try to reassure him with, “well, it might look different on the inside. Let’s check it out.”
The two of them made their way up to the tenth floor. They knocked on the door of the unit. As they were led into the bright open concept space, Porthos knew immediately that it wasn’t going to work. The view from the floor to the ceiling window was beautiful, but also provided no sense of separation or protection from the outside. Porthos shook his head. There was no way that Aramis would ever feel safe.
“Nah, this isn’t going to work. I’m sorry we took up your time.”
After visiting two more apartments with similar features and layouts, Porthos sat with D'Artagnan in the car and sighed.
“This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
D'Artagnan gave him a sympathetic look, “maybe you just need to change your search criteria. Maybe you just need to look in smaller buildings or some of those old places that have been converted.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I just didn’t want one of those creepy basements. I want us to have a nice place where we can feel safe, yeah?”
D'Artagnan nodded sympathetically. He knew that he had been lucky to find as nice a place as he had so quickly, and with such an amiable landlady as Constance.
“I’m sure Constance won’t mind if you stayed in her spare room for a while.”
“She probably wouldn’t, but it’s one thing to experience Aramis’ flashbacks in the office and whole other one to come face-to-face with him hiding in your bedroom closet pointing a Glock at you!”
D'Artagnan winced and swallowed. He had first hand experience of the unnerving sight of his friend staring at him like he was an enemy while fully armed. The thought of it happening to Constance made him shiver.
Nodding, Porthos continued, “we’ll probably stay at Athos’ place. Let’s go back. See if the sleepyheads have woken up enough to drive Constance up the wall.”
When they got back, they discovered that indeed, their brothers were awake and driving everyone to distraction. Or rather, they were driving Treville to distraction.
“Porthos, D'Artagnan!“ He said, with a note of desperation. At this precise moment, Dr. Lemay walked in through the front door.
“Hello hello! I’ve returned to give Aramis his next shot.”
“I’m feeling fine, doctor.” Aramis hastily added.
“Your test results say otherwise, my friend. There are trace amounts of blood from your kidneys. You, young man, need lots of rest, water, and painkillers. Pain stresses the body, and that is the last thing your kidneys need.”
Aramis shut his mouth in a thin line, but submitted to his injection.
After the doctor left, Constance appeared with a plate of sandwiches and tureen of soup. D'Artagnan leaped to his feet to take the plate from her. Porthos stood to do the same, but Constance nodded her head towards the kitchen.
“Could you get the tray of plates, bowls, and cutlery, Porthos? I know sandwiches aren’t very exciting, but everyone looks so tired that it was the easiest thing I could think of.”
After everyone had eaten and the plates were cleared. Constance asked, “so how did the househunting go? Did you see anything you liked?”
“Nah. It was all too open looking.”
“What are you looking for?“ Constance asked.
Aramis piped up, “a nice kitchen.”
They all stared at him.
Athos said after a minute, “I didn’t know you like to cook. “
“That’s because my old place had a crappy kitchen.”
Porthos pulled out his notebook, “I guess I should add that to my list.”
Constance asked, “well, let’s have it. What else do you have on your list?”
Pothos read out, “one or two bedrooms. One has to be big enough for a queen size bed or even a king. A living room big enough for all of us to sit.”
There were grins all around for that comment.
He continued, “enough walls so it doesn’t feel exposed. No deep closets,” as he looked at Aramis, “Sorry, love, but it’s hard enough when you get into one of the shallow ones. There’s no way I could deal with you in a walk-in closet.”
Aramis nodded and shrugged philosophically. He didn’t have to deal with himself when he was in that state, so far be it for him to complain.
He decided to add his own list.
“A nice kitchen that I can cook in. A safe place to store our weapons.”
At this, D'Artagnan laughed, “I think you might need a whole extra bedroom for those!”
Athos added,“ and another for his blankets.”
“Can I help it if I feel the cold more than the rest of you?” complained Aramis.
“And where were you looking? Same neighbourhood?” inquired Constance.
“We were hoping to be a bit closer to you guys. We were looking at some of those high rises, but they were all open-concept with lousy locks and doors.“
Aramis made a face. Porthos frowned.
Realizing how he may have offended Porthos, Aramis hastily added, “As long as it’s with you, I’d be happy anywhere.“
Porthos face softened, and he smiled. Leaning forward he gave him a soft kiss on the lips. They didn’t often indulge in intimate displays of affection in front of their friends, but this time it seemed right.
Athos was the first to break the moment with, “are you only looking for modern buildings?”
“I won’t do creepy basements and a lot of the really nice places are out of our reach.”
“Especially if you need all that extra blanket storage!“ snickered D'Artagnan. Aramis tossed a sofa pillow at him.
Athos just looked thoughtful.
Treville stood up, “Well, gentlemen, and lady, I am off. Aramis and Athos, follow the doctors orders, or I’ve got 37 other musketeers who are more than ready to help enforce them.”
Porthos said, “we are moving to Athos’ place tomorrow. Then D'Artagnan and I will look at a few more places while these two rest.”
“Keep me posted. And Elliott said he would drop by tomorrow. Good night.” And with that Treville left them.
Porthos settled himself on the couch and pulled Aramis closer so his head was resting on Porthos’ chest. He reached over and yanked Athos into his other side. Athos resisted momentarily, but then gave in and leaned back with a put upon sigh.
“Now, I’ve got these two pinned down, why don’t we put a movie on and relax.”
Constance laughed. While she and D'Artagnan bickered over the movie choices, both Aramis and Athos fell asleep.
***
Porthos crossed another item off his list and frowned. They were close to the furthest he was willing to go to live. It was a quiet neighbourhood with a series of low rise apartment buildings. They were neat, spacious, and on paper, looked perfect. But, that was part of the problem.
Porthos couldn’t see himself living there.
D'Artagnan patted Porthos on the arm.
“Any others on the list?”
Porthos shook his head.
“OK, then, big guy. Don’t worry. There’s always new stuff coming onto the market. Let’s call it a day and go back to the others. We can pick up some food on the way.”
The two of them entered Athos’ place. Athos was seated on the couch calmly stroking his cat, Dumas, who purred contentedly in his lap. Porthos and D'Artagnan looked around.
“Where is Aramis?” They asked simultaneously.
Athos looked up. “With Dr. Lemay in the bedroom.“ He paused for a moment, “they have been surprisingly quiet, though. Maybe you should check on them, Porthos.“
Porthos nodded, and headed in the direction of the bedroom.
Athos turned to D’Artagnan, “any luck today?”
“Nah, some of the places have been great, but Porthos steps inside, walks around for a bit and then walks out.”
Athos frowned, “does he say why?”
“He doesn’t feel secure. Or, he thinks Aramis won’t feel secure. Or, something. I mean, I don’t mind traipsing around the city, but I’m not even sure that he knows what he wants.”
Athos hummed. D’Artagnan plopped down next to him reaching out to scratch Dumas ears. “How was your day? Do anything exciting?”
Athos shrugged, “watched a movie on ballroom dancing with Aramis. Tried talking him out of waltzing around the living room. Failed.” He grimaced. “Tried convincing him to lie down and rest. Failed.” He rubbed a hand down his face, “Tried not to drown my frustration in a bottle of wine. Succeeded with that. So not a complete failure.”
D'Artagnan grinned at him and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, brother, he’s about to get his nightly dose of painkiller so he’ll settle down soon.“
Porthos and Lemay appeared in the living room.
“The swelling has started to come down, but there’s still signs that his kidneys are not fully healed. Ideally, he needs to be on bedrest. I’d feel better if he was on an IV at the hospital. But, I know the anxiety that would cause would be counterproductive so we’ll keep monitoring him. Make sure he rests even if he doesn’t sleep.“
“Got it. Anything else?“
“Get him to drink lots of liquids. And Athos, too.“
Athos looked up frowning, “I’m right here.”
Porthos pointedly ignored him and said, “Thank you doctor. I’m on it.”
After seeing the doctor out the door, Porthos turned to his friends. “So, what’s on the agenda for this evening other than lots of rest and a huge bottle of water for you!”
***
Later that evening, after D'Artagnan had left, and Aramis had drifted off to sleep again, Athos looked up at Porthos and asked, “what’s really stopping you from finding a new place? D'Artagnan says that lots of the places you’ve seen have been great, but you haven’t really given them much of a chance.”
“I don’t know. I just walk in and they don’t feel right. They don’t feel like our place.”
Athos hummed, “What would your place feel like?“
“Like this place.” Porthos said, bluntly, “Except I know that this place is your place. It’s OK for a few days, but you’re gonna want us to move out so we don’t drive you nuts.”
“Yes, as much as I love you like brothers, I have no idea how you don’t kill Aramis.” He smirked briefly, “I was thinking more along the lines of what makes this place feel like home to you?”
“Good question. Other than the fact that you are in it, it’s located close to work and Constance. It’s solid brick and not too high off the ground if we had to exit quickly. It has good sight lines from all the windows.” He paused, “but it’s also way out of our budget. There is a place going vacant one floor down, but when I looked it up, the rate is too high.”
“I see. How does Aramis feel?“
“We haven’t talked about it much. I think he’s avoiding the thought of having to move somewhere new, and go through the mess again of not sleeping and checking the locks.” Porthos sighed, clearly not looking forward to it either.
Athos understood. He remembered the effort it had taken to make their friend feel secure after the Savoy incident. And that had been in a place where he had already been living for years.
“Tomorrow, let’s go look at the place downstairs,” he said.
Porthos frowned, “no way we could afford it, Ath. I don’t want to fall in love with it, and then not be able to take it.”
“Porthos, rent is always negotiable. I may not practice law anymore, but I still haven’t lost my touch at negotiation. Let’s go see it, and if you love it, leave it to me.”
For the first time since they returned, Porthos looked hopeful. Clearly, the burden of finding a new home had been greater than Athos had realized. He felt somewhat guilty because he did know how important a sense of Home was to both of his brothers. He was resolved to make this happen.
The next morning, Athos made an appointment with the property managers to see the unit. When informed, Aramis noticeably brightened.
“What? There’s a place open here? That’s great!”
And with that, he headed back to the bedroom. Moments later, he reappeared, wearing Athos’ jeans and Porthos’ sweater, and a pair of mismatched socks out of the solo sock bag.
Rubbing his hands together, he announced, “what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Ah, Aramis, the appointment is in two hours. Maybe we should start with breakfast and your meds, yeah?“ Porthos responded, holding out glass of juice and a pill.
Making noise of annoyance, Aramis took the pill and swallowed it, followed by the juice. Muttering under his breath, he stalked over to the couch and dropped down, “I’m not hungry.”
Porthos sighed. Athos glanced over at him, and then over at Aramis. He picked up a slice of toast from the table on his way to the couch. Handing it to Aramis, he said firmly, “eat it, or you’re staying here. We don’t need you fainting on the stairs.”
Wordlessly, Aramis took the toast and shoved it in his mouth. After a few chews, he cleared his throat and said, “sorry. I’m just tired of being inside.”
Athos reached out to squeeze his shoulder, “brother, I understand. Believe me, I understand.”
Aramis raised his eyes and gave a half smile. He gripped Athos’ hand.
Porthos handed them both glasses of water. “Drink up. I’ll make us some waffles.” He was met with real smiles from both men for the first time in days.
In the middle of the waffle making, D'Artagnan, and Constance both showed up.
“I swear D'Artagnan can smell your waffles from anywhere in the city!” Aramis exclaimed, even as he sat up and moved over to make room on the couch for the newcomers. Athos got up and went into the kitchen for cutlery and plates for the table.
“Of course I can! He makes the best waffles,” D'Artagnan tossed over his shoulder and made his way to the kitchen. “Need any help, Porthos?”
“Yeah, you can cut up the fruit and put it in the bowl.“
Before long, waffles were prepared, fruit cut, and coffee poured. They all sat at the table and waited for Aramis to say grace before they dived in. Both Porthos and Athos were pleased to see that Aramis tucked in as eagerly as D'Artagnan.
Finally, it was time for the appointment. Together, they trooped over to the stairs and made their way down to the unit. To their surprise, it was directly below Athos’ place.
“I wonder why the numbering is different on this floor?“ mused Constance.
“Bigger units, so fewer doors,” replied Athos as he approached the door. He reached into his pocket to pull out a key and then unlocked the door.
“Hey, how did you get the key?” Exclaimed D'Artagnan.
“The agent dropped it off this morning. They couldn’t show us around, but since it’s empty, they didn’t see any problem with us showing ourselves around.”
Athos looked back over his shoulder with a half smile, “Ready?”
Aramis gave a full grin and shoved him forward into the unit. Porthos laughed and shoved Athos, too. All three stumbled through the door.
The toured the unit, noticing the similarities to Athos’: same layout of common rooms, same outlook from the windows, and same sense of solid construction. And the same size main bedroom. At this, Porthos caught hold of Aramis and gave him a gentle hug from behind, and whispered, “look! A room that can fit a decent sized bed!”
Aramis leaned back and laughed, hugging Porthos’ arms tighter to his chest. Athos, who had been standing near them, gave Porthos a swat across the back of the head just on principle.
They also noted the differences: a larger kitchen, a second bedroom, a small powder room, and a shallow pantry. Both bedrooms had walk-in closets, which made Porthos pause, but everything else looked so familiar that he immediately felt safe. And it was right in Athos’ building.
“So, guys, what do you think?” asked D'Artagnan.
Porthos looked at Aramis, who was looking out the windows – no doubt calculating the sight lines from all the nearby roofs. He looked fairly relaxed though.
“‘Mis?”
Aramis turned and gave him a beaming smile. “I love it!” And then he sobered. “Of course we’ll need to see if we can afford it.“
Athos cleared his throat, “Porthos? Do you like it?”
“Well,” Porthos slowly looked around the living area where they all gathered. “I like the location, and the neighbours already know us. I really like the way that Aramis lights up when he looks around this place, but…,” He paused, “there’s no way this is in our price range.”
Athos stood in front of Porthos and rested both hands on his shoulders and said, “do you like it?”
“Yeah, yeah I do.”
“Well, then, it’s yours. Yours and Aramis’.”
While his friends stared at him with open mouths, Athos spread his hands out, “I own this building. I am my own landlord. I get to set the rent to whatever I want. So, whatever you are currently paying is enough for me. I’d let you stay rent free, except I know you would refuse.”
“How did we not know that you own this building?” Aramis asked, and then he lept at Athos, grabbed him in a tight embrace. “It doesn’t matter. Thank you brother. Thank you, thank you!”
Athos hugged him back with a rare smile. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Porthos stepped over to embrace them both. D'Artagnan joined the group hug along with Constance, and for just a moment they were united as a whole. Just holding onto their chosen family.
“When can we move in?” Aramis asked from the middle of the pack. There was a chorus of laughter.
***
It turned out that things could not move as fast as all that. There was the little issue of Aramis’ rest and recovery time plus the need to pack up all their belongings. There had been a minor setback in the middle of the week when Aramis’ fever returned, and Lemay had him admitted to hospital for a few days out of concern for the burden on his kidneys. Fortunately, the spike was short-lived, and did not seem to further aggravate his issues.
In the meantime, Porthos made great progress on packing with everyone pitching in to help. He also made great progress on some of the alterations he wanted. He installed a couple of gun safes, remodeled, the walk-in closets to be shallow and more easily accessed just in case Aramis had a flashback. He installed additional locks on the front door and the emergency exit.
And best of all, he installed a king size bed in the bedroom he intended to share with Aramis. The old double bed was relegated to the second bedroom. So, by the time Aramis was released from hospital, instead of heading upstairs to Athos’ place, the whole team led him to the new place. After going into each room, he finally settled down on the couch with a satisfied sigh.
D'Artagnan and Constance came out of the kitchen bearing trays of drinks and snacks. Porthos, Treville, and Athos gathered around the dining area, and immediately began to assist in distributing the refreshments. After a few minutes, Constance said, “where is Aramis?”
Porthos and Athos traded alarmed glances and raced for the two rooms with closets.
“He’s here!“ Treville called out from the living room. They all rushed back to see Aramis peacefully sleeping on the couch under his favourite blanket.
“He didn’t even check the door locks!“ Said D'Artagnan with some awe in his voice.
Porthos didn’t say anything. He blinked hard a couple of times as his eyes became suspiciously bright before grabbing Athos in a fierce hug. After a stiff minute of surprise, Athos returned the hug and whispered, “Welcome home, brother.”