"Fuck." The villain cursed once lying in a huge dumpster full of trash bags that all compressed him. He ended up in this situation after sliding off of a rooftop and miserably landing in some dirty alleyway.

His only luck in this being that he didn't crash into concrete. Instead, the bins 'cushioned' his landing.
Despite this, Hawk Moth wasn't the happiest.

Quite the contrary; he was disgusted.

"Ewww" the man spat "this is humiliating!"

Indeed it was.
Being covered in garbage, frustrated and trying to run back to a woman he didn't even know.

It was humiliating for Hawk Moth.
He was lost.

-

All while this was happening Nathalie and Duusu had gathered their stuff in their suitcases and now were heading towards 'the friend's house'.

The assistant driving while her kwami sat all by herself on the passenger seat.

It was quite scary for Duusu, however, since she had experienced her owner driving carelessly many times, she knew just how to stay safe. On the other hand, what the little creature didn't know was who this 'friend' of her owner might be.

Nathalie and Mayura had quite a vast number of acquaintances, but she all referred to them as 'friends'.

There were no clear distinctions between any of them, because of this; Duusu had created her own smart was of trying to sort the different 'friends' into different groups.

Some were absolute creeps; only interested in Mayura as she had something extraordinary to offer.
Though at least they paid her.
That was their only use.

The other friends were the people whom Nathalie would occasionally call instead of her family when times got rough. They were essentially her drugs to keep her alive.
Those friends helped Nathalie more than her real family ever has, and she appreciated them dearly too.
Without them, she couldn't live.

Then, the last type of friend; was Hawk Moth.

That man in Duusu's mind had his own category.

He evoked feeling in both Mayura and Nathalie.
He had such an influence over the woman that it was stronger than anyone else's impact.

Of course, the kwami knew all this as she could sense her owner's feelings most of the time. So, despite Nathalie wanting to bottle up her emotions about that 'idiot of a man', Duusu knew it all.

Even now she sensed the deep regret the assistant felt;
She didn't intend to leave her partner with bad terms between them. In fact, part of her wanted to go back.
She thought of apologizing, but that typical stubbornness held her back.

Just like Hawk Moth;
Their stubbornness always won.

"Miss." Duusu suddenly broke the silence.
"Where are we going now?"

"To a friend's place!" Her owner spat harshly. She wasn't looking very happy.

Nathalie's eyes focused on the road, yet her hands still shaking while controlling the steering wheel, and her eyes almost tearing up.

She could barely make herself audible, but she tried to stay strict;
"I told you this already!" Her voice broke in an instant.

"Y-yes b-but-"

"It's Jean's apartment damn it if you're so curious!"

"Jean's? As in the-"

"Audrey's butler." Nathalie sighed defeatedly.
"The funny looking man, that's what you call him. The one who you said has an outrageous suit."

"Well-"

"It isn't that bad!"

"Miss Nathalie." Duusu rolled her eyes. "He isn't as good as you think he is."

"He is fine!" The woman argued, and indeed, Jean was a sweet soul who looked out for Nathalie, however, he wasn't in her life significantly. Not as significantly as Hawk Moth.

Not anymore, at least.

Jean was only precious to Nath when she was desperate for either comfort, an escape, or occasionally a small amount of money to pay off debts.

Their relationship didn't go further than that.

Not anymore, at least.

"He is very kind to me." She went on "Kinder than most men-"

"-Had better." The kwami cut her off "We both know."

"Duusu! Shut up!" Nathalie exclaimed "He is the only one nice enough to let us stay for the night."

"We could've slept at home."

"No!" The assistant shouted fed up "We're escaping!"

Nathalie's little kwami once again rolled her eyes and now crossed her arms in an angry manner.

She couldn't believe her owner.
The woman was being way too persistent and it wasn't the best look for Nath.

"We aren't truly doing 'that' are we Miss?" Duusu whispered with disgust "You want more, don't you?"

"Excuse me?!" The assistant gasped "I don't know where you're going with 'that', but I've been planning this escape for years now! I don't want 'more'!" She spat. "I only want to get away."

"I'm not talking about the escape. I'm talking about the funny looking man with his outrageous suit!"

"I-..." Nathalie went quiet for a moment "...no!" She wanted to shout back, but her voice was the exact opposite. It became weaker every time she tried to prove her point.
Therefore she couldn't.

"Miss Nathalie-"

"Duusu I-I just-...I need to say bye to him before I leave forever. H-he-..."

"Please don't say it."

"He is special to me." She sighed. "That's the truth." Nathalie felt guilty with every word she said. Admitting to such a thing wasn't easy, and it pained her too, but Nathalie couldn't lie.
She had feelings towards the 'funny looking man'.
Though they weren't filled with passion, they were only feelings longing for something nostalgic. Him.

The assistant simply would've liked to reminisce about what they once had;

~A while ago~

When Gabriel and Audrey began making themselves a name in the fashion industry the two often met, therefore the two assistants met.
Jean being one and Nathalie the other assistant.

Needless to say that bonding over their similar interests and 'stuff' immediately brought the two closer. Much closer.

Outside of work they'd meet too...
...It developed until the point where Jean and Nathalie invested in buying a shared apartment which was super ideal for the both.

From that point on the two didn't need to state 'they were dating', it became crystal clear to anyone and everyone.

The two were as in love as one could be. Inseparable.
Their relationship seemed to be almost unbreakable.
Almost.

Unfortunately the flame of their love wasn't eternal, so as time followed its course their love lost its sharpness.
Their similarities, the common interests, they all became boring, ordinary things.
Nothing they could talk about for hours.
Nothing to light a spark between them.

The burning passion became dull and neither of them felt as they did before.

Because of this; in a month time Jean ended up moving away to live at Audrey's hotel, leaving Nathalie all by herself.
His goodbye back then didn't make her feel a thing, but now it hurt like a bitch.

Now it pinched the assistant to the point where tears began to form in her eyes.

She missed him.
She missed the past.

Regardless of having Hawk Moth as a new love interest, Nathalie couldn't get her mind off of 'the funny looking man'.

After all, she had a tendency to go back to where there was nothing left from before.

However, as much as the assistant's feelings were true, her kwami shook her head furiously in disapproval;

"No." Duusu groaned in annoyance "That is not it!" The little creature cried, punching her seat with her tiny hands; all while yelling:
"You're not feeling the emotions of love, you're simply desperate!"

"Pardon?!"

"He is a distraction to you!" The kwami cried "Not a soulmate. I know it! I can feel it."

"Duusu enough!" Nathalie couldn't accept hearing what she didn't want to.
"I know what he means to me better than you would!" She shouted while aggressively pulling the steering wheel to the side where the car almost drifted totally off of the road and onto the sidewalk.
"Plus don't get involved in my love life!"

"I am only trying to help."

"And I'm only trying to say goodbye to Jean!"

-

While Nathalie was having the argument of her life with a floating peacock, her boss ended up altering his plan a little;

Instead of running back to Mayura's, he changed his route to get home first. Like that he could aid himself with a shower and a couple of bandages which he desperately needed after that deep dive in the dirty dumpsters.

So now; the designer was standing right in front of the big iron gates, without a key, all while completely covered in whatever nasty liquid spilled over his clothing from the dumpster.

He sighed.
"This just simply can't get better."

To be continued-

Funnily enough I wrote this chapter wayyy before the "Adoration" episode was out so I didn't only put Jean in the book because he showed up in the latest episode.
I had this planned out for over a year now lol. This was just a funny coincidence.
(Also ignore that his name isn't actually Jean, it will work out in the future chapters!)
Anyways;
I'm not so happy with how this chapter has been written, but I'm not sure how to fix it.
Sorry, next time it'll be better.