This is my entry for July's Fete challenge - Fireworks.
This story is part of my baby musketeers universe but is a standalone story. A snippet in the life as you will.
A brief rundown of what happened in the small things if you guys haven't read the main story - Aramis and d'Artagnan are turned into children by a witch. Because of Aramis' closer proximity, he bore the brunt of the spell and is now younger than d'Artagnan. Aramis is 4 and d'Art is 9. D'Artagnan can remember everything about being an adult and it's ultimately undetermined what Aramis does or doesn't remember. They are mostly stuck as children until Porthos' old friend, Marinette, can attempt a reversal on either a solstice or equinox.
Also, I did no research to find out what was accurate or not for this time period... since this is a bit of an AU world where Magic exists... I blame everything on Magic.
It was cold in Paris, so cold that no one in their right mind should be out in this weather. If it wasn't for the fact that it was nearing Christmas and the royal family was preparing for a celebration d'Artagnan wouldn't be out either.
It was hard to believe that the previous weekend had been warm enough that the Parisians could travel in only shawls and jackets. But by the time Monday dawned, the snow had begun to fall and hadn't stopped all week. It now coated the ground with inches upon inches of snow. By the end of the week, the northern winds arrived. They chased away the clouds and snow and brought the bitterly cold weather.
The wind whipped and whirled through the alleyways, tossing d'Artagnan's hair every which way. Since he hadn't let Athos near his hair, let alone cut it, the long strands stung his face as they whipped in the wind. D'Artagnan cringed at the biting chill nipping at his fingertips. He blew hot air into his fists and shivered while cursing himself for not wearing his gloves. Though to be honest, he couldn't remember the last time he'd even seen them. His mind had been preoccupied with the impending winter solstice. Next week they would make their first attempt at returning both him and Aramis to adults.
The wind was beginning to howl mercilessly and it made him shiver again. The shudder ran from head to toe and left him quite breathless with its intensity. Perhaps coming out this morning had been a foolish decision. Yet, since he was over halfway to his destination d'Artagnan decided that he may as well continue. Even more foolish was the lack of winter attire that he had chosen to wear. In ensuring that he would go unnoticed by his brothers all he'd managed to grab was a thicker cloak and a scarf.
Escaping the garrison proved to be an easier task than d'Artagnan expected it to be. The garrison soldiers had left for their duties early in the morning. It left only Porthos, Athos, Treville, Aramis, himself and a few stable hands around. D'Artagnan knew that Treville and Athos were due at the palace around mid-day. They were going to go over the guard duties for the party that night. It meant that the two of them were holed up in the Captain's office for the morning. Porthos was sulking because he was to remain here watching over the boys.
Paris was abuzz with preparations for the grand celebration that The King was planning. A celebration for what, d'Artagnan had no clue and despite all the questioning, no one was able to answer. Be that as it may, all the nobles were coming in by the droves spending their wealth among the merchants of Paris.
The rumour mill was working overtime, so much so that it filtered down among the children of the city. Everyone had quickly heard of the fireworks being featured at the party. Fireworks were expensive and rare so of course, the King must have them. D'Artagnan desperately wanted to see the fireworks but the children were not permitted at the party. Rumour had it that there was a black market vendor that was selling fireworks, though. That little nugget of information right there was the reason for his top secret mission. Fireworks and their retrieval for his own personal use.
Shaking his head of his distracted thoughts d'Artagnan started back off down the alley. He barely had taken one step when...
"Charlie, where you going?"
D'Artagnan jumped, startled by Aramis' sudden, yet loud inquiry. Charlie was the nickname Aramis had bestowed on him because he couldn't pronounce his last name. D'Artagnan didn't exactly love being addressed by his first name, but just for Aramis, he could suffer it.
"Aramis- what-" he asked trying to catch his breath. "What are you doing here? Did you follow me? Did anyone follow you?"
"I wanted to come wif you," Aramis responded.
D'Artagnan's "younger" brother was staring up at him, smiling and shivering. It seemed the lad had also raced out of the garrison to follow him without giving any thought to the weather. Aramis wasn't wearing any outerwear other than the thick jacket Athos had given him. His cheeks were rosy red and hair wild in the wind.
"Aramis you're freezing, you should be back home where it is safe and warm."
"So should you," Aramis responded.
"I can't, I'm doing something secret. You go back, I promise I will be home soon."
"I don't know the way back," Aramis whispered. "I can't member how."
Aramis shook his head no and D'Artagnan had to work hard to refrain from growling in anger. He didn't have time for this. There was only so much time he could disappear from the garrison before someone came looking for him.
He supposed he should be grateful for the love and care his brothers had provided him these last few months. They didn't understand though, and really, how could they? They had no idea how it felt to go from being a free "do as one pleases adult" to a child who needed to adhere to rules. Add in one very sweet, adorable, but much younger Aramis and it meant he was constantly monitored. Even worse, for some reason that d'Artagnan couldn't figure out, Aramis thought the world of him and followed him around constantly. They would notice him missing even sooner now and that meant there was no time to waste.
"Ugh, you're going to get us found out. I can't go back yet, you don't understand. Why did you follow me anyways?"
"I wanted to see where yous was going," Aramis responded softly. It was obvious that he was concerned that he was going to be left behind now.
One look at Aramis' frightened face and D'Artagnan instantly felt bad. Of course being this size the city would look completely different to Aramis. His brother hadn't grown up here and never saw the place from a child's eyes. He hadn't grown up here either, but being nine he had a better grasp of location. Besides, this may or may not be the first time he'd snuck out of the garrison... Nobody needed to know that, though.
Seeing Aramis shiver violently once more made d'Artagnan's mind up. There wasn't anything to do about it now, he had no choice but to take Aramis with him. Either that or both of them would freeze while they waited for him to make a decision.
Reluctantly D'Artagnan grabbed Aramis' arm and hauled the boy through the back alleys of the city. "You mustn't touch anything," he instructed. "Don't speak to anyone. Don't tell them who we are and most importantly do not, I repeat, do not tell them why were are wandering without adults."
Aramis, excited to be allowed to come on the adventure wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and only nodded his acceptance of d'Artagnan's rules. He did have one question, though. "Charlie, where's we going?"
"The King is having a celebration for some random reason and there are rumours that there is going to be fireworks. I bet that there will be more than a few black market vendors selling cheaper fireworks." D'Artagnan whispered as they ran.
"I likes fireworks! Porfos and me sneaked out once to watch them!" Aramis exclaimed quite loudly.
D'Artagnan stopped dead causing Aramis to stumble into him. "Shhh moppet," d'Artagnan whispered, using the nickname the garrison had adopted for Aramis. "I'm glad you like fireworks but we have to be quiet and not shout out our intentions okay?"
"Okay," Aramis agreed. "Porfos likes fireworks a lot."
D'Artagnan smiled and held out his hand to show Aramis the silver coins in his palm. "I know, he was sad earlier this week when Treville mentioned that he couldn't be on guard duty at the palace for the celebrations. I want to do something nice for him and I think we can get by on only one or two explosions."
"Wheres you get the monies?" Aramis asked in wonderment. "Fireworks is expensive Afos says."
D'Artagnan shrugged. "Athos keeps a sock with coins in it under his mattress and I borrowed some."
"Afos is gonna be so mad you tooks his monies!"
"He will get over it. He doesn't have to find out if you don't tell him though, right?"
D'Artagnan was taking a chance that somewhere inside, the adult Aramis would see the logic in his actions. He was rewarded with a sly smirk that looked completely out of place on a four-year-old. At least he could trust this to remain a secret now.
In the end, D'Artagnan was able to purchase the fireworks with ease. The merchant seemed very unsuspicious of two children looking to buy expensive fireworks. Aramis was silent and accommodating to the crowd that milled about. He played his part well, pointing off into the distance when asked where his parents were.
The merchant, upon seeing the many coins that d'Artagnan carried, even offered him a new special brand of fireworks that not even the King had seen yet.
"These are guaranteed to provide the shock and awe you two young boys are looking for. Here is how you need to use them." The man explained as he handed the boys a large sack filled with smaller sacks.
By the time they were done both boys were excited but chilled to the very bone. Sneaking back into the garrison nearly a full two hours later completely unnoticed, the boys set to work on Porthos' surprise. They took their precious bundles the vendor gave them and put one in each of the lanterns as they'd been instructed to do. Several bundles went into the ashes of the bonfire kept in the centre of the garrison. They briefly considered putting a couple in the kitchen for Serge but remembered that the vendor suggested they be used outdoors, rather than indoors. Task accomplished the boys wandered off into Serge's kitchens looking for a snack. The older musketeer had a soft spot for them and would often leave morsels lying around the kitchen for them to find.
The rest of the day passed in relative quietness. D'Artagnan wandered off into the stables to spend time with the stablehands and the horses. He'd befriended a few of the young boys that Treville hired to help out at the garrison. Aramis left to his own devices, found his sulking best friend determined to cheer him up.
"Hi Porfos," Aramis said. He crawled up onto the bed where Porthos was laying and reading. "You read to me?"
"Hey, moppet. This book would be a bit dry for you, did you want me to read you some fables?"
"Yes, please."
"In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest…"
"Oh, oh I likes this story!"
"Hush my friend and let me read then, yeah?" Porthos chuckled. He pulled Aramis in a little closer and continued to read.
Supper that evening was earlier than usual to accommodate the impending celebration. Athos even returned for a few hours before he was to report back at the palace for his duties. Both of them managed to keep the boys occupied for the rest of the evening and before they knew it, it was time to go to bed.
"I'm jealous that you get to see the fireworks," Porthos commented.
Athos smiled and threw his arms over Porthos' shoulder. "Don't be, my friend. I doubt that I will see much of them while I am trying to protect the King. The display is sure to attract all sorts of attention. Besides, you know Treville would have you there if it wasn't for our current situation. He feels bad enough as it is that you are forced to remain behind, but the King requested me to be there. I think it's because I know many of the nobles there."
Porthos grunted in response and got up from the table to begin removing plates and mugs. Serge wouldn't mind cleaning the dishes in the morning, but he would mind if they were left all over the kitchen.
Athos wandered over to the door looked up at the evening sky. It was getting dark, the sun would set shortly and it was nearly time for him to head back to the palace. He turned around and smiled at the scene before him. Porthos was cleaning off the table and the two boys had their heads mashed together, conversing quietly. Aramis was swinging his legs on the bench since they were too short to reach the ground. As much as he hated to interrupt the moment it was time for the children to head to bed. He cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of Porthos and the two children. "Aramis, d'Artagnan, bedtime."
"Up you come moppet," Porthos said.
Athos couldn't help but smile as Porthos picked up a gleeful, squealing Aramis and threw him onto his back.
"Bed horsey Porthos!"
Athos watched the two walk up the steps towards the rooms next to the Captain's office. When the boys had first arrived at the garrison, Treville had insisted they stay close to him for protection. The two had created havoc in the regiment, but Athos was sure that the Captain was fond of having them around. Though the man would never admit it.
Athos waited until Porthos and Aramis entered the room before turning to d'Artagnan, who hadn't moved. In fact, not only had he not moved, he was making a point of ignoring Athos. His arms were crossed and he did not doubt that d'Artagnan was glaring in the opposite direction. The boy had a stubborn streak a mile wide. They had been dealing with this for weeks now and neither side was winning. D'Artagnan was being increasingly difficult and Athos knew it was just a rite of passage for children his age. It was tiring, though and he didn't have time for this tonight.
"Bed, D'Artagnan," He repeated.
"No."
Athos sighed, "Why must we have this conversation every single night?"
"I want to stay up and see if we can see the fireworks from here. Also, I am not the slightest bit tired." D'Artagnan responded, blinking his eyes slowly and resisting the urge to rub them.
"Well, your body begs to differ. You may have your adult mind, but your body doesn't know or care about that. It needs rest and so do you."
"You aren't my father, I do not have to listen to you," D'Artagnan stated.
Athos growled and sat down across from d'Artagnan at the table and pulled the boys face towards his own.
"You really do need to sleep kid," he said. "I know this isn't easy and I know you feel like you are losing yourself. Porthos and I have been trying very hard to keep you both safe, we care about you. Neither of us wants to see you hurt, you have to understand."
D'Artagnan lowered his eyes and whispered, "I know, I didn't mean to accuse you of anything less. Aramis isn't even Aramis anymore and I am worried if I close my eyes I won't be d'Artagnan when I wake."
"You will always be d'Artagnan whether you are little or big. Aramis is still the same Aramis, just younger and inexperienced. You've been amazing for him these past weeks and he adores you. Perhaps Porthos and I have focussed too much on him and not enough on you. It's just he has been a handful."
D'Artagnan nodded and smiled, "He's adorable, I wonder if he was this way when he was a child the first time. He's been banned from every part of the garrison but the kitchen, how Serge puts up with him I have no clue."
"I am sure he was a handful, now, it is bedtime d'Artagnan. I need to get to the palace, their ridiculously long meal will be over soon and the King will want to start the real party."
"I'm still not going to bed."
Athos sighed, he did not have time for this tonight of all nights, "Really, d'Artagnan?"
"Really, Athos."
"How about you and I make a deal? Help me light the lanterns and the bonfire so the men have something to light their way home and warm them. Then you go to bed, you hear me? You will not climb onto the roof later and watch the fireworks." Athos said with a wink of his eye.
D'Artagnan caught on immediately and nodded. They made quick work of the prepping the fires and then d'Artagnan raced to his rooms to prepare for bed. Athos then slipped into the smaller room to check on Aramis before he left for the night. It was a habit he'd started on the very first night at the garrison and one that he looked forward to every night.
He expected to find a fast asleep, sweet little boy. Instead found a snoring, drooling, limbs sprawled everywhere, giant of a Porthos. Aramis was wide awake, playing on the floor beside him.
"Aramis, it's bedtime. Why is Porthos asleep."
"He said hes is closing his eyes. I is watching him."
*POP*
"What was that?" Athos asked, puzzled. It was an hour too early for the fireworks at the palace.
*POP POP POP POPOPOPOPOPOPOP*
"Charlie bought fireworks today," Aramis said absently, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
*POPOPOPOPOPOPOPPOPOPOP*
"He *POP* did *POP* WHAT!" Athos shouted, waking Porthos.
"Whaaa…" The larger man mumbled. He rolled over and out of bed onto the floor, narrowly missing crushing Aramis. "What's going on?"
The sound of popping and panicked shouting filled the air of the garrison.
"What do you mean D'Artagnan bought fireworks? Is that what's going off outside?" Athos shouted. He ran out the door to the balcony followed by Porthos and Aramis.
The sound of the popping was deafening now. When they got to the balcony the sight was enough to nearly drive Athos to his knees. Out of the bonfire and every single lantern that d'Artagnan and he had lit moments ago, popping corn was spewing out. There was so much corn that it was literally exploding out of the lanterns like real fireworks. Small bits of unpopped corn were shooting out of the bonfire like tiny fireballs. The hay for the horses was smoking, the ground, what they could see of it, was singed. There were tiny little popcorn fires all over the garrison that the stable hands were trying to put out.
It was pure chaos.
"WHAT *POPOPOPOPOPOP* IN THE BLOOD-"
"PORTHOS! *POPOPOPOPOP* LANGUAGE!" Athos shouted above the popping corn.
"YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT MY LANGUAGE WHILE THE GARRISON IS BEING AMBUSHED BY FOOD?" Porthos shouted back.
D'Artagnan appeared at Aramis' side, eyes wide, mouth open in shock. "Oh no…"
"D'ARTAGNAN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Athos glared.
Suddenly Aramis squealed and took off down the stairs. The three of them could only watch in shock as Aramis literally dived into piles of popped corn, laughing. They waited a moment longer before going to retrieve him and seek shelter to wait out the rest of the popping.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only minutes, the popping abated. Tentatively, as if they did not trust that the corn was finished its onslaught, everyone emerged from their shelters. Nearly the entire ground of the garrison was covered in popped corn. The bonfire was still blazing merrily, but the lanterns were snuffed out by the sheer amount of popped corn. Underneath each of the lanterns was a gigantic mound of popped corn.
"Wow," Porthos commented. "That's a ridiculous amount of popping corn. How much did you put into the lanterns and bonfire?"
"He gave us so much I don't even know. We were fooled by that merchant, how stupid could I have been?" Muttered d'Artagnan.
"Did you think that a common merchant could afford such a thing as fireworks, let alone sell them to children?" Athos snarled. "D'Artagnan, as the only one of you two that remembers being an adult I expected better of you."
D'Artagnan's shoulders slumped and he lowered his head. He felt ashamed and couldn't meet his mentor's eyes. Athos was absolutely right, this was his fault and he should have known better. "I was just trying to make Porthos happy." He finally mumbled.
"What are you talking about boy? Happy about what?" Porthos asked.
"Charlie said you was sad you couldn't see the fireworks," Aramis answered for d'Artagnan. "So we went and got them for you."
Porthos frowned and ruffled Aramis' hair fondly. "Thank you for the sentiment, my brothers, I appreciate it. They are not exactly the type of fireworks that I would have liked to see, but they certainly created a level of excitement."
"Your attempt at kindness, however," Athos said, speaking sternly. "Does not negate the fact that you disobeyed the rules that we all set for you to follow. None of these rules is difficult to follow are they?"
"No," replied d'Artagnan. "They are not."
"I don't like being in trubble," Aramis sniffled.
Porthos chuckled. He brushed some kernels of corn off the bench and sat down pulling both boys with him. "No one ever likes being in trouble. But when we cause trouble of any kind, it is best to take our punishments and ask for forgiveness, right?"
Aramis and d'Artagnan nodded.
"So, the list of wrongdoings. You both snuck out of the garrison, purchased dangerous goods from a black market merchant and put the garrison in danger of burning to the ground. Furthermore, you lied and broke Porthos' and my trust. What do you think their punishment should be Porthos?" Athos asked.
"Well for starters," He began. "You both will be aiding in the cleaning up of the garrison and you will apologize to Treville for causing Athos to neglect his duty at the palace."
Athos nodded. "To add to that, you both are confined to the garrison until further notice and will be given age-appropriate tasks to perform as penance."
"Gosh, Treville is going to lose his mind when he sees this," Porthos commented.
"I'm sorry," d'Artagnan apologized. "I didn't think."
"We should have been paying closer attention to your whereabouts this morning. That being said…" Porthos shuffled a little closer to d'Artagnan and pulled him into a half hug. "Thank you for trying to do something kind for me. The kindness I would rather have, is you both being happy and enjoying being children again for a while. No one gets this opportunity so you need to make the most out of it."
Both of the boys nodded and if there were a few little sniffles no one acknowledged them.
"This is going to take all night to clean up," Athos sighed. "It almost makes me wish I was minding the King instead."
Porthos laughed. "You would regret missing out on tonight's popping corn fireworks and I would have missed out on that look on your face when you saw the corn popping everywhere."
Athos grunted and glared at Porthos. The whole garrison was filled with idiots as far as he was concerned. Giant idiots, he thought. He went to retrieve brooms and buckets so that they could begin the task of cleaning up. He had no clue what they were going to do with all the popped corn. Some could be salvaged for Serge to use somehow but there was too much to simply go to waste.
"If we can gather several sacks of this I can deliver it to the court tomorrow. They would appreciate the treat," Porthos suggested.
They all set about their tasks, aided by the stable hands and some random chickens that wandered in for this feast. Aramis spent more time chasing the chickens around than cleaning, but the task was slowly accomplished.
"Something is bothering me still," Athos commented a while later.
"What's that?" Porthos asked.
"Where did those boys get the money to purchase fireworks? The King nearly emptied the vault of gold to pay for the ones he got and we don't have that kind of money lying around here."
"Charlie tooks your sock monies." Aramis called from the other end of the courtyard.
Athos' eyes widened and he spun around to stare at the thief in question. "You did what?"
"Aramis, you little tattle tale!" D'Artagnan shouted. "When I get my hands on you-"
Aramis squealed and ran for Porthos, hiding behind his legs. It was a comical sight to see the larger man stumble with the force of Aramis barrelling into the back of his legs.
Not knowing what to do next, D'Artagnan ran. He'd forgotten he had taken the money from Athos' room and faced with the prospect of getting in even more trouble, he panicked.
"D'Artagnan," Athos shouted before running after the boy. "You get back here this instant!"
Porthos laughed and swooped Aramis up into his arms. "Come on moppet, let us get you to bed. Leave the other two to deal with the rest of the mess."
"Did yous likes the fireworks my Porfos?" Aramis asked.
"They were the best kind, moppet."