du_vallon | (no subject)

After the last few weeks, Porthos has been stressed to the point that he's not entirely sure how much more of it he can take. The problem is that all of it is expected and normal and it's not like he can tell Athos to stop wanting d'Artagnan and Constance back or to feel different about the commission. He can't tell Aramis not to feel so full of grief at the child, but it's starting to wear on him and he's snapping a lot easier than usual.

Two nights ago, he'd gone to the country to crash on Jim's couch, but he finds he needs another night away when the air in the apartment starts to get too tense. This time, he stays in the building and heads for Allison's with blanket and pillow in hand, knocking on her door. Maybe time is really all they need. Time and not searching for someone who's disappeared.

Still, until then, Porthos really needs to just not be around the two men he loves the most, because there's no way he's going to burden them with his own issues right now. He needs to work through them himself because he'd die before bringing them more stress.

"Allison, s'me."

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Allison had come in early from her usual patrol, bone tired from working herself too hard. She couldn't help it, it was just hard to find peace anymore. She only found it on the street, in the dark...or on one of Jason's bikes (she still couldn't bring herself to think of them as hers).

But she could only take so much, and she was just removing her red clip in streaks when the knock sounded at the door. She froze, until the familiar voice bellowed his identity.

With a huff, she made sure all her streaks were out, shed her hoodie, and tossed on a robe over her body armor so she could answer the door without being made. One look at the pillow and blanket in his hand was enough to turn her blood cold.

"Okay, first? I have blankets and pillows, you're an idiot," she huffed, catching his arm and hauling him into her apartment, "and second? Start talking: what happened? Did you and Uncle Athos or Grandpere have a fight? Should I be worried? I already come from a broken home, y'know, if you guys are bickering I'll smack all three of you."

"I like my blankets and pillow more," he admits under his breath in stubborn defiance as he shuffles inside, giving her a slightly dubious look for the robe. "And we're not bickering, not really," he admits, sinking down onto her sofa as he rubs his face, leaning forward as he lets the exhaustion seep into his bones. "Lots has happened and I know that making Athos and Aramis deal with my coping might be too much for either of them right now."

"And I don't want to snap at them," he admits. "I just want to make sure they both have time."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Allison shut the door behind him, then started unknotting the belt of her robe.

"Don't scare me like that, okay?" she huffed, rolling her eyes at his reaction. "And put your eyes back into your head."

Shedding her robe, she revealed the black body armor underneath, tossing the robe over the arm of a chair.

"Just got back from patrolling." she explained, striding over to kiss his forehead and tousle his mop of dark curls. "Relax, you can stay here as many nights as you want. You can even patrol at the same time as me...same time, not with me, we can't be seen together when I'm wearing the mask. I don't want anyone thinking you're teaming with the Alpha, it'll make you a target. Make yourself comfortable, I'm gonna change into my civvies and make some tea. We can talk about what's bugging you over chamomile and mufffins, okay?"

He fixes his hair, knowing it's become a mess. He'd cut it only six weeks ago, but with all the chaos, hasn't had time to do any trims and so it's grown faster than usual into the mop it is right now. He's still not entirely pleased with her nightly activities, but is better because he knows about them now. It's the secrecy he hadn't been happy with.

He stretches out as he sets his things on the couch, gripping the edge. "Just the one night," he promises. "I want to give them space, but more than one night in a row and Aramis'll be up here to limpet me half to death."

"Maybe you need it. Maybe you all need it...I don't care what time you come from, men are all the same." she groused, mostly good naturedly as she padded back towards her room, unzipping her body armor as she walked with her back to Porthos. Leaving the door open so they could talk, she shoved it off the second she was inside the door. "You're all mules, you're all suffering...all three of you are married, you shouldn't be giving each other space. You should be coming together."

As if to agree, a little black blur suddenly appeared on the back of the couch, at the opposite end where Porthos sat...Todd, who had jumped up from somewhere on the floor. Padding over to him, the lean, massive tomcat wasted no time in trying to climb on Porthos's shoulder so he could nuzzle at his face with an indignant mowrr at having been ignored by both his mistress and their visitor.

Porthos gives her a mild look as she rambles, adjusting his position on the couch to coax Todd into his arms with a settled little smile, starting to rub his thumb up and down the little nose before him. "Two of us are married," he corrects, "and we date Athos."

"I started snapping at them, Allison," he confesses. "I was so tired and Athos wouldn't stop our searching and I wanted to do it, but I was just so tired. And Aramis has put me on uneasy ground. I don't know how to rebalance."

"Well that should change!" Allison called out, finding Beta curled up in her dog bed on the floor of her bedroom. Stripping off her body armor as Beta's head lifted and her ears went straight up with interest, Allison continued talking while Beta set to the task of sniffing urgently at the new lump of material on the floor. "Maybe plural marriages aren't legal, but you could still put a ring on it!"

Was there such a thing as a common law plural marriage?...

Pushing the thought aside, Allison swiftly changed into her pajamas, then put her body armor away as Porthos continued. Picking up Beta, she returned to the living room with a sympathetic look, where Todd had taken up happy residence in the big man's arms to be petted and cuddled.

"What did Aramis do that could possibly make you uneasy?" she asked with concern as she carried Beta over to put on the couch beside Porthos. Immediately, the Silky Terrier was in Porthos's lap, first to sniff and lick at Todd's face, then to do the same for Porthos, focusing on his nose for some reason that only made sense to her.

"I don't know that Athos ever wants to marry again," Porthos points out gently, because it's been hard enough to get him into a relationship. He can't imagine broaching the subject of trying to get him to put a ring on, let alone sign those sorts of papers. He takes a deep breath and pulls the animals closer to him as he shifts.

He shrugs, at the question. "It's more that after everything, he's started to question kids. He doesn't really want them right now and I've spent the last year preparing myself mentally for just that. It's really hard to turn off, Allison."