Rene came back to himself briefly when he felt gentle, deft fingers pulling at the laces of his breeches and he realised with a shiver, that he had already been divested of his shirt somehow. He feebly pushed at the hands undressing him and gave a soft grunt of discontent, he had already had his boots and apparently his shirt stolen now, he couldn't afford to lose any more of his clothing, he certainly didn't have the coin to purchase new ones. Come to think of it, nor did he have the inclination to, he would freeze to death faster that way.

One of those warm hands with calloused fingers came to cup his face, and Rene followed the soft insistent tug until his cloudy gaze met the steely blue and brown eyes of the older man before him. The man smiled, salt and pepper beard bouncing with the movement, "are you back with us now son?"

Realising that the question was directed at him, he managed a distracted nod and frowned when another set of hands appeared in his line of vision and continued to tug at his laces.

"It was Rene wasn't it?" Treville asked gently, seeing the beaten young man beginning to shrink back inside his head. Another bob of the head was his reply and so he ploughed on, "well Rene, myself and Athos here are just getting you out of these dirty clothes so you can have a nice warm bath, get yourself cleaned up and then we can see to those wounds of yours. Does that sound okay to you?"

But those striking, matching hazel eyes had once again glazed over and the young man was gazing blankly into the middle distance. With a disheartened sigh Treville straightened up, ignoring his cracking joints, and moved aside to give Athos more room where he was struggling with the strings. Ruffling Athos' scruffy birds nest that he called hair, he smiled sadly when his soldier directed a questioning gaze his way, "nothing, I'm just glad you're here." Athos' lips quirked softly at the edges, and his eyes spoke of the gratitude and fondness he felt towards his Captain come father figure.

The next time Rene became aware of his surroundings, it was to the soothing lapping of warm water licking at his chest and a rough flannel dabbing softly away at the blood trails on his face and swollen eye. Blinking slowly, he finally found his voice, croaky as it was, "what's going on? How did I? When did I?"

Yet again a calloused hand was directing his head upwards towards the flickering light of the candle and he was able to see the man who had picked him up in the street daubing now at his split lip. "As should be quite obvious to you, you are in a bath, we are cleaning you up and we helped you in about five minutes ago. Does that answer all your questions?" Athos quirked an eyebrow in his direction as he spoke in his bordering on overbearingly posh drawl.

"Ah yes, I suppose it does," Rene stuttered haltingly, "but that's not really -"

He was cut off with an embarrassingly high pitched and sudden yelp, flinching upwards with a tidal wave of water, taken entirely aback by the tickling sensation of another rag touching his leg. The large hand that was rapidly becoming ridiculously familiar gripped his ankle gently and gave a grounding squeeze, whilst another did the same with his shoulder, serving to simultaneously dunk him back down into the now very muddy water.

"Sorry lad" Treville chuckled softly "I didn't mean to startle you, just trying to get off this particularly stubborn grime, when was the last time you washed!"

Although meant as a friendly jibe, Rene flushed hotly as he dropped his gaze to his lap and began to fiddle awkwardly with his fingers. "It has been quite a while, unfortunately I had not the funds to pay for hot water and I was not availed of enough energy to dismount and make use of a stream. I wouldn't have even really noticed the presence of one let alone thought to use it to be honest."

"I myself have been in that particular frame of mind on more than one occasion, I wouldn't feel any shame in it, especially as yours wouldn't seem to have been self-induced through copious amounts of alcohol." Athos attempted to maintain his cold and distant façade but couldn't help attempting to provide some form of reassurance to this damp kitten of a man shivering pathetically in their bathtub.

Rene was surprised by the sudden change in character of the dour man who was standing to his left, who although hadn't been outright mean to him, had been a might curmudgeonly. So an attempt to comfort him, as awkward as it was, seemed both surprising and heartening, if the warm feeling rising in his chest was anything to go by. Directing a tremulous smile toward the older man, who he thinks he vaguely remembered to be called Athos, he dipped his head bashfully.

"Exactly as Athos says, there is nothing for you to be ashamed of." Treville repeated his second's words warmly, throwing down his flannel and rising to grab a towel from where it was folded on his desk. "Now to your feet son, let's get you dried off and into bed or you'll never be fit for anything."

Together the two men managed to hoist Rene up and out of the deep tub, hands under his armpits as he took wobbly steps across the hardwood floor and was deposited gently on the edge of the Captain's bed. Treville carefully tugged his linens up under his chin, wedging the scratchy woollen blanket in at his sides before brushing an errant lock of hair from his forehead. Cupping his face with one hand, he smiled "you really remind me of a boy I once knew Rene. Get some sleep, we shall talk in the morning before I'm due at the palace."

With that he swept out of his office and left the two younger men alone in the flickering candlelight.

"Well I can honestly say that the Captain is a strange man, good, but strange." Athos murmured shaking his head in bemusement. He claimed the wooden chair with arms nearest to the bed and observed Rene over steepled fingers. Receiving nothing but a baffled stare in return Athos sighed in defeat and moved to peruse Treville's extensive bookshelf, easing free a familiar thick tome. "This" he shook the book in emphasis "is one of my favourites, actually the main character reminds me of you, same dark hair, quiet nature and hazel eyes."

"Must be a novel from before the change then"

Athos arched an eyebrow in surprise at the almost whispered, hoarse response from the previously silent young man. "You are correct, it is quite enlightening if one is inclined to consider the true impact of the change. If I can speak frankly, I believe it to have brought nothing but trouble and heartache to people."

"You mean you don't believe in soulmates?" Rene asked in wonderment.

Seeming slightly smug to have drawn him into conversation, Athos shook his head. "No, I do believe that they exist, I simply do not live my life by its dictates. If I meet my soulmate then I will not just fall into bed with them no questions asked. Equally if I was to fall for someone who was not my soulmate, I would not let that stop me from loving them, from living for them. Do you understand?"

Rene could only nod mutely with mouth agape and eyes wide and glistening.

Athos smiled softly, "yes I know it is not a conventional standpoint, but it is my own and I stand by it. Just as I stand by the fact that you remind me of the man in this book, Aramis."

"I don't think you can quite understand just how much your words mean to me, I am sure you have noticed my condition… my eyes" he whispered, "I am grateful to you."

"No gratitude is necessary, Aramis."

"Oh" Rene gasped suddenly, "you've given me a name just like I requested!"

"You wanted a fresh start, I am no stranger to that desire. So why should I not facilitate your request to make yourself anew? As much as I cannot understand why you should wish to change yourself, you seem far from objectionable as you are."