This is sad. Poor Illya

That last statement is a brilliant definition on how giving favours should work.

This makes perfect sense to me. Back in school, there was a little snack shop run by the art teacher. Pretty much everything cost a dollar. I can't tell you how many people over the course of my time there asked to 'borrow' a little cash. Not once did I get it back. But then I made friends with a nice fellow in my advisory class. For a few months we would hang out during lunch and talk. One day, we walked by the little snack shop and he looked wistfully at the sweets so I just handed him a dollar, figuring on never seeing it again. Well, the next day, he brought me a cupcake. He'd made it himself and throughout our friendship after that it didn't matter who paid for what, in the end it just balanced out somehow. I really, really like your story here. I not only shows how special Napoleon is in his treatment of Illya, but also how Illya changed through his life and some of the factors that shaped him.

I really like how you outlined their relationship and I completely agree. You made Illya seem totally comfortable around Napoleon and I loved that, because it's so in tune with his character. Thanks for writing!

I simply loved this! It really stood out that Napoleon's savvy and intuitively empathetic personality led him to sense just the right way to show Kuryakin consideration and put him at ease from the first. After all his experiences with money being a tool for getting used by people, Napoleon had to be a breath of fresh air. Being frugal by nature and experience, Illya is bound to keep his wages closely monitored, which Napoleon has come to expect. The great thing is, even though their outlooks differ, Napoleon has earned Illya's trust as a friend: what is given will be returned, without strings attached. Please do keep writing these marvelously awesome stories!