Her first impression of the woman was nothing more than a disembodied panicked voice. There was a scurrying that Ahkmenrah barely heard over her own screeches, followed almost immediately by a crash that rang through the hall and almost silenced the mummy.
Almost.
Ahkmenrah continued to howl, even as her ears were assaulted by the grinding of stone and glass and eventually the click of the sarcophagus being opened. She didn't hesitate to seize the moment. The rage build up after fifty years of entrapment only proved to fuel her kick, the cover of the sarcophagus flying and smashing into the wall.
Stone fragments and dust filled the air as she sat up, finally free from the stifling tombstone that had held her against her will for so long. And by gods, did it feel good to be able to do as little as sit up- she didn't have long to focus on the new freedom. Unable to see, she could only hear a woman (the one that freed her?) trying her best to explain their situation.
Ahkmenrah resisted rolling her eyes - it didn't matter anyways, the other woman couldn't see her through the thick wrappings - and barked out an order to the guards of her tomb. She heard the distinct clink as their motions came to an abrupt stop, instead sliding into a respectful bow before their queen.
The mysterious woman - the new night guard, perhaps? - let out a long sigh of relief. Ahkmenrah smiled to herself and reached up to tentatively tug at the ancient and ratty bandages. They quickly came loose and her long hair was freed, the dark and dirty locks (what she wouldn't give for a bath in this moment...) came free, cascading down her back. She dropped the ratty bandages in a heap to the side, casting them a short, distasteful look before turning her eyes to her unlikely saviour.
The woman was, at first glance, not entirely significant to the Egyptian Queen. She had dark eyes with darker bags beneath them, clearly tired and perhaps stressed from the hectic nights spent at the museum. Her hair was pulled back tightly in a bun, but a few loose hairs had escaped, only adding to her completely dishevelled look. The night guard was tense, standing protectively before a child as she eyed the ancient royalty with distrust.
Ahkmenrah smiled.
Ahkmenrah tended to look back at this memory with fondness, despite the circumstance. After that night, her freedom was granted, something she had been so close to giving up on after fifty long and lonely years. Beyond that however, there was a better reason she held that night dear. She had met her.
The very woman who currently leaned tiredly against the wall after undoing the pins. Ahkmenrah offered Laura a small smile, and it was returned, albeit seeming slightly forced. Her hair was pulled back in it's usual style - for reasons Ahkmenrah soon learned came in the form of a small, mischievous monkey.
"You look like you've been busy," Ahkmenrah noted with amusement as she climbed from her sarcophagus. She eyed the woman she had come to love with curiosity, "you're late."
Laura winced, "we have a travelling exhibit on special for Ancient Greece that just woke up for the first time."
Well, that didn't sound extraordinarily fun. "Any fights thus far?"
Laura let out a huff of air, looking more exasperated now. "Nothing too concerning, really. The new miniatures may have decided to demand war and try to conquer the roman exhibit with Alexander the Great in the lead."
Ahkmenrah snorted in laughter, only imagining how well that would have gone over.
"Also, some of the philosophers were rather challenging to calm down," Laura admitted. Ahkmenrah simply laughed in return, stepping closer to the night guard, who seemed to not notice. "But Teddy and Wea are down there for the time being."
Good, Ahkmenrah thought, you need a break.
She did not voice her thoughts, but instead signalled for the guard to walk with her. Laura followed without a word. Together, they made their way down the hall, the muffled noise of the museum's life barely reaching their ears. A few turns and they found themselves at the observatory.
Ahkmenrah did not enter right away, but paused with her hand on the door handle.
"Ahk?" Laura asked quietly. She did not receive a response for many moments. When the egyptian woman finally turned around, Laura was staring at her, her eyebrows knit together in worry.
"I am fine," Ahkmenrah murmured. Her hand dropped from the handle, and she suddenly stepped forward. She only briefly wondered if she would soon come to regret what she was about to before she continued, "Laura, I-!"
The young queen reached forward, grabbing the guard's hand. Ahkmenrah stepped closer, causing Laura to stiffen. She couldn't help but notice a blush creeping along the woman's face and was sure her own wasn't much better - what was she doing!? "I wanted to say-!"
She was cut off by a loud crash downstairs that sounded worse than the usual ruckus of the museum. Laura cursed and Ahkmenrah dropped her hand quickly. There was a brief moment, in which Laura cast Ahkmenrah an apologetic before bolting off towards the sound.
Ahkmenrah slumped against the door to the observatory in defeat, watching as Laura disappeared around the corner to investigate.
There she goes.
It was hours later when Ahkmenrah saw Laura again. The queen had been sulking around the upper levels rather than go down and investigate alongside Laura - and no one truly blamed her. She was slightly mortified of what she had almost done earlier.
She truthfully didn't know what had come over her. She had known for quite sometime that she held these feelings for the woman. Laura had left the guard duty for a few months - and what a painful few months that had been. Perhaps it was then that she had realized...
She could still feel the warmth of Laura's hand in her's, see the faint blush that dusted her cheeks- she imagined that she had finished the sentence, leaning in and stealing a kiss without hesitation...
She shook her head, trying desperately to erase the memory from her mind, and slumped back into one of the chairs of the dimly lit auditorium.
The Egyptian woman was torn. Part of her wanted to hide away, back in her sarcophagus and never face Laura again. After all, why would Laura want to see her after that? It was probably just as mortifying to both of them.
Another part of her wanted to throw away all that was sane in this world. She wanted to ignore the fact that Laura was a living, breathing human being, while she herself was only able to live in the moon's presence. It was impossible, but how she wanted it - she could not put it into words.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered to herself, burying her face in her hands.
"Yes, it really is."
Ahkmenrah practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of Laura's voice. Caught up in her musings, she had not even noticed the woman enter the room. Ahkmenrah dipped her head in embarrassment, but continued to peer up at Laura through long lashes.
"Do you want to talk?" Laura asked, dropping down in the seat next to Ahkmenrah. The queen shook her head. How could she put it into words? What Laura meant to her - it went beyond mere words. The woman was, to most in the museum, a representation of everything they had left behind in death - skin and bones and an essence of reality. To Ahkmenrah, she was... more. She was elegance, freedom... something that made her feel more alive than the tablet every could, despite it's mysterious power. "That's okay then."
Ahkmenrah looked surprised as Laura reclined in the chair, seeming completely relaxed - as if had forgotten what had happened mere hours earlier. She watched as the woman reached back, removing a few pins and allowing her hair to fall free. At the questioning look she received from Ahkmenrah, she simply smiled.
"Dexter's down for the night," she explained. "And the miniatures are at peace, finally. I believe they are holding some sort of olympics down there..."
Ahkmenrah smiled as Laura continued to talk, her face shining in the pale blue starlight. She had never seen Laura's hair down before. Curly locks framed her face nicely, and Ahkmenrah had the strangest of urges to run her fingers through her hair...
"Ahk?"
It took a moment for Ahkmenrah to shake herself from her thoughts, realizing Laura had long since talking, and another few to realize she currently had her fingers tangled in Laura's hair. She forced her eyes up to meet Laura's, who met her gaze with a small smile. The blush from earlier had returned, this time masked with a slight glow.
"You were saying, earlier?" Laura asked, a smile on her lips and a knowing glint in her eyes. Ahkmenrah blanked for the briefest moments before seizing her chance.
"It doesn't matter," she murmured, leaning in and kissing Laura. It was a release of months of pent up feelings, and she was flying. Laura replied just as eagerly, allowing the young queen to knot her hands further in her hair and pull her closer. Ahkmenrah was breathless as she pulled away, her heart pounding and a sudden warmth flooding through her, "It's only us here."