It was late, even by his standards these days, but had wanted to celebrate his birthday with his friends. Problem was though, that none of his friends had remembered his special day, despite this being a day he had chosen and was not born on. He had no idea when his actual birthday was, or his age; his Mother having passed away when he was too young to remember things like days of the week or months of the year.
Sighing in sadness he laid farther back in the chair and glanced around him. He was sitting drowning his sorrows in ale, in one of the seediest taverns in Paris. To be honest he was actually hiding from his friends, the unknowing looks on their faces worse than anything. He had wandered out of the garrison shortly after lunch and hadn't returned; choosing to hideout in a place that even Athos' low standards of drinking establishments, would cringe from.
Sighing audibly this time, he reached down to scratch the head of d'Artagnan's dog, aptly named Aramis Jr. D'Artagnan had purchased the dog one day after feeling left out because Aramis owned two cats. The dog followed his namesake everywhere and the most amusing part was that Aramis didn't particularly like dogs. It aggravated d'Artagnan immensely that most nights Aj wouldn't even go home with him, instead opting to snuggle at the foot of Aramis' bed.
It took Porthos a solid five minutes for his brain to clue in to the fact that Aramis' canine shadow was here, and not with his friend. In fact that he hadn't even brought the dog with him when he came here. Porthos frowned and looked down at the exceedingly brown fluffy dog, noticing that it had a note tied to its collar. He picked it up and opened it to read, noting that it was in Aramis' fancy penmanship.
My Dearest Porthos,
I hope that you have had a wonderful day off and do not think any ill will towards myself for arranging such.
You have been quite pensive as of late and I know this time of year reminds you of people long gone and of things left forever unsaid.
I would ask one more thing of you, before you return to the garrison. Could you please visit with Madame d'Artagnan and retrieve my wayward cats?
As Always,
Aramis
Porthos growled and crumpled the letter immediately. He angrily threw it into the centre of the fireplace he was sitting near and watched absently while it burned.
How dare Aramis meddle in his affairs and then ask him for favours? If anything, Aramis owed him an apology for forgetting his birthday, for abandoning him and for having been removed from duty for the entire day!
Porthos decided that he would go to the garrison and force his friend to apologize, make him grovel at his feet. He felt better just thinking about it, and Aramis would learn a valuable lesson in messing around with Porthos' life. Of course he would go and pick up the blasted cats first because he couldn't leave his best friend without his beloved cats. He'd just have to make sure that Aramis knew he was doing it begrudgingly.
He slammed his mug down on the table and got up beckoning for Aramis Jr to follow him. The dog jumped up and wagged its tail furiously; he obviously had figured out that they were going to find his adopted owner.
A short time later, Aramis Jr having wandered away in search of the garrison, Porthos arrived at Constance and d'Artagnan's home. He knocked on the door and waited... and waited... and waited... His hackles rose as no one came to the door and with a glance inside he noted that the home was completely dark.
"Are you serious Aramis?" He asked loudly to an empty street. The hour was nearing midnight and Porthos' birthday was nearly over. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.
The damned cats can wait. He turned and made his way to the garrison, planning on turning in for the night; he could get the cats and confront Aramis tomorrow.
As he neared the garrison Porthos was surprised to see it brightly lit, lanterns hanging from every available spot. It was also noisy, as though there were many people inside. He peered into the gates and his jaw dropped open in surprise. His fellow musketeers were inside drinking and laughing and waving Porthos in. Standing in the very front was Athos, d'Artagnan and Constance, the trio conversing quietly, each looking worried. His three friends hadn't noticed him and when he fully entered they whirled to face Porthos, each smiled in relief.
"You remembered?" Porthos asked incredulously. He was beyond surprised and a little overly emotional as he wiped a couple of tears threatening to break loose from his eyes. A slightly out of tune and mostly mumbled drunken rendition of Happy Birthday' had begun rippling through the crowd.
"Of course we did," Replied Athos smiling. "Aramis planned the whole thing."
"You are, of course, two hours late to your party Porthos. What happened? Aramis went looking for you ages ago." d'Artagnan asked. He moved forward to envelope Porthos in a large hug and nodded back to Constance. His wife was standing off to the side, hands pressed to her swollen pregnant belly. She looked exhausted and Porthos knew that she had waited up this late to make sure he was safe.
She moved forward as soon as her husband broke the hug to offer one of her own to Porthos, her belly impeding it slightly, "We must be off home. I hope you had a wonderful day! Don't do that to me ever again and always be somewhere where we can find you!" She patted Porthos' cheek and glanced back at d'Artagnan and grabbed his hand leading him out of the garrison towards their home.
Athos smiled at Porthos again and clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Go and greet your guests my friend, I will see about finding our lost marksman." Athos tipped his hat towards the birthday boy and wandered out of the garrison, a small grey cat slinking out of the shadows and following him.
Porthos snorted, watching Athos and Porthos Jr leave. He knew that Athos wouldn't look very far for Aramis, trying to find Aramis in Paris was a fool's errand as the man could literally be anywhere. He'd likely do a quick walk around the garrison and then retire for the night, snuggling in with Porthos Jr purring on his chest all night. The other cat, the black one, named after Athos, was nowhere to be found. He was a stealthy cat that took after Aramis and would disappear for days at a time, surfacing in some out of the way place during their daily missions.
Porthos shook the thoughts of cats out of his head and moved forward to greet his very drunk musketeer friends. It looked like it had been quite the party and most people were beginning to retire for the night. For the first time that evening Porthos felt guilty for missing the party and for doubting Aramis. He glanced around seeing Athos returning, hopeful that his best friend was following close behind. His hopes were dashed when Athos just shook his head and walked up the stairs to his office.
An hour later, maybe two by Porthos estimate, the garrison was finally empty and silent. Porthos was lying on top of the wooden table in the middle of the space and he was staring up at the sky admiring the stars. When he heard a whine below him, Porthos looked down to see Aramis Jr tugging at the edge of his jacket, trying to pull him somewhere.
"Shoo Aj, bugger off."
Whine... tug... growl.
"Oh alright! Lead on then." Porthos stood up and followed the dog to the door of Aramis' lodgings.
"Your owner lock you out then?"
Porthos grasped the door handle surprised to find it unlocked as the door swung inwards. Aj raced inside and jumped onto a suspiciously lumpy bed. Porthos stepped in and glanced around, eyes finally settling on the lumpy bed containing a fluffy, fuzzy dog and an Aramis.
"Mis?"
"Porthos! What are you doing?" The marksman asked confusingly. Aramis had obviously been deep asleep, sleeping on top of his blankets fully dressed, boots and all. Porthos watched his face morph from confused to furious to regretful and sad. "I looked for you for hours Porthos. I sent Aj to bring you to Constance's so that they could escort you to the party. When you didn't show..."
"I'm sorry Aramis, I thought you had forgotten my birthday. I was so absorbed in my own anger I didn't even notice the dog by my side." Porthos sat down on the bed beside Aramis, not at all surprised when his friend laid his head on his shoulder.
"I'd never forget something so special," Aramis pulled something out from under his pillow and handed it to Porthos. "I got you something."
Porthos took the small gift and opened the cloth it was bound in, to reveal a small framed drawing of the four inseparables. "Oh, Mis. How? It's beautiful."
"A hidden talent my friend, and Porthos?" Aramis asked softly. "Happy Birthday, you big brute."
"Thanks Mis."
"And if you miss next year's party? I will never throw you another one."