Fanfic: Laundry Day
Title- Laundry Day
Fandom- Suits
Ship- Harvey/Mike
Rating- PG
Genre- fluff, domestic, established-relationship, slash
Warnings- unbetaed
Wordcount- 1400
Disclaimer- I do not own Suits
Summary- Mike needs to do laundry, but the machines at his apartment are broken. He decides to take his laundry to Harvey's apartment instead.
A/N- written for a prompt here at suitsmeme : Harvey and Mike doing laundry. like at mike's shabby laundromat, or if Harvey has some super swanky washing machine, either of their clothes. fluff!
Mike’s building had no elevator, but he managed to navigate the stairs to the basement with his laundry basket fairly successfully, only stumbling on two occasions and meeting a person going the other direction once. It was only after he’d put the first load in the washer and gotten out his quarters that he realized the machines were broken. A piece of tape had been put over the coin slot on every single machine. Mike groaned. His old apartment was always having issues. There was always at least one machine out of order, but this was the first time Mike had seen all of them broken at once.
Mike frowned at his laundry basket, wondering what he was going to do with it. He didn’t have any clean suits left, and he doubted it would go unnoticed by Harvey if he wore a dirty one. He could take the clothes to a Laundromat, but that would mean somehow transporting his clothes there on his bike. Mike sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He knew it would probably be days before the machines at his apartment were up and running. If he wanted his clothes clean, he’d have to go someplace else.
Mike hauled the laundry basket back up to his apartment, managed to locate some bungee cords, and then brought the basket and cords down to the street where his bike was. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he was able to strap the basket to his bike in a way that seemed stable and would also keep clothes from flying out. Mike put on his bike helmet and set off.
It was only after Mike reached the Laundromat that he realized he’d left the quarters in his apartment. He was about to go back, muttering curses under his breath, when he thought of something better. With a smile on his face, Mike went off in the opposite direction of his apartment.
He found the building easily, parked his bike outside and chained it up, then removed his laundry basket and took it inside. He stepped into the elevator and pressed a button. It stopped a few floors before the one he wanted, and a woman looked in. Mike greeted her cheerfully, but she just smiled stiffly and said she’d take the next one. Mike shrugged and pressed the button to close the doors. He reached the floor he wanted without stopping again. He found the room quite easily, and set the basket down to knock on the door.
Harvey was lounging on his couch with legal documents spread out on the coffee table and a baseball game on the TV when someone knocked at the door of his apartment. He gave the paper in his hand one last glance before getting up to answer it. It was a weekend, and he hadn’t been expecting any visitors, but it wasn’t unusual for Mike to drop by unannounced. Ever since they’d started dating, Mike liked to come over to work on something, or for dinner and a night together, or just to spend a couple hours with Harvey. At first he’d complained about the casual visits, because it had bothered him that Mike had worked his way into Harvey’s daily life so easily, but now that he’d come to see that Mike wasn’t going anywhere any time soon Harvey was more than happy to let Mike be with him at all times.
Harvey opened to door and Mike strolled in like he owned the place, which might have amused Harvey more if he hadn’t been staring at the laundry basket in Mike’s hands. “The machines at my apartment are all broken. Where’s the laundry room here?”
“There isn’t one,” Harvey said distractedly. “Did you bring those clothes here on your bike?”
“Yes,” Mike said matter-of-factly. “What do you mean ‘there isn’t one’?”
“All of the apartments come with their own washer and dryer,” Harvey replied, shaking his head at his boyfriend. It would be just like Mike to bring laundry to his place on the back of his bicycle. “Come with me; I’ll show you.” Harvey brought Mike to the small room where the washer and dryer were located, little more than a large hall closet converted into a laundry room. He stood leaning against the wall as Mike loaded clothes into the washer.
“Do you use these at all, or are all your clothes dry-clean only?” Mike asked. Harvey snorted.
“Well, I’d never wash my suits here,” he said as he watched Mike toss a jacket into the washer. Mike rolled his eyes as he picked up the soap he’d brought with him, and Harvey chuckled. “But yes, I do wash other clothes in these machines.”
“You don’t have to keep an eye on me,” Mike said as he turned the washer on. “I’m not going to break it.”
“Come on,” Harvey sighed, beckoning Mike from the room. “You don’t have to wait in there. I’ll make you something to eat.”
Mike followed Harvey to the kitchen and sat on the counter while Harvey threw together a snak for both of them. They went to the couch to eat, and Harvey set his work papers aside so they could set their plates down. They watched the baseball game and chatted idly. When the washer beeped Mike moved the wet clothes to the dryer and put the rest of his clothes in the washer before returning to the couch and Harvey.
When the dryer was done, Mike brought his clothes out and dumped them on the coffee table. Harvey brought some hangers from the laundry room and started helping Mike with the folding and hanging. They had just gotten all of the clothes folded or hung and placed back in the basket Mike had brought, when the dryer beeped a second time. Mike brought out the next load, but wanted to leave the clothes on the table and take a break. Harvey told him the clothes would wrinkle if he let them cool in a pile, and with a groan Mike rose from the couch and seized a shirt from the pile.
Harvey helped Mike with the clothes, and finally only the bed sheets were left. “Grab the other end,” Mike said as he took one side of a sheet. Harvey did, and he brought the corners in his hands up to the ones Mike held. Then Harvey took the fold along the bottom and helped Mike fold it again, then the other way, until the sheet was folded into a neat little square. They picked up the second sheet, the fitted sheet, and folded it again. When they came together to fold it in the middle, Harvey dropped a chaste kiss on Mike’s lips. Mike laughed, and Harvey smiled as he helped Mike finish folding the sheet.
Once the sheets were done, all of the folded clothes were settled into the clothes basket Mike had brought. “Alright,” Mike sighed. “I guess I’ll get out of your way and leave you to work now.”
“You’re just going to leave? I knew you were only dating me for my money,” Harvey accused with a teasing smile. Mike grinned and kissed him again.
“Maybe I could stay for a little while,” Mike said. His tone seemed reluctant, but his smile said it was no inconvenience. “Especially if you’ll make me dinner too.”
Harvey laughed. “I suppose I could do that.” He kissed Mike quickly and then turned towards the kitchen. “You know, you can feel free to bring your laundry over whenever you need to, right? I don’t mind if you use the things in my apartment.”
Mike smiled but wouldn’t meet Harvey’s eyes. Harvey thought he was probably a little embarrassed by the open invitation. Harvey had learned during their relationship that Mike didn’t expect things to just be given to him by anyone, and he was usually reluctant to ask. Harvey knew that he needed to make it clear when he didn’t mind if Mike did something, because Mike never just assumed it was alright.
Harvey put a hand on Mike’s shoulder and led him into the kitchen. He kissed his boyfriend gently, and stroked a thumb along his cheek. “You know I don’t mind, right?”
“I know,” Mike answered. Harvey smiled and patted Mike’s cheek.
“Good,” he said, then turned away to start dinner. He could feel Mike’s smile as the younger man watched him, and it made Harvey smile too. Having Mike around always brightened his day, and Harvey never wanted Mike to stop coming over.