AU CHAPTER 2
This au Avery is a bit out of character from her original story self.
Damn it, looks like the plot bunnies have struck my mind, this may just be another story in itself. It may or may not follow along with the original. So this au will mainly focus on her and Ahk's relationship building up. Nothing external happening, only when she is in the museum
True to her word, when Avery was at the museum the next time, she made her way to the Pharaoh's exhibit. She nodded to the guards out of respect as she entered. She had gotten to the museum a little later on account of her roommate being hungover. As she entered, she could hear his gut wrenching screams and pounding on the lid of his sarcophagus. She felt terribly guilty. She rushed to him and talked in a calming voice.
"Hey, hey, it's okay Pharaoh Ahkmenrah! I'm back, please just listen to the sound of my voice." She continued making a variety of sounds and phrases to redirect his attention elsewhere. Slowly but surely it worked. He stopped screaming but she could hear him breathing deeply.
"You came back…" He couldn't keep the shock out of his voice. She had stayed true to her word. He breathed a sigh of relief. He almost convinced himself that she wasn't real and that their encounter was just a figment of his imagination. It scared him to think that his mind could be so cruel to invent a person to further torment him.
"Of course I came back. I promised you didn't I? And I like to keep my promises. I'm sorry about coming later, I got held up with a roommate problem." She had already started to arrange herself on the floor next to him.
"That is alright. I do hope it wasn't much trouble for you to come here again."
"No trouble. It was easier to enter than the last time. So what shall we talk about? We can play some icebreaker questions as you pretty much know my life story. Or you could tell me about your life story and how you came here?" She was hoping that he would open up and talk to her but she understood and respected his decision either way.
"I apologize but I do not feel like retelling my life story when I am trapped in this confinement." She heard the bitterness and resentment in his voice.
Sore subject, got it. She made a mental note.
"Okay, well I have a few icebreaker prompts from my college orientation that might be fun. For starters, would you rather have the ability to talk to animals or shapeshift into anything you want?"
Ahkmenrah was surprised by the randomness of the question and it took him a second to process it before he responded. "I would prefer to be able to talk to animals."
She continued on with a line of similar questions. She had a lot of fun coming up with them and eagerly waited for his responses. These questions would force him to think outside his mental and literal box. He started to smile at the childlike nature of these questions. It was his first real smile in half a century.
"Alright Pharaoh Ahkmenrah, would you rather be able to control water or control fire?"
"Hmm, I would rather control the water. I used to love playing in the river as a child." He got a little wave of nostalgia that he did not know what to do. He longed for the simpler days. The days where he could freely walk around and explore. But no, he was trapped for eternity, left here to rot. To his horror, tears started welling up in his eyes. Avery heard the shift in his tone and the small sniffle. She became wide eyed, not knowing how to proceed. It was supposed to be a fun little game, not bring about misery!
"Oh my god, Pharaoh Ahkmenrah! I'm so sorry. Please don't cry." She was not the best at comforting. She walked up and tentatively placed her hand against the glass. It was an awkward silence for a few minutes. The only sound to be made was the Pharaoh sniffling.
"It is okay Avery Daniels. I do not know what came over me. And please, just Ahkmenrah is fine."
Wow, first name basis.
"In that case, just Avery is fine. And I won't judge, I've cried my fair share of tears." She let out a nervous laugh hoping to ease the tension.
"Why don't we take a break from these questions? I actually had something I wanted to talk about."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"Well, your whole exhibit is off limits to everyone. I shouldn't even be here. But I'm glad I convinced myself to come here. My fear is that the night guards will catch me in here and I can only imagine the punishment for that. They might not even let me continue visiting if that is the case. Is there a way for your guards to signal if someone is coming this way?" She did not want to even entertain the thought of being caught though her rule breaking gave her a bit of a thrill. Still she didn't want to abandon him, she made him a promise.
"I understand. I think I have an idea." He shouted a command towards them and they bowed in reverence. "I have told them to hit their spears on the ground in case anyone gets close, specifically the night guards."
"That's very helpful, thank you."