Head Knowledge - Impromptu Challenge
Feb. 4th, 2017 10:13 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
glennagirl.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
section7mfuIllya's long hair was the prompt for this challenge...
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"What did you say?" Illya's palor was obvious, the eyebrows arched menacingly as the nurse stepped away from the Russian.
"I, um... I said ...' Nurse Barry sincerely wished she didn't have to make this pronouncement.
"You have head lice Mr. Kuryakin. I am so sorry, but we're going to... the method of ..."
Illya sank back into the chair from which the nurse had examined his hair. The last mission had taken him and Napoleon into a dirty, scum riddled cell from which they had retrieved a scientist whose THRUSH affiliation he had recently denounced. The task had not been too difficult, except now they were all being examined for signs of the bacteria the man had engineered. This news about lice was worse than a bacteria; at least the remedy there was medical treatment.
"Lice? Are you certain?" Nurse Barry nodded her head, already envisioning the lovely blond locks falling to the floor as a shaved Kuryakin emerged from beneath the clippers.
"I am so sorry, but even with the lice remedies we have, the best method of eradicating them is to, um... shave your head. This is a nasty infestation, that place you were in must have been horrendous." She shivered slightly at the thought of being where Illya had been.
Illya sat up straight and without thought scratched his scalp. Chyort! He could feel them now, and it made his skin crawl, literally, at the thought of his head being covered with the nasty buggers.
"Let us begin then. I am quite prepared to be shorn like a sheep for his wool. It is a better alternative to living with these creatures." He meant it. There were memories of his childhood when lice was not an uncommon companion at his state run school. He thought back to the first time someone shaved his head because of a lice infestation, remembered the sight of so many boys bereft of their hair.
After the deed was done Illya emerged from Medical in scrubs, his head neatly cropped by an expert hand. Clothing and hair were disposed of, something that made him grimmace as he considered the cost of a new suit. The Command was going to pick up the tab, but he had been particularly fond of that jacket.
He walked the hallway towards the office he shared with Napoleon; there was a stash of clothing for situations like this. How odd was it that they were so often in need of a change of clothes? Illya came through the door, his mood somber as he contemplated how many times he would need to explain his new look. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.
"You too?" Sitting at his desk was Napoleon, his head shaved in identical fashion to Illya's.
"Yep. Seems the lice were all over each of us. I see you also lost a suit of clothing." Illya smiled at the sight of his partner, his sense of loss abated somewhat by the shared misery. The scrubs were identical to the ones Napoleon wore.
"I don't think I'd mind as much if it weren't cold outside.' Illya paused, thinking back to that dirty cell.
"Lice. We battle evil on a regular basis, and it takes a vermin like this to bring us to our lowest point, simply because we've lost our hair to it. I have been in America too long if this is what can make me miserable." Napoleon thought he understood what his friend was talking about, but just to be sure...
"Do you mean to say you've gone soft on American Capitalistic luxuries?" The smirk was obvious.
"What I mean to say is that I've been through far worse, and I need to always remember what people endure in order to survive in other places. I am grateful for my life here, but this has reminded me why I came here to work for UNCLE." Napoleon squinted slightly, as though he might understand better by doing so.
"I would never have gotten to that line of reasoning simply from having my head shaved. Illya... " The blond eyebrows rose quizically, as if to ask 'what?'.
"Dinner's on me. Get dressed and we'll hit Luigi's, celebrate not having to comb our hair for at least a month."
Illya nodded his head, laughing at the solution to every situation: a good meal with a good friend.
That was definitely worth having come to America.
...................................................................................
"What did you say?" Illya's palor was obvious, the eyebrows arched menacingly as the nurse stepped away from the Russian.
"I, um... I said ...' Nurse Barry sincerely wished she didn't have to make this pronouncement.
"You have head lice Mr. Kuryakin. I am so sorry, but we're going to... the method of ..."
Illya sank back into the chair from which the nurse had examined his hair. The last mission had taken him and Napoleon into a dirty, scum riddled cell from which they had retrieved a scientist whose THRUSH affiliation he had recently denounced. The task had not been too difficult, except now they were all being examined for signs of the bacteria the man had engineered. This news about lice was worse than a bacteria; at least the remedy there was medical treatment.
"Lice? Are you certain?" Nurse Barry nodded her head, already envisioning the lovely blond locks falling to the floor as a shaved Kuryakin emerged from beneath the clippers.
"I am so sorry, but even with the lice remedies we have, the best method of eradicating them is to, um... shave your head. This is a nasty infestation, that place you were in must have been horrendous." She shivered slightly at the thought of being where Illya had been.
Illya sat up straight and without thought scratched his scalp. Chyort! He could feel them now, and it made his skin crawl, literally, at the thought of his head being covered with the nasty buggers.
"Let us begin then. I am quite prepared to be shorn like a sheep for his wool. It is a better alternative to living with these creatures." He meant it. There were memories of his childhood when lice was not an uncommon companion at his state run school. He thought back to the first time someone shaved his head because of a lice infestation, remembered the sight of so many boys bereft of their hair.
After the deed was done Illya emerged from Medical in scrubs, his head neatly cropped by an expert hand. Clothing and hair were disposed of, something that made him grimmace as he considered the cost of a new suit. The Command was going to pick up the tab, but he had been particularly fond of that jacket.
He walked the hallway towards the office he shared with Napoleon; there was a stash of clothing for situations like this. How odd was it that they were so often in need of a change of clothes? Illya came through the door, his mood somber as he contemplated how many times he would need to explain his new look. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.
"You too?" Sitting at his desk was Napoleon, his head shaved in identical fashion to Illya's.
"Yep. Seems the lice were all over each of us. I see you also lost a suit of clothing." Illya smiled at the sight of his partner, his sense of loss abated somewhat by the shared misery. The scrubs were identical to the ones Napoleon wore.
"I don't think I'd mind as much if it weren't cold outside.' Illya paused, thinking back to that dirty cell.
"Lice. We battle evil on a regular basis, and it takes a vermin like this to bring us to our lowest point, simply because we've lost our hair to it. I have been in America too long if this is what can make me miserable." Napoleon thought he understood what his friend was talking about, but just to be sure...
"Do you mean to say you've gone soft on American Capitalistic luxuries?" The smirk was obvious.
"What I mean to say is that I've been through far worse, and I need to always remember what people endure in order to survive in other places. I am grateful for my life here, but this has reminded me why I came here to work for UNCLE." Napoleon squinted slightly, as though he might understand better by doing so.
"I would never have gotten to that line of reasoning simply from having my head shaved. Illya... " The blond eyebrows rose quizically, as if to ask 'what?'.
"Dinner's on me. Get dressed and we'll hit Luigi's, celebrate not having to comb our hair for at least a month."
Illya nodded his head, laughing at the solution to every situation: a good meal with a good friend.
That was definitely worth having come to America.
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Date: 2017-02-04 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 04:49 pm (UTC)I still can't come up with one, I know unusual for me, but that's fine.
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Date: 2017-02-04 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 07:06 pm (UTC)This piece brings back awful memories. In primary school I was made to sit next to a boy whose hygiene levels were seriously lacking. We were sat in boy/girl/boy/girl rows and, both me and the girl on his other side, often ended up with head lice. Luckily, I never had to endure such a drastic remedy as Illya.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 11:10 pm (UTC)