Lunch With Harry

[0_0_7]

He'd had Eve make the arrangements and she'd sent the email with the address. James hadn't really paid attention to much except vegetarian and vegan options.

Amour Weho...well, he'd said it was with Harry.

And she did know everything about him.

He was there a half hour early simply because traffic was freakishly light. He was halfway through a martini when he saw Harry and rose to greet him.

"I ordered appetizers to go in as soon as you arrived," he told him.

Comments

[0_0_7]

James chuckled and nodded.

"Bees," he confirmed.

"Reading project proposals, too," he added. "Keeping bysy."

[lepidopterologist]

"Projects as in more acting roles?" Harry asked. "Something different?"

[0_0_7]

"Investments. Small projects," he clarified.

Then he picked up his martini to take a sip.

"Medical research funding..." he mumbled.

[lepidopterologist]

Harry looked at him for a second, just as the server came over and asked if he'd like a drink. He ordered a scotch on the rocks, and then looked back at Bond.

Finally he said, "You know, it's likely that your money could do much more good if it were not so focused on a single person."

[0_0_7]

"Eighteen thousand people suffer a spinal cord injury every single year," he countered.

"I think it's worthwhile. What would you suggest? A safer investment like art or a yacht?" James smirked.

[lepidopterologist]

Harry held up his hands. "Touche," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's good you're... doing good. But there's some line between philanthropy and self flagellation."

[0_0_7]

"What an interesting conclusion to draw," he replied mildly.

"Are you prone to that sort of thing?"

[lepidopterologist]

"That isn't how I tend to point my whip," Harry said, his tone just as mild. He could very well have been joking.

[0_0_7]

"I didn't think so," he replied mildly.

The appetizers appeared and the server vanished once again.

"I have nothing to atone for," he said. "It's less penance and more...doing the most with the game of life I was lucky enough to win at."

[lepidopterologist]

Harry didn't entirely believe that, given how... targeted, Bond's "doing the most" seemed to be. But he didn't comment on it.

"I think that's very admirable," he said instead. "Truly. Many of the assholes I work with will simply die with giant piles of money."

[0_0_7]

"What about you?" James asked. "What is the tender spot in your heart reserved for? Or...do lawyers not have that?"

He grinned at his joke, knowing it wasn't true. In the time between setting the appointment and now, he'd looked Harry up online.

Eve.

Eve had done the work.

[lepidopterologist]

"I do a lot of pro bono work," Harry said vaguely. Which was true. And he gave a lot of money to various organizations as well. And there was a theme... Lambda Legal. AIDS research. The Trevor Project.

Harry did not make being gay a particularly prominent part of his personality. In fact, occasionally coworkers would express surprise upon realizing, even after knowing him in passing for years. But he didn't hide it anymore either. But he still felt this kind of obligation to make life better for people like him.

[0_0_7]

"So I hear," James smiled.

He selected a bite to try and smiled as he savoured it.

"But certainly not to atone," he said mildly, once he'd swallowed.

[lepidopterologist]

"No," Harry said. "Not to atone. To give back. And perhaps assuage some of the inevitable guilt over my own privilege."

[0_0_7]

"That's what differentiates you from your colleagues," James said. "Lawyers in this town love their privilege."

[lepidopterologist]

"They do," Harry said with a chuckle. He picked up his drink and took a swallow. "There are a number of my colleagues whom I would happily never see again if I didn't have to."

[0_0_7]

"I could say the same for my profession," James admitted. "Some might say it about me."

[lepidopterologist]

"Probably," said Harry with a small smile pulling at his lips.

[0_0_7]

"Unavoidable,: he shrugged. "In this industry, utterly unavoidable."

[lepidopterologist]

"Being hated?" Harry said. "Yes. Yes, you are absolutely correct."

He thought of Q telling him about his poor experience with Bond. The word he'd used was "rude" which honestly, though Harry entirely believe him, he had trouble picturing.

[0_0_7]

"Do you know that since I've started the hives, I truly don't care. Hollywood could never humble me like the bees," he chuckled...at his terribly funny joke, whether Harry got it or not.

[lepidopterologist]

Harry had no idea what that meant, maybe some kind of play on queens... but he didn't ask. Bond had become a bit of an odd duck. Though Harry also certainly noticed that he was just as stunningly attractive as he'd always been.

"Are they happy to have your attention?" Harry asked.

[0_0_7]

"I'd like to think so," he nodded. "I bring them the news every morning. I told them when the Queen passed, of course."

[lepidopterologist]

"Oh my," Harry said. "Were they very distressed? Or perhaps your hive's Queen saw her as competition."

[0_0_7]

James listened to him with growing curious amusement.

"The bees need to be told," he chuckled. "If you're interested, I can suggest a book on why."

The server came back with fresh drinks and the first course.

"This looks delightful. Eve always finds the nicest spots."

[lepidopterologist]

An odd duck, Harry decided.

"It does not surprise me that you are a man of good taste," he said.

[0_0_7]

"I also like buttered saltines. Don't be fooled," he smiled.

He waited until Harry had a bite in his mouth to say-

"That was the delicacy while I was in lock up before the trial."

[lepidopterologist]

Harry looked at him for a moment and then said, "I confess, I was quite worried about how you would do there." He'd done everything he could to minimize Bond's time behind bars. It probably should have been much more.