It wasn't a walk in the park, working for Harvey Specter. He was almost always a snarky, sarcastic, self-absorbed son of a bitch. He was every trait that Mike didn't want in his life. He rarely showed emotion, at least emotion that wasn't bordering on victory. Mike was convinced that the man wasn't human. He was positively convinced that beneath those Italian ties and well-ironed shirts, there lay a heart made of coal.
Yet, sitting there across from Harvey Specter with the files strewn over the glass table and the papers covering every inch of their laps, Mike barely blinked his baby-blue eyes as he watched his employer. He could have sworn that he saw worry. Concern. Human emotion. Mike bit the tip of his pen, observing the vein that popped out on Harvey's temple. Interesting. He wanted to poke it.
"If you're done committing my face to memory, you might want to start actually doing your job," Harvey said with a slight edge to his voice. He was angry, or maybe just irritated. Mike looked down and scanned over the papers, looking through the words and figures without skipping a single letter or digit. Such was his inhumanity, he had to admit. He placed every finished page to the side and smiled as he circled the passage that they'd been looking for six hours.
"Found it." He slid the paper across the table to Harvey. The older man picked it up and leaned back, scanning the paragraph that Mike had circled. He mouthed the words, his elbow on the armrest and his fingers pressing to his chin and his lips forming each letter with scrutiny.
"In the case of the acquisition of new property, the funds will be wired to..." He raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit. Mike grinned, leaving forward and denting some of the papers with his elbows. He smiled even more as Harvey looked at him with pride. "You may have just won us the case."
"See, he bypassed the financial codes. He didn't even try to notify the board about his purchase before pocketing the lion's share and telling them that the purchase was eighty percent smaller. It's so obvious!" he said enthusiastically. He stopped speaking when he noticed Harvey's raised eyebrow. He immediately calmed down. "Gloating badly again?" he mumbled.
There was a small silence. He looked up at his boss, really took in Harvey's features as the older man looked at him calmly. Mike hated these moments. It was in moments like these that he had to admit that he was basically Embeth Davidtz and Harvey was Robin Williams, except this time it was Embeth who was falling. Hard. Mike wasn't sure what had made him fall. He would probably never figure it out.
Harvey was an asshole. Harvey was manipulative. Harvey was egotistical, callous, unforgiving, and he was not one to stay for more than two seconds after a conversation, much less stay in a relationship. Hell, why would Mike even entertain the notion of a relationship? He was no good at those, and Harvey definitely didn't even know what the word meant. Mike looked away from that man's eyes, choosing to instead focus on the wall of records that stood so perfectly aligned with every other aspect of Harvey's life. Mike was just as much an "aspect" as those records.
"Mike?" Harvey murmured, an eyebrow lifted with slight curiosity. Mike looked back at those copper eyes, as metallic as Harvey's attitude. Mike smiled as much as he could emotionally afford, flicking his eyes down to his lap as he stacked the papers back onto the table and started cleaning up.
"I'm going to go home, if that's okay with you," Mike said hastily as he tugged at his messenger bag. He had the full mindset to get out of the office, but his muscles wouldn't move. Harvey didn't say a word, didn't give any indication that he heard. Mike let out a long sigh, wishing that Harvey would say one word. A single word.
"Looks like your time with that Rachel girl has really helped your researching skills," Harvey finally stated. He looked up at Mike, his brow furrowed and the sides of his lips pushing up with a half-smile. Mike couldn't decipher the emotions in the smile, or if there were even emotions in the smile. If that was the painted smile that he gave so many clients, so many people who were naïve enough to believe that this asshole, this heartless son of a bitch, could feel.
"Um, yeah... I picked up a lot from her. She's really been... helping me a lot," he said softly. He cleared his throat and rocked on his heels awkwardly, knowing how close his escape was. Harvey looked down at the files on his table, pushing his pen into the skin of his cheek contemplatively. Finally, he looked back up at Mike.
"She's a pretty girl. You would definitely make a great couple," he said with a heavy edge. Mike felt himself go from confused to even more confused. He swallowed and nodded, remembering that he was supposed to be in love with her. A girl. He was supposed to feel for her the way that he'd been told to, the way that he knew was acceptable. But he didn't. He couldn't. Maybe he had a crush on her before, but with Harvey, it was a whole other game. He and Rachel had been a waltz, harmonic and following their steps to the letter.
Harvey was a gun fight, and all Mike had was a knife.
"Yeah, she's... She's great," Mike admitted, looking down at his shoes. He heard Harvey get up, and everything in his body told him to run like an antelope that could smell a lion in the wind. Mike looked up at the man, who was looking right back with the most guarded, ambiguous expression that the young man had ever seen.
There wasn't a single word exchanged between them. Mike couldn't even bring himself to back away as Harvey stepped closer and closer, the older man's calloused hands cupping around the young associate's face. Mike wanted to push him away, but there was something in Harvey's hard, dangerous eyes that made Mike shiver.
Then Harvey pushed their mouths together and Mike didn't even have room to say no.
Mike felt the back of his head hit the wall between the shelves of records. He heard the thin discs clatter against each other as Harvey's hands ran down his sides roughly. It wasn't a seductive kiss, a loving kiss, a kiss that would make Mike's heart flutter. Instead, Mike's heart was thumping hard in his chest. He gasped with how rough Harvey was treating him. The older man's hands gripped and groped at his ass while Mike's mile-long legs wrapped around Harvey's waist.
"Mine," Mike could have sworn he heard Harvey growl against his lips. Mike let out a soft groan as he felt Harvey push their crotches together. Harvey, always Harvey, smelling like mint and whiskey and a man who'd been up late every night of his life, was making Mike's body throb with lust. Mike was panting hard, Harvey was grunting into Mike's neck, his teeth buried in his associate's skin.
"Pants," Mike gasped out, rolling his hips into Harvey's. He felt himself lifted from the wall, Harvey's hands against his back and his lips seeking out Mike's tongue. Mike was slammed into the desk, papers and pens pressing into his spine as Harvey pulled enough away to rip down the younger man's pants. Mike's head was spinning as Harvey kissed him again, his tongue on the younger's and his fingers tracing the waistband of Mike's underwear. The younger man gripped at Harvey's well-gelled hair and his back arched into Harvey's rough touches. Their lips parted and Mike saw his boss grabbing a bottle of lotion from one of his drawers. He felt his throat go dry as he realized that it was about to go through, their actions and their consequences, and Mike wanted just that.
"I'm not going to lie. This is going to hurt like a bitch," Harvey warned as he slowly entered a finger into the younger. Even slippery, it was uncomfortable. Mike felt himself stiffen with the intrusion, but then came Harvey's lips on his, and Mike bore the pain as their pace slowed. Mike was breathing steadily as Harvey's finger stretched him slightly. Soon, Mike was finding it... Pleasurable.
"More," he whispered against Harvey's lips. The older man nodded and squeezed in a second digit, making Mike arch. They took it slow and steady, sucking and nipping each other's lips as their bodies reacted to the sounds spilling from both their mouths. Mike started to lose himself again, his body trembling as he felt a heat at his core.
"I want you," Harvey whispered. Mike nodded, looking up into Harvey's eyes with fear but anticipation. Harvey drew out his fingers and kissed the younger man before they were slowly melting into each other, Harvey pushing in and Mike whining softly with the pain. He could have sworn that he heard Harvey apologizing against his ear.
"Hold me closer," Mike whispered, his arms wrapping around Harvey's body and his fists gathering clumps of Harvey's shirt. They were gasping, grunting, panting as moved together desperately. Mike was dying in Harvey's arms, dying because now he knew just how much he loved Harvey, just how much this moment meant to him. He let out a soft call as he thrust back against Harvey cautiously, timing himself as Harvey's lips lifted in a smirk.
"You're a fast learner," he whispered. The seam of his lips curled up more as Mike nodded and leaned up for a kiss. Harvey's arms wrapped around the lithe body, his thrusts growing more ambitious. Mike felt his lower gut coiling, his own hips moving more frantically.
"Harvey... Harvey, Harvey, Harvey!" Mike called out as he came between them, soiling both of their ridiculously expensive shirts. He felt Harvey's thrusts continue into him, even as the older man came into the tight canal. Mike let's out a soft groan as the hot liquid filled him. He panted softly, falling back against the desk. His hands flew to his own hair, tugging it as if to make sure he was still awake. Still alive enough to be so in love with Harvey that he didn't care, didn't care about anything but Harvey being there with him.
He want sure how he got dressed again, or if he even dressed himself. He came back to his senses as Harvey was finishing up tying his tie. Mike swallowed hard as he watched the older man's back. He felt himself shivering with the weight of what they'd just did, of how much this man meant to him, what Harvey couldn't mean to him. "I... What was that?"
"What was what? The sex?" Harvey asked as he straightened out his jacket and brushed it off. Mike flared up at that arrogant, satisfied tone of his. He got up, despite how sore his back and thighs were. Standing firmly on the ground, he could see Harvey, shoulders flexing themselves to relax even as Mike's heart was shattering in his chest. He felt like punching Harvey, maybe in the back of the head or in his goddamn kidneys.
"Fuck you. You know what, fuck. You," Mike snarled. He felt his fists clench as Harvey turned around, chuckling. Mike continued venomously, now knowing what he'd felt every time Harvey had looked away from him, every time Harvey had forgotten or neglected to acknowledge him. He was in love, he couldn't even deny it. "After everything else you've done to me, betting me off like some cheap poker chip to Louis o-or playing me like a goddamn fiddle whenever you want me to do your dirty work, I've never said a word, but you can't just fuck me like some cheap slut and tell me that it didn't mean—"
"You idiot," Harvey said with a smirk, turning around. "Do you know how many people I've slept with, kid? Don't flatter yourself," he said with a chuckle. Mike swallowed hard and looked through Harvey's eyes, clenching his fists harder before marching up to the man. Harvey didn't move, stony and calm until Mike was an inch away. The older man moved first, grabbing the back of the younger man's head and kissing the younger hard. Mike pushed Harvey away, watching the older man stumble with the first glimpse of emotion on his face. Shock.
"I love you," Mike whispered, turning on his heel and grabbing his bag. He could feel Harvey's eyes on his back as he walked out of the door firmly. Harvey's footsteps followed him, but he refused to turn around until he was at the elevator. He pressed the button hard, punching it in with vigor. Harvey stood next to him quietly, his hands clenched in front of him, looking down. Harvey put a hand on the small of Mike's back, and Mike couldn't even tell Harvey how much he wanted to slap it away.
"It's hard, being in love with you," Harvey murmured. Mike felt everything freeze in him, and he looked up with the largest eyes he'd ever had. It was just like the time that Harvey had told him that he was proud of him for the first time… right before he'd been told that Jessica had known about his secret. He looked down, waiting for the second hammer to drop.
"Yeah right," he muttered. Harvey looked down at Mike's hands and slid his hand between them.
"I love you, Mike. So the next time you want to be Embeth Davidtz, remember that Robin Williams was the one who fell in love first."