Never Made It Sober
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything or anyone from 'The Musketeers'.
The first time Porthos shoots a melon off Aramis' head, they are both drunk. They are outside a tavern late one evening talking about which of them is the better shot, when they see the fruit on a nearby table.
"Put that melon on your head and I'll shoot it off."
Aramis grins, walks over to a nearby wall and places the melon on his head. Porthos closes one eye, aims his pistol at the melon carefully and fires. The melon explodes; pulp and seeds fall into Aramis' hair. Aramis laughs, shakes the remnants of the melon out of his hair and the two men stagger off in search of more wine.
xxx
The second time they try it, they are both sober. It's been a long day of training and both men are exhausted. As before, they see a melon just lying on a table. And as before, Aramis grins, picks up the melon, walks to a nearby wall and puts the melon on his head. Porthos closes one eye, aims his pistol at the melon…
…and suddenly he sees Aramis lying in the snow, his face and hair stained with blood.
Porthos doesn't think twice. He aims the pistol a little higher, fires, and the bullet embeds itself in the wall.
The Musketeers walk off. Porthos clenches his fists so Aramis won't see he is shaking.
He could have killed his friend. He could have killed his brother.
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It is a long time before Porthos attempts the shot again. Even then he won't do it sober, because when he tries it drunk he doesn't see the image of Aramis in the forest, wounded in the head and surrounded by dead friends and comrades.
Then the day after his birthday, he wakes up lying next to a melon and a young man who has been shot in the head. After being cleared of de Mauvoisin's murder, Porthos never shoots a melon off anyone's head again.
Hope you liked it!