Even Roys get sick sometimes (succession, Kendall)

[claire h]

Just a little introductory portion of a potential Kendall sick fic. I’ve been really into Succession recently and can’t find any fics with everyone’s favourite nepo baby so figured I’d write one myself  haha 

……..

Heavy rainfall pelted the glass monolith that is Waystar Royco, adding an unrelenting pitter patter soundscape to the already gloomy workday. Kendall Roy sits at his desk, constant liquidy sniffles accompanying the pelting rain to form a rather pathetic atmosphere in his pristine corner office. 

 

It was the beginning of cold and flu season and the sheer number of staff at Waystar meant it was inevitable for a few illnesses to make their around the executive floor every season. Normally the Roys were pretty good at avoiding these maladies. They already held an almost god-like status among the staff and nobody wanted to be the one to get the big boss sick. Consequently, ill staff habitually avoided contact, some even going as far as to wear a mask if they needed to be in the same room as any senior executive. Despite these precautions, the second Roy son found himself feeling uncharacteristically run down yesterday. He knew his fate was sealed when we woke up this morning with a sore throat, a dull ache in his head, and slight stuffiness deep in his sinuses. Nevertheless, he got ready for the day, silently cursing whichever low- life got him sick. 
 

Now here he was, sitting at his desk and feeling acutely aware of how quickly his cold was progressing throughout the day. The distance stuffiness has now morphed into a near constant stream running down his prominent nose, necessitating his constant sniffs and nose rubs. He felt like a fish at the aquarium, the glass walls of his office doing little to grant him privacy from the eyes of the people working away just outside his doors. Kendall wasn’t used to taking it easy when under the weather. Logan didn’t raise his kids to be weak and he knew if he took a day off for a cold it would make Logan question his competence and vigour. on the other hand, being noticably ill would no doubt subject him to a slew of jabs and insults from his father. so, hiding the cold it was. His nose might pose some difficulty to the mission, but If he kept his visits with his father brief and intentional, Kendall felt confident that he would be able to make it through the day without Logan becoming aware that his son was under the weather 

 

“Snf” Kendall swiped at his nose with the back of his wrist, not wanting to use his work shirt. his nose was getting stuffier and itchier as the day progressed. Oh well, at least he didn’t have to -“huh….hu’.. SNF!” Kendall’s breath began to hitch. He pressed his wrist firmly under his reddening nose to try and quell the itch. Success. if he could keep this up he’d make it through the day. 

 

An hour later and the sniffling has progressed. Kendall reluctantly pulls out an cotton handkerchief, monogramed with the initials KLR, and brings it underneath his streaming nose, having run out of real estate on his wrist. Sniffing thickly, he clears his throat and puts the handkerchief back down. he began thinking through what the rest of his day had in store. Regular work duties, maybe a conference call or two, but for the most part he was staying away from Logan. Except for - “fuck” - he thought, “dinner”. The family were meant to have dinner at Logan’s house tonight. he might still be able to get through tonight without Logan catching onto his illness- really Logan pays little attention to anyone beyond himself and his adversaries - as long as he doesn’t start - “heh” - sneezing. As if his nose could read his thoughts, the a tickle starts to build deep in Kendall’s sinuses. Unfortunately for Kendall, he tends to have a super sensitive nose when he’s sick. 

“Heh” he takes in involuntary breath in, swiftly bringing his wrist back under his nose to try and stave off the developing itch. His nose had other ideas. “Huh’hu-fuck-“ he muttered under his breath, knowing this time it wouldn’t back down. He hastily reaches for his handkerchief as his eyes flutter closed and brows furrow. He takes a sharp breath in and brings his handkerchief-clad hand to his face to catch the end of a loud “HUH’DEshOO!…huh’H’ETCHOO! Snf..ugh” he sniffs back the congestion that had made its way to the front of his slightly hooked nose, swiping at it with the cloth. His eyes quickly dart to the right to see if he’d drawn any attention with his involuntarily loud outburst. He saw a few employees quickly avert their gazes. “Fuck.” He thought. This was going to be a long day 

[claire h]

part 2!

***

A few hours and several clumsily muffled sneezes later, his assistant Jess came into the room with a box of tissues

“Kendall?” She said as she entered

“Snf yeah?” He replied, noticing the box in her hand and feeling slight embarrassment.

“Just thought I’d drop these off. for… your allergies?” Jess knew Kendall well enough to understand showing vulnerability was the last thing he would want to do, and she didn’t want to risk getting on her bosses nerves.

“Uh.. yeah. Thanks, Jess” he replies flatly as she placed them on his desk “forgot to take a Claritin this morning” he lied

“Sure. Well. Let me know if you need me to grab anything.”

“Uh huh. Yeah. snf. I will.” He nods, and Jess turns to leave

With her hand on the door, she turns back “you have dinner at your dads tonight. Are we going ahead with that or should I call and send your regrets?” she asks delicately

“Snf. I’ll be fine. Thanks jess” he says with a firm smile

“Okay then.” She replies, finally leaving

***

He hears him before he sees him. Biting insults being loudly thrown out towards some poor assistant. Roman is here.

Kendall groans internally. He didn’t know his younger brother was coming in today. This is not who he needs to be dealing with when he’s not feeling his best. Oh well, there was no stopping him now.

Roman burst into the room “what’s up fuckwad, just popping in to get the deets on the Vaulter changes. Dad wanted me to team up with you or whatever. A little incestual business venture”

“Uh huh. Snf. Yeah. Sure thing R-hh-ome.” Fuck. Kendall brings a fisted hand to his face, placing his knuckles tightly underneath his quivering nostrils. He clears his throat and focused his eyes on the computer, trying to look busy and not like he’s just trying to regain control of his relentlessly tickely nose

Roman cocked an eyebrow “what’s the matter with you?”

“N-hh-nothing. I’m… pulling u-hh-up the Vaulter document-HUH’tchxx’iew!” He tries to stifle his sneeze, knuckles still pressed tightly under his nose

“Bless you brother” Roman replies, uninterested. But Kendall wasn’t done

“Th-ah-thanks… HUH’T’ch’ew! SNF” he could feel mess starting to build in his nose. With the tickle still present, he hastily reaches for the tissues Jess had bought, steepling them tightly around his irritated nose to catch two muffled sneezes, his frame jerking forward “HM’PHHH! Hehh-HEH’MPFFOOo! Ugh. ‘scuse me. Snf snf.” he sniffled 

“Jesus Christ, you too?” Roman said annoyedly at the realization of his brothers illness “Half the plebs out there are infected with this years nasties. I had to face biowarfare just walking to your office.”

“Snf its allergies, Rome. imb dot sick” Kendall replied stuffily while dabbing at his nose with the tissue. He didn’t trust Roman with the details of his health.

“Sureee thing Kenny Ken Ken. We all know your pollen allergies really pop off mid-november” he replies sarcastically.

Kendall glares

“Just… Keep your germs to yourself, okay? Im actually kinda important around here. A few days with me off sick and the firm might very well crumble to the ground”

“Whatever, Rome snf. Do you want the Vaulter information or n-hh-ot-HUH’ET’CH’iew! Huh’RESHOOO!” Kendall quickly brings up his elbow up to cover the sudden sneezes. He grimaces slightly at the damp spot it cleaves on his otherwise pristine suit jacket. He sniffs and coughs slightly.

“Uhh yeah. On second thought, why don’t you just send me an email, hey killer?” Roman says with a disgusted look on his face, backing up towards the door. “Try not to die… Or do. I don’t care. Whatever.” He says as he disappears out the door.

Kendall breaths a sign of relief when Roman leaves. He plucks another tissue and gives his nose a gurgling blow.

[jano]

Yesss, a Succession fic! love the attention to detail of Kendall being second son  

Poor guy, trying and failing to hide his cold. His actor has a beautiful nose, so it's a pleasure imagining how this fic is playing out in my head.. would love to read any more Succession fic from you in the future, I enjoyed this a lot!

[claire h]

On 5/5/2023 at 1:45 AM, jano said:

Yesss, a Succession fic! love the attention to detail of Kendall being second son  

Poor guy, trying and failing to hide his cold. His actor has a beautiful nose, so it's a pleasure imagining how this fic is playing out in my head.. would love to read any more Succession fic from you in the future, I enjoyed this a lot!

say no to Connor erasure!! hahaha

I agree I loveeeeee his nose so much! His profile makes me insane and its def one of the main reasons he's the character i'm most interested in writing fics about!

Thank you for the kind feedback! I have a few more parts of this fic coming soon!   

[jano]

On 5/12/2023 at 2:07 PM, claire h said:

Thank you for the kind feedback! I have a few more parts of this fic coming soon!  

I'm excited!!

On 5/12/2023 at 2:07 PM, claire h said:

His profile makes me insane

I thank the show for giving us so many pensive scenes with him, so we can see his profile in all its glory  

[claire h]

part 3! 

***********

Kendall’s illness seems to have spooked Roman enough to have him leave him alone for the rest of the day, though he is still made aware of his brothers presence via a near-constant stream of text messages berating him for coming in sick.

12.01 PM: Shut up already. I can’t hear myself think over your sneezing

1.34 PM: Your office is definitely a level 4 biohazard at this point

2.17 PM: Seriously dude. go. Home.

Kendall sighed as he read Roman’s latest text, reaching for a tissue and blowing his nose for what felt like the 100th time that day.

Despite the teasing texts, Kendall was grateful he was being left alone as his symptoms worsened. By the end of the work day, Kendall’s cold had hit him in full force. His streaming nose had evolved into intense congestion. In fact, he was so thoroughly stuffed up that his mouth hung slightly open so that he could breathe. Every so often his breath would catch and he’d launch into a bought of wet coughs that he weakly smothered behind a closed fist. As if that wasn’t bad enough, his congestion was creating a dull ache in his head that forced his brows into a constant furrow as he tried to get some work done. Every time he sneezed, which was increasingly often, he felt the pressure mount. In short, he felt downright miserable.

There was nothing he wanted more than to go home, make a cup of tea, and climb into bed. As the prospect of family dinner hurdled towards him, he silently cursed himself for not cancelling earlier. It was 6pm now and Marcia had no doubt already told the chef to start cooking and the house staff to set his place setting. It was too late to cancel. Any food lost or labour wasted from his cancelling wouldn’t matter to his Dad, of course. It was the principal. Cancelling late would be seen as rude to Marcia. He had to go.

Gathering what little bit of energy he had left, Kendall slipped on his coat, wrapped his scarf tightly around his neck, and headed out to Logan's apartment

—————

Shiv, Tom, and Roman had already arrived at Logan's. They stood in the living room, drinking wine and making small talk while they waited for their father to come down. The elevator door dinged open, announcing Kendall’s arrival.

Kendall stepped out into the foyer, looking full of cold. He reluctantly takes off his coat and scarf and hands it to the doorman, Richard. The sudden change of temperature makes him shiver ever so slightly, and he reflexively crosses his hands in front of his body before turning to walk towards his siblings.

“Jeez” Shiv says under her breath as she takes in her older brother’s appearance. “He looks like shit”

“Yeahhh” roman responds, now looking over too. “he’s ‘not sick’ apart from the fact that he totally is and apparently has still decided to come and kindly share his germs with us and our elderly father”

“Snf Hey” Kendall says as he approaches the group and stands between Shiv and Roman

“Heyyy… uh - You feeling okay, Ken?” Shiv asks delicately.

“Uh huh. Yeah. Snf Imb… good-” Kendall responds breathily before taking a shaky breath in and quickly whipping to the side to sneeze wetly into his elbow, narrowly missing Roman “Huh’DIIISHHiew!..heh-ISHHiew! Snf Excuse me.” he says, reaching into his pocket to pull out his handkerchief and dab quickly at his nose.

"Bless you" Tom offers politely 

“Grossss dude. You sound contagious” Roman responds with a grimace

“You sure you should be out?” Shiv asks, half concerned and half disgusted by her brothers display.

“Snf Im fine. It’s just a cold, guys. Lets not make a big deal out of ihh- it….hhh… Heh’RESHHiew!” he brings his handkerchief tightly over his nose and mouth before the sneezes rips out of him, angling himself slightly away from the group and more towards Roman "ESHHiew! SNFFF"

“OH my god!” Roman says, hands up and stepping away from his ill brother “seriously, sneezy, keep your snot to yourself”

“Sorry. SNFFF-ughh” Kendall replies flatly, head aching from the force of his sneezes

“Seems like quite the cold” Shiv comments. “Seriously though, Ken. Why don’t you just go home?”

“Don’t want dad to think you’re weak?” Roman asks teasingly, taking a sip of his wine

Kendall is temporarily relieved of the scrutiny when the elevator door dings open and Greg walks in “hey guys!” He says jovially as he walks towards the group “hey Tom, Shiv, Rome… Ken?” Greg pauses briefly, taking in Kendalls red nose, tired eyes, and the handkerchief held loosely in his hand

“Ken, uhh - are you, like, okay man? You don’t look too good.”

“All good, Greg” He responds quickly, getting annoyed by the attention his cold has garnered

“Evidence suggests he’s housing the next superbug” Shiv responds curtly

“And he’s oh so kindly come here to share it with all of us.” Roman quips before being interrupted by a sudden -

“Huh-RESHHoo!….ET’CHHeww!! SNFFF oh by gob.” Kendall sniffles helplessly from behind the handkerchief he'd covered his mouth with “sorry. ‘scuse be.” he mutters as he turns away and heads towards the bathroom to blow his nose, soaked handkerchief still presses tightly to his face.

“Poor guy. He sounds terrible.” Tom comments as Kendall walks away

“Yeah. He doesn’t get sick often but when he does it always hits him hard. I bet he’s feeling even worse than he’s letting on” Shiv replies

“Yeah and he’s always blowing nose jizz all over the place.” Roman says, scrunching up his face “better keep your distance and have some Purell handy and you might be spared”

Their conversation is cut short when Logan and Marcia appear from the top of the staircase and makes their way towards the group.

“Hello. Hello everyone” Logan greets his family gruffly

“Hey, dad” Shiv replies

“Hi, Logan” Tom smiles eagerly

“well what’re we waiting for? lets go eat” Logan says, ushering everyone towards the dining room. “Uhh, where’s Kendall? Is he coming late?” he questions, having noted his sons unusual absence

“Oh, he’s just in the bathroom, he’ll be right out” Shiv responds

“Yeah trying to make himself presentable for Daddy” Roman smirks

As the family take their seats around the table, Logan insists the spot to his left remains open for his favourite son.