SNAPSHOTS~"A penny for your thoughts"

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Napoleon Solo stood at the hotel window looking down at the view of the Paris street.  It was just passed dawn and he was still dressed only in a pair of dark blue silk pajama bottoms.

The room was modern and relatively spartan compared to other hotels he’d stayed at while in the city of love, but that was immaterial...he wasn’t there to be impressed, nor for the view, per se.

A pair of feminine hands slipped around his waist from behind him and he smiled.

“Good morning, sleep well?”

“Good morning to you darling,” Angelique purred, “And yes I slept well for... maybe two hours. Napoleon, I must say, your staying power is mind boggling.”

He said nothing, and continued to gaze out the window.

“What is it you Americans say...hmm, you have so many of those colloquialisms. Ah, yes I remember now...penny for your thoughts?”

He sighed. “Don’t you ever wonder what it would be like to lead a normal life?”

“Napoleon, what is normal?”

“You know, a regular job, nights and weekends to yourself.” He turned wrapping his arms around her, clasping his hands together behind her back.

Her platinum blonde hair was slightly disheveled and she brushed it out of her eyes with her fingers.

“That sounds so dreadfully boring. Who would want that?”

“Sometimes I feel like I do,” he whispered to her, planting a soft kiss at the base of her throat.

“Think about it, if you had such a life, you wouldn’t have met me. Am I not at least worth it, don’t I give you a thrill?”

He paused in his nibbling, thinking that over before he answered her.

“You better say yes Napoleon Solo or I just might have to finally kill you.”

“Angelique, you are as always...thrilling as ever.” He drove his lips onto hers, silencing whatever she might have planned to say, though she let her body give her answer.

Their rendezvous was at last over, and Napoleon saw Angelique downstairs to a waiting taxi; out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his partner trying to look inconspicuous while reading a newspaper as he stood by on the corner sidewalk. Angelique didn't miss a beat, eying Kuryakin as well.

"Must that insipid Russian of yours always do that."

Napoleon shrugged, giving her a gentle peck on the cheek before closing the car door and bidding her adieu.

“Oh, real subtle,” Napoleon called out to him once the cab pulled away.

“Subtley was not my intention,” Illya smiled, lowering the paper. “I wanted her to see me, and know I was here covering your back as always. I will never understand how you can sleep with that woman Napoleon, as she would surely kill you in an instant if it suited her purposes.”

“Your problem tovarisch is that you stick to the rules and don’t take chances once in awhile. There is a little thrill in taking a risk you know.”

Illya winked at him. “You have your way of doing things and I have mine, but my way keeps you from falling off a cliff.”

“I suppose,”Napoleon smiled,” but your way seems to require me rescuing you a lot.” He gave a loud whistle for a cab to pick them up.

At first the Russian had no answer to his partner’s statement, and looked rather contemplative as the two of them stepped into their taxi
.

“Hmm, a penny for your thoughts chum,” Solo repeated Angeliques question.

“You are the more adventurous one, and ever the optimist...you take risks and you simply shrug off the consequences because you think everything will always be fine. Being your partner, I find it necessary to get you out of these precarious situations, which in turn gets me into trouble.”

Napoleon blushed. Illya was right, if he didn’t take risks, that would keep his partner...well, from jumping in front of him to take a bullet perhaps?

“You’re right tovarisch, but as much as I’d like to say I’ll mend my ways, you know I won’t.” Napoleon smiled. “ I am what I am.”

Illya returned the grin, “And that is exactly why I was waiting on the street corner today...”