Orienteering for Dummies by epicycles (PG)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Fandom: MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kurkyakin
Length: ~1600 words
Author on LJ: epicycles
Author Website: Fairly complete fic list
Why this must be read:

This story shimmers with affection: the author's affection for Napoleon and Illya, and Napoleon and Illya's affection for each other. Well, once you get past Illya's pre-emptive grumpiness that is and Napoleon devious plotting, you'll find they're really very fond of each other.

We join the two as Illya uses his compass and maps to find a path out of the wilderness where their plane crashed, while Napoleon makes use of his natural guile to plot a path to a slightly different goal... Clever and funny, but tapping a vein of real feeling, Orienteering for Dummies is exactly what you want to read. Now. Really, right now.

He was so patient, he was a stone. They folded the maps, gathered what supplies they could salvage from the remains of the aircraft, and headed for the river, all in silence.

He even waited while they walked a mile downstream to find the easiest crossing point. He waited until Illya was ankle-deep in freezing water before broaching the subject again; timing, after all, was everything.

"So, Illya."

"No."

Orienteering for Dummies