#i do not condone atticus’s actions | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

redbullgivesyouwingedkuriboh · 10 months ago

Text

Contact

Atticus Rhodes and/X Zane Truesdale

CW: medical stuff, angst, it seems like a character is going to die but they don’t

The steady beeping of a heart monitor was little more than background noise to Atticus at this point. He’d been there since it had been plugged in and attached to the man in front of him. A steady rhythm, only interrupted by Atticus occasionally drumming his fingers on the surface of the bedside table.

He was so used to the monochromatic rhythm of the room that he nearly jumped out of his chair when the door opened. A nurse stepped in, not even sparing him a glance as she swiftly moved to the monitor and then the IV bag. Atticus was certain that she didn’t know he was there, until she spoke.

“Has he been asleep this whole time?”

Atticus twitched again, unsure of who the nurse was talking to. When her eyes met his, he swallowed the dryness in his mouth and mustered a, “Yes.”

“Thank you.” The nurse bustled out, tapping on her tablet.

They were alone again.

Atticus turned back to the bed, taking in the pale face of his best friend. “She’s alright. Better than what the school had.”

Zane did not answer, his mind unreachable.

“Alexis had some cute nurses when she broke her arm. She took a liking to one of them because that one snuck her extra ice chips.”

Zane, of course, already knew about this, having acted as a surrogate Atticus for two years, but the heart monitor was starting to bother Atticus.

“I wish they’d turn that thing off. Then you’d only be able to hear my stunning voice.” He laughed in spite of himself.

The room felt quieter than it had before, even with the talking and the nurse and the beeping. Atticus went back to drumming his fingers on the table, trying to drown out the silence.

Another knock at the door relieved him from his thoughts, and Syrus stepped in. His eyes were red, and the collar of his shirt was wet. Atticus wondered if he’d been alone for the past few hours.

Syrus went to his brother’s side, sitting on the bed (far closer than Atticus dared go). After a pause, he asked, “Why did he put you down as his emergency contact?”

Atticus had expected this from the little brother of Zane “Petty” Truesdale. “I don’t know.” Then, as if the words had been punched out of him, he said, “Maybe he knew I’d actually show up.”

Syrus sniffed. “That’s not fair.”

“I know it’s not.” Atticus looked at his hand, now laying still on the table. “But I got here first.”

“Did they say…” Syrus drew in a shaky breath. “Did they tell you anything?”

Atticus shook his head. “Only that he collapsed in the back of a taxi. Slumped over.”

Syrus turned away from Atticus and the sleeping man, but not before Atticus could see tears spill over. “I… I wanted to move his stuff into my apartment. I was afraid…”

Atticus stood for the first time in hours, walking over to Syrus and putting a hand on his shoulder. “You wanted to protect him.”

“I can’t do it.” Syrus stood, brushing Atticus’s hand off. “He’ll understand, I can’t… I can’t be here. I’ll be in the waiting room…” He looked up at Atticus, his eyes wide and brimming with tears. “Please tell me if he wakes up.”

“I promise.”

Syrus hurried out of the room, quickly closing the door. Atticus followed for a moment, close enough to hear a horrible sob through the wall.

He turned back to the bed, to Zane lying there in a mess of wires. “See what you did?”

Moving through mud, Atticus returned to his chair and crumpled, head falling into his hands.

After a while, he couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Why did you do it?” he asked. “Why me? We haven’t spoken in… I don’t even know. A year? Syrus is your brother.”

No answer.

“I’m not the kind of guy people put down as their emergency contact. Hell, Alexis has Syrus down. I know she has Syrus down because she told me she did. But you never told any of us, just waiting for the day no one would be around to take you to the goddamn hospital and—”

He couldn’t speak anymore, breathing too labored, so he allowed the sobs to start. “You son of a bitch.”

Atticus sank to the floor, kneeling next to the bed, eye level with Zane’s stupid face. “Well, I’m here now. Are you happy?”

He buried his head in his arms, so deep that he barely heard a croaking, “Yes. Happy.”

When he heard that, though, his head shot up and his face broke into a grin when he saw Zane’s eyes for the first time in a long while.

“It usually takes… a medical emergency for…. you to pay some fucking attention to me,” Zane wheezed, painfully dragging his hand up and placing it on Atticus’s face.

Atticus clasped it, afraid it would fall away at any moment. “You son of a bitch.”

“Don’t talk about my mother like that.”

“I love you.”

Zane squeezed a little, nearly pinching Atticus’s cheek. “I picked you because I didn’t think you’d come back unless you thought I was dying.” He rubbed his thumb over Atticus’s cheek, a small smile creeping its way onto his face. “I really fucked up, and I thought you’d never forgive me.”

“I forgave you a long time ago, I’m just… stubborn and stupid.”

“Come up here. Please.”

Atticus crawled up into the bed, pulling Zane close and cradling his thin body. “I won’t leave again.”

“Damn right.” Zane coughed, right into Atticus’s shirt.

In spite of himself, Atticus smiled. As the older Truesdale clung to him, he remembered his promise to the younger one.

Though he knew it was selfish, Syrus could wait.

#this is NOT a healthy moment tm guys #i do not condone atticus’s actions #anyway #yugioh gx #ygo gx #atticus rhodes #fubuki tenjoin #zane truesdale #ryo marufuji #this can be interpreted as platonic or romantic #whatever you want #I was listening to a noah kahan song and this idea hit me in the face #not proofread #sorry bout the angst i’m just feeling sad today #and my self help book said to journal and I said fuck that sad fanfic here I come #i wrote this instead of studying #k bye i’m off to read medea

4 notes · View notes

toloveawarlord · 5 years ago

Text

Chaotic Kingsley (Ch. 1)

You can find my masterlist in my bio!

Characters: Atticus Kingsley and Annalise Perry.

Tagging: @plumpblueberry for her King’s little boy

A/N: I’m back with another Ikerev kiddo! This is the final red army baby! His sister Lyra will appear in this story a little bit, but it’s mostly about him. Annalise is his nanny and will be getting her own story with Kyle soon!

The headmaster of the school tapped his fingers against the wooden desk in an annoyed, rhythmic manner. Across from him, sat a young boy with fiery red hair and a grin slathered across his pale face. “Do you understand why you are here, Atticus Kingsley?”

“Not in the slightest. I don’t recall any misbehavior on my part,” the boy answered with feigned innocence. No one could prove that he had orchestrated the disaster. He sat up straight, never breaking eye contact with the displeased man before him.

An irritated sigh left the headmaster’s lips. “You’re denying putting the corrupted magic crystal into the pot of soup, causing it to explode and cover the kitchen, cafeteria and many students in boiling soup?” His brow twitched, unnerved by the unaffected boy.

Blue eyes pulled wide in shock, mouth dramatically dropping open. “That’s what happened? No wonder you’re upset, headmaster!” Atticus kept the smirk pushed down, proud of himself for not getting caught.

A short rap at the door and the secretary opened the creaky door. “Ms. Perry is here as requested, sir.”

Heels tapped against the floor, causing the young boy to sink down into his chair. “I apologize it took me a little longer to arrive.” The lady brushed a lock of her silver hair behind her ear. In a graceful movement, she took the empty chair and crossed her legs.

“No, I appreciate you coming in during the middle of your day, Ms. Perry. The issue at hand is an incident in the cafeteria. It’s my belief that Atticus was the one who set it into motion.” The headmaster cast a glare at him, rage building from the innocent expression on his features. He gave another explanation of the explosion in the cafeteria.

“Annalise, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such accusations. I’ll admit that I’ve gotten out of hand on the playground a time or two, but I would never do something as crass as causing harm to the staff and other students,” Atticus spoke honeyed words, turning his body to face his nanny.

Neither broke their stare, waiting to see how the other reacted. Annalise gave a short nod before giving a reassuring smile to the headmaster. “I’ll apologize on his behalf if there is any proof of these accusations.” She had to protect the Kingsley name with this ruffian child.

“Proof?”

She held back the laugh that threatened to break the tension in the room. Instead, she placed her folded hands on the top of her knees. “Yes, I cannot condone this kind of behavior from any child, but unless there is proof of Atticus’s involvement, it wouldn’t be fair to punish him.” Her voice never wavered, light but firm.

Atticus wanted to revel in the surprised expression scrawled over the headmaster’s wrinkly features. He could be patient and do so in private. “Annalise, I’m extremely hurt that this is being turned on me,” he voiced the concern with lips pulled down in a soft frown.

“This is his doing. Atticus has always pulled stunts like this, and I can assure you that these accusations do not come lightly.” The headmaster had begun to grasp at straws, not receiving the reaction he thought the nanny would give to him.

If only it were that easy to sway the young lady. “It’s saddening news that some student would wish to cause such a scene but accusing Atticus without any shred of evidence other than your disdain for him is not a good look for this school.” Annalise delivered the blow to the school’s reputation as swiftly and gracefully as her employer wielded a sword.

“Excuse me?”

Emerald green eyes swept up to meet the shocked ones before her, not backing down from the stance she had taken. “The Kingsley family is one of the most respected families in all of Cradle. I’d implore you to carefully consider a situation before bringing blame upon the King of Hearts son with no proof to correspond.”

Atticus jumped up from his chair when Annalise stood. He hugged her arm tightly, a single tear rolling down his cheek. “Can we go home now?”

“Yes, let’s go.” Annalise turned away from the stunned headmaster, intent on leaving the building with this conversation finished. She only got three steps before the man at the desk cleared his throat.

His voice rang out through the office. “I am suspending Atticus from school for the remainder of the week, three days.”

Atticus reigned in his excitement. No school for three full days? He should have acted dejected, but his face refused to drop the grin. He, instead, buried his face against her back.

“If that is the decision you have made on your administrative authority, I would begin packing my things.” Annalise cast a charming smile back at him, silver locks brushing against her neck. “I’ll inform King Lancelot of the decision.”

The pair left the office, despite the headmaster calling after them. The secretary had made herself scarce. The school would incur a change of staff after the rushed decision had been made. Reprimanding Atticus for his wrongdoings was one thing, suspending him without proof was entirely new.

A carriage awaited the by the front gates, swiftly carrying them back toward Red Territory. “Alright, spill. Did you do it?” Annalise asked, sitting more relaxed than in the office. Acting a certain way in front of the public had been expected of her since beginning her work with the Kingsley family. Her actions could reflect badly on the family should she act rashly.

But, in private, she could be much more relaxed.

A wicked grin spread across his lips, sparks of amusement dancing in his blue eyes. “I wish, but alas, twas not I who did the deed.” He fell back against the carriage seat, finding the bug crawling across the ceiling most entertaining to watch.

“Atticus.”

“Annalise.”

The boy could test most everyone around him, already quite aware of where his status lay as the son of the King of Hearts. He’d caused many a nanny to quit within no more than a day. Their mental state unable to handle the mischievous six-year-old.

“You’ve three seconds to give me the truth or I’ll have you in the kitchen washing dishes at headquarters morning, noon, and night for your three days of suspension.”

The twitch of his body at that prospect led her to continue.

“In between those times, you’ll spend every other moment attending to the laundry and cleaning every inch of the floors-” Annalise raised her eyebrows, impressed at how long the boy continued to hold his tongue this time. She gave an animated sight. “That’ll leave no time to spare for any swordplay lessons.”

That hit the proper nerve.

Many a nanny had tried to reign in the young Kingsley and get the truth, and all had failed miserably. Atticus had successfully run off his previous twelve caretakers with mischievous tricks and tactics. None had the effect that this young twenty-two-year-old did.

His heels kicked against the bench seat as he swung his legs. Ocean blue eyes sweeping around the small carriage without any point of interest. “Oh alright. I may have given the idea to a few classmates during recess.”

“May have? You’re not succeeding in convincing me.” In the year and half that she had worked for the Kingsley family, Annalise had devoted herself to understanding him instead of controlling him, but that hardly meant that she would let him get away with wrongdoings.

Atticus gave a huge, dramatic sigh to stall for time. He resigned to her stern gaze and spilled into the tale of how the catastrophe occurred. “I told some classmates about how one could corrupt a small crystal to cause a harmless explosion. There was a tiny joke about putting it in the soup but not from me. They ran off with it. I had little involvement.”

The truth, finally.

His tone of annoyance told her that he wished that he had been a part of it. Causing chaos is his domain and being left as only the informant made him upset. At the very least, he could be cleared as the culprit.

“Do you believe me?” Atticus turned his head toward the window of the carriage but peeked at her from his peripheral vision. Many nannies missed the longing for approval. They were much too busy attempting to reign him in.

“Yes,” Annalise answered with a warm smile. The boy had been hard to read at first, but she’d learned quick to pick up on his speech. “And I’ll rescind those punishments, but you will have to tell your father about your expulsion.” Emerald eyes narrowed at the sudden question that came to her. “Atticus, where did you procure this information about corrupting crystals?”

Not a moment of hesitation before throwing the man into the fire. “Kyle lent me a book.”

The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the army headquarters. A once daunting building now like a second home to her. She fully intended to make Atticus spill the news of what had happened, but she wouldn’t send him alone. There was a lot information that only she could relay.

Atticus came to a full stop in front of the closed office doors. He exuded confidence and rarely cared what anyone around him said, except with his father. “Do I have to?” His voice so timid that it hardly sounded as if it belonged to him.

Rapping against the door with her knuckles, Annalise ran her fingers through his ginger hair reassuringly. “You can do it. Tell him what you told me.” A reprimanding much less severe than most days would be in store for him.

Lancelot called from within. None of the other officers were present, and a stack of paperwork laid out on the desk. He placed his pen down, no shock on his features at the early arrival of his son. He never cast a glance at the woman, matching blue eyes locked only on Atticus.

Annalise gave him a little push forward into the room, closing the door as the boy shuffled forward with his head down. The poor thing. It wasn’t fear of punishment, but of disappointment. The clock had barely passed noon, only halfway through the normal school day.

“I...” Atticus swallowed down the lump in his throat as he shuffled forward. His head lifted slowly, finding the courage to look at this father. “Headmaster Crawford expelled me for three days.”

Lancelot listened quietly as Atticus explained the same story that he’d given to Annalise. It came as little surprise, but with the help of the trusted nanny, the heat of the situation fell on the school instead of the boy. “I see. The matter with the school will be resolved. Refrain from giving such information out to others again, Atticus.”

“Yes, father. I’ll do better.” The dejection in his voice only lasted for a few silent moments. He never wallowed in those emotions for too long. “If I’m not going to school for a few days, does that mean Annalise can bring me here for the day?” He glorified the idea of being in this army, wanting nothing more than to be the King one day.

“Yes, I suppose it would be advantageous to spend your time learning. You can accompany me while I work,” Lancelot replied, picking back up his pen. He couldn’t explain how proud he was when his son showed such commitment to his future within the army.

Atticus lit up at those words, blue eyes sparkling with unkempt eagerness. “Did you hear that, Annalise?” His head whipped around to the woman lingering by the door. His grin wide and filled with happiness.

Lancelot paused his writing, his gaze falling on his nanny. “I nearly forgot. Kyle has requested both of you in the infirmary.” It was that time of year again. His least favorite thing in the entirety of Cradle.

“That’s good, because I’ve got some choice words for him,” Annalise said, an irritated smile crossing her lips. The said doctor was the reason Atticus even heard about corrupting crystals. He’d never do it again by the time she was finished with him.

#i love this boy #he is chaotic #wild wild child #ikemen revolution #ikerev #lancelot kingsley #atticus kingsley #annalise perry #chaotic kingsley #ikerev next gen

22 notes · View notes