December Desolation Chapter 19
A/N: Here is Chapter 19 after a bit of a long wait, sorry! Enjoy :D
Athos was the first of the four to return to his senses, despite having been one of the last to enter Morpheus' realm the previous evening. He put it down to his unexpected nap and the sheer amount of stress Aramis had put him through.
The heat that surrounded him was similar to that experienced when sitting too close to a campfire during a mission in the frozen woodlands of Paris, desperation to be warm warring with the uncomfortable prickling feeling of excess heat and being roasted alive. It was not all that surprising therefore that he began to wriggle uncomfortably, freezing when arms that he hadn't noticed wrapped around his waist tightened, and pulled him closer to another warm body, a small frozen nose nuzzling in to his neck as dark curls tickled his nose.
"Damnit" he cursed softly, huffing out a put upon breath at the impossible position he was in. It was clear that Aramis had not been sleeping when he was alone and yet here he was desperate to get out of bed with a sleeping Aramis sprawled on top of him. He couldn't bear to disturb the peaceful rest of his brother, knowing the pain and tribulations the world would bring him but unfortunately he had a pressing need that was making staying where he was rather difficult.
"Wassit?" a sleepy grumble floated over him from behind his head, the owner of the voice clearly not entirely awake. After having registered that it was D'artagnan's hand that was fisted in the material of his shirt, he realised that it could only be Porthos behind him who had asked the question.
"Need to get up" he groaned in response "Mis is in the way, come to think of it though you all are" He began to impatiently pull his legs out of the knot that had formed at the end of the bed, uncaring of whose shins he gave a solid kick to, as long as it wasn't Aramis' because that would have just been cruel.
"A'right you grumpy so and so" Porthos chuckled, pushing himself up onto an elbow to survey the complex puzzle that was the pile of brothers "I think we can get you out without wakin im"
He gently reached over and uncurled D'artagnan's fist where it had a vice like grip on Athos shirt and gently lay it down beside him before turning to Aramis. As carefully as he could he began to slowly shift Aramis legs until they were lying flat side by side and then unlocked his arms from around Athos' waist. Both conscious men froze in place at the low whine the sleeping man emitted, tossing his head slightly in distress before sighing softly and settling back to sleep. Athos and Porthos let out a breath they didn't even know they had been holding and shared a relieved look as Porthos finally detached Aramis from his brother and tucked the blankets carefully around him.
Porthos turned around to Athos, a smirk on his lips "there you go Mr impatient…" he trailed off as the tail end of Athos' breeches whipped out the door, the man having leapt out of bed and hared out of the room as fast as he could.
Big belly laughs could be heard echoing around the room as Porthos threw his head back and roared with laughter, unable to contain himself at Athos' uncharacteristic show.
"Porthos?"
Silence fell immediately in the room.
"Aww shit Mis, I didn't mean to wake you" Porthos apologised, a guilty look on his face "how are you feeling?"
The bed dipped as the big musketeer sat down on the edge and Aramis rolled slightly towards him, unable to stop his momentum he ended up almost crashing into Porthos. Big hands grabbed him gently by the shoulders, settling him more securely against the pillows.
"It's alright mon amis, you didn't wake me, Athos kicked me ages ago" he revealed with a cheeky smile.
"So you were awake that whole time you rascal!" he gave his friend a gentle nudge in a jesting reprimand, glad that he felt well enough to mess around with them.
"I couldn't be bothered to get up and besides it was much too amusing watching you both attempt to untangle us, why ruin free entertainment?" Aramis gave a graceful shrug as if to say what do you expect and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"And just where do you think you're going?"
"Umm, getting up?" Aramis asked uncertainly.
"No, you know what happens now" Athos stated dryly as he walked calmly through the door, fully clothed and looking a lot less ruffled and more like his usual straight laced self. A thick cloth bundle weighted down his left hand and with his right he was cradling a bowl of water and some cloths which he dropped unceremoniously onto the bed beside Porthos.
The injured man fixed them both with his best pathetic puppy dog eyes, attempting to look as pitiable as possible in an attempt to avoid what was coming next.
"Oh no you don't" Porthos scolded with a chuckle "that don't work on us and you know it"
"Yes, we aren't the women that you charm Mis" Athos seconded.
A tense twenty minutes later and the ordeal was over, Aramis breathing a sigh of relief as he was released from his friends clutches. It never bothered him the getting injured part, if it was to protect his friends then he would deal with any pain, it was the aftercare that really got on his nerves. If there was one thing he hated it was forcing his friends to care for him, particularly if they were in a bind themselves. Plus one of his worst vices was pride, he wanted his brothers to know that he was capable of caring for himself.
"Mis you with us?" Porthos' voice filtered slowly through the mire of thoughts floating in his head and he blinked lethargically up into his friends scarred face, warm hands cupping his face.
"Hmm, oh yes" he murmured distractedly smiling at the concern that sent a flare of warmth shooting through his body.
A/N: Sorry about this chapter, I have had very little time and couldn't write as much as I wanted to! Luckily it's the Christmas hols now so I should have more time despite having to revise so I should hopefully be able to update more often! As usual let me know what you think :D
