So this was not the intended 'secret fic' I was working on during 'Blinded by the Light,' but I was so into this plot-lines' potential, that I only wrote the 5 page skeleton for the other one!
I hope you like this shorter fic anyway!
It was middle of July and the sun was beating down on the city of Paris in a merciless manner.
The humidity and lack of wind had only served to intensify these miserably sticky conditions, leading to short tempers and pointless scuffles over water supplies while each man fought his own inner demons to keep a hold of his sanity.
In an attempt to avoid such a fate, Athos was lazily tending to his stabled mount, finding small pleasures in the silence, shade and lowered temperatures -thanks in part to the lack joined beams in the walls- a heavenly trade off in comparison to the stuffy indoors.
Picking up his brush to clean down his mare, Athos suddenly spied a few holes in the blanket that rested on her back.
Curious he picked it up gingerly and brought them under closer observation.
He had only bought this blanket recently for the up and coming months of fall, how could they be so moth eaten already?
Usually a man that would notice such details, Athos was slightly miffed that he had somehow missed these signs and bought the expensive, 'all weather' blanket anyways.
Sighing in an attempt to shrug off his temper before it could grow, Athos strode across the straw ground to the bag of horse feed, picking up its hefty weight and leaning it on top of his shoulder as he went to fill the trough, pouring in a healthy amount and then turning to replace it.
It was in doing so that Athos noticed a trail of horse feed in an arc on the ground, leading from the storage to the trough.
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Athos took his bag of feed off his shoulders and studied every detail, quickly taking in the continuously flowing seed that fell from a hole in its bottom corner as he held it aloft.
Rats! Athos surmised, a double meaning to the word now that he realized they had an unsuspecting visitor or two taking up residence with their horses.
Not bothering to waste any time, Athos immediately went in search for the vermin, checking high and low, stepping cautiously so as not to scare them should they be watching.
He simply couldn't allow the idea to let them fester and multiply, they would eat them from the inside out should that be the case! He did like the openness of the stables but that didn't mean he wanted holes drilled right through the woodwork.
It was at this moment that a daring rodent reared its head at Athos, revealing its body as the hay pushed up around it.
Athos launched himself at the rat, literally grasping for straws as he tried to pull the bothersome creature from its new burrow.
Despite his best efforts, the rat was quicker and Athos landed empty handed on his front. Undeterred, he scrambled to his feet and ran after it, bent at the waist as his eyes followed its trek.
This proved to be a mistake as Athos lack of attention to his surrounding lead him to trip on a rut in the floor, sending him flying forwards to shove his left boot into a bucket of stagnant, filthy water, sloshing it up his leg.
Now highly annoyed by the nuisance the rat was causing him but ever the more motivated, Athos sped from his position to the last known area of the rat, glimpsing its tail disappear through a hole in the floor beam ahead.
Drawing his pistol from its holster, Athos shoved it down the hole into the rats den, ready for it to be done with when Aramis voice called out behind him, "A little over the top, don't you think, Athos?"
Whirling around in embarrassment, Athos shot a glare at Aramis and hauled himself to his feet, still annoyed in the back of his mind that the rat had survived to live another day -and eat more horse feed he fumed.
"Not in the slightest, Aramis, I merely found it logical and in the best interests of others that I erase this vermin from the face of the earth. You do know what they will do if we just leave them in peace" Athos reasoned.
"What, and blowing them to pieces along with the wooden beams that support the place is better?" Aramis countered in a teasing manner, hands on hips, eyebrows raised in a challenge.
He did like a good verbal fight with Athos' wits once in a while, he couldn't always allow the man to think he were right on every subject lest he get pig headed and develop into one of the maniacs they often sought to bring to justice.
"A little forethought goes a long way, brother" Athos replied stonily, trying to evade Aramis barb. It was too hot for this.
"Sure, whatever you say" Aramis teased, crossing his arms across his chest and shaking his head, unconvinced but not wanting to push it further. It was much too hot for this.
Tired of trying to convince his brother, Athos inquired, "To what do I owe the pleasure anyway, Aramis? You don't usually like the muck of the stables"
"Oh no, brother, I indeed do not" Aramis agreed with a smile, "I just wanted to inform you that Treville has ordered us to attend the majesties games this coming hour on his palace lawn"
Athos' scowl deepened at this, "In the sun?" he stated, already knowing the dreadful answer.
"I'm afraid so" Aramis confirmed, matching Athos' expression. Shaking his head, Aramis pointed his finger to Athos' wet leg and boot, "You may want to attend to that first before we depart" he suggested.
"And what if I like it wet" Athos challenged, wiggling his toes in his sodden boot, the cool liquid sloshing around inside.
"Have fun with a fungal infection then" Aramis muttered in frustration and left Athos to his devices, missing the disgusted look on Athos face and then the frown as he accepted he must venture back into the heated garrison to change.
Sighing, Athos stomped out of the stables, left foot making a squishing noise every step of the way.
I hope I stayed true to Athos' character in this, let me know if I need to tweak it to keep it real. I do hope you liked the humour however, so please leave a review and let me know!