"Some help you are." I muttered to Ahk, flopping down next to him on the bench. This was my fifth night without Larry, and I was finding it extremely difficult to cope with everything.
He grinned, looking the picture of relaxation with his legs crossed and arms folded loosely. "I think it's fun to watch you try to do everything at once and then get frustrated and shout something cute like, 'son of a nemo'."
I glared. "Nemo is actually no one in Latin, so you're not allowed to tell me it doesn't make sense. It does."
"Whatever you say." Ahk replied with an exaggerated incline of his head that was almost a bow.
I jumped up and stopped Dexter from pulling the fire alarm lever... again. He had figured out how to use it just fifteen minutes ago, and my ears were still ringing from the shrill sound of the fire alarm ringing. The exhibits hadn't liked it all that much either, and I'd been frantically trying to calm everyone down ever since.
I groaned and sat down again. "I swear, this museum is going to be the death of me."
Ahk only looked at me, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
I shot him a pleading look. "Speak at my funeral?"
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he pretended to be intrigued. "Will it be at night?"
I sighed. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I'll try to arrange it after sundown and before sunrise. Maybe in this very museum. Just don't let Dexter jump on the casket."
At the mention of his name, Dexter shrieked and bit my fingers. I let go, yelping and dropping him on the ground. "You little demon!"
He bared his teeth at me, then reached for the fire alarm lever. Too late, I tried to catch him.
He pulled it.
Screeee, screee, screeee!!!!! Came the piercing, high-pitched wailing that I was certain had already sufficiently decreased my hearing abilities. Maybe I'd be deaf before the night was over. Then Ahk would be sorry he hadn't helped me....
My hand felt wet. I glanced down and saw red. My fingers were bleeding from puncture marks where Dexter had bitten me. "Ohhh." I groaned, collapsing back onto the bench in a theatrical manner. "I'm bleeding. I'll probably get rabies and die, and then you really will have to speak at my funeral."
Ahk finally got up. "Don't be too dramatic." he warned. "You're milking things for all they're worth."
"Ugh." I grunted. "Kill me now. I can't do this anymore." The loud wailing of the alarm cut into my ears and made my head throb.
Ahk took my hand, examining the puncture wounds. "First things first. Let's do something about that hand."
"No." I replied immediately. "The alarm first."
"Which is more important?" Ahk asked patiently, tugging me gently to my feet. "You, or the fire alarm?" It wasn't a real question, but I answered it anyway.
"The fire alarm." I mumbled.
"Wrong." Ahk tsked and shook his head. "Sounds like we need to help you get your priorities straight."
I pulled away. "Just... I can take care of it. You do the other stuff."
"Nope." He shook his head. "Come with me."
With that, he grabbed my hand again and pulled me with him out of the main room, through the hall, and up the staircase. I protested weakly, but honestly, I was too mentally and physically tired to really care.
He took me into his exhibit room and sat me down gently on one of the benches, shooting me a stern look as I tried to hop to my feet again. "Stay."
"I'm not Rexy." I mumbled, trying to sound genuinely offended. "I'm not a dog. You can't just tell me to-"
"Stay... please." Ahk corrected himself, then turned to the two guardian statues on either side of the door. "And you two. Don't let anyone -- or anything bother her while I'm away."
And then he left the room quickly. I stared around, trying to fight the exhaustion that was washing over me in waves. How did Larry do it?
Would I ever get used to this?
At least Ahk was helping me. Kind of. Sort of. Well, he was now.
"Hi." I said to the two statues. One of them turned its heads slowly. I wasn't very afraid of them anymore, so I kept talking. "I'm Emily. Do you guys speak at funerals?"
Silence. The other one turned to look at me, too. The fire alarm stopped ringing, and I exhaled in relief. The thing had been killing my ears.
A chattering noise came from the entrance of the room, the familiar sound that meant Dexter. I groaned. "I really cannot deal with this right now. Dexter, go away!" I called.
Ignoring my plea, the monkey began to enter the room.
Both statues moved quicker than I would have believed possible, considering their size. In a moment they were blocking the entrance, spears extended threateningly. Dexter shrieked again, this time in surprise, and backed away, scampering away down the hallway.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
Silence. The statues went back to their former positions. I watched them for a moment.
"I wonder if you get bored, just standing there night after night. Do statues get bored?"
No reply. They probably couldn't talk.
"I'm not bored." I continued, in case they had wanted to know. "I'm tired and exhausted and stressed and..."
A small coughing noise came from the door. Ahk was standing there hesitantly. He came in slowly and sat next to me. His eyes were apologetic... and very blue. "I'm sorry." he said, looking ashamed. He ran a hand through his hair; a nervous habit. "I didn't realize you were so tired. I would have helped before if I'd realized. I'm... I'm a fool for not having seen it." He lowered his head dejectedly.
"It's not your fault." I protested, putting my uninjured hand to my forehead. "I was trying to hide it."
"Why?" he asked softly. The soft, warm light of the room dappled his face with shadows and flickering light.
I shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
"Emily." Ahk turned my chin up so I was looking directly into his eyes. A spark shone in them, lighting mine as well. "Why?"
"I don't know." I finally replied, still trying to look away. His gaze held mine like a magnet, but I tore my eyes away after a moment of inward struggle. The light was warm and inviting, mesmerizing and tempting -- like a little flame. But like a fire, I was afraid it could burn me if I got too close.
He sighed and stopped trying to make me look at him. "Surely it isn't because you don't... trust me? I thought you at least trusted me a little bit." He sounded disheartened. The flame flickered, and as afraid as I was of it, I didn't want it to die.
"I trust you more than I should." I mumbled under my breath. The words were meant only for me, but he tilted his head.
"What?"
"Nothing." I replied instantly. "I promise that's not it, Ahk. I just... don't like dumping my problems on other people. I feel like I'm bothering them."
Ahk looked at me with sincere blue eyes. "I hope you'll tell me next time something's wrong, Emily. You should know that it's never a bother to me. In fact, it's..." Ahk thought for a moment. "Well, solving other people's problems is pretty much the only reason I exist." He gave me a sad smile. "I don't have much else to do, night after night, month after month, year after..." He trailed off and didn't go on, changing his mood abruptly. "Let's have a look at your hand."
I held it up reluctantly, hurting inside and wishing I could help him somehow. But the problems he had -- well, was it even possible to solve them?
Ahk examined my hand. "That looks painful." he said sympathetically. "I'll clean it for you, and hopefully it won't need a bandage. Dexter isn't usually so violent."
"Isn't he?" I grumbled. "How lucky for me that the one time he is, I'm in the way."
Ahk chuckled. "He's more violent with the people he likes the most, at least for the first little while. Once you get to know him, you'll see that he's not always a 'little demon'."
I snorted. "Sure. And I suppose badgers will fly."
He laughed again. "Perhaps they will, someday. What with all the," he searched for the right word, "technology from this age, I wouldn't be surprised if someday that happened." His expression fell. "And I suppose I'll be there to see it. Unchanged as always. Unable to..." He trailed off, sorrow in his blue eyes.
I reached out to touch his shoulder, ignoring the little leap my heart gave. "Can I help you somehow?" I asked hesitantly. "I know you're not happy, and I want to do something about that."
He forced a smile and finished cleaning my small injury. "You're very sweet, Emily, but I'm afraid I'm stuck with reality as it is." His eyes met mine in a real smile. "Besides, you are helping me already. I haven't been this happy in years. There's something about you... it's as if there's a light in your eyes and about your countenance. Those around you can't help but be brightened by it."
I gave a little laugh, slightly embarrassed. "You're just saying that."
"Am not." He grinned at me, all hints of sadness gone from his face. "It really is true."
"Hmm." I studied his sincere expression. "Well, if you really are serious, I suppose I'll have to believe you. Thank you, Ahk. That's... really kind of you to say."
"Anytime." he replied cheerily.
One of the two statues shifted in place suddenly, and I turned to glance at them. "Say. Do those guardian statues have names?"
"Er... no, not that I know of." Ahk responded, confused. "Why?"
"Because they do now." I grinned mischievously at him and pointed. "That one on the right is the male. His name is Fluffy. The one on the left is female. Her name is Sparkle."
Ahk stared at me in complete incredulity. "What?" he finally spluttered. "What? Who decided that?"
"I did." I replied proudly.
He was still spluttering in disbelief. "Okay, first of all, no. Second of all, they are both males because they're my guards and I say they are."
"What do you mean?" I stared innocently back. "The one on the left is obviously a female. She has a slimmer build, see? She looks feminine. And what's wrong with those names?"
"They-- I just -- you can't... Dah!" Ahk threw his hands into the air. "Those names are cute. Guardians are supposed to be terrifying and awe-inspiring, not cute!"
"Then what would you suggest?"
"I don't know," Ahk thought for a moment. "Something like, Destroyer or... Devastation."
I sniffed distastefully. "You men are so violent."
He stared at me. "They're guardians! They're supposed to be intimidating!"
I walked over to the statue on the right. "Well, I think Fluffy likes his name. Don't you, Fluffy?" I patted the statue in a familiar manner.
And then the huge, awe-inspiring, scary, terrifying statue with the head of a jackal and a huge, terrifying jagged sharp spear began to purr.
I shot Ahk a triumphant smirk. "See? He likes it!"
He gave an exasperated, disbelieving groan and collapsed onto a bench. "I give up! My own statues, deserting me. What a low blow." He looked up with a hint of a smile. "Someday you're going to have to teach me the secret to your charm that makes everyone like you so much."
I giggled.
He met my eyes, and the both of us began to laugh.
"That was funny," Ahk told me after a moment. "But those are still not their names."
"Oh, posh." I sniffed. "I say the statues should choose their own names... and it's obvious that they favored my choice."
* * *
We spent the rest of the night bantering, talking and laughing. At one point he stole my coat and wouldn't give it back, so I threatened to bring glittery nail polish the next night (I didn't actually have any, but it was a good bluff) and paint his statues with it so they would match their names. Then he finally gave it to me, threatening that he would "steal" something else before the night was over. After that I kept close tabs on everything I'd brought with me, but there had been something in that mischievous smile that made me think he knew something I didn't.........
* * *
As I climbed into my car that morning after my shift was over, about to turn the key in the ignition, I suddenly felt in my coat pocket for my phone.
It wasn't there.
Instead, I drew out a piece of paper with a message written on it in curling, beautiful cursive.
I know you don't have any sparkly nail polish, so I felt quite safe doing this.
I stared at it for a moment, mind whirling. My expression was shocked as the words on the paper sank in. Then a little warmth inside me flared, and I kept back the smile that was stealthily creeping across my face without my permission.
"You did not just do that." I said aloud, even though I was in the car and he definitely couldn't hear me.
Ahk had stolen my phone.
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Hmmm, this is getting interesting. Wonder where it's gonna go next...
Please vote/comment, and as always, thanks for reading!! You guys are awesome!!!!