Still bleary-eyed, Morgan stepped from a puff of mist just outside the Phoenix, jingling a set of keys and cursing the lighting under his breath. After a moment he managed to finally open the door and slipped in. He was careful, of course, to lock the door behind him. Quietly he moved through the common room to the steps, knocking up the wall as he climbed them.
"Yooooo. Coming up, man." He stopped outside it when he reached the door and leaned against the frame, stifling a yawn. "There better be some poltergeist shit going on in this bitch to get me away from a million blankets and one very toasty elf." There was a long inhaled sniff, and his head tapped against the wall as he waited for a reply. That reply did not come for a few moments, just the barely audible sound of terrified and sharp breathing from somewhere in the room…
Then an almighty crash, and a scream.
That was all it took for a foot to immediately slam flat into the door, a heavy boot hitting it twice before he finally tore into the room, his blackened arm writhing in a mass of dark tendrils. "ALIK?!"
Alik was huddled in a corner of the room, a flat-screen TV smashed on the floor next to him. It looked like he’d backed up into it. But that wasn’t all. Chairs were strewn around the darkened room, plates smashed on the floor like the place had been turned upside down. By all accounts, at first glance… it looked like Alik had done all of this himself.
He was thankfully wearing clothes, a set of fluffy pajamas most likely gotten for him for Christmas by one of his friends. Hyperventilating, tears streaming down his cheeks, staring wide-eyed at his bedroom door, which was open a crack, light shining through. Morgan frowned and immediately slipped to the man's side, crouching down and lowering his voice as he checked him over. "You good? Is there someone in there?" He glanced to indicate the lit room behind the door. All this while making sure there were no major injuries. There were a few bruises on his arms and legs, but nothing too serious. Alik didn’t respond, but a shaking hand reached out to point at his door. “I-It was r-right there…”
Morgan looked in the direction indicated and set himself between Alik and that place, lifting a hand and murmuring as fingertips danced. See invisible. He lifted the other hand and continued, still mumbling. Detect magic. Perhaps one of those might give some amount of information... Nothing. Nothing was detected whatsoever. Just a normal hallway, and a normal room. But… why was it so cold?
“D-Don’t!! Don’t go in there!” Alik whimpered, curling his knees up by his chest. Nothing awry, Morgan turned and put both hands up in a slow down gesture. "Woah, man... listen. It's cool. I'm just gonna look, okay? Just gonna check it out. If it's more than I can handle, we're fucking out of here, alright? You taken anything? You been sleeping?" Alik shook his head, seemingly in response to both questions, as he slowly stood up and walked barefoot towards Morgan, staring at the door, careful to avoid standing on broken glass. He stood behind him in the hallway, seemingly ready to come with him.
That was well enough. Calmly, he took Alik's hand and stepped in front again, carefully picking his way through glass and detritus toward the door. He reached out gingerly and with his fingertips, pushed the door open. Alik’s slightly sweaty hand gripped Morgan’s tight, his other hand grabbing his forearm, staying right next to him.
Morgan's grip on Alik's hand tightened, and he held his breath... Nothing. An empty bedroom, the window open, curtains billowing in the cold night air. And a chair in the middle of the room.
With an old, beat-up, plastic sheep mask sitting on it.
Alik let out a confused sound, peering over Morgan’s shoulder with a frown. “B-But… it was…” Morgan relaxed considerably and let go of Alik long enough to cross the room to look out the windows, drawing the curtain aside from one edge of it. Just making sure there were no ghoulies running down the alley. None whatsoever. Alik walked gingerly into the room, clutching himself tightly and looking around. “I… I don’t understand… it… it was right here!”
"It's cool, it's cool..." he shut the window and made sure to lock it up tight, then started making a check of the room. "I don't think you're crazy, man. This ain't fuckin' earth. I beat a skeleton to death with a shotgun my first fucking month or two here, okay?" He looked back at his friend reassuringly. "You're not crazy. They're an ASSHOLE." He made sure this last bit was loud enough to hear.
He moved back to Alik and put a hand on either side of his face, mushing his cheeks. "Hey. You're good." Alik let out a shaky exhale, tears wetting Morgan’s palms as he trembled in his grip, white as a sheet. “Th-… Thank y-“
He stopped. His eyes went wide, and he let out a shaky exhale, starting to tremble more as he took a slow step back from Morgan, staring at him.
Morgan didn't turn around, and he pulled Alik into him, frowning. This wasn't conducive to getting information at all. In a swirl of mists the room around them shifted, the sounds changed from ambient traffic in the waking hours to the trickle of water and a rush of wind through trees all coming from a cracked window. It was completely dark, but it was... not the apartment.
He finally allowed Alik to get away, and reached up to scrub his face with both hands. "Please don't tell me whatever horrifying scary movie shit you saw, man. Just... don't." Alik looked around his surroundings, sighing shakily, before collapsing into Morgan’s arms, wrapping himself around him, and letting out shaky, sobbing whimpers. “It.. I didn’t… see anything… it… didn’t you hear it?” Morgan slowly moved his hands away from his face, and sighed, wrapping his arms to pat Alik's back. "Nah, man. I didn't hear anything." There was a pause, and he looked around.
"Look. Why don't you get some sleep? You can lay on that couch. I have a million blankets, stream accounts, and a TV... and the fridge is always stocked with shit. How's that sound? Get some sleep... and we can talk about it when the sun's up." Alik nodded shakily, a thousand-yard stare in his eyes as he wiped his face, sniffling, slowly calming down. He sat on the couch, arms wrapped around himself before he looked up cautiously. “… Morgan… it… it said…” Morgan had already set to grabbing blankets from chairs and pushed the window closed... for Alik's peace of mind.
"What did it say?"
He let out a trembling exhale, staring up at him as he curled up in his seat. “… it said it wants to hurt you…”
"It can fuckin' try." He said with a snort, and he tossed a pillow to Alik, then set the remote on the coffee table in front of him. "Listen." He sat on the table and leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him.
"There is one person, one being that terrifies the absolute shit out of me, okay? Only one." He held up a single finger. Alik clasped his hands around Morgan's right back, shaking, staring at him as he whispered. “… it… I don’t know what it wants… I don’t want it to h-hurt you… you’re…” he trailed off, tears coming all over again. This was the side of him nobody but Morgan saw. There was a deep breath and a long sigh. "Alright. Listen. This place has so many fucking wards on it it could repel Jesus, okay? Stay here a couple days. I'll have someone see what the fuck you got going on in your place. Deal?"
He nodded rapidly, wiping his eyes on his pajama sleeve as he lay on his side, his hand not letting go of Morgan’s for a moment. “… thank you…” Morgan squeezed gently. "No problem, man." There was a long pause. "How long's this been going on?" Alik pulled a blanket over himself, the top half of his face poking out. “… Can… can we talk about it in the morning?” He tried to stifle a yawn but failed. “… haven’t slept in… a while… few days…” Morgan gave a light and reassuring laugh. "Sure. Let me know when you're up and shit. Kitchen's stocked, and... There's clothes that... might fit you? Just... check in the closet. I'll have someone pack some of your stuff and bring it when I come back, aight?"
He let Alik's hand go and stepped away, piling one more blanket on top of the man before giving a V for victory. "Sleep good, Pickles." And like that... he was swallowed into a mist. Alik was fast asleep before Morgan even left the room.