Walk towards your dream [1/5]
Title: Walk towards your dream
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3,726
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: mild swearing
Summary: Mike sleepwalks to Harvey’s apartment.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘Mike sleepwalks; sometimes for miles. Especially when his dreams provide a clear destination… like Harvey's apartment.’
Bang-bang.
Harvey made a face at the noise coming from the door. He had just gotten into bed and apparently someone was kicking his door.
‘Who the hell is that? It’s one in the morning! Doesn’t that douche bag have better things to do?’
Bang-bang-bang.
‘For Christ’s sake…’
He dragged himself out of the bedroom and headed over to the door. He was going to teach the bastard a lesson.
‘Well, safety first.’ He thought as he looked through the peephole. There was a boy with dirty blond hair who was wearing baby blue pajamas. The boy was looking down so he couldn’t see his face, but it surely had to be a mentally challenged kid.
‘I hope he has a contact number on him.’ Harvey sighed as he opened the door.
“Ngh… Harvey…” The boy fell into Harvey’s arms.
“Mike…?! What are you doing here?” Harvey was stunned. “More importantly, why are you walking around in pjs? Haven’t I told you that looks matter? They matter even if it’s one in the morning! Who walks around in pjs anyway? Are you even listening to me?”
Then Harvey realized that a small snore was coming from the boy.
“Mike?” Harvey pulled back and checked Mike’s face. The kid was asleep.
“Oh, don’t tell me you sleepwalked all the way here.”
Harvey realized with horror that something could be terribly wrong with his associate apart from the fact that he had sleepwalked for miles. He quickly carried the boy to the couch and lay him down. He would very much like to wake him up, but he vaguely remembered that it could be dangerous to wake up a sleepwalking person. Mike wasn’t walking anymore so it might be all right, but Harvey wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Mike, I’ll have to check if you’ve got injured, okay?” He knew that Mike couldn’t hear him but told him anyway.
Harvey started with the soles of his feet. Thankfully, he hadn’t stepped on anything sharp.
‘Oh gosh, he carried all this dirt to my place. I’ll have to wash his feet first.’
“Hey, try to stay put. It’s an order.” He felt ridiculous talking to a sleeping person, but he hoped that Mike’s subconscious would get the message.
When Harvey returned to the living room with a towel and a bowl of warm water, the first thing that he noticed was how Mike had rubbed his feet all over his beige couch.
“Are you serious? Couldn’t you just rub them on the coffee table? Or I don’t know, on yourself?” He sighed as he realized that it was no use getting upset with an unconscious soul. He sat down in front of the couch and washed Mike’s feet with the wet towel.
“You’re so going to pay for this in the morning. You know that, right? I suggest you get enough sleep because you’ll live a nightmare when you wake up.” His words may have been rough but his hands were gentle.
“Okay, now let’s check if you’ve got hit by a car or bitten by a dog.”
Harvey pulled out a bundle of keys from Mike’s pajama pocket. The kid must have sleeplocked his door when he left.
“Hmm, I guess sleepwalking is less dangerous than sleepbiking. At least, you must’ve stayed on the sidewalk, kid.”
Harvey carefully unbuttoned the pajama shirt. It felt weird undressing his sleeping associate even though it was for his own good.
“Just know that you’re going to take care of all the pro bono cases for the next two months. Wait. Let’s make it three.”
Harvey breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that Mike’s chest was free of scratches and bruises.
“What a creamy chest you have.” Harvey observed. The skin looked very tempting.
‘He might have internal bleeding. As his boss, I’m obligated to check if he’s perfectly fine.’ He told himself as he ventured a touch.
“Okay, no signs of internal bleeding. Good for you.” He pulled back his hand in a hurry and turned Mike to his right so he could take a look at his back. Then he hiked up the pajama pants to check his legs.
“You’re damn lucky, Mike. Not a single scratch on you.”
Harvey felt the tension leave his body as he was certain that no harm was done to his associate.
“Let’s get you to bed, shall we?”
Harvey carried the now drooling boy to his bed and pulled out a Kleenex to deal with the mess.
“Very charming, Mike. Sleepwalking with dirty feet and drooling. How can I resist you?”
Harvey ruffled the kid’s hair and got into bed next to him. He would have to keep an eye on the boy and make sure that he didn’t sleepwalk again.
“Mmm…”
Mike rubbed his eyes, wondering where all the sunlight was coming from. His place never got this much sun in the morning. He opened one eye and tracked down the source of the sunlight. It was coming through a huge glass wall.
“Holy shit!! Where am I?”
He sat up on the large bed, and his brain told him that he might have been abducted by a wealthy and kinky old man who would like to molest him.
‘Oh geez, I need to get out of here.’
Relieved that he hadn’t woken up naked, Mike looked around to find his clothes.
‘Where did the sick bastard hide my clothes? Did he dress me in my pajamas? Oh whatever. Let’s run.’
He jumped out of the bed and hurried to the bedroom door when it suddenly flew open.
“Mike? You’re up?”
“Harvey? This is your place? Thank God you’re not a wealthy and kinky old man!” He wrapped his arms around Harvey’s waist, happy to see a familiar face.
Harvey hugged back with a lifted eyebrow. “We need to talk, Mike.”
“Yes, let’s please talk over breakfast though. I’m starving.” Mike looked up sheepishly as he pulled back.
“You enjoyed such a long walk under the moonlight, so I’m not surprised.” Harvey shook his head and led the puppy to the kitchen.
“I thought we were going to talk over breakfast, not after breakfast.” Harvey sipped his coffee as he watched Mike devour pancakes and eggs in silence. He had already had a bowl of cereal and fruit while Mike was asleep.
“That was the plan. But these are so yummy and the kitchen is so warm and it’s a Saturday, so I think the talk can wait.” Mike dived into his third pancake.
“A lawyer doesn’t use the word ‘yummy’, Mike. In fact, no grown man does.”
Mike didn’t bother to respond as he poured more orange juice into his system.
“Slow down, kid. Nobody’s taking away your food.”
“Ah, I love it when you do that. When you sound like you care about me.” Mike grinned as he went after the scrambled eggs.
“I’m just warning you because I don’t want to hold your hair while you throw up in my bathroom.”
“Hahaha, that’s hilarious. By the way, what happened to your couch? I thought you were a neat freak but there was so much dirt on it! I’m disappointed, Harvey, really.”
“Funny you should mention it, Mike. Who do you think rubbed his dirty feet all over it?”
Mike checked the soles of his feet. “I know it’s not me! My feet are completely clean!”
“Only because I washed them last night.”
“You did?” Mike turned crimson. It was embarrassing enough that he had probably sleepwalked to his boss’ place.
“Yes. And, don’t try to plead temporary insanity. You’re paying for the cleaning service.”
Mike groaned. “You should know that I only sleepwalk once a year or something. And, ever since I grew up, I’ve only sleepwalked till the hallway of my own building! I haven’t walked this far in a decade or so.”
Harvey nodded. It was a relief to know that it didn’t happen often. “What do you think is causing it? Surely you would’ve talked to a doctor when you were younger.”
“Yeah, Grammy used to take me to doctors. They thought it happened when I was particularly stressed. It usually starts with a dream. I feel the urge to walk in the dream and I often have a clear destination.”
“So last night, my place just showed up in your dream.”
“Yeah. There was this pretty neon sign outside my bedroom that read ‘Go to Harvey’s!’. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m always so serious in those dreams.” Mike shrugged as he finished his pancake.
“What’s the cure?”
“Well, less physical and emotional stress, decent amount of sleep, less booze, and oh, it’s supposed to help if I feel safe.”
Harvey sighed. “No wonder you’ve sleepwalked for years, kid. You live in a shitty neighborhood and you used to do dangerous things with that anchor of yours. You were stressed and didn’t feel safe.”
“That anchor has a name, Harvey. It’s Trevor.”
“Don’t even breathe that name in front of me, okay? I saved his sorry ass so I think I earned the right to say that.”
“Fair enough. And, thanks for the breakfast. It was lovely.” Mike got up from the chair.
“You’re welcome. Now you’re going to go home and pack your things while I find you a decent place to stay.”
“Harvey, I only sleepwalk once a year. I’ll be fine for another three hundred and sixty four days.”
“If you haven’t noticed, as a lawyer, you have to deal with a lot of physical and emotional stress, you never get decent amount of sleep, and you have to drink with the clients. Oh, and did I mention the part where you are not living in a sleep-friendly environment?”
“No need to badmouth my beloved neighborhood.” Mike pouted.
“Excuse me. Your what neighborhood? Unloved?”
Mike sighed. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting? I appreciate your concern. I really do, but I’ll be fine. Tell you what. If I sleepwalk again before next year, I’ll kiss you for having been such a wonderful clairvoyant and do exactly what you say, okay?”
Mike smiled sweetly and walked out of the kitchen. “Oh, and I’ll have to borrow your clothes so I won’t embarrass you by walking around in pjs.”
“Whatever, Mike.” Harvey wasn’t pleased at the way that the conversation had ended.
A week later, Harvey had a strong sense of déjà-vu as his ears picked up a familiar noise coming from right outside his door.
Bang-bang. Bang-bang-bang.
‘Is he serious? That’s exactly why I told him to get a decent place!’
Harvey shot out of the bed and stomped towards the door.
“Haaaarveeeey!…”
‘Great. Now the neighbors will know who’s responsible for all this noise. I hired an associate so he’d be helpful, not so he’d kick me out of the building!’
This time, Harvey didn’t bother to look through the peephole and slammed the door open. “What did I tell you, Mike? It’s only been a week and you’ve…”
Harvey stopped talking. There was a bruise on the kid’s forehead. “Get in here, you naughty puppy.”
But Mike stood still and murmured something incoherent.
“Oh right, you’re still asleep.”
Harvey wanted to grab the boy’s hair and drag him inside but he didn’t want to get sued for manhandling his associate. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the hallway but one couldn’t be too sure.
“Harveeeey…”
With a deep sigh, Harvey locked the door and carried Mike straight to his bed. Then he opened one of the drawers of the nightstand and took out the first-aid kit.
“Mike?! Where are you going? Get back here!”
Mike had got up from the bed and was headed to the bedroom door.
“Oh, you idiot.” Harvey closed the door and barricaded it with the chest of drawers, wondering why he had to use so much energy in the middle of the night.
“Haaaarveey…”
“That’s all you’ve got to say? How about ‘I’m really sorry, Harvey. I should’ve listened to you in the first place.’?”
But Mike just snored and started to kick the wall, which made Harvey jump and lead him back to the bed.
“You try to leave the bed one more time and I’ll have to tie you up, okay? I assume you wouldn’t want that.” Harvey warned the puppy and put some ointment on the bruised forehead. Mike must have bumped his head against a streetlight or something.
“Gotta go see Harvey…” Mike pushed Harvey’s hand and tried to stand up.
“Sit.” Harvey was getting annoyed.
“Harvey…”
“God damn it! I’m Harvey! Can’t you see me? Here!” Harvey pushed his face right in front of Mike’s but the boy’s eyes just wandered around.
“Okay, for the record, this is not my fault.” Harvey grabbed two of his ties from the closet and cursed the doctors for not having invented a cure for sleepwalking as he tied Mike’s wrists to the bed.
“Mmm…”
Mike woke up in the morning and tried to rub his eyes. But he couldn’t. His eyes snapped open and he realized that he was tied to a bed that he had seen a week ago.
‘Oh my god, I really am in the bed of a wealthy and kinky old man! What the hell, Harvey!’
He struggled to get his wrists untied but Harvey’s ties were doing a great job of securing him in place.
“I hate your ties, Harvey! I absolutely hate them!! You hear me? I hate your ties!” Mike yelled and gave up fighting. Harvey would come through the open door at any minute, demanding an explanation of what could possibly be hateful about his precious ties.
“Do you usually start your morning by insulting someone’s proud possessions?”
Harvey was standing by the door with a cup of coffee. Mike thought that he looked as if he had just walked out of a coffee advertisement.
“Well, I don’t usually start my morning tied up to someone’s bed. You could’ve wined and dined me first, you know.” Mike joked.
“And, if I had done that, you would’ve let me tie you up?” Harvey was amused.
“Harvey, could we continue this banter after you untie me? I have to pee.”
“I’m not going to untie you until you admit I was right.”
“About what?”
“About the fact that you should’ve listened to me and should’ve moved to an environment where you would’ve felt safe.”
“Oh, is this the ‘I told you so’ part?”
“Yes. And, I believe you owe me a kiss.” Harvey smirked.
“What?! Why on earth do I owe you a kiss?” Mike shrieked.
“I remember that your exact words were ‘If I sleepwalk again before next year, I’ll kiss you for having been such a wonderful clairvoyant and do exactly what you say.’.”
“Oh, now you have an eidetic memory too?”
“I’m brilliant even without an eidetic memory. You didn’t know that?”
“Harvey, I really have to pee. If you’re so brilliant, you surely wouldn’t want me to make a mess on your sheets.”
Harvey left his coffee on the nightstand and untied Mike’s wrists. He checked if there were any marks on the fair skin, but thankfully, his ties had behaved.
“Thanks for the coffee, Harvey.” Mike was quick to snatch Harvey’s mug as soon as he was set free.
“It’s okay. I’ll just steal one of your pancakes later.”
“What? You mean I only get two pancakes today?”
Harvey chuckled at Mike’s puppy eyes. “You like my pancakes that much?”
“Yes, and I’m man enough to admit it. You’ll have to teach me how to make them.”
“I don’t know, Mike. A magician never reveals his tricks.”
“It’s just pancakes, Harvey. It’s not that magical.”
“Didn’t you say you had to pee? Or I’m going to go take a long shower right now.”
“I’m going!” Mike finished the coffee in a hurry and ran into the bathroom.
“I have a bruise on my forehead. And, it’s the size of a quarter.”
That was the first thing that Mike said when he came out to the living room. Harvey had got himself a new cup of coffee and was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, reading the paper. Mike thought that he looked like a couch model.
“Don’t worry. I put ointment on it. It should go away in a couple of days.”
“Can’t you make it go away right now? I hope your magic skills aren’t limited to pancakes.” Mike made a face and sat next to Harvey.
“Why are you so upset about it?” Harvey lifted his eyes from the paper.
“Because people are going to ask questions. I’m already the laughing stock of the floor, Harvey. I don’t want to give them a reason to think that I’m incapable of walking around without getting a bruise on my head.”
“Mike…”
“That’s the one thing I have! That I’m not an idiot like them! But this bruise just ruins it for me.”
Harvey sighed as he dropped the paper on the coffee table. “Let me take a look at it again.”
Mike turned his head and felt Harvey grab his face to take a closer look at the bruise. He didn’t know where to look at. He didn’t think that staring at his boss’ perfect nose or lips would be appropriate.
‘Awkward…’ Mike closed his eyes to get rid of the awkwardness. It felt weird to have Harvey so close to him.
“It hurts?” Harvey asked as he noticed how Mike was squeezing his eyes shut.
“No, it’s just… Well, yeah, a little.” Mike couldn’t tell him the truth.
Harvey ran his thumb along the bruise and was reminded of the creamy chest that he had seen a week ago.
‘The chest and the forehead belong to the same person. So, obviously he has a creamy forehead too.’ Harvey clicked his tongue at his thought and decided that he should put more ointment on the bruise.
“Where are you going?” Mike asked with his eyes open.
“To fetch the first-aid kit and get some clothes for you.”
“Uh, Harvey?”
“Yeah?”
Mike scratched the back of his head. “I get a headache when there’s ointment on my face. It’s the smell.”
“Are you serious?” Harvey looked unimpressed.
“What can I say? I’m sensitive!”
“But you were fine last night.”
“Because I was asleep!”
“Then what do you want me to do? You said it hurt.” Harvey crossed his arms.
“I don’t know. What do people usually do? Kiss it better?” Mike gasped at his own words. He obviously wasn’t fully awake yet.
“You want me to kiss it better?” Harvey asked incredulously.
Mike didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t really meant it but he didn’t exactly feel like taking his words back either. He lowered his gaze and tried to come up with an answer when he noticed that the couch was clean. There wasn’t any dirt on it anymore and Harvey hadn’t given him the bill.
‘Oh Harvey…’
Mike looked up and met Harvey’s eyes. His mind was flooded with memories of when his boss had helped him out; paying the bill for his rookie dinner, bribing the guard of the other law firm to keep him out of jail, and saving Trevor… well, the anchor’s life on his behalf.
“Mike?” Harvey wondered if he should have taken the kid to the hospital. The boy seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
“Mike? Are you okay? I should’ve known better.” Harvey sat on the couch and checked Mike’s pupils.
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I want you to kiss it better.”
Now Harvey was certain that Mike had suffered a concussion. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s get you changed and drive you to the hospital.”
Harvey tried to pull Mike up with him but the kid wouldn’t budge. “Mike?”
“I want you to kiss it better, Harvey. I don’t need a doctor for a simple bruise.” Mike looked determined, and Harvey was getting more and more worried with every new minute.
“This isn’t the time to disagree with me, kid. You’ll thank me later when you get your senses back.”
“I’m fine, Harvey. Well, at least I think I am. Can you just kiss it better already?” Mike was getting more and more annoyed with every new minute.
“If I kiss it better, will you get dressed and follow me to the hospital?” Harvey imagined that this must be what a father of a toddler felt like.
“Yes. I promise.” Mike realized that the more he asked for the kiss, the more he wanted it. Perhaps concussion really was playing a part in all this.
“Fine.”
Harvey hoped that Mike wouldn’t remember this awkward moment, but then he would be even more worried if something happened to that eidetic memory of his. “Close your eyes.”
Mike giggled. “Why? It’s not like you’re kissing me on the lips.”
Harvey sighed. “Fine. Then enjoy the awkwardness and pain.”
He cupped Mike’s cheeks and gently pressed his lips against the bruise. “Feel any better?”
Mike pondered. “I don’t think it works with one kiss, Harvey. Nothing’s that easy in life.”
Harvey laughed. “I think I know a little more about life than you, kid.”
“Well, then kiss it again already.”
“Bossy puppy.”
Harvey kissed the bruise a few more times, making sure that he wasn’t hurting Mike. “You know you still owe me that kiss, Mike. And, you’ll move to a safer neighborhood since you can’t keep sleepwalking. And, by ‘safer’, I mean ‘very expensive’ by your standards. I really don’t need to remind you that…”
Mike couldn’t stand the nagging anymore so he threw his arms around Harvey’s neck and shut him up with a kiss. This way, he could enjoy a quiet minute and hold up his part of the deal.
‘He couldn’t stop talking about the kiss anyway.’ Mike thought as he deepened the kiss. Harvey tasted delicious enough to be a decent appetizer.