Control | Moon Knight

18

Poor Steven. Poor sweet, innocent little Steven.

So completely oblivious to the true horrors of his own life. He feels like a madman, or even worse, a mental patient.

The last thing he remembers is hiding from the creature in the restroom, so as soon as he wakes up, he springs out of bed with cries of fear, but thanks to his ankle restraint he lands face first on his hard wooden floor. He mutters to himself before he sighs and frees himself of his restraint. He's quick to open his tri-fold mirror, staring back at his own reflection in hopes to see the man in the mirror.

" You there?" Steven asks, " Hm? No?" he looks into a different part of the mirror, " Yeah, didn't think so."

As he wakes up even further, his mind soon recalls one extremely important factor.

Cleo was with him last night.

His eyes widen in realization, he drops his bag down onto the floor as he sprints out his door and up the stairs. He stands in front of her door and frantically knocks, praying a prayer to every God he can think of that she's right behind it. And thankfully, she opens the door, a pair of glasses resting on her nose.

" Oh, thank God!" Steven exclaims as he leaps forward and tightly wraps his arms around her smaller frame, " Thank God. Oh, bloody hell," he pulls away just the slightest so he can cup her face in his hands to examine it as her eyes meet his, " Are you alright?"

And there it is. His accent has returned. Seemingly out of nowhere with no explanation. This is not the same man who brought her home last night, but this is definitely her Steven. And she thinks she might have an answer.

" Yes, Steven... I'm okay," She responds, putting her hands over his as if to comfort him in his panicked state.

And Steven doesn't even realize how close he truly is to her until he feels her minty breath on his chin, causing red to flush his cheeks as he pulls away, leaving Cleo yearning for his touch.

" So... how exactly.... what exactly," Steven says, fumbling over his words as he tries to find the right ones, " Happened... last night."

Cleo observes his eyes, seeing them flicker frantically and unable to stay focused, his pupils dilated and his jaw slightly trembling as the obvious anxious makes itself known to both of them.

" It's," She starts, " Complicated."

Steven tilts his head in confusion, wanting to know more, but as he goes to speak, Cleo beats him to it.

" Why don't... you head off to work and I'll explain everything when you come back," Cleo offers, " Yeah?"

And despite every fiber of Steven's being telling him to say no and stay where he is, he agrees. He heads off to work as if it were any normal day, and finds that it's anything but. He sees the janitor walking by with a repair kit in his hands and yellow and black tape being used to block off the exact part of the museum where he saw the beast.

" Hey, bruv," JB whispers to catch his attention, " Bro, it is proper mad in here."

" What happened? What is it?" Steven asks as he walks up to his co-worker.

" They're saying burst pipes, but it don't look like that to me," JB says as he moves one of the signs.

" Has anyone seen the security footage?" Steven asks as he makes eye contact with the nearly oblivious man.

" Well, yeah, I was about to," JB answers.

" Right," Steven breathes heavily, " I think I should go with you, yeah? I may have some important information about it."