Who: D’Artagnan and Athos When: Mid- March Where: Their place What: Relaxing Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
The last couple nights he’d been sleeping miserably, it was exhausting. There was no real reason he could think of that was disturbing his sleep and causing these migraines and yet there they were. He’d gone back to taking the medication his doctor had prescribed for them but found it wasn’t one hundred percent.
He stared up at the sky, the one nice thing about being away from the city was there were actual stars to look at. It wasn’t a thing he’d had before with his previous apartment. He’d actually had his feet in the pool for once. The water was a nice warm temperature, yet his mind was elsewhere.
He’d gotten to thinking about the upcoming wedding, and how with fathers day fast approaching his dad wouldn’t be there. He shook his head as if to clear it of ridiculous thoughts and looked down at the ripples in the water his feet made instead as though they were severely interesting.
Athos, having been on a late afternoon shift, didn’t realise how bad D’Artagnan’s sleeping had been. When he got home Athos tended to be awake so he’d sit and watch some television with Grimmy until he felt sleepy and then join his fiance hoping not to wake him.
He’d been surprised by D’Artagnan’s text and worried too. He didn’t like it when he had interrupted sleep and he’d hoped they’d sorted that out. It had been horrible to see him so tired and down all the time before. Taking coffee and a little bit of cake outside his heart went out to his lover who looked so sad in his thoughts just then. Setting the tray down to one side of D’Artagnan, having made noise so as not to startle him, he sat down on the other side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders pressing a kiss to his temple, “Talk to me love”
Sleep often got to being an issue when the dreams came into play. It was true he had more of those lately, but they weren’t the main thing on his mind. These new sets of dreams weren’t quite as potent as the first round. He hadn’t woken with injuries or anything of the like due to them yet. Mainly just headaches or hangovers. He wondered if this one was connected, but wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of it being their fault.
He heard Athos approaching and smiled a little as he felt his arms around him and saw the items he brought. “Thank you.” He touched Athos’s hand with his own and shrugged gently. “I was talking to Aramis a while ago about his big family wedding thing. I’ve never even met your parents. Are they still...alive?” He didn’t mean to sound callous about it, but his own fathers death caused him not to sugar coat things anymore like that. He didn’t know any other way to ask.
"No, they aren't. I'd have introduced you by now if they were" he assured him, realising at least some of the cause for the melancholy. "I'm sorry love. But we're building our own family with Aramis, Porthos, Rose" he wanted D'Artagnan to realise they could still be family even with the lose of their parents. He nodded to that. “I’m sorry. It’s probably not a thing I should ask.” He’d been seeing people complain about such things lately though. “My mom might be, but I don’t really know her. Or even where she is.” He admitted with a small frown as he reached for the coffee and sipped at it. “I can’t remember much about her.”
“Hey” Athos said, stroking his cheek, “You can ask me anything you like darling. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know” He didn’t want him to think he would ever mind talking to D’Artagnan, in fact the younger man was probably one of the only people he didn’t mind talking to. “We could look for her, if you wanted to” he offered softly kissing his shoulder.
D’Artagnan leaned into his touch and closed the eye nearest his fingers and set the coffee down. “I guess it’s just been watching all these truth posts about people and their parents and their little complaints and it got me thinking about that stuff.” He paused to look over at the bit of cake Athos had also brought out. Honestly he was a bit surprised any remained, still he was determined to find Athos’s sugar hiding places some day. “I’m still trying to figure out if it matters or not. She hasn’t tried to find me in over twenty years. Why should I care that she comes?”
“You’re allowed to think about that kind of stuff D’Artagnan, it’s natural when you see it all over the place” Athos said, moving his hand to stroke his arm. “Maybe she had a reason” he offered, he wasn’t sure what it could have been. He couldn’t imagine anybody not wanting to be with D’Artagnan all the time, he was such a wonder.
“I sort of miss those things.” He and his father didn’t always get along, but even the arguments were a thing D’Artagnan missed sometimes. He leaned back in Athos’s embrace and stole a bite of the cake.”Maybe.” He didn’t know what else to say about the woman that wouldn’t have sounded cruel or uncaring. He pulled his feet out of the water and let them air dry beside them. “My toes are all pruny.” He made a face.
“Yeah I know” Athos said honestly, because he did understand. He missed his parents too sometimes, even at his age. He got the feeling that never really went away.He pressed a kiss to D’Artagnan’s hair and nuzzled into him. “Mmm they’re cute” he said, reaching out to tweak a toe.
D’Artagnan hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye to his. But it had been quite a while now since it happened. He wasn’t nearly as singularly obsessed with finding his father's murderer as he used to be. Athos gave him some peace. Being loved by him allowed him to relax a little and not always be on guard.. He laughed at that. "So weird." He smiled as he squirmed out of reach. "You even brought me cake . I think I'll keep you. " He teased lightly, though his head still ached.
It was no doubt much worse for D’Artagnan who’d had his father taken from him so horribly but Athos would be glad to know he’d brought him some kind of peace. He was definitely going to be loved for as long as Athos was alive, he’d never felt feelings as strong as those he felt for D’Artagnan. He chuckled as his fiance squirmed away, squeezing his shoulders and rubbing his arm. “I did, I figure if I keep up with the sweet treats you’ll let me stay” he teased back.
He was happier these days and it wasn’t hard to see. A lot of it had to do with Athos. D’Artagnan could only smile at that. "For now. But I also recall something about a massage? " He leaned against him and up to kiss his jaw.
Athos smiled and stole a kiss from D’Artagnan’s lips, “I think I did promise that” he said pulling back a little, “Out here or inside?” he asked, they had a lounger that D’Artagnan could lay on but inside he’d be more comfortable.
He returned that kiss gently before standing reluctantly. "Inside I think. And with those. " He knelt to get the coffee and cake Athos had gotten him. As if he was going to pass up sweets. "One of these days I'm going to figure out where you've hid these things you know. "
“And then I will just have to find new hiding places” Athos told him with a smirk, he was fairly sure it would remain safe for a while yet. After all their house was fairly large. “Come on, rest and relaxation await you inside love” he said wrapping an arm around him and tucking him in close to his side.
"Rude. " So far he hadn’t been able to find it but there was still time. He let Athos lead him inside. It was warmer inside, he really should have come in sooner. D’Artagnan preferred the warmth. "Cake and massages I think I can get used to this"
Athos smiled, he hid things very well. It helped that he knew where D’Artagnan was likely to look and never hid things in those places. “Anytime you like love” he said, leading them into their bedroom so D’Artagnan could lay on the bed, “Any scent preference?” he grinned, as he moved to the little basket of oils he had for this kind of thing.
“You sure you aren’t some kind of saint?” He grinned as he lie down and got comfortable, pulling off his shirt. He had a few scars now from the last attack but all the injury was healed by now. “You aren’t too tired for this love?” He knew it was late and he had woken him in the first place. He still felt bad about that. He raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the items. “ I didn’t know there were scents.”
"Far from saintly" Athos said leaning down to press a kiss to D'Artagnan's back now that he was laying down. "Nope this is going to relax us both. I promise" he was a little tired but he'd be fine. "Mmm unscented too but I like the nice soft smells. Like this" he opened one and brought it close for him to smell, leather and pine.
He smiled at that little kiss and rested his arms under his chin for a moment as he gave the different scents a try. "Hmm. Leather? " He recognized that one. It caused a pink hue to rise to his cheeks. However in the end he chose a mint type of scent. He wasn’t quite convinced yet that this wasn't a sex thing. But hell, he wouldn’t turn it down if it went that way. "Unsurprising you have leather scents in there." He teased softly as he got comfortable.
It could be a sex thing if they wanted it to be but it could also just be a relaxing thing, which was where Athos was aiming. Had D’Artagnan picked the leather then there would have been little chance of it staying at just relaxing however. Dripping some of the oil onto his hands Athos warmed it for a moment before letting his hands touch D’Artagnan’s skin, “Well that just had to be done” he replied with a smile as he let his strong hands rub the soft smooth skin.
It was a new sensation for D’Artagnan, the warmed oil on his skin. He’d never actually had a massage like this. An amused look touched dark eyes just before they closed partially. Content, he watched him move out of the corner of his eyes. “Hm..” Was all he said thoughtfully as he felt his body begin to relax under Athos’s touch. “Was Aramis acting odd to you at all recently?” It was a bit of a random question, one he didn’t really want to emphasize on but was sure he’d have to at some point. He just wasn’t sure how.
Athos had given a couple of massages before and had a fairly good technique, D’Artagnan made it easy since he was rather receptive to Athos’ touch. “Aramis? Not that I noticed but it’s been awhile since I’ve properly spoken to him” he replied, hands moving firmly and sure over D’Artagnan’s skin, “Why? Do you think something is wrong?”
“I don’t know..He kept going on about how terrible my name was a bit ago. Figured he was joking at first, but it actually started to annoy me. He typically doesn’t.” He didn’t make a big deal out of it, but it had gotten rather obnoxious to hear how terrible his name was three times over. He let his eyes slide shut as Athos’s hands touched the right sore spots.
“Your name? How did that come up?” he asked curiously, he didn’t like the idea that their friend had made D’Artagnan uncomfortable or self conscious in any way. It didn’t sound like him. He let his hands work out the knots and tightness in D’Artagnan’s frame as they spoke voices soft in the room.
"We were just talking about baby names. " He wasn't all that bothered but at the time it had been odd. "Maybe it just has to do with the new dreams I don't know. I didn't feel like pressing as to why. " He breathed evenly, it was tempting to sleep but he would have just felt bad after having woken Athos so he just focused on the sound of his voice. "It's not really a big deal I suppose. Just odd."
“Ah I see. Well try not to let it bother you. Maybe it is the new dreams or maybe he’s just worrying about becoming a dad and getting married and everything” Athos worked his hands down D’Artagnan’s back and pressed a kiss in the middle of his shoulder blades. “I happen to love your name, just so you know”
"He wasn't wrong. I didn't always like it. But I didn't care to hear it from someone else. " He gave Athos an amused look and a lazy type of eye roll. "You might be a bit biased love. But thank you. " Or had mostly just seemed off. But he gave a gentle shrug. "Might be it. I never imagined him the kid sort."
“He shouldn’t have said it, whether he didn’t mean it that way or not” he replied, smiling at the next comment because he might be a little biased. “No, I imagine it’s rather a lot to take in. We’ll keep an eye on him and see if anything else is off” and make sure that he wasn’t mean again.
"It's fine love. Really. You don't need to be so on guard. I'm sure it was just his nerves or something. " He just wanted things to run smoothly like they did in the first set of dreams. He wasn’t overly a fan of the current set.
Athos nodded, “Okay. I’ll try to sit on my protectiveness” he said with a smile as he moved his hands up to work on D’Artagnan’s neck.
D’Artagnan relaxed at that, Athos really didn’t need to get so protective. It made him worry that one day he might overtax himself with it. “Mm Any time I want for this right? You may regret that decision.” He could no longer fight the sleep that tugged at him.
He needn’t have worried, protectiveness came instinctively for Athos - especially when it came to those he loved. “Anytime” he said softly, working his fiances muscles until he did fall asleep.