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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"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."