Made of Stone

Summary: If you asked almost anyone if Seto Kaiba was made of stone, they would probably say that he was.

Chapter 2: Movie

The room that Mokuba led Ryou to was amazing. He had never seen anything like it. The bed was the largest he had ever seen, let alone slept on. There was a private bathroom on the right. The white door was open, and Ryou looked inside. The counter top was a dark marble, with a silver sink. There was a large round tub, along with a standing shower.

"There's some clothes on the dresser." Mokuba said, pointing. "Want me to take the kitten while you freshen up before dinner?" Ryou smiled knowing it was his way of asking to play with him. He handed the kitten to the boy, and the smile that came across his face made Ryou happy. "Are you gonna keep him?"

He paused. "Honestly, I hadn't thought about it."

"You should. You saved him. Well, I'll let you get ready for dinner..."

"Are you sure you two shouldn't just eat together? I can eat in here, if I do..." He trailed off, thinking he probably shouldn't have added that last part.

Mokuba was sharp, however. "What do you mean 'if you do'? Just come have dinner with me and Seto. I promise he's not as scary as you think."

Ryou turned away from him. Was it so obvious that he was afraid of him? Of course, it was hard not to feel small and vulnerable around someone who radiated confidence like the young CEO. Yet he tried to play it off: "Why would you think I was afraid of him?"

"Most people are, but he's really not that bad. I promise."

Though all Ryou did was nod, he believed Mokuba. It would have been very easy for Seto to tell him to get out of the road, and leave him there. He didn't have to let him ride in his car, soaking wet, with a stray kitten, no less, and even though he was very well off financially, he still didn't have to allow him to stay in his home, and now have dinner with him. Surely someone who was as bad as Joey, or Tristan, might make him out to be, wouldn't extend that much courtesy.

"So... you'll come to dinner?" Mokuba's voice brought Ryou out of his thoughts. When his eyes met the boy's hopeful gaze, all he could do was smile and nod.

"Great! Go get ready, someone will come get you when it's served." He turned, holding the kitten close to his chest, and left the room. Ryou sighed and walked to the massive window and looked out at the rolling dark clouds. The sound of the rain tapping against the window was somehow soothing even though he certainly felt nervous.

He had never had dinner with someone as rich, or as important, as Seto Kaiba. Sure, his father had always had interesting characters around, given his job, but no one at the level of a Kaiba. Also, he had to assume that if Seto were to have dinner with someone for a business reason it would not be in his own home. Yet here he was about to sit at his personal table, along with his brother, who everyone knew was the most important thing to him. He felt unworthy of such kindness.

He retrieved the fresh clothes, noticing instantly there were two sets of clothes, one being pajamas. He took the normal set and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door, turned the sink on cold water, cupped his hands in the stream, and splashed it on his face. After peeking one eye open to look for the towel, in the corner of his eye, in the mirror, through the blur of the water, he could see the spirit of the ring standing tall behind him. He quickly wiped his eyes with the towel, but when he dropped it down, the spirit was gone. He had to brace himself on the counter and calm his heart, knowing that was the spirit's way of telling Ryou he was watching.

It took him a moment to catch his breath, and gather the bravery to look back up in the mirror. He was alone. He pulled both his blue over shirt and striped blue undershirt off, and folded them neatly. He stared at the ring, against his chest, in the mirror, before pulling it off and lying it gently on the counter.

He tried to forget about it, as he fixed his hair in the mirror, and took a look at the clothes that were provided for him. The shirt was a navy blue, pull over sweater, similar to the white one he wore during the later seasons. The pants were simple and brown, that somehow fit perfectly. For a moment he wondered if these clothes belonged to Seto, but quickly realized that couldn't be. Seto was easily a foot taller than him, with a much wider frame. He finally just shrugged it off. It really made no difference, anyway.

As he walked out of the bathroom, there was a small knock at the door, and before he could say anything, the door slid open, revealing the man from before. "Good evening, Mr. Bakura. Dinner is served." Ryou followed the man out of the room, not thinking that he had left the Millennium Ring lying on the bathroom counter.

...

Seto pulled off his soaked white coat, and tossed it into the hamper in his bathroom. As he started to undress, he found himself feeling even more exhausted than normal. He'd had a very long day, and now, thanks to all of this, he had a feeling it would only get longer. He fluffed his hair in the mirror and fixed it with his comb. His mind started to drift, recapping the events of the day, and he found himself back on an earlier thought. What had Ryou been doing out alone, in such weather? He recalled some of his actions from duelist kingdom, and wondered if he had invited a dangerous person into his home ... but as he pictured those big chocolate eyes, looking up at him, the thought vanished.

As the image lingered in his mind, he had to admit to himself that Ryou had a pleasant face. He was nice to look at. He supposed of all the unexpected dinner guests, he could have almost run over worse. As he slid on a simple black long sleeve shirt over his normal black pants, with two belts, he wondered what had possessed him to "rescue" the teen anyway? He let out a simple: "Hm." and smirked as he thought of himself as shallow. However, his ultimate conclusion was that it was pure instinct, and hell, his good deed for the month, at least.

He walked out of his room, taking some time as he walked down the long hall to turn his cell phone down. Calls were always a possibility, and if there was one thing Seto Kaiba was, it was proper and professional. Phone's ringing during dinner were neither. He took a deep breath as he watched the elevator doors close. He was tired, and all he wanted was to eat, and go to bed, but he figured now that they had their guest, Mokuba would be even more excited to watch a movie. He hoped that this movie night would turn out like all the others, and his little brother would be sleeping soundly within the first fifteen minutes.

Finally, he reached the dining hall, where Ryou and Mokuba were already sitting at the, long, dark brown, dining table. They were seated on either side of his place at the head of the table. As he grabbed the back of his chair and pulled it out to sit down, he noticed Ryou looked down at his hands, and tense up a bit, but his attention was caught by Mokuba speaking to him: "Hey Seto, you're still organizing a new tournament, right?"

"I'm working on something." He replied as a women walked up quickly and filled his glass with some, expensive, vintage wine.

Seto nodded to her as Mokuba started to talk again: "It's going to be the best! We have a lot of great ideas!"

Ryou smiled at the youngest Kaiba and spoke softly: "I'm certain it will be."

The food was so beautifully prepared that Ryou almost felt bad to eat it, but when he finally took a bite, his taste-buds thanked him, as it was the most delicious food he had ever tried. Mokuba was easily the most talkative, and was the main contributor to the conversation throughout the immaculate dinner. Every now and then, Seto would add small comments, mostly corrections. Ryou did a lot of nodding, smiling, and agreeing. The young Kaiba's enthusiasm was heart warming, and he couldn't help but feel bothered that Seto seemed to either ignore it or be annoyed by it.

Seto watched Ryou carefully, feeling a bit interested, and suspicious, of him. He avoided Seto's gaze as if his life depended on it. When Mokuba spoke, he smiled pleasantly and replied politely, but, even though he technically only directed his words to his brother, when he spoke, the white haired teen looked down at his plate, and almost flinched, as if his words would harm him. He finished off his glass of wine, watching as Mokuba and Ryou tried the chocolate swirl cheesecake that he had passed up on.

"Why don't you have dessert, Seto?" Mokuba asked, before shoveling another huge piece of the cake into his mouth.

"I don't care for sweets." He said, while holding his hand up, letting the woman know his glass could be left empty.

Mokuba just waved his brother off, and after taking his last bite stood quickly. "I'm going to get the movie ready! You're coming, right, Bakura?"

Ryou wasn't sure what to say, once again faced with the problem of exactly how much authority Mokuba had in place of his brother. Before he could figure out what to say, though, Seto spoke for him: "Just go. We'll be there." Mokuba seemed satisfied with the answer and scampered off, sliding with his socks along the hardwood floor. As it sank in that he and the powerful CEO were alone, Ryou felt his stomach twist, but before the silence hung around too long, Seto spoke: "Tell me, why were out in that storm?"

Ryou looked up at him, shocked by the blunt question. He met unwavering blue eyes staring back at him, and he instantly looked back down, trying to think of what to say. The truth would make him sound insane, but he had never been a very good liar. He just said the first thing that came to his mind: "I ... fell asleep."

"Outside?" He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

"Well, yes." He peeked back up at him, and found that the more often he caught that sapphire gaze, the easier it was to hold. He had intense eyes, but not evil or angry eyes, and he saw those far too often. "It was raining, so I found shelter, and fell asleep."

Before Seto even spoke, Ryou knew he was far too perceptive for his half-truth, but he seemed to allow it. "You should be more careful." He said simply.

The teen couldn't help but smile at his rough way, and decided this was a good opportunity to take care of the elephant in the room: "Listen, Kaiba... I just wanted to thank you. You didn't have to ... let me stay here."

Seto felt gratified to receive a thank you, but at the same time, he found it unnecessary. He had really acted on instinct and not kindness, and he wasn't prideful enough to accept something he didn't feel he deserved. "What was I supposed to do? Leave you in the street?"

"You could have."

Seto rolled his eyes, and looked up as Mokuba ran back in. "Come on, you two!" He chimed happily. "Everything's ready!"

They stood slowly and started following the boy. Ryou fell behind a bit, taking time to thank all the servers before he followed after the Kaiba brothers. They walked down a long corridor, Ryou was just to the left and behind Seto, with Mokuba running ahead excitedly. He threw open the double doors to the in-home theater, and rushed in. Seto grabbed the right door, and held it, stepping to the side to let Ryou go before him.

Before he could thank him, though, Ryou's breath was taken by the massive theater in front of him. It looked like an actual movie theater, with rows of black seats, small lights on the floor, and a massive projector on the wall, already running, creating a large Kaiba Corp. symbol on the white backdrop. Mokuba ran to the middle of the rows, and beckoned his brother and their guest. They walked down, and Ryou went into the aisle first, sitting where Mokuba requested him to. The young Kaiba sat beside him, and his older, much less enthusiastic, brother took his spot in the aisle seat, like always.

Mokuba was bouncing, obviously very excited for the movie and the company. He looked up at his brother: "Is it ok if I stay up after the movie?" Seto looked down at him for a moment but finally nodded, knowing he wouldn't last that long anyway. As the lights dimmed, Seto crossed his legs, propped his elbow on the armrest closest to the aisle, and rested his chin in his hand, very obviously tired and annoyed. Ryou smiled, thinking it sweet of him to sit here with his little brother when he obviously wanted, and more than likely needed, to sleep.

He turned his attention to the movie, some sort of predictable action movie that Mokuba seemed to be really interested in. At least for about 20 minutes, then a slight movement caught Ryou's attention, and he looked over to see the boy's head dipping toward his brother's arm. He smiled, and Seto set still, glancing down at him every few minutes. After a bit of time had passed, Ryou's attention was grabbed again, as Seto, slipped his arm around his brother's shoulder, and in one easy scoop of his other arm, lifted him and stood.

"I'm taking him to bed. Wait here, and I'll be back to show you to your room."

Ryou nodded, and as he watched the caring older brother cradle his brother away, the movie stopped and the lights slowly came on. He sunk down in the seat, feeling about the same as Mokuba. Once he slept, and got back home, he would feel more comfortable, but there was also a sad feeling that the night was coming to an end. Though Seto was gruff, he was good, and Mokuba just seemed to need someone to talk to. For once, Ryou wasn't alone.

Well ... other than him.

He moved his hand to his chest, and sat up quickly, realizing the ring wasn't around his neck. He stood, suddenly forgetting everything except following the compulsion to retrieve the ring. He walked to the door, not even thinking about the fact that he had no idea how to get back to his room, but as soon as his hand wrapped around the doorknob, there was a monstrous clap of thunder, and then with a loud pop, the Kaiba mansion went black.