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[somepoorsoul]

Athos awakens in a weary haze of memories. Though the clock tells him it is mid-morning, he feels simultaneously like he has slept for days and not at all. A few moments pass before he realizes why he cannot shake the sights as senses of his childhood - the smell of forget-me-nots, Catherine’s bright red hair (he has not even thought of her for ages), Thomas’ boyish laughter. Then he remembers, and he exhaustedly presses the heels of his hands into his eyes.

He is tempted to remain abed until someone comes looking, but that would only delay his shame, and anyway, Athos is too honorable. He dresses slowly in garments that once again seem familiar as he tries to piece together the last few days, memories coming to him as though being relayed by someone else. Sheepishly, he misses the body and heart of his youth; he had been frightened and shy, world-weary too soon, but free and unfettered in a way he has not felt in some time.

Unfettered, perhaps, but also a fool. He has matters to explain, and hearts to mend.

When Athos carefully comes downstairs, his eyes are red-rimmed, and though he has tried to put himself back together, he knows he must still appear out-of-sorts. He can already smell coffee, thank goodness. But whether or not Aramis and Porthos will welcome his company is something he has yet to discover.

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[somepoorsoul]

Athos gazes at them with eyes wide, breath coming shakily as both men fall apart even more beautifully than he imagined. Need has coiled in his belly once again, he is hard with it, but for the time being he can only watch Aramis and Porthos in awe, fingers digging into Porthos’ skin where he clutches his shoulders.

[du_vallon]

Porthos collapses down on Athos, scrambling to hold tight to him again and he feels Athos' problem against his hip. He'd like to move, but he sort of can't with Aramis pressed atop him like this. "Babe," he mumbles backwards. "Let me go so I can finish Athos off, will you?"

[afineseamstress]

Aramis groans in reply. Between working himself against the two of him, what parts of him that are not burning with exertion feel entirely liquid, heavy and loose and barely within his control. Even so, he wants to help to bring Athos off, but he knows as he manages to slide out of Porthos, all he'll be able to do now is collapse.

Angling himself down onto the sheets, Aramis pants and watches them with hooded eyes. "Go on, then, I'm owed a show."

[somepoorsoul]

Athos cannot even scoff, a breathless smile curving at his lips as his eyes lock with Porthos’. His hips arch just at the thought of the other man’s touch, as unselfconscious and wild as he has ever been, thoughts of the two of them above him still dancing behind his eyes.

[du_vallon]

Porthos grins and he turns to place a long, lingering kiss to Aramis' lips right where Athos can see, falling into it and getting his lips good and red for what's about to come next. Next, he slides his hands over Athos' sides and bows his head down to swallow Athos deep into his throat, humming when he feels the tip of Athos' cock brush against the back of his throat.

[afineseamstress]

Curling an elbow beneath his cheek, Aramis smiles sleepily and reaches for them, dragging fingertips through Athos' hair as Porthos sucks him down. "I like the sounds you make," he murmurs. "Let me hear them."

[somepoorsoul]

It’s an easy thing to comply. Athos cries out with surprise and pleasure, throwing his arm over his eyes as he is swept away by the feel of Porthos’ mouth. He only just stops himself from thrusting with his need, both for Porthos’ sake, and because Athos wants to be left at the other man’s mercy, just as Porthos was at their mercy moments ago. He arches his neck, though, exposing pale skin, and tips his head slightly into Aramis' goosebump-inducing touch upon his scalp.

[du_vallon]

Porthos can feel the way Athos is giving into such touches, which makes him all the happier to pursue them. He's giddy for it, pushing Athos to the edge and he seals his lips around him, wanting to taste him as he hasn't in weeks (only left to dream about it). He keeps sucking and working, eager for Athos to come to his climax.

[afineseamstress]

Aramis' fingers tighten for Athos' cries, tugging gently as the man throws his head back and pants. "Beautiful," he murmurs, no longer able to remain far, and shifts forward on aching limbs to press kisses down Athos' throat, nosing his chin back further still so he can suck where his pulse beats hardest. Below, Porthos fills his ears with noises Aramis knows well, and he smiles, knowing Porthos will be hoarse after.

[somepoorsoul]

Thoroughly bared as he is, Athos can only pant and whimper. Porthos is relentless, insistent, perfect, and his mouth drives Athos towards release with as much fervor as the memory of watching the two men joined together. When he comes, he shudders, and groans, and bites his lip, relishing the way Porthos drags every last bit of pleasure from his body.

[du_vallon]

Porthos refuses to let a single drop go to waste. He swallows him back eagerly, with great delight, and licks his lips as he crawls back up to nestle in between the two of them, happy, comfortable, and finally feeling at home again. "There's so much to tell you," he mumbles, his voice rough as he wraps his arm around Athos' waist, burying his face in his neck to get comfortable. "So much you've missed, in the past weeks."

[afineseamstress]

Huffing as he is dislodged from Athos' still trembling body, Aramis curls himself against Porthos' back, hanging on and allowing himself to drift now that they are all sated. He hums his agreement, nosing idly at Porthos' shoulder. "This, for one."

[somepoorsoul]

“Mm.” Atho turns his head to smile softly at them both. He is still sticky from their exertions, and though he is loathe to leave the bed, if he does not do something now, he will regret it later. “A moment,” he tells Porthos with a kiss, already imagining ruefully the trouble they might have gotten up to while he was too young to notice.

[du_vallon]

Porthos smiles happily for the kiss, impatient now that he's got Athos back to normal and they've made up, but he can wait a moment, if only that. He reaches back to give Aramis' hip a squeeze for support, a fond grin on his lips. "Do you want to tell him or should I?" he asks of Aramis.

[afineseamstress]

The question is enough to pull Aramis from his near dozing, and he lifts his head, peaceful expression drawing tight and pinched. "I don't know," he admits quietly. He does not like to think himself a coward, but Aramis finds himself suddenly afraid of Athos' reaction. He sucks in a breath and holds tighter to Porthos. "I will, if you wish."

[somepoorsoul]

“Tell me what?” Athos eyes them warily when he emerges from the bathroom after wiping himself down, and feeling steadier and refreshed for it. He looks at Porthos, hopeful and wide-eyed, and Aramis, the discomfort startling on his face after his earlier bliss, and he lifts a brow. Athos does not even need to say the words, for his expression does the work: what have you done?

[du_vallon]

Porthos gives Athos the smallest of little smiles, feeling like a child again. He's a boy, eager for a pat on the head. "I've decided to use the money that De Foix left me," he admits, giving Athos a long, hopeful look.

[afineseamstress]

Sitting up, Aramis gestures to the bed, hoping that Athos will remain near to them for all of this and, God willing, long after. He nods, his expression serious, but hopeful, too. "However he came by it, the money can be put toward good, and - " Aramis looks down at Porthos, drawing strength from his own certainty. "And we'd like to put it toward family and a home."

[somepoorsoul]

There is something so serious and hopeful in both their expression, and that makes Athos approach the bed with care, stretching out beside him with his head pillowed on his hands. He nods when Porthos explains, satisfied with this news, at least. Had he not urged the man to do precisely that, to put the money towards his own happiness? A moment passes, though, before the implication sinks in, and when Aramis provides it, he nods again, expression tightening only briefly. “Yes,” he says quietly, “Of course.” And then, “Good.”

What else can he say? Aramis and Porthos are on their way to getting everything they want, and he can hardly object to that.

[du_vallon]

Porthos sits up slowly, giving Athos a tender look and an even gentler touch of his hand when he reaches out to hold to him, giving him a long look. "You and Aramis both helped me to understand why I should use it," he says. "That it's meant to be for a future, for here, for us. We'd like to show you the house that we've picked to move to because it's every bit as much yours."

[afineseamstress]

"All of it," Aramis agrees, pushing past the unsettled squeeze of his heart when Athos' expression tightens. "As much as you want. You will live there, you must have a say in the way it goes up, and - "

Aramis clears his throat. "And you are part of the family we want."

[somepoorsoul]

“You have already chosen it.” This news, admittedly, startles him a bit, offering up the painful reminder of precisely what he had tried to push out of his mind at their initial revelation: that as a pair, they had plans of their own, a life of their own, into which he still only awkwardly fit. He drapes his forearm over his eyes, trying to make the gesture casual, though he hopes it hides some of his hurt. “I suppose I should see what you have found, then.”

He takes a breath, forcing back the panic that fills his throat. This future is what they want more than anything. More than they ever wanted the honor of the musketeers, more than they want him, even. And for that reason, Athos wants them to have it. “I know,” he answers Aramis softly. “I’m not going anywhere."

[du_vallon]

"It's mostly land right now," Porthos admits. "The house is in no shape to be lived in, it'll have to be torn down and rebuilt in the image we like." He watches Athos carefully, so desperate for him not to run out, not to leave them, but he knows they have to be honest. "You'll have to help by telling us what you wish of a house. I only care about the bed and the kitchen."

For all that Porthos wears a poor poker face, sometimes Athos is just as bad. Porthos rearranges himself so that he's tucked under one of Athos' arms, settling in and curling in possessively close.

[afineseamstress]

Aramis curls himself against Athos' other side, not plucking the arm from his eyes, but kissing it. "If you do not like the swathe of land, there are others," he promises. "But I have seen you riding in those fields that surround it as clear as day, and I know you will see it, too, when you come with us."

More quietly, Aramis adds, "I think we could make you happy there. Happy like you ought to have been with her."

[somepoorsoul]

The memory of Anne strikes him particularly harshly, not through any fault of Aramis’, but because memories that were absent only yesterday seem fresher now. He had been happy, that was the trouble. He had found happiness and had it snatched from him. Athos fears finding and losing happiness all over, but he also fears never finding it, not the way Aramis and Porthos wish him to, and disappointing them once again.

Still, their warm presence so close at hand soothes his beating heart. Athos is enclosed and protected by them here, in this moment, whatever is to come. He knows the house is only a prelude to the rest - that is what frightens him, not the thought of leaving this putrid city for the countryside - but for now can only imagine one wild step at a time. “Promise me you will not sign anything until I see this bit of land, then,” he quips. “I won’t have you purchasing some impractical rocky slope because you like the romance of it."