Disclaimer: Though I put a lot of effort into this story, Yu-Gi-Oh! does not belong to me. *Tear*

Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life."

~Samuel Johnson

-Chapter 6-

The Business Meeting

When Alistair met up with Mokuba in the dining room for breakfast, he still hadn't quite gotten over what he'd done and was extremely embarrassed about it even though no one else would possibly be able to tell.

"Morning ,Mokuba," he greeted him, avoiding meeting his eyes.

"Morning," Mokuba replied over a stack of pancakes coated with an alarming amount of syrup. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe play video games with me again today."

"Sure."

"Oh, and at one Seto has a lunch with a potential new manufacturing partner and since I'm vice president, I'm going too. Do you want to come? The restaurant is really nice. It's Chinese."

The mere mention of Kaiba was enough to make Alistair blush scarlet and he hastily picked a discarded newspaper that Trudy had forgotten to move off the table and covered his face with it.

"Um…I'm not sure your brother would want me to go," he replied from behind the Duel Monster's section.

Mokuba rolled his eyes as he rolled an entire pancake into a roll before devouring it in two large bites. "And you were telling me to stand up to him," he said thickly. "What's he going to do, have you thrown out? Don't worry about Seto, do you want to go or not?"

In all honesty, the answer was no for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that he'd stood under the shower that morning masturbating to the memory of Kaiba's abs. However, being able to get out of the house held appeal, and plus, maybe at the business meeting he could find a way to make Kaiba look bad and ruin the deal and prevent Kaiba Corp from profiting from the probable exploitation of the people working at the manufacturing company. Besides, Mokuba had a point; there was no way he was going to let himself be intimidated, for whatever reason, by Kaiba.

"You're right. I'll go if you really think that's ok."

"The only thing is that it's a really fancy restaurant so unless you're Seto they aren't going to let you in unless you're dressed to the nines."

Alistair stared at him blankly. "Didn't we just get me new clothes?"

"Yeah, but not the kind you wear to a restaurant like this. It's not dinner so I'm not talking suit and tie, but something nice. Like, I'm going to wear more or less what Seto wears but without the jacket."

"Couldn't I just wear the long-sleeved shirt?"

Mokuba thoughtfully swirled a puddle of maple syrup on his plate with the tines of his fork.

"Yeah, I think that's fine. But I don't know about jeans. I wouldn't. You might have to borrow some of Seto's dress pants."

Alistair was appalled at the very thought. "No way. I'll wear the black jeans and if they say no I'll just hang out downtown until you're done with the meeting."

Mokuba laughed as Trudy bustled in with his breakfast. "Fair enough."

In preparation for his meeting with Mr. KD Au, CEO of Sapphire Technology with whom he was hoping to partner, Seto ran through his mental list of all the points he wanted to make at the meeting. He hated schmoozing but because he wanted Sapphire to manufacture the computer chips for the latest Duel Disk incarnation it was a necessary evil since he didn't trust anyone else to do it for him.

As the limo pulled up to the restaurant, he ran over his second mental list of Chinese etiquette and current events so as to put Mr. Au in good spirits.

He was directed to a private table to await the arrival of the other CEO. He idly perused the menu, hoping that Mokuba wouldn't show up late and create a bad first impression. To his astonishment and frustration, Mokuba, for whatever reason, had thought it was appropriate to bring Alistair with him. He should have known better than to bring anyone, but especially Alistair, to a business lunch.

"Hey, Seto!" Mokuba greeted his stony-faced brother. "I hope it's ok that I brought Alistair." He blinked innocently up at him.

Seto sighed. One look at Alistair told him that the man would undoubtedly try to cause trouble. Not wanting to cause a scene, he kept his voice low.

"Mokuba, you had no business bringing him with you, but you knew that, didn't you?" His second comment was directed at Alistair, who still wasn't able to look him in the eyes. "Look, Au's going to be here any minute, so I don't have time to deal with you." He signaled a nearby waiter over. "Please find my…friend a table and add his bill to my tab." The waiter, sensing the tension, and familiar with the businessman's temperament, merely nodded and mumbled "yessir," before guiding Alistair to a small table on the other side of the restaurant.

"I'll be right with you," the waiter promised before hurrying off. While he was gone, Alistair cracked open the heavy leather-bound menu on the table and noted that there were no prices listed; an upscale establishment to be sure. That anyone could make enough money that they didn't need to know how much something cost before buying it was an unbelievable show of conspicuous consumption. Still, if that's the way Kaiba wanted it, he had no problem taking advantage.

When the waiter, a man in his early twenties named Feng, returned to take Alistair's order and bring him a glass of water, Alistair pointed at a random item on the menu. Food was food, and he wasn't even paying for it so it didn't matter much to him what it was anyway.

Mokuba was horribly bored by the meeting since most of it was just exchanging pleasantries, and the rest dealt with actually making an agreement, all of which was conducted in Mandarin, a language he wasn't completely competent in yet. His presence was mostly what was required at meetings like this and Seto did almost all of the talking. He knew that he was supposed to be paying attention, but instead found himself daydreaming about Hillary while absentmindedly chewing his food.

Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, the check arrived and Seto and Mr. Au prepared to say goodbye. Business cards were exchanged and upon leaving the restaurant, both CEO's appeared to be pleased with the deal.

"Seto, we have to get Alistair," Mokuba reminded him.

The artificial smile Seto had plastered on his face slid off to be replaced by a scowl."Oh, right. Mokuba, why did you bring him? You realize that not only was it a private lunch date, if he would have sat with us, he would have tried to wreck the deal, don't you?" Mokuba's naivety was astonishing to him.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't even think about it being rude, I just wanted someone to talk to. You know my Mandarin isn't the best and that makes meetings like this really boring. I don't even know what's going on half the time."

Seto sharply exhaled through his nose in frustration. "This isn't a game Mokuba, this is business. Do you think I really give a damn about him or his family? Of course not, not any more than he really cared about my health or your broken leg; it's just part of how business works. It's not supposed to be fun or interesting, and mostly it is, as you say, boring, but it's what pays for the food we ate today, for your hospital bills, for your tutors, your clothes, your games. Do you understand? Your attitude could be the thing that makes the difference between a yes and a no. If he would have noticed that you weren't paying attention today, I might not have been able to make the deal."

Mokuba hung his head. "I understand. I'm sorry."

"And don't ever bring Alistair to a meeting like this again. Not only is it completely inappropriate, imagine how it would look for him to be seen with us. And more importantly, I don't trust him. Or have you forgotten that he almost got us killed?" Chagrined, Mokuba shook his head. "Good. Now let's get him and get out of here; the lights in this place are giving me a headache and I still have to deal with PR and Marketing today."

The thought alone was enough to onset a migraine because the outcome would probably involve him having to give a public statement. He also had to decide what to do about the stupid clothing company wanting him to be the face of their fall line. They had offered quite a lot of money, but he abhorred the idea of modeling for them, although the PR department seemed to think it was a good idea. Something about him being seen as a hot celebrity getting girls to buy duel disks or something else nonsensical like that. So he'd probably end up agreeing despite his own feelings about it.

Alistair had no idea even after eating his meal what it had been, but it had been delicious, as was his dessert, and he in no way regretted having come with Mokuba to lunch even though he'd been exiled by Kaiba from his table, and he'd chatted with Feng every time he came to refill his water and when he'd brought food and dessert. Not even seeing a surly looking Kaiba with Mokuba in tow coming to 'collect' him as Kaiba put it, could dampen his spirits.

"Before we leave, do you have some money I could give Feng?" he asked, more so addressing Mokuba.

"Who?" Kaiba asked, and Mokuba looked equally confused.

"Our waiter, or at least, my waiter. I had a really nice conversation with him, and I know you're supposed to tip waiters if they do a good job, and he did, so…" he trailed off before he got out of his depth.

Kaiba continued to look at him blankly. "I already gave a tip; it's built into the bill."

"Right, so then that's normal, but I wanted to give something extra because I liked him."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Just for your information, what you're suggesting is a complete waste of money, and it's stupid. Additionally, you seem to be confused about the nature of this arrangement. I'm not your piggy bank. And the next time you think about asking me for an allowance, don't. Meet us out back in 10 minutes unless you'd prefer to walk."

"I'll keep that in mind," Alistair told Kaiba's retreating back.

After loitering in the restaurant's lobby and tricking himself into thinking he was being stared at, Alistair followed Kaiba's directions to meet them in back of the restaurant, but as he headed for the car, a commotion by the dumpsters caught his attention. A heavy bag of trash had just fallen out of an overstuffed container and spilled onto the ground. A little calico cat, which had evidently knocked it over, leapt to the ground and began sniffing around for food.

"Alistair!" Kaiba called from the car, rolling the window down. "As fascinating as I'm sure shopping for your dream home is, do it on your own time." Seto had meant it as an insult, but Alistair was barely listening.

"Hang on." Trying not to scare her, Alistair slowly made his way towards the cat, which, upon closer inspection, seemed little more than a kitten. She watched him warily, her yellow eyes following his movements, but didn't run away. He very gradually knelt down and reached out a hand for her to smell. She cautiously edged out from behind an empty carton and approached him, sniffing his hand and licking his palm which apparently had sauce on it. He scratched her behind her ears, enticing her to come closer, and as his fingers worked their way behind both ears, under her chin, and down her thin back, she started to purr. Sensing Kaiba's impatience, and afraid he'd yell again and startle her, Alistair threw caution to the winds and picked her up. She yowled and hissed in surprise and protest, but quieted as he held her against his chest with one arm, and continued to stroke her head with his free hand. Just that moment, Kaiba chose to speak again.

"This isn't a petting zoo! Put it down and get in the car!" Alistair ignored the part about putting the cat down, and walked to the car, still cradling her in his arms as she purred. "You are not taking that with us," Seto said flatly, eyeing the cat with irrational dislike. "It's dirty and probably has lice or ticks or God only knows what else."

"I'll take care of her."

Seto snorted. "Please, you can barely take care of yourself. Plus, I'd have to pay for food and veterinary bills. No thanks."

"I'll pay you back. Once I have a job, I'll pay back any money you have to spend on her."

"Oh come on Seto, she's cute," Mokuba put in.

Past Alistair, Seto noticed several people lurking around the edge of the building with their phones out. "Fine," he agreed, his gaze shifting back to Alistair. "But if I have to listen to the maid complaining about having to clean cat hair off the furniture, or if it scratches the couches, or if you can't train it, it's out. Now get in the car." Pacified, Alistair slid in next to Mokuba who immediately held out his hand which the cat sniffed, then licked.

Mokuba giggled. "That tickles! She's so cute. But she is kind of dirty though; she's getting dust all over your shirt."

"I don't mind," Alistair murmured, contented by the calico's warm weight in his lap and against his stomach. "I'm just glad that I can help her. No one should have to eat garbage."

Author's Note: We're told by Alistair himself in the canon dub that his ultimate goal is to make the world a better place and that one of the things he despises about Seto is that he steps on the backs of others for his own personal gain. Compassion is therefore something that's very important to Alistair which is a trait I want to play up in this story.