Love thy neighbor [6/8]

[flamyshine]

Title: Love thy neighbor
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 2,171
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
Summary: Harvey gets shot in the ass by Cupid.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘Harvey gets shot in the ass by Cupid and falls in love with the first person he locks eyes with; Mike Ross.’


Date #1: The aquarium

“Whoa! Is that a killer whale?”

Harvey chuckled as Mike ran towards the giant tank, excited like a kid. Harvey only cared about fish that made it to his plate but Mike apparently liked them alive.

“Oh my god, Harvey. You have to take a picture of me and her together.”

“How do you know it’s a ‘she’?”

Mike clicked his tongue. “How can you not know it’s a ‘she’? Look at her! She’s pretty!”

“Not as pretty as you.”

Harvey was convinced that death by a killer whale would be much less embarrassing than spouting such terrible lines.

“Aww, don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re in loooove with me. It’s normal to lose control of yourself every once in a while.” Mike cackled.

“I think it’s happening much more often than every once in a while.” Harvey sighed as he checked the pictures that he had taken for Mike. In some of the pictures, it was nearly impossible to tell if Mike was in an aquarium; there were only zoomed in faces of his.

“Wow, you’re a real beauty, aren’t you?”

Harvey looked up from his digital camera and saw Mike pressed up against the tank, talking to the whale. He seemed to be enthralled by the whale’s size and movement.

‘When he moves in, we’ll have to get a fish tank.’ Harvey thought before freaking out at such a domestic idea.

‘What am I turning into?’ He groaned and took some pictures of Mike and whichever parts of the enormous whale that would fit in the frame.

“Hey, we should hit the gift shop now.” Mike suggested with delight.

“Sure. Lead the way.”

Harvey was glad that Mike was having a good time. The happiness coming off of Mike was strong enough to dye him happy. He took Mike’s hand in his as he listened to all the random facts that Mike knew about fish. Harvey paid attention to his words, not because he was interested in fish but because he found Mike’s enthusiasm endearing.

“What’s your favorite fish?” Harvey was curious.

“Dory.” Mike answered immediately.

“Dory?” Harvey asked back. If his memory served him right, that was the name of the blue tang in ‘Finding Nemo.’ “But she’s awfully forgetful. Nothing like you.”

“Exactly. Oblivion can be a gift, Harvey.” Mike’s smile was a little bitter.

Harvey tightened his grip on Mike’s hand. He could imagine just how many people must have wanted to take advantage of Mike’s brilliant memory before he ran into his life. It probably didn’t help that Mike’s parents had died when he was a child. The only protection he would have had against the selfish, greedy people was one old woman.

“It’s okay.” Mike moved his thumb soothingly against Harvey’s. “Now I work where my memory is appreciated in the right way. Plus, I got a chance to work with you thanks to my memory.”

“Mike, I didn’t hire you just because of your memory. Let’s be clear on that.”

“Really?” Mike was genuinely surprised.

“You showed me a lot of qualities that could be useful to a lawyer. You thought fast under a lot of pressure when you decided to hide in the interview room. You showed courage when you told me and Donna what you were really doing there. You also had enough self-belief to convince me that you could do well as my associate. So make no mistake, Mike, we don’t pay you just for your memory. You’re much more valuable than that, both to the firm and to me.”

When Harvey was finished, there was a new light in Mike’s eyes. Harvey quickly pulled his associate into a corner so that nobody else would get a glimpse of those beautiful eyes.

“Have I ever told you you’re the best boss I’ve had?” Mike leaned against the wall.

Harvey smiled. “Are you pretending to be Dory? Or do you want me to play that part? Of course I remember.”

Mike grabbed the front of Harvey’s dark grey shirt and pulled. “Well, then it’s time for me to tell you that you’re on your way to become the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.”

“What did I do?” Harvey asked as he put an arm around Mike’s waist.

Mike pulled Harvey closer and whispered in his ear, “You took me to one of the biggest aquariums in the country and kissed me in a romantic corner.”

Harvey took that as a cue to lean in and sweep Mike off his feet. Later, he would buy Mike a Dory pillowcase which would help him forget about all the bad things that had happened during the day.

Date #2: Amusement park

“You’ve never been to an amusement park.” Harvey repeated Mike’s words to check if he had understood it right.

“I know.” Mike sighed. “That’s why I’m warning you. I might want to go on childish rides because I never had a chance when I was a kid.”

“That’s fine. You can be all childlike while I get a cup of coffee or something.” Harvey thought that Mike probably didn’t get a chance because his grandmother wouldn’t have been able to keep up with a boy running everywhere.

“But I want you to be on the rides with me.” Mike looked at the map, trying to figure out which ride he should try first.

“Oh… Sorry, Mike. I’m not planning to ride anything today.”

“What? Then why did you get the same ‘all-day pass’ as mine?” Mike pointed at Harvey’s plastic wristband.

“I like purple.” Harvey shrugged. There was no way in hell that he would tell Mike that he wanted to wear matching wristbands with him.

“Well, purple is a decent color.” Mike said even though he wasn’t sure if that was a good enough reason to pay more money for. Then, an idea suddenly struck him. “Harvey, why aren’t you planning to go on any rides today? It can’t possibly be because you’re afraid, right?”

“I’m obviously not afraid. It’s just not my thing.” Harvey remained composed.

Mike nodded but Harvey could tell that he was scheming to get him on one of the scary rides.

“You look lovely today.” Harvey attempted, knowing that it would slow down Mike’s thought process.

“Thanks, Harvey. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Mike took Harvey’s hand and intertwined their fingers. He had always wanted to come to one of these silly amusement parks with someone he loved. The atmosphere was different to the busy, grey city; everyone looked relaxed and happy here.

“Let’s start with the teacups and move on to the pirate ship. What do you think?”

“Mike, I told you. I don’t enjoy these rides. But feel free to have fun without me. I’ll fetch a cup of coffee and wait on a bench somewhere.”

“No, Harvey. You’re coming with me.”

“But…”

Mike shushed Harvey and used his lowest voice. “If you behave, you might get lucky tonight.”

Harvey’s mouth closed in no time. Perhaps his wet dreams would finally come to an end tonight.

“Great. The teacups are that way.” Mike checked his map and dragged Harvey with a spring in his steps.

“Miiike!!” Harvey’s knuckles went white as the pirate ship swung again.

“Ahahaha…” Mike knew that it was rude to laugh at a frightened person but he simply couldn’t help it. Even young teenagers were having fun without abusing the safety bar.

“I’m going to kill yoooou!”

Harvey’s terrified threats only made Mike laugh harder. In fact, his stomach hurt every time Harvey threatened him. It wasn’t the scariest ride in the park but apparently, Harvey didn’t do well in a rocking ship.

“I’m sorry, Harvey! I’ll make it up to you!” He let the wind carry his message and put his hand on Harvey’s. The threats stopped and Mike loved that he could have a soothing effect on the man.

As Harvey grew calmer, Mike explained to him that the ship was just a giant swing and kept caressing his hand. It felt nice to be on the helping end for once.

“You’re buying me coffee.” Harvey announced as soon as they got off the ride.

“Fair enough. We can drink it on the Ferris wheel. Or are you afraid of that too?”

“I’ll be fine. It’s slow.” Harvey answered defensively.

Mike found it cute that Harvey was afraid of something, but he was on a date and he didn’t want to ruin it by bruising Harvey’s ego.

Half an hour later, the couple was on the Ferris wheel, sitting next to each other, sipping coffee with each a headband on his head. Mike had to promise to let Harvey relive his wet dreams with him in order to get a Goofy headband on that perfect hair.

“I think I may have the wrong job, Harvey.” Mike confessed.

“You want to work as Mickey Mouse? Well, Mikey the Mickey has a nice rhyme to it.”

“Yeah. But then you’ll have to be Minnie Mouse and I don’t think you’d like a ribbon on your head.”

“Damn right. No amount of filthy promises will make me wear a ribbon.”

Mike laughed and dropped a kiss on Harvey’s cheek, wondering if Mickey ever had a thing for Goofy.

Date #3: baseball game

This time, they were doing something that Harvey could truly enjoy. They were sitting in one of the best seats in the stadium, watching a baseball game. Mike was absorbing nachos, offering Harvey some out of courtesy every once in a while.

“No thanks, Mike. You can have them all.”

Mike beamed and Harvey never felt the virtue of concession so rewarding. Mike was wearing a jersey of his favorite baseball team and a baseball cap, making it obvious that he was a huge baseball fan. Harvey decided that he should make Mike keep the jersey on in bed tonight.

“Harvey, shouldn’t you be watching the game rather than me?” Mike asked even though he didn’t mind the attention.

“I’m watching your cap, not you. It’s a very nice cap.” Harvey took off the cap from Mike’s head and put it backwards. It made the kid look even cuter and Harvey couldn’t resist planting a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Ever since he had started to sleep with Mike, Harvey seemed to have better control over his tongue. His mind still came up with horrendously mushy pick-up lines but he could swallow most of them before it became too embarrassing. The desire to be close to Mike and the urge to touch him were still there but the short kisses in the office, the daily dinners with him, and the dates on Saturdays made things quite manageable.

Bleep.

Harvey pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket and saw that his mentor had sent him a text message: How’s the wooing going, Harvey?

Ray apparently took great pleasure in keep using the word ‘wooing’, knowing that Harvey cringed whenever he saw it.

It’s going fine. He’s enjoying the game.

He couldn’t think of anything else to report. He had things under control; Mike was well fed and well hydrated and had a satisfied look on his face.

Well, try to keep your hands to yourself. Groping in public isn’t polite.

‘As if I don’t know such things.’ Harvey rolled his eyes and was about to tell Ray just that when Mike’s voice caught his attention.

“Harvey, look! That’s us!” Mike pointed at the big screen. The kiss cam had caught Mike and him in the pink heart.

“We’re not going to do such juvenile things.” Harvey wasn’t going to let Mike get hurt by the jeers coming from homophobes. He was certain that there would be quite a few in a stadium this big.

“We’re not?”

Mike looked a little disappointed while Harvey waited patiently for the camera man to find another couple. But the big screen kept showing the two of them and people were yelling at them to kiss already.

“Uh, Harvey?” Mike looked at Harvey with hope in his eyes.

‘For Christ’s sake.’ Harvey muttered under his breath and kissed his boyfriend, hands cupped over his ears to keep him unharmed.

“That was nice.” Mike said after the camera had finally moved on.

“You think?” Harvey was relieved that Mike didn’t seem to have heard anything bad.

Mike nodded and put on his cap properly. He noticed how Harvey didn’t appreciate the gesture and whispered with a chuckle, “If you turn it backwards, I’ll take it as a sign that you want to kiss me. I suppose it’s easier to kiss without the brim getting in the way.”

Harvey slung an arm around Mike’s shoulder and grinned. “Then I’m afraid you’ll have to keep it backwards for the rest of the game.”

Mike laughed. “But I probably taste like nachos.”

Harvey shrugged. “I like nachos.”

Mike smiled and briefly pressed his lips against Harvey’s. Saturday was now his favorite day of the week for an entirely different reason.