section7mfu | "Ruminations" for the Short Affair Challenge.

Challenge: Short Affair

-Prompt Word 2 – Shy

-Prompt Colour – Orange

Author: mrua7

Title: “Ruminations”

Word Count: Approximately 579

They sat together in the sand dunes, both having taken off their shoes and socks, removed their suit jackets and loosened their ties.

It was finally over but the wake of this last assignment had taken much out of them, and this time the physicality seemed like just too much.

Napoleon was anything but shy about voicing that fact, but he supposed that Illya being a bit more athletic might not be feeling the same as he.

The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon as tints of orange and yellow began to dissolve the night sky.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m really beat tovarisch.”

There was no response. “Tov..” he stopped himself upon realizing that Illya was sound asleep.

He was sitting up, his legs outstretched and leaning back upon his hands...how he was staying upright was beyond Napoleon’s comprehension. Then again the Russian could pretty much fall asleep anytime and anywhere. In a way he envied his partner having the ability to do that.

Maybe Illya was making up for lost sleep as there was many’s the night he would cry out in his sleep, usually in Russian, after which he would wake up in a cold sweat.

When asked what was wrong he would just wave it off as being fine and would roll over, saying nothing more.

Napoleon had a fair vocabulary when it came to Russian and the words that he could make out seemed to be related to Illya’s family, who Solo knew were dead, but there was something more, something horrible.

He once had a look at his partner's private file kept by Waverly when the Old Man was out with a bad cold; that left Napoleon in charge and he wasn't one to not take advantage of an opportunity.

He found out that during the war Illya had been in a Nazi concentration camp as a child in the Ukraine; that could be the ‘something horrible’ haunting Kuryakin’s dreams. He could only imagine what Illya had seen and experienced. His partner had yet to tell him about those years, as well as other secrets Napoleon suspected were lurking in his head and apparently there were a lot of them. Illya might share them one day, but then again he might not.

It didn’t matter to Napoleon as all he knew was that he could trust his partner implicity. Illya had his back, secrets or no secrets.

Suddenly the Russian snorted, coming to life again. “Did you say something? I must have nodded off as I am very tired. This mission was quite taxing.”

Napoleon merely smiled.

“I am hungry, perhaps we can find a diner somewhere?” Illya asked.

That made Solo laugh. His partner with all his secrets was still predictable in so many ways.

“What is so funny?” Illya asked.

“Nothing,” Napoleon hiked himself up, offering his hand and helping Illya to stand.

“Why are you being evasive my friend. First you look at me with a smile, and then you laugh. What is going on in that head of yours?”

“I just realized that I was hungry as well,” Napoleon lied. ”Great minds think alike.”

Illya shrugged.

They brushed the sand from their clothes and headed up from the beach to their car, there they put on their socks and shoes. Slipping into the silver Impala, they went in search of sustenance and perhaps some overdue conversation...

"Ruminations" for the Short Affair Challenge.

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