Moon Knight Shorts

In the Day They Give Me Such a Fright

The grip on your ankle tightens.

—0—

Steven puts his hand on your arm, gentle as he can, and murmurs your name. "Can you move?" He watches, hoping to whatever gods are out there that you'll at least be able to communicate with him. But all he gets is another whimper as your breathing gets more labored. He tries to keep his cool.

'She's blinking.' It's Jake who says it. 'Ask her to blink once for yes, twice for no.'

That's actually smart. Steven can tell how worried Jake is because he doesn't make a comment about Steven acting surprised he had a good idea.

"Can you blink once for yes, twice for no if I ask you some questions?"

It takes you a moment, but you blink once, keeping your eyes closed longer than normal so it stands out.

"Okay, good."

'Ask her if it's okay you're touching her.' Marc can tell Steven doesn't think that's a priority at the moment and presses on. 'She's already scared and not in control. Having someone's hands on her could make that worse. If you can't ask right now, get your hands off her.'

Steven feels like a colossal asshole for not thinking of that, then making Marc tell him again. Marc is right. Of course, he is. But Steven can't focus on that right now. He has more important things to ask so he lets go of you. "Do you know what's happening to you? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

You don't know how to give a clear answer to those questions so you close your eyes, trying to take deep breaths. This isn't real.

Marc and Jake overlap as they scold him, but what they say amounts to calling him stupid for asking more than one question at a time.

"Sorry. Do you need an ambulance?"

You blink twice.

"No. So, you know what this is?" A single blink. "And you're alright?" You close your eyes again. "Okay, um, can I touch you? Would that help?" Another single blink and his hands are back on you, running along your arm. He's about to ask if all he can do is wait this out, when your whole body tenses and you scramble to sit up. Steven watches you with wide eyes while you take deep breaths against the headboard, trying to calm down. "Hey, hey, hey, you're okay." He moves to sit next to you, still giving you space. "Can you talk now?"

You take one last deep breath before you nod. "Yeah. I know it wasn't real, but that was terrifying. I felt like I was going to die."

"Wasn't real? It looked pretty real to me. I could only watch and I was scared. You seem like you know what that was, though."

"The only thing that makes sense is sleep paralysis. I don't have a history of it but I don't think you have to. I even thought about that when it was happening but it was still scary." You run your hands over your arms, trying to shake off the feeling that thing gave you. Like this was only the beginning.

"Of course. I know what it's like to not be in control of your body and it's terrifying." He runs his hand over your shoulder, up and down, trying to soothe you. He's not sure he's ever seen you this small and his heart clenches at the sight. Of course, for this, dealing with emotions and the aftermath, it's crickets from Marc and Jake. "Come on." He squeezes your shoulder once before he lets go and opens his arms to you. It doesn't take more invitation than that for you to lean into his embrace. "That's it, I've got you." He runs his hands over your back. "I'm sure Marc or Jake would make you feel safer, but you've got me this morning." He lets out a self-deprecating laugh.

"Hey, no." You pull back enough to look at him. "I'm sure they'd be worried and sweet if they were fronting when that happened, but you have a softness about you that I appreciate so much. Especially right now. I already feel stupid for worrying you like that, but when you said that it's scary to not have control of yourself, it helped me feel validated. Can you imagine either of them admitting that?"

That gets a real laugh out of him. "No. And you've got no reason to feel stupid." His eyes are wide, warm, pools you could get lost in, his brows tipped up in worry as he says it. "You were paralyzed for a couple of minutes there. You've never called us stupid when we wake up from nightmares and you comfort us. Or when I wake up with a start, not knowing where I am or how I got there. If that's not stupid, this is... extra, not stupid."

"Thanks." You rest your head against his chest and wind your arms tighter around him.

"Of course." He pauses. "So, that was the first time that's happened to you?"

"Yeah. Hope it won't be a thing now." You let out a humorless laugh. "I wonder if sleep paralysis demons are the same every time."

"If what?"

"You've never heard of that?"

"Can't say I have."

"Oh, a lot of times, sleep paralysis is accompanied by hallucinations. Sometimes people think it's ghosts or demons or shadow people."

"And you saw one?"

"Yeah. It was, yeah, like a shadow person. I don't know, I got this super foreboding feeling from it." You shake your head. "I knew it wasn't real, but I could see it in front of me, it was buzzing, it spoke to me, grabbed my ankle at one point, and I was stuck. That's actually a recurring nightmare I have anyway. I'm in some dangerous situation and my body is molasses. I'm trying to move with everything I have, but I can't."

"And then it happened to you for real. Love, I'm so sorry. If it happens again, is there anything you want me or the others to do?"

You think for a moment, trying to remember what he did that eased that nightmare even a little. "Talk to me, let me know you're here. Remind me that what I'm seeing isn't real. When you touched me— the second time, with more firm movements— that's what woke me up. See if that works again? If it doesn't, it'll be another thing to ground me. You being calm will remind me that what I'm seeing isn't there."

"Alright. I'll leave a note for Jake and Marc too." He taps his head.

"Did they— do you know if they saw that too?"

Steven isn't sure what answer you're hoping for, but he's guessing that's how you want it. "Yeah, they felt my fear and came running, as usual. It was Jake's idea to have you blink yes or no. Marc didn't want me touching you until you gave the okay. I should've thought of that too."

"That's sweet. I'm glad they came through for you."

Steven laughs. "Yeah, not without a fair amount of bickering."

"Well, has that ever happened?"

"I can count the times on one hand."

"Well, leave a thank you from me with that note."

"I will." He kisses your head. "Now, what's going to make you feel better? Do you want to stay here for a while? I can make us breakfast, we could watch something."

"Why don't we go out? We could stop at a cafe, then head to a museum. There's something about seeing the artifacts through your eyes that makes it so much more exciting."

He smiles. "Yeah?"

"Sounds like the perfect day to me."

He leans in and places a kiss to your lips. "Me too."