Chapter 11 – Recovery


-:-:-


When Harry drifted towards coherence, he seemed to mostly float, everything kept at a muted sort of distance. He was lying on something soft, cheek pressed to a familiar chest, cuddled in a lovely cocoon of blankets with a warm body pressing against his back, an arm curled around his waist protectively. Jay, maybe, with Gil at his front. The thought made Harry grin – he'd missed the dumb lugs. He was dry and warm and safe, and he didn't know why that was important, only that it was and he was grateful for it.

He thought nothing more of it before he passed out again, content with the hand he'd been dealt.

-:-:-

When he woke up however long later, things seemed to settle in an entirely different way.

Harry was sore, ached in a way that went beyond muscle strain, beyond fighting. His entire body throbbed with the dull pulse reminiscent of the one time he'd gotten sick on the Isle, a flu he'd spent weeks working through to keep pulling his weight for the crew before he finally passed out in the back of the Chip Shoppe, slumping unconscious next to a pile of dirty dishes.

Uma'd had to hide him in the storage room until night time, and only under the cover of darkness could they risk sneaking him back to the Lost Revenge, lest word of Harry's weakness spread to Mal's crew. If they issued a challenge in that time, Uma would be alone to fight them and surely lose, and Harry had spent his entire sickness apologizing through his incoherence, promising his sword to Uma should she ever need it.

They'd gotten lucky that time, though Uma had been furious with him for pushing himself when he should have been taking things easy, and this time…

Harry couldn't remember how he got to this time. He was sick, but he felt comfortable. He wasn't on his cot on the Lost Revenge with Gil squished against his back, wasn't at their room in Bargain Castle. He was warm, his clothes too soft to be Isle made, the blankets too comfortable, but he couldn't dwell on that because he was so hot, his eyes were dry and achy with exhaustion and his lips were chapped and everything hurt.

"Sonny?" A hand pressed against his forehead, feeling cool enough that Harry leaned into it, whimpering when it was taken away. "Fuck, you're burning up."

"Sorry," Harry slurred, his lips feeling uncooperative.

"This is definitely not your fault," the voice assured him, petting nice patterns against his scalp, seeming unconcerned with his sweaty hair. "I'm gonna call the doctor, okay?"

"But Uma's not here," Harry panted, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Uma?"

"She healed me," Harry muttered. "When I was sick. I tried not to, t-tried to push through 'cuz the crew needed to eat." He felt a sudden heat building behind his eyes. "Are they okay?"

"Your crew?" the voice echoed.

"Who the fuck else would I be talking about?" Harry snapped, though it was entirely weak. "They're just kids. They- I shouldn't be here," he muttered, trying to struggle out of his cocoon. "I should be getting them these blankets; they deserve nice blankets."

"Uma got them nice blankets, remember?" the voice soothed, helping Harry adjust but not helping him escape. "She made them with her magic."

At that, Harry paused. "Oh, right," he murmured, the fight seeming to leave him. "She- she and Mal, they fixed the Isle, they…"

If everything was good, why wasn't he with them? Had he messed up? Had he been banished, the way Gil was sometimes when he annoyed Uma too much and she didn't want to say something she'd regret to him?

"Where am I?" he asked, trying to get a good look at his helper.

Belatedly, he realized it was Ben, though why Ben was helping him felt like a bit of a mystery. Yeah, the guy insisted they were friends, but-

"Auradon Castle," Ben replied, giving Harry's shoulder a careful squeeze. "I brought you here for your protection. You had an accident yesterday, remember? You were stranded in the ocean-"

"Oh fuck," Harry murmured, all of it coming back to him. The terror, the despair, the weariness. He was going to die. He had been destined to die because someone wanted to kill him and he wasn't even that big of an asshole out here.

"It's gonna be okay." Ben was dragging him against his chest, hugging Harry close like that was a thing they did. "I promise, it's going to be okay. You never have to sail again, and no one's going to hurt you."

"Stupid promise," Harry gasped as tears trailed down his cheeks. "Ye won't be able to keep it."

"Watch me," Ben growled, running a hand down Harry's back.

It made Harry laugh. "Ye and Mal would get along," he giggled. "You're so alike."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ben murmured. "I have heard nothing but good things about her."

"Don't get me wrong, she can still be a brat," Harry muttered. "But she's sweet and protective and one time I got to watch Evie fuck her and it was-" He shivered. "Yeah."

Ben paused at that, not seeming to know how to respond. "They must um- really trust you."

"More than they should," Harry muttered, melting into Ben's hold. "Where's- there was someone else?"

"Aziz is talking to his parents right now," Ben said, the words kind of sliding around in Harry's mind as they struggled to find meaning. "They're helping build his cover story."

Because he wanted to help Harry recover for some reason. He wanted to firmly establish their friendship now that Harry was talking to him again.

It was still strange, that someone would go through those sorts of lengths for him.

"Just hold on a few minutes," Ben murmured, nuzzling his hair. "Dr. Potts is on his way."

Dr. Potts was married to Mrs. Potts, and apparently he'd been out on a call the night of the enchantment all those years ago, leaving him separated from his wife unknowingly for almost ten years. Ben distracted him with this story, pressing the romantics of it until the good doctor arrived with his wife in tow, the kind woman carrying a tray of things Harry couldn't smell if his life depended on it.

"Looks like the flu, all right," the doctor murmured after he'd looked Harry over, the pirate entirely reluctant to do things like sit up and open his mouth and get a flashlight shined into his eyes. Ben helped him through most of it, keeping an arm wrapped around Harry as they rested back against a generous mountain of pillows. "Prolonged stress combined with exhaustion likely didn't help. Bedrest and plenty of fluids will help him recover, and we can use over the counter medicine to treat some of the worst symptoms. I'll have my wife bring up a selection with his next meal."

"Thank you, doctor," Ben said, trying to nudge a straw against Harry's lips. "Could you drink for me, please?"

"Fine," Harry muttered, since he was up anyway, but the moment water hit his tongue he realized how thirsty he was and drank it down with a vengeance. He'd been surrounded by so much water yesterday but he hadn't been able to drink any of it, his mouth was so dry.

"Good," Ben murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he pulled the straw away. "Are you down for some broth?"

"No," Harry grumbled, but he tried to drink some anyway.

He got maybe halfway through before he was treated to some liquid cold and flu medicine and given the all clear to sleep to his heart's content, which he promptly did.

-:-:-

He spent the rest of his day alternating between hydrating, taking medicine, and sleeping. Occasionally, Ben or Aziz would drag him to the bathroom to relieve himself and Harry would fortunately be too exhausted to be humiliated by this before he returned to his blanket nest and promptly passed out again.

"The others are worried about you," Ben informed him during one of his more coherent moments. "As far as the public's concerned, you're getting private treatment in your room so you can recover without being hounded by the press, but they're confused why they can't visit you. I told them it was out of your hands, that you're just playing it safe, but I think Doug suspects something."

"Everyone underestimates Doug," Harry muttered, thinking of how the dwarf kin was similar to Carlos in that respect. "Bet anything he's trying to invent a new rune matrix that will allow him to teleport to our location."

"My school suite has protective enchantments," Ben replied, seemingly on reflex. "…would he actually do that?"

"Everyone underestimates Doug," Harry simply repeated, leaving things at that.

Eventually, Aziz dragged him into a warm bath filled with bath salts that seemed to help, and despite being mostly out of it, Harry couldn't help but be painfully aware of each brush of the prince's fingers against his skin as his sweaty clothes were stripped from his body. It likely didn't help that the last time Harry had a bath had been during his healing makeover, and his body seemed to remember how that particular venture ended.

They didn't even do anything and Harry was hard from memory alone, not that Aziz seemed to notice it, the prince content to pet patterns against Harry's scalp and nuzzle against his neck from outside the tub.

"Want me to rub your shoulders?" he murmured.

"Please," Harry said instead of no, and each hard rub against his shoulders seemed to equal a stroke directly against his length, leaving him twitching hard against his stomach until he thought he was going to fall apart completely.

"You've got a bit of a knot," Aziz murmured distractedly, seemingly focused on his task, and then he dug ruthlessly into a particular cluster of nerves and-

Harry's head fell back with a gasp, his release catching him entirely off-guard. It seemed to surge through him, and it was difficult not to move his hands to work himself through the aftershocks. The thin layer of bubble bath Aziz had insisted on for modesty's sake covered Harry's misdeeds, and Aziz seemed to read his response as a positive encouragement that he was heading in the right direction, which prompted him to work Harry's shoulders over with a renewed dedication.

"Aziz, Aziz, Aziz," Harry was panting by the end of it, already hard again.

"Is this good, Harry?" Aziz asked, potentially coy, potentially genuine, Harry couldn't tell. "Do you feel more relaxed?"

Yes and no and Harry didn't have an answer beyond fumbling for Aziz's hand, lowering one of them so that it settled on his chest, deliberately above his nipple.

"Oh," Aziz said after a moment, and then he started pinching-

"Fuck." Harry fell apart again, made another terrible mess without touching himself until he was slumping back against the tub, feeling entirely spent.

Aziz nuzzled his cheek. "Did you…?"

"Twice," Harry gasped. "Sorry."

"You really don't have to apologize for that," Aziz said before he dragged Harry out of the water.

Time number three happened when Aziz was drying him off, the prince content to hold Harry in his lap to ease away the last of his tension while Harry crooned against his neck.

"Good?" Aziz asked when it was over, when Harry was clean and in new, soft clothing, when he was safely nestled in Ben's bed like it was a place he had any right to be.

"Yeah," Harry admitted, earning a bright smile from the prince, and despite the fact that someone had tried to kill him, this still seemed like the strangest thing that had occurred to Harry in Auradon.

-:-:-

The next time Harry awoke was a bit more abrupt. He'd been nestled between Ben and Aziz, cradled between them in a way they seemed to deem as their new normal, contentedly dozing when a blinding flash of light surged throughout the room before the foot of the bed dipped under a sudden weight, the shift accompanied by a few startled squawks.

Harry tensed on reflex, preparing to throw himself over Aziz for protection before he realized that the intrusion was none other than Doug, Chad, and Lonnie, the former of which was holding an intricate-looking rune diagram safely between his fingers, though that was really all Harry could see of Doug under the pile of bodies.

"Ha!" Chad declared as he crawled out of the heap, Ben and Aziz pulling Harry into the sitting position as the other three righted themselves. "I knew you weren't at the school."

"Guys," Ben sighed, dragging a hand across his face. "We are supposed to be in hiding right now."

"So someone did try to kill Sonny," Lonnie muttered, crawling her way up the bed until she could force her way between Harry and Aziz, the prince letting out an unhappy mutter before she batted him away with a lazy sweep of her hand, turning her attention to Harry so she could properly wrap herself around him. "And you didn't think to tell us. Just- no guys, he's just resting, but he can't see anyone for totally not suspicious reasons'."

Ben made an annoyed face until Chad more or less crawled into his lap, clinging to Harry's other side. "The less people who know where we are-"

"We aren't most people and you know it," Doug huffed, stern with Ben even though he seemed tentative when he turned his gaze to Harry, hesitating to get too close. "Sonny…"

"I forgave Aziz, I can forgive ye too," Harry muttered, slightly overwhelmed by Chad and Lonnie's combined attention when he'd been avoiding them for so long. "Chad-"

"I'm so fucking sorry," Chad gushed, nuzzling his shoulder. "I was trying to figure out how to get condoms because I read they were important and then Fairy Godmother wanted to give me the talk and I panicked and then she said- she was worried you were using me-"

"I'd never," Harry said, heat building behind his eyes. "I promise, Chad, I'd neverdo that."

"I know that now," Chad said. "You'd stab yourself in the face before you hurt any of us because you're Sonny – you're the sunshine of the Isle and we're so lucky to have you and I'm sorry I doubted you for like, two seconds, I just- I thought it was too good to be true, because it was so nice and I liked being with you and you liked being with me and it was sort of like having a boyfriend and I really, really liked that."

"Chad," Harry murmured, didn't know how to proceed. "I- I liked it too, a lot. I'm sorry I didn't do right by ye."

"Okay," Aziz spoke up. "The only one who did wrong by both of you was me, so you can cut that stuff off right now. And um- I mean, if you guys like each other so much, you could just- you know, actually date."

More than one person seemed to tense at that, including Chad, including Harry, who hadn't considered dabbling in such things over here, least of all with Chad, who was so sweet and deserved so much better than Harry.

And then Ben was growling, a low sound that made Chad tense further before he abruptly cut himself off with a whine. "Sorry, sorry," Ben said, dragging a hand across his face. "I'm sorry, you guys would be a great couple. I totally support you."

"And also want to date you," Aziz said, making Ben freeze.

There was a distinct pause.

"Well, get in fucking line," Lonnie murmured. "Look, I'm gonna cut to the point because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's been lamenting the fact that we're attracted to everyone in this room. And we could pair off and fall into the usual formula of Auradon monogamy, or we could do whatever the fuck we want and all date each other."

It was amazing, how immediate it was for everyone to relax.

"Oh fuck," Chad sighed, melting into Harry. "Because I- I mean, I'd be super lucky just to have you, to have any of you, but I wanted all of you and I thought maybe it's because you're the first people to be consistently nice to me- like, the actual me on a regular basis, but I love our sleepovers and our cuddle time and dinners and being with you."

"I do too," Ben rumbled, his tone more beast than man. "I thought I was greedy, the remnants of my father's curse making me want more than I should, but all of you-" He growled. "I need- I want-"

"We want you too, big guy," Aziz said, wrapping an arm around Doug's shoulders and dragging him in. "Douglass?"

"Polyamory's quite common in dwarven culture," Doug murmured, seeming dazed. "I've wanted this for a while but I never dared to hope- I know I'm not as cool as you guys-"

"Fuck that," Harry muttered. "You're brilliant, Doug. You're talented and organized and um- really cute. That easily makes ye the coolest."

Doug's cheeks flooded in a dark blush. "You think that? Even though I- the bro thing-"

"Forget the stupid bro thing," Harry sighed. "It's behind us. Now we can just do dating things."

It wasn't a direction Harry thought he should go, but tactically speaking, it seemed like his best choice. He was supposed to be angling himself into a position of power, and granted, being their boyfriend wouldn't guarantee him anything, at least he could strengthen relations between Auradon and the Isle. Eventually they would dump him – he was just a phase, a fleeting fancy. Long term it would never work out, but in the meantime- well, turning them down would likely make things awkward, and Harry didn't want that, not after he'd gone weeks without anyone.

He'd gotten weak in Auradon, he could admit that. He was sure Uma wouldn't be mad at him for doing what he needed to in order to get by.

He just- he missed the Isle. He missed his lovers. Gaining new ones, temporary ones, wouldn't fix that, but at least it would distract from it a little.

Chad perked up. "So you're in? You're- we're all going to date now?"

"Yes," Ben declared, sounding wise. "That is exactly what we're going to do."

It likely wouldn't be all that different from what they were doing now, except Harry could be with Chad without Fairy Godmother freaking out and maybe there'd be more kissing. It was fine.

"That is the good news," Lonnie hummed. "The bad news is that someone tried to kill Sonny."

"One step at a time," Doug advised, and like a well-oiled machine, everyone agreed with him without argument, accustomed to catering to Doug's wisdom.

"First things first, we finish helping Sonny recover from the flu," Aziz said. "Then we start busting heads."

"With, you know, the law," Ben said.

"Yes." Lonnie smirked. "The law."

It was a shame Mal and Uma would probably never meet Lonnie, because Harry was pretty sure they'd like everything about her. Especially her ability to communicate subtle threats.

It was an important skill.

-:-:-

From that point on, Harry had five very dedicated nursemaids. They took turns cuddling with him, making sure he was hydrating and eating and taking his medicine before one of them dragged him off to the bathroom to get cleaned up – though that was just about always Ben or Aziz, who were already used to doing it.

"We should probably discuss boundaries at some point," Ben said when Harry's head was curled in Doug's lap, the dwarf kin petting his fingers through newly-cleaned hair as he read one of Ben's rare tomes. "Communication is important."

"Rule list," Lonnie declared, nudging a tablet into Doug's hand. "Maybe a few spreadsheets."

"On it," Doug said, abandoning his book for the prospect of organization.

"Not like we don't have time," Aziz hummed, content to cradle Chad in his lap and properly dote on the blond with kisses now that he was finally allowed to do so.

Now that they were dating, Harry was treated to that a lot, the others trading shy kisses with one another (unless they were Lonnie, in which case it was anything but shy), because they really were all attracted to one another.

"What did I tell you?" Chad murmured when they caught Ben and Doug in a heated make out session. "The language of books."

"Finally," Lonnie murmured, trading a high five with Aziz. "The dwarf-beast culmination we've all been waiting for."

It was different, and yet not a strange enough development for it to phase Harry. Despite their trials and tribulations, this seemed like a natural development, and he wasn't sure how he'd missed that. Maybe he was just too used to polyamorous relationships, maybe he didn't know how to do casual friendships, but either way, everyone seemed happy, and as the days passed, his strength grew.

"People see us hanging out enough that our sudden disappearance to be with you while you recover is entirely expected," Lonnie explained as she scrolled social media. "Any news on the assassin front?"

"Pretty sure the root of it's in the Southern Isles," Ben muttered, his expression grave. "Fritz and Jurek weren't spelled, though."

Which meant whatever contributions they'd made had been entirely willing.

"Fuck those guys," Aziz murmured before he cuddled Harry closer.

It still surprised him how passionately dedicated these people were to him, especially when Harry had been nothing close to the brutal warrior he'd been back on the Isle. That guy had been respected. This version of him had mostly cried.

Guessed Auradon valued sensitivity over battle prowess or something.

"We're going to take care of this," Ben said, his voice so very sure. "We'll find out who's behind this and they'll be punished, and then we'll go back to our lives."

"With the added bonus of multiple romantic partners," Aziz said with a wag of his brows. "Our parents will be entirely unsurprised."

"I'm pretty sure our moms have a running bet with each other," Lonnie chirped, seeming smug.

"They do," Doug offered. "My dad's in on it. I think he won, actually."

"Who's the dope now?" Aziz laughed before he dragged Doug into a kiss.

It was, without question, good, and Harry held onto it, at least until the other shoe dropped.

-:-:-

Harry returned to school without any fanfare, all by Fairy Godmother's design. The information in Harry's case was distributed on a need-to-know basis, and Harry – the victim – was apparently excluded from the list, as were his new partners, meaning they didn't know what went down, only that the perpetrators had been taken care of and Harry was supposedly safe.

Captain Amelia sent her regards. She seemed to understand why Harry was quitting the team, and while she assured him that he would be greatly missed – more than Aziz, at any rate, who quit in solidarity like the drama queen he was – she definitely supported his decision.

"I wouldn't want to sail again either," Matui said. "Well, maybe not because it's kind of in my blood, but if it wasn't in my blood I wouldn't want to sail again, so just- you do you, man. I'm sorry that happened."

"Thanks, Matui," Harry said, still processing the babbled reassurance before the cheerful heir to Montunui breezed off onto his next adventure.

There was, as to be expected, an influx of nosiness and gossip at Harry's return, especially when Fritz and Jurek stayed on academic suspension. Supposedly it was for tampering with school property – a prank with the sailing team gone wrong, and none of them made any efforts to go against that cover story. People wanted information, but they were immediately distracted by the upgrade in their relationship.

It wasn't unusual to see any of them holding hands with Chad during the school day, the blond reveling in the easy attention, but it was an entirely different matter to see Lonnie walking hand-in-hand with Ben, or to have Aziz wrap an arm around Doug's waist while the dwarf kin traded out books from his locker. They'd already informed their respective parents and guardians of what had transpired, and most were supportive – save for Ben's father, who seemed mostly confused. He wasn't outwardly against their relationship, but he didn't seem to get it much either.

"Are you sure?" he'd asked a couple times. "We'll always support you, Ben, but five partners… it seems like a lot."

"It's just the right amount for me," Ben had replied, and maybe Aziz had gotten that on recording for Chad, who played it back when he thought none of them were around, a dopey grin on his lips because he was so happy.

"Sweet Light, Ben," Audrey had said, cornering the prince before lunch one day while he was trading out books from his locker. "Fourboyfriends? Do you have any idea how this makes you look?"

"Like a guy who's lucky enough to have four boyfriends?" Ben countered, entirely unimpressed.

"Like you're super fucking gay," Audrey shot back. "And Lonnie's just the token chick included to appease your parents."

"Please tell Lonnie that," Ben said. "Please, I wanna see her reaction."

"This is serious," Audrey huffed.

"Yeah? So's this," Ben said, motioning between himself and Harry. "We sat back and looked at what we wanted, and it just so happened that what we wanted was each other."

"You're stupidly naïve, Ben," Audrey snapped. "I hope you and your bounty of boyfriends have lots of fun with each other."

Ironically speaking, they didn't actually have that much fun together.

At least, not in the most intimate sense.

"I think we should take it slow, is all," Ben said, his cheeks seeming stained in a permanent flush. "Just- everything but full penetration's fine."

"Say it again," Lonnie giggled. "I need to get it on tape."

"Guys," Ben had whined before the rest of the agreed that they didn't need full penetration, Aziz being the only one kind enough to let Lonnie get a voice recording of it to use as her text message alert.

And that was fine, but maybe Harry had sort of been looking forward to getting fucked again. It hadn't happened in a while, and his fingers could only do so much. And it was a stupid thing to get worked up about, there were obviously more important things than sex, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit bitter at the thought of the others easily sexing each other up back on the Isle. He knew he had to be strong for them, but he missed them, damnit, he missed not being alone, he missed Uma. Being the only Isle kid around was exhausting and Harry was growing to hate it, regardless of how much everyone seemed to respect him. Maybe sex wouldn't have been the perfect band aid for such things, but it couldn't have hurt. Now Harry was left with the possibility that was blocked off by – not arbitrary rules, but rules nonetheless.

But relationships – even temporary ones – were about respecting boundaries, and if Ben wasn't ready to do the deed, then Harry could respect that. He could abstain. He wasn't the needy beast they thought him to be.

Or… maybe he was a little.

He didn't know why this was so hard (literally, ugh). He'd been without for months before he started dating his Auradon crew, he didn't know why this seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Maybe it was because the possibility was finally there and he just couldn't do anything about it.

Whatever. Whatever. Maybe this would keep him more focused. He definitely wasn't feeling neglected, not with the amount of attention they gave him.

He cared for them, he knew that much, but for whatever reason watching Ben have an interview with Queen Snow where he explained his new romantic situation made Harry miss the others back on the Isle more than he had in months. He'd managed to sooth his longing for them into a manageable ache, but now-

It was like he wanted everything. He knew if he went back to the Isle, he'd miss Ben and the others as well. It was like there was no winning with a greedy heart like his.

In that instance, he might as well enjoy it while he had it, regardless of the lack of full penetration.

-:-:-

And then Chad had to go and be Chad, which Harry could never hold against him – he greatly loved him for this, in fact – but it didn't do wonderful things for Harry's restraint.

"This slow sex thing is killing me," Chad admitted between kisses, he and Harry sharing a shower after the blond's Tourney practice. Aziz would be there too, only he was with Doug getting cleaned up from marching band practice, and Ben had gone straight from Tourney to meetings at the capitol, meaning he would return late and likely hungry, and it would be up to Lonnie to bully him into taking care of himself while the rest of them sorted paperwork.

"Chad," Harry moaned, the blond eagerly rutting against him with a renewed enthusiasm.

"Do you think Ben's shy?" Chad asked, his hands happy to rove Harry's body in mindless grazes before settling on his rear so he could really torment him. "Like, he says he's down for everything but I haven't gotten past rutting against him fully clothed, and I wanna see that beast dick, I really do. I didn't think that would get worse when I started dating him, but now it's like forbidden fruit I really want to suck on, only the one time I suggested it he got all strangled and flushed, the way he does when he's super embarrassed, and then we didn't do anything."

"M-Maybe he's worried about his beast," Harry murmured, taking one of Chad's hands and settling it against his nipple to give the blond an idea of what he wanted. He was obliged with an enthusiastic pinch that left him shuddering. "Maybe he thinks it'll be intense, so he needs to take it slow so he can um- learn to handle it, the way he did with everything else."

"That makes sense," Chad gasped, whining when Harry started squeezing his rear. "Of course it makes sense. It makes way more sense than him pity dating us because he only wants like, you and he has to settle for the rest of us only he wants to treat us all equally so he only gives what he'd be willing to give to the person he likes the least-"

"Chad," Harry interrupted, pinning the blond against the wall and pulling him back so he could stare him in the eye. "Ben wouldn't do that, and he cares for all of us. He cares for ye, and that's not going to change just because he wants to take things slow."

"I know," Chad sighed, seeming apologetic that he'd brought it up in the first place. "But you want more too, don't you? I haven't said anything because I don't want to be greedy and that's probably why you haven't said anything and…" He cut off with a sigh. "Why don't we just sex each other? That should be allowed. They don't have to know."

"Polyamory works on communication," Harry reminded him, as though he did not desperately want to start having sex with the blond. "We can't have secrets like that."

"More good sense," Chad murmured. "You are full of it always. Ugh, why does my dick make it so hard to think straight?"

"It's our curse," Harry muttered as he started rutting against the blond all over again, grinning at the mewl it earned him.

"Well, I mean- at least Aziz is an awkward banana," Chad gasped, clinging to Harry's shoulders. "I don't think he's ever dated a guy before, so like, he's good for cuddling but anything past that- he has no swag. He has so little swag he makes me feel experienced, it is awesome. I'm not surprised he made up 'bro stuff', he just like, has no idea what to do."

They could talk about that now without any kind of lingering hard feelings, which Harry was entirely thankful for, grateful to get that nonsense behind him.

He also did not entirely agree with this deduction, as Aziz sure as shit seemed to know what to do when he was jerking Harry off in Ben's shower, but that could have easily been a heat of the moment thing, adrenaline spurring him on to help Harry out. Without that mission-oriented mindset spurring him forward, Harry could see the Agraben prince theoretically fumbling with his nerves. Unless he was just shy around Chad.

Harry would have to look into it going forward.

"I think Doug is just shy," Chad continued. "For the same reasons as Ben? But like, as a dwarf thing instead of a beast thing. Like he's afraid his inner dwarf will go all- I don't even know on us." He shivered. "I will be honest, I am so there for that happening. Sometimes I splay myself across my bed like a humble offering and Doug just blushes before burrowing himself under his covers, it is both the best and the worst."

"Everyone goes at their own speed," Harry reminded him, glad that they could have this much. "At least we have Lonnie."

"Bless Lonnie," Chad breathed, grinning dreamily at the prospect of their firecracker girlfriend.

Lonnie, much like Uma, was direct about getting what she wanted, and if she saw one of them was worked up she had no issue sticking a hand down their pants and beating them off while they melted like putty in her hands.

"Ye know I can return the favor, right?" Harry said one time, flushed and overwhelmed by her attentions, and that was how he came to be greeted with her urging his hand under her skirt with a wink, the Imperial City teen happy to trade kisses with him while he carefully eased his fingers into her warm heat.

They'd never gotten past that, but Harry was pretty sure when she was ready for it, Lonnie would let them know.

"Bless Lonnie," Harry simply repeated as he and Chad found their climax.

It was always a delight, those moments where they were both lying sprawled, boneless against the cool tile of the shower, sharing each other's air and Chad's lips pulled back in a fond smile, eyes half lidded and lips flushed because they'd shared something so nice together.

It was dangerous, Harry knew it was. Knew he shouldn't get attached, knew he should be herding Chad towards the others rather than keeping him to himself, but…

But Harry was only human, and he had a part to play.

He may as well savor it while he could.


-:-:-


Endnotes:

Harry: Murder threats? Yeah, that's expectable.

Also Harry: *Does not know what to do with all these princes being nice to him* What even do you want, Aziz?

Until next time :)