Requested by bluuthetic_

ISTP (male) x ENTP (female)

“Welcome to the Museum of Natural History!” The museum’s head manager announced happily to the group of university students standing before her. “It is always a great pleasure to have you here for your annual visit.”

The History Student Organization of the university always holds an annual sleuthing event at the city’s Museum of Natural History. The student organization is not only for students who are taking History as their major but also for those who are genuinely interested in anything related to history.

The core team members of this event always plan some kind of treasure hunt inside the museum that would require its participants to go around the different exhibits to search for clues to find the hidden treasure inside the museum.

Those who are not familiar with the event would think that it was corny or even childish to some extent. But no, this is a huge event for the history organization. Each year, they seem to up the difficulty that it would even take the whole day to figure out all clues.

This is Grant’s third year in trying to be the first to figure out where the treasure is hidden. Though, this means that it is his third year of trying to be better than a certain schoolmate of his, Amari.

Amari may be in the business course but that girl has a strong knack for history and anything related to it. She always made it a point to boast about how she would always visit this museum and that she memorized its whole floor plan to him.

He always chooses not to care about what she says, but inside he does feel a tinge of competition swelling up in him. He can’t help it. He, too, wants to succeed and win the title.

And thus, this bloomed into this kind of rivalry that not only happens in this annual event but even during class. They were classmates one time in their social science class and, unfortunately, were forced to be together for a paper. Let’s just say that they may have written the best paper out of everyone in the class, but it doesn’t reflect how bad their time together was with all the arguing and deleting of certain paragraphs. Amari loved to play with ideas and Grant loved to stick with empirical data. For others, that is a good match to learn how to look at the world from different viewpoints, but for them, it only brought them unnecessary stress.

Grant notices Amari standing by the front of the group (as usual). Her arms are crossed before her as she shows fake interest in what the museum’s head manager is saying. Suddenly, she looks in his direction, catching him gazing at her. Her face contorts in disgust then she slightly sticks her tongue out at him. Grant retaliates by not giving her any reaction. He’s not going to give her any satisfaction that he’s bothered in any way. He simply looks away and diverts his attention elsewhere.

Hmph, that will show her. He thought triumphantly.

“Hey,” a soft voice calls out to him and a hand rests on his shoulder. Grant instinctively looks to his side to see one of his blockmates and fellow org-mate, Ean, standing beside him. “What did I miss?”

“What do you mean ‘what did I miss?’ You’ve been with us the entire time,” Grant replies in a soft voice as well.

“I was busy taking pictures around the entrance and…I’ve been trying to get Ina’s attention but she’s there all the way at the front.”

Grant chuckles under his breath. Ean has always told him how he’s been trying to become closer to his English classmate, Ina. When Ean found out that Ina applied to join the History Organization, he did not think twice and joined it. “It’s so hard, you know?” Ean told him one day, “It’s hard to talk to her because she’s so shy around me. Whenever I try to show that I’m interested in her too, she turns down whatever I invite her to do with me.”

Grant found his problem with Ina amusing, but in all honesty, he cannot relate to it. Ean may seem like someone who would pursue another person who would quote-unquote “complete him”, but Grant is not that kind of person. He is definitely fine on his own.

“Maybe don’t try to force your presence on her,” Grant whispers, eyes still locked on the head manager and trying to listen to whatever she’s saying. “She might be overwhelmed by your presence.”

“I’m not forcing my presence on her. Wait. Am I? No, I don’t. Or…or maybe I do…” Ean trailed off. “Dammit, I hate it when you make me think practical.”

“Just stating facts,” Grants murmurs. “But I think you shouldn’t worry. I think Ina likes you just the way you are. Maybe you don’t have to work too hard.”

“You should be a love guru or something.”

“Nah,” Grant then taps his head, “I use this before having a breakdown. Try it sometime,” he teasingly says.

Ean pushes him gently. “Shut up.”

After another few minutes of the head manager’s speech followed by another 10 minutes of briefing from one of the core team members, everyone was given their kit which held different clues that would help them navigate their way around the entire museum and its five floors to reach the treasure. When it was Grant’s turn to receive a kit, someone suddenly bumps him on the shoulder.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there.”

Of course, it had to be Amari.

“Let me guess,” Grant begins deadpanned, “it was unintentional of you to bump into me.”

“No,” Amari declared, holding her head high. “I wanted to give you a taste of what it would be like when I bump into first place this year.”

Grant lets out a derisive laugh. “Yeah, right. You may know the museum in and out, but I can fight my way through all the clues that will come off easy to solve.”

Amari narrowed her eyes at him. “It sounds like you’re challenging me.”

“Haven’t I always been?”

She scowled at him. “Oh, you’re on, loser.”

—---------

The event started and Grant has been acing all the clues given to him at the start and those that he has been picking up throughout the various exhibits the museum offers.

When they were at the Jurassic part of the exhibit, it was easy for him to distinguish the different bones of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and which one made him guess the other clue to lead him to the Hall of Gems. Apparently, it was at the Jurassic exhibit where almost all of the students got stuck in. Some went to the reptilian exhibit, some to the avian, and some even went back to the main entrance.

Only he and Amari were able to solve the clue correctly which led them to the Hall of Gems.

“God, you’re here,” Amari grumbled upon seeing Grant enter the new exhibit. It is in a dark hall with blue lights to illuminate the different species of minerals on display. There are some minerals that are colored yellow or red, but those that really stand out are colored violet. Those really are the majestic-looking ones and if this wasn’t a timed competition, Grant would spend most of his time reading up on every mineral here.

But since he entered this competition to be the best and seeing that his rival is ahead of him, he has other priorities.

“Glad to see you’re smart enough to figure out that we’re supposed to be at the Hall of Gems.”

Amari immediately takes offense to his words. “Of course, I’m smart! I’m not like everyone else out there who is going to the wrong places.” As she continues to spew out words, Grant uses this as leverage to search more thoroughly for the next clue. “Clearly people are blinded by their want for the treasure and the prize money that comes with it. I’m sure the others are looking for the treasure without even sparing a second thought to actually analyze the clues and–”

“I got it!” Grant announces, finally finding the next clue.

Amari gets shocked by the announcement then instantly turns bitter to know that he wasn’t actually listening to her in the first place. “Hey! You can’t just do that!”

Grant waved the clue envelope at her. “Since you love to talk, I’ll spare you some minutes. Just read the next clue and I’ll be a dear and tell you where it is.”

“I want to find it on my own. Don’t you dare tell me–”

“See you at the Egyptian exhibit?”

“Damn it!”

Grant begins to run to the Egyptian exhibit which is a few floors down. And as much as Amari wanted to figure out the next clue on her own, her pride in winning got the best of her. She’ll be able to pick up the pace in the next part. For now, she needs to make sure that she wouldn’t lose her place.

It didn’t take long for Grant to reach the entrance of the famous Egyptian exhibit of the museum. He ditched using the elevator and opted to go down the stairs. He’s happy that the next clue leads to this particular exhibit because he is fascinated by the glass floor of the entire exhibit. Underneath the glass panels are different real-life mummies of ancient Egypt. As a kid, he would only visit this area of the museum just to look at each mummy on the other side of the glass. Yes, they may look scary at first, but fascination always comes after getting acquainted with these magnificent people. Dead people, actually.

Amari also arrives at the entrance, trying to catch her breath from all the running. “Curse you and your long legs,” she spat out.

He only smirked at her. “Let’s stop wasting time, second place.”

“I am not going to be in second place!”

Grant does not reply and enters the exhibit, beginning his search for the next and hopefully, final clue to the exhibit where the treasure is hidden. The exhibit boasts not only mummies and the process of mummification but the different weapons and ways of livelihood the ancient Egyptians utilized to become such a progressive civilization and perhaps made them one of the most famous civilizations in the entire world.

Yet as he continued his search, Grant noticed that the other person with him has become quiet. He stopped looking for the clue to look for Amari…who apparently is still standing at the entrance with this look on her face that he cannot decipher.

“Hey,” he called out to her. Her eyes dart to look at him. “You’re really going to be in second place if you don’t move and find the next clue.”

“S-Shut up!” She stammered.

This made Grant befuddled. Amari is always sure of herself. She never trips on her own words.

“Something wrong?”

“N-Nothing’s wrong!” Her voice sounded angry, but Grant noticed a hint of uncertainty laced in it. He watched how her line of sight would sometimes fall to the glass floor and then would shoot back up. Amari forced her eyes closed and tried to take a few deep breaths, maybe to calm herself.

Grant took this time to look down at the floor. So what? Those are just mummies on the ground. What’s so scary about looking at those mummies–oh.

He got it.

Now that he has come to his own conclusion he walked back to where Amari is standing frozen in fear.

The oh-so-fearless and independent Amari is afraid of mummies.

When Amari sees him walk back to her, she furiously asks, “What do you want?”

“You’re scared of mummies, aren’t you?”

“Who isn't?!”

“I'm not.”

“Good for you, then!” She spat out. “I just…ugh, I got traumatized when I was a little girl. My stupid older brother thought it was fun to prank me at this museum…” she looked back down at the floor and instantly brought her gaze back up. She gulps down a lump forming in her throat. “...And it had to be at this exhibit.”

“I never knew that you would be afraid of mummies.”

“God, call me childish or whatever but, yes, I am terrified of mummies and you can suck up the treasure if you want. I’ll deal with my broken pride in another way.”

An idea then pops into Grant’s head. There is no way that he’s going to make her give up on this competition. Plus, it’s so hard to not have any competition at all. It ruins the fun of the whole event.

He suddenly reaches over to grab her hand. “Whether you win or I do, I’m going to take you through this.”

“No way.” She pulls her hand away from his hold. “I don’t need your help!”

“Do you want to win?”

“Of course, I do,” she utters in a pointed tone. “Do you think I wasted all this time studying the museum for nothing?”

He opens his hand at her. “Then hold my hand. It will be boring to continue this competition without my main rival. We both want to win this badly.”

Amari scowled at him but was eyeing his hand before her with a lot of thoughts running through her mind. 

“Mind over matter, Amari,” Grant continues. “They are dead. And all those mummy movies are not real.”

“I know that!”

“Then why haven’t you moved yet?”

“...Good observation.” Without a word, she places her hand on his. “I am not thanking you for helping me.”

A corner of his mouth twitched up. “You just did.”

Now holding hands, Grant leads the way inside the exhibit. He takes slow steps to allow Amari to gradually become acquainted with the exhibit and the fact that she’s finally stepping on the glass floor. She couldn’t really look around her, afraid that she would unintentionally look at the ground and would run back to the entrance.

“How typical of them,” she mumbled to herself. “Hiding a clue where the mummies are.”

“Did you know that mummification is such a meticulous process?”

“Are you saying this to get my mind off the fact that I’m stepping over dead people who might come alive?”

“I thought you were intelligent enough to know that that would never happen.”

“I know I’m smart! I just…I mean…we all have our weaknesses, right? Mine just have to be stupid mummies.” Now she couldn’t take her gaze off Grant. “You have a nice nose,” she suddenly says out of the blue.

Caught off guard by her compliment, Grant now found himself stuttering, “T-Thank you?”

“Don’t mention it.” She looked away for a split second and then does a double-take at a particular area. “I found it!” She exclaimed, squeezing his hand gently in her hold. With her free hand, she points to a slab of hieroglyphics enclosed with glass at the far end of the room. “I can spot the org’s seal on the description!” Then she groans out loud. “Oh, God, I looked down again!”

“Damn, you got good eyes.”

“I’m proud of my 20/20 vision.” Though her eyes were closed when she said that. “Take us there already. I can’t stand another moment in this exhibit.”

Grant leads her to the end of the exhibit. “Okay, don’t look down. Keep your eyes on me.”

“I’ll keep them on your nose.”

“Go ahead,” he says nonchalantly. Amari’s breathing got better and she found herself to be in a much calmer state as they walked together.

Once they reach the hieroglyphics, Grant could see the seal pasted next to a certain phrase on the display’s description.

Amari gingerly looked at the description as well. “What does it say?”

“The seal is right next to a phrase,” he answered.

“Well? What’s the phrase?”

“Not only the greatest civilization to ever walk on this earth…that’s what it says.”

“Not only the greatest civilization?” Amari voiced out her question loud and clear. “Hmm,” she hummed in deep thought. “Aside from this exhibit, other exhibits of different civilizations would be the one about East Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific People.”

“We can cross out East Asia and the Middle East since those two were checked early on during the event.”

She snaps her fingers at him. “Then it’s definitely the Hall of Pacific People!”

They both run out of the exhibit with Amari finally leading the way. A burst of adrenaline finally kicks in now that they’re out of that place.

None of them realized that they were still holding onto each other’s hands.

Luckily, the Hall of Pacific People is located on the same floor.

“Come on!” Amari says, “We’re so near!”

They enter the hall to find that some of the core team members are there in a line that leads to the finish line right at the end of the hall. A tall replica of a Moai stands there.

Excitement courses through Grant, this is finally his chance to win! He suddenly runs faster than Amari, yet he makes sure that she stays in step with him. “Come on! We can win this!”

Some of the core team members cheer as they run toward the end. 

Amari suddenly starts to go slow which also makes Grant slow down as well. “What are you doing?” He asked. “We need to win!”

She shook her head. “No, you need to win.” She pulls her hand away from his grip and then pushes him with both hands to the finish line, which is a mere inch away. Unaware of what she planned to do, Grant found no time to stop himself from moving. He does cross the finish line first before Amari follows.

“We would like to welcome our winner for this year’s sleuthing event!” A core team member announces out loud followed by the rest cheering and clapping their hands.

Grant didn’t care about that because he stared at Amari in disbelief. “Amari, you shouldn’t have done that.”

“I admit that you deserve it,” she says, clapping her hands along with the others.

“Still, you shouldn’t–”

“Hey,” she interrupts, “you helped me, so I help you.” 

“You didn’t have to, Amari…”

“I liked today. You might not know, next year we could have another chance of unlikely helping each other.”

He breaks off into a small smile. “You think that might happen?”

She shrugs. “I mean…today made me start looking at you in a different light. Who knows what next year might bring?”

And the next year's event brought a lot of things for them.

Not only was the competition done by pair instead of individually, but an unlikely pair also won first place – a pair that was clearly more than rivals and perhaps, a bit more than friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

If our history student organization had an activity like this when I was in college, I would definitely join the org.

Also, I have a good friend whose name is Grant as well. I thought of him as I made this imagine. Though I'm sure he doesn't have the same MBTI as the Grant in this story. Still, if ever you read this Grant in the next 10 to 20 years, I love you! ♡ and please don't judge me HAHA

Some positive traits of ISTP: bold, observant, adaptable

Some positive traits of ENTP: inquisitive, enthusiastic, versatile