"What the fuck," Thea gasped quietly, nearly falling right over on the spot.

She rushed into the lab, eyes not believing what they were seeing. Even the first vase they assembled together was complete, the missing piece magically found. Thea spent a few good minutes walking around and around the table in utter disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Ahmed told her as she walked in circles. "I know you told me I couldn't come in but I was really quite bored this weekend. As I'm sure you saw by my interaction with Rose, I don't have a girlfriend to speak of, nor very many friends. Besides, the friends I do have are back in Egypt."

Thea was only half paying him any mind.

"I did everything to a tee," Ahmed continued anxiously, wringing his hands. "I filled out the proper paperwork, and filled out the incident report when at one point I had to partially deconstruct a mistake I had made--"

"Shut up, Ahmed."

Ahmed blinked in surprise and slammed his mouth shut. Thea stopped her bewildered walking and leaned heavily against the lab table with both hands. After a moment, she reached out to her coworker, making a "gimme gimme" gesture. "Let me see the papers."

"Of course," Ahmed replied, rushing over to a computer chair where he had set his briefcase. Moments later he handed her a blue file folder. 

Thea put the file on the table and began to pour over the many sheets of paper. Halfway through she held out her own papers to Ahmed, not bothering to look at him. "Here--go hang up the wet ones in the photography room."

Ahmed simply nodded and then rushed away. By the time he came back, Thea was done going over the reports. They had been filled out meticulously. Just as he said, there was a thin yellow paper at one point, the incident report. She was relieved that nothing had been further damaged. Not wanting to get either of them in trouble, she quickly stuck her initials on the form. 

Ahmed watched all this patiently. Thea neatly put the papers in the file folder, tapped it on the table so everything was even, and then held it out to Ahmed. The man visibly cringed, taking the folder back. Without another word, Thea removed her glasses, sat on the stool, and covered her face. She sighed heavily before putting her head on the table, covering her head.

A few seconds of silence befell the room. Then, Ahmed spoke, unsure.

"Um, Thea. Are you--are you alright?"

Thea sat up, blinking profusely. She rubbed her eyes and put her glasses back on. Heaving a sigh, she replied.

"No, I'm not. Could we talk please, Ahmed?"

Ahmed slipped into the stool across from her hesitantly. "Am I fired? I'm fired for disobeying a direct order, aren't I?"

Thea chuckled and shook her head. "You were assigned to me--I don't know if I can fire you. But no, Ahmed, it's nothing like that. This is of a...personal, matter."

He looked surprised. "Oh."

Thea filled him in on her dreams. She also confided in him that she was starting to feel crazy, absolutely mad. By the end of it all she was near tears, only held back by sheer willpower. 

When she was done, Ahmed sat still, chin in his hand, viewing her evenly. Minutes ticked by. Thea was about to tell him to say something when he finally spoke.

"You know what I think?"

"I'm crazy?"

Now it was Ahmed's turn to chuckle. "No. Eccentric, perhaps, but crazy? No."

Ahmed got to his feet. Thea watched in wonder as he came around the table and put a kind hand on her shoulder. The feeling was familiar, and yet not all at once. The gesture reminded her of Ankh, but the feeling was all wrong. In a haze of confusion, she blinked up at the tall lanky man.

"Go home, Thea. Get some rest."

Thea waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine--"

"Thea--you just admitted to me you're developing a crush on a character in a dream, a dream you've been having nightly. You're exhausted. Get some rest, please."

Thea looked at the vases and copic jar. "But the jars--"

"We have a month, Thea. They will still be here in the morning."

As though to prove his point, Thea had to stifle a yawn. He smiled at her, putting another hand on her shoulder. "Go home, Thea."

That's exactly what she did. However, Thea couldn't get to sleep, try as she might. It wasn't until nightfall did she finally turn in, falling asleep almost immediately.

~

Ankh clapped his hands, and within moments all the entertainers had returned. Thea blinked, jarred from falling asleep in her apartment to being back in the hall with Ankh. He smiled at her, misinterpreting her reaction.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh no, you didn't."

Ankh looked slightly confused, so Thea merely smiled and took a sip from her wine.

The evening progressed smoothly. Ankh asked her just about everything under the sun--where she was born, if she had any siblings, how she received her education. Whenever she wasn't able to provide a vague answer regarding the future, she made sure to drop her voice so only Ankh could hear here.

After a delicious dessert of tiger nut sweets (chopped tiger nuts mixed with dates, honey, and what tasted like allspice, formed into bite-sized balls), Ankh washed his fingers a final time. The entertainers retired. As they did, Ankh rose, holding out his hand to Thea. Quickly drying her own hands against her skirt, Thea smiled up at him and took his hand. 

"Would you enjoy to go for a walk before we retire to our respective beds?"

"That sounds lovely, Ankh."

When they left, arm in arm, guards followed them. They walked back down the hallway silently. It wasn't until they reached outside and the guards gave them some space did the pair speak with one another freely. 

"Do you go walking plainly to hide your identity?" Thea asked in a conspiratorial manner.

"Astute observation. I do, in fact."

"Oh, Ankh!" Thea said excitedly, grabbing his arm briefly. "I just remembered! Do you mind if we walked through down? There's a statue of Osiris I would love to look at." She peered up into his face and smiled. "Please?"

"Of course," Ankh replied, returning the smile. "I was thinking of bringing you there, anyway, and showing you around."

Ankh led her back through town. He showed her various things--temples, houses. In the middle of the religious district--where Thea had first seen all the glorious statues--was where they stopped. Thea pointed to a large statue, slightly befuddled because she didn't recognize the visage. She could only assume it was God, but which one she didn't know.

"Who is that?" 

"Ah, that is the patron God of our town--Aquen."

Intrigued, Thea walked in front of the statue. Now that she was closer, she saw the nameplate. The name "Aquen" was written as a reed, a shen ring, the symbol for water, the letter 'q' and God. 

"I wasn't aware he was a patron God of any town," she replied, staring up at the impressive statue. 

Ankh chuckled. "Not in your schools?"

"No--he's all been but erased from history," she muttered before turning to Ankh. "Unfortunately much of your culture has been lost or damage. Or in some cases, like Hatshepsut, people were purposely erased from history." She smirked. "In Hatshepsut's case, luckily, they didn't do enough scrubbing and she survived time."

Ankh looked up at the massive statue, frowning. "It's sad to know our patron God didn't make it."

"He's mentioned in The Book of the Dead-one of the most well-known sources of ancient Egyptian history."

Ankh looked proud. "Well, even though he didn't make it, I'm happy he wasn't completely lost."

Thea grinned at Ankh. "Could you tell me about Aquen? He's largely glossed over and I must admit, I've forgotten anything about him."

Ankh returned the smile. "But of course."