It was bound to happen some time - OTA

[averygoodshot]

Aramis keenly remembers teasing Porthos when he had stepped through the door and become a woman. He had teased d'Artagnan and even Athos.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. He had not intended to do anything, really. He spent a good deal of his time praying, a good deal of time trying to atone for his sins.

Instead, this is what happens.

Much as his friends had, he has hitched his clothing tighter so that it may not fall down, and has fashioned something of a harness for ... well, for his new developments, as it were. He knows he could seek out Constance or even, if he was desperate, Milady, but he is not that desperate. He simply makes do and tells himself that God has a reason for everything.

He has always appreciated women and so maybe this is to test that? Who knows. Aramis does not question, at least not much. He is aware, though, that he looks a little foolish, his hair tied up, his clothing, baggy on him as a man, is like a series of large sacks on him, his boots far too big as he makes his way down the hallways. He smiles, though, not having a hat to tip, as he greets people. He knows he's not the only one who's suffered thusly. That's something anyway.

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[averygoodshot]

Perhaps were it earlier in their relationship, Aramis would have pressed; he has been known to have quite the ego.

Now, knowing what he knows, having experienced what he's experienced, he ducks his head, picking up his glass of wine, raising it in a toast of thanks. "Have I caught you at a bad time?" he asks. Not that Athos drinking is all that unusual, of course. But he figures he should ask.

[armedagainstlove]

"Habits are hard to break," Athos confesses, because his life has been somewhat decent as of late, if you rule out a war with Spain, a new captaincy, and the tentative truce on hotel grounds that he's established with his wife. He's been waiting for her and unfortunately, the wine is an old habit that flows rather hard. "Do I dare ask what trouble you're going to seek, like this?"

[averygoodshot]

"I do not wish for trouble," Aramis tells him, looking down at his laced fingers; how thin they are, how delicate-seeming (and he already had quite lithe fingers before he found himself in this form.

"Even if I cannot be at the monastery, I am ... I am attempting to atone for my sins and devote my life as best I can." He says it in that sincere way of his that can at times come across as wry, even in his female form.

[armedagainstlove]

Athos raises a brow at Aramis to ask if he's really supposed to believe that. Even at the monastery, it is hard to imagine Aramis without the quintessential shadow of trouble following him around. "And how do you imagine turning into a woman fits in with your atonement?" he wonders.

[averygoodshot]

"I don't know," Aramis admits with a small sigh. "Perhaps to deepen my sense of understanding? I ... don't know."

Whether the others believe it or not, he has been suffering. He feels quite terrible for all that happened and well aware of his role in the goings-on with Rochefort. He's just not sure that he can do anything about it beyond trying. He's trying.

[armedagainstlove]

"And has an errant charming man come around to seduce you in order to get into your unladylike trousers?" Athos wonders, because if this is truly a reversal of the norm, then he would expect precisely that to be happening. "Is there another Aramis in the world?"

[averygoodshot]

"So far, there have been no offers," Aramis says, smiling just a little in amusement at that idea. "But your question begs another: were you approached when you were in female form?"

He really would have liked to see that, actually.

[armedagainstlove]

Athos calmly raises his brow and sips his drink, electing not to answer Aramis' question with any words whatsoever, choosing instead to let Aramis' imagination fill in the gaps. "Has Porthos and d'Artagnan seen you like this, yet?" he asks, instead.

[averygoodshot]

That silence sounds like a 'yes' to Aramis. Well, well, well.

"Not yet," Aramis says. "Perhaps one of them has some clothing I can borrow. If not, I shall seek out Constance." The trousers specifically, have so much superfluous material that it is very difficult to walk.

[armedagainstlove]

Athos will be no help in that. He had spent his entire time as a woman in a man's clothes (specifically his own ill-fitting ones) and he knows that won't suit Aramis. "And what mischief do you plan on embarking on? I only ask to prepare myself for the worst case scenario."

[averygoodshot]

"Athos."

Aramis sighs again, brushing stray hair back from his face again. "It is not my desire, nor my plan to seek mischief. I do believe I have caused enough trouble for a lifetime, don't you agree?"

He sounds and looks tired, even as woman as he says it. He knows how close he came to dying; he has no wish to feel that close again.

[armedagainstlove]

"And I also know that sometimes, troubles find you without you even meaning them to," he counters, shaking his head at the thought that Aramis could somehow go without. "You are a touch too beautiful for me to be unconcerned," he says, and it is cutting and not meant to be a compliment, but Aramis may take it as such, if he so wishes.

[averygoodshot]

There is a part of Aramis which will always take a compliment if it is there to be taken, but to his credit, he doesn't exactly preen.

"If you are propositioning me," he does tease, though, dryly, "I will have to decline."

[armedagainstlove]

"I'm a married man," is Athos' calm reply, given that he doubts Anne would have qualms about this situation, mainly in that she would likely spend it laughing at him, but it is still not something Athos wants to pursue. "I assure you, your virtue is not something I'm after."

[averygoodshot]

Athos's comment about his marital status is what Aramis decides to focus on. "Milady is here, is she not? Are you two .... ?"

He leaves the rest unstated, seeing if Athos will fill it in. He does not dislike the woman, really, seeing as she did help him escape the prison (or rescued him, he supposes).

[armedagainstlove]

"She is," he confirms, but is not sure that he is ready to tell Aramis the whole of it. He owes him the truth, however, as much as he had owed Constance this. He sips at his drink carefully as he regards Aramis in this strange form, finding it disturbing and easier to look at, all at once. "Our marriage stands, here under this roof."

[averygoodshot]

Well. The power of love.

If Aramis cannot have love (and does, in a way, not deserve it), then at least the others can. And it seems d'Artagnan and Athos do. Good.

Aramis nods, smiling just a little. "I'm glad for you, Athos."

[armedagainstlove]

"You may be one of the few," is what he has to say on the subject because while Athos is happy to finally be given a chance with Anne without the politics at France tearing them apart, they both have sins on their backs that are hard to escape from and people like Constance remind him of that.

"Still, it has left him very much taken. You will have to use your wiles elsewhere," he deadpans.

[averygoodshot]

"Ah well," Aramis says, smiling easily enough. "I suppose I will live another day."

But he does hold his glass aloft. "To love."

[armedagainstlove]

"To ridiculous feats of the heart," Athos agrees with a sigh, though he is still smiling by the end of it. He may put on an act, but he truly is happy to be able to have this chance with Anne, despite what others may think of it. "And what will you do, then? In this body?"

[averygoodshot]

"I don't know," Aramis answers honestly. "I am feeling compelled to continue as I have, staying in my room and praying." He can avoid that trouble that Athos is so sure will find him that way. "But do you have anything you'd recommend?" he asks, smiling a little crookedly.

[armedagainstlove]

"Alcohol numbs the worst of it," is Athos' best advice, because he had been a mess during his forced transition to womanhood, drinking until nothing had been steady and straight and he could forget what had happened to him. Then, Anne had helped in that, too, though it is not a suggestion he wishes to pass along wto Aramis. "Do not tease d'Artagnan and Porthos too heavily," he warns sternly.

[averygoodshot]

If there would be anything which would be fun, it would be that. Ah, well.

Aramis lets out a teasing sigh and nods. He doesn't plan, either, to drink himself numb: that hasn't ever been his way, really. "You are making me think that staying in my room is the best plan."

[armedagainstlove]

"At times, locking you in a room has been my dearest wish," Athos deadpans, though he does not mean it at all. It is only that Aramis has a particular habit of finding trouble that Athos finds despairing at times, because of all the mess he must clean up. "Still, perhaps you might tease Porthos and d'Artagnan a little," he concedes.

[averygoodshot]

"Perhaps I will," Aramis says, smiling a little. But most likely, he will keep to himself as best he can.

(He does, though, get lonely, he finds. He tries not to miss what he cannot have.)

"Would you like me to keep you apprised of my actions?" he asks, the idea amusing in and of itself.