The moment he picked up the champagne, Allison promptly snatched at it, trying to take it from his hand as she stood, filling a couple more flutes on the open bar of the kitchen facing her living room.

"You are not allowed to have champagne until you help me drink some of this brandy everyone's been bringing." she admonished lightly, pointing at the open bottle near his elbow. "I think three different people have brought brandy tonight, including you and Uncle Porthos, and I'm totally not brave enough to ever attempt enough flambe recipes in my life to use it all up."

She finished pouring, then gave Aramis a sidelong look, laden with playful suspicion to hide her nervous energy. "I will make an exception, however, if you give me a full report, right now, on what you think of Jason."