M'u felt almost dazed at Ami's swift return. So glad that he let himself be led anywhere, and only came back to reality when the sunlight beamed into his emerald eyes. His eyes were often spoken of, M'u discovered. People had only kind things to say about their cat-like quality, when he actually ventured outside his palace. But when he did he draped himself in clothing that hid his long tail and ears from others. From his balcony one could see the green that spread out from the banks of the Line River and gradually disappeared into sand. He did love to leave the city from time to time, lie in that grass and under one of the high trees. Sometimes the call was just too tempting. He stepped forward, staring down at the water. So beautiful, the blue lapis lazuli tone that sparkled under the sun, like Ami's eyes. M'u looked back to the man at his touch and smiled. Good, so their trade route was established. Now M'u would have to sign off on the first shipment soon.

"So much better." He replied easily, turning to face Ami and pressing close to him. "These past days have been so dreadful... I grew so fearful for your life. I worried that the nomadic bandits may have crossed paths with you... Even before I knew you would arrive I began watching the gates for you and your party to return... I do hate to send you to do my work for me, Ami... If I could overcome my self-conscious behavior..." He sighed, sliding his arms around Ami's neck and hiding his eyes. It hadn't taken long for M'u to become enthralled with Ami---for reasons he didn't even know. He simply loved the man, the man that looked so like the creator of night, of dark, of the moon and stars and constellations. Much more beautiful than the sun.

Ami smiled softly, it was endearing to hear of his lover's worries. He was always careful on his travels and few suspected who he really was. He mostly travelled during the night, allowing the stars to guide him to his destination and the darkness to hide his features from any passerby. He absent-mindedly stroked M'u's hair, settling near his ears and scratching them softly.

This strange cat-eared man... Was he really a God? Sometimes Ami could be convinced that M'u was the embodiment of the Sun God, the one that controlled the days and seasons... But other times he was simply human, with his own fears, hopes and quirks that made Ami love him so.

"I don't want you to change. You are fine just the way you are," he replied with a smile. He turned his head and kissed the forehead of M'u. "I don't mind doing the boring stuff for you, as long as you are safe and happy, my love."

M'u purred gently, something he'd come to accept as a quirk that he couldn't stop---a natural thing because of what he was. Truly he didn't like what he was, but Ami did, and if Ami accepted him with all his oddities, he wouldn't change no matter what. "Then I would hope you would not change either." He gathered a handful of Ami's hair. "To cut off this precious silk is something I would dread for you to continue doing. I would take care of every inch of it for you, if nothing else." And Ami would have that naturality. That unhindered natural appearance he loved already.

And if he stopped cutting it off... he would look like his true self. The god of the moon and night that he was. So strange how night could get along so well, could love, day. The moon and sun, after all, were never meant to meet, let alone exist with the harmony they did. Ami was truly someone M'u couldn't live without. He would go mad, perhaps would have gone mad had Ami not arrived that day. It seemed like decades ago...

Ami laughed and took M'u's hand away from his hair. He had kept it long for his love, but still had to trim it to keep appearances. He was the face of the Pharaoh, the one that spoke on behalf of the great M'u. He couldn't look like some sort of tramp. He leant forward and kissed those warm lips he loved so much. Soon they laid on the silken bed, that sat near the balcony. The cool breeze stroked their naked bodies and the warmth of the sun kept them from shivering. Ami could lay like this forever.

"It's been a long time. I'm so happy you let me," he spoke, wiping a line of sweat from his brow. He then brought his hand to M'u's cheeks and lovingly caressed them. He had missed making love to his one and only. Even if it hadn't been too long ago that they laid in the same position.

The world had fallen away, then. Only Ami's sweet smell fell upon the air, his warmth, the only thing that really mattered to M'u now. That he was back in the arms of the human he had grown to adore, rely upon for sanity and companionship. Life. It felt as if years had passed between now, and the last time M'u had felt Ami's body, his heart, his hands petting, and stroking his back, and tail. He curled into the man's side, sliding lightly curled claw-like nails lightly down Ami's chest absentmindedly.

Perhaps it hadn't been too long. But several days did seem like a lifetime if Ami weren't around him. M'u purred lightly, grateful to have the human back, lying beside him as he always did. The nights had grown cold in such different manners when Ami was off, and M'u would shiver not because of the breezes or air. Now, he wrapped his tail over the human. "Perhaps I will accompany you next time, if I'm able." Even if he gathered up the courage, his duties as Pharaoh would be pressing, even if he left his priests in charge.

Ami stayed were he was, watching the sun crawl down from its throne in the sky. It was the moon's time to shine, with the light it gained from the sun. He yawned and stood carefully, walking to the balcony and closing the doors. Nights could get cold in the desert, and he didn't want M'u to get ill. He still wasn't sure if the cat eared man was more human-like or cat-like. He went back to the bed to lie with him now.

He rolled to face M'u, lightly petting him so he could hear the purring. The man had always intrigued him. But even M'u didn't seem to know the answers to his own riddles. Where did he come from? Were there others like him? Was he really the Sun God...?

M'u stared at the moon as it began rising from its hiding place It was large, silvery, tinted with a pale bluish tone. Throughout the palace firelight flared to life in sconces, braziers, and bowls on the walls. A type of magic M'u couldn't even hope to understand. Of course, it was less magic and more a system of gas pipes in the walls lit with a small spark and controlled so nothing tried to go out of control, but M'u liked to think of it as magic. When the doors closed, the cool breeze ceased and M'u shook slightly in the still, warming air. When Ami returned, he nuzzled up to the human---who he was sure was more than human---and put his ear close to Ami's chest to hear his heart.

There was something different about Ami, and M'u knew it. Something strange and surreal and simply not human, but more. He seemed to glow in the moonlight. As if he were made of the stuff. It only served to prove to M'u that he was, indeed, a god in human form. Like many thought him to be. But he was simply different. Strange.

The night was something Ami loved more than anything, except M'u of course. His eyes always shone like the moon and many claimed that he was the embodiment of the Moon God. He had always wondered if he was, if what they said was true. He stared at the moon now, watching a few clouds trail across it. He turned to speak to his lover, but words failed him this time. His life was just so perfect at this point. Nothing could make the scene any worse.

Tavi blinked again and shrunk back from the mummies. His ears were back and his tail fluffed, his eyes huge. What was this strange feeling? Like an electrical charge that ran through his body the moment he saw Ami. He couldn't understand it, couldn't even explain it. He looked over to Damon, and saw that he had felt it too. What did it mean?

Damon snapped his eyes away from the sight, gasping as a thump in his chest seemed to kick his heart into moving again. It was only a moment---only a moment in which everything seemed to isolate him and worm into his mind, steal his memory of the passing several moments. "Tavi...?" Damon looked down, finding the young creature there, but looking as if he were as confused as him. "It's okay..." Was it? They had both endured some snap to the memory, yet it had confused them both.

He looked to the others, nodding at their work and pulling Tavi out into clean, open air. "I'm not sure what happened, Tavi." He crouched to the creature's height, since he hadn't yet mastered walking entirely upright yet. "But it was probably because of the air in there. We'll leave for now, how about that? Soon we'll be off to my home, so you can do whatever you like, okay?" He put a light hand on Tavi's head, and smoothed down his ruffling hair and fur.

Damon's home... Tavi wanted to see it very much. He hoped it wasn't in a city like this one, where so many humans walked so close together and stopped to stare at him as they passed. He wondered how far away it was and how they would get there. Would they have to ride in those large "cars" again? Tavi didn't like them very much.

He was glad to be out in the open once again, and away from the mummies. Something about them made him feel... weird. Like he was looking into his own soul. He couldn't think of any words to say, so he simply purred when Damon petted him. It seemed that Damon had experienced something similar to what he had, and looked just as disturbed. "Tavi likes Damon."

Damon laughed, though it seemed a little shaky. Maybe they needed to get out of the museum and out to a park. He stood, stretched, and looked down to the creature. "Well Tavi, I like you too. I'm glad you decided to come with me..." He waved him along, walking forward and then down the stairs to head outside. "I think you'll like my home." He said, glancing down to the creature as he followed along. "It's beautiful. Water, and trees, grass, far, far away from people. I can teach you complete vocabulary, how to handle basic human-esque needs, how to control various things... All in time, of course. Maybe you'll learn to like riding in cars and other vehicles. I know it can be scary, but you're safe in those big, metal things, you know?" He glanced down at Tavi, smiling in an assured manner. Tavi was awfully cat-like---he would sense Damon's positive emotions and feed on that.

Tavi stood with Damon, yawning and stretching like a cat. He was still waiting for Damon to be proven right about those cars, because he had refused to ride in one since their trip from the jungle to this city. He did like the sound of Damon's house, and kind of wanted to learn more about these humans and how he could be like them.

They started to walk down the streets, dodging people who wanted to stop and stare at Tavi. A child tried to touch him, but he ran away, hiding in a bush. He hadn't seen a small human before and it scared him. He only came out after much coaxing from Damon. They kept wondering until they came to a grassed area, that looked very out of place in the sandy desert city. Tavi ran onto the grass and rolled about happily, hunting grasshoppers and trying to eat them.

Damon was glad that Tavi had seemed to begin to adjust. The activity around them was difficult even for domesticated animals, and Tavi might as well have been a relatively feral cat. He let Tav run his energy down, curiously high for being curiously related to felines. The park was a refuge, in a way, full of hiding places and little secluded areas that Tavi could hunt himself into a deep sleep, and it was hard to get him to go back to the hotel because he had grown exhausted.

Damon preferred to keep Tavi away from the exhibit after the event. He didn't even want to go back after that, but he had to oversee the project's steps. He felt cold in the exhibit's room, watching everything come together, and it wasn't because of the cooler air all around them. Lily seemed to see a difference and promised to keep an eye on things if he wanted to leave earlier than the others---a chance Damon jumped on much like Tavi and his insect victims. He'd had to ask Roland for a sedative for Tavi---something that wasn't injected but instead, eaten, so that he could handle the car ride and, afterward, the long plane ride.

He felt awful for drugging Tavi, but it calmed the creature enough to accept the rides, and Damon carried him most of the way, answering for him and helping him through checkups and observations. Damon hated the way others stared, but Tavi was out enough not to even notice them even as they took to the air in a small jet.

The days past too quickly. Tavi had only just became used to their daily routine at the hotel, and the long periods of times where Damon would be at the museum. While he waited for his friend to return, he'd practice reading or speaking, usually to his own reflections. He was getting a lot more vocal, and wasn't shy around the others any more.

One day Damon began to pack up their things, and gave Tavi a strange tasting piece of jerky. He felt really sleepy as he was carried from the hotel and into a car. Even though he was afraid, whatever Damon had given him made him calm enough to take the ride without panicking. At first he felt betrayed that his friend had given him something, but then he realised it was just to keep him happy.

They left the car and moved into a very large building, where many people strolled about carrying luggage. They were questioned by some men with blue uniforms before allowed on a large tube that smelt awful. Tavi clung to Damon tightly, as the loud engines started up and suddenly, they felt weightless. He slowly turned his head to look out a small window and noticed that they were in the air.

"Up... High... Like a bird..." he whispered to Damon, his eyes wide but feeling too sleepy to panic.