Warning: consensual workplace semi-public (one person listening, no one watching) disciplinary spanking of an adult by his boss/ friend. Brief self-spanking (sort of? front of thighs) with a hairbrush (not for self-injurious reasons). Mention of bare bottom, public, consensual caning and paddling of other adults by their supervisors.
Intended as platonic, brotherly love and protectiveness/ hero worship, but could easily be read as D/s pre-slash.
Rated M because of the spanking descriptions; no sexual activity.
FYI, the version I have on A03 (same story name; username is nofuckingcluedoyou) is broken into chapters and more up-to-date. I'll fix that here eventually, but you may want to read this there instead, for now.
Slight AU: All top tier firms in NYC and other major U.S. cities require that associates be subjected to corporal punishment. Also, I just want to give credit to the authors of "How to train a lawyer" as a source of inspiration for the contract/ legislation aspect vs. use of CP as informal/ off-the-record workplace punishment.
"Mike, unless you want Louis to paddle you in the middle of the bullpen or Jessica to cane you in her office with the glass walls, you'll bend yourself over my knee, right now."
Mike's puppy dog eyes break Harvey's heart, which, in turn, pisses Harvey off. Mike has been behaving insufferably, and a part of him that he's not proud of does kind of want to take it out on the rookie's ass. He still wouldn't do it if he had a choice other than feeding his associate to Louis. But Harvey has already tried all 146 other options, and now they're out of time.
Pearson-Hardman's bylaws require that all associates be subjected to corporal punishment for any one of a long list of offenses. Harvey had successfully negotiated a contract preventing anyone but himself from punishing Mike, which was totally unprecedented and pissed Louis off to no end. Despite Harvey's attempts to convince her otherwise, Jessica refused to sign without including a provision stating that she or Louis could step in and punish Mike if Harvey failed to do so in accordance with the bylaws.
Up until now, Harvey has been able to shield Mike by preventing anyone else from finding out about his transgressions. But this time, Louis knows what happened because he snuck over and listened to Harvey's voicemail when Donna left her desk. No one seems to care about Harvey's assertions that since Louis accessed the voicemail in violation of the bylaws (and state employment regulations), any information he obtained should be inadmissible in the courtroom of Jessica's office, where Harvey was informed that Mike would be getting his ass torn up by someone, and that Harvey better take care of it now if he wanted to keep Louis from taking over Mike's punishment.
Harvey takes a deep breath, pushing down the surge of irritation and gentling his tone. "Come on, buddy. You know this isn't up to me. Louis will come and drag you out of here if he doesn't hear me punishing you within the next 30 seconds. And if I punch him in the face like I'd prefer, I'm guessing that you'll get a hell of a lot of public paddlings from him during my mandatory 3 month suspension."
Mike's stomach drops so quickly that he actually dives over Harvey's lap, and Harvey has to suppress the urge to laugh at his associate's rapid change in attitude.
"Hand or brush?" Harvey asks him. It's a genuine question, not a threat, and Mike relaxes a bit. Harvey's being awfully nice to him, considering. "The brush would hurt more, right?" Mike asks him, sounding awfully vulnerable. "It would." Harvey tells him. "I'd rather not use it, but I don't want to smack you with my hand if that'd feel... wrong for you. It's up to you."
Mike doesn't hesitate. "Please just your hand?" he whispers, anxious that Harvey might change his mind and decide to use an implement, anyway.
"Okay, good." Harvey tells him. He ruffles Mike's hair affectionately. "The more you cry and beg and yelp, the more convincing this will be, and the easier I can go on you. But don't just fake it unless you're sure you can make it sound genuine. And once I start your punishment, don't believe a word I say until I stop smacking you and turn off the intercomm. I'll be acting like even more of a dick than usual, so just remember that it's all for show so that no one else can kick your ass. Because I promise you, they'd do it a hell of a lot harder than I ever would. Alright?" Harvey rubs Mike's back gently for a second.
"Alright." Mike whispers, sounding terrified. He's clenching every muscle in his body.
Harvey doesn't think more reassurance will help right now; they just need to get this over with. Still, he wants to be sure... "You trust me?"
"Yeah, I trust you, Harvey." Mike knows Harvey is protecting him the best he can. He won't take things too far. Mike relaxes his body.
"I'm starting now." Harvey presses the button to turn on the intercomm and then smacks Mike's ass hard. Mike immediately yelps. Harvey keeps spanking just as hard. He'd made Mike change into a thin pair of sweats, and he doesn't want to have to pull them down. But he needs to make sure Louis can hear the swats he's delivering and Mike's responses to them. If he doesn't, he'll barge into the room and demand to actually watch, and Harvey doesn't want to put his puppy through that humiliation. It's bad enough that Louis gets to listen in.
Mike just whimpers. Harvey tips him forward and starts concentrating his swats on Mike's sit spots. He's using less force than before, but he knows these swats will hurt more, anyway. When he smacks his hand down firmly on Mike's upper thigh, Mike shrieks and starts to plead with him. "No, no, please. Harvey, that's too hard!" He protests. "Too bad." Harvey tells him, voice raised so that Louis can hear him clearly. "I'll spank your thighs as long and hard as you deserve." Harvey's left hand is gently sweeping through Mike's hair, and he hopes that's enough of a reminder that his harsh words are all just part of a performance. Harvey's trying to protect him, and he knows Mike knows that, at least when he's not in the middle of having his ass smacked. Despite what he said, Harvey doesn't smack Mike's other thigh, but he moves back to his sit spots. He wants to make sure Mike is squirming in his chair immediately after his spanking, so that Louis doesn't question whether he has truly been punished enough.
His protégé is thrashing and yelping, but Harvey suspects that's partially just because these swats sound hard. He's using a cupped hand to make the spanking louder without actually having to spank very hard. Mike may or may not know it, but Harvey really is being incredibly lenient. When he was an associate, Jessica had caned Harvey's bare thighs and ass with more force than Harvey's using for a hand spanking over Mike's sweats- for offenses far less serious than Mike's. Just mouthing off to his boss as a brand-new associate would've gotten Harvey spanked ten times harder than Harvey is spanking his mentee for getting caught actually breaking and entering and attempting to steal legal documents from another firm while heavily intoxicated from the drinks served at the Harvard Alumni social that Harvey had explicitly banned Mike from even attending. Mike's behavior has been truly outrageous, but Harvey doesn't think that justifies hitting him. He can't stop the rush of self-hatred he feels for not having figured out a way to get Mike totally exempted from the corporal punishment policy.
Harvey returns to swatting the center of Mike's cheeks, but he's barely tapping them now. He decides to start scolding loudly to cover up the fact that he's pretty much just patting Mike on the ass at this point, rather than actually spanking him. He doesn't need Mike's cheeks to sting much- his well-spanked sit spots will make Mike wince when he sits down and then squirm in his chair. Harvey keeps glancing at his watch between smacks; he's required to spank Mike for a minimum of 3 minutes to avoid getting his associate sentenced to a second punishment from Louis. It has only been 90 seconds, and Harvey feels sick to his stomach. To make matters worse, shouting at Mike during the spanking has made his firstyear burst into tears and start babbling out apologies. Harvey reminds himself that this is a good thing. Red eyes, a tear-streaked face, and audible sobs will all help convince Louis and Jessica that Mike has been thoroughly punished. "You're nowhere near as sorry as you will be," Harvey says loudly, and then he cups his hand and moves from gentle taps back to actual swats- just barely hard enough to convince Mike that he's still being spanked so that he won't stop crying and protesting.
Harvey fights with himself for a second, and then he tells Mike, loudly, to lift up his hips. "What? Why?" Mike asks through his tears. "So I can take down your pants and boxers and spank your bare ass." Harvey tells him, trying to sound as stern as possible. Mike whines loudly and starts begging again. "No, no, please, Harvey, please don't do that, I'm really sorry!"
"You can beg all you want, but you're getting a bare bottom spanking right now, and if you don't start cooperating with me, I'll spank you bare again tomorrow." Mike sobs and pleads with Harvey desperately, but he doesn't lift his hips. "I'm serious." Harvey tells him (although he absolutely isn't), but Mike doesn't budge, so Harvey lifts Mike up to a standing position. He pulls Mike's shirt down in the front and up in the back and then yanks down his sweatpants and pulls his insufferable protégé back over his lap. He knows Mike actually believed his empty threat, so his failure to cooperate was a terrible decision, and Harvey will have to give him a lecture about his total lack of self-preservation later, when no one else is listening. Mike's still wearing his boxers, but Harvey lifts the back of them up by the elastic band to quickly assess the color of Mike's ass. He knows he isn't spanking hard, but some part of him can't stop worrying that maybe he's wrong.
Mike's cheeks look more like he just climbed out of a warm shower than like he's getting a thorough spanking, and Harvey sighs in relief. He knows that between the embarrassment and fear Mike feels at having had his pants pulled down and the empty threat of another spanking tomorrow, Mike won't notice that his ass doesn't actually hurt, aside from the sting that will linger on his (bright pink, but not quite red) sit spots for a little while. Any other partner would've turned Mike's ass and thighs a shade of crimson that wouldn't fade for days. He wonders if Mike understands how badly scorched his ass would've been if Harvey hadn't agreed to spank his associate himself. He's hoping Mike doesn't realize how light this spanking is until after it's over and Louis has finished his post-punishment interrogation. If Mike thinks he's being spanked hard, he'll cry and yelp and protest enough that Louis will think so, too.
Harvey releases the elastic of Mike's boxers as quickly as he'd lifted it. He won't actually ever spank Mike's bare ass, no matter what ridiculous stunts he pulls in the future. But he cups his hand and brings it down onto Mike's bare thigh, just below the edge of his boxer briefs, to ensure that Louis hears the sound of skin-on-skin smacks. It's been 2 minutes, now. He realizes that he has loudly promised Mike- and, by extension, Louis- a whole minute of punishment on Mike's bare bottom, and he's not sure how to fake that. He feels a growing sense of dread as he smacks Mike's bare thigh on the opposite side. Mike wails, and Harvey feels like crying, too. "I hope you're learning your lesson," he scolds, and he does actually mean that- he can't stand the thought of being forced to do this again. "I learned it, I swear, please stop spanking, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again!" Mike pleads loudly between sobs. Harvey isn't smacking him anymore, but he's sure Mike's being loud enough to mask that fact. "Don't you dare tell me to stop. You have no say in how long or how hard you get spanked." Mike's sobs get even louder. "I'm sorry!" He cries out. Harvey tells him harshly to shut up. He feels like such a dick. But at least his hand is resting gently on Mike's back rather than smacking his ass. 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This is the longest 3 minutes of his life.
Harvey has an idea. "You're an insubordinate brat, and you're lucky I didn't leave you with that security guard. If you do anything that reckless again, I swear I'll let them arrest you." He runs his fingers through Mike's hair, hopefully reminding him that Harvey means none of what he's saying.
"You know what? You deserve to have that bright red ass paddled so hard that you can't sit down for a week." Harvey announces. Then he pulls out the hairbrush. "No, no, Harvey, no, please, I'll do whatever you say!" Mike cries out. "Great!" Harvey announces sardonically. "Then you'll lie there while I paddle you good and hard."
Harvey tips Mike forward and pulls one leg over Mike's, holding him in place. He raises the brush- and then brings it down hard against his own thigh, below the gym shorts he'd changed into before starting Mike's spanking (to avoid wrinkling his suit). He manages to keep his reaction to the pain limited to a quiet grunt. Mike, on the other hand, shrieks as though he's been hit with a crowbar. Harvey wonders whether Mike's even aware that Harvey isn't hitting him at all. Grimacing, he brings the brush down again on his own thigh. He groans at the realization that he's way too goddamn soft on this kid if he's willing to smack himself to save Mike from the firm's standard disciplinary policy, which Mike contractually agreed to when he signed on. But Mike is his responsibility, so Harvey will do what he needs to in order to protect him.
"Harvey, please, no more!" Mike begs. He sounds a million times more remorseful now than when Harvey was actually smacking him. He reaches back as though to cover his own ass, but puts his palm on top of Harvey's thigh instead. Leave it to Mike to risk breaking his goddamn fingers to try to protect Harvey from swatting himself. Harvey grabs Mike's hand and pulls it behind his back. "Give me your other hand, too. If you reach back one more time, I swear to God I'll start your whole punishment over! Just shut the fuck up and take it!" He shouts. He's still performing for Louis, but a little bit of real anger drips into his tone; Mike's being just as reckless while over his knee as he is the rest of the time. Harvey has both of Mike's wrists grasped firmly in his left hand. Then he raises the brush with his right arm and gives himself the hardest smack yet. Mike screams. Harvey smacks himself twice more. Mike is in hysterics.
Harvey checks his watch. Three minutes and ten seconds. He throws the hairbrush across the room. "All done." He whispers as he pulls up Mike's sweatpants.
Mike is sobbing out apologies. His whole body jerks with each cry, and Harvey can feel Mike's hands trembling (which reminds him to release Mike's wrists). Without even making a conscious decision to do so, Harvey is rubbing Mike's back and murmuring reassurances. Mike's sobs are quieting down now, so Harvey pulls him off of his lap and stands him up, holding him steady until he's sure he can let go without Mike falling over.
Mike is staring at him with huge blue eyes that are swimming with guilt. He glances back and forth between Harvey's reddened thigh and his face, looking positively anguished. Jesus Christ, if Harvey had known that smacking himself a few times would get that big of a reaction from the kid, he'd have started doing it earlier. He rolls his eyes at the thought.
Harvey presses the button to turn off the intercomm so that Louis can't listen in anymore, and then levels his gaze at Mike. "You know you could've gotten your fingers broken by reaching back like that. This is what I mean about you caring about other people way too goddamn much." Harvey scolds.
Mike still has tears streaking down his face, but he manages to roll his eyes and then smirk at Harvey with his eyebrows raised. "I'd respond to that with a smartass comeback, but I'm afraid you'd start beating yourself again."
Harvey grins, but reaches out and smacks Mike's ass just hard enough to make him jump. Mike turns on his puppy dog eyes and sticks his lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "You're incorrigible." Harvey tells him. "You care about me." Mike shoots back. He looks fully confident in and delighted by this fact. Harvey knows it's a little too late to deny it.
"Go back to looking contrite, or I'll put you back over my knee." He warns. There is nothing but affection in his tone.
"You won't." Mike challenges.
"Fine, I won't. But I'll make you do nothing but organize the file room and make copies every day for 2 weeks."
"Nah, you'd miss me too much."
Harvey sighs in feigned exasperation. "Just be good for like 5 minutes, would you? I have to call Louis in so he can do his weird inspection or whatever and we can get out of here."
"You... might want to change?" Mike is staring at Harvey's bright red thigh. "Jesus, I'm pretty sure that reallydid hurt you more than it hurt me." He's aiming for lighthearted banter, but his tone betrays far too much guilt.
"I'm perfectly fine; worry about yourself. And look away while I change. Don't make any lippy comments about how I saw your underwear already, or I'll pull your pants back down and make you keep them around your ankles while Louis questions you."
"You won't do that, either. But fine, I'll turn around to protect your modesty." Mike turns to face the wall. "You're probably just jealous of my superhero boxers."
They pass Louis's tests without any issues. Louis looks thrilled, and first thing in the morning, when this is over, Harvey will have to remind him that disclosing Mike's punishment to the other associates and/or mocking him for it are also violations of their contract.
Harvey leads Mike out of the only office in the building where none of the walls are made of glass and back into his own office. He pours two glasses of scotch and offers one to Mike, who accepts gratefully. Louis has gone home now that he's satisfied that Mike has been thoroughly punished, and everyone else on this floor has left for the night, too.
Mike chugs down the expensive liquor like it's Gatorade. Harvey doesn't comment on the absence of appropriate drinking etiquette. He may have gone easy on the kid just now, but between being nearly exposed during class pictures at the Harvard social, held against his will by a security guard at a rival firm, threatened with prison, shouted at by Louis, and spanked by Harvey, he hasn't exactly had an easy couple of days.
"Hey, Harvey?" Mike asks quietly, after putting down his empty glass. His voice is hesitant, almost shy. Harvey looks at him, a little bit concerned by his shift in demeanor. His puppy no longer sounds like the cocky, opinionated kid he's used to alternately bantering and arguing with. "It's just... your leg... it's gonna bruise. When I saw it earlier... it looked like it must've hurt like hell. You know you could've used the brush on me instead?"
Harvey laughs. "Oh, I'm well aware of all of the things I could've done to you."
Mike shudders. "But I won't use anything but my hand on you unless you ask me to, Mike. Not ever. And what I did to my own thigh... I'll never hit you with that kind of force or smack you five times in a row in the same place like that. If it were up to me, no one, including me, would ever hit you at all. It's a draconian policy, regardless of its use at every major firm in the city, and nothing you do will ever make me believe you deserve it. We got backed into a corner this time, but I promise you, I'll be more careful."
Mike starts to interject to assure Harvey that this isn't his fault, but Harvey cuts him off. "Hopefully, you'll be more careful, too. Ideally, my associate wouldn't commit felonies- aside from, you know, the whole fraud thing- or flagrantly disobey direct orders, but if you're going to insist on constant rule-breaking, at least make sure you don't get caught by anyone but me or Donna. I might shout at you and make you do paperwork instead of coming to hearings or client meetings with me for a day or two if you screw up badly enough, but I can't stand the thought of causing you physical pain again. I'm doing my best here, but it'd be a hell of a lot easier to protect you if you put even the smallest fraction of your brainpower towards self-preservation."
Mike looks ashamed and immediately starts babbling out apologies again. He's feeling painfully insecure; would Harvey rather have one of the dozens of associates who would just do exactly what they were told?
"Shhh. We're okay, Mike. What's wrong?" Harvey asks, carefully scooting closer. Mike's used to Harvey's temper by now, and he rarely has any qualms about giving back as hard as he gets when he's being reprimanded, even when his boss is being overly harsh. Harvey would never expect a quiet, halfhearted lecture to deflate the kid like this. Mike stutters through an explanation of his current fears, blushing bright red and staring resolutely at the floor.
"Mike. I told Donna that what I was looking for in an associate was another me. Do you remember when you called me out on never doing what Jessica tells me?"
Mike looks up at Harvey again, still blushing. "I remember everything," he answers automatically, and Harvey laughs. "Except where you put your phone, or how to use a watch." Harvey teases. Mike rolls his eyes, regaining a little of his usual confidence in response to Harvey's playful tone.
"Kid, when I first became an associate here, I disobeyed and challenged the partners so frequently and screwed up so often that Jessica and Hardman caned and paddled me bare at least twice a week. And I didn't even start out here as a first-year. You know I didn't mean the things I said to you during your punishment, don't you? I was just trying to satisfy Louis to keep him from having any excuse to lay a hand on you."
"I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not exactly the easiest associate to manage. I'm constantly doing things that end up making you waste time bailing me out, and you know the others would do whatever you told them without constantly challenging you."
"Mike. You're doing great, I promise. You just made a mistake. I'm sure you know that most of the other firstyears get themselves punished on a regular basis. This is the only time I've had to punish you in the whole month that you've been here, so cut yourself a little slack, alright?"
"That's only because you saved my ass the first hundred times I got in trouble." Mike notices his own phrasing abruptly and blushes bright red. "I didn't mean for that to come out sounding so literal."
Harvey smirks, and Mike laughs at himself self-consciously. "I know you saved me this time, too. I've seen what Louis does to the rest of them. And I know that the other senior partners' personal associates are subject to Louis's punishments just as much as anyone else. I know you've fought to protect me from day one. I'm pretty sure Louis would be beating me daily if you hadn't."
"Well, that's because Louis is a dick." Harvey deflects, grinning. Mike nods heavily in full agreement of Harvey's assessment of Louis- he's pretty sure the junior partner gets off (hopefully not sexually) on quite literally smacking associates into submission. But Mike isn't smiling, and he won't meet Harvey's eyes.
Harvey looks at Mike's bowed head and feels his gut clench in sympathy. "Hey. I'd hire you again a million times. And you've saved me and our clients way more often than you give yourself credit for. Probably because I forget to give you credit for it out loud." Mike looks up at Harvey in surprise at this admission.
"I know I'm demanding and set incredibly high standards and can be a selfish asshole sometimes, but I'm not oblivious to the fact that you didn't go to law school and have been here for a total of one month and somehow you're already the most impressive associate at the firm. And I'm not just saying that because you're my guy. Every partner here knows that you're the best."
Mike looks dazed by Harvey's speech; unable to think of a single thing to say in response. He knows he's better than the others in his year, and at least some of the more experienced associates, but he's often unsure of whether he impresses Harvey often enough to outweigh the frequency with which he disappoints his mentor and pisses him off. Harvey has never given him such effusive praise. He didn't know Harvey possessed the ability to praise anyone but himself so highly.
Mike is beaming. He looks almost deliriously happy. Harvey is more than used to being admired by associates, clients, other partners, and just the general public. But he has never seen anyone look at him with so much hero worship in their eyes, except maybe his little brother Marcus, back when they were kids, before Harvey had told their father about their mother's affair and their family life had completely blown up.
Harvey puts his arm across his associate's shoulders in a one-armed hug, and Mike immediately leans into him. "You're a troublemaker, but so am I. I wouldn't have picked you if you weren't. And yeah, sometimes I need to step in to save you from the holes you dig yourself into, but you're more than worth it." Relief and exhaustion has made Mike nearly collapse, and his head is resting against Harvey's chest. Somehow, Harvey thinks it's sweet rather than horrifying or even embarrassing. He doesn't think Mike even realizes the way he's nuzzling into Harvey, as though he doesn't even have the strength to hold himself up.
The kid is physically and emotionally drained, but he's radiating contentment and affection and trust. Harvey sits with him quietly and finishes his drink, knowing Mike has had an intense and exhausting few days and is processing the emotional rollercoaster he's been on since he and Jenny walked into that Harvard social.
"You're not selfish, Harvey. And you're not an asshole. You might want most people to see you that way, but you can't possibly believe I don't know better."
Harvey smiles softly and pulls Mike in even closer. A few minutes pass in silence, and Harvey is surprised to find that he doesn't feel impatient or bored at all. Eventually, Mike starts to collect himself. "Thank you so much for everything, Harvey. For giving me a chance in the first place and constantly risking yourself and going to battle for me. No one in my life but my grandmother has done that for me since the day my parents died. And thanks for what you did for me today; I know no other partner here or probably anywhere would've done that."
Harvey squeezes the arm that's still wrapped around Mike's shoulders. "You realize that all I did today was spank you less hard than other partners would? That doesn't take a whole lot of effort. Arguably, it actually saves me energy to spank you as little and as lightly as possible. Why would I want to wear my arm out smacking your ass?"
Mike laughs hard at that, and it seems to break him out of his dazed, sleepy state. "That's not all you did," he says, but he's looking confident and collected, now, and that familiar mischievous glint reappears in his eyes. "But going forward, I'll keep in mind that the fact that I'm too lovable to punish actually makes your life easier."
"You do that." Harvey tells him. This kid is tearing down his walls ridiculously quickly. He'd never before have let an associate get away with implying that he gave a shit about them at all, let alone that he considers them "lovable." He squeezes Mike one more time, then disentangles himself and stands up to grab his coat. Mike slowly starts to pack up his bag and pull himself together.
Harvey glances at his sleepy protégé. Mike is absent-mindedly rubbing at his sit spots with one hand and rubbing at his eyes with the other. His eyelids look like they're getting heavy, and he's still looking a little dazed. The senior partner is pretty sure that they barely sting anymore, but he doesn't want Mike biking home exhausted, possibly tipsy, and with a sore ass. He'd probably end up crashing into a light pole or something, and Harvey would rather not have to come drag his associate to the hospital just because he insists on biking to and from work like a goddamn teenager.
"I'm having Ray take you home." Harvey tells him decisively. "I know I didn't spank you very hard, but I did focus mainly on your sitspots, and I imagine riding a bike might not be the most pleasant experience right now. Now that I think of it, that's probably why no other associate makes the ridiculous decision to bike to work," he teases.
"Brooklyn is pretty far out of your way. Are you sure you don't mind? I could always take a taxi home." Mike would definitely rather get a ride home from Harvey, especially while he's still feeling pretty out-of-it, but he's still feeling the need to be extra cautious not to make his boss to come to see him as a burden.
"Well, given how much you owe me in security guard bribery bail, you probably shouldn't waste your money on cab fair tonight." Harvey's easy smile makes clear that no matter what he says, he'll never actually make Mike pay him back or even tell him how much money he'd given to the guard to get Mike out. "Ray can pick you up again and bring you back here in the morning."
Harvey motions for Mike to follow him out and heads for the door, not waiting for the kid to vocalize his agreement. He knows without glancing back that his associate will do what he's told, just this once.
Harvey climbs into Ray's car and buckled into his usual spot. Mike slides into the middle seat rather than sitting by the opposite door.
Any other time, Harvey would lecture him on personal space and order him back to his usual seat. But within the past couple of hours, Harvey has already had his associate sprawled across his lap and curled under his arm, against his chest. If Mike needs the comfort of proximity on the ride home, Harvey won't deny him that, or even scold or tease him for it. He knows by now that taking care of Mike involves more than just negotiating contracts to save his ass, paying people off, and teaching him about how to practice law in the real world (which requires a lot more than just memorizing the books). And it'd probably shock everyone but Donna if they found out, but the truth is that he doesn't mind taking on the responsibility of reassuring and comforting the kid. He's definitely going soft, but for some reason, it feels warm and right and good. That reason is now resting his head on Harvey's shoulder with his eyes closed, apparently having already fallen asleep ten seconds into entering the car. Harvey carefully reaches over to buckle Mike's seatbelt without jostling him enough to wake him up, and then he quietly recites the kid's address and directs Ray to bring him home.
Harvey lets Mike sleep until they pull up to his building, and then wakes his sleepy puppy up and walks him into his apartment to make sure he doesn't tumble down the stairs or wander into someone else's unit in his current state. He even holds back from making a single sarcastic comment when it takes Mike a full five minutes to find his keys inside his messenger bag and clumsily open the door. He's sure that he deserves a medal for his patience and self-restraint tonight. Maybe he'll make Mike buy him one in the morning.
"You okay for me to leave now?" Harvey asks, once Mike shoves a pile of clothes and books and pizza boxes aside and collapses onto his couch. Harvey is surprised that the rickety-looking, worn-down piece of furniture doesn't collapse right along with him. Apparently, he needs to give this kid a raise.
"Yeah, I'm good now. You're the best, Harvey. Thanks for always taking care of me."
Harvey gives him a final encouraging smile. "Well, like I told you already, you're worth it. And it's possible that I may care about you just a little."
Mike grins widely without opening his eyes. "Oh yeah? Just a little?"
Harvey rolls his eyes with a smile. This kid apparently won't stop pushing even when he's basically asleep. "You're supposed to be a genius, aren't you? Figure that one out for yourself."
"You care sooooo much. You practically love me. I've ruined you for any other associate, ever."
"Okay, hotshot. You win. But you still suck at gloating."
Mike is way too pleased with himself, and Harvey isn't going to enable his delusions of grandeur any more tonight. Even though he not-so-secretly knows that they're not delusions at all.
"Ray and I will pick you up at 8AM sharp tomorrow. If you're not ready when we pull up, we're leaving without you, and I'm not covering for you at the office, either. So I'll just have to spank you again when you get in."
"You just go ahead and tell yourself that, Harvey. We both know you'd cover for me even if I didn't show up for a week."
Harvey groans internally at the knowledge that Mike isn't wrong. This goddamn kid is gonna ruin his reputation.
"I'll lock you in the file room every day and make you spend the whole week organizing and proofreading old files."
"That threat might actually be convincing, except for the fact that I know you. If I were to commit another felony, maybe you'd make me do that for like 3 hours. But you're not even close to mean enough to make me spend a whole day in there, let alone a week. And besides that, you need me. Plus, I'm your puppy, remember? Do you want me to pee in the corner of the file room and chew up the files?"
Harvey groans. He has lost all ability to intimidate this kid. "Then be ready because you care. Unless you want me to miss a partners' meeting and get reamed by Jessica before I've even had the chance to finish my coffee."
"Okay hotshot, you win." Mike echoes Harvey as he fumbles around for his phone.
Harvey knows what Mike is looking for and rolls his eyes, grabbing the kid's phone off of the coffee table directly in front of him and handing it to him, shaking his head in feigned exasperation. It's ridiculous that he finds it endearing that a guy with an eidetic memory has no ability whatsoever to keep track of his own belongings. But Mike is his guy, afterall.
Mike sets his alarm for 6AM, then sets two more for 6:15 and 6:30. He turns his sound on and sets his phone to its max volume, then turn his phone around to show Harvey.
"I'll be ready." Mike declares. He sounds so earnest that he might as well be answering under oath.
"Good boy," Harvey praises, and then he turns and heads out the door as Mike adjusts his pillow and closes his eyes again, smiling himself to sleep.
Mike's waiting outside his apartment complex by 6:45AM. Just in case. (In case of what, he has no idea). He knows there's not even a chance that Harvey will punish him again tommorow, but he's not risking getting Harvey in trouble.
There's far less traffic than usual that morning, so it's only 7:30 when Ray pulls up in front of Mike's building. When Harvey had realized they'd end up arriving early, he'd decided he'd just answer some e-mails in the half hour (or, more realistically, knowing Mike, probably 45 minutes) until the kid made his way down. But to Harvey's amazement, Mike is standing on the curb, looking completely put together, when they arrive.
Harvey rolls down his window. "Am I hallucinating right now, or are you actually early?"
Mike grins at him. "I got out here 45 minutes ago." He's getting better at gloating, Harvey thinks.
Harvey is staring. "Did you actually believe I'd punish you for being late?"
"Of course not. You're all talk." Mike smirks up at him, his expression daring Harvey to argue the point.
Harvey ignores Mike's challenge, feeling reluctantly proud of this kid's gaul. "Then why in the world would you have gotten down here an hour and 15 minutes before I told you to?"
"You said you'd get yelled at if I made you late." Mike's tone and expression are ridiculously earnest.
"So what you're telling me is that you don't have a single ounce of self-preservation in your body, but you have about a million pounds of loyalty in there." It's not a question, but Mike answers anyway. "Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain." He's quoting Harvey, smirking shamelessly again.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but your reputation is that you're my golden retriever rescue puppy. You're maintaining that just fine."
Mike laughs as he climbs into the car. "I'm good with that. That's what makes me your favorite."