Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
Silhouettes
By Lucky_Ladybug
Notes: The characters from the show are not mine. The other characters and the story are mine. This was inspired by a conversation with Azalea542 and her coming up with a classic quip from a guy falsely accused of having an affair. It sounded like something Radley would say, and this fic happened. The title was inspired by that continuing conversation. As always, Radley is a nice guy, the way I honestly see him.
Kalin hadn't been in Crash Town long when it became obvious that the townsfolk loved to gossip. It was expected in one way; even in the Satellite there were old biddies who sat around trying to dish out the dirt on everyone. But it had annoyed him then and didn't make him feel the greatest now. He hardly had time for such nonsense, but he couldn't help overhearing it, and sometimes the gossipers tried to actively drag him in on it.
"Hello, Kalin!" one said when he was just walking down the sidewalk minding his own business.
He grunted. "Hello."
"Tell me, what is it like to work for Radley?" Her eyes gleamed with the prospect of a juicy story.
Kalin just shrugged. "He pays me well."
"Oh yes, he would!" The woman gave a sage nod. "But he's a terrible person."
Seeing this person wasn't about to leave him alone, he stopped walking and just looked at her. "What's so terrible about him?" If this person's objection was that he was locked in the gang war, Kalin could understand. But he seemed alright otherwise. Overly friendly and annoying in his refusal to give up such, but that was hardly what most people would consider terrible.
"He carries on with his miners' wives while they're up at the mine!" the woman declared. "Why, Bettina actually saw him last night visiting one of them! They were standing far too close for comfort silhouetted against the drapes! There was no mistake; their arms were around each other and they were kissing! Scandalous!"
Kalin, being quite asexual and aromantic, really couldn't understand such urges. But he did understand the ridiculousness of this complaint. "She only saw silhouettes and she was sure it was Radley?" he said flatly.
"Oh no! She saw him go inside! Then she saw their silhouettes!" the woman replied. "There was no one else in the house; it had to be him!"
"He doesn't seem the type," Kalin said.
Radley was just coming out of the general store in time to hear Kalin's comment. He had to smile. "Do I understand correctly? You don't think the naughty-naughty gossip about me is true, Kalin?"
Kalin shrugged. "Something sounds off."
The woman hmphed. "Of course you'd deny it even when you don't have a leg to stand on!" she fumed. "Well, mark my words, everyone is going to know about this! No one will have the mistaken idea that you're some kind of a saint when we're through! Everyone will know about your adulterous affair!"
"Really? I'm having an affair?" Radley quipped. "It's news to me."
She was not amused. "You and your childish jokes! You'll find that this is no joking matter! Even though this town is completely depraved, there are some decent people who won't stand for this!" And she stormed off.
Radley sighed, suddenly looking so tired. "Thank you, Kalin," he said softly.
"What really did happen?" Kalin asked.
Radley gave him a sad smile. "I can't tell you that," he said. "Then I really would be a slimeball."
Kalin just looked back in disbelief. "You're just going to let everyone think you're trash?!" He never would have stood for it in the Enforcers.
Radley looked away. "Considering the alternative, yeah. I have to."
"What kind of leader are you?" Kalin demanded.
He could see Radley flinch at that. "A very tired one. I'll see you tonight, Kalin." And Radley walked off down the sidewalk, not looking back.
Kalin had the feeling he had just wounded Radley when Radley had thought he had an ally in him. But he turned away and went the opposite direction instead of calling after his boss or trying to catch up to him.
xxxx
In such a small town, the gossip spread like wildfire, especially when Bettina showed her picture. And even though not everyone in town believed such an adulterous affair was even morally wrong, they certainly had a much different opinion of Radley with such news circling everywhere.
The Bunch was furious, insisting Radley hadn't done anything wrong. Bettina's group pushed back, insisting he had been seen going into Mrs. Carson's home multiple times a week. Malcolm's Crew just sat back and laughed about the whole debacle.
Kalin didn't know what to make of any of it. True to his word, Radley refused to say anything about what had actually happened despite trading barbs and insisting he wasn't having an affair. Kalin could see the hurt in his eyes, but that was as far as his inner feeling showed.
"They're all creeps!" Scotch spat one night at the diner. "Can you believe that witch actually took a picture?! What, does she follow Radley around and try to film everything she thinks is scandalous or something?!"
"It sounds like it," Billy snorted. "Or maybe the lady lives next door to her, so she's just always spying on the lady instead of on Radley."
"She's never liked Radley," Virgil said bitterly. "She must've thought she really hit pay dirt when she saw him go inside."
"He won't say what was going on," Kalin said. "Why do you think he was there?"
"Not for any bad reason!" Scotch said. "Radley believes like the Bible says and doesn't go broadcasting his good deeds everywhere to get praised for them!"
Kalin grunted, unimpressed and unconvinced. "You think he would let this gossip go all around and keep getting worse and worse if the truth was just that he was doing a good deed?"
". . . No," Scotch had to admit. "There's more to it. It's just that whatever it is, Radley wasn't in the wrong!"
Kalin folded his arms. "You believe in him so strongly," he commented.
"Because he deserves it!" Scotch said. "You should believe in him too!"
Kalin sighed. It made sense for the Bunch to believe in Radley, when they knew him so well. Kalin had only known him for several days. And try as he might, he could not seem to dredge up so much trust for someone he barely knew. He knew how people were and how they deceived others. What he didn't know was what Radley's game was. What it could be. Or how he would find out, if he chose to. His top priority, of course, was dueling to lose so he could punish himself for his own sins.
The door opened and Radley wearily came in, soon sinking down at his favorite table with Scotch and Kalin. "What a night," he sighed. "Half the town's booing me for 'having an affair.' The other half is cat-calling me in approval of it."
"Everyone's such big creeps," Scotch declared. "I'd like to punch them all for treating you rotten, Radley!"
Radley had to smile at that. "I'd like to say it's nice that so many of the townspeople still believe in some morals, but when they're using those morals to treat me like dirt, it feels like they're kinda missing the point."
"Not to mention it's not moral to be gossiping and taking pictures of what's happening in other people's homes!" Scotch exclaimed. "They're hypocrites!"
"That is really galling," Radley agreed with a frown. "I didn't think even Bettina would stoop to that."
"People are usually worse than you think," Kalin said.
Radley raised an eyebrow. "I hope you just mean 'some people,'" he said. "Some other people are better than you think."
"Like Radley!" Scotch said.
Kalin didn't offer a response to that. He just didn't know what he thought, although he had to admit that he still didn't think Radley seemed the type to have an affair with a married woman. Was he just being deceived? Or was it true that Radley had not done anything wrong and he was being unkindly misjudged?
". . . What are you going to do?" he asked at last.
"What can I do?" Radley countered.
"You could tell what actually happened," Kalin retorted.
Radley gave a weary sigh. "No, Kalin. That wouldn't be right."
Kalin grunted. "Considering how much the town relies on you and looks up to you, is it right or logical for you to let everyone think you did something immoral?"
"If there's a good reason for it? Yes," Radley said. "And honestly, even if I broke and decided to tell what happened, do you really think people like Bettina would even believe me?"
That gave Kalin pause. ". . . Probably not," he had to admit.
Radley nodded. "Anyone who matters already knows I didn't do it. Anyone who believes this garbage isn't gonna stop no matter what I say. And frankly, if I did say, I think it'd only make it worse for me. I told you it really would make me a slimeball, and everybody would know it too. Whether they believed me or not, they'd be disgusted I'd tell."
Scotch frowned. "So we just have to wait until it all dies down?!"
"I don't know what else to do," Radley sighed.
"It doesn't look like it's going to die down any time soon," Kalin said.
"You're probably right. It's the most action they've seen lately outside of the nightly duels." Radley spoke wryly, his voice dripping with annoyance.
"People who crave gossip and scandal are a nuisance," Kalin said flatly.
Radley had to laugh a bit. "Yeah, they sure are."
"But you're still going to feed them by insisting nothing happened and not telling more details," Kalin said.
Radley gave him a smirk. "If nothing happened, then there is nothing more to tell," he pointed out.
"Only you've made it clear, at least to us, that there is," Kalin said.
"And that's as much as I'll say on the subject," Radley said.
"I'm never going to understand you," Kalin said.
"Probably not, but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying to be friendly," Radley said.
Kalin grunted. That was likely true.
"And you should be grateful for it!" Scotch said. "Anyone else would have given up!"
That was probably true too. Kalin couldn't imagine anyone else having the patience or the drive to keep at it after so many rejections. So why did Radley? He didn't seem to be a masochist. Was he really just so foolishly hopeful that he kept believing there was a chance if he tried hard enough?
Was there? Kalin couldn't deny that Radley's personality and cheer was starting to work into his heart. He couldn't allow that, though. Radley deserved far better than Kalin, especially if he was telling the truth about this mess.
But . . . if Radley gave up and stopped trying, Kalin knew part of him would miss that. So Radley had already partially succeeded in winning Kalin over.
He pushed those thoughts aside for now. Regardless of what he might like, he couldn't give in any more than Radley was going to give in and tell what had happened. He sighed and folded his arms.
Radley sighed too, not knowing what was going through Kalin's mind. "I think we could all use some cheer," he said.
Scotch bounced up. "I'll get the cactus cider!" He loaded the jukebox on his way to the kitchen.
Radley chuckled and leaned back. "They can be happy with the simplest things."
"A lot of people can't," Kalin said. "It's good they're the way they are."
"Yeah." Radley smiled. "I'm glad they're happy."
"Are you happy too?" Kalin asked.
"I am," Radley assured him. "Even with things going wrong. I'm happy I've been able to build a pretty good life for them so far. If we could just win this war with Malcolm, everything would be perfect."
"Life is never perfect," Kalin said flatly. "Even if you get control of the town, you'll probably still have to deal with people like Bettina."
"I know," Radley sighed. "And I'm not happy about that. But if we had control of the town, I'd be willing to take that trade-off."
Kalin supposed that made sense. Having the town would be the most important thing. So much could be done then, even with gossipy biddies hanging around to be a nuisance.
"Will you even have many supporters left, though?" he asked.
"I think so," Radley said. "The ones who really matter haven't turned against me. The wishy-washy ones aren't helpful anyway."
Kalin nodded slowly. He understood that too. "I wouldn't have wanted spineless 'supporters' in the Enforcers," he agreed.
Radley smiled faintly. "Yeah. You get it."
"Do you really think you can overthrow Malcolm, though?" Kalin asked.
"Sure," Radley said. "Especially with your help."
Well, Kalin had asked for that one. But he just grunted noncommittally and looked at the table. "I'll duel for you until I lose. That was the deal."
"And I can't ask for more than that," Radley said with a wan smile. "But you'd better not lose."
"I won't," Kalin said, staring off at nothing. "Not on purpose."
xxxx
Nothing changed over the next days. Kalin was right that things just weren't dying down. The town, sadly enough, was hungry for a good scandal, and the more Radley refused to indulge them, the more they pushed. Several days and several nights of dirty jokes courtesy of Malcolm's Crew later, Malcolm and his supporters were still all laughing about the incident in the town square while Radley just sneered with an annoyed Watch it! smirk and let them have their fun.
"Whenever you're through acting like the juvenile delinquents you say we are, we can get on with the nightly duel," he said.
"And then you can get on with yours too. Right, Radley?" Malcolm cackled.
"I wonder what she's like in bed," one of the Crewmembers leered.
"I wonder what he's like in bed," another chortled.
"Do you ever stop thinking with body parts other than your brains?" Radley interjected.
The Bunch laughed at that. Malcolm scowled.
"Face it, Radley! You're this town's biggest attraction right now!" he snapped. "You act like you're so high and mighty, but you're just as dirty as the rest of us!"
"Stop it!" a new voice rang out. "Just stop it!"
Everyone fell silent, startled by the vehement interruption. Mrs. Carson was walking in determination to the center of the square, her eyes flashing as she pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders.
Radley's smirk vanished. "Laura," he said in concern.
She looked to him with sadness and regret in her smile. "You've been so sweet, Radley," she said. "So noble and honorable. But I can't stand to see them treat you like this for my weakness. I should have spoke up sooner."
"You didn't want to hurt Will," Radley said.
"That, but also . . . I was afraid," she said. "I didn't want everyone to know that I was the only offender. I didn't want them to look at me like they're looking at you. But . . . I can't take this anymore. It's not right."
She looked around at everyone gathered in the square. "Radley has been helping me financially ever since my husband Will went into Malcolm's mine," she said. "He's also been helping me with things around the house. The other night my pipe broke and he came over to fix it for me." She clenched a fist. "Yes, that woman saw our silhouettes on my curtain! The pipe broke in my bathroom and water was all over the bedroom carpet! Radley was there for a long time helping me clean it up. And . . . well . . ." She blinked back tears. "It gets lonely there, without Will. Radley has been so good and so kind. He was there, and Will wasn't. When I slipped on the floor and Radley caught me, I just . . . lost myself for a moment. I put my arms around him and I tried to kiss him. But he didn't give in! What that biddy didn't stick around to see was that he gently moved me back and stepped out of my embrace. He knew I wouldn't really want to betray Will like that. And that's all that happened."
Some of the people, Bettina included, looked unimpressed and unmoved. Most, however, actually looked guilty or regretful. Even Malcolm, surprisingly, wavered.
"When all the gossip started flying around, Radley stayed quiet to protect me," Mrs. Carson said. "He insisted nothing had happened, but no one believed him. He knew if he told the truth, that I had tried to make something happen, it would reflect badly on me and he wasn't going to let that happen. All of you just looked at that picture and decided it was an open-and-shut case! I'd say I'm ashamed of all of you, but I'm ashamed of myself more than anyone else. I should have had the courage to speak up before things went on this long." She looked back to Radley and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you, Radley, for your goodness. You're a true gentleman."
Radley's smile was also sad. "I'm sorry things had to turn out like this."
"I'm only sorry that the town you're giving so much to protect isn't more grateful to you," Mrs. Carson said. And she stepped back into the crowd and vanished.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the town square for a long moment, until at last it was broken by Malcolm awkwardly clearing his throat. "You're a real Boy Scout, aren't you, Radley?" he said. "Well, nevermind all that. Let's get on with the duel, like you said."
"Yeah," Radley said. "Let's do that."
Kalin's mind was awhirl as he stepped up to duel. Radley had allowed his own honor to be tarnished in order to try to protect someone else's. Would Kalin have ever done that? He really couldn't picture it of himself. If anyone had spread false rumors about him during the Enforcers era, he would have furiously demanded satisfaction from the one spreading them. Even if someone else's reputation had been on the line, Kalin really wasn't sure he would have felt differently. Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn't, but suddenly Radley seemed so much more mature than Kalin, in spite of his quirky speech pattern and love of jeering Malcolm. Kalin focused on the duel enough to thoroughly trounce his opponent—much to Malcolm's fury—but otherwise he stayed lost deep in his thoughts.
Radley went up to him when it was all over and the groups were dispersing. "Hey," he said quietly. "Are you coming back to the diner with us?"
Kalin came back to the present and nodded. "Yeah." He would give Radley that much. But he couldn't refrain from asking, "Why would you want me to? I didn't stand by you."
There was the tired look again. "You don't know me," Radley said. "How would you know what to think? At least you weren't really against me. I just wanna put it behind us and move on. Okay?"
"Alright," Kalin said.
He let Radley rest a hand on his shoulder as they turned to go back to their motorcycles.
It was a nice touch. And even though Kalin knew he shouldn't, he indulged it for the time being.