The world's finest treasure [3/?]
Title: The world’s finest treasure
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other characters: Donna, Jessica Pearson
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,444
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
Summary: Harvey sits down with a piece of cloth to polish the hideous lamp.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘Harvey somehow acquired Mike-the-Genie.’
“Jessica, I found my associate.”
Harvey walked into the managing partner’s office with a satisfied smile on his face. After giving Mike a thorough tour of his condo last night, he had tested Mike’s memory and his knowledge of criminal law and had been impressed with the results. The genie didn’t know much about corporate law but given the speed that he absorbed information, Harvey felt that it was only a matter of time before he became a useful associate.
“Take a seat, Harvey. I thought you couldn’t find anyone during yesterday’s interview.” Jessica sensed that Harvey was going to say something that she wouldn’t appreciate.
“That’s right. But since I’m so awesome, I found someone somewhere else.” Harvey smoothly crossed his legs in his chair.
“Somewhere else? You know we only hire from Harvard Law.” Jessica gave him a pointed look.
“Don’t worry. He’s graduated from Harvard Law. He just wasn’t at the interview.”
“Where did you find him then?”
“He’s a kid I used to know.”
“Used to know when?”
“Do the details really matter? Can’t you just be glad that I found someone I’m willing to work with?” Harvey gave her one of his charming smiles.
Jessica eyed him suspiciously before relaxing her face. “I suppose I can find out myself once he starts working. I’m looking forward to having a chat with him.”
“You? A chat with a lowly associate? Are you trying to remember what it was like to be at the bottom of the food chain?”
Jessica wore an amused smile. “I hope your associate can keep up with your banter, Harvey. Otherwise you’ll get bored and come whining to me about how you tend to work better on your own.”
“Me? Whine? Never.” Then Harvey became more serious. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to chat with him on the phone.”
“And, why is that? You’re worried I might scare him with my eyes?”
“Well, your eyes do seem to scare Louis to the point that he’s about to wet his pants but nope, that’s not it. He has an issue, let’s say.”
“An issue.” Jessica urged him to elaborate with her eyes.
“He’s not comfortable around other people so it’s very difficult for him to leave the house. He was doing all right at Harvard but it recently got very bad.” Harvey spoke in a sympathetic voice, fighting off the goose bumps crawling all over his arms.
“How are you going to mentor him then?”
“He’s fine around me. He’s actually staying with me for a while.”
Jessica laughed incredulously. “He’s not comfortable around people but he’s fine with you? And, Harvey, I thought I taught you not to mix business with pleasure.”
“He’s not my boyfriend if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Really? So you’re letting him stay with you just because you used to know him and because he’s going to be your associate.”
“He was like my baby brother, okay? We were close.” Harvey was glad that he was a fantastic liar.
“Well, whoever you open your house to is your problem, but if you can’t take him to court and show him how it’s done, why would I want to put him on my payroll?”
“Because I can deliver even better results. I’d still prefer to work alone but I could use some help from a genius who can read a thousand pages of legal documents in four hours. I could take more cases and make more money for the firm.”
Jessica looked thoughtful before giving her verdict. “He can be a trainee for a month and if I see what I like, he can officially be a part of Pearson-Hardman.”
“Two weeks.”
“I said one month.”
“Three weeks.”
“One month.”
“Two weeks and a half.”
Jessica laughed at how Harvey tried to negotiate about almost everything. “Fine, three weeks. But if he becomes a problem, you’re going to get another associate who doesn’t have any issues.”
“He’s not going to cause any problems, Jessica. I assure you.”
“As if your assurance would put my mind at ease.”
“You have serious trust issues. You know that?” Harvey grinned as if he had just found a loophole.
Jessica cursed herself for having a soft spot for him and waved him away. “Get out of here, Harvey. And, I want you to go home early today and spend the weekend in bed. You look terrible.”
“You mean, a little less handsome than usual.”
“Why are you still here?” Jessica pointed at the door and Harvey gladly left with a victorious smile on his face.
When Harvey came back to his office, Donna followed him inside and pulled down the blinds.
“What is it?” Harvey sat in his chair and motioned for her to sit.
“I have some files for you. Dante handed me the notes that Caffrey kept on Mike. He thought that it would be helpful. He also knows this genie specialist and left you some reading material.”
“Funny you mention that. Mike brought up last night how I should read up on genies.”
“Excellent timing then.” Donna smiled. She had often considered her work interesting but what was happening right now was beyond interesting.
Harvey picked up the file on top and flipped through the pages. ‘Who the heck did so much research on genies? Bobby Singer?’
He noticed how the same name kept popping up on most of the pages. He wondered if the genie savant was a mad professor at some small community college or a lonely alcoholic who lived off the grid. According to Singer’s research, there were evil genies too.
‘Mike? Evil?’ Harvey had to laugh. His genie was a sassy creature but there was nothing evil about him.
“Oh my, you’ve fallen hard for him. Grinning like that just thinking about him? In the office? When there’s someone else in the room? Oh, Harvey…” Donna shook her head with a broad smile on her face and jumped to the next subject before her boss got a chance to express his dissatisfaction with her assessment.
“And, the fake identity you asked about last night. Dante knows a specialist who can create a new person in a week. He wants you to fill out this form so he can get the specifics right.”
Donna pushed the form towards Harvey and handed him a piece of paper, using her ‘stage voice’. “And, this is his price.”
“This is his price.” Harvey repeated her words as he checked if he had counted the number of zeros correctly.
“I’m afraid so. But Dante swears that he’s the best in the whole country.”
“You do know he’s a felon, Donna. He probably lies for a living.”
“I’m aware of that. But when it comes to these kinds of matters, Dante knows what he’s talking about.”
Harvey’s eyes went from his secretary to the note in his hand. It was a good thing that he was a successful lawyer with a lot of savings. Apparently it was very costly to buy a fake life. Whether Mike chose to grow old with him or not, he wanted the genie to be set free while he was his master. Hopefully, Mike would find someone to fall and stay in love with before his time ran out. The truth was that he felt for Mike. He couldn’t imagine a life where he wasn’t in control of his own destiny. Besides, Mike was exceptionally brilliant. It was such a waste of his talent to purely exist for people’s greedy wishes.
‘Let’s consider it the pro bono case of my life.’ Harvey concluded and gave Donna a nod. “Let’s do this. Send him the deposit.”
“Excellent decision! Oh, and you might want a secret compartment behind those records to keep all the documents about Mike. The safe at your place is too obvious. Luckily for you, Dante happens to know a specialist for secret hiding places.”
“Is there any specialist that Dante doesn’t know?”
“Don’t be mean, Harvey. You need his help to keep Mike safe. And, just think about how cool it would be! If you pull out the right record, the shelves will part and give you access to a secret cabinet! You’d feel like a superhero! Isn’t that every boy’s dream?”
“I’m not a boy, Donna.”
“But boys will always be boys! And, when do I get to meet him?” Donna’s eyes twinkled with excitement.
“You want to meet him?”
“Of course! I think I’ve earned the right to meet your special someone, Harvey.”
“He’s not my special someone. He’s my genie.”
“What’s the difference?” Donna looked at her boss with an expression that practically screamed hope.
“You really want to meet him.”
“Yes, Harvey, I really want to meet him. What have you been listening to for the last minute?”
Donna’s tone reminded him of Mike. If he introduced them to each other, they would surely team up against him and he wasn’t sure if he wanted that to happen. ‘Why do I have so many people around that can’t be manipulated when I’m such a great manipulator?’
Harvey sighed. He knew that Donna wouldn’t drop it until he caved in. “Fine. I’ll ask him if he wants to meet you. But if he refuses, you’re going to accept his decision, all right?”
“All right. But I’m sure he’d love to meet me. Who wouldn’t want to?”
Harvey wondered who was more narcissistic between Donna and himself. Mike was convinced that he was the descendant of Narcissus so he could probably introduce Donna and get him to change his mind.
‘It’s worth considering.’ Harvey thought as he started to work.
Harvey left the office two hours earlier than usual but he came home around the same time as usual. He had made a stop at Rene’s to fetch catalogues for spring suits and to borrow some extra measurement tools. He couldn’t bring Mike to Rene’s so he would have to take the measurements himself. Then he had swung by a camera shop and bought a digital camera. He needed to take pictures of Mike for his résumé and his fake identity.
When he came home, he went through his usual routine with a shower and dinner in front of the TV. His housekeeper, who came twice a week, had dropped by and had made him a delicious pot of curry but he couldn’t stop feeling empty.
Harvey flipped through the channels on TV and thought about Mike. He had moved the lamp this morning into one of the boxes that held his baseball stuff in case his housekeeper used the pots. He wanted to go to bed early without seeing Mike but the condo probably felt empty because the smartass wasn’t around.
‘I’m just making sure that he’s okay.’ Convincing himself that there was no way he missed the genie, Harvey got up and came back to the living room with the lamp and a handkerchief. Then he sat on the couch, rubbed the lamp, and waited for Mike to come out.
“Good evening, master. How was your day?” Mike appeared, wearing Harvey’s old suit and a friendly smile.
“Good evening, Mike. It was all right.”
Mike waited a few seconds before making a face. “That’s it? It was all right? You’re not very communicative, are you?”
Harvey found himself smiling a little. Mike was one of a kind. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me what you did! Who did you talk to? What kind of documents did you deal with? If I’m going to be your associate, I should know what your day is like!”
“Good point.” So Harvey told him all about his meetings with Jessica and Donna.
“So Donna wants to meet me?” Mike asked a little nervously.
“Yeah, but I made it clear to her that if you’re not comfortable, it’s not going to happen.”
Mike smiled affectionately at his master. At first, he hadn’t been too sure if the lamp had found him the right master but the more time he spent with Harvey, the more he was convinced that the lamp had made the right decision.
“So she’s the one who rules your life?” Mike grinned.
“I wouldn’t put it that way.” Harvey gave the genie a half-hearted glare.
“How much do you trust her, Harvey?” Mike fidgeted so Harvey soothed him with a pat on the arm.
“She wouldn’t put you in harm’s way if that’s why you’re asking. She’s the one who gave me the lamp, remember?” Harvey felt Mike lean into his touch and well, it felt good to be needed.
“If you think it’s okay to meet her, I’ll do it.” Mike sounded determined.
“It’s up to you, Mike. There’s no need to see her if you don’t want to.” Harvey moved his hand up the genie’s arm and grasped his shoulder, in hopes of comforting him.
“But she’s like your family, right? I’d love to meet the woman behind Harvey Specter.”
“You’re absolutely sure about this?” Harvey didn’t want to push Mike into something he didn’t feel like doing.
“You’ll be there the whole time, right?” Mike put his hand on top of Harvey’s which was still on his shoulder.
“Yes, I won’t let you out of my sight.”
Mike looked at his master for a moment and nodded. “I’ll meet her.”
“All right. I’ll tell her to come over whenever you’re ready. Let me know, okay?” Harvey was a little proud and happy that Mike trusted him enough to meet someone.
“Okay.” Mike was back to his sassy mood. “I wanted to meet her tomorrow but you’d just embarrass me. You look awful.”
Harvey laughed and rubbed his chin. If two people (well, one person and one creature) questioned his looks, it would be wise to get some beauty sleep.
“Do you want me to sing you lullabies or read you bedtime stories?” Mike asked as Harvey carried the lamp into the bedroom.
“No. But you could tell me about your day.” Harvey put down the lamp on the nightstand and stripped down to his boxers.
“But I didn’t do anything special today.”
“Most people don’t do something special every day.”
“Except for you.”
“Look who’s catching on!” Harvey chuckled and got under the covers. “Start talking.”
So Mike told him how he had started his day by drinking one of his favorite genie potions ‘Genergy’ and reading the papers. He also told him about the intense chess match that he had played with his neighbor and was about to emphasize how courageous and smart he had been when he realized that Harvey had fallen asleep.
‘Of course he’d shut it out when someone else is being awesome.’ Mike pouted as he looked down at the sleeping beauty.
‘Oh well, his ego is such a big part of his being that I’ll have to learn to live with it.’
Mike leaned forward and brushed Harvey’s hair aside so he could kiss the handsome forehead. “Good night, master. Sweet dreams.”
After watching the lawyer’s chest rise and fall in a peaceful rhythm, Mike turned into a beam of blue light and disappeared into the lamp.
“Why wouldn’t it zoom in properly? It zooms in too quickly. It’s probably defective.” Harvey was struggling with his new camera on the beautiful Saturday afternoon. He had slept like a baby all night and morning and had fully recovered from the exhausting week.
“It’s not defective, Harvey. You’re putting too much pressure on the button. You have to handle it with care.” Mike was sitting on the couch with his sole suit on, ready to get his picture taken.
“Nah, I really think they gave me a faulty one. I’m known to have delicate hands, Mike.”
Mike didn’t answer but Harvey heard the snort.
“What was that?” Harvey looked up from the camera.
“Nothing. Can we please take the picture? I’ve been sitting here forever.”
“Ten minutes isn’t even close to forever. Now smile again, will you?”
“Harvey, I’ve been smiling for ten minutes already. My cheeks are starting to hurt.”
“Do you want to look good in the picture or not?”
Mike grumbled but he soon smiled broadly towards the camera.
Harvey took the picture successfully but much to his dissatisfaction, Mike looked too cute. He was worried that the people in the HR department would find Mike adorable and try to dig up information on him.
“Okay, Mike, that’s not bad but let’s try to look a bit ugly this time.”
Mike’s eyebrows immediately shot up. “What kind of a request is that? Are you intimidated by my good looks?”
Harvey snorted. “Haven’t you met me? I’m the definition of good looks.”
Mike shook his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable. I know I said that you might be the descendant of Narcissus but I’d like to change my opinion. You are Narcissus reincarnated!”
“Okay, that’s good. Hold it right there.” Harvey quickly took a picture of a fuming Mike. There was a bit of blue smoke coming out of his ears but it was nothing Photoshop couldn’t fix.
Mike’s jaw dropped at the utter ridiculousness of the situation. “As a photographer, aren’t you supposed to encourage your subjects to give you their best?”
“Can you twist one side of your mouth like that again?”
“Harvey!”
“Fine. Then give me your best smile.”
Mike massaged his cheeks for a few moments before smiling brightly. Harvey only pretended to press the shutter of the camera. As far as he knew, that kind of a smile was what usually caused unnecessary drama.
“You didn’t take the picture.” Mike narrowed his eyes.
“I took the picture, Mike. Besides, aren’t you supposed to trust your master in all circumstances?”
“But you didn’t take the picture! I didn’t hear the click!”
“I know you weren’t born in this era so let me explain it to you. These days, cameras don’t make that much of a sound when it does its job. I suggest you do the same.” Harvey tried to put the camera away but Mike leaped forward, extending his legs as much as he could, and grabbed the camera.
“Let it go, Mike.” Harvey said firmly.
“Not until you take a proper picture of me! I don’t get it. Don’t you want people to know that your associate looks smart enough to handle his job? It seemed like you were big on looks!”
“I told you. I took the picture. Now let it go.”
“But you’re lying! To your own associate!”
Harvey felt stupid fighting over the camera with a non-human creature so he decided to give Mike what he wanted. “All right. Let’s take a couple more then. I should’ve known that kids always love getting their pictures taken.”
“FYI, I’ve lived much longer than you, Harvey. And, I’m sorry if I look better than you but there’s not much I can do about it.” Mike fondly patted Harvey’s arm and calmly went back to the couch.
Harvey dismissed Mike’s last comment and focused on taking smiling pictures of his soon-to-be associate. After all, it didn’t matter how many pretty pictures he took right now. He was going to choose the ugliest one and glue it to Mike’s résumé once the genie was safely back inside the lamp.
Half an hour later, Harvey was getting along much better with his genie. They were sitting next to each other on the couch, looking at the suits catalogue.
“Oh, I think you should go for this one, Harvey. It would match the color of your eyes so perfectly.”
Harvey ticked the suit in question and moved on to the last page. Mike had been surprisingly helpful, coming up with useful suggestions.
“That’s enough for me. Let’s get some for you now.” Harvey picked up another catalogue from the coffee table.
“Me? Why do I need suits when I’ll be working at home?” Mike sipped at his Sprite through the straw.
Harvey felt a small smile crawl on to his face at Mike referring to his condo as ‘home’. “Because it will help you picture yourself working in a cubicle next to other associates. You only have one suit and I’d like to believe that you’re capable of wearing decent suits throughout the year like a real lawyer.”
“Fine. You’re the one who’s paying anyway.”
Mike didn’t have a problem with Harvey picking different shirts and suits for him, so it was rather an unwelcome surprise for Harvey when Mike started to show interest in skinny ties.
“No, you’re not getting skinny ties.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re poor taste.”
“They’re not poor taste, Harvey. Just because you wear wider ones doesn’t mean I have to do the same.”
“Skinny ties go against every fiber of my being, Mike. And, didn’t you mention that I was the one who’s paying?”
“But I think I’d look much better with skinny ones. I have a lithe physique!”
“Let me break it down for you. You know who wear skinny ties? Con men. Then what do decent men wear? Wide ties.”
“But…”
“No buts, Mike. No. Skinny. Ties.” Harvey emphasized each word to be clear.
Unfortunately, Mike had no intention of surrendering. “Then I’m not going to wear a tie. I’ll just wear the suit and shirt.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The look isn’t complete without a tie.”
Mike snapped, unable to understand Harvey’s obsession with wide ties. “Unless it’s your second wish, I’m getting those skinny ties!”
Harvey thought of giving him a long lecture about respecting wider ties but they still had so many things to get done. “Fine. You’re getting skinny ties but for the sake of fashion, you’re going to wear a wider one once a week.”
“Once a week?” Mike pondered about the idea. “I think I can do that.”
“Good boy.” Harvey spoke in a low voice and patted him on the head. Then he pretended that he hadn’t seen Mike shudder and grabbed the measuring tape.
“Do you know your inseam?” Harvey produced a pen and a notepad so that he could write down the measurements.
“I don’t. It’s probably medium?”
Harvey smiled at the answer. He would have to take the measurements for the inseam as well. “Get up and spread your legs.”
“Ooh, are we going to do something dirty?” Mike gave his master a naughty grin and did as he was told.
Harvey looked up from Mike’s crotch. The genie was enjoying this. “No. We’re getting you a suit, remember?”
Harvey ignored the suggestive giggles and focused on the insides of Mike’s legs.
“Large?” Mike asked in a confident tone.
“That’s not how it works.” Harvey had to guess how long the pants should be. He could only see above Mike’s knees but he wanted Mike to keep the pants even when he became human.
‘Hmm, I guess it’s better to have them long. If it’s too long, he can cut it but if it’s too short, he won’t be able to fix it.’ Harvey wrote down some numbers and proceeded to take other measurements.
Mike made weird sounds as Harvey wrapped the measuring tape around his waist but Harvey was determined not to respond. If he was going to hire Mike as his associate (trainee or not), he was going to keep his distance from now on. He didn’t think that he would be able to keep his hands to himself once he crossed the line. Yes, they had kissed a couple of times but that was all they had done.
“Are we done?” Mike asked impatiently when Harvey put down the measuring tape on the coffee table.
“Yeah. You need something?”
“Yeah, I need to kiss you.”
Harvey noticed that Mike was serious. There was no playful smile hanging on his lips and he looked a little flushed. “Are you okay?”
“No, I told you I need to kiss you.” Mike looked into Harvey’s eyes. He thought that he was addicted to Neal’s blue eyes but apparently he was developing a new addiction to Harvey’s brown ones. Mike truly believed that eyes were a window to one’s soul; Harvey might look tough but his eyes were incredibly kind and warm.
Harvey quickly kissed the genie’s forehead and started to put away everything that he had borrowed from Rene. He wasn’t going to cross the line with Mike. He had always put his career first and he wasn’t going to change it because some cute genie climbed out of the lamp and fell for him.
‘It’s all part of the magic.’ Harvey was certain that was why he had been attracted to Mike in such a short time.
“Harvey?”
“Yes, Mike.” Harvey avoided eye contact as he pulled out the form that Mike was supposed to fill for his fake identity.
“Can we kiss please? Master?”
Harvey automatically looked up at the word ‘master’ and their stares got tangled in the tense air.
‘Look away, damn it! Look away!’ Harvey heard his inner voice barking at him but he found himself moving forward and cupping Mike’s face.
‘It’s the magic.’ Harvey felt helpless as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Mike’s.
But the moment that he felt Mike’s breath on his lips, the helpless feeling was gone. Harvey took charge of the kiss and let himself enjoy the small moans that Mike left in his mouth. He could feel Mike’s windy fingers in his hair and had to let out a moan of his own. He was getting used to the unique feeling that Mike had to offer and he didn’t think that he could forget it, ever.
‘But something feels different today.’ Harvey noticed that the genie didn’t taste like mint. He tasted more like lime.
“You changed your toothpaste.” Harvey pulled back as Mike started to rub himself against him.
“How did you know?” Mike’s cheeks had become rosy and Harvey thought that he looked much healthier.
“You taste different.”
The genie blushed even more. The fact that Harvey could taste the difference in his mouth felt too intimate.
“Here. You know how to write so you can do this by yourself.” Harvey pushed the form and a pen in front of Mike before leaving the living room.
“Where are you going?” Mike asked, frustration clear in his voice.
“I’m going to take a shower while you fill out that form.” Harvey answered without looking back. It was a great thing that he had given Mike a suit to wear. If the genie had still been wearing a leaf, he would have torn it off and would have made a mess on his couch.