A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. This one has d'Artagnan back in somewhat usual form, which I think arduna suggested.
Summary: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis come home to find d'Artagnan has an unexpected houseguest.
No warnings.
By the way, the prompt for this one was astray and I couldn't help having a little fun.
An Unexpected Houseguest
When Athos steps in the door with Porthos and Aramis he immediately senses that something is different. It's far too quiet for d'Artagnan. He gives the other two a serious look, silently relaying his concerns about the lack of noise. As far as they all know, d'Artagnan is supposed to be home working on a term paper due tomorrow.
Then Athos hears a noise that he doesn't believe he's hearing, a panting, clinking of metal, and then a loud bark
"d'Artagnan," he yells. A second later said young man comes running around the corner chasing a furry tan colored dog about two feet tall. Unsurprisingly, the dog evades d'Artagnan's grasps and, with his tongue at the ready for licks, the dog jumps, getting all four paws off the ground onto Athos, who, under the sudden force and weight of the dog, steps back unsteadily. Porthos and Aramis move quickly to steady him as he holds the dog. d'Artagnan, wisely, skids to a halt several feet away, a guilty look on his face.
"Wh…" Athos tries to speak around the dog's excited greeting. He has not only the dog's tongue in his face but also the long fur getting into his mouth and tickling his skin.
"I know what you've said, Athos, about dogs, but he was a stray. I couldn't just leave him on the street." As d'Artagnan is making his case, Porthos takes the dog from Athos. Having grown up with dogs, Porthos is more than comfortable with having the medium-sized dog in his arms and the dog settles down, after some initial greeting, thanks to Porthos' calm demeanor.
"d'Artagnan, much as I would love to keep this dog here, surely you understand that we can't have a dog, not with our work schedules. It's not fair to the dog," Athos says.
"I know, but he was just sitting there on the sidewalk in the rain, shivering. I couldn't leave him."
"Did you check to see if he belongs to someone around here," Aramis asks, sneaking his hand behind Athos' to pet the dog and give it a bright smile.
"I know what you're doing behind me, Aramis," Athos warns. "And we're not keeping him."
"I just asked if d'Artagnan had looked for his owners. I said nothing about keeping him."
"I know you better than you think I know you. And you to Porthos," Athos adds without a glance at the man.
"He has no tags and the vet said there's no chip," d'Artagnan says.
"You've taken him to the vet already? How long have you had him here?" They were gone for a long four-day weekend for a work conference and from the sounds of it, the dog had been in the house for most of the time.
"I had to make sure he was okay," d'Artagnan says defensively.
"How long, d'Artagnan?" Athos feels like he's dealing with one of Treville's kids at the moment, though they never tried to evade questions like this, except Meg of course. That was Aramis' doing, though the man claimed it was quite unintentional.
"Friday after work."
"We left that morning. Why have you kept him here since then?"
"Where am I supposed to take him, Athos. I don't want to just dump him off at some shelter where he might never get adopted or worse," d'Artagnan nearly yells back. He can't help the rising emotions.
"We can't keep him here," Athos says firmly.
"Where'm I supposed to take him?"
"I know of a place," Aramis says, taking a step forward before the arguing can continue.
"You do?" Athos and d'Artagnan speak at nearly the same time and look to Aramis.
"You're thinking of that no-kill shelter over in Libertyville," Porthos asks. He's stepped forward with the dog still in his arms, now relaxed and enjoying the attention.
"Yeah, but it's closed by now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to take him over there," Aramis says.
"Excellent. One more night with him." d'Artagnan looks too pleased with this news.
"You're responsible for him," Athos says.
d'Artagnan nods. "Of course."
"He stays off the furniture."
"Naturally."
"And he sleeps in your room."
"Not a problem," d'Artagnan says.
"You give him a bath," Aramis asks.
"Yeah. Friday night. He was shivering so bad and then he started smelling."
"You did clean up after that, right," Athos asks. d'Artagnan is a responsible young man, but he's not known for picking up after himself.
At d'Artagnan's long pause, Athos sighs.
"Alright, Porthos and Aramis will look after the dog for now. You're going to clean the bathroom."
"I thought I was supposed to look after the dog," d'Artagnan counters.
"That is part of looking after the dog. Clean up the mess and then you can take care of him."
"Fine," d'Artagnan says, turning to trudge upstairs. "It's just a dog, Athos," he calls back, halfway up the stairs. "I don't see why you have to be a Grinch about him."
"Isn't it enough that I've already taken three strays in," Athos says, a lilt in his usually flat voice. "I can't afford to take in a fourth." He smiles and turns to pet the dog in Porthos' arms. "Let's get him fed and then when d'Artagnan's done we'll be able to go out back and play with him for a while."
