Word count: 2228
Ahkmenrah was standing by the security exit shuffling in his shoes, obviously not used to anything but sandals.
"Phew, okay let's go" Elizabeth held onto his arm and opened the door.
They stepped outside and were embraced by the crisp air of the New York night.
Elizabeth sighed and took a breath before looking at Ahkmenrah, he was smiling down at her.
"When I was last outside Nick was around 6 or 7, before that it had been 4,000 years before I had a breath of fresh air quite like that" he spoke, Elizabeth bounced in front of him.
"So do it!" she grinned, he laughed slightly confused.
"Take a really deep breath! I'll do it with you"
He looked at her and then joined in with an exaggerated inhale and exhale.
"The air is lovely" he smiled.
She giggled and then remembered to give him a jacket from her backpack. She pulled it over his shoulders and then linked her arm with his, beginning to walk.
A thought popped into her head.
"Ahk.... When you come alive at night do all of your organs work? Like.. Everything?" Elizabeth asked watching him.
"Well I-" he started.
Elizabeth realized that once more her question could be easily misunderstood so she quickly added
"I'm just asking because if you can inhale, the oxygen must go somewhere, so I'm guessing when you wake up you have organs again? No longer mummified?
Their eyes met before Ahkmenrah held up his hand, revealing his wrist.
"Blood begins to pump through my veins and air enters my lungs once more when I awaken. I've had thousands of years in the dark to think about it but I haven't really. When I died my organs were removed from my body so I don't know how I have them again."
Elizabeth was running this through her head, still bewildered that this man who seemed so full of life was technically dead.
Ahkmenrah watched her eyes watch his wrist as they walked. He gently grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, halting them from moving.
"It is supposedly most important, but I awake with a beating heart again" he spoke softly.
Elizabeth was flushed with the contact but held her hand on the chest, feeling the the delicate pulses.
"This is just.... incredible"
She slowly retracted her hand and they began to walk again.
"You know, you're practically a miracle, or a medical marvel" Elizabeth exclaimed
"I've never seen or heard of anything like what your tablet is capable of" she continued.
She glanced at him and then at the street they were on.
"We will be there soon"
She momentarily looked at the ground before tilting her head at him, Elizabeth was incredibly happy that she had met him, this experience changed her life every night.
"You know... I must say I'm quite happy the tablet does what it does, I'm happy I get to hang out with you, you're wonderful" Elizabeth spoke to him, what she said couldn't be more true, she was a busy person who only had one friend that she normally hung out with and she was overjoyed by Ahkmenrahs company.
Their eyes met again and she felt him slightly tighten his hand around hers.
"It is completely my pleasure, I can't say it hasn't become boring only talking to your uncle and the huns.." he trailed off.
"I'm quite happy I got to meet you as well Elizabeth"
Elizabeth lightly bit her lip as she smiled, looking up at the street sign them across the road.
"There it is!"
They quickly crossed the street and were welcomed with the neon sign of a coffee cup.
Elizabeth peered in the windows and saw that there were only 3 extra people in the restaurant, a young couple and a girl who looked about 25 writing on a computer.
She heard the bells on the door jingle and saw Ahkmenrah holding it open for her, even when he's the one out of place, he's a gentleman. Elizabeth grinned and walked in.
"Thank you very much, I hope you like it here"
"If you like it, I'm sure I will as well" he assured her.
They sat down in a booth next to the window and the waitress that Elizabeth was friends with called Casey walked over to them with a smile. Elizabeth's smile faltered as she realized that she had not checked if her friend had a shift that night, surely Casey would ask many questions about Ahkmenrah and Elizabeth didn't really know what to say.
"Hi Elizabeth, What can I do for you this evening?" Casey was a bit too upbeat, but was kind and it's one of the reasons Elizabeth was good friends with her and loved the diner.
Elizabeth tried to brush away her worries and straightened her back.
"Hi Casey!" she exclaimed, soon blushing as Ahkmenrah held her hand under the table, it calmed her down.
"I'll have a strawberry milkshake and a grilled cheese with fries on the side" Elizabeth grinned, not even looking at the menu.
Casey nodded and scribbled it on her notepad, the waitresses eyes moved to Ahkmenrah and she smirked, looking back at Elizabeth.
"What can I get for this handsome man?" she winked at Elizabeth, making Elizabeth lightly kick her in the shins. Casey knew that Elizabeth wasn't exactly the person to hang out with boys a lot.
"My name is Ahkmenrah, kin-" he stopped himself, letting Elizabeth let out a breath she was holding.
"I'm Ahkmenrah and I met Elizabeth at the natural history museum" he smiled at the girl.
Casey laughed and shook her head.
"Of course you found her at a museum, I was expecting a library but that is easily the same, very old sounding name you have" she observed
Ahkmenrah looked at the menu, an uncertain look on his face. He momentarily moved his hand from Elizabeth's, making her wince slightly, already missing his touch. Much to Casey's amusement, the girl noticed everything.
"I'll have the same as Elizabeth" he decided with a kind smile.
"Coming right up" Casey grinned and headed back to the kitchen.
Once she was out of sight Elizabeth glanced at Ahkmenrah with an embarrased look on her face.
"I can't believe I forgot to check it she was working tonight" she quietly groaned into her hands. He looked back at her curiously.
"Why does it matter, she doesn't know who I am, or what I am." he put his hand back on hers for comfort, unaware of the fluttering in her stomach that he caused.
"Casey is really the only person I've seen since I moved to New York for school, I've been home to see my mom but nobody else, but I know Casey because she's from home. Casey is possibly the chattiest person I've ever met, she is lovely but will want to know everything about you.
Where you're from, your birthday, where your parents are from, what we do when we hang out. Absolutely everything! " Elizabeth took a breath and met his eyes, appreciating the subtle touch of his pointer finger lightly running along her hand.
"I'm sorry for getting worked up, I'm just worried she will think I'm lying to her when I talk to her about you. I mean I will be lying, but I also don't want her to think that I think she's dumb and that she would be fooled by a magic tablet story, hell even I wouldn't have believed it a month ago." Elizabeth finished, gently chewing on the inside of her cheek.
"If it would make you feel better, we can spend tomorrow evening making up a new person, maybe a person whose family was really into history and named him after a pharaoh. It would help with my slip of telling her my name." Ahkmenrah suggested.
Elizabeth smiled at him, she felt lucky to hang out around a man that was so calm and collected, mature and polite, he was a joy to be around. And not that she would divulge in honesty to him but she found him increasingly attractive.
They talked for about ten minutes before Casey came back out with the plates, then with their drinks.
"Enjoy!" Casey grinned, sending another wink Elizabeth's way.
Elizabeth grinned and took a bite of her sandwich, exhaling in satisfaction.
"Food shouldn't be allowed to be this good" she groaned making Ahkmenrah chuckle.
Elizabeth watched as he picked it up and took a bite of his own.
"Oh this is wonderful, I like it better than other thing we had, what was it called again?" he took his time savouring it.
Elizabeth laughed at his reaction.
"You mean pizza?" She answered, to which he nodded happily.
"Have some of your milkshake!"
He took a moment to taste the drink before looking back at her.
"Considerably more tolerable than the other sugar drink, the slurpee."
They continued to chat, conversation tending to stay on the topic of food.
"You should dip a french fry in your milkshake! Trust me its wonderful" Elizabeth exclaimed.
After Ahkmenrah tried it he grinned meeting her eyes.
"It's a perfect combination"
"YES YOU GUYS ARE!" Casey shouted from the kitchen causing Elizabeth to hide her face in her hands.
"What does she mean by that?" he asked with a puzzled yet still happy expression.
Elizabeth wondered if she should just brush it off or just tell him. She chose the latter.
"She means you and I make a good combination, that we go well together" Elizabeth spoke with tinted cheeks.
She watched his face as he thought for a split moment before grinning again. She loved how much he smiled, it made her feel cared for.
"I agree, I think we make a good pair" Ahkmenrah stated, this sent shudders of happiness through Elizabeth's body.
As if reading her silent reaction he put his hand back on her's.
While they finished eating and kept their conversation, Elizabeth couldn't help but let her mind wander.
Did Ahkmenrah mean they meant a good pair as friends? Even if he had meant genuinely meant it as friends, he couldn't possibly be naive enough to not realize what Casey had been hinting at all night. He was a king! Surely he had a partner when he was alive, surely he understand crushes. She was thinking too much into it, of course he probably meant that they were good friends.
Once they were finished Casey came back over and too away their plates.
"Any dessert for you two?" she asked.
"Oh I'm good but thank you, how about you Ahk?"
"Cute nickname" Casey whispered, making Elizabeth roll her eyes.
"I'm fine, everything was wonderful, thank you very much" he spoke kindly to her.
"You guys are welcome! I can't wait to see you again" Casey exclaimed. Elizabeth walked up to the counter and paid before the two of the headed outside.
"That was a wonderful place Elizabeth, thank you for sharing it with me " Ahkmenrah smiled at her.
"Of course Ahk, it was my pleasure" she laughed as they subtly linked hands once more, beginning to stroll down the street.
"I like when you call me Ahk, everyone else calls me it. Not that I minded when you called me Ahkmenrah, I liked that too" he stumbled over his words. Elizabeth giggled and lightly squeezed his hand.
"Just do you know I will find a nickname that nobody else calls you by, what about Ahkmen?"
"Well that's what my mother called me" he laughed, Elizabeth lightly shook her head.
"Oh dear that won't work, I'll think of something else".
Elizabeth felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from Casey.
" you bagged a gentleman ;)" it read, Elizabeth chuckled and put it away.
Once they made it to the museum, they stood outside for a moment. It wasn't that late but the exhaustion from Elizabeth's turned around sleep schedule had taken its toll on her.
"I wish I could stay but I guess I have to get back before the subway closes" she sighed.
"It's okay, I can't take away all of your time" he replied .
"I really don't mind, I've had so much fun with you. Oh also your can keep the clothing in case we want to go out again- outside again." Elizabeth collected herself.
"That sounds wonderful, please be safe on your way home, Nick was telling me about how dangerous New York can be " Ahkmenrah spoke, looking in her eyes.
"I promise" she agreed.
They were silent for a moment before Ahkmenrah leaned forward and Elizabeth felt her heart start racing. He gave her a peck on the cheek and she felt embarrassed for thinking he was actually going to kiss her.
"Goodnight Ahk" she smiled, excitement running through her veins just from the contact of his lips on her cheek.
"Goodnight Elizabeth"
She grinned and started walking in the direction of the subway station. Even though he hadn't kissed her, she walked with some new confidence yet childish giddyness.
Hi. I'm so so so sorry that it took me fucking forever to update, I'm out of school now so it will be easier for me to write. Anyway one else really want to go on a date with him?