Mud
"Thanks for coming with me," Will stated as he walked along the grassy path with his seven dogs wandering around him. His feet sunk a little with every step due to the rainstorm last night, and he was almost positive his dogs would need a bath by the time they got home.
"I enjoy being in your company," Dr. Lecter replied, stepping carefully to avoid the dirt as much as possible.
Will gave a short laugh. "That's the first time anyone's ever told me that," he remarked.
Dr. Lecter just smiled at Will. "That's a shame, too. They truly are missing out on an interesting friendship."
Will shrugged. "Yeah, well I doubt anyone would be willing to walk my dogs with me like you do." He made sure to keep each canine in his peripheral vision as he ventured through the field.
"It's no trouble, I assure you," Dr. Lecter replied. "Would you like to-"
Will jolted around when he heard a sickening splash. The doctor had completely disappeared from sight. "Dr. Lecter?" Will called out.
The ground moved and Will watched as the psychiatrist rose out of a giant mud puddle. Dr. Lecter was covered from head to toe in brown goo, and he clearly wasn't happy about it. He reached up and attempted to wipe the mud out of his eyes, but his dirty hands didn't work very well.
Will stepped closer, careful to avoid the mud puddle. "Dr. Lecter, do you need some help?"
The doctor shook his head and Will saw that his mouth was still covered in the dirty sludge. Since the man had fallen mid-sentence, Will presumed Dr. Lecter had a mouthful of it as well.
Will stifled a laugh, biting his lip. "Dr. Lecter, you can spit out the mud, I don't mind," he offered.
Dr. Lecter shook his head, flinging specks of brown onto the grass.
Will rolled his eyes in amusement. "It's not rude, and I personally don't care. Go ahead."
Dr. Lecter was quiet a moment, contemplating. At last, the man turned completely away from Will before spitting out the mouthful. "My apologies, Will," he said as he turned back around.
Will nodded before looking over the man. "Are you alright? Is anything hurt?" He asked. The usually composed psychiatrist was a mess. Thick mud clung to every inch of his suit, dripping down in heavy chunks. His face was entirely covered, minus the few streaks where he had tried to wipe it off. There was even mud conformed to his hair, causing to it hang down over his forehead.
Dr. Lecter shrugged and his entire composure seemed to droop. "Nothing is harmed but my dignity."
Will laughed, unable to stifle it any longer.
Dr. Lecter huffed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to walk back now."
Will managed to stop laughing, but an amused smirk was still plastered on his face. "Yeah, sure," he agreed before whistling out for his dogs to follow.
They walked back to the house in silence except for the squishing sound Dr. Lecter's shoes made with every step. The psychiatrist had cringed when he'd first heard the suctioning noise, but now Will could tell that he was pretending to ignore it.
When they finally reached Will's house, Dr. Lecter breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for assisting me back, Will. I'll see you at our next session," Dr. Lecter stated as he turned to leave.
"Wait, where are you going?" Will called out.
Dr. Lecter spun back around to face Will. "Home. I am in desperate need of a shower," he replied.
Will let out a breathy laugh. "You've gotta be kidding. For one, you'll get mud all over the interior of your Bentley," he said, gesturing to the doctor's current condition.
Dr. Lecter cocked his head in return. "Then I'll walk."
Will rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's almost an hour to Baltimore by car; it will take you forever to walk there."
Dr. Lecter frowned, but didn't argue. "So what do you propose I do?"
Will shrugged and nodded towards his house. "You can shower here and I'll lend you some clean clothes."
The doctor looked down at his suit before looking back to Will. "Thank you for the offer, but I refuse to make a mess of your home," he replied.
Will groaned, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "Dr. Lecter, I don't care if you get some mud on my floor, my dogs do it all the time."
"I am not some rogue canine," Dr. Lecter retorted. "I have more decency than that."
Will bit back a sarcastic remark, knowing the psychiatrist probably wouldn't appreciate it. "Fine," he said at last. "I have an idea, come on over here." Will walked along to the back of his house and stood in front of the coiled hose. "Take off your jacket, which probably got the muddiest."
Dr. Lecter seemed hesitant, but eventually obeyed. He peeled the blue plaid suit coat off only to reveal an equally filthy vest and undershirt.
Will sighed. "Great. Go ahead and get rid of those layers too, they're just as dirty," he stated.
Dr. Lecter looked down and began to undo his tie, only to have mud drip down his forehead and into his eye.
Will watched slightly amused as the doctor then attempted to wipe the dirt out with his sleeve, which only succeeded in smearing more mud across his face.
"Well you certainly aren't a 'rogue canine', you'd never survive in the wild," Will mocked, sensing Dr. Lecter's exasperation. "To be honest, it's a little pathetic."
Dr. Lecter growled, unable to get his fingers through the mud-caked tie knot. Will laughed before finally stepping forward to help his psychiatrist. His nimble fingers easily undid the knot, minus a few of his normal shakes and twitches. He removed it and threw it to the side carelessly, knowing the fabric was beyond restoration even if it did cost more than Will's entire house.
Dr. Lecter's eyes moved up from his tie to lock briefly with Will's. "Thank you."
Will shrugged it off, feeling the tips of his ears turn red.
The doctor looked back down and started to work on the small vest buttons, but that was going no better than the tie. Will watched as the man's muddy fingers tried to twist the buttons free of the fabric, but they couldn't quite grip the smooth texture.
Will smirked, holding back any more comments. "Here, I can probably get it done faster."
Dr. Lecter dropped his hands in defeat and allowed Will to undo each button. Will finally was able to get the vest off and began on the dress shirt, trying to ignore the doctor's watchful eyes and warm breath. Will usually stayed in his own personal space, but for some reason he found that the psychiatrist's company was far more tolerable than most other people's.
"There," Will stated once he'd detached the final button. He let the shirt hang loosely over the doctor's shoulders and stepped backwards, retaining his personal space. Dr. Lecter smiled in appreciation and shrugged out of the dress shirt.
Will caught himself staring at Dr. Lecter's torso for longer than what would be considered appropriate, and he immediately averted his gaze. His face reddened when he felt the doctor watching him. "Er, you're muddy there too," Will muttered, giving a weak explanation for his rude staring.
"I believe that was apparent at first glance," Dr. Lecter mentioned.
Will pretended he didn't hear the comment, silently cursing the smug psychiatrist. He cleared his throat and brought his eyes back up to meet the doctor, trying to express some confidence in continuing with the task at hand.
"Anyways, I must confess that I didn't expect the mud to get through all the layers of your suit," Will said in a light tone, hoping to get rid of the awkward tension.
Dr. Lecter gave a half-smile. "Well when I am completely submerged, the filth has a tendency to fill in through sleeves and collars, despite my attire," he explained, vague sarcasm hinting in his tone. "Which now I am led to ask, what exactly is your plan? I assume you didn't make me remove half my clothes just to mock my unfortunate situation."
Will laughed, breaking eye contact with the psychiatrist. "Yeah, well to be honest I didn't work this all out yet. But I think what I did have planned would be better executed if you took off all the muddiest garments."
Dr. Lecter narrowed his eyes, unsure.
Will raised an eyebrow. "Don't you trust me, doctor?" Will smirked, knowing the man valued Will's personal ties to him more than his dignity.
"Very well," Dr. Lecter sighed before slipping out of his muddy slacks, leaving him in only his black silk boxers.
Will felt his face heat up and he turned away. He reached down for the water hose on the ground and, after giving it a moment's thought and deciding to be immature, attached the power pressured nozzle. He spun back around to face the doctor, hose aimed forward.
A vague expression of shock and realization crossed Dr. Lecter's face. "Will-," he began, only to be silenced when Will pulled back the trigger.
Will couldn't help but smile as the pressurized water drilled the psychiatrist directly in the face. He watched as Dr. Lecter twisted and squirmed away from the powerful stream. He considered the fact that the water is likely stinging the doctor's skin since he was standing relatively close, but he figured that Dr. Lecter could deal with it.
"Will, wait for a moment!" Dr. Lecter yelled out, turning his back to the water.
Will sighed and released the trigger. "What?"
Dr. Lecter turned back around, water dripping from his hair over his face. He wrapped his arms over his chest, glaring at Will. "There's bound to be a better way to do this."
Will shrugged. "Nothing this easy and efficient. Besides, you were too picky to go in my house and take a shower. And to be honest, it's kind of amusing." With that being said, Will clenched his hand and blasted the doctor in the stomach.
Will had to admit, he didn't have the greatest life and it certainly wasn't fun by any means. But here, in this moment, Will was having the time of his life. He loved seeing the smug, classy psychiatrist look so helpless and pissed.
Once Will was sure he'd sprayed literally every inch of the psychiatrist, he finally turned the hose off. "I'll go get you a towel and some clothes," he stated, smirking at Dr. Lecter as he walked by.
Will took his sweet old time gathering a towel and some of his old clothes. He imagined the doctor standing in the middle of the yard with nothing but boxers on. By the time he made it back outside, Dr. Lecter had already plastered on a visibly fake smile.
"Thank you, Will," he stated coldly, taking the towel and wiping off all the excess water dripping down.
Will sighed. "Are you mad at me now?"
Dr. Lecter gave Will the towel back and began attempting to pull a too-small button up shirt over his shoulders. "I'll admit, I was certainly surprised, and your actions were quite rude," Dr. Lecter replied. "But no, I could never be angry with you."
Will smiled, relaxing when the doctor's gaze softened. He bit his lip to stifle his laughter as he watched Dr. Lecter try to squeeze into Will's clothes. When Dr. Lecter was looking down to work on the buttons of the shirt, Will quickly stepped forward and lightly pressed his lips to the doctor's cheek. He immediately retreated back into his own personal space, feeling his cheeks heat up.
"Uh, sorry for the hose thing," he muttered, looking away.
Will couldn't see it, but Dr. Lecter's lips had curled up into a genuine smile and his eyes showed a light that no one's ever witnessed before.