Perry's had a lot of life experiences-many more than his erstwhile assistant, he's sure, but it doesn't change how the guy can emote. He only watches his performances in secret, under the guise of being 'out', working.
And yet, after everything he's done, been through, seen, he couldn't help but feel life after Harry was a shock. He was an idiot, sure, but everything else seemed to change, all at once.
Perry got a flood of new clients after Harry slowly but surely charmed the wealthy socialites who wanted their husbands caught on camera with the maid. [Or pool boy, in one case]. He had a way of getting along with people, making him an incredible secretary. An asset.
Perry's been told he's a little abrasive sometimes. He can't help it.
Neither of them discuss the amount of business Harry's able to pull in, the way he gets Perry twice as much work as he's ever had. He doesn't lord it over him; really he seems uncomfortable with any mention of competence on his part at all. It's like he prefers everyone think he's nice but stupid.
It's his knee jerk reaction, and Perry will have his own reaction if he ever finds out who taught him to feel that way.
Of course, to balance Harry's positives out, he still does things like accidentally put a camera in the fridge once and fall asleep on the couch, head resting on Perry's rolled up old sweater.
It makes him feel things, seeing him look so young in his sleep, face pillowed on Perry's clothes.
It was strange, feeling something real for someone. In his town, things like that rarely happened. Harry seemed to be impervious to the corruption and cruelty of L.A.. He had even started acting in recurring television roles.
[Perry had obviously forced him to use a fake name that he most emphatically did not let him choose.]
And it wasn't just Perry who felt oddly sincere about his little friend. It was Harry, too. He could tell, even if only from the way he would sit beside him on the couch. Harry was soft, in every way-he seemed to melt into his side, next to him; the way he talks and talks, but clams up if another man tries to engage with him too friendly-ish. Perry kind of likes being the one guy in Harry's life, or person in his life. It's not like he's got any women.
The reality is, Harry starts making more money with constant roles than the actual P.I. office does. [It's an unspoken reality.] He still comes with him sometimes, and does all the paperwork and phone calls, but mostly he's just out acting, on set.
At home, Perry gave him his own room, but it still looks terrible. It has barely anything of Harry's.
He just didn't have much. It upsets Perry somehow, but he can just manage to restrain himself from asking where his stuff is. Where did it go? Everyone has random stuff, pointless things. Childhood mementos, clutter. But Harry has almost nothing.
His room stands empty for days and days; it doesn't seem to bother Harry, but then, not much does. Sure he whines a little, and rambles a lot, but he doesn't really talk about his thoughts. His opinions.
[Like why is he living with Perry? They never talk about it. Harry never really mentions his orientation, and when rude little bastards call him his bitch, he just laughs. He technically pays Harry, but he had to set his bank account up himself-and Perry knows he doesn't use the money. He only uses his acting cash, and is apparently paid half in it as well. The other half goes into the bank.
He checks his accounts just to protect him, god knows the producers could screw him or something. Somebody's got to look out for him. And he gets job after job, until he really has enough to go live on his own quite comfortably. Not that Perry informs him of it.
He can see the signs of change in himself-the attachment, the comfort. And it's there vice versa: Harry looks to him for safety, and for approval.
Perry's just worried that he's alone in looking to his little friend for love, too. He's already got the other two. Harry always speaks of him like he's some heroic character-yes, Perry listens in on a lot of his conversations. Harry's got a loud voice, okay? It's not like it's intentional. And while he might not be able to fight his way out of a cardboard box, Perry does feel safe with him.
Safe, as in he'd never hurt him, he cares about him. If he hears Perry having a nightmare, he's come in before, and sat on the bed next to him, and talked and put an arm around him. He never mentions it the next day, or ever, really. All without any uncomfortable talk.]
Sometimes, Harry's the best.
So Perry ends up realizing he's unconsciously kept buying him things just to fill up that discomfiting empty space. It's a troubling thought. He's tried to keep from thinking about how attached he is to Harry, how much he enjoys having someone around. Harry is such a sweet, funny person by nature-Perry thought people like him didn't exist. But Harry is real, going over his lines in his room, endlessly walking back and forth, talking to himself. And he has this type of innocence, this weird sincerity, that draws him in. He wants to have him, and protect him from the world, all at once.
You can't really hear to much out in the hall, but Perry has listened to him go over his lines. It's mostly disjointed words. He'd expected Harry to brag about his paychecks from set, but instead he never mentions them at all. They just keep getting direct deposited to Perry's account. [He set him up as a subsidiary family member, so it's technically his account as well. Of course, he never seems to think things like dates or times are important, so it's lucky he's got Perry.]
The whole thing means Harry found his checkbook, made a void check and gave it to the accounting people. He'd kind of just assumed that he'd take all the money in cash, but no. He's very off the grid, cash only, random disposable cell phone-very ready to be a flew the coop story. Harry never mentions money either, despite being his dependent [and putting it in that joint account]. To be fair, Perry doesn't talk either.
It's too creepy, to mention he's almost had him move in as a type of boyfriend. Perry cooks them breakfast, they constantly hang out together-it's like nobody's naming what's obvious. He's worried that Harry won't react well to being the focus of positive emotion, he just eschews it.
Even with that Harmony woman, it was all 'no, no, you're right', and 'I wish I could have someone like you someday'. Like he couldn't imagine someone loving him.
Perry's got news for him, but he's just too avoidant. Harry might talk a lot, but he also skates by anything emotional, meaningful or serious. And he can't approach the subject at all. It's too serious, too real. It's so much easier to keep things as the status quo day after day.