“I thought I told you to stop,” Athos insists, but for all he tries to scold, long-suffering fondness still twinkles in his eyes. As both men must know, his lack of answer is answer enough. Frankly, his younger self had been well on his way to infatuation with both of them, and if at the time he had not so easily been able to untangle lust from awe, he can spot both in his actions now. “I was sixteen,” he reminds them dryly, “a fencepost could have riled me, so don’t look so smug."