"Audrey," she's surprised to hear the warmth in Gabriel's voice. It's something that she'd assumed was lost with Emilie. "You simply must hear my latest idea."
She turns and from the flush on his face her former protégé's been indulging himself. Not that she can blame him. Everything's been so awful for all of them recently.
Next to him is a dark haired woman wearing a dress that can only be a Gabriel original with a daring open back who's too old to be a model but seems vaguely familiar. Perhaps an actress. Maybe Gabriel has a type.
She reaches under the table to pick up, and recovers a tablet exposing the red streak in her hair, and she belatedly recognises her as Gabriel's little shadow who forgets her place.
"I have all the details here sir," the assistant, Nadia or something says.
Audrey rolls her eyes behind his sunglasses. Why Gabriel keeps her around after all of her mess-ups she doesn't know. Clearly he sees something in her that Audrey doesn't.
And indeed he looks at her rather than Audrey, "Thank you Nathalie, could you let Audrey have your chair?"
She nods, and Audrey moves to sit down, but one of her daughters' grabs her arm, "Mom. You can't make her stand."
Shaking off her hand, she snidely points out, "I'm not. Gabriel is."
What the issue is she doesn't understand until she notices the crutches the other woman's leaning on but really she shouldn't be here if she's not capable.
"I didn't mean," Gabriel readjusts this glasses, then reaches out to grab hold of his assistant's waist, "Nathalie come here."
Audrey isn't the only one staring as he guides the woman down onto his lap.
"Right then," he announces as if he hasn't just betrayed why he'd keep a woman who can barely walk by him, "As I was saying..."
A little shiver runs through Mayura at the touch of Papillon's hand on her back, but she keeps herself focused on the job, studying the rising chaos of the streets below them. The time is almost right for them to strike, to descend from their rooftop hiding place and dive directly into the fray for once, just as soon as the new iteration of Dark Cupid has turned Ladybug and Chat Noir against each other again. That's the way they're finally going to win, by sowing discontent between the heroes and getting between them as a unified front, and she's grateful that Papillon has finally understood that. They've planned this one for ages, including making sure that the strike point is as far away as possible from the Agreste mansion and the only two people in the world Papillon loves, to keep them safe even if he gets caught in Dark Cupid's crossfire. Mayura will have time to slow and subdue him, and she's already been told to use any means necessary to do so. Any harm she does will heal, and far faster and better than the damage he might do to them.
And if Mayura herself is hit by one of those arrows... well. She's not going to be. That's all there is to it.
She doesn't actually need the nudge to tell her when to move to their next vantage point; no matter what shape she takes she's still the woman trained to recognize his intent more clearly than even he does. When they break cover to follow the action they do so as one, taking the leap to the next rooftop in tandem, landing with silent grace and continuing to run. It's a beautiful moment, or at least it would be if they weren't still a flash of bright and moving color against the sky, and if Dark Cupid didn't turn his head at the worst possible moment. He's on them in an instant, flying faster than Mayura had realized he was capable of, looking at them like they're a terrible inconvenience getting in the way of his actual goal. Mayura loses her footing and stumbles behind a chimney stack as he swoops down on them, and it's only after he's made his pass and lost interest that she realizes that she was pushed. She raises her head to see Papillon standing between her and their attacker, his back to her and his arms just now drawing in from the wide and protective stance he was in. Prioritizing her safety, the way he shouldn't do and the way she secretly revels in every time he does.
"What's the next move?" she asks him, steadying herself on her feet again and scanning the horizon. Papillon doesn't seem hurt and he's not flying across the city in a rage, but he's also too still, as if he's lost track of their quarry as much as she has. "Sir?"
He doesn't turn around immediately, his shoulders rising and falling with a ragged breath. When he finally speaks his voice is low and harsh, a guttural growl. "This is your fault." He spins around in one fluid motion, metal singing as he draws the hidden blade from his cane, his eyes colder with rage than Mayura has ever seen them. His lips are black, and they curl into a snarl. "This is all your fault."
"No." Mayura's heart clenches in her throat, turning the word into a tiny and desperate whisper as she steps back from him. They didn't plan for this. She was supposed to be safe, and she was supposed to be safe so she could be his safeguard. He wasn't supposed to turn on her. He wasn't supposed to care enough about her to turn on her.
He ignores her protestations, advancing on her as she backs away. "You found the Peacock. You brought it to her. You couldn't stop her from using it. And now you're too weak to save her." His sword raised, he dives for her with a roar.
That's enough to snap Mayura free of her shock and her hurt, her instincts and those of the Peacock itself taking over to save her, and she leaps backwards out of his reach. This is a fight now, and if there's one thing she knows it's how to handle herself in a fight. She lands in a crouch, opening her fan with a snap. "You don't want to do this," she says in a low voice, and even if she knows it won't help she needs to remind herself that it's true. She rises to block his next attack, brandishing the fan and deflecting the blows even as he pushes her back towards the edge of the roof. "It won't help."
Papillon continues to advance on her, striking at her wildly and relentlessly, and it's only the blindness of his rage that gives Mayura an edge on him. "What would you know of helping?" he curses at her, tongue sharper than his blade could ever be. "You have failed me at every turn and cost me every victory, all because you can't do your job."
"I have done everything for you." Mayura knows she shouldn't respond, but the words cut as deeply as they're meant to. The pain of them echoes, and she has to draw into herself to turn it into a shield as she usually does. Her fighting style turns colder, more calculated as she lets the pain crystallize and guide her. She lets him dance her all the way to the edge and leaps down to the ground, knowing he'll follow her into a place where they'll be less visible. He's too insensate with magical fury to realize the danger of clashing with each other in the open like this, of being seen with their unity fractured as they had intended to do to Ladybug and Chat Noir. And if she actually has to stop him with all the freedom she's been given, rather than just slowing him down, it's going to be a disaster for his image.
Papillon lands next to her without breaking his stride, with only the barest grunt of effort, and redoubles his attacks, and the irony is that this unstoppable determination is one of the reasons she loves him. "You have become a hindrance," he tells her, the words mirroring the ones that have echoed in her own head for too long, punctuated with sword swings that rain down like hail. "Every plan I make now has to have keeping your illness at bay at its center, because I know you won't look after it yourself." Another ragged and gasping breath. "My path was clear, once," he says, and there's a crack in the rage of his voice. "My heart was confident in its choice before now. You are a distraction. And you're not her."
Mayura's stomach twists, and this is no longer just about keeping herself safe or holding him off until Ladybug can step in and fix this. Now it's about stopping him before he says anything that breaks her heart even more than he already has. And the only way to do so is going to be the end of everything, but it's not the first time she's ruined her life for him. As the sword swings towards her again she snaps her fan up with unnatural speed, not knocking it aside this time but catching the blade between the ribs and twisting. The movement pulls him towards her before wrenching the sword out of his grasp and sending it skittering down the cobblestones, and with her free hand she grabs him by the lapel. "No," she says, her voice as strained and cracked as his, "I'm not."
She kisses him. It's brisk and businesslike, and she forces herself not to feel anything, forces herself not to show anything.
The rage drains from Papillon's eyes as the black drains from his lips. He stares at her in shock, a sort of horrified comprehension dawning as he raises a hand to her like he's not entirely sure she's real. It comes to rest on her face, fingertips curling around her jaw and thumb grazing her cheekbone, and so it's almost not a surprise -- a shock, still, but somehow not a surprise -- when he bends his head low and kisses her again. And again. And again. It's the same relentless onslaught as the sword strikes, and the white hot pain in Mayura's chest tells her that this time he's cut through. Her better judgment entirely lost and overridden she pulls him in even closer, straining upwards to meet him, kissing him with the full force of all the yearning she's been holding back for so long. It's desperate and aching, and wonderful and terrible all at once, and when his other hand comes up to curl around her back she's never felt so lost and yet so found at the same time.
This onslaught is just as punctuated as the last with words. Papillon's voice is the barest whisper at every moment that his lips aren't occupied with hers, a constant and helpless litany. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's not clear to Mayura if he's apologizing for attacking her or for... this. It's even less clear whether the words are meant for her at all.
Thank you @mayura-may for hosting this fun month challenge ! I thought it was perfect to explore a little bit more our beloved peacock villain.
For this prompt, I immediately thought of Optigami, Mayura’s last sentimonster and I think her most advanced one, I’m sure Nathalie must have a special place in her heart for them.
I thought it would be interesting to wonder the relationship a peacock holder has with the senti made from their own emotions. They reflect so much their creator and that’s how Sentibug came to be in that piece. Even if Mayura destroyed her without a thought, I quite like the fanfiction that explore her remorse on this. Those two sentimonsters are more than Mayura’s creation, they’re the personification of Nathalie’s love for the Agreste and her despair to help. They’re pieces of her and I hope they’re beloved by her.
Anyway I would be very happy to talk with you more about my headcanons 😝
Mayura May is a a month-long event meant to promote fanworks featuring the character Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura. Fanfiction, fanart, or any other creative projects are welcome, and there will be a new prompt every three days during the event!
RULES:
1) Character/ship bashing, salt, and any kind of hate is not allowed.
2) You are not obligated to create content for all of the prompts! You are free to pick whichever prompt you’d like to do.
3) Prompts can be interpreted as you see fit! They’re meant to help with inspiration, there’s no right or wrong way to use them!
4) NSFW is allowed, but will only be reblogged if the NSFW content is clearly marked and hidden below the cut.
5) Tag @mayura-may and/or tag your posts with #mayuramay2022 so your content can be reblogged!
PROMPT LIST:
Day 1 (May 1st): Beloved
Day 2 (May 4th): Glasses
Day 3 (May 7th): Eyebrows
Day 4 (May 10th): Wine
Day 5 (May 13th): Chair
Day 6 (May 16th): Stepmom
Day 7 (May 19th): Catalyst
Day 8 (May 22nd): Fire
Day 9 (May 25th): Shadow
Day 10 (May 28th): Badass
Day 11 (May 31th): Beloathed
Any questions can be left in the ask box of this blog or directed to @coffeebanana! Event graphic designed by @dpandascorner.
It fits so perfectly it may as well be grafted to her skin. Gabriel would call it a masterpiece if he was foolish enough to think the dress had anything to do with it. Deep red fabric like merlot catches the lamplight and flows along every bend and curve of her body, but she – Nathalie is the center of his attention.
Blue eyes study her reflection with the focus she devotes to work. Gabriel’s heart warms at the familiar inquisitive spark.
“Is it okay?” she asks.
He can’t help but chuckle. Draping his arms around her, he whispers, “You’re perfect.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nathalie Sancoeur
Characters: Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir
Additional Tags: Crack, Humour, Gabriel Thinks He's Funny, Nathalie Very Much Disagrees, Mayura Is A Magical Girl, Mayura May 2022, Pranks and Practical Jokes
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Summary:
In which Gabriel finds an...unconventional way of paying for Nathalie's bonus, Nathalie has to lie about it, and Adrien learns all about Nathalie's supposed interest in cosplay.
At the end of it all...Nathalie still doesn't get paid enough for this.
Written for Day 2 of Mayura May! - Prompt: Glasses
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
For @mayura-may
Chapters: 2/11
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth
Characters: Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Additional Tags: Mayura May 2022, Angst, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Idiots in Love, Mother-Son Relationship, Boss/Employee Relationship
Summary:
Nathalie has decided to leave Gabriel and Adrien to get the Miraculous and thus fulfill her boss’s wish: Bring his wife back.
However, this implies that Nathalie abandons her true identity and definitively becomes Mayura. Will she be able to achieve her goal?
The lids over the rose window closed, leaving Mayura and Hawkmoth in darkness. The fears he so far managed to push back settled on his heart again. It was difficult to forget the sight of butterflies taking flight as her knees hit the ground.
