#{ the bonsai badass

[merv606]

Updated / July 5, 2023

[abushelandablog]

Sam and Miguel core

[babezruthless]

@queencvbra gets a starter from Sam LaRusso { The Bonsai Badass }

Prom night. They’d survived the actual dance (though just barely), and now it was time for the afterparty. Sam had already talked about it with her mother - it was basically an open secret. Miguel would have her home before midnight, but there would be no calls from Dad, no offers to drive her home (unless she asked), and no questions. Not that Sam was planning to do anything untoward. A little supervised drinking never killed anyone.

But the afterparty was at Stingray’s, which meant the place would be crawling with Cobra Kai students who claimed to have shed their skins for the night to put on fancy dresses and tightly-fitting tuxes, and maybe, just maybe they’d leave the karate drama on the mat.

Then Tory and Robby had to go and show up looking like... that.

The party was crowded and the house was spacious enough, but it was as if the blonde was circling her like a shark. Sam was trying her best to focus on Miguel - he was her date after all - but every alarm bell in her brain was going off as she had to twist herself to slide past Tory at the staircase. “This can’t be fun for you,” she muttered, trying to slip past innocently to get to the snack table.

[queencobrakaii]

Sam & Tory ► Running Up That Hill

[shrinkthisviolet]

I will say though, I’m absolutely in love with Sam being the “Bonsai Badass” 🥰 it’s a perfect nickname for her!

[boundless11]

Sam LaRusso as the Bonsai Badass

[yenforfairytales]

Tbh? I won’t lie, I do hope we get more scenes of Johnny interacting with LaRusso’s in S4. I especially want to see him with Samantha, without Miguel or anyone as a buffer. Bc Sam is 100% her dad’s princess and the lead student of the Myagi-do kids, which makes her the one who Johnny really needs to connect to, ya know? (Not to mention Lawrusso ain’t ever gonna happen without her blessing. Sam means too much Daniel, and Johnny knows he needs to get her on good side tbh)

You got me in my feelings. You're so right

Fans were asking forever to see Daniel and Miguel interact, but now we need to see some Johnny and Samantha.

She is the Miyagi-Do Team Captain so to speak, and the perfect person to really show that Johnny can teach Daniel's kids without any bias. (I'm also secretly hoping Johnny teaches Anthony lol, that kid needs Johnny's drill sergeant approach)

Samantha also has her father's sassy hotheadedness feistiness

and Johnny could teach her how to properly channel and harness it with some badass offensive techniques. Which I assume will help her in another fight against Tory, because I'm sure Sam's PTSD isn't completely over. The current Cobra Kai bullying and intimidation isn't going to stop.

And the lawrusso shipper in me is dying for scenes of Johnny desperately trying to gain her approval and insight into her dad LOL

"What's in it for us?"

Johnny leaned away from Princess LaRusso warily. This wasn't the response he'd been expecting when he asked her what kind of things her father liked.

"Us?" He asked instead.

Sam tossed a look and a smile over her shoulder to Miguel, who waved weakly at them from his spot a few feet - safely - away but within earshot.

Johnny let out an annoyed breath. Teenagers.

"Fine," he surrendered. "What do you want?"

"There's a concert on Friday that Miguel and I want to go to. I already bought the tickets, but dad won't let us leave class early. I want you to tell him you said it was okay."

Johnny weighed the pros and cons. He'd be proud of Miss LaRusso if he wasn't being swindled by a kid.

"Deal," he finally said, throwing out his hand to shake on it.

Sam clasped it with a victorious grin.

***

Every day the whole following week Johnny would surprise Daniel with a little gift, a small gesture that never failed to surprise Daniel in its thoughtfulness.

Whether it was a cup of coffee that just happened to be from Daniel's favorite café, or a new bonsai stand that Johnny built himself, it was something unique every time.

Samantha only wished Johnny didn't choose to present these gifts in front of everyone right before class began.

***

Friday afternoon arrived quickly enough, and Samantha went through the pretense of stretching while waiting for class to start and for Johnny's signal that she and Miguel were dismissed.

The other kids began to get into their usual spots in the yard as her dad got ready to address the day's lesson, and as usual that's when Johnny decided to walk up to Daniel with a surprise 'Just because.'

Johnny was holding something behind his back and Sam struggled to make out what it could be. It didn't look like anything she had suggested.

She watched curiously as her dad and Johnny exchanged a few softly, murmured words and joking grins before Johnny held up what looked like an old yearbook to her suddenly stunned-silent father.

Daniel took the book in a daze and flipped through a few pages before seemingly stopping to read something important.

He finished after a few minutes and looked up at Johnny with what he once described to Sam as 'Moon Eyes.'

She quirked an eyebrow in confusion at the display before sucking in a shocked breath as her dad abruptly leaned up and pulled Johnny in for a tender kiss.

In front of everyone.

Daniel pulled away still smiling at Johnny before announcing loudly, "Okay class, why don't we take the day off? You're dismissed!"

Miguel looked pleased enough at his sensei, but did Johnny have to do these things before class began...

[pinktintedmonocle]

Dedicated Followers of Fashion - A Cobra Kai Lawrusso Fanfic - Chapter 1

Daniel raised an eyebrow.  “That jacket is certainly something.  Where did you even get that?”

Johnny shrugged.  “Can’t remember.  Had it since the nineties.”

“Oh yeah?  Thought you didn’t own any clothes bought after 1989?”

When Johnny wears his sleeveless denim jacket to sparring practice, long buried feelings begin to emerge between him and Daniel.  As they try to deal with their emotions, a few iconic outfits from their past make a reappearance.

Set post season 3, so beware spoilers if you haven’t finished it yet.

1992

“John Lawrence, here for the modelling gig.”

The receptionist looked at Johnny over the top of her wire rimmed glasses, pursing her lips in disapproval.

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, I know.  I ran outta juice half a mile from the nearest gas station and me and my friend Bobby had to push my Firebird – ”

“Just sign here”, said the woman, pushing a clipboard towards Johnny.  “Then take a left down there to get to costume and make-up.”

She pointed towards a corridor with a blood red nail and Johnny squiggled his signature then set off, walking briskly.  He knocked on the door and it was quickly opened by a harassed looking man in a brightly patterned shirt.

“Are you the model? You’re very late you know, we were expecting you almost an hour ago.”

“Yeah, I know”, said Johnny. “But my car -”

“I don’t care, just get in here”, said the man, dragging Johnny into the room and starting to unbutton his shirt.

“Right, we need to get your clothes off and the baby oil on. Miranda!”

A small woman with a measuring tape around her neck materialised out of seemingly nowhere, brandishing a bottle of oil.  Together, Miranda and the man prepared Johnny for the shoot, styling his hair and oiling him up.  They gave him a pair of low rise designer jeans to change into; he quickly took off his own very much not-designer jeans and pulled them on.

“Right!” said the man, clapping his hands together and surveying his handiwork.  “I think you’re all good to go!  Oh – apart from one thing -”

He handed Johnny a sleeveless denim jacket and Johnny shrugged it on over his bare chest before the man pushed him out of the room and Miranda led him to the set.

After the shoot, Johnny walked up to the photographer.

“Hey, look I was just wondering if there are any more jobs like this going.  It’s just I could really use the money and -”

“Oh, there are plenty of jobs like this going.  For people who show up on time”, said the photographer, glaring at Johnny before walking off.

Back in the dressing room, Johnny scrubbed the baby oil angrily off his chest.  He tugged his own jeans and shirt back on before his eyes fell on the denim jacket, now draped over the back of a chair.  He slung it over one arm and left the building, more than ready for a beer with Bobby.

 2019

“Maybe our new logo could be an eagle eating a snake”, suggested Johnny, picking up a pencil and beginning a crude sketch.

“Needs to have a bonsai in it”, said Daniel, not looking up from his phone.

“Alright.  How about an eagle sitting in a bonsai eating a snake?”

Daniel tutted.  “An eagle can’t sit in a bonsai, Johnny. It’s too big, the bonsai would just topple over.”

Johnny dropped the pencil and huffed, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, well, why don’t you try and come up with some ideas, LaRusso, rather than just staring at crap on your phone?  What are you looking at, anyway?”

“Your Facebook page”, Daniel answered without missing a beat.  “And you’re right, it is crap.  Why is there a photo of you pouting while standing in front of a mural of some angel wings?”

“Oh shit, thought I’d got rid of that one”, said Johnny, pulling a face.  “Can you delete it for me while you’re there?”

Daniel sighed.  “No, Johnny, I can’t delete it for you, that’s not how it works.”  He was for silent for a moment, still scrolling, then smiled.

“This one of you and Miguel is nice, though.  You at a concert or something?”

“Yeah, Dee Snider, the most badass rocker ever.” Johnny stuck his tongue out and raised his hand to his mouth, two middle fingers held down, mimicking the pose in the photo.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “That jacket is certainly something. Where did you even get that?”

Johnny shrugged. “Can’t remember.  Had it since the nineties.”

“Oh yeah?  Thought you didn’t own any clothes bought after 1989?”

Johnny threw the pencil at Daniel across the office they had set up in Miyagi-Do.  The smaller man caught it easily and scowled, but Johnny just grinned.

“Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso”, he said with a wink.

“Lucky me”, Daniel muttered, looking back down at his phone.

Johnny wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of the light, but it almost looked like there was a faint blush on Daniel’s cheeks.

**********************************************************************************

Johnny could tell before he even got out of bed that it was going to be a swelteringly hot day.  He woke in the early hours of the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, the sheets sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

Eventually he got up and munched on cereal while aimlessly scrolling through Facebook on his laptop. (He had recently learnt that the box which asked him ‘What’s on your mind?’ was not a space for private thought, and that anything written in there could be seen by anyone else on Facebook. He discovered this after typing ‘How to take down Kreese and also what is cotton candy made of’ and Daniel had replied thirty seconds later with ‘You’re an idiot, Johnny’.)

As the heat continued to build Johnny took a cold shower before selecting an outfit for the day’s training.  He threw on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt and was just about to walk out of the bedroom when the denim jacket caught his eye, crumpled up on the floor of his closet.

Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.

Johnny picked it up, and before he could change his mind he shoved it into his gym bag and headed out of his apartment.

**********************************************************************************

“Good work today everyone”, said Daniel, nodding approvingly as the students filtered out of Miyagi-Do, wiping sweat off their foreheads and glugging from water bottles.

“Yeah, getting badass”, agreed Johnny.  “Barely any pussies among you now.  Well, apart from maybe you.”  He pointed at Demetri.

The pale boy looked offended.  “Hey, what’s wrong with me?  I thought I did pretty well today!”

“You did, Demetri”, Daniel said reassuringly, patting him on the back as he left and frowning at Johnny.

Johnny just smirked and glanced towards the house, thinking longingly of the ice cold Coors Banquet waiting for him in the newly installed refrigerator.

“Hey Sensei!”

Johnny turned to see Miguel standing in front of him.

“You wanna come over to mine for dinner tonight?  My mom says you’re welcome to join us if you don’t have any other plans.”

“Not tonight, kid. I’m gonna stay here for a bit, work on some new moves with LaRusso.  But another time, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course”, said Miguel with a smile.  “See you later, Sensei.”  He started to walk out of the dojo, waving goodbye to Daniel as he went before looping an arm around Sam’s shoulders.

When the kids had left, Daniel turned to Johnny.

“You hungry?”

Johnny shrugged.  “I could eat.”

He followed Daniel into the house, allowing his eyes to trail down the other man’s petite form.  It had been a while since Johnny had seen Daniel train in anything that wasn’t a tracksuit or a gi, but due to the temperature Daniel was dressed similarly to Johnny in shorts and a sleeveless workout top.  Johnny watched as Daniel’s long legs carried him out of the yard and inside, a slight sheen of sweat glinting on the tanned skin.  Johnny bit his lip and fetched his longed for beer from the refrigerator, taking a swig.

“You want a cold one, LaRusso?” he asked.

“Do you have any beer, or in fact any form of alcohol, that isn’t a Coors Banquet?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll stick with water”, Daniel said dryly.  He turned around to start preparing the dinner and Johnny held up his middle finger behind his back.

As Daniel busied himself Johnny opened his gym bag, reaching inside and pulling out a towel to wipe the sweat off his brow.  He paused when he saw the jacket, scrunched up in the corner of the bag along with a can of deodorant and a packet of corn nuts.

Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.

Lucky me.

He took it out of the bag and pulled it on, feeling the rough denim scratch against his skin, before strutting back into the yard and sitting on the deck.  He sipped his beer as the early evening sun beat down, trying and failing to think of something that wasn’t Daniel LaRusso’s legs.

Daniel soon emerged from the house and strode over with two plates of food.  When he caught sight of Johnny he stopped mid-stride, mouth opening and closing a few times before he settled on just shaking his head.

Johnny grinned. “What?  Told you I’d wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.”

“You’re ridiculous, you know that Johnny?” said Daniel, joining Johnny on the deck and handing him a plate and cutlery.

“I’m ridiculous?  You’re the one who has a dojo in an ornamental garden.”

“What, as opposed to a more sensible location for teaching children karate, like a public park or a seedy strip mall with faulty wiring?”

Johnny ignored the jibe and poked at his dinner with a fork, wrinkling his nose in distaste.  “A salad?”  He put the bowl down.  “Think I’ll go and grab a burger.”

“Really, Johnny?  You want something hot in this heat?”

“Maybe I do”, Johnny replied, making eye contact with the smaller man.

This time the blush that bloomed on Daniel’s cheeks was definitely not a trick of the light.

After a moment Daniel coughed and looked away.  “Come on Johnny, eat your salad.  It’s good, I swear.”

Johnny pulled a face again but still speared a carrot and a lettuce leaf with his fork and popped them in his mouth, munching nosily.  As green stuff went it actually wasn’t too bad.  Not that he would ever tell Daniel that.

**********************************************************************************  

After dinner they discussed potential new moves they could teach their students for the tournament, Daniel diligently writing them all down while Johnny lounged on the deck, nursing another Coors Banquet.  (“Why don’t you just teach them that move you used on Kreese, the one that made his arms go limp?  Then we’d win no problem.” asked Johnny.  Daniel had rolled his eyes.  “Funnily enough, temporarily paralysing your opponent is considered an illegal move in a karate tournament for children.”  “But you can at least teach me, LaRusso.”  “I’m not doing that, Johnny.  You’d use it on anybody who annoyed you, which would mean practically everyone in the valley would have numb limbs.”)

Eventually Daniel put the pen down and stood up, offering a hand out to Johnny.  

“You wanna try putting some of these moves into action?”

Johnny nodded and clasped Daniel’s hand, letting the smaller man pull him up.  As he did, Johnny let his thumb rub gently over the back of Daniel’s hand for just a moment, noting with interest the slight but noticeable hitch in Daniel’s breathing as he did so.  He thought of the blush from earlier, the way the pink tinge had spread prettily across Daniel’s olive skin, and swallowed thickly.  The sensible thing would be to ignore these feelings, to push them back into the distant corner of his mind where they had been dwelling for the past three decades.  

But Johnny Lawrence was not good at doing the sensible thing.

Daniel started to warm up while Johnny did a few half-hearted stretches of his own.  Then they got into position in the middle of the yard.

“You gonna be able to move properly in that, Johnny?” asked Daniel, eyes flicking up and down Johnny’s denim clad torso.

“I can move in anything, LaRusso.  Don’t think you’ve got an advantage over me just because you’re wearing some fancy-ass designer workout gear and $300 sneakers.”

“Whatever, Johnny. You wanna start with the new set of kicks?”

They trained for about forty minutes, moving from the kicks to a new punching technique and then into some blocks (“Can’t we just keep punching?” Johnny had asked.  “’Cause you know, the best type of defence is just more offence.”  Daniel raised an eyebrow.  “That’s the winning attitude that got us into this mess to begin with.  Come on Johnny, let’s just try it my way, OK?”)  

The sun was low in the sky but it was still baking hot, and Johnny could feel the sweat running down his chest, exacerbated by the heavyweight denim.  It was worth it though.  Johnny hadn’t really planned what would happen once he’d put the jacket on, but the first time Daniel’s bare skin had come into contact with the fabric he had let out a breathy little gasp.  Johnny had then deliberately started to make sure his jacket touched Daniel whenever possible, and by the time they had worked through most of the new moves Daniel was looking dishevelled, hair unruly and falling into his eyes, skin slick with sweat, breath ragged.  He lashed out with a front kick and Johnny blocked as planned, but rather than backing off he spun Daniel around and pulled him into an embrace so the smaller man’s back was flush against his chest before dragging his jacket slowly over Daniel’s damp skin.  Daniel shuddered and let out a small whimper.  He went to move away but Johnny grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in so that they were face to face.  Johnny let go of Daniel’s wrist, moving his hand instead to the other man’s waist, letting his fingers rub over the slight swell of softness at Daniel’s middle.  

“Johnny”, Daniel breathed, voice breaking, eyes wide, leaning in just ever so slightly.

Johnny gulped.  This was dangerous territory; flirting was one thing, but they were now on the verge of something else entirely.  An image of Carmen and Miguel flashed into his mind, happily chatting away at their family meal, and he felt a sudden rush of guilt. Daniel was still staring at him with those big doe eyes, and he suspected that if he went in for a kiss the smaller man wouldn’t resist him.

Instead he stepped back, arms dropping to his sides, almost tripping over a rock as he put some distance between him and Daniel (who designs a dojo with freaking great lumps of stone in it, anyway?  And Daniel had the nerve to criticise him for being unsafe).

“Uh”, he said, throat dry, voice coming out low and scratchy.  “That was good.  I mean, good – uh – session.  With the new moves.”

Daniel just stared at him for a moment before he seemed to come to his senses.

“Uh, yeah”, he said, clearing his throat.  “Good, uh, good work Johnny.”

“Uh, yeah.  You too”, said Johnny, gesturing vaguely in Daniel’s direction.  They were both silent for a second and then they both spoke at once.

“It’s getting late, I should –”

“So I need to get back –”

They smiled tightly at each other.

“See you tomorrow, LaRusso”, Johnny said awkwardly.

“Yeah.  Tomorrow.”

Johnny fetched his stuff from the house and left by the front door, slinging his bag into the back seat of his car.  He pulled out of the driveway, glancing for a second in the rear view mirror.  Daniel stood in the doorway, watching him, an unreadable expression on his face.

At home, Johnny peeled off the denim jacket and threw it back into the closet.  He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and drank it in one before cracking open another and sitting down in front of the TV.  He let a mindless action film wash over him until he felt his eyelids start to droop and he drifted off on the couch to dreams of long legs and big eyes and a soft New Jersey accent that just whispered Johnny, Johnny, Johnny over and over again.

[merv606]

[merv606]

A moment to appreciate Sam’s little Grrrrr face.

[merv606]

[merv606]

[merv606]

Father’s daughter

My eye bruises the same as yours when someone bigger and stronger than me connects.

But still I don’t back down.

You wouldn’t - so neither will I.

I bare the marks for other people’s confused and misguided passion.

Mistaking lust for something else; violence always the end result.

I know now, why you tried so hard to protect me; why you gave me the tools to be able to instead, when you realized you couldn’t. And that was never your fault - no one can; that’s just growing up.

I grit my teeth like you, clench my fists like you, block blows like you (where I can).

I hurt like you, but I stay silent like you.

They pat my head, “aren’t you cute,” condensation dripping from their voice. My size, my anger, OUR anger, because we both burn bright with that, my everything, reduced to nothing.

They think I can’t draw blood.

They think I won’t draw blood.

But I will, because you have.

I move like you, and I don’t.

Your style mixed with my own; the best parts of you and the best parts of me.

“You have so much of your father in you,” they say.

They all say.

Sometimes it’s said with a smile, a compliment, and sometimes with a sneer, an insult.

I never used to be able to tell the difference but now, now I do.

But it doesn’t matter, not anymore, because my response is the same every time.

I smile to show the blood in my teeth.

“You’re damn right I do.”

[merv606]

[merv606]

[merv606]