Chapter Text
Steven jumped slightly when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest. He twisted in his chair to see Layla smiling down at him. He let out a breath, smiling and putting a hand over hers.
“Bloody hell, Layla,” Steven said.
“Did I startle you? I’m sorry,” she laughed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She withdrew her arms from around him and leaned forward to look at his desk. “How’s the translation of the trade records been going?”
“Well,” Steven said, removing his reading glasses and placing them on a stack of papers. “Been stuck on this page here. Bit difficult to read hieroglyphs on this papyrus in particular because there’s quite a bit of damage.”
He pointed at the numerous holes in the paper, and Layla hummed thoughtfully. She gently took it from his hands as he continued, “I’ve managed to get some of the items they were trading and what city they were coming from, but a lot is missing regarding the where and who the supplies were going to.”
“Probably needs to be compared to documents from the same area and time. It seems like a pretty routine trade, nothing special, so we could confirm if the missing pieces match with the others,” Layla said, “When do they want it translated by? If I have some spare time this week I could look over it too.”
“No no, you don’t have to if you’re busy,” Steven said hastily, looking over at Layla as she set the artifact down. “Speaking of which, what about you? Is the field research going alright?” He asked.
Layla grinned and shrugged. “We’ve made quite a bit of progress. My team got back from a dig site in Cairo yesterday and have quite a few things they found near the Nile's banks. And they also checked to make sure the temples were being guarded correctly,” she said, sitting in a nearby chair.
“Can’t have any vandals mucking up the sites,” Steven agreed. “I bet you wish you were out there at the dig sites yourself, yeah?”
Layla sighed lightly. “Yeah, sometimes I do. Despite everything, sometimes I miss being in Cairo. But I’m sure the opportunity will arise soon. I’m glad they trust me enough to lead a team of this size, even remotely. Plus,” She said, eyes sparkling as she grinned at Steven, “I don’t think I’d want to be away from you all for that long.”
Steven smiled and ducked his head sheepishly, rubbing his neck. He could tell Marc was delighted at the sentiment as well, and a look in the reflective desk showed the American beaming up at Layla. Steven glanced up at the clock on the wall across from him.
“I’ve got one more tour before closing, but after that we can find somewhere to eat for dinner, yeah? We ought to celebrate four months having a steady job here,” He said, perking up in excitement.
“I knew you’d love working at the British Museum,” She laughed, “Living out your tour guide dreams.” She stood up and walked over to him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “It’s a date then.”
—-------------------
Steven’s tours usually lasted at least 2 hours, so she passed the time sorting through the artifacts her crew brought back. How anyone could talk for that long multiple times a day was beyond her. Her throat was sore just at the thought of it.
Khonshu and Taweret also decided that this would be the best time to shadow her. Ever since she released Khonshu from the ushabti, she had been able to see him whenever he decided to materialize. It was probably an avatar-related thing, who really knows.
Usually the gods would just bicker with each other or Khonshu would watch ominously from a corner, but today they decided to actually be helpful to her work. Taweret informed her that several items recovered were household monuments to herself, and explained enthusiastically in great detail where they came from. Some were created to maximize fertility, some were placed in the tombs of loved ones to ensure rebirth in the afterlife, and some were simply created to honor her.
Even Khonshu was being helpful in his own right. He peered over her notes and muttered about things that needed to be corrected. None of the artifacts in this batch belonged to him, but he provided some information about what gods they did belong to. They weren’t very helpful when it came to artifacts not pertaining to deities, so she was on her own for those.
Layla finished up in the research lab and glanced at the time, seeing there was still a good 15 minutes before Steven’s last tour would be finishing.
“Can we, uh, check up on a few of my relics on display? It’d be a dreadful shame if some school children have messed with them,” Taweret asked.
“Of course, I still have time,” Layla reassured the goddess, “And we can visit Khonshu’s as well. I know he gets pissy if he’s left out.”
“I am the god of the night sky, I do not get ‘pissy’,” Khonshu grumbled, thrusting his staff into the ground.
Layla rolled her eyes but walked into the display rooms, the gods following in tow.
—-------------------
“...And that concludes today’s tour! Feel free to stop by the gift shop on the way out, lots of lovely trinkets in there,” Steven said to the group. The crowd began to disperse to the aforementioned shop and towards the exits. Steven quickly ducked behind the front desk to begin grabbing his things. He and the other alters had been especially antsy during the last tour, ready to clock out and have a relaxing night with their wife.
Having shoved everything in his bag, he turned towards the artifact labs to meet with Layla. However, a woman from his tour stepped in front of him.
“Hey, it was Steven, right?” She asked.
“Yep. That’s… me. My name. Steven,” He managed to say, a bit taken aback.
She laughed, grabbing a strand of her hair and twirling in around her finger. “You did a great job on that tour, Steven. You must know a whole lot about history. I could listen to you talk about it all day,” she said.
“Well, that’s very kind of you,” he said with a forced smile, taking a step to the side. “Uh, look my shift is almost over, I should really-”
“Oh, is that so? Well, I’ve got nothing going on tonight,” the woman said, matching his step to the side. “I know this great pub down the street, if you’d like to join me for some drinks,” she continued, winking at him.
Steven felt his face flush a bit at the unexpected flirting, glancing around for an excuse to exit the conversation. He did his best imitation of Gus 2.0 as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to find something to say.
“You see I’ve got-” Steven managed, taking another step before he somehow tripped over his own feet, letting out a yelp as his back hit the wall. The woman giggled again and stepped into his personal space, with Steven looking thoroughly mortified. Marc and Jake also decided now was the best time to angrily chime in.
Who does she think she is, trying to- Jake bagan.
Steven, just show her your ring, or something to get rid of her- Marc interrupted, voices overlapping in their head.
—-------------------
Layla walked through the threshold into the main lobby. Taweret had dematerialized, satisfied with the state of her relics. Khonshu was muttering something about 'pesky undisciplined children,' as some kid had left a lollipop wrapper on top of one of his smaller statues. He especially didn’t seem to appreciate Layla telling him as she threw it away that ‘he’d actually look good with a colorful hat.’
Khonshu stilled beside Layla, who frowned up at him. The god chuckled and gestured forward with his staff.
“I think my avatar may be in a bit of trouble,” he said.
Layla followed his gaze, taking in the scene a few yards away from her. An obviously nervous Steven was leaning against the closest wall, eyes glancing around and keeping a white-knuckled grip on his satchel. A middle-aged woman was leaning towards him, twirling her hair and saying something to him with a big grin.
Layla felt a spark of anger in her chest, clenching her jaw and marching over towards the two. When she got closer Steven’s eyes landed on her and she could see the relief wash over him. The other woman noticed her too, but before she or Steven could say anything, Layla grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He fell forward with a surprised noise and Layla spun them around. Her other arm moved to support his back and head, leaning him backwards in a motion similar to a dip at the end of a ballroom dance. Layla leaned down and kissed him fiercely. Steven immediately melted into the kiss, closing his eyes.
Layla released the front of his shirt and entwined their hands together. She made eye contact with the shocked woman and was sure to show her their twin wedding rings. After what felt like minutes, they broke apart from their kiss. Layla straightened up, bringing a dazed-looking Steven up with her. She offered a faux-friendly smile to the woman.
“I hope you enjoyed my husband’s tour. He’s the best, isn’t he?” Layla said.
“Uh, yeah, the, uh, tour was wonderful,” the woman stuttered, looking between the two.
“You’ll have to excuse us, we have to leave for a dinner reservation soon. An anniversary. Isn’t that right, love?” she said, turning to Steven. He nodded rapidly.
“I’ll, uh, let you get to that then,” the woman said hurriedly, turning and hastily walking out the front exit with the rest of the museum patrons. Layla turned and offered a concerned gaze to Steven, cupping his cheek and turning his head to face hers.
“Are you alright? I hope she didn’t make you too uncomfortable,” Layla said. Steven shook his head.
“I’m aces now,” he said with a smile. “Just a bit of flirting, asked me to go to a pub. Not that I would have said yes, that was bloody mortifying,” he finished hurriedly. Layla huffed out a laugh.
“I could kill her if you’d like,” Khonshu said, materializing beside them.
“Absolutely not,” Steven and Layla said in unison. Khonshu shrugged and cocked his head. If he didn’t have a bird skull, Layla was sure he’d be grinning deviously. He vanished with a gust of wind. Layla turned back to Steven, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek and patting him on the arm.
“I’ll run and get my stuff from the lab. Think you can stay out of trouble for another few minutes?” She teased.
“I’ll try my best,” Steven said. Layla walked off, and when she rounded the corner Steven glanced into a nearby display case. A smug-looking Jake looked back at him from one reflection and a slightly fuming Marc looked back from the other.
Hot damn, we should get flirted with more often, Jake said with a smirk.