"Months?! That's ridiculous- why didn't they just fingerprint the imposter?!"

Intrigued, the ruler glanced at his guest and queried: "...how would small children covering him in paint solve anything?"

Ryou held back a soft laugh. "I believe you're thinking of finger-painting, your highness- finger-printing is quite different." The monarch seemed just as confused as before, so the otherworlder went on. "It's an identification system for criminals- basically, if you commit a crime, you get your fingertips dipped in temporary ink, and then the pattern is 'stamped' on a sheet of paper for future reference!"

The king seemed thoughtful for a moment. "...but then how do you do paws? Or talons? Surely they can't be 'stamped' in the same manner-?"

Ryou shook his head. "Oh, we don't have any hybrid-types in our world- only humans. It's rather boring, really..."

Sensing a note of discontent in the foreigner's tone, King Bakura decided to be a little bolder. "That does sound very bland... but it's still quite different from this realm. In fact, it seems there are many questions raised by any comparisons of our worlds. So tell me..." Here the devious monarch subtly moved a few steps closer to his target. "How do the peoples of your world go about courtship rituals?"

Ryou nearly choked in pure shock. "Wha-?!" He quickly turned his gaze to the king, all thoughts of Wonderland's stars forgotten.

"I wish to romance you," the king blatantly declared, "-yet the cultural differences between us seem quite vast. How do I win your favor without causing you any undue stress or offense?"

"I-I-" Ryou silently cursed his own stutter as he tried to think up some sort of reason to reject the obstinate monarch. "I haven't even started dating yet!"

"Started? But then... you have plans to do so." King Bakura's eyes grew large as he misinterpreted the other's statement. "Are your affections set upon another?!" Without pause, the crimson-eyed ruler pulled out a very sharp dagger from somewhere beneath his cloak. "So be it! I will gladly fight him to the death if need be!"

"Wha- NO! No, I'm not seeking someone else; I don't even like anyone back home!" The panicked teen began waving his arms back and forth, trying to calm the overzealous ruler. "Truth be told, they're all jerks!"

Forgetting his momentary passion, King Bakura stowed his favorite dagger and turned to his 'accidental' guest. "Then why are you so set upon returning?"

Ryou paused. It was certainly a legitimate question. He almost never saw his father, and he'd lost all his other family members... not to mention the daily struggle of keeping his sexuality hidden from his peers... why was he fighting so hard to return to that world?

"I... I suppose I just belong there. That's all."

Bakura lowered his voice to a whisper as he earnestly inquired: "but do you, truly?"

Ryou's eyes widened in realization, and his jaw fell open. He seemed about to say something. "I-"

"Your majesty!"

"..." Cursing his luck, the irate ruler scowled as a half-vulpine servant ran up to the stargazers. He turned to the fox-hybrid messenger and snapped in an icy tone: "if this is not an emergency requiring my immediate attention, you shall be beheaded."

The messenger let out a strange noise before bowing and fleeing back the way he came. The monarch smirked as he started to snicker to himself. Evidently King Bakura was amused by the instantaneous and stunning effect his words had on the servant.

Ryou felt something inside his chest suddenly drop, and his expression grew dour. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Threaten him like that!"

The nobleman waved one hand in casual nonchalance, as though the whole exchange hardly mattered. "He is one of my subjects. Therefore, I can treat him however I wish."

Ryou folded his arms, starting to get annoyed with the king's self-important attitude. "It's very cruel. Your subjects know they cannot refuse your demands, yet you still feel the need to regularly instill fear within them?"

"It's rudimentary politics. If they fear me, then they will never dare revolt or turn on me."

"Nonsense. Revolutions only occur when people are very unhappy- and I suspect you're making them very unhappy by lording your power over them like a coward."

"WHAT?!" The king seemed to explode at Ryou's last word, and he glared at the otherworlder as he bellowed loudly: "did you just call me a coward?!"

But the newcomer held his ground, keeping his arms crossed as he actually leaned towards the enraged monarch. "No, I said 'like a coward.' But then again, what would you call a man who threatens someone who cannot fight back? A hero?" The smaller teen scoffed in disdain. "Surely not."

King Bakura hid his flustered thoughts by scoffing. "And as you pointed out earlier, I am very young. There are plenty of others who would be tempted to steal my throne if I did not keep my kingdom in line!"

"Which, ironically, you are doing very little to encourage."

"What?!"

"People will always remember someone who was kind to them- but as soon as that fear fades, they have no reason to think upon someone who tormented them. If you truly wish to keep your power, then you should start by earning the trust and loyalty of your citizens. There is no protection like the genuine convictions of a loyal servant."

King Bakura raised one eyebrow in skepticism. "Surely you jest."

But Ryou didn't falter. "Not at all. Allow me to set up an example (purely theoretical, of course). Say a man with great wealth happens upon your land, and wants to take over your kingdom. Now, he can hire any assassin in the world to kill you, and all he needs is a way into the castle. So he talks with one of the guards outside, and explains that he can pay a very handsome sum in exchange for access to your bedchambers. The guard is terribly afraid of you, and this man is offering him a sure-fire way to both be rid of his fear, and to become obscenely rich. What do you think the guard will do?"

"..."

"Nobody likes being afraid. So if the opportunity arises for them to be rid of the reason for their fear..."

"..."

King Bakura suddenly turned around and stalked to the edge of the viewing platform and gripped the stone risers with a strange intensity. Ryou watched, bewildered, as the royal youth remained silent for several moments. With his back to the foreigner, it was hard to read his expression. But he seemed to be glaring down at the castle wall, as though the stone itself was causing him anguish.

A few moments passed by, before Bakura spoke in an oddly suppressed tone. "I'm not him."

Ryou blinked a few times, not sure if the words were directed at the king, or himself. "I beg your pardon?"

"I am not my father. I cannot win the hearts of the peoples with a sudden, impassioned speech or a selflessly brave act. I even tried to imitate his methods and mannerisms; but I only failed."

'Oh...' Ryou remembered everything he'd heard about the previous king. "Er, yes, that's true; you will never be your father's double... but that does not exclude you from becoming his equal."

"Huh?!" The monarch's eyes widened as he was joined at the edge of the platform by the oddly-eloquent foreigner. Ryou turned and gazed directly into the king's fiery eyes as he went on.

"My father is an archaeologist. He digs up the past so that people can learn from it. He is a respected scholar with a good job. I may not enjoy archeology, but that doesn't mean I cannot secure a good job of my own in a different field and eventually earn the same levels of payment and respect."

The young ruler seemed to think over this statement carefully. "But won't people expect you to be an arch-bee-ologist like him?"

"No; even if I became an archaeologist, I'd surely study something different, and work in a different environment. It's impossible to imitate someone else's life perfectly. And if you try, you'll never succeed- it's an inevitability that no two people can live the same life. It's better to try and live your life however you think is best for you."

"..." King Bakura let out an inaudible sigh. "You speak strangely, foreigner. Yet it is not all nonsense..."

Ryou felt a flash of annoyance at the ruler's last words. "Wait, what do you mean, 'not all nonsense'?!"

But the monarch paid him no heed. "I do not think my servants will ever respect me. I started playing jokes and tricks in my youth, mainly to amuse myself... and it has driven a wall between us. Then I suddenly became king, and I was afraid and unsure how to tear it down... so I simply began building it up even further."

"I don't think you've set yourself as far apart as you think. Your people still want you to be happy (otherwise, why would I even be here?). Besides, the best way to earn respect is to give it. And I know you respect a great many of your staff already."

"What?!" The pale nobleman seemed equally stunned and surprised by Ryou's declaration.

The otherworlder smiled as he shrugged in self-evidence. "Well, take earlier this evening; for example. If Sir Pegasus' actions truly bothered you to the point of irritation, you would've simple had him killed or exiled already. Which means there must be something about his talents that you appreciate."

"Wha- that's- not-erg..." The king turned his to one side again, grumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "as if I wasn't planning to do that..."

"Of course, I don't know everything about your world, or even your customs." The white-haired traveler admitted brightly. "So just take my advice with a grain of salt, I suppose."

This led to further looks from the bewildered sovereign. "...how does one measure a single grain of salt? And why is that important?"

Ryou nearly facepalmed as he realized how easily he'd caused the male aristocrat undue confusion. "Oh, sorry- it's more of a saying from my people- it basically means, 'don't forget the grounds of reality.' Salt mainly comes from the ground, where I came from- er, come from."

"Salt from the ground?" Now it was the pale monarch who chuckled. "Who would have thought..."

Yet neither of the pale duo noticed how the young visitor's train of thought seemingly slipped with his last words...