Fandom: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Category: gen

Rating: G

Word Count: 265

Notes: Written for the LiveJournal group MFUWSS December 2009 Challenge #17 – “snowman”

 

He knew that Napoleon thought he was insane, but Illya liked to walk through the streets of New York in the heart of winter. He loved the smell of the air, scrubbed clean with crystals of ice carried on a brisk draft of arctic wind. It almost tasted like home.

It was a good snow. The adults had retreated and the children were taking over the city. He walked down to the park and watched them pushing and towing one another around on sleds, or throwing snowballs in powdery harmless puffs, their peals of laughter hanging forever in the frigid air.

He paused to watch three children trying to get a huge ball of snow stacked onto another, larger one that they had rolled together. They had made it too big and could not lift it.

Tugging his gloves over the cuffs of his sleeves, he added his effort to the project.

It was not like Illya to waste food, but the carrot he had left over from lunch looked perfect as a nose. He would have donated some buttons, too, for the eyes — but he couldn’t remember if they were the exploding kind or not.

He stepped back and let the children finish dressing their snowman. He had stepped into their world briefly, but now it was time to go. He shrugged the flakes off of his coat and turned away.

A snowball struck his shoulder, exploding lightly against the dark fabric. He turned suddenly and the children scattered, giggling.

Illya smiled. Maybe just a little while longer… he gathered a handful of snow.