only if for a night [ahkmenrah]

09 ▷ the (real) party

DEREK WAS WAITING for her at the bottom of the stairs outside the museum. Emily sighed, knowing she was about to have a very odd — and more than likely awkward — conversation.

   "So..." he began when she stopped in front of him. "The Huns didn't rip any of my granddad's limbs off."

   "Well, that's good," Emily said, trying her best to smile, but gave up when all she managed was an odd twitch. "Listen, you can't tell anyone — and I mean anyone — about last night. Because, if you do, I will probably have to kill you."

   "Honestly, I wouldn't even know how to begin to describe it," Derek said, ignoring her attempt at humour. His brows furrowed, then his eyes flicked back towards the museum doors before returning to her face. "Where's that pharaoh guy?"

   Oh, here we go, Emily thought, trying her best to think of a way to explain it without having Derek flip out. "He, uh, he's one of the ... exhibits," she said, biting her lip.

   "You mean he's wax?" Derek looked confused, and almost offended. "Isn't that a bit..."

   "Oh, no, he's the actual pharaoh," she cut in.

   Clearly, the truth didn't make it better, because Derek's face travelled through various expressions, including horror and mild disgust, before he half-whispered, "So that's a dead body?"

   Honestly, Emily had never thought of it that way.

   "Um." She looked back at the museum doors, hoping Larry and Nicky would come out so she could swiftly change the subject and exit the entire conversation. "I guess? I mean, he comes back to life every night because of that tablet thing, so I wouldn't really say dead..."

   Derek didn't say anything after she trailed off, so she ended up looking at the ground, casting around for something else to say. "Anyway..." she started, hoping that words would come to mind if she just started talking, "I ... have to get back now. Sleep to catch up on, dissertation to write..."

   "Yeah, uh, maybe I could walk you there?" he suggested.

   Emily's mouth pulled down into a frown. "Actually, I kind of want to just be by myself. Plus you've got your grandfather to worry about."

   Speaking of Cecil, she wasn't actually sure what the exhibits had done with him and the other old night guards in the end. She was tempted to go back and look for them in case any visitors stumbled across three tied-up old men in the Hall of African Mammals or something, but then she reminded herself it wasn't her problem. Besides, she really did need to go home.

   She somehow stumbled her way through an awkward goodbye and vaguely remembered agreeing to text him at some point, and was wildly relieved to get away. She needed to collect her thoughts, have at least 3 cups of coffee, and then contemplate what exactly she was going to do about her newfound crush on a 3,000-year-old pharaoh, and how she was going to cope with her sister's illness.

   It was going to be a long morning.

x x x

   She shouldn't have been surprised to find that Savannah was already up when she came in. Emily almost wished she wasn't; she was in a call-in-sick-to-college-to-mull-things-over-by-myself mood.

   She didn't bother making coffee when she came in, only went straight to the bedroom and flopped, face down, on her bed. Savannah followed her from the kitchen.

   "How was work?" she asked, leaning against the doorway.

   Emily only groaned into her pillow.