Chapter 10 – On the Sea

GENERAL WARNING – Stranded/Fear of immanent death in the first scene – see endnotes for more details.


-:-:-


Harry wasn't looking forward to the sailing trip.

He didn't say as much, of course, forcing himself to be relaxed as he traded small talk with Matiu, the heir to Motunui, the two of them working together to load supplies onto the ship. The expedition was supposed to be a simple one, the team sailing to specific buoys littered along the Auradon coastline to check their course charting and navigation skills. The entire excursion was supposed to take a day – meaning a full day out on the water, the boat constantly in motion – and Harry by no means looked forward to it, but he tried to. He tried to pretend he was Uma or Jonas, who would have jumped at the opportunity to feel the wind in their hair. He shouldn't be taking this for granted just because he was afraid of a few sharks.

"I'm not saying I will be terrible," Aziz offered as they strapped down their supplies – another checkbox they'd need to fill for competition. "But I will probably be terrible."

He kept trying to act like everything was perfectly normal, joking and carrying on like they were still friends. Harry assumed it was for the benefit of their teammates, the Agraben trying to make things easier on Harry by not making it seem like the pirate was giving him the cold shoulder for no reason, but Harry wished he'd just stop.

"Why are you even on the sailing team?" Matiu lamented as Captain Amelia started the boat up, guiding them away from the shore. "Your kingdom's entirely landlocked."

"Because a good explorer needs to be well rounded!" Aziz cheered. "Also my mom made me. She's worried that my dad will have us over-relying on magic carpets."

Harry would be more worried about his overreliance on not thinking shit through, but Aziz and his survival instincts were no longer Harry's problem, so he immediately pushed the thoughts from his mind.

Three hours in and things were mostly fine. Harry had already successfully guided them through his leg of the journey and now he was out running lines and tending to the sail, following orders to the best of his ability and trying his damnedest not to get near the edge of the ship. He also did his best to avoid Aziz, which was easier said than done on their small ship, but he was mostly successful with the help of Matiu, who seemed to get that Harry needed space.

He was doing fine, until an accidental collision with Fritz had the prince spilling half his water bottle onto Harry.

"Shit, man," the prince said, giving Harry an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. You should hurry up and get your sweater off before it stains through."

Because of course Fritz mixed in those powder drink enhancers or whatever Auradon people used because they couldn't just be happy with plain old water, making the drink a sticky nuisance. Normally, Harry wouldn't give a shit, but after his 'bro stuff' debacle with Chad, he didn't want to take any chances when it came to maintaining the reputation of the Isle kids. He couldn't be a pervert and a literal mess. It seemed like too much.

"Here." Fritz held his hand out. "I can get you a new life preserver too."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, shrugging his off and handing it over. He didn't feel great without the added layer of protection, would have suffered the indignity of staining if that wouldn't have made him (and the Isle by extension) look like ratty schlubs. With a sigh, he started shrugging off his sweater, hoping it hadn't gotten onto the button up below.

Fuck this being princely, nerd bullshit. Sometimes Harry missed the ruggedness of the Isle, the slight imperfections that made everything seem much more human-

The sweater was up, trapped around his head when the boat suddenly jerked underneath him, taking a sharp turn as the motor kicked in at a much greater speed. It came from out of nowhere – they were supposed to be going straight for at least another half hour as far as Harry knew, so he wasn't prepared for it. He stumbled under the sudden shift, his foot catching in something – the damn drink – before he found himself tripping against the railing-

The top rail gave way. He felt it at the same time as he felt his heart pinch in his chest, the breath leaving his throat as his momentum kept going, over and down until he was falling off of the ship, crashing headfirst into the water.

He wasn't prepared for the shock of cold, for the complete disorientation that followed. He was still struggling with his sweater, now waterlogged and clinging to his arms as he fought to stay afloat, to get himself free, to listen. They had safety procedures in place for this shit, but those depended on their life preservers, and he'd been standing on the other side of the sail, blocked from view of the rest of his team.

Fritz would notice he was missing when he came back, but Fritz was also a damn airhead. He might forget all about Harry, meaning he was on his own, he was- they'd notice though, right? Aziz would notice. Matui would notice.

It took a few frantic minutes for Harry to struggle out of his sweater, for him to safely bob above the water. When his vision cleared, the boat was nowhere to be seen, and there was nothing but miles of ocean surrounding him as his pulse spiked up to a dangerous pace.

He was going to die out here. He was going to drown or get eaten because he'd been a stupid fucking idiot, and now he'd never get to enjoy sailing the ocean with Gil and Uma, it was just all gone.

On instinct, his hand wrapped around his enchanted ring, the one piece of jewelry he'd gotten to keep. Due to a lack of phones, Uma had created these pieces for each of them to activate in the events of an emergency. They were supposed to send out some kind of SOS that would call to each other, and while they'd only used them a few times, Harry knew for sure that they worked. Supposedly they called to all magical creatures, but Harry had never tested his outside the barrier. He'd never thought to try, but now out here – stranded in the ocean – he couldn't help but hope, his fingers activating the ring on instinct.

"Please," he murmured, body shaking as the cold and fear began to set in. "Please, please, please."

He knew he didn't deserve to be saved, knew he'd earned this by being foolish, but despite that, he couldn't help but have hope. He didn't know if anyone could feel the magic, and if they did, if they'd care, but as the minutes ticked on and he struggled to tread water, he kept sending out distress signals. He should come up with a plan, maybe take his shoes off. He'd need to float to conserve energy, tuck into a ball and then start swimming north, towards Auradon. He'd have to wait for the setting sun to find west, then go to the right of that, and if he paced himself…

It was a miserable afternoon. He waited half an hour for the boat to come back before he resigned himself and started swimming, doing his best to keep from panicking. It was fortunate that the moment the Isle had been secured, Uma had insisted that each of them learn how to swim. For her, it was a chance to reconnect to the roots Auradon had kept her from with murky, dangerous waters, but for the rest of them it was simply a matter of practicality. They were literally surrounded by water, and having entry into the ocean no longer be a death sentence meant that knowing how to successfully navigate it was simply common sense. Harry hadn't exactly enjoyed the training, but he did like how it made Uma smile, liked how Jay would force impromptu breaks by starting splash fights with the others. Liked the memory of Evie's squealed laughter when Gil chucked her into the ocean. When he struggled, he always held onto that.

Now he wondered if he'd ever get to experience those things ever again.

Every time he took a break, he activated his beacon, and with every passing hour he grew more and more terrified of how his story would end. By the time he had been in the ocean longer than he'd been on the damn boat, Harry was exhausted, dehydrated, and close to breaking apart – with only the promises of Uma and the others pushing him onward. They were counting on him. They deserved more than a news story on the propaganda channel about how Harry Hook had managed to get himself killed sailing a stupid fucking boat.

He was in the middle of one of his breaks, absently fiddling with his ring, when he finally received company. It was not company he expected, not a boat or a rescue helicopter, but company that came up from below the waters, nearly scaring Harry out of his mind.

"Who are you?" the man (a merman?) asked, his hair and beard long and impressive, a crown seemingly made from shell perched atop his head, a trident in his hand-

Holy shit, it was King Trident.

There were other mermaids with him, popping above the water in a loose circle around Harry as their king interrogated him.

"H-Harrison Hook," Harry murmured, trying to recapture his familiar pattern of treading water before he went under.

"You've been sending out a distress beacon," one of the lady mermaids said.

"A beacon fueled by my sister's magic," King Trident added.

"Not um- your sister," Harry replied, overwhelmed. "Your niece. Uma made this for me in case I got in trouble. She um- didn't expect I'd have to use it though."

He didn't know what else to say, felt entirely exhausted and close to slipping under the surface entirely. The king seemed to register this though and reached out a hand, wrapping it around Harry's waist and dragging him in close.

"What are you doing out here?" the king asked. "This is much too far from land for humans."

"I fell off our boat," Harry gasped, relieved by the sudden aid. "I guess they didn't notice I was gone. Could ye please help me to shore? I'm sorry, I know it's not fair to ask this of ye-"

"What makes you say that?" the king interrupted, seeming genuinely curious.

Harry blinked. "Ursula said ye hated humans," he murmured. "Said that's why ye'd hate Uma if ye ever met her, since she's half, so…"

It was a familiar taunt and diatribe. Ursula hated most everyone, but she seemed to especially hate Uma, likely because she represented a moment of weakness for her. She'd expected Uma to come out more like her, but even with magic, Uma was mostly human. She could transform into her squidmaid form, could live underwater if she wanted to, but she was just as comfortable living her life on land.

The king didn't say anything for a moment. "Did she say this often?"

"Yeah?" Harry shrugged. "She hated living with humans, but she said we were better conversationalists than the sharks, so she dealt with us anyway."

Harry had his fair share of pots and cookwear thrown at him from an angry tentacle, Ursula snarling up a storm about stupid humans. He'd strayed too close to distract from Uma and gotten snagged in their hold once, had the breath squeezed out of him until he thought he would be crushed, until he thought he'd never breathe again, until she finally released him with another growl, throwing him into the Chip Shoppe proper.

He'd been bruised for weeks after that, but it'd been worth it, to help Uma.

"I'm sorry you went through that," the king said, and for whatever reason, he seemed to mean it. "Long ago we used to be wary of the world above, but now Atlantica is a respected part of Auradon. We bear no ill will towards humans." He paused, then added, "And I bear no ill will towards my niece. I would love to meet her one day."

"She's really amazing, your majesty," Harry gushed. "She's determined and thoughtful and kind and takes care of us-"

"I'm glad she has a friend in you," the king said, and that was genuine too. "And I would love to hear more about her at a later date, but for now, why don't we get you back to dry land?"

"Please," Harry said, his irritated eyes beginning to well up from overexposure to salt water and nothing else.

With his mermaid contingent, Harry seemed to cut through the water. It was weird, to be cradled against the king of mermaids' side, but King Trident was careful with Harry, holding his signature trident before him to help break through the water while Harry just held on for the ride. In thirty minutes they covered more distance than Harry had alone in hours, and it was in that time that the Auradon docks finally came into view, a familiar boat and crew gathered on them while what seemed to be emergency services closed in.

When they got to the edge of the appropriate dock, it was Ben, of all people, who greeted them. Ben, who was supposed to be busy with something or other.

"Sonny!" he called, brows furrowed in concern as he rushed to the end of the dock, reaching down into the water until he grabbed Harry's hands. "Oh fuck, you're okay. You're okay."

Without hesitating, he dragged Harry out of the ocean, pulling him up in a seamless motion before he yanked Harry into a tight hug.

"Fuck," he murmured, running a hand through Harry's wet locks, down his back, taking his full weight because Harry's limbs seemed to be rubber. "Fuck, they didn't know where they lost you- they saw the broken railing and you weren't there at the next buoy but when they doubled back they couldn't find you-"

"I waited," Harry panted, surrendering to his hold because he was too tired not to. "I tried, I promise. I tried to do the right thing."

"This wasn't your fault," Ben pledged, holding Harry close despite the fact that he was definitely getting Ben's perfect clothes wet. "Nothing that happened was your fault, okay? This was an accident." He turned his attention to the mermaid contingent, keeping Harry cradled against his chest. "Thank you so much for your help, King Trident. Auradon is truly in your debt."

He made it sound like Harry was important or some shit, couldn't help but be dramatic apparently because that was just in his royal bones.

Thankfully King Trident seemed to get this, because he only offered Ben an indulgent smile. "The merpeople of Atlantica are always happy to help wayward sailors find their way home, Prince Benjamin." His gaze drifted over pointedly to the sailboat. "Though I would investigate that railing, were I you. These sorts of accidents don't happen that often."

Ben tensed, then seemed to purposefully relax himself, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist. "I appreciate your suggestion, your majesty, and I assure you it will be followed through," he said, sounding very dignified. "Would you mind making a statement for our inspector?"

"Not at all," the king said, smiling kindly before his attention turned back to Harry. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Harrison. I'm grateful my niece has a friend like you to keep her company. And if it's alright with you, may I arrange a future meeting to discuss her?"

"Y-Yes, your majesty," Harry murmured, his teeth beginning to chatter. "I'd be honored."

"As would I," the king allowed with a nod of his head.

"Thank you, again," Ben said. "I'm going to take him to the hospital now."

"Of course," King Trident replied, and Ben wasted no time herding Harry away, supporting most of his weight as they cut through the mess of people. He ignored the concerned noises from Matui and the others but Aziz was relentless when he shoved his way through the crowd, taking Harry's other arm to help support his weight.

"Fuck off," Harry growled, flushing at Aziz's close proximity. "I don't need ye-"

"You almost died, Sonny," Aziz said, his tone hard, expression closed off and serious in a way it never was. "We could have lost you forever and our friendship would have ended on that note, so I'm staying, and I'm groveling for like, ever. You let Ben grovel once, please let me do the same."

Harry was too exhausted to argue, so he simply sagged into their arms, letting Ben drag them into a limo that was waiting for them. The two princes settled Harry between them, letting him properly relax at last without the fear of imminent drowning.

"We'll get your statement at the hospital," Ben said, shrugging off his jacket and wrapping it around Harry's shoulders before he unceremoniously dragged the first mate into his lap. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?"

"Fucking no," Harry gasped, the terror and exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him. "I almost fucking died because I'm fucking stupid," he groaned, burying his face in Ben's shoulder and feeling surprised when the prince did nothing but wrap his arms around his waist, likely thinking Harry was too incompetent to stay in place. "I don't want to sail anymore. I know I should, I know that's supposed to be what I do, but I don't- I don't want to-"

"You don't have to do a damn thing you don't want to do, Sonny," Aziz said, his voice firm. "And what happened wasn't your fault, it was an accident."

"But I took off my life vest," Harry moaned. "Because I wanted to keep my shirt clean so I wouldn't make the Isle look bad when it would have made the Isle look horrible if I was fucking dead."

With that, he was sobbing, harsh things that made his chest ache. He didn't really have any tears to go with them, but the awful sounds were there just the same, Ben soothing him even though he was a mess.

It was pathetic. He, a damn pirate, had managed to screw up a sailing trip, and they'd raised enough fuss looking for him that the news would surely spread to the propaganda channel, and what would the others think? He was supposed to be the independent one. Mal and Uma were trusting him to make them look good and he'd almost drowned in the middle of the ocean.

"Sonny, Sonny," Ben was murmuring, nuzzling Harry's cheek like a damn cat because he was so inconsolable. "No one is going to think less of you for this. It was a horrible accident. Aziz was frantic when he realized you were gone, called as soon as he figured out your vest was on the boat without you. Just- please cut yourself some slack. I know it's important for you to represent the Isle well, but you've already done that. You keep trying to be perfect, but you're only human. It's okay to spill on your shirt or fall off a boat, none of those things would reflect poorly on your friends." He hugged Harry close, rubbing a hand up and down his side. "Have you spent this entire time being worried about that? Worried about failing them?"

"They said I'd be the best representative," Harry choked. "But I'm not. I'm not. Evie would have been better. She's smart and kind and graceful and I'm just a dumb fucking mess."

"That's not true," Ben urged, tilting his forehead against Harry's like that was a thing people did, and maybe in Auradon, that was accurate. "You're not dumb and you're not a mess. You're sweet and thoughtful and work harder than any person I know. Your friends were right when they picked you to come over, you are a wonderful representative of the Isle now please, give yourself a break."

Harry could only croak weakly, pulling away from Ben so he could curl against his chest, entirely exhausted. "You wouldn't say that if you knew Evie."

"I'm sure Evie's amazing," Ben said, running a hand through his hair. "You think so and I trust you, but I also know that you're amazing, even if you have a hard time seeing that."

Harry shuddered, because Uma had told him the same thing many times – all of the others had – it was just hard to believe sometimes.

"I'm so sorry," Aziz murmured, curling around Harry's back, wrapping his arms around him in some kind of effort to shield him from the world. "You've been trying so hard to be a good representative for your home because of my dumb bro shit, but that wasn't your fault, just like this isn't your fault. Please, you put so much pressure on yourself, just- we're here for you, okay? We want to be here for you, and we want you to tell us how you're hurting."

Spoken like that, it was hard for Harry to deny him, hard to shirk away when he wanted nothing more than to surrender to Aziz's care.

That was how he found himself babbling, shaking in their hold.

"I almost fucking died," Harry muttered, his voice tight. "I was in the water- the fucking water, Ben. I lied when I said I wanted to be on the sailing team, I just- you seemed so excited and that was the one positive thing I could improve from my stupid dad but I hate the fucking ocean and I was in it for hours."

"Sonny," Ben gasped, wounded or hurt or something Harry couldn't discern.

"S-Sorry," Harry murmured, shaking hard. "The ocean was always instant death on the Isle, and that's only been fixed for a few months but all the years before that-"

"You don't have to explain it to us," Ben said, hugging him close. "Fuck. I knew you hesitated, I just thought you were shy."

"Ye were so happy," Harry croaked. "I just- I wanted ye to be happy. I wanted- I wanted to reclaim my name. But I just- I don't want to do that again."

"You don't have to," Aziz soothed. "No one would blame you for quitting. That's a traumatic experience for anyone, let alone someone who has a justified fear of open water."

"Fuck," Harry gasped, feeling like he was going to fall apart. "I'm so tired. I've been tired before, I've watched death come for me before, but this was the worst."

Because before he'd at least been on dry land. He'd at least had a chance to fight.

This had been a slow battle with inevitability, and until King Trident had arrived, Harry had been certain he would lose it.

"I'm so sorry," Ben repeated, nuzzling him again. "It's never going to happen again, I promise it. I'm going to take care of you."

"We're going to take care of you," Aziz said, forever stubborn to add in his own two cents.

"Don't be stupid," Harry sniffed, wiping a weak hand against his cheeks. "Ye both have kingdoms to look after."

"And you are part of them," Ben said, as though he'd ever cared for the Isle, as though any happiness they had hadn't been brought by themselves.

Then again, he had extended an invitation. He had helped Fairy Godmother give them magic. He'd helped, which was more than could be said for some. He and Aziz were holding Harry right now, Ben had rushed to the end of the dock to pull him out of the water, just like Gilly would have. Like Jay or Uma would have. Aziz had rushed to help him despite the fact that Harry was mad at him, despite the fact that he'd gone out of his way to avoid the Agraben prince.

"It'll be okay," Ben continued, whispering small promises when it became obvious Harry was too tired to reply. "It'll be okay, I promise. We've got you."

Harry was too tired to do anything but surrender to their care, and by the time they got to the hospital, he was mostly dead on his feet. He didn't even argue with the wheelchair they used to get him to an examination room, and Ben and Aziz stayed by his side the entire time, Ben literally growling at a nurse when she made noises about sending them away.

Fairy Godmother showed up to act as his guardian and they ran some tests, doing scans to see if any water had gathered in his lungs before they claimed he was exhausted and sunburned and dehydrated. Ben and Aziz helped him change into a dry pair of lounging clothes before a blanket was thrown over his shoulders and he was sat down with an inspector, Ben holding a protective arm around his back and Aziz curling an arm around his waist the entire time.

Harry told them what happened, every stupid moment between sips of a drink infused with electrolytes, whatever the fuck those were.

"Wait," Ben said, interrupting his story with a confused blink. "Fritz saw you take off your life vest?"

"He didn't say anything when we noticed you were missing," Aziz said, his lips pulled in a frown.

"Dumb shit probably forgot," Harry muttered, tinged with a bit of bitterness at how lowly he ranked in the guy's worldview that he'd forgotten he was the last person to talk to their missing teammate. "He was supposed to grab me a new one, probably got distracted by something shiny."

"Sonny, this is serious," Ben said, his tone hard. "Fritz was the one that spilled on you in the first place, right?"

"It was an accident," Harry said, brows furrowed. "He spills shit on me all the time."

"That doesn't actually make me feel better," Ben pressed, his expression severe.

"What are ye saying?" Harry sighed. "That he did it on purpose? Fritz wasn't the one that suddenly turned the boat or activated the engines, Ben."

"No, that would be his cousin, Jurek," the inspector said, his eyes narrowed. "I think in the interest of caution, Mr. Hook should be taken into protective custody."

"What?" Harry asked, confused, but Ben was already nodding, Aziz holding him closer.

"I'll take him back to Auradon Castle," Ben declared, his gaze set in a familiar look of stubbornness Harry only ever saw on Mal. "We can keep him there for the duration of the investigation."

"What?" Harry repeated, but they were ignoring him now.

"I'll have his schoolwork delivered," Fairy Godmother said.

"Can you have mine delivered too?" Aziz asked. "Because I'm not leaving. I did that once, I'm not doing it again."

"That's fair enough," Fairy Godmother said, her voice gentle. "I'll have all of your work delivered. Discreetly, of course."

"Yes, the fewer people who know his location, the better," the inspector said. "This should be an open and shut case, but I don't like the way the facts are adding up."

"What are ye bloody talking about?" Harry asked, forgetting his good Auradon manners in a surge of frustration.

The inspector was kind enough to give him the full brunt of his attention. "There is a good chance that what happened today wasn't an accident. It was a deliberate, calculated plan that nearly succeeded. The conditions to get your overboard without a life vest, to get the boat away from you before they realized you were missing, to double back to just the wrong area not to find you – that took planning. There's too many factors adding up for it to be an accident."

"What are ye saying?" Harry asked, white noise seeming to flood his ears. "Someone was trying to kill me?"

"That is the most likely option," the inspector said, not pulling any punches.

"It's not going to happen," Ben urged, immediately rushing it. "It's not, Sonny. I'm going to take care of you, okay? Just like I promised."

"We, Benjamin," Aziz reminded him. "We are going to take care of him – teamwork making the dreamwork, don't forget that."

"We," Ben repeated, a small grin tugging at his lips.

"You need to get him out of here," the inspector said. "Use the back staircase, then have your limo stop by the back garage of Auradon Prep before returning to the castle, make any tails think you dropped Mr. Hook off there."

"Thank you, inspector," Ben said, reaching over to shake the man's hand. "We greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter."

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart," Fairy Godmother urged, giving Harry a tight smile. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

Her gaze was meaningful, making it seem that perhaps whatever ill will Harry had accidentally built up actually was gone. Maybe Aziz's parents had actually gotten through to her, had explained that Harry would never take advantage of Chad in such a way, not when he cared for him so much. Over the chaos of everything else, it eased a small pain in his Harry's chest, allowing him to give her a grateful nod before he was carted away.

Harry spent the trip to Auradon Castle in a haze, cuddled dumbly in Ben and Aziz's protective hold until they were finally brought to a private garage. Ben pulled them into a secret passage almost immediately and had no issues guiding a villain kid through the innermost workings of one of the most important buildings in all of Auradon. Harry knew he should be paying more attention, but he was mostly done by that point. Halfway up the second staircase his legs gave out, and Ben was forced to carry him with his dumb beast strength. By the time they got to Ben's room, Harry was crying, he was so exhausted and emotionally spent. He wasn't unused to people trying to kill him, but the fact that he'd missed it? Maybe Fritz and Jurek were accidental pawns, but if they weren't, he'd not only made a bad impression for the Isle that day, he'd lost his damn edge.

"It's okay, it's okay," Ben murmured into his hair. "You're safe now. No one's getting in here without permission. Do you wanna sleep?"

"Dirty," Harry murmured, scratching at his skin. It seemed like there was a permanent film of salt embedded into it, buried in his nostrils, and he wanted it gone. "Can I um- I could-"

"Let's get you to the shower," Aziz declared, dragging Harry into a bathroom literally made for a prince. "Could we help you get clean?"

Harry nodded his head shakily, overwhelmed tears running down his cheeks because he couldn't even do that by himself.

"Hey, it's okay to need help," Ben soothed, wiping away his tears. "You don't have to be strong all the time, Sonny, sometimes you can let people lift you up." He set Harry down on a chaise lounge not unlike the one they had back at school (guess that was just a royal thing) before he turned on the shower, stripping off his shirt before turning to do the same for Harry. "Like, you help me all the time, making sure I eat and helping me keep organized when I feel like my head's going in a million directions. You don't think I'm weak for that, do you?"

"You're important," Harry murmured, weakly following Ben's prompts to the best of his ability.

"So are you," Aziz growled, his voice pointed in its ferocity before a dull flush flooded his cheeks, likely embarrassed. "Don't give him a pass you wouldn't give yourself. You're just as important."

Aziz stripped Harry down to his underwear but thankfully stopped there, doing the same for himself before Ben gathered Harry into his arms again and stepped under the gentle spray of the shower. The water was warm without being overwhelming, and the stone tile felt cool against his skin as Ben spread him out on what seemed to be a built-in bench, letting Harry rest against the wall as he started lathering up a washcloth.

It should have been weird to have Ben and Aziz wash him, but at this point, Harry was mostly done. He should have felt vulnerable or stupid, but mostly he was relieved to get the awful feel of salt off his skin, Aziz even going so far as to wash his face before Ben was helping Harry with his dumb dark locks.

"Oh," Harry groaned when he started scratching at his scalp. He hadn't gotten a good head rub in fucking months, and after the day he'd had, this was lovely.

"Like this?" Ben asked, his voice just loud enough to carry over the spray as he continued to lather the pirate's dark hair.

"Y-Yeah," Harry panted, seeing no point in denying it. "Could ye… never mind."

"No, say it," Ben urged, tiling Harry's head back to carefully rinse the shampoo out of his hair.

"My shoulders," Harry murmured. "Could ye…?"

A beat, and then Ben was nodding. "Of course."

His hands weren't as strong as Gil's, but they were certainly fucking close – closer than Jay's or Mal's ever were – and that alone had Harry moaning, melting like putty in Ben's hands as his tense muscles got some much-needed relief.

"Good?" Ben asked.

"Great," Harry slurred. "You're so fucking strong."

It made him warm just thinking about it, thinking of how it reminded him of Gil, who was always so eager to please. Who was so terribly strong but equally sweet to counter that, the true meaning of a gentle giant, and Harry wished he was back onto the Isle so he could curl up in his arms, crawl into his lap and start rutting against his stomach-

Belatedly, Harry realized in his terror, exhaustion, and lack of focus, his body had somehow managed to trail off into forbidden territories, leaving Harry with the very true realization that he was aroused in front of two damn princes. There was no hiding it – even with his soaked boxer briefs, it couldn't fucking be denied, and his stupid oversensitive body – which had spent the past few hours not feeling anything due to the cold – seemed to have woken up with a fury, desperate to latch onto anything positive to counteract the trial it had just suffered.

It felt terrible, to go through all that, survive that and then be called out for the whore he was on an instinctual level. It was enough to have him crying, hiding his face in the shelter of his hands as he struggled to get a hold of himself.

"Hey, Sonny – no," that was Aziz, his voice gentle as he wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "It's okay. It's okay. This is just like last time. You went through something awful and your body's trying to make up for it by clinging to something good. It's a natural response."

"Don't," Harry hissed. "Don't pretend this is normal. None of this is normal, I'm just stupid-"

"You're not," Ben growled, his voice low but grip gentle as he tugged Harry's hands away from his face. "You're not stupid, you're human. You don't have to be embarrassed for having a natural response. We're honored that you trust us this much, that you're this comfortable around us-"

"Because-"

"You're not a whore," Aziz snapped. "You're not a pervert or a sex fiend or whatever Fairy Godmother made you feel like. You're sweet and kind and caring and went through a lot of shit today. Just- can we take care of you? And not as a bro thing, but because we care about you and want to take care of you and be there when you're sad."

"Why?" Harry gasped. "I'm an asshole. I've been ignoring ye for weeks."

"And I deserved every ounce of that silence," Aziz offered sagely, nuzzling his shoulder. "I accidentally led you into a social faux pas, and aside from yelling at me about it, you never once tried to get back at me. You didn't fight for revenge or try to get even; you didn't even rat me out to my mom which you could have easily and justifiably done. You just ignored me, because you don't have a malicious bone in your body, but you are used to getting hurt, and that's the thing that makes me really fucking mad and really fucking frustrated and if I could please be given the opportunity to keep you from hurting, to pick you up when you're low, I would appreciate it. I'm pretty sure we all would appreciate it."

"We would," Ben rumbled, his gaze just as terribly earnest. "You're lovely, Sonny – inside and out."

"You're stupid," Harry muttered mostly on principle, his body shaking. "You're both stupid."

He was tired though, tired of thinking and it felt good, to be held like this. They weren't lying, he knew that much, and he felt safe in their arms. He could give in, but what if it was like Fritz? Harry had thought that prince was harmless and he could be a willing pawn in orchestrating Harry's demise-

No, these two were different, Harry knew that, as little as he wanted to acknowledge it.

He swallowed, then moved on. "Ye can- if ye want, ye two can…"

"We'll take it slow," Aziz assured him, pressing a kiss to Harry's shoulder. His hand was careful when it settled between Harry's legs, stroking and squeezing with a thoughtful deliberation.

Immediately, Harry's head fell back with a moan, legs spreading wide as he reflexively shifted up into clever fingers. This had been the first intimate contact Harry had received since Chad, who he hadn't seen in weeks, and Aziz seemed determined.

"Sonny," Ben whispered, shifting forward to capture Harry's lips, deepening the contact even though they were chapped, Harry shivering hard as he grappled for Ben's shoulders.

"I'm gonna-" Harry gasped when Ben dipped lower, nosing at his neck. "Ben- Aziz- I can't- I'm gonna-"

"You can come, Sonny," Aziz murmured hotly, working his hand faster. "We want you to come."

"Aziz!" Harry choked, and then he fell to pieces, Aziz pausing long enough to slide his hand into Harry's soaked underwear and pump him properly, give him direct skin-to-skin contact that made him writhe.

"You sound so good, baby," Ben gasped as he lightly nipped at the curve of Harry's neck. "Look so pretty."

"B-Ben," Harry whimpered.

"It's okay, we've got you," Aziz said, continued to whisper affirmations as he pulled Harry's underwear off, his hand careful as he cleaned up the remainder of Harry's slick.

It seemed that now that Harry's body had gotten a taste of what it had wanted for so long, its hunger had reignited, and despite his exhaustion the mere act of cleaning him off left Harry hard again, gasping, embarrassed at their wonderous stares.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I um- I can go a few times."

"Lucky us," Ben urged, and then he was kissing Harry again, jerking him off with renewed vigor.

"Ben," Harry whined. "My- could ye um- bite my…" He was too embarrassed to say it, settled for raising a shaky hand to his nipple and toying with it gently.

"I've got this," Aziz promised, and then he proceeded to rock Harry's damn world by biting and sucking at those pink nubs until they were obscenely swollen and Harry was falling apart with a shout.

"Aziz!" Harry croaked. "Ben. Ben."

"You're killing me," Ben whimpered, cupping a hand between his legs where his own interest was apparent.

"Ye can- if ye wanted." Harry swallowed, but he'd already come this far. "We could rut together."

"And I can watch," Aziz chirped, the Agraben seeming content to do just that as Ben dragged off his underwear, the Auradon prince climbing onto the bench and angling them together, touching Harry everywhere, kissing him like he was afraid he'd vanish if he didn't, and Harry-

He held on as long as he could until he felt them both fall apart, and then when the darkness started claiming the edge of his vision, he surrendered willingly, his body sated in a way it hadn't been in a long while.


-:-:-


Endnotes:

Because what better time to make a move on your crush than when they've suffered a traumatic near-death experience?

I swear, these humans never think anything through, lol.

Story notes:

Captain Amelia is from the underrated movie Treasure Planet. Matiu is an OC I made up to help round out the AKs. Fritz and Jurek are also OCs I made up for the purposes of having random background villains. They are some of the many princes of the Southern Isles.

Look, I really don't know anything about sailing. Everything in this chapter is likely woefully inaccurate and/or made up. Please surrender to the fiction for this one.

Harry: Fritz regularly harasses me all the time. It's cool.

Everyone else: *Sharpens pitchforks*

GENERAL WARNING – Stranded/Fear of immanent death – I didn't want to get too into detail, but for those who might have a fear of open water/being stranded, the first scene might be a little rough. Harry will ultimately be saved, of course, but he still definitely experiences the panic of being stranded and the fear that he might not make it through things alive.

Until next time