Chapter Text
When Michaela was in elementary school the first soccer team she ever played on won every game, the entire season, except for their last one. She was in the goalie box when a little girl-who didn't even care-stumbled backward and kicked with her left foot instead of her right so the ball went soaring in the opposite direction Michaela was diving in. It was her first brush with the concept of victory versus failure and she knew right away which she preferred. When her parents asked why she was upset after such an amazing streak she told them she'd wanted to win.
“You did, you got an mvp trophy.”
“I want to win everything, every time.”
They'd laughed and hugged her tears away, but years after she forgot about the sting of the loss she'd think “everything, every time” as words of comfort.
The thing with Laurel could've started a bit more righteous, she knew that. In a world where she met her instead of Aiden their courtship would have been slow and charming like they both deserved, but it didn't. It started after she had blood on her hands, an ex fiance, and the frantic need to set down new tracks in the same direction. With Laurel she could still be half of a power couple that checked the minority, sexuality and gender box to reel in the kind of disadvantaged and abused clients Laurel was so intent on representing. In contrast, Michaela would crush her opponents who expected a bleeding heart liberal only to find themselves up against a hard nosed prosecutor who saw only the black and white case documents of clients stolen from their firm. With Laurel she could have the kids, the house, the job, the everything.
Laurel, for her part, didn't make it easy.
“I've gone off coffee, but thanks for the offer.”
“What kind of law student 'goes off' coffee?”
“The kind that's sensitive to caffeine.”
Michaela sighed. “Oh my god, you're going to make this as difficult as possible.”
Laurel frowned slightly as if confused, but also apologetic for whatever social misstep she'd just made. “Sorry?”
Michaela looked down then took a step closer to gently stroke the strap of the other's purse. “You do a lot for the group, and you never get any credit. It's bullshit. I want to buy you a coffee, talk about stuff we don't have to lower our voices to discuss.”
“Oh! Well, there's this tea place I've been meaning to check out. We could go there?”
Michaela beamed, her voice lifting from purr to perky in an instant. “Let's do it.”
It took a Chai and half a biscuit for Laurel to relax into the bright purple sofa and notice Michaela's method of interrogation had changed under the influence of Annalise, less aggressive and more conversational. In forty five minutes Michaela knew about the relationship she had with her parents(on the rocks, but on speaking terms much like their marriage), her favorite and least favorite professors(Annalise and Annalise), two of the five pets she'd had as a child (Monty the snake and Charles the hamster both of whom died under the reign of Button the cat), and her first girlfriend.
“How long did you date?”
“Only for the summer, my dad sent me to a different camp when he found the notes.”
“Tragic. So, was she really pretty or what?
She leaned forward only to find her face to face to Michaela who had mimicked her movement. “I don't know, she had these huge grandma glasses and wore polka dots all the time, but she swam in her pjs across the lake because someone called her a wuss and eleven year old me was smitten.”
“We should go swimming,” Michaela trailed her fingers across Laurel's thigh briefly, “I can hold my breath for almost two minutes.”
Laurel nearly snorted, covering her mouth quickly as it finally dawned on her what was happening.
“You're flirting with me. Badly. Michaela Pratt is a terrible flirt, the world has to know.”
“Well, you're bad at being flirted with. My hand has been on your knee for the past five minutes and it's like you don't even care.”
They were both smiling at that point and even though it wasn't exactly the seduction Michaela had been aiming for it still ended with a lingering kiss on her cheek before Laurel suggested that next time they should make it dinner.