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Gabriel Agreste felt like it had only been minutes since his head hit the pillow; so imagine his shock when he opened his eyes and saw that it was almost 3 in the morning. The reason he had awoken was currently flying around his head at an unfathomable speed. He could feel Nooroo beside him, annoyance radiating from him in waves. Just their luck that they would get stuck with the craziest kwami.
“Duusu! Will you settle down please?” Gabriel hissed.
“I caaann’t,” she whined as she whizzed past him.
She continued flying around in circles, forcing him to sit up and jam his glasses onto his face.
“It is the middle of the night. May I ask why you find it necessary to run laps around me right now?”
“I’m sorry Mr Gabriel, but I was worried about Miss Nathalie. I wish she were here right now.”
“You can talk to her when she gets to work in a few hours. Until then you would do well to get some sleep.”
“Can she come early? I miss her,” she said, eyes wide as she pleaded.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t wake her just because you miss her. Disturbing her sleep will just upset her and cause her to get sicker.”
“Please...pleeeaase...PLEASE?”
Finally his resolve broke and he found himself reaching for his phone, if only to satiate this annoying creature so he could get some sleep. He scrolled through his contacts until he found her number and called her. When she picked up on the first ring, he found himself quite surprised. She didn't seem like she was the light sleeping type.
“Hello?” came a soft voice.
“Forgive me for waking you, but we have a kwami here that was insistent on making sure you were ok.”
“Put her on the line.”
He set it to speaker and called over Duusu.
“Miss Nathalie?” she asked quietly.
“Hi Duusu. Gabriel tells me that you missed me?”
“Yay! You’re here and you already sound better.”
He winced at the sound of her shrill cry. He hoped Nathalie didn’t have the phone too close to her ear.
“I might sound even better if a certain little monster would let me sleep all night.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re a sweetheart for worrying, but you'll see me later.”
“You promise?”
“Of course, Du. Now you go to bed and let Mr Gabriel rest, ok?”
“Yes! I’ll see you soon.”
Duusu did a happy little flip in the air before finally settling on the pillow next to Nooroo. Gabriel took the call off speaker and pressed it to his ear.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said.
“It’s fine, sir. She’s always fussing over me.”
“You can come in later than usual if you want. I don’t need my secretary falling asleep on the job.”
Her laugh sounded like music through the speaker, causing a small pang in his chest. He rarely heard her laugh and it was never as sweet as this.
“Nothing to worry about there. Coffee can fix anything.”
“I’ll make sure that only the best grounds will be saved for you then.”
There was a short silence before she replied, “Why...thank you.” He could hear the smile in her voice.
“You’re very welcome, now get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodnight then, Gabriel.”
He loved it when she called him by his first name. It always filled him with a sort of unexplainable joy, however fleeting it was. Where others would see it as unprofessional, he only found it endearing.
“Goodnight...Nathalie.
After the night he had, Gabriel figured everything had been solved. Duusu had gotten her confirmation that Nathalie was fine even when she was far away in her apartment and Nathalie wasn’t completely dead when she showed up to work that morning. All was well again...until the next night...and the one after that...
Five nights! Five whole nights of being woken up at some ungodly hour by a tiny blue sparkler with an affinity for yelling about his assistant and nothing else. He didn’t know how much more Nathalie could take, if her increase in coffee consumption was anything to go by. She used to run on a cup and a half at most, but now she was downing three cups by noon. He started to worry about her energy crashing in the afternoon when she left for her own home. What if she fell asleep at the wheel and got in an accident?
That was actually the reason he used when he had first asked her if she would like a guest bedroom in the mansion. Ever the professional, she had turned him down, until he brought up her weak spot. He suggested that it might be good for Adrien to have more company later in the day. He also had to admit that dinner was quite lonely without her. At the first mention of the golden haired boy, her expression softened and so did her resolve. She accepted without any further complaint.
He let her have her pick of the rooms and allowed her to decorate it however she saw fit. She still had her apartment and wasn’t expected to stay every night, but it was comforting to have a woman in the house again. They both soon realized that this arrangement was good for all of them. Gabriel found that he was starting to sleep better, Adrien interacted with them more and seemed happier, and even Nathalie found that it was much easier when you didn’t need to commute to work every morning.
The rain was coming down hard the night Gabriel was awoken by a familiar feeling in his chest. Even though he didn't wear his miraculous when he slept, he could still sense emotion when it was near. This very night he was woken up by a giant wave of fear and sadness. Of course his thoughts quickly shifted to ideas on what powers to give this person he would inevitably akumatize. It was only when he sat up that he realized just where the emotions were coming from.
He got up and made his way down the hall, stopping at Nathalie’s door of all places. What could've happened to cause her to feel this way? He knocked lightly and felt the fear rise dramatically. Still, he heard her soft steps as she went to answer him. Even in the dark, he could make out the tears on her cheeks and her labored breathing.
“Did you need something, sir?” she asked, her voice small and weak.
“I just wanted to see if you were ok. I could feel you and...what happened?”
“Just a nightmare. It was nothing.”
“It certainly didn’t feel like nothing. You would be one of my most powerful akumas right now.”
“Thank you?”
“Ah forget I said that. Did...did you want to talk about it?”
“It really was nothing. I’ve kept you too long anyway. Just go back to sleep and I'll work on masking my emotions better.”
She moved to shut the door, but found his foot blocking her from doing so. He tried not to look so concerned, but he couldn’t help it. He cared too much about her to let her suffer alone.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t feel better if you talked it out? I can still feel how much pain you’re in right now.”
“I-” she suddenly sucked in a breath and lowered her head. “I don’t want it to be weird between us, sir.”
“Try me.”
“It was about you. You were fighting someone and you...you…”
The tears started flowing again and she began to sob. Without thinking, he entered her room and closed the door behind him. He told himself it was so Adrien wouldn’t wake up and continued to use that excuse as he pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Nathalie returned the hug and buried her face in his chest.
“I watched you die,” she whispered.
“Oh, Nat. Is that all it was? I assure you I am completely fine.”
“You can’t promise that you always will be.”
“That's true, but still. For now I am very much alive.”
She still didn't seem to be satisfied so he did something that seemed rather unorthodox for his character. Nowadays he felt like he hardly knew himself anyway so the next question that came out of his mouth could’ve been said by a completely different person for all he knew.
"Would you like me to stay with you tonight?"
"Seriously? Sir, that's hardly becoming of us."
"Perhaps, but I also haven't been sleeping well. Though my insomnia is called Duusu."
She chuckled into his shirt, "She's a lot to handle, huh?"
"Yes. You are much better when it comes to her. Nevertheless I find myself in need of a break from her constant antics and whining."
"Well…it's only sleeping."
"Exactly and we've already been through so much more than just sleeping. I've held you in my arms more times than I can count already. What is one more?"
"I'm not dying or in need of rescue this time."
"Good. That should make for an excellent sleep."
He led her to the bed with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. After they had both slid under the covers, they lay there staring at each other.
"Come here," he whispered.
She obliged even though she was still unsure of it all. His arms felt so nice around her though and his chest was incredibly comfortable. Maybe just this one night, she could act a bit unprofessional. It didn't take long for her to realize that her body fit perfectly against his.
“Do you get nightmares a lot?” he asked.
He thought about how quickly she had answered that phone call earlier in the week. She hadn’t already been awake, right?
“It fluctuates. It was never as bad until a few months ago...you know...Sandboy.”
“I’m so sorry. That was one of my more...questionable ideas.”
“As long as you don’t do that again, it'll be fine.”
“Was that nightmare...about me as well?”
“Yes, but I don't want to talk about it.”
He could sense her fear rising again so he pulled her closer to him. His fingers found her hair and started to play with it. The fear completely dissipated this time.
“No more nightmares, Nat. I promise you.”
Gabriel had never been more thankful for the weekend. Instead of being rudely awakened by an alarm, he was able to wake up naturally with the sun. It also afforded him the luxury of a perfect view of his sleeping assistant. She looked serene without the stress of her job weighing her down. Soon enough, she stirred and met his gaze with sleepy blue eyes. Had they always been so vibrant?
“I’ve never slept so well in my life,” she said, stretching.
“Same goes for me.”
“I’m assuming this was a one time thing,” she didn’t even try to hide her disappointment.
“Maybe. Maybe not. There are many advantages to getting rest and if there's a way to get the most possible, well,” he didn’t miss her smile as he continued. “I’m sure we could make an exception.”
Judging by the absence of the piano, it was safe to say that Adrien was also sleeping in. Since no one needed either of them at this time, Gabriel was more than happy to stay in bed with Nathalie curled against him. He couldn’t stop thinking about how soft her skin was as he drew lazy circles on her shoulders or how nice her content sighs sounded. Her happiness was music to his ears.
“Master?” came a small voice from across the room.
He could just make out their two kwamis as they phased through the wall. Nooroo kept his distance, but Duusu shot like a rocket right toward them, when she saw Nathalie. The tiny blue ball curled up between her shoulder and neck, making herself comfortable. Nathalie in turn cupped a hand over the kawmi in a sort of hug.
“Miss Nathalie did you sleep well?” she asked quietly for once.
“Yes I did. Last night was great, though I did miss you,” she smiled.
“I missed you too!”
“I’ll make it up to you with extra coffee later. How does that sound?”
The kwami merely squealed with delight and snuggled closer to her.
“You give her coffee?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. She loves the stuff.”
“Isn’t that counterproductive seeing as she is already hyper to begin with?”
“She likes it and I always have some to share. It can't hurt.”
“It hurts when I'm trying to sleep and she's running a race over my head.”
“That's only because she misses me.”
“Then it’s definitely decided. I’ll be sharing your bed much more.”
“Only because it helps you sleep, right?”
“Y-yes of course.”
She chuckled before looking over her shoulder slightly. Nooroo was still floating around and keeping his distance. His already nervous eyes got wider when she held out her hand toward him.
“Nooroo come here. You don’t have to be all alone over there.”
Nooroo cast his eyes toward Gabriel, not knowing what he should do. The man simply nodded his head in allowance. The kwami slowly floated over and sat in her palm. She then set him beside her on the pillow and giggled when he snuggled up next to her. Gabriel couldn't help but beam at the sight of a sleepy but happy Nathalie cuddling with the kwamis. It was something he wanted to see for a very long time.
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him again, careful not to disturb her tiny friends. She was smiling brightly as she got comfy and fell back asleep.