The guest room in the Tower was laid out and furnished more or less like a mid-level hotel room. Not a total rat's nest, but nothing fancy. Just a couple of beds, a bedside table, armchair, dresser, closet, a little kitchenette area in the corner, and a bathroom. Ty spent more than a few minutes attempting to explain the basic modern amenities to a girl whose culture hadn't quite mastered running water yet. He at least had some experience with this kind of thing.

“So yeah, I think that covers the bathroom,” he said, hoping more detail wouldn't be necessary. “Now, when you're ready to go to sleep you'll want to turn the overhead lights off. The switch for that is on the wall there. Push it up if you want light, down if you want dark. Pretty easy.”

“Okay...”

“Lastly, you've got your communicator there. We call it a comm because we're too busy for extra syllables.” He pointed to a small plastic earpiece sitting on the bedside table. “If you have any problems, press the little round button on the back. I'll hear it and come check on you. Got it?”

Elizabeth looked uncertain, but nodded. “...Yes, I think so.”

“Sorry. This is all a little overwhelming, isn't it?”

“I've sometimes tried to imagine what sorts of wonders might exist in the world beyond Zalaria. I read some fantasy novels as a child and thought perhaps some of them could be real places. But I never could have imagined any of this.”

“We've had a lot of new arrivals in town who felt the same way. I usually tell them to pretend that they're dreaming. At least if this was a dream, all the crazy things going on around here would feel like they make sense.”

She laughed quietly to herself and smiled. “Well, when I met Sir Deejay, it certainly felt like a dream.”

“You really like him, don't you?”

“It's obvious, isn't it?” She looked at him intently. “You don't approve. Why not? What is it about me that you object to?”

“About you? Nothing.”

“Then why does it bother you? It's not just my father you're concerned about. There is something else. What is it?”

He paused, unsure how much to say. “...There are a lot more things about this world, and about us, that you don't understand. I don't want to pile any more of it on you than I already have. I just want you to consider this advice, from someone who has known Deejay his whole life and knows him better than he knows himself...”

“Very well.”

“If you just think he's cute, fine. Have fun, do what you want. But if you're having thoughts about love, romance, the future, building a life together, you're much better off forgetting about Deejay and finding someone from your world. He's no good for you.”

She studied him closely. The lenses of his glasses were lighter than their first meeting. Somehow, Ty is the one holdout from our world that doesn't think those color-changing lenses look ridiculous. The point is, she was able to clearly see his eyes for the first time. Like his brother, Ty's eyes could look anything from gray to pale green depending on the light. But where Elizabeth had gotten lost in the vitality and boyish curiosity in Deejay's eyes, Ty's just looked tired. And maybe a little sad.

“I can't understand why you would say something like that, about your own brother no less. However, since you are so insistent, and since you have known Sir Deejay much longer than I have, I will take your advice into consideration.”

“That's all I'm asking.”

She sat on the nearest bed. “I would like to see him again while I am here, though.”

“That might be difficult. He actually has a lot of work to do. Both of us do, in fact. Running a city is no easy feat, you know.”

She frowned. “You sound like my father.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn't a compliment.”

“And that wasn't sincere gratitude.”

He turned and walked to the elevator.

“Anyway, I really need to go talk to him first, preferably alone.”

“Very well. Good day, Sir Tyler.”

“Good day, Princess.”

–

Ty returned to Deejay's room to find him lying on his bed reading his comic book.

“She's settling in,” Ty said. “Of course, she still wants to see you. I told her you and I needed to talk first.”

“I hope that was a lie,” Deejay said flatly.

Ty took a seat at the desk. Deejay kept his eyes on the comic, as if he could run and hide within its panels until the difficult conversation went away.

“Look, Deejay, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but this kind of thing concerns all of us, not just you.”

“That's a laugh, you not telling me how to live my life. Why do you care so much anyway?”

“Apart from being disappointed that my super-genius brother insists on applying his intellect to the asinine goal of getting laid? This is a dangerous game you're playing. It's already disruptive enough when you just pluck random girls out of their own worlds and let them know about this place. Their worlds aren't ready for confirmation of the existence of alternate universes. Hell, our own Earth isn't ready for that.”

“That's debatable.”

“And I'm sure we'll debate it again. But this time it's an actual princess? What if she lets something slip to her father about you, about us? That whole world is so much further behind technologically and culturally. This is not a revelation those people are going to handle well. And that's still the best-case scenario. The worst case is he snaps and sends his armies to tear the nearest continent apart trying to find you and cut your head off for daring to lay your hands on his little girl.”

Deejay kept staring at the same page, no longer reading as much as trying not to look guilty.

“The bottom line is this,” Ty continued. “Elizabeth goes home first thing tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know-”

“And for the rest of the time she’s here, you don’t lay a hand on her.”

“Aw come on. She's stuck here overnight anyway.”

“Even if we ignore the fact that she's way too young for you-”

“Says you.”

“Says polite society.

“Not hers. By Zalarian standards, she's knocking on the door of being an old maid.”

“Regardless. You really think nobody is going to figure out that it happened? They might not have a lot of modern technology over there, but they're not stupid. What are they going to think? Their culture isn't as sexually liberated as you'd like, and unkind rumors stick to celebrities and royalty like super glue. What's going to happen when she tries to get married to some prince down the road? She has a life back there, and she doesn't need you ruining it.”

Deejay glared at him. Ty crossed his arms and glared back, until Deejay backed down.

“...Okay. I guess that makes some sense.”

“Alright. I've got to get back to the boardroom. Try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the night. Maybe work on that warning thing for your medication you were talking about.”

Deejay sighed and went back to his comic.

“Already finished it, long before I picked her up. But please, keep reminding me to get my work done. I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“You want me to stop treating you like a kid? Then grow up.”

Ty turned and got back in the elevator. Deejay stuck his tongue out at him, then continued reading.