Chapter 3 – Beastly Friendship

WARNING – Dubious Consent in the first scene.

-:-:-

Just because they were in Auradon didn't mean Evie stopped teasing him. If anything, the stress of maintaining a perfect persona and networking with Queen Snow had Evie more eager to play with Harry more often than not. And Harry, he couldn't argue with the medical supplies they were regularly shipping back to the Isle for the specific care of the Wharf Rats, so he thought nothing of spreading his legs, even if he wasn't entirely easy with how much he was beginning to enjoy it.

Well, aspects of it, maybe. But that was normal. Any hormonal teenage boy would feel the same getting that kind of attention, Harry was pretty sure. There was no shame at the prospect of getting worked up when a pretty girl felt inclined to touch you.

He just maybe wished that she'd refer to him as he actually was now that they didn't have anyone to put a show on for. But of course she didn't, because she was in charge and she needed him to remember that.

"Have you been a good girl?" Evie would ask, eyes sparkling with mischief and one hand worked under Harry's skirt, stroking pointedly at the front of his panties. The Auradon sets were designed to accommodate him, so at least there wasn't a threat of popping out of the damn things. Instead he got to feel the constant taunt of silk against him, something that worsened when she teased the spot where the head of his length strained against the panties, brushing against the wetness he couldn't help but produce.

"Y-Yes," Harry panted, trying to play along. He kept his hands pressed against the bed, as per Evie's instruction, and they shuddered under his weight, Harry half reclined as Evie leaned over him.

"Are you sure?" Evie hummed, dipping low to toy with his sack, rubbing the silk against him like a stubborn tease. "I think you've been naughty." She paused, and a fool might think that was the end of it, but Harry knew she was building up the dramatic tension. "I think you've been dreaming of Chad."

At that, Harry's breath caught, mostly because she had completely blindsided him, and she rewarded this with another firm stroke to the head of his length.

"So it's true?" she continued, fondling him in shifts that were just enough to feel good but not enough to get him anywhere. "You've been thinking of him when you pleasure yourself?"

"Y-Yes, Evie," Harry moaned, because they had a system in place for these kinds of roleplay sessions. Evie said it was like the rules of improv, how his mindset always had to be 'yes, and', following whatever outline she'd established. He could always stop it if he wanted to, of course. They had a codeword for that, something Evie had read about and insisted in implementing, though Harry was often too proud to use it. "I'm sorry-"

"You don't need to be," Evie declared, kissing the curve of Harry's neck as a sort of reward. "He really is a sweetie, it's no wonder you like him."

Harry didn't like him, not like that. He wasn't- he wasn't attracted to guys that way. Gil was the exception, as he was to many things, but Harry couldn't like two guys.

And yet he held his silence.

Perhaps he'd been comparing Chad too much to Gil in his mind. The wheels were turning now.

"Do you imagine him when you play with your clit like this?" Evie asked, finally easing a hand inside Harry's panties and playing with him directly, grinning at how soaked he was. "Do you wish it was his hand on you?"

"Yes," Harry groaned, trailing off with a broken cry when she gave him one definite jerk, her hand sliding in a delicious grind. "I want- I want him to play with me. I want, um- I want him."

"Do you get wet thinking about him?" Evie asked, pulling a hand slick from Harry's juices out from his panties and shifting low to fondle his sack again. "Soak right through your panties thinking of his bashful smile?"

"Yes," Harry moaned, and he was starting to lose track of whether it was fake or not because he couldn't help thinking about Chad's flushed smiles and his simple pleasures and his genuine happiness for people to treat him with some fucking decency.

"Do you wish he'd take these off for you?" Evie asked, toying with the waistband of Harry's underwear. "Pull these right off so he could eat you out?"

"Y-Yes," Harry panted. "But he wouldn't-"

"I think he would," Evie interrupted, reminding him how the game was played. "In fact, I think he should. Chad?"

Harry froze, mostly out of it, though what remained was entirely confused. What was she playing at?

He got his answer a few seconds later, when the door to Evie's closet pushed open to reveal a very flushed Chad, a prominent bulge visible in the groin of his pants.

"Um," the blond said, eyes wide when he shifted his weight with an uneasy expression.

"You heard the lady," Evie said, beckoning Chad over with a tilt of her head. "Get over here."

"Oh wow," Chad said, seeming to entirely mean it when he scrambled into action, and Harry was still so confused because Chad shouldn't be here, and Chad certainly shouldn't want to touch him-

"Just lie back, baby girl," Evie soothed, running a hand through Harry's dark locks. "We've got you."

"Evie," Harry said, tried a hint of warning because she'd said they wouldn't mess with Chad, that they were dedicated to each other.

"It's okay," Evie said, a small warning of her own flashing in her eyes. "Polyamory's perfectly acceptable in Hanover, and if we all like each other, there's no reason to hold back."

She looked at him meaningfully, perhaps waiting for the codeword, but-

Harry wanted to see where this was going. He'd always been one to play with fire, he supposed.

"Can I um- pull off your panties?" Chad asked when he settled between Harry's legs, pushing his skirt up with a heated expression before his lips fell open with a gasp, seeming overwhelmed at the sight of all that wet silk. "They look uncomfortable."

"You should get them off, baby," Evie advised, running a hand through Chad's curls. "You already heard what she said."

"R-Right," Harry panted. "Ye can- but only if ye want."

"I want to," Chad pledged, and then shaking fingers were sliding up the outside of Harry's legs, hesitating on the waistband of his panties before Chad slowly dragged them down.

It was almost comical, the way his eyes widened when Harry's interest was exposed, but to Chad's credit he didn't stop until the panties were off and tossed to the side, leaving Harry bare before his gaze.

"Oh wow," Chad repeated, biting at his bottom lip. "You um- have a very pretty clit, Sonny."

"Ye can call it a dick," Harry said, flushing dark because there had to be some kind of line. "I know what it is."

"Well, it's the prettiest dick ever," Chad said, recovering smoothly. "Could I touch it?"

"Y-Yes," Harry said, feeling ludicrous, heart pounding hard in his chest when Chad crawled forward, one hand tentatively curling around Harry's length. "Chad."

"It's okay," Chad soothed, as though one shift of his hand wasn't enough to have Harry thrashing against the bed for some fucking reason, everywhere the prince touched seemed to burn like fire, though it was a wonderful heat, one that made Harry pulse all the more.

"I used that lotion like you told me to," Chad said, and it took Harry a moment to realize he was talking to Evie.

"Thank you," Evie hummed, content to play with the first mate's hair while Chad got to work. "As you can see, she likes it a lot."

Aphrodisiac, Harry realized belatedly. She'd given Chad a- but why?

Harry didn't know, could only hold on for the ride because he kept fucking leaking, kept twitching and pulsing in Chad's hand until his groin was a proper mess.

"Would you like to rut your length against hers?" Evie asked, the question seemingly innocent were it not for that sparkle of wickedness in her eye. "I think Sonny would like that a lot."

Chad startled. "You want me to- is that allowed?"

"Yes," Evie said, her voice firm, reassuring. "That's perfectly allowed. Assuming you want to."

"I um- I do," Chad admitted, fumbling with his own clothes. And then he was crawling up Harry's body, flushing dark when he tentatively rutted himself and Harry together. "Oh," he croaked, and Harry realized too late that the prince was probably being affected by that lotion as well. "Sonny, Evie."

"Pump you two together," Evie urged, and then Chad fumbled to do just that, which might have been the last of Harry's coherence for the following minutes.

What passed next was a blur of heat. Harry couldn't stop himself from getting worked up, from leaking steady torrents of clear slick until he felt like he was about to fall apart. He and Chad found their release together, and the first had been terrifying, feeling that slickness spatter the underside of his skirt before it caught his groin and that was- that was another guy on him, smearing on his skin, on his most sensitive area, but Harry couldn't even dwell on that because then he was hard again and Chad was pumping them, tan hand sliding through the remnants of their misdeeds-

"Ah," Chad croaked against the curve of his neck because he came again, and again, and after the third time Harry was wondering if it would ever end. It didn't feel like it would. "Sonny, Sonny."

"Do you like it when he paints you, Sonny?" Evie asked, her lips brushing the top of Harry's head. "Do you like the feel of him on you?"

"Y-Yes," Harry panted, and that seemed to be enough to have Chad falling apart again, to have Harry finding his release, until at last it seemed they were done.

"Pretty sight?" Evie asked, nodding to Chad.

The blond flushed, then tentatively pulled back so he could look under Harry's skirt, and though Harry couldn't see anything from his position, he was pretty sure it was an awful mess.

"Y-Yeah," Chad admitted, all bashful and sweet with his length still very much hanging out, flushed from exertion and Harry should not look at that.

"Do me a favor and put her panties back on?" Evie asked. "She'll want to feel this for a while."

Harry shot her a look while Chad moved to do just that, because she knew damn well if they didn't clean up now that shit was going to dry against Harry's skin, trapping the silk against him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to clean up?" Chad offered when he worked the panties onto Harry's legs. "Just- a few tissues-"

"She wants this," Evie assured, and that was how Chad came to slowly tuck Harry's sodden length into the already wet silk material, which felt disgusting until Evie reached down to palm him, her brows quirked in warning that she had more of that lotion. "You did such a lovely job, babies," Evie said, making Chad flush dark. "Thank you for the show."

"T-Thanks for letting me do that," Chad said, fumbling to put himself back into his own clothes. "I um- that- I really appreciate it, is all."

"We could do it more regularly if you like," Evie said, making Chad freeze. "I meant what I said about polyamory."

"You mean…" Chad perked up. "You meant that?"

"I did," Evie hummed, showing no displeasure at Chad's doubt. "Of course, I prefer to mostly watch or dote myself, but Sonny here will be happy to receive whatever attentions you give her."

"Oh wow," Chad gasped. "So um- just for the record, I now have two girlfriends?"

"Yep," Evie chirped, looking entirely proud of herself. "And we care about you very much. Would you like to seal this with a kiss?"

"Please," Chad said before fumbling forward, trading a tentative kiss with Evie before moving to do the same with Harry.

And Harry, he shouldn't indulge in this, shouldn't dare because this was supposed to be Gil's, but he couldn't help but melt into the contact. From anyone else, he'd be growling, but from Chad- it was Chad, who was always so sweet and hopeful.

If Harry had to kiss a guy that wasn't Gil, he was fine with it being Chad. That seemed fair.

"Lovely," Evie hummed when all was said and done. "Would you like to share a bath with Sonny?"

"Y-Yes, please," Chad said, and that was how Harry came to learn that warm water reactivated the aphrodisiac, which was how he got a writhing Chad Charming in his lap, beautifully naked and flushed and bashful while Evie watched from outside the tub, whispering words of encouragement the entire way.

So.

The evening didn't go entirely how Harry had expected it to.

-:-:-

Later, when Chad was passed out on Harry's bed – curled in a spare set of his pjs because he'd been regularly spending the night in their room for days now when Chad admitted to having nightmares – Harry approached Evie, keeping his voice low.

"I thought ye were worried about people thinking we were gold diggers," he murmured.

"The situation changed," Evie countered simply. "Besides, we've been the ones buying him things. Everyone seems to know he doesn't have much spending cash because of that asshole grandpa of his, it's half the reason people ignore him."

"So what?" Harry asked, somewhat confused. "This is purely an indulgence?"

"Partially," Evie hummed. "Come on, Hook, don't tell me you're not interested. You're the one that first saved him, who cleaned him up and gave him a sweater. You wouldn't do that for just anyone."

Harry felt himself flush. "That's fucking different."

"Because you got to feel like a hero?" Evie countered. "Look, I get it, he reminds you of Gil. Hold onto that. He makes you happy, and if we don't take care of him, who the fuck will?"

She raised a fair point, and the smug grin on her face indicated she knew as much.

"Good," she chirped with an obnoxious flutter of her lashes. "Now get in there and spoon him the way you've been wanting to, and when he wakes up with morning wood, actually do something about it."

"Fine," Harry muttered, as though it was not something he sort of wanted, and she made a show of rolling her eyes at him before ushering him on with a smack to his rear.

Princesses, they were all somewhat crazy

-:-:-

There wasn't a huge difference between dating Chad and not dating him, save for the fact they got to kiss him in between classes now, which always earned a lovely flush from him.

"Oh," Ben said the first time he caught this. "Did you and Evie break up?"

"No," Harry said, squeezing Chad's hand. "We invited Chad to join us."

"Now we're all dating!" Chad chirped. "It's awesome. I'm the luckiest prince ever."

"Flatterer," Harry said, ducking his own head in a bashful reaction that was entirely reflexive, and Chad reached over to press an earnest kiss against his cheek like the doting schmuck he was.

Now that Chad was dating them, they could keep him safely tucked between them at lunch time, which Harry realized may or may not have been Evie's goal the entire time.

"Polyamory?" Aziz echoed while Harry wrapped a lazy arm around Chad's shoulders. "Yeah, that's popular in Hero's kingdom too, right?"

"Right," Evie chirped. "We all care for each other, so we thought it was dumb to exclude Chad just because Central Auradon is so focused on monogamy."

"Sure," Audrey said, poking at her salad. "That's why."

"I think that's awesome, guys," Ben said brightly to combat his girlfriend's grumpiness. "Congratulations."

"The key to this is communication," Queen Snow informed them when they told her about the development. "I entirely support you guys, but remember, you have to talk to each other about everything. Even small things that don't seem important. It is better to have too much communication rather than not enough."

"Yes, your majesty!" Chad cheered, wearing a floral sweater today along with a pretty necklace Ben had given him as a 'symbol of support for his fashion'. The prince had gotten Evie and Harry jewelry too, which hadn't made his girlfriend too happy. "We will definitely do that."

And they did, sort of, for the most part. They did as much as they could in character and were always sure to listen to Chad, who seemed devoted to them with the entirety of his being. So much so that Evie was sure to sit him down and have many discussions about how Chad had to take care of himself and be certain to talk to them if they did something he didn't like because his opinions mattered too, which was a straight forward thing that still somehow left him crying and made Harry want to punch people all over again.

"I love you guys," Chad gushed, wrapping himself around both of them in a hug. "I'm sorry if saying that makes me uncool, but I really love you a lot."

"We love ye too, blondie," Harry said, and he didn't know if he was capable of such a thing, but for Chad, he thought he might be.

"What he said," Evie murmured, and maybe Chad had cried himself to sleep with tears of happiness, but if that was the case, that was no one's business but their own.

-:-:-

Despite their differing schedules, Ben just kind of seemed to always be around.

He'd join their walks between classes and started following Chad back to their room after Tourney practice to work on his own honors homework with Evie. He'd invite them to have dinner in the private dining room of his suite and somehow that would morph to include watching a movie until it was so late they may as well sleep over – tomorrow was a Saturday, after all. And then clothes would be delivered in their size, in their style, and the prince would take all of them out to brunch the next day, and Harry had no idea if he thought he was being subtle, but he strongly suspected Ben didn't care.

Ben broke up with Audrey on a Monday, and Evie and Harry seemed to be the only ones not surprised by this development.

"So," Harry began when he and Evie were alone. "Is he trying to win Chad from us or what?"

"I'm not sure," Evie admitted. "I didn't actually expect him to break up with his girlfriend, we'll have to play it by ear."

"Fair enough," Harry muttered, knowing these political games were far beyond the realm of his understanding.

Ben started inviting them out for other things. Charity tea events he was required to make an appearance at or beach days out on the private stretch of land behind Auradon Castle or picnics at some place called the Enchanted Lake, and every time he seemed to pay equal attention to all of them, flirt equally with all of them, which Chad never registered but Evie and Harry did.

"He's good," Evie would say, pressing her fingers together in thought. "Then again, I should have expected as much."

"Is he luring us into a false sense of security?" Harry asked. "Getting our hopes up before he could frame us for something and get us out of the picture?"

"That's my concern," Evie admitted. "Just don't let him get you alone."

Which was easy, because Ben only ever wanted them together. Which only served to make Evie more suspicious, though she was the master at hiding it.

"My parents are hosting a ball this weekend," Ben began conversationally during one of their homework sessions. "Would you guys like to come with me? Be my honorary dates?"

"What- like, all of us?" Chad asked, a dark flush spilling across the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, exactly," Ben chirped. "Would that give you enough time to prepare?"

"We'll make it work," Evie said sweetly, likely running through options in her mind.

It was Queen Snow that came through in the end. Queen Snow that brought a Hanoven tailor to fit both Evie and Harry for formal gowns.

"Maybe I should sit this one out," Harry said, looking over the design sketches. "I don't want to make ye look bad."

"You couldn't do that if you tried," Queen Snow said, pinning him with a very meaningful look. "We can dress you in male Hanoven formalwear if that will make you more comfortable, but no matter what you wear, we'd be proud to have you by our sides."

Queen Snow had been invited to the ball as well so she'd be there too, and had already coached them on what to expect, offering Evie praises for her effortless grace, things that made the princess glow with an obvious kind of happiness.

"I'll um- take the dress then," Harry decided, committing to his persona. "Thank ye."

"You never have to thank me for this," the queen hummed, and then they got to the business of picking out jewelry she had brought from the royal vault, that Harry tried very hard to turn down but neither Evie nor Queen Snow would take it.

The day of the ball was slightly overwhelming despite the suite Ben offered them to get dressed up in. Chad was stuck wearing his normal Sardinian formalwear, but he spiced it up with a tan smokey eye and clip-on earrings, Evie doting him with compliments until he was a flushed and happy mess, happily tugging on the edges of the cloak Evie had made for him.

Evie, of course, looked stunning in her long sleeves and A-line dress, all done in her signature colors of navy and red and accented with gold. Harry still felt a bit stupid in his outfit, knowing they had to veer slightly away from tradition to accommodate for his figure to give him something off-the-shoulder with billowy sleeves, but between the corset and Evie's determination, he had some kind of figure, and the skirt was long enough that he could wear a set of his shorter heels.

He and Evie were both wearing fucking diadems, which seemed grossly unnecessary, though Evie reveled in hers, content to take a liberal ton of selfies with Chad, who eagerly requested them.

They made their grand entrance with Ben, who walked Evie down, surprisingly enough. She was more than a match for him, though, so Harry didn't worry about it, choosing to focus on keeping Chad's nerves at bay while they walked arm-in-arm down the obnoxiously huge staircase.

Evie was introduced as Princess Evelyn Hatzfeld while Harry became fucking Lady Sonja Smee, and when the hell his name changed to that, he didn't know, but he supposed it was a good thing he never put his last name down on his damn homework.

Ben spent time with each of them, introducing them to various royals with the same kind and laidback attitude he seemed to use for everything. He danced with each of them equally, even when Harry tried to back out because he wasn't as good at it as Evie and Chad was, and Ben had informed his damn castle workers to look after them in case they seemed to need help.

Overall, he was so stupidly thoughtful it left Harry entirely on edge, though he tried not to mention it.

"Oh wow, I'm at a real ball," Chad murmured to Harry when they were taking a break from dancing. "I'm at a real ball and people want to dance with me and no one's tripped me or said I'm a terrible prince, this really is the best day ever."

At some point, Harry was going to go to Sardinia and punch someone's face in, he just didn't know who.

"I'm glad, sweetheart," Harry said instead, and then Chad grinned, leaning over hopefully for a kiss, and with a look like that, well, how could Harry deny him?

"I'm glad to finally meet you guys," Queen Belle said when she managed to corner all four of them together at once. "Ben's been going on about you for weeks now."

"Mom," Ben said, like he was actually embarrassed by this.

"Is it true you were disciplined for fighting?" King Adam asked, more inclined towards the direct approach.

"They attacked me," Harry groused. "I've had enough fights in my lifetime, I'm not going to go looking for more. Doesn't mean I won't protect me and my own when we're threatened."

"Sonny was amazing," Chad informed the king. "They thought they were safe because there was six of them, but Sonny still beat them and she was wearing heels, so that was probably hard."

"Thank ye," Harry said, getting a grin from his boyfriend.

Boyfriend. It was still hard to believe sometimes.

"The kids have been here for months now, Adam," Queen Snow said, because at some point she'd slid into the meeting with all the ease of Evie. "And that's been the only notable incident – something that wasn't even their fault in the first place."

The king didn't say anything for a moment, even though it seemed like he wanted to.

Luckily, Ben's mom stepped in at that point. "Have you been enjoying Auradon?"

Fucking obviously. It was that or the garbage island, Harry wasn't sure what she wanted them to say.

Evie took that question though, so Harry wouldn't have to. "Yes, your majesty," she said. "You have a lovely kingdom. We're very grateful to be allowed the opportunity to experience it."

Through luck and manipulation and Queen Snow's good will, but there was still plenty of the children they'd left behind on the Isle to rot, and Harry burned for them.

"You don't feel the same way?" the king prompted, because some of that must have read on Harry's face.

The first mate tried not to wince. "I'm grateful," he said. "Just… I'm also worried about the other kids, is all. Not all of them had it as good as we did."

"Your father regularly beat you," Queen Snow pointed out with a tense voice, but Harry could only shrug.

"Yeah, but he didn't kill me," he said. "And he definitely could have."

Children died on the Isle all the time; it wasn't exactly news. Still, killing Harry would have been a permanent end to his dad's favorite form of entertainment, so he wasn't surprised that the captain had never tried to finish him off.

There was a tense pause.

"Sorry," he offered. "That's- I'm sorry. Thank ye for having us, here and in Auradon. I um- I didn't mean to seem ungrateful."

"We know, sweetheart," Queen Belle said, and at the very least she seemed to mean it.

After that, Chad and Ben were extra attentive to Harry and Evie, sticking closer to their sides, Chad always sure to have some point of contact with them.

"I'm sorry," the blond whispered. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Sonny. I didn't even know. I'm over here complaining about my grandpa-"

"Ye have every right to complain about him," Harry interrupted. "My pain doesn't negate yours. It isn't a damn competition."

"You're allowed to hurt," Evie said quietly. "Just like Sonny is."

Ben just watched them with a torn expression, chewing at his bottom lip. "I'm um- gonna fix it," he declared. "The kids- I'm gonna get them off. I'll make a better Isle, but you guys have already proven that the system we currently have is broken."

"Ben…" Evie said, not seeming to expect that.

Ben shook his head. "If innocent people are getting hurt, then it's broken," he declared. "And it needs to be fixed."

"There's no such thing as an innocent person," Harry sighed. "Save maybe Chad."

"Hey," Chad said, frowning. "Don't- don't make light of your pain. If I don't get to do that, you don't get to do that."

It was something they talked about after Chad's nightmares, and Harry really wished the blond would stop trying to apply his healthy Auradon expectations against Harry, because it was always going to be a lost cause.

"What he said," Evie murmured with a knowing look, making Harry want to throw up his hands then and there.

It was a bit of a relief to finally be released from their civic obligations and head back towards their suite, which was when they realized that they had actually been settled in part of Ben's prince suite.

"I thought maybe it would be comforting to have a familiar face nearby?" he offered when they discovered this. "So um- want to change and have some late night snacks? I've got the sequel to that movie we watched last time set up in my media room."

"Oh, can we?" Chad asked, never one to make decisions without them.

Evie's lips quirked up in a grin, like she knew something they didn't. "Sure," she said, earning a loud whoop from Chad.

It was a familiar, lovely sound, and definitely music to Harry's ears.

And by the look on Ben's face, he loved it as well.

-:-:-

Harry had been afraid that Ben would try to make a move of some kind, but he was a perfect gentleman that night (according to Evie, who knew how perfect gentlemen should act), not even trying to woo them into his bed despite the fact that the three of them definitely shared one themselves.

It did seem to set a precedence for sleepovers though, until they regularly found themselves invited to Auradon Castle after Tourney games on Friday. They got into the habit of watching Chad and Ben during the games and then leaving straight for Auradon Castle, where Ben would take them horseback riding or for a picnic under the stars or they'd have a movie marathon that would progress into a dance party, and it was fucking weird but also nice? Harry didn't know what to make of it, he was worried.

Evie didn't seem to be, though. It got to the point where they'd split up – Ben off to temporarily attend to his duties while she perused the massive library – sharing tea and conversation with Queen Belle like they were fucking pals while Harry and Chad said hi to the horses or walked through the gardens.

"Is this what being Ben's friend is like?" Chad would ask, like Harry had any idea how to answer that question. "I don't think he invited Aziz over for nearly this many sleepovers."

"Maybe he's making the most of his time before he has to be king," Harry said, thinking of the utter stupidity that was crowning a sixteen-year-old.

"Yes!" Chad chirped, eagerly latching onto that suggestion. "Clearly, that's what it is."

Despite the times Ben was called away to meetings or events they couldn't go to, he still seemed determined to have them visit his castle. He set up a sewing studio just for Evie and bought art supplies just for Chad. He arranged for cooking lessons under the guiding hand of Mrs. Potts and let Harry look at his fucking boats that he just fucking had and they were all beautiful and Harry wanted to sail each and every one of them. He settled for sunbathing on them, acting as a model for Chad while he plotted imaginary charters in his head, envisioning the things they could discover if given the opportunity.

"You're not worried?" Harry would ask Evie when Chad was taking his shower.

"No, sweetheart," Evie said, a pet name that seemed to come easier with each passing day. "No, he doesn't have the right read for a sociopath, and he'd have to be one to fuck with us after all this."

"Oh," Harry said, not realizing how much thought Evie had put into it.

"Yeah," she laughed. "Never thought he'd be nice for the sake of it, and maybe it's just for Chad, but we may as well enjoy this while we can, right?"

"Sure," Harry said, something unreadable curling in his chest at the thought of it, though he didn't bother delving into what it could actually be.

"Now," Evie hummed. "It's been a while since I've played with that pretty length of yours. Would you like to put on a show for Chad?"

She didn't really wait for his response before she was tucking a hand under his nightgown, caressing the front of his panties because she knew Harry was always up for Chad's flushed expression of wonder.

"Fuck," Harry gasped when she got him stretched across the bed, and it was no wonder that Chad immediately stumbled over to them when he got out of the bathroom, pressing eager kisses to Harry's throat before he completely fell apart.

So, he guessed this was just their new normal now.

-:-:-

Endnotes:

FEEeeeLINGS are HARD.

Such is Harry's battle cry.

Ayyyyy, a Thanksgiving update! Definitely didn't forget to post yesterday because of Thanksgiving preparations or something, that would be silly ;D

Story notes:

Hero is my made up son of Hercules and Megara.

Evie and Harry at the beginning of the chapter *side eying Ben*: What's his angle?

Ben: I am being so smooth.

Evie at the end of the chapter: It seems he has been afflicted with feelings, the fool.

But really they're all fools because they have feelings too ;)

Until next time :)