Services Rendered
SPOILERS THROUGH SEASON 2 EPISODE 2
Inspired by a Discord conversation surrounding the events in Season 2, episode 2. Spoilers beware! You have been warned.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A solid rapping noise broke through Gabriel Agreste's concentration. "Come in," he said, holding up two sheets of paper to the light.
"Sir?" Nathalie said, entering the room and closing the door behind her. She clutched her ever-present tablet pressed against her chest.
Gabriel motioned her over with a wave of one paper. "Nathalie," he said as she approached. "Which one of these looks better in your opinion as a finale piece for the special Christmas runway edition?" He moved his hands, comparing the designs against different backdrops and lighting. He frowned. Either one could work. Both were showstoppers. He was especially proud of them.
"The one on the left, sir," Nathalie said immediately after barely a glance at the two gowns in question. Gabriel lowered the two papers and regarded her over the rim of his glasses.
"Why is that?" he asked, curious as to how she arrived at a decision so fast.
"The silver overlay on the white background coupled with the slightly extended train give the impression of falling snow. The perfect end to any night is a blanket of fresh snow."
Straight and to the point then. But it was a rather good point. Gabriel sighed.
"The fate of my entire winter collection rides upon your decision," he declared, a bit of melodrama seeping into his statement.
"Then it shall be successful, naturally," she returned in a neutral voice, more than used to his brand of humor and theatrics than most. She had long since forgone any kind of surprise whenever he said something.
He set the papers aside and turned to give her his full attention. "What is it that you needed?" he asked.
She flipped the tablet around and pointed to several figures highlighted on the screen. "In doing my bi-annual audit, I've discovered some unusual figures in the expenses column of your ledger," she explained.
Gabriel peered at them. A couple hundred euros, sent out twice or three times monthly for the last few months. Small amounts for a company such as Gabriel but Nathalie was nothing if not thorough. She would trace every penny that left the coffers and demand explanations from every accountant for the smallest discrepancy.
"They've been entered as 'services rendered'," Nathalie explained further. "And printed on checks designed for anonymous donations."
"Hmm," Gabriel mused. He turned back to his desk and fiddled with the lineup designs. Maybe the second choice gown would be good as a mid-point piece. Right before the intermission.
"And they've all been withdrawn from the account," Nathalie added. "I double checked personally with the bank."
Or maybe as an opening set. He wasn't certain just yet. He really wanted to start with the men's formalwear and then segue into the women's formalwear, but maybe shaking things up a bit would do the brand some good.
Nathalie waited. Gabriel continued pushing papers around his desk. She would read that as an obvious stall tactic, but she didn't call him on it. She knew he would answer when he was ready.
"They are... additional expenses," the designer answered at last.
"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that, sir," Nathalie said, not backing down from his dubious reply.
"Do I?" Gabriel asked. He picked up a pen and twirled it between his fingers, still not turning to face her.
"Sir."
With a sigh, Gabriel dropped his pen onto the desk and turned back to Nathalie. She continued staring at him with the same emotionless mask. He reached over and flicked a finger across her tablet for several swipes, verifying all of the payments.
"They're for my side project," he said at last. She blinked. "I thought it fitting since Ms. Bourgeois does a fantastic job of stirring up emotions in the people around her, it's only fair I compensate her for her work. After all, she has easily caused half of the akumas in the city. That's a good majority of my work done for me right there."
Another blink. "You're paying Chloé Bourgeois to create akumas for you?"
"Nonsense!" Gabriel retorted with a scoff. "I am merely recognizing her unique talents and providing adequate compensation for the incredibly reliable work she does. I can always count on her to come through in a pinch when I need an akuma at the right moment."
Nathalie mumbled something under her breath that sounded like "unbelievable" but Gabriel chose to ignore her. She tapped a few times on her tablet, most likely confirming and accepting the charges. "In the future, sir," she said as she finished and positioned the tablet back at her hip, "I would appreciate a little advanced notice when you wish to provide additional... compensation... for your extracurricular activities. It will make the bookkeeping audits much easier to reconcile."
"Understood, I'll make certain you are informed."
Nathalie nodded and departed.
Gabriel picked up his sketches again, now pondering what dress should be the opening piece. Perhaps he should have asked Nathalie when she was here. He debated calling her back, but recalled the annoyed glint in her eyes and thought better of it.
He wondered if Nooroo would give him an honest opinion.
Chloé held up another envelope and squinted at it inside the room of her suite. In the upper corner bore the standard return address, which yielded a dead end company she couldn't be bothered to research further when she first asked about it. "Another one of these ridiculous checks?" she remarked in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a complaint, if one didn't know her better. Chloé would never complain about free money.
"Wow, Chloé, that's the third one this month!" Sabrina gushed, clasping her hands beneath her chin as Chloé waved the letter at her. Sabrina opened it up and stared at the amount inside. "Two hundred euros, just like last time," she observed. "Wow! So lucky!"
Chloé swiped the check out of her friend's hands. "Careful, or you'll wrinkle it," she chastised.
"Sorry, Chloé!" Sabrina apologized, very nearly dropping into a bow. "But wow, who do you suppose keeps sending these to you? And why?"
"How should I know?" the girl replied with a huff. She flounced over to her sofa and flopped down on it. "That will pay for another manicure and maybe a hot stone massage at my favorite spa." She wiggled her fingertips as if imagining her new look.
"Of course, Chloé," Sabrina nodded. "You're going to look fabulous."
"Well, duh, of course I am," she replied with a toss of her neck, flinging her ponytail back. "Ugh I suppose that means I'll have to drag you along, too, or else you'll bring down my new look. I can't have you standing next to me looking like that."
Sabrina's face lit up with joy. "Oh Chloé, you're the best!" she gushed.
"Well duh. Come on, let's get going. I don't want to be late."
Chloé followed after Sabrina in the hallway. The blonde dug through her purse, looking for her lipstick, not paying attention to her surroundings. She barreled into a bellboy pushing a cart of food down the hall. The cart toppled over, spilling trays of food and drink onto the carpet.
"Watch where you're going, you clumsy oaf!" Chloé shrieked. "You almost got my clothes ruined!"
"I'm so terribly sorry, Ms. Bourgeois," the bellboy apologized profusely, dropping to his knees and dabbing at the stains on the carpet with a soiled napkin.
"You better be. I expect this entire mess to be cleaned up and spotless by the time I get back or I'll have you fired."
Without another word, she tossed her head back and stomped down the hall, Sabrina trailing behind her. When the elevator doors dinged shut, a black butterfly trickled in through an open window and landed upon the napkin the bellboy still clenched as he scrubbed at the floor in a panic.
"Clean Sweep," a sultry voice in his mind crooned as a pink butterfly mask formed around the bellboy's eyes, "I am Hawkmoth. I can grant you the power to cleanse the entire city of stains like Chloé Bourgeois. All I ask for in return are two special items. What do you say?"
"Yes, Hawkmoth," the bellboy intoned with a twisted smile upon his face. Purple smoke surrounded his body as the transformation began.
Chloé might not have gotten her spa treatment that day, but Gabriel Agreste made certain to send another check out to her the following week. He was beginning to consider her his most valuable employee.
Author's note: I'm holding out for a redemption arc for Gabriel after this disappointing cliché of a plot we got. I hoped for better and I was disappointed.
The joke about this stems from in the second episode how Hawkmoth relies upon Chloé to cause an akuma, sending one out for the first time with no clear destination except to stick close to Chloé. It was suggested as a possible crack headcanon that Chloé occasionally receives an anonymous check in the mail every week or so but doesn't know why or from whom. It's later discovered that Hawkmoth puts her on the payroll at Gabriel because of her ability to cause almost all of the akumatizations. I couldn't get it out of my head and decided to write this up.