A/N: Hey I'm back! I haven't posted since like...August or something! I'll be updating I Don't Want to Wear a Tie pretty soon with a shortish chapter too. But here's a cute oneshot I wrote
I found this prompt somewhere a while ago but I don't remember because I wrote it over the summer and now it's February lol. Well I hope you enjoy it! Please review!
I hope you like my sneaking in of the Harvey/Mike ship name ;) lollll No slash though
Harvey and Mike quickly made their way toward the car waiting for them out front. The older man was in an obviously good mood after managing to convince a new witness to testify, and of course Mike lagged behind, feeling irritated by his boss' gloating. Suddenly a small meow was heard from behind him, prompting him to turn. A scrawny, orange and white kitten limped toward the younger lawyer purring loudly when he reached him.
"Aw, hey there, little guy," Mike cooed, squatting down to pet it.
Harvey also turned, rolling his eyes at the sight of his associate fawning over the little creature as if he'd never seen a kitten before.
"Mike, let's go. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to pet animals you don't know?"
"But Harvey, look at him. And I think that rule mostly implies a dog you don't know." Mike picked the kitten up, grinning as it snuggled into his arms and continued to purr.
"Put it down, he probably lives around here," Harvey said.
"He doesn't have a collar and he's practically skin and bone. He's probably a stray. Can't I keep him?" he joked, holding the little cat up to his face so their cheeks touched as they both stared at Harvey with big, blue eyes.
"Another reason to leave it. That fleabag is not coming in the car, in the firm, or anywhere near this suit."
Mike feigned offence. "He's not a fleabag! Are you, little guy?"
The kitten meowed in response, watching as the older man shook his head and got in the car.
"Leave it, Mike!"
The associate rolled his eyes, squatting again to put the kitten on the ground. It looked up at him with wide, blue eyes and suddenly Mike couldn't find it in him to abandon the helpless, hurt animal. He glanced towards the car quickly before carefully putting him in his mostly empty messenger bag along with his suit jacket so there wouldn't be a random lump in the usually flat bag. He stood up again, and headed for the car.
The entire ride back to the firm, he prayed to God that the kitten stayed quiet - and he did. Along the way, he received countless suspicious looks from his boss, but ignored them, keeping his bag close to his side. Harvey didn't know…he couldn't…
When they finally arrived, Harvey immediately told Mike to meet him in his office. The associate jogged to his desk, attempting to keep the bag as steady as possible. He quickly knelt down in his cubicle, looking around before removing his jacket and opening up one of the deeper, bottom drawers of his desk. He lied the jacket down then carefully lifted the orange fur ball out of the bag and lowered him into the drawer.
"I'll be right back, little guy," he whispered, leaving it open only a tiny bit before heading off to Harvey's office.
Harvey glanced up at his associate for the umpteenth time since he'd arrived in the office about fifteen minutes ago. The kid was incredibly fidgety, his eyes continuously flitting over to the open door and he refused to sit still. At first Harvey had just tried to ignore like he often did when Mike was acting like an idiot. But after a while, it really was getting on his nerves.
"Do you have somewhere to be?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Huh? Wha-? No. No, I've just gotta um… I left my phone at my desk. Be right back."
Before the senior partner could reply, or remark that the cell phone was on the table in front of him, Mike was out he door, speed walking toward the associates' desks. Mike hoped that no one had discovered the little fur ball or any of the number of horrible things that could've happened while he was in his boss' office working. He felt like a parent who'd been forced to leave their child at daycare, only he'd left a stray kitten in his desk drawer surrounded by Harvard douches at a big law firm.
When he arrived at his desk, his eyes flitted around the room anxiously before he bent over to peer into the partially open drawer. A small meow elevated from it, causing Mike to jump slightly and feign a quick cough. He reached in, petting the kitten a little.
"I've gotta go back," he whispered. "Be good. I'll feed you again when there aren't so many people in here."
The kitten purred before curling back up into a ball and falling asleep on Mike's jacket. He sighed, closing the drawer a little more again before heading back to Harvey's office where he would probably be chided for leaving so abruptly.
"Took you long enough," Harvey said impassively.
"Couldn't find my phone," Mike lied unconvincingly.
Harvey glanced at the iPhone lying by his associate's stack of papers. When Mike noticed it he gulped and let out a short laugh. His boss arched his eyebrows before shaking his head.
"You can recite an entire book you read when you were in elementary school but you can't remember where you put your phone."
"Not the same thing."
"Just get back to work."
It wasn't for another hour or so that Mike was able to finally return to his own cubicle. He felt horrible for having to leave his new companion locked up there nearly all day, but there weren't any other options. He brought the little animal some water and snuck him outside a couple times where there were a few areas with plants to ensure he didn't have an accident on Mike's jacket. Mike considered himself lucky to have a found a cat that seemed content with sleeping all day in the drawer and keeping quiet. He still couldn't wait to get home however and make the little guy a proper 'home.'
Mike was relieved when most of the office was empty. He'd been terrified all day that 'Kitten' - as he'd lamely resorted to calling him - would start meowing and someone like Gregory or Kyle would find out. He'd never hear the end of it. Luckily the only one who'd noticed had been Harold, of all people. The guy was crazy allergic to cats and had suddenly began getting hives when he went over to Mike's desk to ask for help. He'd promised not to tell, finding it a little humorous that Harvey Specter's associate was hiding a stray cat in his desk. Harold had even offered some of his tuna but Mike was quick to remind him that he didn't have a can opener - and he shouldn't consider taking Harvey's again - and everyone in the room would be able to smell it.
Once everyone was gone, Mike had opened up the drawer all the way so Kitten could actually get some light. At about ten he went to the break room to rummage through the fridge for something the kitten would eat, grabbing a can of tuna that probably belonged to Harold. But when he returned, he nearly kicked himself in the shin. He'd left the drawer wide open and his new pet was no where in sight.
"Shit!" he muttered. "Shit. Shit. Shit."
He left the tuna on his desk, getting down on all fours to crawl around the cubicles in search of the orange and white fluff ball.
"Kitten, where are you? C'mon kitty," he whispered desperately. "There's tuna! Kitten?"
Suddenly a pair of Italian leather shoes stepped in front of him, causing Mike to freeze. He stared at them for a moment, unsure of what to do. He was crawling around on the floor in a law firm for Christ's sake! What could he say?
"Looking for this?" Harvey's voice came from above him.
Mike looked up to see his boss carrying the kitten, petting him softly as he smirked as his associate. Mike jumped to his feet, eyes wide.
"Found him running around in the hallway, well as much as a kitten with a limp can run," he said as the cat purred softly, allowing the senior partner to continue scratching his stomach. "You actually brought it to work?"
"I -"
"Save it." Harvey rolled his eyes, seemingly annoyed though Mike couldn't seem to figure out why he was still holding his cat. "What do you plan on doing with him?"
The associate shrugged. "I don't know. Keep him probably."
"Do you have any idea how much it costs to keep a cat? And would you even have time for it?"
"I'll figure it out. Or maybe Louis will know; he likes cats, right? Just because you don't have much of a heart, doesn't mean I was going to leave him on the street. And why do you care?" Mike reached forward to take Kitten from his boss.
Harvey seemed slightly reluctant to hand him over but did so anyway. The senior partner had to admit that the orange fur ball was kind of adorable, but he wasn't about to let someone see him holding a kitten.
"I don't. But I don't want to see that thing in here again, got it? And you're going to ask Louis for cat advice? Maybe Louis' will want him. Donna told him he's 'cat searching,'" Harvey chuckled, watching as the kitten attempted to crawl up to the associate's shoulder, causing Mike to wince when the tiny claws dug through his shirt.
Mike shook his head. "You want me to give him to Louis? What'd he do to you to make you hate him? Prove that you can actually care about something as cute as a baby animal?" he joked. "Besides, doesn't he like…poofy cats?"
Harvey rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day at the kid.
"I think I'll call him Marvin…"
Harvey made a face, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Marvin?"
"Yeah. What do you think of think of that? Marvin," Mike said childishly, looking down at the kitten in his arms. It purred loudly causing his new owner to shrug. "I'm guessing that means you like it."
"When did the puppy get a kitten?" a woman's voice said suddenly, sounding amused.
The two men looked over to see Donna walking over with her purse and a couple files. She handed them to her boss before redirecting her attention to 'Marvin.'
"I came to give you those before I left. So who's this little guy?" Donna smiled, reaching forward to pet him.
"Mike's new fleabag. Marvey."
"Marvin," Mike corrected. "It's not that hard to remember. And he's not a fleabag."
"You brought a cat to the office?"
"I couldn't live him out there!" he said defensively.
Donna laughed, scratching the kitten's head once more before leaving. Mike decided to leave as well, telling his boss that he needed to go get some cat stuff - which would be quite a feat on his bike.
"Good luck with that, kid. Bye, Marvey."
"It's Marvin."
"Eh, I like Marvey better." Harvey shrugged before heading back to his office, smirking.