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Chapter Text

The first thing to return was his sense of touch. He could feel the clothes against his skin, the tingling sensation all over his body as plastic and paint turned to flesh and skin and hair, that warming feeling as blood started flowing through his veins. Next was vision and smell, though first everything was blurry and way too bright. But it got better fast, the blurs formed into shapes and the shapes formed into objects and people, all waking up just like him.

Last was his hearing, his ears rang for a moment before he could finally hear the distant air conditioning, a low and quiet humming sound from above.

For a moment, just the tiniest of moment the world was silent. He stood there, still and in silence, in awe of the feeling of being alive once again. Then a wide grin spread across his face and he threw his arms up, laughing in elation.

“Yeehaw! I’m back, baby!”

Like on cue, the train whistled behind him as the Wild west diorama started buzzing with life like never before. Jedediah’s grin only widened as he looked around his home. Down the hallways he could hear other exhibits waking up, somewhere in the distance echoed a familiar roar of a skeletal T-Rex. And on the other side of the Diorama room, the Mayas were already toiling away to celebrate – and to escape their area before the glass would be moved to trap them. Not that there seemed to be any night guards around.

And then it struck Jedediah. There wasn’t glass stopping him from leaving either. He could go see Octavius. If Octavius was still there. How many years had it been? What if the Roman diorama had been moved or changed around? What if it had been replaced? It couldn’t have. No matter how long it had been, Gigantor would have made sure that they got to stay.

And before he knew, he was jumping out of his own exhibit, running the few steps over to the Roman diorama. Without hesitation, he started climbing up, huffing and puffing as his body was still getting used to being back alive. It was a struggle, but he managed to make it up on the first try, finding himself facing a familiar scenery. The Romans were just as excited as his buddies in Wild west, the excitement in the air was electrifying.

A group of soldiers passed him, Jedediah was happy to see familiar faces. Most of the soldiers didn’t pay him any mind, the ones that did glance at him only smiled – one of them even waved at him a bit, to his delight.

He headed to the square, hoping to find Octavius there. And sure enough, the familiar voice reached his ears seconds before the bright red cape caught his eye. Octavius stood there, talking with some older looking men. Rome couldn’t have been awake much longer than the west, but they were already busy with working with… well, whatever it was that Romans did. Jedediah didn’t care that much.

“Hey! Octavius!”

He waved frantically at the Roman general as he raised his gaze to meet Jedediah’s. Octavius grinned at him before turning back to his peers and dismissing them with a few words. Then he turned back to Jedediah and the cowboy couldn’t contain all his excitement any longer. He sprinted to his friend, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Octavius laughed and hugged him back, squeezing him a little bit.

“It’s good to see you, my friend.” Jedediah’s grin only widened. “Look at ya, working already”, he hummed. “Rome never sleeps, Jedediah”, Octavius answered, with a small chuckle. Jedediah opened his mouth, but before he could reply he was distracted by sudden music echoing through the hallway, somewhere from the direction of the lobby.

“What in tarnation..?”

“It must be the others”, Octavius said, “perhaps Larry?”

“Hell yeah”, Jedediah grinned, “C’mon, Octie. Let’s go check it out!”

He grabbed Octavius’ hand, dragging him to the edge of the diorama. They made their way down together and started running down the hallway towards the sound – neither of them paid any mind to their still intertwined fingers. Though Jedediah did notice the general closeness, the way their shoulders nearly brushed against each other. Nothing too weird in that though, this was the first time they had been alive in a while, it was nice to be close to each other.

Everywhere around them, the museum was waking. Some of the exhibits were already empty, some were only now starting to move. Excitement filled the hallways as the distant music drew more and more attention. “Looks like we’re gonna have one helluva party”, Jedediah grinned. “Reunions tend to be like that”, Octavius hummed as they reached the stairs. They peeked downstairs, the sight widened the smile on Jedediah’s face more than he thought he could smile.

In the lobby stood Ahkmenrah, tablet in hand, enthusiastically talking with Teddy. Sacagawea and Attila were setting up some kind of a metal box with discs and a bunch of buttons on it, next to them a radio played music rather loudly. Laaa and the other cavemen were examining it, while Rexy – and the Triceratops – were playing together, nearly knocking down a few plants and paintings. The odd night guard lady from London stood at the side with Dr. McPhee, the two seemed to be rather invested in whatever they were talking about. Gigantor was nowhere to be seen though. Jedediah decided he was either running late or somewhere else in the museum.

To his dismay, even Lancelot was there, hanging out at the side, just kind of watching everyone. That bastard better not try and steal Octavius from him for the night.

Luckily, the Roman general didn’t seem to pay any mind to the knight. “Come on”, he said instead, “we should go welcome Ahkmenrah back home.”

Jedediah nodded and Octavius let go of his hand – Jedediah hadn’t even noticed they were still holding hands, but the disappearing warmth made him frown a bit. Before he could protest though, Octavius had started climbing down the stairs. He huffed quietly to himself and followed his companion.

“Hey! Ahk!” he yelled as they reached the bottom of the stairs, jumping up and down to catch his attention. The young pharaoh looked around for a moment before spotting them. He smiled warmly and quickly walked over, kneeling down next to them. “It’s good to see you, my friends”, he said, offering his hand. Jedediah climbed on his palm, pulling Octavius up with him. “Welcome home, kid”, Jedediah smiled, “we missed ya.”

Well, at least he liked to think that he had missed him even when not alive.

Ahkmenrah didn’t question it, just smiled and walked over to the lobby desk. “It’s been a long while”, he hummed as he gently placed the two men down.

“How long, exactly?”

“Three years”, Teddy chimed in, “a long while indeed.”

Octavius and Jedediah glanced at each other – it was a long time. “It don’t matter”, Jedediah said, looking at the others, “we’re all still here! Let’s celebrate!”

He glanced over at Tilly and McPhee – no objections. So he grinned and turned his attention at Ahkmenrah. “Turn that volume up a bit, will ya? We have the whole night for ourselves!”

Ahkmenrah grinned and nodded. He turned to Attila and said something in Hunnish and the man responded with such an excited tone that Jedediah didn’t even need to understand what he was saying to get the message.

His hand found its way to Octavius’, fingers intertwining once again.

“C’mon, Octie. I wanna check out that metal box there!”

Chapter Text

Walking past the museum had become somewhat of a habit for Larry Daley. He’d often pass it on his way to work, but lately he had started walking by in the evening as well, just to reminiscence. He hadn’t really visited since he had been fired, only a few times with Nick whenever he wanted. But now he wasn’t around either, he was staying with his mother and taking Spanish lessons for moving to Ibiza (for the record, Larry was still slightly against the idea).

He didn’t like it, seeing all his friends frozen and, well, basically dead. So he didn’t visit. Even if sometimes he stopped to just watch the museum from the other side of the street, wondering many things had changed. McPhee didn’t know, Tilly worked at the British Museum… there was no one to defend them if the board wanted to move them.

And this time they couldn’t call him for help either.

He heard about the travelling exhibit from Tilly, a few days before they arrived to New York. It was a storm of emotions, happiness and worry clashing as he thought what would happen. Would there be chaos? Would everything go smoothly?

He wasn’t planning on going inside, but as he stood there watching, listening to the muffled music, he couldn’t help but want to take a look. Even if the night guards wouldn’t let him in, Tilly would be there. Not to mention he had instructed her to tell McPhee, who surely would have a few specific words to him about hiding the magical abilities of the tablet.

So, though a bit reluctantly, he crossed the road and marched up the steps to the doors. He could hear the music, he didn’t recognize the song but the beat was good. Even through the revolving door he could see the partying figurines and taxidermied animals, how happy they were to be alive. It brought a small smile on his face.

He hesitated again, nearly backed away from the door, but his attention was caught by a glimpse of a familiar, golden cape.

Of course! If the tablet was there, Ahkmenrah would be there too. Larry moved faster than he could think, pushing the revolving door to get inside before he fully registered his own actions. His mind was racing as he thought about the pharaoh, how many nights had he stayed up thinking about him? Endless hours, all spent on dreaming of the day he could go back or Ahkmenrah would return.

And now he was here.

And he was so close.

He stepped through the door.

At first, the energy in the lobby was a bit overwhelming, but he quickly got over it. It was hard to see anyone familiar from the crowd though, Ahkmenrah had disappeared out of his sight completely. He pushed past a group of Eskimos, looking around in search for a face he’d recognize. It took him a bit, but finally his eyes met a pair of friendly ones.

“Lawrence!”

Teddy walked over to him, followed by Sacagawea right behind him. The former president smiled at him warmly – Larry returned the smile.

“I had a feeling being fired wouldn’t stop you from returning to us”, Teddy hummed. “It almost did”, Larry chuckled half-heartedly, “It’s good to see you guys.”

“Likewise.” Sacagawea nodded in agreement before giving Larry a quick hug. “You are staying, right?” she asked, “Everyone would love to see you again.”

For some reason Larry got the feeling “everyone” was more specific than she allowed him to know. But he didn’t ask, Sacagawea would tell him if she wanted.

“I can stay for tonight”, he responded, “And maybe during the weekend.”

This seemed to satisfy Sacagawea – she smiled and nodded. She looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted by a new voice.

“Larry!”

Out of nowhere, Ahkmenrah appeared to them, grinning widely. Larry couldn’t help but grin back. “Hey, Ahk”, he smiled. “You came”, the other breathed – the pure happiness in his voice made Larry’s heart flutter with joy. The young pharaoh practically beamed at him before wrapping his arms around him and hugging him so tightly Larry could barely breathe.

“Hey, some of us still need oxygen…” he chuckled as Ahkmenrah quickly loosened his grip. “My apologies”, the younger one said. “It’s alright”, Larry replied, “I missed you too.”

Ahkmenrah chuckled quietly under his breath and suddenly Larry was way too aware of how close they were. He hoped the light blush creeping on his face wouldn’t be notice by the other. What surprised him was the similar shade of red on Ahkmenrah’s cheeks.

They just kind of stared at each other for a moment, neither sure what to do. Larry’s mind started racing again and he was sure that if he’d try to talk, he wouldn’t form proper words. Then, Teddy cleared his throat – rather loudly, mind you, causing Ahkmenrah to jerk away a bit. Larry took a step back himself as well, quickly folding his hands – his skin tingled from where Ahkmenrah’s hands had been.

The older man chuckled, with a twinkle in his eye. “While this reunion is rather wholesome, I believe Jedediah and Octavius would not appreciate you forgetting about them”, he said. “I have all night, they just need to be patient”, Larry chuckled.

“Perhaps you should go say hi to them”, Ahkmenrah said with a small chuckle, “we do have all night to catch up. And I was hoping to talk with Sacagawea for a moment”, he added, looking at the woman. Sacagawea gazed at him with an unreadable face before nodding a bit. “Of course. We’ll join you in a bit.”

She gave Teddy a quick kiss on the cheek before leading Ahkmenrah away from the crowd. Larry watched after them until Teddy tapped his shoulder, drawing his attention away from the pharaoh.

“Come along, dear boy”, he said, “nothing can occupy him enough to not return as soon as possible.”

Larry chuckled softly under his breath and nodded. “You’re right”, he said, “he’ll be back in a bit.”

The two of them started walking, past the wildest crowd. The more Larry looked, the more familiar faces he saw; Attila, the miniature cowboys and Romans – even Lancelot. Trixie and Rexy were laying in one of the doorways, seemingly confused over the amount of people and creatures. It was a homely sight to see and Larry had to admit he had missed it a lot more than he had originally thought.

“Mr. Daley!” He was brought back from his thoughts by Dr. McPhee, who was standing nearby. Larry offered him a sheepish smile. “Hey, Lewis.”

Dr. McPhee gave him something that looked like a hint of a smile and walked over to him. “So”, he said, “the tablet glows.”

“It does”, Larry said, “I did try to tell you.”

The other huffed quietly and looked at the lobby. “I must say, this is quite astounding”, he said, “they are all so lifelike.”

“They really are”, Larry hummed quietly, glancing at Teddy a bit. The former president smiled a bit before looking at the lobby.

“So many incidents are more clear now”, McPhee hummed, “the T-Rex tracks. The hyper realistic animatronics. I presume it was all this.”

“More or less”, Larry replied. The other only smirked quietly.

Larry looked at the lobby and sighed contently. He really had missed all of this, all these people, all this energy.

Welcome home, Larry.

Chapter Text

Jedediah and Octavius were more than excited to see Larry again, though they did yell at him for a moment for not being there when they woke up. Luckily, they quickly got over it and started asking him about what he had been doing for the past three years.

“A teacher? You got boring, Laredo”, Jedediah huffed, crossing his arms. Larry rolled his eyes, holding back a chuckle. “It pays better”, he said, “and the threat of losing my life isn’t as big.”

“What’s the fun in that?”

He sighed and smiled. He was happy to see that being plastic for three years hadn’t changed a single thing.

Beside Jedediah, Octavius was much more calmer, though he too was looking at him with a smile. “It’s good to hear life has treated you well”, he said.

“Hey, Laredo, is Nicky gonna come over?”

Larry felt sympathy for Octavius, who looked like he had been about to say something else. Jedediah simply had too much pent up energy.

“Sorry, Jed. I don’t think that’s going to happen, not unless McPhee can convince the board to extend Ahkmenrah’s stay here.”

“Aw, that’s no fun.”

“I spoke to him about it already. He said he’ll do his best to make it work.”

Jedediah looked unsatisfied, shoving his hands into his pockets. But nonetheless, he nodded with a silent huff. Larry returned his attention to Octavius – the Roman general’s face was neutral, but he knew him well enough to know better.

“Hey, Octie?” He could almost feel the daggers Jedediah was glaring at him when he used the nickname. He wondered why, but didn’t want to have that conversation in front of Octavius. Instead he just focused on the general.

“You look like you want to say something”, he said, “what is it?”

Octavius looked at him for a moment before nodding a bit. “Indeed, my liege”, he said, “there is something I wish to talk with you about.”

Larry nodded. “Alright”, he said. There was a moment of awkward silence before Jedediah spoke up. “I’m gonna go over there so ya two can speak in peace”, he muttered, pointing at the other side of the desk before walking off. Octavius glanced after him, chuckling awkwardly before turning to look at Larry again.

“I believe I require your assistance.”

“Oh? Okay. What can I do for you?” Octavius flushed slightly, twisting his hands like he was nervous or embarrassed. Larry immediately got the idea that this had something to do with Jedediah – he quickly made sure the cowboy was far enough before leaning slightly closer to Octavius. The man sighed before looking at him. “The truth is… there was something I had wished to tell Jedediah after our adventure in London”, he said, “I never had the chance and now… it feels odd.”

“Alright… what did you want to tell him?”

Larry already had a hunch and he got his confirmation when Octavius blushed deeply. The Roman general rarely showed strong emotions, but right now he was practically an open book. Still, Larry let him take his time to collect his thoughts so he could say it himself.

“I… wanted to tell him that I’ve been rather… fond of him for a while now”, Octavius said, stumbling over his own words a bit, “I thought I knew how to go about it, but… now I am not quite sure. I fear that if he doesn’t reciprocate my feelings, it would damage our friendship permanently.”

“Alright… that’s a fair concern”, Larry started, “alright. Has he given you any indications of feeling similarly towards you?”

“I’m not quite sure”, Octavius replied, “sometimes I feel like there could be something there, but then… sometimes I’m not quite as sure.”

Larry glanced at Jedediah, who had busied himself with some paper clips on the desk. He had to admit, Octavius wasn’t the only one the cowboy was so open with. He was extroverted, didn’t always understand social cues, dragged anyone who was open to following him to adventures with him.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was different with Octavius. He’d be gentler and more touchy, more laid back. He was ready to protect anyone, but there was a special kind of spark in his eyes when he stood up to defend his Roman friend. He’d call him names, not odd kind-of-insulting names like Gigantor, but softer nicknames like Octie or Kemosabe.

“What should I do?”

He returned his attention to Octavius. The man was looking at him, slight nervousness in his eyes. Larry gave him a small smile. “I can’t tell you what exactly to do”, he said, “you just have to trust your gut. Do what feels right.”

He hoped it was enough, he wasn’t the best at giving this kind of advice. Octavius seemed thoughtful, nodding his head a bit as his gaze wandered over to Jedediah. Larry chuckled softly. “Go talk to him”, he said, hoping to sound encouraging. Octavius sighed quietly and nodded. “I will”, he said, “I just… need to figure out what I want to say.”

With that, the small general started walking to his friend. Larry watched as he approached Jedediah, exchanging a few words with him before starting to lead him to the edge of the desk. Larry assumed he was going to talk with him somewhere more private.

He decided to check on the two later, in case Octavius would have a case of a broken heart. In the meantime though, he could go hang out with the others.

He turned around, only to nearly bump straight into Ahkmenrah.

“Ack! When did you get there?”

The young pharaoh chuckled, giving him a small smile. “My apologies”, he said, “I didn’t want to interrupt you and Octavius.”

“Your conversation sounded important”, he added, glancing after the miniature men. “Affairs of the heart”, Larry hummed, “Octavius is working up the courage to tell him.”

Ahkmenrah didn’t answer, but his smile softened slightly. “I pray Hathor gives her blessing to his quest”, he said quietly, before fixating his gaze on Larry. “On that topic… I was hoping we could talk”, he said, “it’ll only take a moment.”

On that topic? What did that mean?

“Sure.”

The other smiled, taking his hand hesitantly before starting to walk away from the crowd. Larry’s mind raced through all the possibilities, trying to figure out what Ahkmenrah would want to tell him. What could he possibly want to talk to him, on the topic of… love?

A part of him couldn’t help but wonder if he had a chance – if, by any chance, it could be that Ahkmenrah had feelings for him, ones to match his own towards him.

But that wasn’t probable, not in the slightest. Nothing in the history of the man he had read on had indicated any kind of attraction to men – though a failed attempt at an arranged marriage did get his hopes up.

He shook his head a bit, banishing those thoughts out of his mind. By all means, it would make more sense if Ahkmenrah had found someone during the three years they had been separated. It wouldn’t even be hard for him, with his kind nature.

Focus, Larry. Focus.

Luckily, Ahkmenrah started talking, distracting him from his wandering thoughts. “So”, he said, letting go of his hand and turning to face him, “I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now.”

Larry couldn’t stop the anxiousness forming in his mind, but he still looked Ahkmenrah in the eye. The pharaoh hesitated a bit before smiling at him, stepping closer. The excited anxiousness in his eyes shone brightly.

“I had a lot of time to think, after everything in London”, he said, “and, after a while, I realised something that I wanted to tell you. But I couldn’t, because we had no way of contacting you.”

Okay, whatever he wanted to tell him was really starting like a confession of some sort. Larry feared that saying anything would break this odd spell that surrounded them, this electrifying, anxious yet comfortable blanket that closed them into a world of their own.

Expect Ahkmenrah seemed to reach his limit of forming proper words. He opened his mouth, but then closed it and frowned a little bit. Larry offered him an encouraging smile, which he assumed the other needed, as he relaxed visibly.

Then, before he had any time to prepare himself, Ahkmenrah’s lips pressed against his and his brains completely stopped working.

Chapter Text

Octavius was not prepared for this, not in the slightest. He had no idea how he had been confident enough to think about seriously doing this three years ago, what the hell was he supposed to say? Would Jedediah even listen to him?

After the short talk with Larry, he had asked the cowboy to join him for a walk. Jedediah had agreed and was blissfully unaware of what the Roman general was struggling with. He tried to think about what Larry had said, about doing what he felt was right. Easier said than done – he didn’t know what was the right thing to do. Sure, he could try to suppress his feelings until they were gone, but he didn’t know if he’d succeed or just end up bursting from frustration. Or then he could try to tell Jedediah about his feelings.

He was nervous, terrified even. One could ask “What’s the worst that could happen?” And the answer would be, he could lose his best friend. He could send the two dioramas back into war. All because he was selfish and fell in love with the worst person possible.

Jedediah just had to be so wonderful.

“-tavius!”

He snapped out of his thoughts when Jedediah shook his shoulder a bit. “Mwhat?” he muttered, looking at his friend. “What’s goin on with you today?” Jedediah asked, “You’re walkin’ ‘round like you’d be sleeping.”

“My apologies”, Octavius said sheepishly, “My mind has been… occupied.”

“Don’t tell me it’s that snake Lancelot.”

“Dear Jupiter, no.” Octavius cringed at the thought, but Jedediah’s expression softened slightly. He patted his shoulder gently, giving him a smile. “Then we’re all good”, he said, “now, what’s bothering ya?”

Octavius couldn’t help but blush a bit, praying that the dim lighting would hide it. Unless he came up with an excuse right then and there, he’d be in trouble; Jedediah wouldn’t stop budging him until he’d find out what was going on in his mind.

“It is… not easy to explain. And it might make you uncomfortable.”

“I don’t mind. Ya can talk ta me, ya know that.”

Octavius chuckled, but didn’t say anything. Jedediah seemed to take it as a challenge, because he stopped walking, grabbing him gently by his shoulders, pulling him slightly closer than Octavius could handle without blushing slightly. “C’mon, Octie”, the blonde said, gently but firmly, “what’s on your mind?”

He couldn’t help but sigh quietly. He pushed Jedediah’s hands off of his shoulders gently, fighting back the urge to intertwine his fingers with his as their palms touched.

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be.”

Well, there was no way out of this. He looked at Jedediah, praying to the gods to be on his side. He prayed that Fortuna would take his side, that Venus would bless him.

That if nothing else, he would make it through this alive.

“Very well… don’t say I didn’t warn you-“

“Oh, for God’s sake, Octavius, just spit it out.”

“I think I’m in love with you.”

A silence followed. Octavius refused to look at Jedediah in the eyes, instead staring down at their feet. Even if the other would accept his feelings, this was far from a perfect confession. So, so far. Jedediah deserved something more classy, something romantic. Like a trip to his favourite part of the nature side of the museum or a movie night. Not an unplanned outburst in a dim hallway.

“… what.”

His heart broke a bit when he heard the flat confusion in Jedediah’s voice. There was no anger, but there wasn’t any kind of delight either. No signs of reciprocating his feelings in the slightest.

“… my most sincere apologies”, Octavius said quietly, “that was out of line.”

When Jedediah didn’t answer, he believed he had gotten his answer. So, he stepped away, turned around and started quickly walking back to his diorama.

He should’ve known. He should’ve kept quiet, come up with an excuse or just straight up refuse to explain himself. Now he had ruined their friendship, he just prayed Jedediah wouldn’t take it out on the whole Roman diorama.

And then he was stopped, when Jedediah caught up with him and grabbed his hand, gently. “Octogon.”

The cowboy’s voice was quiet, tone soft. Octavius shuddered at the gentleness – it was much different from what he was prepared for, not to mention a completely new type of behavior from the other.

They stood there for a moment in complete silence. Jedediah never let go of his hand and the Roman never pulled away. But as Octavius finally glanced at the other to at least see a hint of what he had in mind, Jedediah stepped closer again.

“Y’know we don’t kid when we say things like that, right?”

“Of course. I would not dare.” Jedediah nodded a bit, giving him a small smile. “Good”, he said, “now. Ya can’t just drop a bomb like that and walk away like nothin’ happened, I didn’t even have time ta answer!”

Octavius huffed sheepishly, not really sure what to say. Jedediah didn’t sound mad but he couldn’t fathom the thought of the man seeing no issues with what he had said.

The blonde sighed and suddenly let go of his hand only to cup his face gently. “Now ya listen ta me, ya big idiot”, he said, “I don’t know why ya had to take such a quick leave, but don’t think I’m gonna start looking at ya different just because ya like me.”

Octavius opened his mouth to talk, but Jedediah silenced him with a soft glare. “I wasn’t done.”

There was a moment of silence before the cowboy sighed and let go of Octavius. “Look, y’know I ain’t good with words”, he said, “not my thing. But for wha it’s worth… I like ya too. Love, even.”

Octavius’ brain stopped working for a moment, as he tried to process the words. Jedediah? Love? Him?

“You… are you serious?” Jedediah huffed and chuckled, rolling his eyes at him. “I just said we don’t kid about this stuff!”

His amused tone was painfully infectious and Octavius laughed a bit too. “Alright, I’ll… believe you.”

Jedediah grinned at him, patting his shoulder. “That’s my Octogon”, he hummed. And Octavius was so happy he wrapped his arms around his friend, hugging him and clumsily panting a kiss on his cheek. The other laughed, hugging him back.

“Ya missed.”

“Missed?”

“Mmhmm. Here, let me help ya”, with that, Jedediah tugged him close and pressed his lips against the Roman’s. Octavius hummed into the kiss before pulling away with a smile. The blonde smiled back at him. “Who knew that the feared Roman general would have a soft spot for a ragged ol’ cowboy like me.”

“Now now, don’t speak so low of yourself.”

“Ah shit, I was just tryna get you to compliment me.”

“That can be arranged.” He couldn’t help but grin at the playful conversation – this was better than he had ever dared to dream of.

“Hold on, was this the only reason you wanted me to come walk with you?” Jedediah asked, eyebrow’s slightly raised. Octavius chuckled and shook his head. “Believe it or not, I did want some peace from the part as well”, he said. Jedediah nodded, intertwining his fingers with his. “I’ll believe you”, he said softly, adding with a small smirk: “Why don’t we go find ourselves a nice calm window? Watch the moon and the stars.”

“Sounds lovely.”

Chapter Text

The sun was starting to rise, Larry could see the first rays slowly climbing over the buildings. The exhibits had already started retreating to their own areas, only Ahkmenrah, Teddy, Sacagawea, Jedediah and Octavius were still in the lobby. McPhee had disappeared somewhere and Tilly had left with Laaa to the neanderthal exhibit.

“Our time is running out”, Sacagawea said quietly, looking through one of the windows. “We should return to our places”, Teddy said, “this isn’t our last night, there is no reason to risk anything.”

Sacagawea smiled at him a bit, nodding slightly. “You better come back tomorrow, Gigantor”, Jedediah stated from his spot on the desk. “I’ll try”, Larry responded, “I have work to do.”

“Ya come back soon or you’ll face the wrath of millions small men who fight like vultures for the last piece of meat.”

“Okay, what’s this about? Why am I getting threatened now?” Octavius gave him an apologetic smile. “We simply want to make sure everything works out between you and Ahkmenrah”, he explained. Larry’s breath hitched at the comment and his eyes darted to glance at the pharaoh. The man’s face was slightly red and Larry wasn’t sure if it was from being flustered or from embarrassment over the two miniatures.

“You don’t need to threaten me”, Larry said, “I’m going to come back, I just don’t know if I can do it tomorrow.”

“You better.”

Octavius was a blessing in disguise, because if he wouldn’t have tugged at Jedediah’s shirt and told him they should be getting back to their dioramas, Larry was sure the argument would have lasted until Jedediah had turned back into a exhibit piece.

He looked after the two for a moment before turning to Ahkmenrah. “Come on”, he said, “I’ll walk you to your exhibit.”

His words brought a bright smile to the pharaoh’s face and Larry wondered, if he had wanted to ask him to do just that. He said goodbyes to the others before taking Ahkmenrah’s hand and starting to walk him to his exhibit.

They walked in silence and Larry thought about the night. Ahkmenrah kissing him had made things awkward for a second, but he had composed himself and told him about his own feelings. Then they had spent some time discussing how they had figured out their feelings towards each other, a few kisses had been shared. Then they had returned to the party and Larry had finished catching up with everyone he hadn’t yet talked to. Not once had Ahkmenrah left his side, not until Dexter snatched the tablet, much to their dismay.

He wondered how in the span of one night they had so naturally moved to another level in their relationship. For example, the morning before he hadn’t even dared to think about Ahkmenrah as anything more than a distant crush and he would’ve laughed if someone had told him he would get to kiss him. But it turned out Ahkmenrah had been missing him at least as much as he had missed him. He had told him that his parents had thought him sick when he had spent night after night hiding away from the habitants of the museum, watching stars in a back room he had found.

“Larry? Is everything okay?”

Larry glanced at Ahkmenrah, who was looking at him curiously. He realised they had reached the Egyptian exhibit and it was time for goodbyes.

“Yeah, I’m alright”, he said. Ahkmenrah smiled and nodded, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Larry smiled softly, cupping his face gently. “I’ll try to come back as soon as possible”, he promised. “And I’ll wait your return eagerly”, Ahkmenrah replied.

They shared another kiss, a quick peck on the lips before stepping away from each other. “Stay safe, my love”, Ahkmenrah said quietly, earning a soft laugh from Larry. “Don’t worry, I will. Teaching isn’t that dangerous.”

The pharaoh gave him a joyless smile. “I have been here for nearly 60 years”, he said, “I am well aware of the ways of modern people.”

“What do you mean?”

“I… believe they are called school shootings.”

Oh.

Larry sighed quietly and took his partner’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “My school is in a safe area”, he said, “we haven’t had an incident like that in decades. I’ll be fine.”

His companion didn’t seem too convinced, but there was a bit more peace in his gaze. “Even if something would happen, we have safety protocols”, he added before kissing his knuckles softly, “I’ll be safe.”

He glanced at his watch – time was running out. “You should get to your place”, he said softly, “you only have a few minutes left.”

Ahkmenrah nodded a bit, giving his hand one last squeeze before letting go. “Goodbye, Larry”, he said quietly. “I’ll see you soon”, Larry said, watching how the pharaoh returned to his place in the exhibit waving goodbye to Larry. The former night guard returned the gesture, hesitating before slowly starting to return to the lobby.

He knew he had to leave soon, he shouldn’t be there when the museum was opened. But he couldn’t help taking a slightly longer route to the lobby, just to have a last look around.

He walked past the diorama room, taking a small peek inside. Octavius and Jedediah were hurrying last of their men to return to their places, hand in hand. It was safe to assume the best, Larry thought. And it was confirmed as the Roman general planted a small kiss on the other’s cheek, earning a warm laugh. He decided not to bother the two and instead just kept walking, leaving the two lovers to say goodbyes to each other.

He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. It had been a long time since he had pulled an all-nighter, especially an eventful one like this. He doubted it’d be even close to the last one though, he would try to spend as much time with his friends as possible. There was still so much he wanted to talk about with Ahkmenrah, so many things he wanted to discuss with Tilly and McPhee regarding the museum and the travelling exhibit. Furthermore, Nick would want to visit them too – he wasn’t sure if the teenager was aware of the tablet being back, but he had already texted him, including a picture of the life-filled lobby.

Maybe he could take a few days off from teaching with the pretext of falling ill.

Regardless of how everything would go, one thing was certain: he hadn’t felt this happy in a long time and he wasn’t going to let that happiness go quite yet.

The next evening, when he returned, he was greeted by Ahkmenrah with an embrace.

This museum really was his home.