Hierarchy

Squeak

"Yes Mr Kaiba-sama? You asked me to wait behind," Ryo asked timidly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and feeling like a schoolboy. He kept his eyes down, staring intently at his shoes. He waited with anticipation for Kaiba to say something and was getting very impatient, a little pissed at the millionaire for keeping him in suspense. The young millionaire sure knew how to intimidate his employees. Eventually he heard Kaiba's throat clear, and he clasped his hands behind his back as if giving a speech at a lectern in front of a crowd, and he wanted to appear very presentable and polite. Ryo wondered where Kaiba learned all of these things; these little tricks to intimidate people, make them feel small, make his presence the largest in the room. Then Ryo remembered the previous theatre owner, Kaiba's father and almost felt sorry for the theatre owner.

"Yes. Look I know you're new here Bakura-kun but let me get one thing straight; you don't ask about shit you don't wanna know the answer to,"

Ryo's eyes widened and he suddenly felt very ashamed. Kaiba knew he had been talking to Bakura about the rumours. That was so embarrassing! Of course Kaiba didn't do it! Ryo reasoned to himself. I was a fool for listening to Mariku!

"I'm very sorry for my inappropriate questions, Kaiba-Sama," Ryo apologised mechanically, bowing in false respect. "It will not happen again,"

"Make sure that it doesn't," Kaiba reiterated with an emotionless expression and narrowed eyes. He always looked venomous. Like he was ready to suck the life out of everyone, infect them with his arrogance and his coldness and his...his beauty! No shut up brain! Ryo sighed to himself, cursing his idiotic little crush. It wasn't even a crush, he told himself anyway. Not a proper one. Ryo wasn't sure whether he despised Kaiba or was falling in love with him. Apparently there wasn't much of a discrepancy between the two options. Everything about Kaiba pissed Ryo off, but there was some lingering undertone about him...some kind of sophisticated sexiness Ryo had become infatuated with.

"Bakura-kun, let me just say that I am not a bad man. If there is anything in this play, any physical interaction between myself and you that you are uncomfortable with, let me know. Bakura, I of course mean Bakura Sennen will be more than happy to take over your part during that scene," Kaiba promised, his voice less cold, and almost caring.

"Why would there be anything that makes me uncomfortable?" Ryo asked.

"Wait until you read the script," Kaiba shrugged in his indifferent, bored drawl but with a flashing hint of mischief in his eyes. His voice was either distant and bored or incredibly harsh and engaged. There didn't seem to be any in-between stage. Ryo thought he almost saw Kaiba smile cheekily, but that was impossible wasn't it? Kaiba didn't smile. Ryo shrugged it off and began to walk home.

^

"Ryo! Oh god, he didn't hurt you did he?!" Mariku asked as soon as Ryo cane in, his shaking hand tensely clinging to the smaller boy's arms. Ryo roughly yanked him off.

"You're the one who's hurting me with that grip of yours!" Ryo laughed, even though Mariku really was hurting him. "Are you my overprotective brother now?"

"Very funny," Mariku muttered, releasing Ryo and going back to his spot on the couch. "But seriously, how did your first day go?"

Ryo spent a while explaining everything, from the sexy costume (Mariku was howling with laughter at that), meeting Bakura and Kaiba's 'talk' after work, which Mariku was just as puzzled about as Ryo. It was clear that Mariku was still very weary of the millionaire.

"There's something dodgy about the guy," he would insist. And although Ryo knew there was something fishy going on with Kaiba, he didn't need Mariku worrying and prying and acting like a crazed lunatic over it. Well, more of a crazed lunatic than he steady was. So every time Mariku brought it up Ryo would shoot him down with such arguments as: 'he's the guardian of his little brother, he's gotta be a good guy!' 'he told me to tell him if I wasn't comfortable!' 'all his employees love him!'.

But of course none of this worked. Ryo was thinking of calling Jounouchi and having him drag Mariku back to their old town. But he liked having Mariku there with him. When the guy wasn't obsessing over Kaiba or blasting thrash metal throughout the house he was actually a pretty nice person. And an awesome friend. Ryo and him would watch horror movies on weekends and discuss how the universe was made. A great friendship.

Speaking of friends, Ryo and Bakura had been getting along very well at work. While Bakura refused outright to talk about Kaiba at all with Ryo, he was a great adversary as well as a shoulder to cry on when Ryo wasn't happy wit something-or-other. Ryo respected Bakura's refined acting skills, his brains, his memory, his confidence. Ryo almost thought of him as a parallel version of himself, like a version of himself but just from another dimension. Although that might have been the effects of spending too much time with Bakura and listening to him ramble on about programmes like Terra Nova and Expanse. The guy was a sci-if  fanatic. At the same time, Bakura was highly praised by both Mokuba and Kaiba, confidently made jokes about (and in front of) both, and tarnished them with playful satire. It was a wonder the guy hadn't been fired.

"You and Kaiba-sama aren't a thing are you?" Ryo asked in the dressing room one day. For some reason, the thought of Kaiba and Bakura being together made Ryo insanely jealous and bitter. He wondered what on Earth had gotten into him. Bakura chuckled.

"Course we aren't," he dismissed happily, placing a cigarette in his mouth. "He has his eye on you though,"

Ryo widened his mouth, gawking at what could only be a misunderstanding. "What?! No way!"

"Look, believe what you want," Bakura shrugged impassively, taking another drag of his cigarette. "You're rehearsing the kissing scene today. I know when Kaiba likes someone and there's a telltale sign. Watch out for the squeak,"

Bakura advised before pulling back the curtain and stepping out onto the stage for his debut fight scene. Ryo gawked at him before shaking his head in disbelief. 'Watch out for the squeak,' What the hell does that even mean?!
But the kissing scene was next as Bakura had said, and Ryo stepped onto the stage while trying to conceal his nerves. He wished he had some stress-relief tablets right now.

"Thief! Thou should not have come
For I am afraid that the guards
They know who you are
Thou must run, my love
I shall give you gold
I shall give you lodgings
I shall give you a bride
But for your own safety
You must leave this city
Run and do not look back," the priest Kaiba ordered with dramatic hand gestures. Ryo flung back his cloak in defence, narrowing his eyes as menacingly as he could.

"My love art thou blind?
Mine heart, it does not want gold.
It doth not want lodging and
It certainly doth not want a bride.
The only thing I want
The only thing I need in life
Is you. I shall forfeit my revenge.
I shall become a servant
of the pharaoh. If only
It means I get to see your smiling face
When you wake, caress your soft
Skin as we share the evenings
Together and in love. Kiss me
My dear priest,"

Kaiba strode up to Ryo, their eyes locking with a spark of blue and green, the emerald meeting sapphire in a burst of explosive attachment. Kaiba placed his hand around the back of Ryo's scrawny neck, his other around Ryo's waist, making his hips sway instinctively into the touch. Ryo slowly closed his eyes as Kaiba's lips met his own.

Both men felt the warmth, the safety and the comfort in each other's arms, so close. Everything came so naturally to both of them. Every sensual slip of the tongue, Ryo's teeth lightly nibbling Kaiba's lip. And eventually just as Kaiba pulled away he let out a high-pitched squeak.

Ryo almost burst out laughing from the shock. Kaiba liked him.