Portrait of a Pharaoh • Ahkmenrah x Reader (NATM) ✔️

Chapter 15 | daytime.

The strange twist of whatever magic was at play here allowing Ahkmenrah to wander around during the day was exiting for him. He hadn't seen the sun in years, although he still wished to spend nights with the museum.

So you'd come up with a plan, he'd sleep in the afternoon so he could spend some time in the sun in the day and have the whole night to hang with the museum. And when you had classes to go to he could take an extra nap back at your place if he wanted to. The sun was a lot brighter than he remembered, or maybe it was just the fact he'd been in the dark for the last 54 years. Either way, he felt the need to shade it from his view and he felt kind of naked without his crown. So you'd solved that by having him wear a sun hat outfit, to keep the brightness from his delicate undead eyes.

Today he was rather eager to get out into the world, because your portrait was on display for the competition it was entered in. You'd planned to go see it along with all the other entries at the gallery, an impromptu date. You also had to make sure Ahk would blend in with modern humans, so the pharaoh gear hung up on a coat hanger in your apartment and you'd managed to pull together some stuff he'd fit into.

He quickly found pants irritating, so used to the robes he always wore giving him lots of room to move. So you ditched the pants idea, and offered a skirt instead, he much preferred it over the chafing of pants. So even if some people found the idea of a masculine person in a skirt, sun hat and shirt that was slightly too small for him since it was yours, he didn't care. This was much more comfortable, and he preferred something similar to his robes anyway. Plus, it was the modern day, fuck gender stereotypes.

Your walk to the gallery that morning consisted of making sure you had his hand in a tight grip so he wouldn't get distracted and wander off, and stopping for a snack of fairy floss from the park street vendor. As well as answering more than a few 'what is this device?' questions.

It hadn't really dawned on you just how many small every day things were completely alien to someone from ancient times. Things you did even think about because they were so normal to you, were brand new and interesting to Ahk. Like parking ticket machines, pointy sticks on the tops of signs to keep birds off them, road signs and bike locks. So many day to day things you passed all the time and never even batted and eye at because you were so used to it, was like a brand new life changing invention to the mummy.

When you reached the gallery the competition art was being displayed at, you were allowed free entry since you were one of the artists. And Ahk was able to pass as your plus one. There were multiple categories, visual arts, media arts and photography. Each one had its own section, works up on display as people walked by them to pick which ones they thought should win. At the end of the day the grand prize was up to the judges, but public voting did get you a bonus prize if you won.

"Oh wow, there's more entries than I thought" you muttered, looking around wondering where to start.

"Where's yours?" Ahk asked.

"Not sure, probably in the visual arts section. I suppose we'll start there"

Heading over to the display of various framed works hung up on walls and easels, you could already feel the anxiety of all the other works being better than yours. They were all so detailed and well done, you began to wonder if you'd even place a rank.

Paintings of beautiful scenery, coloured pencils drawings of detailed still life, watercolours of animals, they were all so well made. You could tell the painstaking amount of hours the artists had put into the work, while you whipped yours up in an all nighter for an assignment. Never even planning on a competition until your teacher suggested it.

"Wow, I almost mistook that for a photo..." Ahk muttered, gazing up at a painting of a highly detailed ship sailing the seas.

"Oh my gods... that's incredible..." you said, just as amazed.