Night life || Ahkmenrah

Thirty seven

Damien woke slowly. Painting reanimating one piece at a time as if the tablet was struggling to bring everything back. As soon as Ahkmenrah came back to life, he was pushing the lid to his sarcophagus aside and stumbling to his feet, bandages trailing from his legs due to his half hearted wrapping from the night before. He didn't care that he was partially clothed, almost naked. Nor did he care that he could hear the sounds of the Smithsonian reanimating around him. Or that Kahmenrah's sarcophagus still stood across the room. The box now empty for there were no earthly remains for Kahmenrah to return to. He had made sure of that. All he cared about was the large photograph on the wall. 

He waited, heart thundering in his chest, as the light in the image changed ever so slightly. The smiling figure of Damien seemed to take on a new shadow as the corners around the frame began to expand. The frame becoming a door rather than just the outline of a picture. In all, the process took about ten minutes. Ten minutes longer than the rest of the museum and Ahk could feel his tablet struggling with it. The magic was drawing on something further. Reaching deeper into whatever afterlife Damien resided to bring his soul back. Ahk was half afraid that it wouldn't work. That this second death was permanent. But as he watched the picture took on life. 

At first Damien's smile faded. His eyelids drooped and his fingers twitched. Ahk was already climbing up through the frame by the time Damien staggered. When he fell, dropping in a faint, the pharaoh was catching him. "Dami! Damien", he called, voice cracking. One hand cupping the blonde's cheek. There was a pulse and the feeling of it fluttering in the hollow of the man's throat caused a rasping breath of relief to leave Ahk's lips. 

"Ahk", Damien's blue eyes were half lidded, almost sleepy. But they were open. The soft sound of the name was followed up by a groan and a visible wince. "Urgh I feel terrible". 

Ahk's breathy laugh caused him to open his eyes again. "Beloved. Don't you ever do that to me again". Arms were clutching the blonde close as the dark haired male buried his face into Damien's shoulder. This time Damien hugged back. Hold just as tight and desperate. 

"How are you feeling?" Ahk demanded as he suddenly pulled back and began tugging at Damien's shirt. 

"Like I got stabbed, blown up and pieced back together", Damien's tone was grumbled. "Everything aches". He allowed the Egyptian to tug up his shirt and run his fingers over the unblemished skin of his stomach. "That tickles". He let loose a small giggle as fingers ran over his stomach. He fell back onto the sandy canvas floor of his tent, the other man above him. Legs straddling his thighs as his hands enclosed on Damien's waist. 

"I thought I'd never hear your voice again", Ahk breathed. "You bled out. Damien, my other half. You died and it felt like you had taken some part of me with you. I was ready to challenge the gods, use all the magic I know if it would bring you back to me. I was so scared that you wouldn't wake up". 

He bent over and pressed his forehead to the warm skin where yesterday there had been a gaping stab wound dripping with blood. Here, pressed so close, Ahk could feel Damien breathe, feel the rise and fall of his skin. A hand reached up to gently run through dark curls. 

"Ahk", the word as fond and loving. "Love. Let me move to the bed. I ache and the floor is not comfortable. Let's move and you can tell me what happened". 

Ahkmenrah, fourth king of the fourth kings, ruler of the land of Egypt and blessed by the gods, pouted. But he begrudgingly moved and helped Damien to his feet. The blonde weak legged and stumbling. "It feels like I'm sick", he complained as he curled up on the thin mattress of the cot in the corner of the tent. 

"The tablet had to expand more magic to bring you back this time", Ahk explained as he got into the bed and pulled the sheet over them. He helped manoeuvre Damien so that the blonde was lying on his stomach and they were face to face. "You had died. Your soul was deeper into the underworld and harder to retrieve. If I could, I would go and fight Anubis and bargain with Osiris to let you go". 

"I am glad it did not come to that", Damien smiled. Ahk wished he could take the image and lock it in a box for only him to see. "Are we still in the Smithsonian? What happened to the others?" 

"The guardian of Brooklyn took our friends back to New York. They are to hide until he finds a way to bring them back to the museum. Since we are apart of a temporary exhibition we are to remain here until we get sent back. But with my brother gone, those who followed him are being detained by the others here. We shall be safe". 

Damien hummed and Ahk watched his eyelashes flutter. The blonde slipping softly into a warm doze. "I'm glad". The words were a soft murmur. "That no one else had to die again". A pause. Damien nuzzled his head into Ahk's shoulder. "That you did not have to die. He had no right to your first death, much less your second". These words held more anger but the effect was muffled by their position and the tired slurring to Damien's voice. 

Ahk had no phrases to describe the effect those words had on him. Love, pride, sorrow, anger, possessiveness, protectiveness, grief. All of it surged strong and he had no way to answer Instead he just wrapped his arms around the blonde next to him and cuddled him closer. "I would sooner die under Kahmenrah's hands a thousand times than see him kill you again", he promised. 

"Good he's gone then", Damien mumbled. Ahk let out a fond noise of amusement. 

"May his remains be forgotten to time". He pressed a kiss, soft and chaste, to Damien's lips as he felt the researcher begin to fall asleep next to him. Ahk watched as breaths deepened and the blonde sunk into the warmth of his hold. 

Outside their exhibition room the occupants of the Smithsonian enjoyed their nights alive. Damien and Ahkmenrah were blind to it. They spent the rest of their exhibition period in Damien's tent with only each other for company. Nights were spent memorising each other's bodies and talking about everything and nothing. They did not need anyone else. Just the two of them to reaffirm their bond and recuperate from the ordeals. Lovers meeting at night and parting in the morning, as they always would. As long as they had each other. 

unedited 

here is is guys. The end of the second movie. Hope you enjoyed it. I sent Ahk and Dami on a wild ride and may have traumatised them slightly, as writers do. 

Stay tuned for the next one. I should hopefully have it out at some point. Final movie and end of the book. 

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