Fic: The Flashpoint of Ice

[myrebelcat]

Title: The Flashpoint of Ice
Author/Artist: Rebelcat
Pairing: None, sorry!
Warning: Honest to God, I don't have a foot fetish! While I'm sure Napoleon has lovely toes, I have no idea how his feet came to play such a significant part in my last three stories.
Feedback: Yes, please!
Archive: Sure!
Beta: Thanks go to EH for the inspiration

Comments

[azdak]

Honest to God, I don't have a foot fetish!

Yeah, right! You don't seem to have noticed that this story not only gives us toes, it gives us IK's adorable instep too! In fact, feet feature prominently all the way through, right up to the penultimate paragraph. It's all shockingly kinky.

Anyway, on to the story! This is great. I love the way Napoleon's doubts are introduced, witht hat almost throwaway reference to the questionable file, and then the moment when we realise it's Illya he's not sure about (the picture of him kneeling in the dust, taking time out from worrying about getting shot to worrying about whether Illya is a mole is both really funny and entirely convincing). And then the series of revlations. Cutter drives an Aston Martin! What a James Bond wannabe! Illya blew it up! Illya blew up the igloo!

Going off on a total tangent, I really liked the line The birds quieted as the insect night shift took over, that set the scene so beautifully and with such economy. And (one non sequitur deserves another) I really liked

[myrebelcat]

Only a Real Man is so completely comfortable in his masculinity that he can get a pedicure. And do all those interesting little finger-gesture things Napoleon does when he's going through doors, surrendering to enemies, placing explosives, etc. And only a Real Man would hand the girl a napkin to wipe the cake icing off her arm, before he'd consider grabbing her hand and skedaddling away from the bad guys. ;-)

Plus, you know he loves it when the pretty girls do his pedicure. Oh damn, another foot-fetish-y bunny just tiptoed past. Wouldn't that be a terrific time for Thrush to spring a trap? While he's all relaxed and barefoot and not expecting a trap? Hmmm.

So... Does Mr. Solo get his hair straightened? I thought he just relied on a Brylcreem and frequent use of a pocket comb. (I love the scene in Waverly's office, where he's fixing his hair while Waverly and Illya are waiting for him at the table.)

Thanks for the feedback! I'm so glad you liked my story!

[azdak]

Only a Real Man is so completely comfortable in his masculinity that he can get a pedicure.

Heh, you may have a point. Still, I can just imagine Illya's face when Napoleon tells him he can give him the name of a great pedicurist. And then offers him a slice of quiche.

I love the scene in Waverly's office, where he's fixing his hair while Waverly and Illya are waiting for him at the table.

LOL! Which ep is that in? I don't remember it at all!

[myrebelcat]

Ack! Which episode? There's so many! I'm pretty sure it's first season, because I've just finished watching all of that. But, otherwise...? Hm. Well, EH should be up in a few hours. I'll ask her when she wakes up!

[ashley_pitt]

Ticklish Illya.
Domestic Napoleon.

Great story. I loved it.

[myrebelcat]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. :-)

[st_crispins]

Very nice. Illya does seem to have a penchant for blowing up things, doesn't he? I always liked the joy he expressed in Nowhere Aff after he blew up the installation (the somesault he does was fun too).

One thing about the pedicures: this is the late 50s-early 60s. People didn't get a lot of pedicures, not even women. Seriously, it just wasn't done, and certainly not among men, straight, gay or inbetween.

Maybe *really* rich people ---but manicures were even a big deal (they didn't have separate salons and most beauty salons didn't have them, at least on the East Coast. Can't speak for California) and regular women didn't get those either. That's why the manicurist in Zombie was kind of unusual.

[myrebelcat]

Bah, I don't believe it - this is New York City! They had all sorts of perversions going on there.

I'd contemplate changing it, but I know darn well that Napoleon Solo learned to take very good care of his feet in Korea. And you just have to look at his hands to know that he gets manicures, even if he has to do them himself. And I can't imagine he'd *ever* pass up on a chance to get some lovely young lady to do it for him.

Thanks for the feedback! :-) I'm glad you enjoyed Illya's joy.

Rebel (feeling quite shockingly rebellious at the moment... EH blames it on the foot fetish)

[st_crispins]

They had all sorts of perversions going on there.

Oh no! Not in the 60s! It was a completely innocent time [sarcasm].

I will buy the manicures but that's as far as I'll go :)

[azdak]

I can't imagine he'd *ever* pass up on a chance to get some lovely young lady to do it for him.

Maybe not, be we know we're in slashy fantasy territory when he starts day-dreaming about taking Illya for a pedicure. ::giggle:: I'm sure there's a plot bunny lurking in there somewhere.

[princessivye]

Illya shuddered. “Jules Cutter is a madman.”

Oh, I'd love to hear Cutter candidly sharing his opinion of Illya in the light of this car "accident"!
And I love Illya's practical and ideological objections to Cutter's car.

But then, I love the whole story, with Napoleon's awareness progressing at different speeds on different tracks and, most of all, I love the title.

[azdak]

I really liked that bit too. There's so much potential backstory packed into that one phrase. Besides, I always like it when Illya agrees with me.

[myrebelcat]

Thanks! :-) I'm very intrigued by Cutter - I'm thinking he's likely to make his way into more of my stories. Better him than Napoleon's feet, anyway!

And the title fell into place the way titles never ever do for me. Usually I flounder around helplessly trying to come up with something. In a way I was almost reluctant to use it for this story - with a title like this, I want to use it on something substantial, like a novella.

I'm glad you liked my story!

[aneuhaus]

This was so much fun to read. You have Napoleon down so well. Who else would be concerned about pedicures when lost in the midst of a swamp, with wet shoes and socks, and a partner with a bullet hole in his back? And he stopped to comb his hair! Great story.

[myrebelcat]

Squee! You actually didn't mind the pedicures! Yay, yayayay! I reluctantly concede that it's likely to be an anachronism, but I just couldn't bring myself to go and change the story. Now I feel a lot less guilty about leaving it in.

I really love the way Napoleon is so gorgeously masculine - and yet strangely prissy at the same time. He's a man who likes his comforts. A very, very modern man. Sort of the proto-metrosexual, but more macho than that. He likes what he likes, and his self-confidence is so rock solid it's bordering on insanity.

At some point I want to go through the seasons and count the number of times Napoleon stops to comb his hair in each episode. ;-)

Thank you for the kind feedback!

[aneuhaus]

Sort of the proto-metrosexual

Spot on, my dear, spot on!