Chapter Text
“Alhaitham…”
“Alhaitham.”
“Alhaitham?”
It's by the third try that two toned eyes finally flicker from the heavy tome the curator was reading under a large desk lamp. Layla stands at the doorway of one of the reading rooms of the museum, the warm light from the hallway seeps around the shadow of her silhouette, and she nervously twirls one of her curls around a finger.
“Yes, what is it?” Alhaitham replies, putting his pencil down and straightening his back. There’s an ache in his neck and he resists the urge to rub at his eyes as he squints at Layla’s figure at the doorway.
“There’s a meeting in five minutes. I was just making sure you didn't forget, I know how time can slip by you when you’re invested in something and I trust that you would have still made it in time but-”
“Oh, right.” Layla cuts off her rapid speech when Alhaitham rises from his seat and flicks off the desk lamp as he reaches for his blazer. “Thank you for reminding me, we should get going then.”
Layla sighs a breath of relief and waits patiently for Alhaitham to gather his things. Even after years of knowing each other, he still finds it puzzling how she’s still so skittish around him. He had deduced that it had something to do with his senior role at the museum, and she saw Alhaitham as her superior during work hours - not as her fellow peer. Even with the multiple attempts to correct her, she still was hesitant to change and Alhaitham eventually let her be.
Spending her time two floors above him, Alhaitham rarely sees the head of the planetarium at Sumeru’s Natural History Museum, but he has managed to visit one or two of her astronomy talks. She’s one of his few coworkers he actually spent time with beyond the museum doors from time to time. He follows her out and they take the elevator to the ground floor, discussing Layla’s upcoming stargazing tour which she talks about eagerly with a glimmer in her eyes.
Despite being a night owl himself, he has often gazed out into the night sky lost in thought, as if the sky pollution would allow anything extraordinary to be seen. He was hardly a romantic himself, but people like Layla worked hard to remind people of the importance of the beauty that they rarely see all the way down on earth.
They're the last ones to arrive in the cramped auditorium and Dr. Iskandar scans the room before clearing his throat, the buzzing of murmurs quiets down just as Alhaitham and Layla take some seats at the back. The room is filled with the rest of the museum’s curators, directors, and researchers gathered for the final meeting covering this season’s successes and future endeavours.
“Thank you for coming, everyone.” Dr. Iskandar smiles. “It’s been two weeks since we closed our doors to the public for our annual restoration and renovation period. We have a lot of exciting exhibitions for the new season and I hope you all have a fulfilling rest. Although I understand some of you will still be coming back to the museum to access our archives.” Dr. Iskandar sends a lighthearted but pointed look in Alhaitham’s direction.
“That being said, if anyone else has any further inquiries about accessing the museum’s archives whilst we are closed please contact either me or Alhaitham on the matter.” He claps his hands together and after a few seconds of fiddling on an ancient laptop he manages to pull up a powerpoint. “Now, just a few reminders and updates on the upcoming changes to the museum throughout the next month.”
Despite the Museum of Sumeru being home to an extensive collection depicting Sumeru’s rich history, the museum also included galleries dedicated to the other regions of Teyvat. They currently had a long standing gallery dedicated to the wildlife in Inazuma, to the ancient ruins of Monstadt, the rich lore of their neighbouring country Liyue and finally a sea exhibition that showcased some of Fontaines underwater history.
Of course, in Alhaitham’s humble opinion, it pales in comparison to the desert relics and rainforest runes that are proudly displayed in the great hall of the museum. The museum held an extensive range of history that documented the rise and fall of several civilizations and painted the prosperous history of Sumeru.
The meeting goes on for another 45 minutes before Dr. Iskandar finally concludes. The room slowly files out but before Alhaitham could leave, Dr. Iskandar waves at the grey haired man.
“Alhaitham, ah, a moment before you leave.”
Layla gives him a small smile before scurrying out of the room and Alhaitham waits until Dr. Iskandar collects his papers from the small podium. When the door closes behind the last person, the older man speaks again with a steely look in his eyes.
“First things first, is there anything else I could say that could convince you to spend your holiday at the comfort of your own home, Alhaitham?” Dr. Iskandar sighs.
“Dr. Iskanar I understand your worry, but I still need to access the library archives and the books I'm researching are far too delicate to be transported to my home, and all my equipment is already here. I only live near-by and it's really no effort for me to come to the museum to access its library. You had warned me these translations would take some time and I wouldn't want any accidents to happen to sabotage its completion.”
He holds his gaze for a few seconds more before the older man breaks into a laugh and shakes his head fondly. “I know, I know. You have already convinced me once and I have heard this speech before. I was just making sure one last time.”
Alhaitham tries not to awkwardly shuffle in place, it was true, they have already had this conversation multiple times already and found it useless to have it one more time, as if Alhaitham had meticulously found a way to transport hundreds of delicate historic pieces from the archives to his house.
Eventually, the museum director clears his throat. “Well, since you will be here, I have a small favour to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“The Museum of Petrichor has contacted me regarding a small emergency. One of their rooms has flooded - some kind of internal pipe issue - and they have had to evacuate its artifacts.” A pause and a furrowing of brows as the head director strokes his beard absent-mindedly. “For various reasons they won’t be able to send all of the artifacts that were affected to their own neighbouring galleries or museums, since they simply do not have the room. So, they have extended their plea to us.”
“They want to send us some of their artifacts for safekeeping as they sort out the flood?” Alhaitham echoes slowly.
“Precisely. While obviously curious I couldn't imagine the risks and stress they are currently under and so I accepted as soon as possible before thinking about how odd the whole situation is.” Dr. Iskandar sends Alhaitham a sheepish look and a low chuckle. “Well I can't take back my word now and the artifacts are already on their way. I just wanted to ask if you were able to collect the delivery and place them in the basement for storage for two weeks.”
Alhaitham turns the request over in his mind. It wasn’t exactly a huge favour that the director was asking, and it was true that despite the museum being closed he would still spend just as much time - if not more - at the museum. They certainly had the space; nearly 45% of the museum's artifacts have been sent to restoration specialists and labs to make sure they were still fit for display for their re-opening. He would only need to make sure he would be here to receive it and send it back again when the Museum of Petrichor had solved its water issue.
“No problem, I will make sure I’m here when the delivery arrives.” Alhaitham says and Dr. Iskandar beams.
“Fantastic! I will send over the correspondence with the Museum of Petrichor’s head director and the shipping details. I really appreciate it, Alhaitham, as you already know we’ll be cutting down on the security here since most of our artifacts in storage have already been moved out, but since you will be around I feel much more at ease with an extra pair of eyes on the building.”
He sends an awry smile Alhaitham’s way and pats the taller man on the shoulder.
“I hope you won't be too lonely! It’s just going to be you and the external night watchman for the next couple weeks!”
___________________________
The delivery comes late in the afternoon and no less than a week has passed since Alhaitham’s conversation with Dr. Iskandar. As he watches the back of the postal worker retreat back into her van, he finally takes a long hard look at the singular crate at his feet.
Despite the fact that he recalls Dr. Isakandar mentioning that there would be artifacts (plural), he was surprised that the papers he signed to confirm that the crate arrived safely only included one box. The wooden crate stood just above Alhaitham’s waist and when he finally got it onto the sack truck trolley and wheeled it towards the rickety elevators to the basement, he noted that it made little noise to suggest multiple compartments inside the crate.
Alhaitham had already cleared out a corner of the basement earlier ready for the delivery and went to work unboxing it. A piece of paper laid on top of the hay that protected the artifact turned out to be a photocopy of the museum’s description of what appeared to be the ‘Legatus Golem’.
‘A centaur-shaped golem forged of marble and brass. Unearthed in the year xxx the statue was discovered in near pristine condition on the island of Petrichor and thought to be from the era of Remuria, a civilisation in Fontaine which directly preceded the previous Hydro Archon Egeria's rule.
‘...it is believed that under the hard stone exterior flows Ichor blood. Towering as one who commands a legion, it is ready to trample any foe that might transgress against its honour.’
‘Unfortunately, despite the many years of research, the golem remains a mysterious piece of history. It is unknown if the statue was solely for decorative purposes, a religious artifact or an instrument.’
Alhaitham gently folds the piece of paper and places it inside his blazer pocket, he will include the note within the crate when the ‘Legatus Golem’ is ready to return to the Museum of Petrichor, just as it arrived.
He wasn't planning on fully unpacking it, but Alhaitham can't help but be curious that this was the only artifact the museum decided to ship to them - not to any other of Fontaine’s vast and rich museums of their own, but specifically Sumeru’s.
Interesting.
Once revealed, the statue was indeed beautiful with minor wear and tears despite its age. The brass had long tarnished but its marble still shone in a delicate white. There was something brighter hidden between the eyes of the helmet that shined a more vibrant orange. Alhaitham leaned down to get a closer look, but in the gloom of the basement, it was hard to tell if it was simply gold or gemstones.
Alhaitham spent the next 15 minutes simply observing the statue before finally sweeping away the hay with a broom and neatly stacking the wooden panels of the container it came in. When he finishes, he retreats back to the second floor to continue his own research.
It wasn't any of his business why the Museum of Petrichor decided to send only one artifact all the way to Sumeru for safekeeping. After a busy season, Sumeru’s museum was finally quiet and Alhaitham technically had the entire building all to himself; he would be lying if he said he was not delighted with his current circumstances.
It would really take a disaster to knock him off of cloud 9.