Bonded

Chapter Four

Harry stared at himself in the mirror. After coming home from Ukusno he showered to get off any lingering smells of the different spices used. He didn't think it smelled bad, quite the opposite really, but he didn't want his partners to realize that he only ate at Slaven's. Harry didn't know why but he had a suspicion that his partners wouldn't support his relationship with the older man. He wanted to protect his little oasis and keeping it secret seemed like his best bet.

Harry used his hand to wipe off the condensation that had collected around the mirror. His normal, typical buzz cut was starting to grow out. He could see the start of soft curls forming on the tips of his dark hair. Daniel thought his gentle curls made his hair look messy, a permanent bed head look he had described it as. He would asked Harry to cut his hair every two weeks or so. At first Harry found it upsetting, he enjoyed having slightly longer hair as an adult as his parents used to keep his curls cut off him as a child. But now he doesn't mind as he is able to stop by and see Slaven those days.

His dark eyes, hair and olive skin tone set him apart in the household, just enough to feel different. It could have been lingering effects from his childhood, where his parents didn't deny his adoption but they did try to make him visually look like their child, which was difficult considering their pink tone, and light hair and eyes colour. The three other men in the house shared the same esthetics as his parents, the same as almost everyone in this country.

Harry sighed when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. He frowned at his own reflection as he ignored the person on the other side. He knew it was Ollie, as the other two weren't back from work yet, but he didn't want to deal with other people at the moment.

"Harry, come on, I know your done in there. I have some new earrings I want to try on and your hogging the good bathroom." Ollie said as he knocked on the door again.

Harry was thinking of something to say when Ollie unlocked and opened the door on him. Harry startled and then frowned looking over at Ollie. He saw a sharp knife in Ollie's hand that must have been used to turn the lock. He looked back up to Ollie with a confused expression and asked, "why do you have a knife?"

Ollie paused on his way into the bathroom and stared down at the knife in his hand. "I couldn't find the scissors so I grabbed this to open up the package." He said with a shrug.

Harry hummed his reply, gripped the towel that was tied around his waist and moved over so he wasn't standing directly infront of the mirror. He was completely comfortable with being naked around Ollie despite being emotionally uncomfortable. It was probably all the sex he was pushed into having with the guy, nothing physical seemed private anymore. He watched as Ollie got out the peroxide to sanitize the earnings. He used the knife to open the clear package and pulled out two silver studs almost identical to the ones he already had in his ears. He placed the earrings into the lid of the bottle and added a bit of peroxide. Ollie had to move his longer light brown hair out of the way to remove the studs from his ear. His hair was a fluffy mess on top of his head, it was the exact style Harry had wanted but was denied.

Ollie gracefully slid in his new studs and Harry stared at them, admiring them. He had wanted earrings a few years back but Issac had told him they were a waste of money and Daniel called piercings "unprofessional".

Harry had been shocked when Ollie came home just a few weeks ago with new piercings in his ears. He had previously discussed it with no one and yet both Daniel and Isaac complimented him on them. It hurt. Harry cried himself to sleep that night and couldn't look any of them in the eyes for about a week. Of course no one said anything about it and life moved on as soon as Harry got over it.

Ollie must have noticed him staring as he turned to look at Harry with a smirk. "Let's use these piercing earrings to pierce your ears."

Surprised by the idea Harry shook his head no.