Athos doesn't say the words, but Aramis feels it in the frame of him when he is kissed, a rigidness in his muscles born of an anxiety that Athos can't quite hide. Aramis catches him by the shoulders and pulls him in again, this time kissing him as filthily as he knows how.

"Porthos," he says when he steps back, nodding at Athos to say that he should carry him. "If you would." And with that Aramis returns to the bedroom, already pulling off his shirt. Truly, it's a wonder he even bothered putting it on at all.