Absolute Reality

The Dirty Work of Saving Souls

This was a challenge I threw out to my fanfic friends who no doubt think I'm a total lunatic. It was mud wrestling. I made it happen, and it fit nicely into this particular story arc. So. Here it is. Mud wrestling AHS: Asylum style.

It was a beautiful day. Made even more beautiful by the fact that it marked the end of a six day stretch of rain, thunderstorms, dark skies, and minor flooding. Jude was distracted by it, honestly. She stared out her office window at several bright bluebirds chittering on a tree limb. A knock at her door broke the reverie. She sighed. "Come in."

"Sister." Timothy Howard's smile, however, was as charming as the chittering bluebirds.

Jude couldn't contain her own smile. "Fathah. What can I do far you?"

"Absolutely nothing, I'm afraid." He approached her window. Stood close beside her. He smelled of books and clean linen. "God has done more than enough for me today by gifting us this glorious dose of spring."

"True." She resumed her staring. Out the window. Not at the Monsignor. Well...maybe a little at the Monsignor.

"Just look at those birds." He chuckled. "Their happiness is contagious." Jude was nodding agreement, not realizing her smile had grown to teeth-showing. But the priest noticed. "You look radiant when you smile, Sister."

She blinked at the birds and blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Fathah." She would have touched her hair had it not been beneath a wimple. "I'll confess I find the weather distracting."

"Wonderfully so." He rubbed his hands together. "And I have news to further please you."

"Oh?" She turned to him.

"Mother Claudia is coming to visit. She wishes to see the garden. The convent has greatly enjoyed the vegetables you and Sister Mary Eunice have so kindly shared. I believe your Mother Superior wishes to thank you and see the fruits of Briarcliff's honest labor."

And yes, Jude was most definitely pleased at this news. Mother Claudia was her trusted advisor. Her mentor. Her most admired and respected friend. "She couldn't have chosen a finer day far a visit."

"Agreed."

"Perhaps she'll join us for lunch. We could put some of those vegetables to use in a fresh green salad. I could probably scramble something up."

"Could you?" He didn't hide his delight at the promise of Jude's cooking.

"I could." She chuckled. "In fact, I believe Mary Eunice is in the garden now. Cleaning and tending it after all the rain. She took Pepper and Shelley with her." At his wince, Jude spread her hands. "I know what yar thinking, Fathah. But both Shelley and Peppah were on their best behaviors last week, a great achievement considering the storms. So I bowed to Eunice's whim to reward them with a gardening day."

"I apologize, Jude." Timothy grinned, shaking his head. "I simply know Shelley's propensity for... starting trouble."

"Trust me, Fathah. I do, too. And Peppah's certainly no bettah. But trust has to start somewhere. And their work benefits all parties, really."

"I do trust you, Sister." He put a hand on her shoulder. The fingers drifted briefly up, stroked her strong jaw. "You've not once disappointed me."

Jude swallowed. His praise tasted like a sweet red dinner wine. And his touch had been tantamount to orgasmic pleasure. "I try, Fathah," she whispered. He had no idea how hard she would try to please him.

Timothy's nostrils flared. Jude always smelled faintly floral. Something familiar. Something delicate. Something he might rut in if he was a lesser man. His mind flicked over images of Jude in velvet, an apple at her thigh, lust beneath a spreading apple tree. He hadn't quite recovered from the hallucination from a week earlier, and discovered that the mere thought of apples made him salivate.