❝you know, you're pretty cute, considering you're 4,000 years old.❞
❝thank you?❞
luna clair loves museums. she loves history, mythology, all that old shit. so when her best friend's dad gets a new job as the night guard of the new york national hist...
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The earth trembled as you passed by
Turning everything sacred as you walked
And you set your eyes upon me for the first time
Speaking at me with the depth of the night
Like a nightingale who doesn't need its wings to fly
What a blessing it is to be worthy of your look
I have seen rain on the desert
And all impossible things coming true
All of my prayers carry your name
I wish to be pure so that I can desire you
( ancient egyptian love poem )
The next few years of Luna's life are some of the most beautiful. Immediately after their return from London, she sets about the task of acclimating Ahkmenrah to 21st-century life. Shopping trips to J. Crew, Old Navy, and Banana Republic; using Dr. McPhee's connections to establish an alias and backstory (and citizenship, which is surprisingly difficult); and teaching him to use things like a microwave.
Luna and Nicky spend several hours one weekend establishing Ahkmenrah's 21st-century life and this is what they finally come up with: Ahkmen Rahim, a first-century Egyptian immigrant to England with his parents. He lived in England for several years (explaining the accent), before moving to the United States to pursue a career in ancient history, and while at the Natural History museum, he met Luna one evening and asked her out for coffee. The rest, Luna will always say, is history.
This way, Ahkmenrah can talk freely about his parents who live in England, his estranged brother who never visits, his extensive knowledge of Egypt circa the Middle Kingdom, and never raise any eyebrows. And anyone who knows him can call him Ahkmenrah without thinking, and no one will be any the wiser. In Luna's opinion, it's fairly genius.
It's the Thursday after that Luna brings him with her to family dinner and introduces him to her parents. It's nerve-wracking at first, especially since Sterling's predisposed to be extremely harsh on guys Luna's interested in. But Ahkmenrah brings flowers for Eliana, beautiful white lilies, and compliments her paintings of the night sky, and she's instantly in love.
