Aurélie leaned back against a table, currently cluttered by her camera equipment and the two teens’ charging phones, an e-reader and a tablet. Her hand threaded through her blonde locks, shifting her hair to the other side as she watched her father approach the youngest de Villiers. He had come to say goodnight, which is something he usually did, like a ritual. Or compensation for not having been there all day. A smile tugged at her lips as she witnessed how much Cosy enjoyed the attention of her father, and she looked at the scene, enamoured. He was a good father, when he was there. That was something no one could deny. And Aurélie knew she had to be less tough on him while they were here. Techinally, him and her mother were working, which meant she couldn't expect them to be there for them the whole time. She had to be reasonable. And try and keep Theo and Cosy off their case so they could focus on their work. Their passion. 

Though, as her father turned to Theo, she studied him more closely. He was using the desk as a support and trying to be subtle about it, but the eldest spotted the trickle of sweat on his temple from the effort. A small, barely masked wince. Slightly laboured breathing from biting back grunts of pain. He had been pushing himself too much. By either standing too long or moving about too much. If he was like this on the first day, it wouldn't bode well for the rest of the trip. It wasn't like the Giza had elevators. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth as concern swirled in her.

Theo rolled his eyes at the joke but chuckled, hugging his father and clapping him on the back. Sometimes he thought maybe Theo had grown up too fast for his father, who still teethered between treating Theo as a kid, while sometimes treating him as a grown adult. Yet, any attention was good with Theo. [color=steelblue]”I’ll keep my eye out for him. Night, dad.”[/color] the teen said, before flinging himself back on his cot, putting on his headphones back over his ears, snatching his phone from the table where it had been charging. 

As her father approached her, Aurélie pushed herself up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, receiving one back. [color=rosybrown]”Bonne nuit, papa.”[/color] She never really was comfortable with hugs, from anyone, and he respected that. He avoided her gaze, and she noticed he wasn’t all there as he mumbled something about pictures. Whatever the reason was that the family was along for the ride, she could see it was weighing on him, nagging and occupying. As he went to give Cosy a kiss, tucking her in, Auri made her way to her bag on her cot, rummaging through it to find the warming pain relief ointment for his knee. It would hopefully soothe the pain enough so he’d be able to sleep. Which he looked like he needed.

A grin graced her face as she finally found it, though it faltered as she turned and found the flap of the tent settling back into place, her father having left. She bit her lip, doubting for a moment. Should she follow? Her body moved before her mind decided, and she left the warmth and safety of the tent. Outside, it had gotten colder as the dark settled around them. Little dust clouds formed around her feet as she arrived at her parents' tent. She could hear her father’s voice, but it was in the next tent over. Curious, Aurélie moved past the middle tent and approached the last one.

[b][i]"Then what[/i] is [i]the problem?"[/i][/b] There was a problem? She remembered the animated conversation Thierry and Egyptian had inside the pyramid earlier. Something was off, and the daughter couldn’t put her finger on it yet. She bit the inside of her lip as she turned, not feeling comfortable with eavesdropping. The Egyptian’s answer still reached her ears. 

[b][i]"Mummies don't become[/i] ghosts, [i]Monsieur de Villiers, they become[/i] gods."[/b]

Aurélie frowned as she walked off. What did that mean? 

[color=rosybrown]”Maman?”[/color] Her manicured fingers curled around the fabric of the entrance of her parents' tent, before letting herself in. Smiling at her mother, she put down the tube on a nearby table. [color=rosybrown]”Can you give this to dad? He forgot it at home, as usual. So I brought it.”[/color] She cleared her throat and walked up to her, kissing her cheek and flashing a smile. [color=rosybrown]”Bonne nuit, je t'aime!”[/color] 

She hurried off, arriving back in her tent. Cosy was fast asleep, all tucked in by her father and exhausted by the trip. Theo was on his back, his headphones slightly askew on his head as one hand rested on his chest, atop his phone. It went up and down at a steady pace, and Auri saw he had fallen asleep. There was something so innocent about the normally very socially present teen, now blissfully asleep. She approached, carefully taking off his headphones and placing them on the small table beside his cot. 

As she changed and crawled into her own, the Egyptian’s words haunted her mind, and eventually, her dreams.[hr]
[center][sub] The morning after [/sub][/center]
[color=steelblue]”Oh my God, this is so good.”[/color] Theo dipped a piece of thick bread into the dish of fava bean stew. And Egyptian delicacy, apparently. Though, Aurélie found it a little too heavy for breakfast. Her eyes sparkled with amusement at her brother, who sat cheerfully at the table and ate for 5. Insatiable, that teen boy. The family sat at a table before their tents, no expense spared on their lavish breakfast. The sun was in the sky, but a soft breeze made it a manageable warmth. Aurélie crossed her legs in her yellow sundress, taking a bite of a piece of bread with salted butter.

Theo was brimming with energy, eager to run back up the steps into the pyramid to just [i]discover[/i]. This was what he dreamed about since he was a little kid, and the tourist section they visited last night did nothing to please his curiosity. He wanted to see more. He wanted to experience it all for himself. To work at the Louvre, to work with his mom and dad was his absolute dream. This was like the fucking best ‘take your kid to work day’ ever. He had a job lined up at the Louvre as a tour guide when he started college, something his father had done during his college years too. But Theo wanted more, so much more. And he would work hard for it. 

He shoved his food in like he had places to be, which, if it was up to Theo, he did. His legs moved up and down in his beige shorts. [color=steelblue]”Hey uh, dad?”[/color] He started, shifting a little in his chair as he looked at his father, sitting across from him. [color=steelblue]”When you and mom go into the burial chamber, do you mind if I go along? I so desperately want to see it. I won’t touch anything, I’ll be on my best behaviour. Please?”[/color] He said, grinning widely, his signature charming smirk. Part his father’s charm and part his mother’s appeal.