It was one of the miniatures that found the papers in the office. By that point it was too late for them do change anything. Empty boxes were already beginning to arrive. They were piled high in the storage room at the back of the museum with their lids marked with for each exhibit. Soon they would all be packed up and shipped over to the Smithsonian. Damien sighed as he rested his hand on thin but tall box marked for his picture. Next to it was the massive crate for Ahk's sarcophagus and a smaller box for the tablet.
"For a minute of panic, I thought they would be separating us", Damien breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned into Ahk's side.
"No. We are part of the same exhibit. Where I go, you do too. Apparently there's a exchange exhibit between our museums. I am going to be it on display in DC while a exhibit of an Aztec mummy is going to take our place here", Ahk explained. He wrapped an arm round Damien's shoulders as they looked round at the dozens of boxes.
"What about the others?"
Ahk frowned and his voice took a slight bitterness to it. "Apparently our exhibits are getting outdated. They are going to be put in storage".
"But when we get sent back after the exchange, they will be left without the tablet", Damien mumbled. Their friends were going to be sent away. He sighed heavily. There wasn't really anything they could do. Once morning came, they would be powerless. The reminder made the two men grimace.
"That is what the museums will for us", Ahk grumbled. He didn't look particularly pleased by the prospect either.
"I am going to go and use that machine in the entrance hall to research this museum", Damien murmured after a momentary pause.
Ahk's eyes lit up at the mention of the device. "Ah! The guardians of Brooklyn called it a com-pu-ter", he struggled slightly with the modern word. Whenever he had the time to drop by, Larry had been teaching them how to use the box like object. Having been used to typewriters and radios, Damien was fastest to get to grips with the strange machine. Ancient exhibits, such as Ahk and the hun; people from some of the oldest cultures, still struggled with the device. The technology seeming mystical to them. Although, Ahk had grown used to the electric lights (probably having learnt how they work back when he was on display in England), and the sight of cars and street lamps outside, he was still confused by the computer and phones.
Together, they wandered leisurely through the halls to the front of the museum. Damien swinging their linked hands absentmindedly as he walked. Both keeping a peaceful silence, their minds on something else. Something was bugging at him. The dc museum seemed familiar but he couldn't recall why. Hadn't there been a American exhibition to the valley of kings back when he was alive? He had been very small child at the time but he had read all about it during his student days. He had met the lead archaeologist once. The older man having come to congratulate him on finding Ahkmenrah's tomb. Damien stopped, drawing Ahk to a halt.
"Dami?" Ahk turned to him. His gold collar and skirt shining under the lights and his green eyes clear.
Damien licked his lips and gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I just remembered something that I would like to double check". He sped up and Ahk followed him curiously.
"What have you remembered?" He asked as they passed Teddy and Sacajawea. The couple nodded at them and Ahk smiled back in greeting. Damien barely noticed, mind trying to recall what he could. Ahk smiled fondly, used to how his lover's mind worked.
"I hope that I'm wrong. But if this Smithsonian is America's biggest museum, then I may, unfortunately, be correct", Damien muttered. "I mean, this would make perfect sense! Why else would our museums have an exchange exhibit? Your artefacts belong exclusively to the New York museum. The Smithsonian has requested such a thing during the whole six years I've been here. That must mean that they now have artefacts that link in with you and they want to exhibit them together!" Damien explained in a rush as they came into sight of the front desk. He let go of Ahk's hand and jogged over.
"Excuse me boys", he greeted as he sunk into the seat. Jed and Octavius both let out disgruntled complaints as he carefully brushed them off the keyboard.
"We were practicing our typing", Jed yelled. "And don't shove me".
Damien closed their window (the two miniatures had been jumping on the key board to see what button would work), then he opened up another and searched for the Smithsonian website. Ahk leaned over the back of his chair with curious eyes. The Smithsonian website loaded and Damien scrolled to their upcoming exhibits link. When it loaded he groaned. "Bloody blast it".
"What is it?" Ahk leaned closer to get a better look. Damien turned and watched as Ahk's eyes read across the screen. The man, the king, instantly paled slightly. He straightened and took a step back from the screen. "Close it please", he muttered. Damien deleted the tab and stood.
"Ahk?" He held out his hands and Ahkmenrah took them in his, squeezing them gently. "Let's go back to our exhibit".
"What's wrong?" Octavius called after them as the couple began to walk away.
"Got back to your typing gentlemen", Damien waved over his shoulder as he and Ahk ascended the stairs.
The jackal guards seemed to pick up on Ahk's stormy mood as soon as they entered. Both guards bowed silently as they brushed passed, Damien leading Ahk passed his sarcophagus and into his tent. The pharaoh seemed to be in his own mind. Expression ranging from shock and slight horror, to anger. "Just sit down here", Damien murmured softly as he sat Ahk on his cot. The familiar heat of the desert making the man relax slightly. Dami knelt on the Sandy tent floor informs of him, thumbs running across the back of his hands soothingly. "Ahk. Will you tell me what is going through your head?"
Ahk inhaled and took a second to close his eyes and calm himself. "I am searching for the words", he murmured, eyes still shut. "My emotions are having trouble translating".
"Just take your time", Dami soothed.
After another moment and a soft exhale, Ahk opened his eyes and gazed at him. "I am to be put up on display next to my brother. The man who murdered me". The last words were shaky and vile with repressed anger. Ahk tightened his grip on Damien's fingers. The blonde man staying silent to let his lover say what he needed. "I thought that four thousand years would have let me get over it. But I am ashamed to say that his name still angers me". Ahk let out a shaky chuckle.
"Ahkmenrah, no", Damien reached up and pressed his palm to Ahk's cheek. The man leaned into the touch. "You are allowed to still feel angry about it. You are alive and human".
"I used to treat him like a brother", the words were murmured almost as a thought. "My older brother. He never liked me but that didn't stop me trying to gain his attention as a child. Then father left me the throne. I knew he was angry but I didn't realise that his hatred of me would lead to him betraying me. He watched me die and I hate him for it". Angry and grief stricken tears were gathering in the corners of his eyes. Damien had never seen his lover cry before. He didn't want to see it again.
Ahk took a heaving breath. "But without my death I would have never met you". He smiled and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to the corner of Damien's mouth. "I don't want him anywhere near you if I can help it. I'll protect you". The words came as soft brushed of air between their lips
"I'll protect you too", Damien whispered back. "You won't face him alone". They kissed again. Soft, slow and reassuring. Damien cradling Ahk's face in his hands as Ahk traced his thumbs over collarbones.
Ahk smiled against Damien's mouth. "The waiting for you was worth it". It was another one of those sayings. One of those things Ahkmenrah kept mentioning. His references to him having been waiting for Damien to arrive. Even after two years of nights together, Ahk had never quite explained. Damien mentally stored the comment away with the others and drew the man in for another kiss. He could ask Ahk tomorrow.,
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YOU ARE READING
Night life || Ahkmenrah
Fanfiction"For what it's worth, I am glad you were the one to find me". "I think I was looking for you before I knew what to look for". Ahkmanrah x Male oc. Night at the museum.
