Written for today’s short affair prompt at Section VII

Summary: In which Napoleon and Illya, undercover, find a murder mystery on their hands

Notes:
There are two versions of this piece.  This is the light slash
version.  There is a gen version on my
dreamwidth if you’d prefer reading that.
The two blurbs are around 95% similar.

Not cross-posting this as I’ll be expanding this in the future.

Illya looked around nervously as he wandered into the old
mansion’s lounge.  The party had been
cleared out hours ago on account of the events of that night—events that had
left everyone shaken and suspicious.
Even Napoleon and Illya, no strangers to the dark side of humanity and
all that could emerge from that darkness, had also been visibly shaken.  However, as they were both undercover as men
who were total strangers to each other, it meant meeting here, in the dark of
night, without the eyes of others upon them—something that they needed to make
sure of, especially since one of those pairs of eyes belong to a poisoner, who
was still among them.

Illya hid behind the shadows of a dark blue upholstered
armchair as he heard footsteps approach.
The footsteps stopped a few feet from Illya for a moment, and them
approached the armchair.

Illya tensed; he wasn’t sure if it was Napoleon or not, so
he lunged, trying to get a grip on the other person’s arms, but he, too, found
his arms gripped.  Just then, a bolt of
lightning briefly illuminated the room—and the two men saw just who they were
grappling with.

“Illya…?” Napoleon asked.

Illya breathed a sigh of relief, now hugging him.

“Napoleon…” he sighed.
“Forgive me; I have an unusual case of nerves, and it is not like me at
all…”

“I know, I know,” Napoleon sighed, hugging him back.  “I think what happened earlier has a lot to
do with it.”  He was shaking slightly,
but he stopped himself to gather his mettle.
“It’s my fault, of course.”

“What do you mean?” Illya asked.

“I just wasn’t as vigilant as I should have been,” Napoleon
said.  It was a sobering, horrible
moment—recalling how their informant, who had been in the middle of a
conversation with Napoleon, had suddenly reacted severely to something and had
died.  Illya had been able to sense the
work of a powerful neurotoxin—but neither of them could explain how it had been
administered to the victim, despite Napoleon or Illya being nearby the entire
time.  Mr. Waverly had not been pleased,
and had ordered them to find out what had happened, and if THRUSH had played a
role in the poisoning.  “How else could a
poisoner manage to strike right under my nose?”

“Our noses,”
Illya corrected.  “I am as much to
blame.  If I had better equipment, I
could have found out exactly what the victim had been poisoned by.”

“There’s more that worries me,” Napoleon said.  “Is the poisoner done, or will he strike
again—and who will be next?  One of the
other guests?  …Or one of us?”

“Why would the poisoner go after one of us?  We have never met these people before
tonight,” Illya pointed out.

“I was right there with the victim when he started reacting
to the poison—I’m a loose end,” Napoleon said.
“And they know you as a medical examiner; whether or not they know that
you’ve looked at the body, they’ll expect you to have attempted to autopsy the
body—they won’t want the poison being revealed.
They have reason to get rid of both of us—doubly so if THRUSH was
involved and recognized us.”

Illya tightened his hug.

“I will not let them get you, Napoleon,” he vowed.  “I don’t care who did it or how; I will now
allow that fate to befall you.”

“I believe that,” Napoleon whispered.

He truly did, too—he could feel the furious fire in Illya,
radiating through him.  When Illya was
determined, he was unstoppable.

“I will protect you,” Illya vowed.  “You can count on that.”

“I know,” Napoleon said.
“And just know that you can count on me, too.”

He wasn’t sure how the poisoner had gotten past him
before—but whoever it was would not do so again.

Together, they would find and stop the one responsible for
this.  Neither of them had any doubt
about that.

Illya, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins, now
leaned forward and kissed Napoleon.
Napoleon hesitated, but kissed him back, gently at first, but then more
and more passionately.

A moment later, they both fell over onto the armchair,
which sunk under their weight as they carried on.

They had their love to protect each other.

Summary: In which Napoleon and Illya spend the night in the forest–and Napoleon’s choice of clothing could have been better…

Notes:
This is light slash.

Not cross-posting this as I might be expanding this in the future.

Napoleon shivered slightly as a steady breeze creeped
through the trees; he edged closer to the campfire—and to his partner, who was tending
to the fire.  Illya’s response was to
give him a long look.

“You knew we would be spending time in the forest on this
mission.”

“Yeah, I knew,” Napoleon said.  “We were told we’d have to reach the outpost
on foot to avoid being tracked by THRUSH.”

“…When why, for pity’s sake, are you wearing a suit?” Illya
asked.

“…Ah.”

Napoleon took a gander at himself; his choice of clothing
would have been perfect for a number of locations, but the forest was decidedly
not one of them.  Illya, on the other
hand, was in his favorite black turtleneck and perfectly fine in the night
breeze.

“Well, er… I guess I underestimated just how much of the
trip would occur in the forest as opposed to classier travel conditions.”

Illya merely shook his head.

“Well, at least you did not bring silk pajamas…” he began,
but then he paused.  “…You didn’t bring
the silk pajamas, did you…?”

“…I only have silk pajamas, Illya!  Every set I own–”

Illya now facepalmed.

“Very well, now I know what to get you for your next
birthday,” Illya said, simply.  “Well,
you are fortunate that I love you.  Come
here.”

Napoleon sat next to Illya, who graciously wrapped his arms
around him.  Napoleon sighed contentedly
and also wrapped his arms around Illya.

“That’s much better,” Napoleon said.

“Da, and with the
meal you have generously provided us with in spite of these harsh
conditions…”  Illya indicated the fish
roasting above the fire.  “We will eat
well tonight.  I must thank you.”

“I hope you aren’t keeping me warm only because I provided
you dinner.”

Illya scoffed.

“Of course not—no more than you provided me dinner with the
expectation of my keeping you warm.”

Napoleon smiled and tightened his hug.

“You’re adorable, you know that?”

“So you have told me,” Illya mused.  “You are pretty adorable yourself.”

Napoleon’s grin widened.

“You know, it’s interesting, isn’t it?” he asked.  “I’ve been used to the good life my entire
life.  And yet, here I am in the middle
of nowhere, in this cold, windy forest, and it doesn’t matter at all just
because you’re with me.”

“I must admit, I have always been amazed at how easily you
can forego luxuries when I am with you,” Illya replied.  “Not very many can adjust so well—I have seen
it when I was in the navy.  These harsh
conditions aren’t easy, and yet, it seems that you fit right in…”  He arched an eyebrow at Napoleon’s suit.  “…Almost.”

“…You’re not letting me forget this, are you?”

“Not at all,” Illya teased, kissing him on the nose, and
then breaking into giggles that led Napoleon into giggles, as well.

“I do love you,” Illya said.  “And it pleases me to know that my presence
alone can keep you happy, even out here in the wild.”

Napoleon responded by nuzzling Illya’s face with his own.

“You can say that again,” Napoleon said.  “Illya, everything I have—that cozy
apartment, all my luxurious furniture, and even all the money in my bank
account…. I’d give it all away in a heartbeat if the choice was between the
good life and you.”

“Really, Napoleon?”

“Really,” Napoleon replied.
“Because how could it be a good life without you?”

“…I would accuse you of trying to flatter me, except I know
you are sincere,” Illya said, nuzzling back.
“And, also, that I, too, would give up anything to be with you, so I
know it’s true.”

Illya also tightened his hold around Napoleon now, the
night air no longer able to chill them as they kept each other warm.

They had each other.
And it was all that they needed.