To let you guys now I'm fully aware that I was skipping the 'g' in anything that ends in -ing and left out an o in question(s). I did that so you guys could see while you were reading where Tilly's accent takes place with certain words.
~The Party~
"Tilly, calling for Tilly come in, over." The Walkie Talkie screeched as the late voice day guard of the gate booth came through. Tilly was heading to the auditorium that the museum had rented for the night. Tilly had her Walkie stashed in her handbag and pulled it out as soon as she heard the noise. "Tilly here what's your 4-1-1 over?"
"Uh...oh right! Just wanted to let you know the dancers are here and...wow these actors you got know their stuff. Over." The guard didn't seem to put in too much effort with trying to sound professional.
Tilly laughed confidently into the Walkie. "I've got an eye for talent you know."
"You even got the bloke from America to come. Over." The voice came from another day shift night guard who had gotten herself recruited to work the event.
"Ahkmenrah?" The male day guard asked before Tilly could get in a word. The female voice excitedly sang,"Yeah I got to visit when my folks and took a trip across the pond."
Tilly took the chance to jump back in."I called in a favor from the old security guard there." The female asked curiously, "What's his name?"
"Larry," Tilly said quickly without thinking much she was getting closer to her destination.
"No I meant the actor's real name?" The female's voice rang again still cheery like a child. "..." Tilly couldn't answer and began to panic a little, she never thought of him needing a modern name.
"I'm just going to ask him myself." She stated into the Walkie not expecting the reaction she got from Tilly shortly after she said it.
"No!... I mean his name is Ahkmenrah... his parents were...professors of Egyptology! So they named after their favorite king or what they call em." She took many pauses as she was coming up with it all on the fly she didn't have much time left.
"Really?" The female asked having a hard time believing in Tilly's story. Tilly was quick to retaliate. "Yeah. You aren't callin' him or his parents liars or weirdos. Are you?"
"Hey is he seeing anyone?" The female asked to change the subject and get to her answer faster. Tilly without much thought went with the first thought that came to her mind."Yes, a girl from Ireland now get back to your post! The show is going to start soon."
"Roger!" The female replied as her official sign off the Walkie; she sounded less cheery when she said it and somewhat more mature. Tilly just took it as the girl finally focusing on the job at hand. Grabbing a note card from her bag and then throwing it to Lancelot, he caught it and then took it as his cue to start to put all of willpower in making sure the bottom floor was secure.
Tilly dashed off to the front of the auditorium and up to the mic, she had on a pink dress and matching heels. Her hair was down and curled, and her makeup was done be a friend, she looked good standing up there. Ahkmenrah was in first the wing of the stage as waiting dressed in his normal outfit to help 'introduce' the show.
"Ello Ladies and gents, I'm Tilly the night guard here at the museum. Most nights I'm patrolling these halls, and I always find that I learned something new about history and that each exhibit is like a friend. Who else am I gonna talk to at 2 am beside my boyfriend?" The audience laughed as Tilly gave her wink (her blinking both of her eyes). "Tonight we are here to celebrate the great success of the newest addition to the Egyptian collection. And who better than Ahkmenrah himself to kick things off."
Ahkmenrah walked out and onto the stage and received a round of applause as he walked to the mic. Tilly herself was clapping with a note card in her hand as he walked out and gave him a quick hug once he was close enough. He turned to the mic and began his lines that Tilly had given him to say. "So Ahk is there anything you would like to say to our donors?" She winked and nudged him with her elbow.
"All, I can say, is thank you all so much for visiting me and my parents. You've all have made me feel welcomed here. So tonight we are going to celebrate as I did 3,000 years ago, with dancers from the Russian Ballet company Bolshoi, performing a few numbers from various plays."
Tilly quickly looked down at the note. "Including the world famous sugar plum fairy by the Prima Donna oh mama, damn she's got a great body, belly dancing goddess-" A ballerina had run out and whispered in her ear before running backstage. Tilly smiled feeling embarrassed at the news, and she uttered a small oops into the mic, finally realizing her mistake. The audience laughed as Ahk had face palmed himself as his head was down in defeat and had his rubbing his forehead as he felt a headache come on.
"So sorry folks I got this card right before I could give it a good look over. The Ballerina Damini will be the sugar plum fairy and will perform her original piece as her final dance with the company." Ahkmenrah and the audience were confused a murmur broke out of whispers wondering the reasoning behind it.
Ahkmenrah cleared his throat as it was his turn to speak again. "After the show, the dancers as well as us exhibits here will join everyone for the party. If you have any questions for us, please ask. And now ladies and gentlemen the Bolshoi dance company with the national orchestra playing the music."
Ahkmenrah and Tilly headed off stage, the sound of the orchestra warming up caught the audience's attention; the lights went out for a brief moment, and the orchestra was silent. Only the sound of the conductor tapping his baton to let his musicians know they would begin soon broke the silence.
~Several Dances Later~
The group had just finished a piece from Swan Lake when the backdrops lighting change from it's harsh red and yellow as they performed the final scene where the swan and Prince both die to a black. A spotlight shone on the backdrop; something was placed in front of it so the light had shadows into giving it the appearance of something Ahk couldn't figure out. Then two swan puppets flew past, and he finally understood what they were making the moon and the swans from what Ahk could guess was the two lovers. He smiled seeing they had gone with a not so morbid ending.
The staged blacked out. Then the backdrop turned a pink color a single spotlight shone down on a woman. She earned a few gasped once everyone saw the cocoa brown skin female stand in a strong but graceful stance. Her hair was a surprising bright red color held back in a tight bun that some lace attached in a light purple color. Her leotard and tutu were the same color, her eyes were closed shut, her feet were in fourth position, her arms were taut and muscular as was most of her body.
Her arms seemed to float up weightless along with lace material used for her hair tie. It was also used for sleeves on her upper bicep gave her the true fairy look as she brought them up to her sides. She opened her eyes, revealing that they were a nice gold color. A beautiful smile graced her rose painted lips as she began to dance; the tune soon increased in volume, and all, anyone could do, was watch her do her rendition of the dance. All was were captivated by her grace, her sophistication, and pose. The company was losing a true prima ballerina, so there was no hesitation as the dancer finished her number; the crowd was begging for more.
The lights went again, but this time the pit had no lights on, leaving everyone to wonder what was going on. Soon enough a click was heard and instead of the lights turning on, the stage began to glow. The same dancer from before as well as some new dancers were glowing in the dark, their costumes were radiating leaving everyone again in awe and soon enough a heartbeat was heard over the speakers. The dancers pulled themselves in and out with the beat, then what sounded as if time itself was rewinding the music began to play.
"A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes…"
~Back to the Museum~
After the amazing show and a standing ovation the guests went to the museum's open court that lead them to any exhibit if they followed the signs. The guests were quite impressed and taking photos with some of the 'actors' and 'actresses'. Lancelot got the most attention as due to his stunt the first night he had come to life and crashed a play with Hugh Jackman. He didn't mind as he found himself surrounded by 'nobles' and plenty of 'fair maidens'. Ahkmenrah and his parents were also getting a lot of attention as they were the most popular exhibits. Seeing there was nothing to worry about except her impending bladder Tilly ran off to the Lou.
After a nice relief of her bladder, Tilly heard someone enter the bathroom, upset as the door was slammed open. Tilly leaned herself, so she get a peek at the mad Lou user. She spotted a leg a pointe shoe, but only one, concerned she flushed and found the sugar fairy resting her other leg on the counter as she worked off her shoe. Once her pointe shoe was off she ripped open the tights and revealed a bloody set of toes. Tilly grimaced at the blood and soon realized the ballerina had a pair of tweezers with her and went to work on her toes. She pulled out a few splinters before she finally noticed Tilly staring.
"What you've never seen bloody toes before, I got splinters from these stupid boxes they call shoes." She had a thick, and rich Russian accent when she spoke to Tilly.
"Sounds tough miss plum." Tilly responded still staring at her toes as she moved closer to the sink. The ballerina had gone back to working on her toes and stopped after hearing voice; her eyes had slightly widened.
"You were that announcer who was reading off the joke card. I am Damini Mitin pleasure to meet you." She stated taking a break from removing the splinters.
"Same, name's Tilly I work the night shift here."
"I know, you said that in your opening speech, very funny."
"Thanks, since you're here, why are leaving your ballet company, you look very young."
She looked amused and annoyed at the same time."Ha! Most people make that mistake, I am in my late mid-twenties, most think I am 17 or some bullshit like that. I am getting too old for it and I wish not only to dance ballet anymore."
"Make sense that last dance to Cosmic Love was something you came up with that, right? It's an old song."
"Yes I choreographed it and my routine for the fairy dance. It was my final goodbye to the company before I left for a new job."
"Which would be?" Tilly asked feeling curious and being wrapped up in the conversation.
Damini smiled,"I've been given a teaching job in dance school here, very exciting for me. I get to teach future ballerinas, and also I get to practice other forms as well." Tilly only asked. "For example?"
She began to list the types of dances as she went back to pulling splinters."Tap, jazz, lyrical, street-"
"Street?" Tilly was surprised to hear someone consider street as a type of dance a school would teach, and more so that a ballerina considered it to be a dance. "Yes street dancing is very popular and a challenge but I can dance anything."
Tilly was in awe while she dried her hands. "That's amazing how long have you've been dancing for?" Damini had to stop and think for a minute she moved her fingers to show she was calculating."Since I was very young, maybe four years old is when it started."
"You quiet are dedicated to this aren't you?" Damini gave her a wide smile before replying, "Very, dance saved my life. I am glad I get to continue doing it. There we go!" She held up one large splinter in her tweezers in success.
Damini lifted her leg, bent it and brought it close to her body. Holding on with a hand on the counter, she used her other hand to ran her fingers across the skin of her toes. She felt for anything sticking out, after not cringing she lifted her leg again placing her foot in the sink and set off the motion sensor. She was washing off the blood, Tilly grabbed a few paper towels and handed them to her. She got a nod of approval as Damini accepted them and used them to dry off her toes and stop the bleeding. Throwing away the towels, she grabbed a couple more and placed them in her shoe. She tied the shoe back around her ankle and foot; she turned to Tilly bowing with her hands to her heart.
"Thank you, I have only one question for you," Damini told her picking up her head to make sure Tilly could hear her clearly."Oh no problem, I'll answer yours if you answer mine."
"Alright that seems fair, my question is if you know of any good places or things to do here in London?" She asked with a blush across her cheeks.
Tilly laughed,"Oh that's easy, there about a million things you could do I'll give you my number so we can chat. So where are you from?"
"That's all you want to know? I was born in India and given the name Damini as I was an orphan with no name. I started to dance to earn money, and I learned by watching performances on the street. I started to take up learning ballet and found the Russian dance group. The headmaster took me in and trained me as she saw my ability to learn fast and improve."
"That's amazing."
"Dah, I was very lucky I try not to take anything for granted like these bathrooms. Also, those actors dressed as the exhibits here. Which is the Ahkmenrah boy? I haven't seen a child around." The two headed out together
Tilly was surprised by the assumption."Why would you think he was a child, he was speaking in the beginning and was backstage for a while. He's an adult by the way."
"Oh." She was blushing as they walked back to the party. "I was told he was a 'kid king' I assumed that he was a child."
"Ah well, I think he took the throne young, he died around 18 or 19. I've never heard about that before, now that I think about it I don't really know that much about Ahk." Tilly told her as she came to the realization. "Ahk, clever nickname. So he is the one with the staff and his wife?"
Tilly laughed again. "No, that's his father and mother. He's right over there by I believe ex-queen Timut." She pointed out Ahkmenrah, who was chatting with another 'actress', her hair was long and dark as her skin and eyes. She wore a purple dress, she held a drink in her hand; she was leaning back a little as she was speaking to Ahk.
She was thin and looked angry as looked behind her shoulder. "It's Tamut!"
Tilly cringed a little. "Sorry, your Royals." Damini and Tilly had made their way over to the Royals. The queen her crown was styled, so it was just a gold snake wrapped around her head. "Who are you?" She directed the question to both of them.
"I'm Ti-" She was cut off by the mighty Tamut. "I know who you are Tilly, I meant the royal."
"Royal?" Damini asked unsurely of why she assumed that she was a royal.
"Yes you are dressed in purple, Royals are the only ones who wear purple since it's the rarest dye." Tamut gestured to all of her and then it made sense to her. She smiled as she found the actress to be dedicated to her role.
She couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration."Oh yes, I remember learning about that. However, I am no royal. I am Damini, an ex-prima ballerina, I performed the dance known as the Sugarplum Fairy."
Ahkmenrah jumped in the conservation. "Ah yes, we all watched from the balcony seats; you were very good. Compared to the other dancers." Damini turned her attention towards Ahk looking him over from top to bottom. "Ah yes, I worked many hours for perfection, which is why I was a prima ballerina."
"You keep saying prima why?" Tamut demanded in a gentler tone than what one would expect.
She didn't act surprised by the demand. "Because many people dance ballet, and very few get to become a professional. I earned the title after I my first performance with the company. It is very hard to earn."
Tamut shook her head in respect."Impressive I can respect a woman who works her way to success. What are you going to do next?" She was happy that people were taking an interest in her. " I've been given a job at a dance school here in London."
"TILLY!" A familiar voice came from behind the group. "Oh, right it's you," Tilly said at loud, reading the mind of both the royals who had heard her voice during the day. As she turned around and spotted the small, short haired blonde, female caught up to them. Her dress was rather revealing if her cleavage.
"Oh, come on Tilly, you know my name is Catherine. I wanted to see where you were." She sang as if Tilly was playing. Tilly wasn't getting the hint though, Tamut had left quietly bidding Ahkmenrah a goodbye and thanked you for the night.
When he finally turned back to the trio of females he heard Tilly saying. "...you could have used the walki-" Catherine had noticed him paying attention again, so she cut him off, Damini smiled too as she grabbed a drink from one of the waiter's trays.
"Hello, I'm Catherine I don't know if you remember me, but I saw you when you were working at the New York Museum. I was only there one night, but it was amazing seeing everyone dressed up and giving tours."
Ahk gave her a small but awkward smile."Yes I'm sorry but I don't recall you as you said I gave a lot of tours when I was in New York." Catherine batted her eyelashes as she tried to get closer to Ahk. "What are you doing now?"
"Nothing much but that's because I'm not sure if I'll be here much longer. I get jobs when I least expect them." Tilly was impressed but how well he made it seem natural as if it were the truth, he must have had a lot of time to practice.
A man who Ahk recognized as being the prince in Swan Lake come up from behind Damini. He had dirty blonde hair and strong cheekbones. He grabbed Damini's arm gently catching her off guard."I'll be stealing you for tonight."
"Sorry, I must go it was an honor meeting you both, your majesty." She had given them a proper wink before she left with the man who had pulled her aside. Ahk's smile fell as he was disappointed she left before they could talk more he still had questions for her.
