Control | Moon Knight

16

" Yesterday, that fish had one fin, yeah. It was like that when I bought him. Today, what do you see?" He asks.

" Two--"

" Two! Two fins!" He exclaims, then realizes he's being a bit too loud," Sorry. But, yeah, he's got two fins now. So, is that-- is that normal, or..."

" Well, if you wanna swap it, go ahead. But like I said yesterday, they've all got--"

" What? What do you mean yesterday? I wasn't here yesterday," Steven states as his brows furrow.

" Yeah, alright," The employee scoffs, " Look, as I've said, they've all got two fins. I don't care what that Nemo movie says. You find me a pet shop that sells disabled fish and go there. I don't have time for this."

And her words, Steven's eyes glance up to the clock, but the time seems impossible.

" Wait.. is that clock right?" He asks, " No, that's impossible. I just woke up."

" Are you mad? The fish is wrong, the time is wrong. You're not quite right."

Her words go in one ear and out the other and Steven focuses on one thing and one thing only.

Cleo.

" Bugger. Bugger, I've got a date. Sorry, I've got a date."

And so he rushes home as quickly as he can. He rushes through everything. He nearly trips getting out of the shower. He dries his body and combs through his greying hair to make himself look presentable.

And first, he throws on a rather nice suit with an orange tie, but as he gazes at his own reflection in the mirror, he doesn't like what he sees.

" You look like a knob."

Instead, he opts for an all black look. Black button down, black jacket and black trousers. As he prepares to leave, he remembers that he needs to go down to the shop to get her flowers and chocolates before he picks her up, but moments later he finds those very objects sitting on his kitchen counter.

Strange. He doesn't remember buying those.

Alas, he picks them up and heads out of his flat and walks up the stair's, ignoring the fact that his heart is nearly beating out of his chest at the moment. He brings his fist up to knock on her door, but the moment he makes contact the door begins to slowly creak open, as if it was never properly closed. His head tilts in confusion, but when his eyes fall down, he sees Cleo's cat sitting within the slight opening of the door, blocking him from entering. He smiles at first but keeps his distance, knowing this cat is not very fond of him.

" Is your mum home?" He asks.

Steven realizes it's a bit silly to talk to the cat like she would respond, but oddly enough and in her own way, she does. Ana sneezes, and by doing so shaking her head as if to say no. She doesn't bother to look at Steven as she sits up and turns around. In her absence, Steven sees a few pieces of paper lying on the floor. A part of him wants to open the door a bit more so he could see the rest, but he doesn't listen to that part of him. He closes the door as if to respect her privacy and ends up walking out of the building to head to the restaurant, figuring that Cleo isn't home and will just meet him there.

Steven sits at the table meant for two at the corner of the restaurant out on the street. He waits patiently, yet anxiously turns his head and fixes his gaze on every person who walks past. He waits for Cleo to come. He knows she will. She wouldn't stand him up.

" We still expecting one more?"

Steven looks up at the waiter and hopes that his one more will come.

" Y-Yeah... she'll be here," He says as the waiter walks away.