#complete darkness

He jerked out of bed, but got tangled in his sheets and panicked. He could feel cold sweat break out on his skin, and ripped himself from the sheets with enough force that he crashed to the floor. Something made a sound from the other side of the room – someone was in here with him! – and Steve froze. He stared out into the darkness and held his breath.

There it was again! Something was moving!

Without giving it a second thought, Steve dove under his bed. He fumbled around with his hands until he found what he was looking for, and emerged with his nail bat clutched in his hands. The noise came again, and he threw himself back so his back was to the wall, while staring out into the dark.

No light was coming in through the curtains. He could only barely make out the shape of his bed next to him, the desk, the door that led out to the hallway …

The door was slightly ajar.

Had it been open when he went to bed, or had someone – or something – snuck in while he was sleeping?

Slowly, he stood up on shaky legs, ready to swing his nail bat at whoever – or whatever – dared to attack him. Holding his breath, he waited …

… and waited …

… and waited.

There! Movement!

He jumped across the bed and landed hard on the other side of it, raised the bat –

– and got a face full of angry cock. Feathers, wings, claws, the whole deal. Steve dropped the bat in his surprise (and heard it bang against the floor – which would probably leave a mark) and brought up both of his hands to protect himself against the assault. He was simultaneously shocked (sudden bird attack!) and relieved (not a monster, only Phil), and eventually managed to grab the bird and hold him under one arm, the way he’d seen Billy do. He then walked to the door and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened.

Power outage. Of course.

Phil made an indignant sound from under his arm, but didn’t try to get away. Steve pulled a trembling hand through his hair and laughed somewhat hysterically as the adrenaline left him. He stumbled over to the bed and sat down, and put Phil down on the mattress next to him. Phil did not immediately jump away from him, which he counted as progress.

“How the fuck did you even get up here?” he asked, voice still shaky from the scare. But then he thought about it, and realized that perhaps, he’d forgotten to put Phil in the laundry room before he went to bed. Perhaps, he’d just left him to roam free. And now Phil must have somehow managed to get upstairs, and come looking for Steve.

Or, more likely (since the bird was an asshole), he had been looking to specifically mess with Steve.

“Wouldn’t surprise me if you’d chewed through a cord and caused this whole thing”, Steve muttered, but in that exact moment, the power came back. The overhead light and the bedside lamp both turned on without a sound, but Steve still jumped a bit. After a quick check of the room – which was normal, except for the bat on the floor and the sheets which were no longer on the bed – he threw himself back on the bed and exhaled, and tried to will his heart to resume its normal pace.

After a while, he reached out for his comforter, and pulled it over himself, too tired now to bother with getting up and turning the light off. Phil made a little noise next to him, and when Steve turned his head, Phil was getting comfortable on Steve’s pillow.

“Oh you think you can sleep in my bed, huh?”

Phil just looked at him, before faceplanting into the pillow the way he did when he slept. It made Steve snort in amusement.

Phil had come looking for him when the power went out, after all. Maybe the cock didn’t like the dark, either.

“Alright”, Steve said. “But only for tonight.”

He’d almost fallen back asleep when a thought occurred to him, and he opened one eye and pointed at the sleeping bird. “But don’t tell Billy!”