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The mood inside the Roy household really depended on their father being present or not. The further away Logan Roy was from them, the freer his children felt. Now that he was not only not home but in Japan, at the other side of the world, for the opening of Brightstar’s first Asian theme park, the Roy kids were feeling freer than ever. Their mother, Caroline, being persona non grata since the divorce proceedings had started was a cherry on an already delicious cake made of sweet freedom. Even if staff was present, the Roy kids were taking advantage of that freedom, knowing that most actually didn’t care about what they were doing.
They were taking too much advantage of that, thought Connor as the smell of weed hit his nose. The origin was easy to find. It was coming from the same place that had been blasting Hip Hop music for the last two hours: Kendall’s bedroom. The staff was doing at amazing job at ignoring all that but not his younger siblings. Roman was complaining mostly because he wasn’t included. Kendall had slammed the door to his face, yelling to him to leave them alone – them being Stewy and him of course –. Shiv was complaining the music could be heard to her room at the other end of the hallway. She was exaggerating but Connor gave up to her and Roman’s whining.
Frankly, the music didn’t really bothered Connor but Shiv and Roman nagging at him did and that was getting more on his nerve. So for his peace of mind and for the peace inside the Roy household, he decided to intervene and go ask Kendall to lower the volume.
At first, he had tried to argue that Ken had a friend over, that they had to respect that, that when they would be 16 they would be able to do the same. But Roman and Shiv kept whining and finally Connor gave in. He told his two youngest siblings to wait downstairs; he didn’t want them to see they had won. He knocked a few times but the music was too loud, so loud that the two teenagers inside probably couldn’t hear him. So, at that moment, he made the mistake of opening the door.
“Kenny, you really should… What the fuck?”
It took a moment for Connor to realize what he was seeing and for his brain to process it. His younger brother shirtless, pinned on the bed by his equally shirtless best friend, his face showing how much he was enjoying the whole thing. The two teenagers turned their faces to the door at the same time and Kendall’s eyes widened suddenly, in a mix of surprise and fear. Connor took a step back, lifting his hands up and apologizing even if he was sure they couldn’t hear him, before closing the door. He made a few steps in the corridor, away from Kendall’s bedroom door and leaned against the hallway’s wall, taking a deep breath.
At that moment, Connor really wished he hadn’t seen that scene. He wished he had knocked louder, shouted even. He had known, for years now, that the attraction between his brother and Stewy was more than friendly. He had known since that birthday party when he saw how Kendall behaved with his best friend. He had seen them being joined at the hip for almost a decade. He had seen how they looked at each other, how Kendall stared at Stewy when he thought Stewy wasn’t looking and vice-versa. But for his brother’s sake, he had hoped that they would never realize or act on whatever they felt for each other. Not by some bigotry. But because he knew their father and what he thought about ‘fags’.
The music stopped and then the bedroom door opened. Connor turned and saw Kendall, having put a t-shirt on, looking at him with a panicked look. He was shaking like a leaf and his eyes wide open made him look like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Kenny listen…”
“Please don’t tell dad. Just… Please. I’ll do anything just don’t tell him Con.”
Connor was taken aback by the pure despair he could hear in his brother’s voice. It made his heart ache. Kendall wasn’t asking him, he was begging, with tears in his eyes. He even put his hands together in a prayer gesture and started to babble with tears rolling down his cheeks. Yes Connor was there to ‘keep an eye’ on his siblings as their father had told him, but he would never, he could never throw any of them under the bus like that.
“Con… Please you can’t tell him. He’ll… He’ll…”
Kendall didn’t need to finish his sentence. Connor had a chilling idea of what their father would do if he found out. First, he would ban Stewy from their household and that alone would break Kendall. Stewy had been why his brother had been able to handle the pressure of being Logan’s heir without having a full mental breakdown. Then he would probably beat the crap out of Ken, as if you could get rid of his gayness by hitting him. And Connor didn’t wish that upon anyone, much less his baby brother.
“Kenny… It’s ok.”
“Please Con… You really can’t tell him.”
The tears and begging became a full emotional meltdown. Kendall was sobbing, trying to articulate the word please repeatedly, as if his whole world had just crumbled down the moment Connor had opened that door. It was really heart breaking. Connor shook his head and wrapped his arms around Kendall, hugging him, holding him close. This wasn’t a gesture they were used to. Hugging was not something encouraged in the Roy household. Roys were supposed to be strong, not weak. Roys didn’t cry. Connor held his younger brother, gently petting his hair and whispering:
“It’s ok don’t worry Kenny. I won’t tell him. I would never tell him.”
Kendall cried in his arms and Connor held him, trying to reassure him. He could feel the tears wetting his shirt and Ken’s whole body shaking. The mere thought of Logan Roy finding out that he was attracted to men could give a panic attack to him. When finally, Kendall calmed down, he gently pulled away from him. Connor kept his hand on his shoulder, to reassure him.
“Listen Kenny, I won’t tell. But, Shiv and Romey are complaining about the music and weed. So tone it down ok?”
Kendall nodded, wiping away the remaining tears with the back of his hand, before walking back to his bedroom and closing the door behind him. The music came back on half a minute later but at a much more acceptable volume. That was something he could work with. Connor took a moment to gather himself, not wanting the two younger Roys to see he was shaken, because he was. The mere memory of Kendall’s desperate tone would probably haunt him for quite some time.
When he was ready, he went back downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Shiv and Roman were waiting for him, to get the report of how things had gone. Shiv even had her arms crossed, trying to look as pissed as possible. He found it rather cute for a 10-year-old.
“Listen guys, Ken will keep down the music ok? It’s handled. No need to thank me.”
He didn’t mention the rest, they didn’t need to know. Of course Shiv tried to ask what Connor had said to get Kendall to tone it down but he dismissed her questions, saying she should enjoy the results of his intervention.
When dinner was served, Kendall and Stewy joined the three other Roy siblings in the dining room. Roman and Shiv tried to get into some typical verbal battle with their brother but Kendall was ignoring them, instead of taking the bait. He just kept eating his dinner in silence. Connor also noticed how Stewy kept glancing at him, with a hint of fear, knowing that Connor was now the only one aware of what was going on between the two of them and had the power to put them both in deep trouble.
Stewy stayed at the summer palace for three other days. He and Kendall spent a lot of time together, just the two of them, and Connor let them. That ended when Connor got a warning phone call from Frank, informing him that Logan would be back the following day. As soon as he put the phone down, Connor informed his siblings, so they could get back into the right headspace before their father came back. Stewy went back home the following morning, after him and Kendall spent the night locked in his room.
When their father’s car made its way down the driveway, the mood inside the summer palace changed immediately. From the staff but also the Roy children who stood in line in the entrance, smiling – fake smiles for the boys and a genuine one for Shiv – to welcome their father. Logan ruffled Roman’s hair as he came in before making his way toward his home office, followed by Gerri, Karl and Franck. He exchanged a gaze with the latter before mouthing a silent ‘thank you’.
The four of them spent the afternoon locked in the office. The old guard left before dinner, a car taking them back to Manhattan. They had work to do, people to meet, follow-ups to do after their business trip in Japan. And then Logan summoned Connor to his office. A member of staff informed him of that. As he made his way down the corridor, he heard the door to Kendall’s bedroom open slightly. Connor exchanged a look with his younger brother. Kendall had a panicked look on his face, asking him silently if he would tell anything. Connor shook his head and smiled. And the door closed again.
When he came into the office, his father was sitting behind the desk, reading some documents. They were unspoken rules when Logan Roy summoned one of his kids into his office: first he was the one that spoke first. If you didn’t respect that, you were screwed and he would find a way to make the meeting even more miserable for you. Second, do not lie, or at least don’t get caught lying. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, finally Logan looked up and asked:
“So… Anything to report?”
Of course, his father didn’t trust the staff to tell him everything. Connor was supposed to be his eyes and ears when he was there.
“Not much. Shiv went to the Miller’s two days ago for a birthday. And Ken had Stewy over for a few days.”
At the mention of Stewy, his father pinched his lips. Connor knew that he wished that Kendall had a ‘better friend’, by that he meant a white friend. But he accepted Stewy into the Roy household nonetheless, taking a sadistic pleasure humiliating Kendall in front of him with his games.
“And what did Kendall and Stewart do?”
Logan knew that Stewy’s name wasn’t Stewart but he couldn’t help himself to be casually racist about the kid. And in front of him, judging by what he had witnessed. Connor shook his shoulders and answered:
“Listened to music, hanged out around the pool. You know, boy stuff.”
“You sure about that son?”
For a second, Connor thought that his father knew about either the weed or Kendall fooling around with Stewy. It made his heartbeat go faster and his hairs rise up in fear. But then he also remembered that their father was an expert at mind games. So Connor just shook his head and confirmed what he had said, hoping that he had a good enough poker face to sell it.
“All right. Thanks son. Dinner will be served soon, go tell the others.”
Connor executed himself. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he walked out of his father’s office before going to get his siblings for dinner.
He started by knocking on Kendall’s door, telling to get down for dinner before moving to get Shiv and Rome. On his way back downstairs, he met Kendall in the staircase. They exchanged a look and Connor whispered: “It’s ok, don’t worry.” Kendall seemed to be able to breathe easier then and smiled to him thankfully.