Against you

2

After putting the child to bed Nathalie made her way downstairs where Gabriel and his great expectations awaited her.

Of course this pressured her a lot because the assistant knew that her superior wanted to do something new...something apparently so great that could immediately make his dreams come true. But if things wouldn't work out or the designer's plan would fail then he'd make a fuss and probably take out his anger by yelling at the poor woman who wouldn't even want to be involved with this in the first place.
But knowing damn well that she couldn't do much to change what about to happen the assistant simply took a deep breath and then entered.

"Nathalie!" He greeted once the door opened and the young woman walked in "Could you help me tonight?"
"With the miraculous thing?"
"Yes! I thought of something."
"Oh great." She mumbled before stepping into the elevator and waiting until that thing took her to the desired destination, the attic, or in other words Hawk Moth's secret lair.

Now as they stepped out of the glass enclosure all of the butterflies there flew up creating a quite unique view.
Or at least the assistant thought so, because her boss just waved them away.

"Oh you bastards! Always making a scene!" He yelled which caused the assistant to giggle a little.
I mean who wouldn't find a middle aged man arguing with butterflies funny?
"What's so hilarious?" The designer asked in a bitter tone as he turned around to face the young woman who shyly responded.
"Well no offense sir but I found it quite entertaining how you got angry at these little creatures."
"Right, so I basically made a fool of myself." He sighed "just like always."
"No sir, I didn't mean it-"
"I know you didn't mean it like that! But still, aren't I a fool for chasing after some magic jewels?"
"Well-..." Nathalie thought for a second...maybe he was a bit sick for having such a strong desire to get his wife back but after all...true love pushed people over the edge a little "...you're not completely insane."
"I will be though, soon." Gabriel sighed hopelessly "Whatever, just give me your miraculous!"
"Pardon?"
"I want to do this thing where I unite Nooroo and Duusu to get more power."
"Oh, are you sure that this is not dangerous?"
"Well it is,...but that's why I'm doing it! So if I die then take care of Adrien! Oh and no going through my room!" He added with a whisper "I have some secrets too and it's best if they stay unknown."
"O-o-okay I wasn't planning to-"
"I know Nathalie, you wouldn't dare."
"Right."
She smiled awkwardly before giving her boss the peacock miraculous and also her best friend, Duusu.

The little kwami and her had grown quite close over the past few months and she explained everything to Nathalie about how she used to live with all of her tiny friends when times were good, but then a horrible accident happened which caused her and Nooroo to be separated from the rest.
And then the next thing they knew was that this tall creepy man wanted more and more power which they were not capable of giving.

These creatures could only grant a limited amount of magic, but for Gabriel that was never enough.

Just like every main villain in a story he wanted everyone under his feet.
He wanted world domination and much more...but with power came sacrifice.

And sadly the designer  learned this the hard way-

But now if he would be able to find the earrings of ladybug and the ring of the black cat then he could solve all of his mistakes and have a second chance at life.
But just like before the grey haired man didn't know that this also came with a sacrifice, and no matter what he wished for he would need to pay with something equal in return.

Anyways, Nathalie shook her head and focused back onto her boss who was now transforming.
He almost looked the same except that now he was even taller than Hawk Moth, plus there was this weird thing on his eye which seemed as if someone would've punched him, otherwise not much changed in the design of his costume.
It looked elegant but also scary, so it managed to capture his personality quite well.

"Wow!" Shadow Moth smirked "I'm looking quite nice, don't you agree Nathalie?"
"Yes definitely sir. Very fearful!"
"Mhm I like it! Anyways now I should try out my powers." He said before concentrating all of his thinking into creating a sentimonster but since this was the designer's first time using the peacock miraculous Gabriel had quite a few difficulties.

Eventually after a couple of fails he sighed disappointedly before turning to the young woman beside him.
"Can you help?" The grey haired man asked to which Nathalie widely smiled.
"Of course! Let me show you!"
And with that she grabbed his hands and held onto them firmly. "Imagine the sentimonster first. How will it look? How will it behave?"
"O-okay." He nervously replied whilst trying to think of anything other than how close she was or how warm her hands were.

But unfortunately enough for him the designer couldn't get the dark haired woman out of his mind. Instead his thoughts only got worse when Nathalie started speaking again:

"Good" she whispered feeling the sentimonster begin to form. "start shaping it with your hand. Like this!"
"Like this?"
"Yes, good job sir!"
"T-thanks..."
"No problem you're welcome."
The young woman smiled as she slowly let his hands slip out of her grip which allowed her boss to freely construct his sentimonster.

And he enjoyed this freedom very much, plus this way he wouldn't need to constantly worry about the agonizing pain he got whenever his assistant would get close.

But still; now a part of him missed her closeness and the pain especially. Weird!
Gabriel shook his head vigorously to the point where he almost got dizzy.
He surely didn't just fall in love with his employee...or did he?

To be continued-