In an attempt to calm the 'passionate feelings' of the peacock, Hawk Moth had offered to keep Mayura company.
Despite their very chaotic situation just a few moments ago where they argued, then made up for it before starting another breakdown, the man now wanted to comfort his partner, and hopefully make her troubles disappear.

Well, at least the ones which could be solved easily.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking down lovingly at the the woman who's face was hidden under Hawk Moth's arm.

The woman's head resting in his lap, her arms secured around his waist while one of Gabriel's arms laid on top of her body which stretched across the couch.

With a quick glimpse Mayura's eyes met his, her face blushing, he could clearly see, but her eyes sparkled too mesmerizingly for the man to worry about her obvious crush on him.

"Better?" He asked again and she nodded:

"A bit."

"I see. Is there something else I could do to help?"

"Well." Mayura's arms tightened around his waist as she pulled herself closer to him "Stay." Her lips curled into a smile "For a little longer."

The man's eyes widened and his cheeks blushed just like his partner's.
Not even his 'helmet' could hide how flustered he felt while the woman's hands softly drew patterns on his back, impatiently waiting for a response.

It felt so nostalgic.
He has felt this before.
Except in a little less awkward of a costume, actually, in barely any costume at all considering the fact he wasn't wearing anything in the moment which he reminisced about.

It was only Emilie's soft hands, soothingly doodling a few unguessable figures on his back, all while staring up into his eyes, precisely how Mayura looked now.

Gabriel smiled without noticing as he thought of her. The woman who he was doing this all for.
His love.

"Oh what? You're ticklish?" He could almost hear her voice laugh.

"N-no. I-I- j-j-just-"

"You're definitely ticklish!"

The designer chuckled to himself now;
"Maybe I am ticklish."

Thinking back he should've probably admitted this to his Emilie while he could have had the chance because instead he simply made her believe it was the lack of clothes which caused him to feel cold and shiver all of a sudden.
Except, that was a lie.
It was her, her hands, her adorable stare, and every single feeling she made him feel that night which caused Gabriel to shiver at her sweet touch.

"Oh Emi-"

"Excuse me?" Mayura's confused voice brought him back. "What did you said?"

"I-...uhm-" Hawk Moth stuttered, still feeling the woman's nails moving around in circles, endlessly.

"Yes?" Her voice innocently asked. 

"I g-guess I can stay a little longer." He awkwardly readjusted his position on the couch. Lifting his hands off of her for a moment, before placing them back and watching her whole face smile in unity.
However, as much as this soothed his broken heart, the man tried to ignore it with a shake of his head.
"I'll stay only a little bit." He repeated.

"A little?" She weeped.

"Mayura" the man sighed with tender frustration.
He couldn't have felt fully angry with her, yet slight bitterness did get evoked in him by the woman's overly ambitious behavior. Especially since it very much complicated his plan to 'not care'.

She was becoming irresistible, and he was getting tempted.

Then again, another head shake to make those thoughts perish.
"You surely wouldn't want me to spend the night!" Hawk Moth mumbled with a deep breath in, and after; he cleared his throat.

Meanwhile, the woman stayed quiet.
It was a statement after all, not a question. Except Hawk Moth would've still liked for her to reply.

"Mayura?"

She looked at him with her eyes in which the tears began to swell together.

"May I didn't-"

"Don't leave me." The woman buried her face away in his suit. "Stay!" She mumbled against him.

Gabriel took in another deep breath to block whatever thought would've made him reach out for her stronger and pull the woman close.

He didn't want to break her heart, he didn't want to break his either.

Quite the contrary, he would've enjoyed to spent a few more moments with the lady on his lap.
However, being aware of her obvious determination to gain more than just friendship out of their relationship began to truly pierce the man's heart.

He had to resist the trap.

"May, I-I-I can't! I cannot!" Hawk Moth said with a strong voice "I have a family." He stated, thinking of Adrien and Emilie.
He couldn't betray them.
"I have a home where I must return!"

"B-but-"

"T-this shouldn't be happening anyway!"
With the help of a swift movement; Hawk Moth managed to tear her hands away from around himself and stand up.

He aided himself to a safe space by staying as far away as possible from where Mayura was positioned on the couch.

"W-we are partners in crime" he spat, trying to not lose the strength in his voice, but as the woman's eyes shined so sinless, Gabriel couldn't. "We are n-not in love!" His tone faded into an unsure murmur.

Mayura even questioned once witnessing the drop in her 'partner's' stare;
"What? What do you mean?-"

"Well you clearly think that we are more than that! T-that we are more than f-friends! Or could be more. But I've told you a thousand times; I have a wife!"

"Hawky what are you on about?" The sudden innocence of her voice bothered Gabriel.
"I never denied or forgot that you are married. I haven't even said anything bad of it!"
Her quiet arguing further fueled the sour hatred of his.
"You're being delusional right now!"

That was the final straw.

"Delusional?" he laughed "The only one delusional here is you for thinking you could have me for the night and for ever considering that we would be more than friends!"

"I-"

"Now goodbye!"
The man gave one last disgusted look to his partner before lifting open the window aggressively, and jumping far away.

He was gone faster than he came.
Faster than anything to be honest.

Even Mayura, slowly turning into Nathalie had been left speechless with his unexplainable escape.

The only thing she could whisper were the de-transformation words alongside:

"Fuck" she sighed. "Duusu fall my feathers."

The woman didn't know what to think.
At that point Nathalie felt completely lost.

Her heart hurt, as if he would've been someone in her life for years now, but he wasn't.

He should've been her enemy, yet as hard as the assistant tried, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.
She could only be annoyed at the stubbornness of that man, his passionate dedication to get back the woman he loved so much.

If only she could've been 'her'.
His 'her'.

With a deep, painful sigh Nathalie distracted herself.

The woman looked beside herself where she spotted her tiny friend wizzing in the air.

"What was that all about Miss?" The little kwami buzzed around with confusion.
"Did you and Mr Moth have an argument?"

"Argument?" Nathalie scoffed "To put it lightly, I suppose."

"Oh no!"

"It's alright Duusu, let's forget about it. Okay?"

"But-" the tiny creature was about to throw a few more questions into the conversation.
Except she got cut off.

"-Okay?" This time raising her voice the dark haired woman repeated.
Now she was as well staring at her kwami in an intimidating way, not allowing anything but a 'yes ma'am' to leave Duusu's mouth.

"Yes ma'am." She said.

"Good." Nathalie murmured "It is for the better to forget about this idiot of a man and make our little plan come true!"

"You mean you want to escape Miss Nathalie?"

"Yes Duusu!" The assistant all of a sudden exclaimed proudly. Letting her frustration lead her mind.
"I must change the way I'm living." She spat "For a better life!" She sounded sure, but her expression, the tears waiting to escape her eyes, her face of discomfort, they all said otherwise.

"Miss Nathalie are you su-"

"Pack your miniature bag!" She shouted, not letting Duusu speak at all.
"We're going to a friend's for the night."

-

In the meantime Hawk Moth was furiously jumping his way home.

The further he got the fiercer his mind grew.

The man almost lost his balance due to losing focus on himself as well as slipping on the wet tiles of the roof.
Everything under his feet only got increasingly challenging to jump on as the storm's rage hadn't calmed down.

"Ugh" the designer groaned in annoyance, he only had a few more corners before he'd arrive home.

However, unexpectedly something in Hawk Moth made him press his feet down and stop for a moment.

He swayed a bit to the left, then to the right,
trying to adjust himself onto a tile which wouldn't break under him. Then, after a short while, Gabriel's mind had stopped.

The man's anger and frustration which had all been building up to this point unexplainably perished, as if he would've never been mad in the first place. However, instead of anger, anxiety began to fill the designer's mind.

Suddenly, every possible worst case scenario of his dear Mayura running away crossed his mind. He remembered her promise to start a new life, leave everyone behind.
He remembered it all.

Hawk Moth could no longer even keep his balance, he began slipping and falling.

To be continued-