#Kreese was a captain right?

[hizznbyte]

A small observation I have made about my two favorite ships as of late.

Don’t mind how ugly they look I was rushing this it was just supposed to be a doodle but ended up taking two hours. End me.

[hangover29]

I just here to rant about how bad they treated my child Tory she is just a teen, her mother just died she is grieving and they let her go away and just said”ok so Sam is captain, Tory is gone so Hawk Let’s go to Barcellonaaaa” literally no one even try to followed her not even her boyfriend and they have the nerve to be mad/ look betrayed when they see her with Kreese? Of course she came back to him, he was right: no one really care about her! I’m livid , like WTF she was happy for like 5 minutes, give her a break!

[reescrever-as-estrelas]

Robby and the lack of focus

In season one, when Robby was fighting Hawk, Daniel noticed that his apprentice wasn't focused. With that, Daniel guided Robby to remember what he learned from Miyagi-Do Karate about balance. Thus, Robby managed to reestablish his focus on the fight and Hawk was disqualified from the tournament after injuring Robby's shoulder. Robby reached the final of the tournament injured, but he was focused and balanced. Unfortunately, Miguel had no compassion and delivered several blows to Robby's shoulder, which left Daniel's apprentice at a disadvantage and made him lose the final fight.

Again, in the final of the Cobra Kai season four tournament, Robby lost focus when he realized what the teachings of Cobra Kai Karate did to Kenny. This took his focus away from the fight against Hawk and he lost the tournament final. This time, he was a Cobra Kai fighter instead of Miyagi-Do, so Robby was fighting motivated by anger and resentment against his father and Miguel, as Kreese taught him, was no longer fighting with balance.

In the sixth season, back to Miyagi-Do, Robby is now the captain of the Miyagi-Do men's karate team. As a challenge, he will once again need to learn to stay focused on the fights he will face in Sekai Taikai and not allow Cobra Kai to use Tory to distract him during the tournament, as his lack of focus is one of his main weaknesses. Robby almost lost the position of Miyagi-Do captain to Miguel because of Tory's absence and John Kreese will possibly use Tory's presence on the Cobra Kai team to take the focus off the captain of the Miyagi-Do men's team.

Robby took Miyagi-Do to the finals of the first season's tournament and took Cobra Kai to the finals of the fourth season's tournament. He is a very skilled, strong and talented karate fighter. Honestly, I wish Robby would reach the Sekai Taikai final and win the tournament. I would love to see him receive guidance and teachings from Daniel, but also from his father, Johnny. I wish there was an episode showing Johnny teaching Robby something new about karate before the tournament final and also giving his son fatherly advice. I wish more father-son moments for Johnny and Robby.

I hope the writers do the right thing and don't take Robby out of the Sekai Taikai tournament final by inventing some kind of personal problem, accident or injury.

It's Robby's time to shine and win first place in a tournament. ✨

[purpleheartskies]

What is your opinion on the Robby/Tory arc this season?

Thanks for your question! I'm still gathering my thoughts on these two.

I'm heartbroken for them. They're the two kids worth rooting for out of all the kids. They have it the hardest and both feel so alone.

I'd predicted after s5 that Tory would go back to Cobra Kai, so I'm not surprised by the twist.

Robby believes in Miyagi-Do, and Tory believes in Cobra Kai.

In s3e8, Tory told Robby that she knows who she is, but he's still pretending to be something he's not. I assume, after she got to know him in s4, she realized she wasn't right about him pretending.

In s5e10, she told the Cobras that she wasn't betraying the dojo, she's just not buying what Silver's selling. She was still loyal to Cobra Kai.

In s6e1, she told Robby that Miyagi-Do teaches the exact opposite of what she's been taught. She still believed in Cobra Kai, but at the time, Miyagi-Do was her way to reach her goal.

Tory's at a really low point now, and Kreese and Cobra Kai are her solution to reach her goal.

It also makes sense that she would believe that the LaRussos wouldn't support her over Sam as captain. Tory doesn't know that Daniel didn't put her on his list of 6 students. He had put Demetri and Anthony on his list instead and claimed that Tory wasn't balanced enough to be Miyagi-Do. Plus, even Kenny believed that Daniel wouldn't believe him that Anthony had sabotaged him. (Of course, we know it was really Devon who had.) Point is that Daniel's favoritism towards his kids is obvious to the other students most of the time, so even if he isn't playing favorites, it's hard to trust him (and Amanda).

I wonder if Tory will feel betrayed by Robby for not supporting her need to fight for the captaincy. Hopefully, we get some context about what happened between the two of them between the last scene at Miyagi-Do and the introduction at the Sekai Taikai. I doubt Robby wouldn't have tried to reach out to her. Also, Sam becoming captain is out of his hands.

s5 showed that Tory's loyalty goes between Kreese/Cobra Kai and Robby. If she doesn't feel betrayed by Robby, then Robby will be a weakness for her.

Kim is aware of this. She knows that "the boy" is Tory's weakness. The Cobras may try to make sure that Robby can't get near Tory. Kim witnessed for herself what Robby is willing to do---walk into the Cobra's lair and confront Silver---if it can help Tory.

In s2e8, Robby said about Tory, " 'There's good in everyone.' She just needs to be shown the right way." In s2e1, Daniel had said that there are no enemies in Cobra Kai and that the Cobras are just taught the wrong way. In s5e9, Robby called Silver the enemy, but told the students that they weren't past the point no return. I assume Robby will do what he can to get Tory out of Cobra Kai so that she doesn't go past the point of no return.

Based on interviews, Robby's going to be completely off-balance now because Tory switched sides. This isn't surprising. He probably would have lost 0-3 if Tory hadn't shown up in time during his captaincy match. I think Robby will also blame himself because he didn't tell anyone that Kreese had approached Tory and talked to her.

I'm stating the obvious when I say it will be complicated for them in part 2. But their storyline is majorly tied to the overall conflict in the story, which shows their importance.

Overall, seeing them make that deal at the start of s6e5 to seeing where they ended s6e5 ... sigh... 😔 These two kids deserve to win and be up on that podium together, but I don't want Tory to win the female championship for Cobra Kai. I think this may be what happens, though.

[terrence-silver]

Imagining high school sweetheart!beloved and Terry getting married before he gets shipped off to war and Beloved always sending letters to Terry while he’s away

Bonus: Terry comes back home after the war and finds Beloved’s unsent letters to him that were written when he was M.I.A. and sees how worried she was about him

---

I feel nobody would believe Twig is married because he's, well...Twig!

He's so young! So shy! So wide eyed! Scrawny! The idea of Privates infinitely more experienced and worldly than him only just being in the stage of sharing correspondence back home with their respective sweethearts and go-steady girlfriends while this kid here is already legally married is straight out of the Twilight Zone for most of his fellow soldiers who immediately wrote him off as a sore loser, perhaps with the rare exception of John Kreese who stands up for him and defends him when he's teased and called a liar who just about invented a full-blown Missus for himself to seem cool and less of a wimp in the eyes of everyone else, the letters he receives from beloved deemed fabricated one way or another even though they're actually entirely legitimate, the parcels bearing the seal of the military mail, arriving the same as everyone else's packages do.

''Did your momma write those?''

Someone might cruelly jest right before Kreese gives them a look, telling them to step off.

Gets slightly worse during POW captivity. All the members of Twig's platoon are in the same mess but it doesn't prevent in-fighting and the day-to-day cruelty and microaggressions from continuing even inside of a cage when validly, once communications are entirely cut off and they're trapped deep in enemy territory, there is no way for beloved's letters or anyone's as for that matter to come in and circulate, and the soldiers and even Twig's own Commanding Officer Turner never let him forget that like he's somehow to blame (And in their mind's eye, he is. They feel he's got them all captured through his negligence and incompetence. There will be payback for that. If the Vietcong don't do him in, his own will. For all Turner cares, Terry Silver got them here and pray to God, in the following weeks, he'll make this kid's life so difficult in this cage he'll wish the Vietcong ended him day one, bullet to the brain, same as Ponytail and what better way to utilize psychological warfare than to use the boy's own spouse against him the way he later tries with John and Betsy), finding it an apt pastime to pester one of their own even when facing death, torture and execution from the Vietcong that captured them. It's easier in a weird and very sick sense; poking and prodding at the weakest link in the hierarchy of things to better endure the gravity of the situation and just forget for a while.

You do some pretty awful things under duress.

''Guess the love letters stopped now, eh, Twig?'' Turner mocks.

''Momma back home ran out of ink?''

The older man laughs into his own chin as Twig scoots further back against the bamboo bars of their shared jail, missing beloved so badly he can feel the ache of it in his bones, loathing the fact he has no control of anything going on and John Kreese, witnessing the sight and having stood up for his friend countless times vows that one of these days, he's gonna give their Commanding Officer a piece of his mind even if he ends up court martialed for it after they're released seeing as how John can vouch that if the other soldiers are boneheads Captain Turner has enough intel on his own men to know for a fact Twig never lied and that he is in fact married back home. That beloved's real the same way his Betsy is real. Man has no excuse for the hell he's putting Twig through just because he can. John gets his chance to retaliate for the abuse a few weeks later once the Vietcong force them to fight over an open pit of snakes.

As for Twig?

Once they're rescued from the POW camp, he is finally reunited with the stack of letters beloved's been sending him back at base and it's like being reunited with a missing limb. When he gets home, beloved gives him a package of unsent mail just around the time he was captured and gone missing. Everything he's been made fun of entirely real and genuine; not one word of it a lie or made up. Everything right there, in black and white, written down with beloved's own pen. Every bit of concern. Fear. Care. Of course, it only serves to turn him a little more...well...Terry Silver as we know him. No point in being truthful if he won't be believed anyway, even when he is. Might as well fabricated. Might as well manipulate. Everyone who ever laughed at him died. And he's here. He survived. He is loved. He's won. And he'll keep winning and winning.

He hugs the stack of letters and beloved close to his chest with a vice grip.

The first seeds of something very dark have long been sown.

[kathrahender]

After watching the first part of Cobra Kai's 6th season, I have an idea of something that could happen in the second/third part of the season.

The whole "Tory joining Cobra Kai again because Daniel and Amanda didn't allow her to continue her fight against Sam" thing is fake.

Before you say something, hear (or read) what I have to say. Imagine if after Tory gets away from the Miyagi-Dojo, she is angry at them until she thinks about the situation and realizes that what they did was the right thing and the best thing to do for both of them (Sam and herself). And then, she finally realizes the difference between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Dojo. She knows how Cobra Kai would have reacted. They would have allowed her to continue the fight, and it would probably have ended in a bad way for her rival. But Daniel and Amanda stopped the fight because they knew it would hurt their daughter badly. And hurting Sam again was the last thing she wanted to do.

Then, she decides to join Cobra Kai. Not because she wants to, but because she needs to. She knows the best way to win Cobra Kai is working with them to know their plans and prevent them. (And after everything Daniel, Amanda, Johnny and Sam did for her, the last thing she could do was help them to defeat Cobra Kai forever, even if they think she betrayed them at the beginning). She knows Kreese's new allies are powerful and she doesn't want Sam to get hurt in a fight against the Cobra Kai's students, so she becomes Cobra Kai's female captain in the Sekai Taikai, knowing that if they fight, she would let Sam win to avoid Cobra Kai from winning.

[blainesebastian]

you and me

word count: 4,297 pairing: robby keene x tory nichols rating: R (for triggers such as death of a parent) summary: 6x05 fix it fic. i'm sorry but i find it so hard to believe that robby does not go after tory to check on her when everyone learns about her mother. writers please, what are we doing??? notes: spoilers, obviously, for season 6. some dialogue taken directly from the show *u*

At this point in his life, Robby has gotten a pretty good sense of feeling when the other shoe is gonna drop. He’s used to disappointment, defeat, wears it like a second skin, so familiar to the sensations that he molds it to his skin, wields it like a mask so that when those feelings hit, he can convince everyone that he knows how to deal with it. He’s had plenty of practice.

His mom, his dad, Mr. LaRusso, Sam, Kenny.

While learning and mastering karate has been all about balance for him, about not feeding kindling to emotions like anger, it’s also been about acceptance. About factors, emotions and people he can’t control. Acceptance for himself, so that things in his life don’t live in those eras of disappointment and defeat.

He tries his best not to allow old patterns to drown him.

The other shoe might drop, but that doesn’t mean he has to be defined by it.

--

Robby knows better than anyone that just because you leave Cobra Kai doesn’t always mean it leaves you. There’s this wild look in the depths of his eyes sometimes that he recognizes when he looks in the mirror. Sometimes he convinces himself it’s a trick of the light, gone before he even pins it down.

There’s only a handful of people he thinks will understand that, just the nature of the beast. When you become a monster, it stays with you, lives inside of you, sometimes not as dormant as you want it to be. Just because he’s back at Miyagi-do doesn’t mean that he still doesn’t hear a snake hissing in his ear, a death rattle under his skin.

Sometimes he itches to strike first.

Nowhere does he see that same instinct like he does in Tory’s eyes.

He recognizes it like the back of his hand, it bubbles to the surface sometimes right before she throws a punch, right before she starts an argument (or finishes one).

It’s dangerous and vicious and above all, Robby knows, seductive.

There is nothing quite like the power that slithers through your veins when you embrace Cobra Kai’s model. When you live and breathe the motto. They may have taken the head off the snake, but if he’s learned anything? Cobra Kai is a living and breathing entity—through him. Tory. His dad. Hawk. Kenny. The people’s lives its touched and ruined. No matter how hard it’s buried, sometimes it comes back.

He can feel it grip the bottom of his ribcage when he thinks about second place. When he thinks about losing to Miguel to be team captain.

It’s why he’s working so hard on that acceptance part. That if he does lose, no matter how badly he wants it, he’ll swallow down the urge to do something reckless.

Which is part of the reason he almost amends to Tory what he said earlier—that even though it would be nice to be on that podium together? In front of everyone in the world to see? It doesn’t really matter to him…as long as they’re together.

Let's make a deal, no matter what, we stick together—just you and me.

Robby may not know how to wade through much as he figures out where he fits all over again, but he knows something inside of him recognizes something inside Tory. They see one another, have always seen one another, and he sometimes wonders if that’s the only thing in his life that’s real.

--

He hasn’t been able to get ahold of Tory for almost a full day and it’s at the end of school, while waiting in a park to train with her, that he really starts to worry. Calls, texts, doesn’t matter—they all go unanswered. He knows sometimes that she has her own way of doing things, of preparing, of getting in her head in order to get shit done…but with what she told him about Kreese showing up out of nowhere?

He's worried something has happened to her. He really wouldn’t put it past their old sensei to play dirty, to do something drastic. Has she been taken? Is she hurt? His blood starts to boil under his skin and echo in heartbeats in his ears as he thinks about that night they took Cobra Kai down, at seeing her hand all mangled from an ‘accident while training’.

And while he knows Kreese wasn’t directly involved with that, it’s all the same bullshit. No mercy.

He lets out a breath as her phone goes to voicemail, again.

“Hey, it’s me,” He lets out a long breath through his nose, “I dunno what’s goin’ on, but you’re worrying me.” Robby runs a hand through his hair, “I dunno whether it’s Kreese or something else but…you’re not alone. You and me, remember? Just let me know you’re okay.”

He waits like she might actually answer him before he hangs up, squeezing the phone a bit too tonight.

Robby tells himself that it’s fine, that he doesn’t have to wind himself up for no reason. She’s probably just doing her own thing, training, that she’ll call later with an apology and a request to meet up for midnight milkshakes—something that’s become quite a thing for them.

That he’ll see her tomorrow for the captain competition with a smirk on her full lips and a kiss good luck.

--

Except she doesn’t show up.

And he’s currently getting his ass handed to him because he’s distracted, glancing at the crowd like he might see her.

Robby never knew how much strength he drew from her, how much he depended on seeing her on his side, how much he ached for her nods of encouragement and cheers of excitement. He knows that the four of them are all on the same page again, all working towards the same goal, that there’s no bad blood or ill wishing.

But he’s also not blind to the fact that Sam is very much in Miguel’s corner, just as much as Robby is in Tory’s and vice versa.

He wants to be angry at her for not being here, for ignoring him, and the black shadow of a snake inside of him wants to use that anger behind his punches and barrel into Miguel with brute force and wild, wide strokes.

But deep down, he knows how much of that will be a mistake. Regardless that he’s fucking losing.

The other shoe drops that…it’s not actually anger anyways, but deep-seeded concern—that there’s a reason she’s not here. That something happened. That something is very, very wrong. And that entire emotion wells up inside his chest like the crashing wave of an ocean. It’s all he can think about, his body shaking as he pulls himself up from the mat.

Diaz, 2 points.

Robby drags his hands through his hair and glances towards the crowd, his gaze drawn to movement in the back of the dojo. Tory’s here. He draws in a sharp breath, lungs expanding, probably foolish to admit that it feels like he can actually breathe now. She’s here, she’s okay—and the thoughts of second place are brushed away with a breeze through the backyard and replaced with a singular phrase—

You and me.

The calm he feels is so stark to the panic before that he nearly smiles when Miguel throws his next kick and he blocks it effortlessly. The dance of their fighting moves is like liquid heat, something that kisses his bones and sings in his blood. The score is evened up, it’s anyone’s win.

And by anyone, he means it’s his.

Robby knows almost instantly, before he even squares off with Miguel, that he’s going to win. One look at Tory, one nod from her, and his heart slams into his ribcage.

He’s going to win, there’s no other option.

And he does.

Point. Winner.

He’s almost in a daze for a moment afterwards, he fucking won—the smile pulling his lips almost cracking his face in two.

When Robby makes it down to Tory, he can’t stop himself from reaching for her hand, their fingers interlacing as if it’s always been that way.

“Sorry I was late.” She says and Robby takes one look at her face, her eyes, before it stops him dead in his tracks.

“You came just in time,” He replies but the words aren’t registering, because he was right. Something is wrong.

It’s in the way she’s holding herself, her shoulders slipping forward, it’s in the wildness of her hair and the trembling of her fingers, it’s in the gaze that won’t look at him, eyes wide and glassy.

He knows what he’d see if her eyes met his. It’s the same look he’s seen in his own eyes in the mirror.

“Hey,” Robby says gently, moving to clasp her chin between his fingers, to force her to look at him, “What’s wrong?”

But Tory jerks back from his touch as if she’s been burned, as if she’s finally registered what he’s said. His hand drops but it doesn’t stop him from reaching for her, that same gnawing pit in his stomach beginning all over again at that look in her eyes.

“Tory,” Robby tries but she’s pulling away from him the moment his dad says LaRusso, Nichols to get up on the mat.

His mouth hangs open with unsaid words, his fingers itching to pull her down, away, to talk to him even though she’d throw fists at him the entire way.

Something catches in his chest as the fight begins and it only adds to the aching pit in his stomach that something is very wrong. Robby has watched Tory fight and train countless times, she keeps her body tight and her movements fluid, powerful punches and debilitating kicks.

But there’s too much emotion behind her draws, her footwork is messy, her arms are too wide and wild.

Her eyes are completely feral.

“Dad,” He calls out, tries to get his attention, to get them to stop, but it’s spiraling too fast, Tory advancing on Sam with her fist raised—

Until Mr. LaRusso catches her hand.

Robby lets out a haggard breath, his eyes fluttering to his sensei that he didn’t even see move up onto the mat because he couldn’t take his gaze off his girlfriend.

“The fight’s over.” He says, dropping Tory’s hand and Robby feels himself take an instinctive step towards the mat, the reckless look in her eyes nearly taking over her entire body.

“That’s not fair! That could have been a point.”

He’s not sure whether Mr. LaRusso heard him trying to call out to his dad to intervene or whether something is actually going on—there’s this expression on his sensei’s face, the same one mirrored on his wife, who’s gripping her phone so tight that her knuckles are turning white.

Robby opens his mouth to say something, to ask questions, to try and get Tory’s attention—when his girlfriend suddenly explodes when the arguing continues about her getting a fair fight.

“Because my mother died!”

He stares at her, the dojo slipping into an eerie silence, and he can feel the color draining from his face as all the pieces he was sifting through slip into place.

Holy fuck. Has she been dealing with this this entire time? Why didn’t she call him? Why didn’t she pick up his calls? Robby’s heart clenches in his chest as Tory tries to argue for her chance at this fight, the one she wants to have right the hell now, that she’s not backing down from.

The anguish is so potent he nearly chokes on it, taking a step towards her as she begins to spiral, as she realizes that she will not get what she wants here. He pushes himself up onto the mat, his hands up and in front of him, wanting to touch her but not wanting to spook her any further.

He realizes now how much she feels like a wounded animal, capable of striking out, striking first, baring her teeth. “My mom, she would have wanted this. If I don’t fight—I have to do this, I have to do this for her.”

“Tory, let’s just take a second and breathe—”

“No, Robby, no.” She chokes out.

Tory pushes everyone away, pushes him away and he can see the moment Kreese’s ugly words rear their head, spilling out of her mouth, tossing them into Mrs. LaRusso’s face about her beating her daughter, about how she’d never be first choice when it really mattered.

Second place, second place, second, second—

Robby swallows over a lump in his throat, his hands reaching for her even though she pulls away from his grasp, “Don’t touch me,” She snaps, “You want this fight to be over? Fine! It’s over.” She jumps off the mat, making a b-line for the parking lot.

“Tory, where are you going—” He calls out, her voice edging on the end of his sentence, screaming finality—I’m done.

Robby tails after her so fast that he nearly knocks Hawk over as he spills through the other members of Miyagi-do, not caring about who gets stuck in the crossfire.

“Tory!” He yells, hoping to catch up with her, praying she didn’t manage to somehow leave within those milliseconds she got away from him. He’s also praying that no one is following him, he needs to talk with her alone.

“Tory—” Robby just gets her name out of his mouth as he turns the corner before her fist is flying at his head. He ducks, barely, shifting to the right to avoid another toss of her wrist that he knows is coming.

“Leave me alone,” She spits at him, eyes like liquid fire, tears brimming the edges of her long lashes. “Go back in there, Robby.”

“No,” He says automatically, his voice calm despite the hammering in his chest. He takes a fighting stance, bringing his arms up. “Not without you.”

Robby doesn’t want to fight her but he has a feeling she’s not going to talk to him either. The last thing he’s about to let her do is leave, not how she is right now, not like this. He knows she’s not the first person to open up to someone else, no matter how close they are, but he’s not going to let her go through this alone. He doesn’t care if he has to force his way into her space, to somehow convince her that he’s not going anywhere.

She snaps another punch but it’s sloppy, he gently deflects by pushing her arm in the other direction. “You think I need you?” Tory bites, angry, so angry he feels like he can see steam coming from her ears.

But he takes none of it personally, he knows he’s not the one she’s really mad at. She can throw whatever she wants at him, he can take it.

“You want to fight someone? Fine—fight me. I know you pretend you don’t need anyone,” He tells her, blocking another hit. He’s not going to throw his own punches, just deflect hers. He dances with her in this circle, keeping his body loose, his hands low so he doesn’t do something reactive.

That seems to piss her right off, she throws a kick this time and it lands to his chest. He loses his balance for a moment, backing up into one of the old-fashioned cars Mr. LaRusso keeps outside the dojo, nearly stumbling to avoid another hit that she goes for. He ducks, reflexes fast, and her fist connects with the car window. It doesn’t break, but he hears a crack in the glass, the blood coming away on her knuckles.

She doesn’t even register the pain.

“I know because I’ve been there. I used to do the same thing. But it’s okay to need someone Tory. I’m not going anywhere.” Robby backs up, trying to give her space to move, but she’s coming at him quick—too quick, too feral, looking to hurt as she’s hurting.

He’s distracted for one moment, someone else coming out from the dojo—maybe Sam? Saying his name. Tory cracks her fist along the bottom half of his face, snapping his head to the side. He can feel the moment his teeth split open his lower lip.

And then something happens.

Robby isn’t sure what it is—whether it’s the step he stumbled back from her or the blood he wipes from his lip, but something breaks the spell holding onto Tory. She stares at him, at the cut on his lower lip, with wide, wet eyes, her fingers uncoiling from fists and dropping to her sides.

“I’m sorry,” She says in a whoosh of air, her breathing too fast.

Robby stands up straight, his arms falling as he shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

He barely gets the words out because Tory is also shaking her head, tears spilling down her cheeks, a ghostly look on her face as if she’s realized what she’s done, who she’s hurt. “I’m sorry,” She repeats, over and over, her words beginning to hiccup as she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to turn away from him.

“Hey, hey,” Robby’s voice is calm as he reaches for her, not accepting the space she’s trying to put between them. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest until she relents. He feels the moment she does, a sob slipping from her lips and practically vibrating his entire body.

He closes his eyes, burying his face in her hair, drawing one hand up to rest on the back of her head as the other smooths wide circles along her spine. When her knees give out, he gently brings them to the ground, keeping her close, pressing a long kiss to her temple as she cries.

She’s been holding this in for a while and he doesn’t try to talk, there’s nothing he can say—he just wants her to feel whatever she needs to. Tory keeps her face hidden in his shoulder, her hands gathering up the fabric of his Gi between her fingers, anchoring herself to him.

Robby glances over his shoulder, glad that the voice of the person that called out to him from the dojo is no longer there. The last thing he wants is for there to be an audience.

He draws in a short breath, threading his fingers through her hair until she pulls back to look up at him. Robby gives her the faintest smile, cupping her cheek, thumbing away a tear track.

“I’m gonna take you home.” He says softly, relieved when she doesn’t put up a fight.

Tory sniffles and nods, seeming utterly exhausted now that the adrenaline has disappeared. Her forehead droops to his shoulder and he squeezes his arms a bit tighter around her.

He meant what he said—he’s not going anywhere.

--

The apartment is unnervingly quiet when they get there. Robby’s changed out of his Gi back at the dojo and he tries to convince Tory to take a shower to soothe her muscles, to unknot some of the tension in her spine, but she outright ignores him. Instead, she makes a b-line for her bedroom to change her clothes and Robby sighs, running a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He's already decided that he’s spending the night here (whether she likes it or not). While he does not understand the pain of losing a parent (even though he can empathize with loss where parents are concerned in a small way), he knows that Tory is walking a very narrow emotional tightrope. He’s not going to leave her side until she’s…functioning better than he saw her today.

Until that look disappears from her eyes.

Robby opens up a few cabinets in the kitchen and checks the fridge for food, texting his dad and Mr. LaRusso so that they know he’s here, that as of right now Tory is okay, or at the very least as okay as she can be. He slips his phone into his back pocket, turning as he hears her come down the hall.

She’s changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt he is ninety-five percent is his and that almost draws a small smile to tug onto his lips. She’s run a brush through her hair, washed her face, color kissing her cheeks pink. He’s never seen her look so small in all the time he’s known her and his fingers itch to gather her in his arms once again.

Tory looks up at him, swallows, “You don’t have to stay.”

Well that’s not going to happen. “You have a first-aid kit?”

She stares at him for a long moment, seeming to understand that he will fight her on this if he has to, even though he doesn’t want to. Her gaze flickers to his mouth before she pulls out the first-aid kit from under the kitchen sink and then reaches into her freezer for a frozen bag of peas.

Wrapping the bag in a washcloth, she turns to look at him, her hand tentatively reaching out to touch his cheek. He can see the remorse all over her face but Robby gently catches her wrist, squeezing the fingers of her uninjured hand,

“Don’t worry about it,” He tells her, “I’m okay. You’ve hit me harder than this before.”

That earns him a ghost of a smile and Robby smiles back, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Go sit on the couch, I’m gonna check out your hand.”

Tory turns and does as he asks and it’s like the fight has melted right out of her, pressing her into the corner of the couch. He knows that it won’t always be like this, that the rough emotions will come and go like waves. But it’s important that she feels every single one of them and then lets them go.

Whether she knows it or not, Tory has a support system that can help her do that.

Robby opens a drawer for another washcloth, wetting it with warm water and brings the first-aid kit with him to the coffee table in front of the couch. He sits down on the edge of it, his knees bumping into hers as he reaches for her injured hand.

There’s so much he wants to say to her, words hiding underneath his tongue, and yet he doesn’t know how to say any of it. He wants to ask her why she didn’t call him, why she thought she had to go through this alone, but it doesn’t feel right for him to say it. At least not right now. The last thing he wants is for her to feel like he’s attacking her.

Robby just…he cares about her so much and it kills him to think about her in pain, shouldering all of this.

He brushes his thumbs over her knuckles, wincing just a little at the angry redness of them. Only a few cuts that aren’t even bleeding now, no glass anywhere in sight. He figured it wouldn’t be too bad but…

He gently begins cleaning her hand with the wet washcloth, ridding her skin of the dried blood. Robby knows that this is the last thing they should talk about but he also knows how Tory’s mind works, what’s plaguing her thoughts since they left Miyagi-do.

“We can talk to our senseis, reschedule that fight with Sam when you’re ready.”

Tory swallows, shaking her head, her voice is a bit hoarse, “They’ll never let me do that, not after what happened.”

Robby’s eyebrows draw together in slight concentration, “They’ll give you another shot, Tor, you deserve another shot.” He sets the washcloth down and opens up the first-aid box, resting their hands on his leg as he digs through for antiseptic. He tears open the small wipe with his teeth, a soft apology leaving his lips because he knows this will sting.

She winces when he begins cleaning her cuts, padding them dry with a cotton swab. Nothing is split open, so she doesn’t need band-aids but…he does gently wrap her hand with a thin layer of gauze.

“It’s too late for me.” She says and he hates the way her voice shakes, hates that it reaches inside his chest and squeezes.

Robby shakes his head, finishing with her hand. He lifts her knuckles to his lips, pressing a soft kiss as he wraps his fingers around hers. “It’s not too late,” He replies, “Hey,” He whispers, drawing her eyes to his, “It’s not.”

Tory bites down on her lower lip to stop it from wobbling, but he can see her eyes fill with tears again as they draw back and forth over his face, occasionally snagging on his split lip, “What am I going to do, Robby?” She chokes out and he knows they’re not talking about the Sekai Tekai anymore.

Robby cups her cheek, brushing his thumb across the bone as he holds her gaze, “Whatever it is?” He says after a moment, “We’ll figure it out together, okay? You and me.” He repeats the same phrase he told her before.

Tory sniffles, leaning back when Robby stands so he can sit next to her. He tugs her into his arms again, holding her against his body, her face tucking into the crook of his neck. He pulls a blanket down from the back of the couch to wrap around her body, his hand smoothing up and down her arm.

“Deal,” She whispers and for the first time in a long time, Robby feels himself relax.

[shrinkthisviolet]

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Johnny / Daniel conflict over Daniel stopping the fight! Personally, I think Johnny is wrong on multiple levels. If he really thought the best way for Tory to work through her grief was to fight it out, I disagree but different people have different coping mechanisms, but he shouldn't have offered Sam up as a way to do it. Even if Johnny was completely ignoring Sam's well-being and was willing to put her in danger, Tory just apologized and was forgiven. How would she feel if she hurt sam all over again because she was fighting over-emotionally? If Johnny really thought she needed to fight, he should have offered to spar with her.

But also, I think he's wrong about her reasoning on wanting to fight in the first place. To me, it didn't seem like she wanted to hit someone or unleash her anger or work through her feelings. It seemed like she had a very specific goal of becoming the girls' team captain. Sometimes, when you go through intense grief instead of working through it, you want to distract yourself by doing something productive. Her goal was to win the tournament for her mom. To do that, she needed to be captain. That's why she wanted to win, and she wanted to do it by fighting because she wanted to honor her mom by proving she's "a fighter." Because Daniel and Amanda are well-adjusted people, they probably could have helped her through it in the moment, but Johnny undermining Daniel reinforced what Kreese said to Tory by implying that he was playing favorites, causing her to storm off. She literally says the same thing to Amanda that Kreese says to her, that "when push comes to shove you're always gonna choose her over me" and it's after Johnny implies that Daniel is playing favorites. Johnny essentially pushed her back to Kreese by making her think no one else would prioritize her, and all because he projected his personal issues (from when he was a grown adult, and that got him sent to jail) onto a teenager he's never really seemed to care about before now.

This is also the first scene I can think of where Tory and Daniel interact, and i wish we could have gotten more. She's had great moments with Amanda and some more with Sam after she apologized. It would be nice for her to complete the circle and have a nice interaction with Daniel. I think Daniel has the most to teach Tory when it comes to karate and balance, so it would be nice if he actually got to do that, lol. I heard that Peyton said in an interview that Daniel was right to stop the fight, and I hope it does actually get explored in part 2.

Love this take! You’re absolutely right. Johnny was wrong to want to continue the fight—Tory hadn't fully processed her mom’s death, hadn't eaten or slept in 24 hours, hadn’t even been hugged or supported in any way. That’s not the time to jump into a fight...and that’s how everyone ends up hurt (and yep, if Tory had hurt Sam in that state, that would’ve just compounded her grief and made her feel guilty on top of it). So glad Peyton agrees!

And YEP—Tory wanted to continue that fight specifically, to become captain and fight in the tournament. Johnny missed that (and so did at least a handful of fans). Daniel and Amanda were right there to support her, and Robby could’ve too, but as you said, Johnny reinforced “oh you’re playing favorites” (reinforcing Kreese’s words…even tho that wasn’t Johnny’s intention, it was still the wrong time to say that regardless. Read the room, Johnny, ffs) and killed any progress that could've been made*. The fight could’ve been postponed for a day (or at least half a day) until she got rest, food, and support—it didn’t have to happen right then and there.

*none of them should’ve let her walk off, and I’m pissed that they did, but they could've gotten somewhere with Tory to begin with if Johnny hadn’t interjected needlessly and had just TRUSTED DANIEL AND AMANDA

(Plus, Johnny comparing losing his mom at 30 to Tory losing hers at 17-18 felt weird to me. Loss is loss and hurts regardless of age, but people deal with it differently, and age is absolutely a factor in that)

Tory and Daniel have so many parallels, especially in s5...I was absolutely looking forward to them interacting this season. Alas...it was just for this, and Daniel never gets to bring up that he lost a parent as a child too—he KNOWS what that feels like and how much it hurts (and he lost another in Mr. Miyagi, but that was as an adult, so the actuation isn't quite the same).

[pfaerie]

actually i'm spinning medieval au in my mind sorry i'm kind of obsessed actually

imagine johnny used to be the prince and y'know, like, his father probably died like when johnny was still a toddler or whatever and the kingdom (and i imagine that laura married below her station and it's her family's land and has been for generations) just runs out of money by the time he's 12 and laura remarries because she wants to ensure johnny won't be destitute and will still have a home

and it's fine for a while except it isn't and johnny never warms up to sid at all and hates him. through some blackmail fuckery i feel like johnny is threatened by sid and has to make a deal to not claim his throne or wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to laura (and i'm sure johnny takes it because all he cares about is his mom and he doesn't want her to live through anymore hardship)

he throws himself into his knight training and little else - doesn't care much about his education or status as a diplomat. the cobras dote on him as a posse of knights who took an oath would - act almost exactly the same as they did in the movie the just jingle when they walk. i feel like kreese is knight captain and wants johnny to take back his place on the throne - he has his own motives (something something terry silver warring kingdom

i think daniel would be part of a troupe and just tours around the kingdom and does performances wherever before laura takes a liking to him? and she hires him as a court jester? maybe even ali lives in the castle and is, y'know, betrothed to johnny and susan is her lady in waiting and ALI hires daniel for her amusement (partly because he annoys johnny and she likes to tease him - in this au, i think johnny and ali are Courting, but it's mostly a display - johnny doesn't want her that way, but he's expected to and it's better to just go along with it bc that's his duty - maybe he even takes some comfort in the fact they never will marry because of Sid)

and anyways, daniel is frustrating and cute and johnny can't help but watch his fingers as he plays the lute or juggles and he wants to shove him around bc that's the only way he can touch him and eventually johnny stops threatening him and listens to daniel practice in the courtyard (perhaps he gifts daniel with a genuine compliment or daniel plays one of his favorite tunes and johnny says as much to him or DANIEL catches johnny humming one of the tunes he's only ever played privately and his heart almost thumps out of his chest when he realizes the prince has a soft side)

i also simply have a soft spot for medieval/middle ages aus where one of them likes a bit of poetry about gays - like it's all dressed up in metaphor and maybe it's tragic and stuff, but gay resonates with gay. johnny telling daniel one of his favorites is that and daniel maybe hasn't heard of it and johnny lends him the book ("you know how to read right?" "YES I KNOW HOW TO READ ASSHOLE") and daniel Gets It immediately

and yknow they start fucking each other and maybe even daniel's writer's block finally goes away and he can finish writing that song he only ever plays in private...

[zappedbyzabka]

Have you talked about Kreese inviting Silver to visit Cobra Kai before the events in TTK? Silver getting to meet a freshly 18 Johnny would be fun?

I think I have, but I sure will again.

It’s very unlikely that they wouldn’t have met before CK when Kreese was gushing to Silver about him. I usually picture him just dragging Johnny along to Silver’s place and introducing them privately, but I could totally see Kreese inviting him to the dojo so he could show Johnny off.

Johnny ends up on a much different path. Silver stops Kreese from choking him, secretly worried that his captain would accidentally break that pretty neck.

He understands Kreese’ liking to see the boy covered in blood or crying; he looks extra pretty when doing so, and Silver has pushed him to his very limits before and came out of it even prouder of Johnny—but death is a little too harsh a punishment for a single loss.

He and John have always kept each other in line—and the opposite.

Johnny seemed ashamed of himself, even under all that defensiveness; clutching his second place trophy and glassy-eyed, he was barely able to look at his friends but still brazen enough to keep his head held high and look him and Kreese in the eyes. Silver’s always enjoyed his stupid, stupid bravery.

It being abo would make it so much better too. Two big, bad alphas constantly by this lithe little omega’s side, scaring off all the guys who might’ve approached him. Maybe just to make it even more toxic, Johnny assumes that since no alphas or betas are approaching him that he’s a bad omega—and Silver is right there to assure him that he’s beautiful, a muse—and drag him deeper into their all encompassing grasp.

He’d move out of his parents house so much quicker and live with Terry in that big mansion, where he has a big wardrobe of all the clothes Terry bought him and a whole room (that he doesn’t use because he always ends up sneaking into Terry’s bed—much to his delight) decorated in all his favorite things. He takes baths with Terry in that big tub constantly; he almost never gets a private bath or shower unless he demands it.

Of course he gets knocked up. How couldn’t he?

(GOOOOOOD this looks like Billy with his shorter styled hair. (eg, Greg Tolan) Now, whether that was Terry's or Johnny’s plan, who knows? Johnny is always afraid of abandonment or worse, and thought that their very own baby would keep Terry well truly chained to him. He stopped taking his birth control and wrapped his legs and arms tight around Terry the next few times he filled him up, worried that somehow Terry would know of his plan, see the excitement in his eyes.

Or maybe Terry did it on purpose, pressing in the deepest he could one of the many, many times he had Johnny trembling on his cock, pretty hole well and truly reamed around that knot as Terry spilled inside. He knew the day that he met Johnny that he had to be his forever; something that he’s never going to be willing to give up.

If it were Kreese’ choice, he would have had Johnny dressed in pretty things and round with his or Terry’s child a long time ago. The boy had far too many suiters going after him.

And hey, In a different version, he had his way. (Though he’s the type of dick to take off the condom without asking, he’s lucky Johnny had already been clamping his legs tight around them so they really couldn’t pull out in time and laid face down ass up after getting filled to make sure it took.)

(Anywho: picture this last gif as Johnny smug as hell looking at Silver and Kreese because they can’t ever leave, and don’t want to.)

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Kreese how are you sneaking in and out of the country?

Glad Tory's mom is improving

Aisha got into UC Santa Cruz

Johnny is showing Best of the Best 2 with soft commentary lol

Why is Daniel checking on them so much? Don't you have a ton more students to train?

Daniel in ep 1 of the season you gave Johnny's day to do lessons to Chozen.

Daniel is dressed like Mr. Miyagi

Oh no

I'm not ready for whatever this is.

Tory I'm so sorry. Because this is a bad thing about to happen I'm sure.

I hate being right.

Oh man she hasn't called Robby either.

Oof okay, Daniel using his position as boss to change Johnny's schedule to conflict with training the kids is kinda underhanded Daniel.

Someone give tory a break. Please

Johnny maybe don't tell this guy to speed.

Daniel's little run down off the rocks when he see's Johnny, thankfully Sam and Miggy have their eyes shut.

Johnny. no. Omg

I love that Amanda can tell Johnny to get down and he calms down.

Poor Robby training alone, he doesn't know. Tory you're not alone.

good timing carmen

i'm going to cry over a purple soda cap

Johnny giving Miguel and Robby the exact same speech

Amanda please figure it out and go save Tory

Poor tory

oh thank god they've called Amanda, why did you wait so long to call? Tory's been alone for like a full 24 hours.

We need to stop the fight? THEN MOVE WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE WATCHING?

Johnny telling Daniel it's not up to them whether they stop the fight or not, it's up to Tory and Sam. Because he knows what it's like to lose his mother when he wasn't ready.

Oh Tory.

Daniel, you don't get it, your mother is still alive.

Damn, them fighting again?

Like yes Daniel is grieving, but so is Tory. Everyone grieves differently and Johnny recognized how Tory was grieving and could've helped but now he can't. He can't help someone with something he already went through and knows how to navigate.

Ah, a punch right to the nose.

Tory isn't going so Hawk is. Does this mean Tory will go with Kreese? Gosh I hope not.

Captain headbands.

Aww Johnny putting the headband on Robby and Daniel for Sam.

Mr Miyagi had a captain headband and there's blood on his.

New filter, new country.

So senior year just started...are these kids just getting a couple days off for this? A week? If it's really this dangerous why haven't all the parents been like no?

LOL hi Cobra Kai, in Korean. They redid the logo. Again.

Yup, as expected, there's Tory. If you'd let her fight she probably wouldn't have gone. But hey, she gets to be a captain. She seems to be the only girl on the team.

That is a very frustrating cliffhanger, but also kudos to them for that. Like they need a cliffhanger due to breaking up the season, and they needed to up the stakes above just general Sekai Taikai, but damn Tory's mother dying pushing her over the edge mirrors Johnny in a very painful way. She looks exactly how Kreese told them he wanted them to be, heartless. I wonder if Kreese paid for Tory to go to Korea, or if she they met in Spain. Also what's happening with her little brother?

[pieheda]

So the fan theory is that Kreese murdered Tory’s mom. That’s how much he cares about winning karate tournaments. Enough to murder her mom and also make it look like a tragic but natural death.

Not only do I think this is true, I think he also killed Johnny’s mom. Johnny was an adult by then, but Kreese knew this would help him to manipulate Johnny 20 years later when they would inevitably be in the same dojo again. He probably also killed Mr. Miyagi, just out of spite. Snuck in the hospital and pulled the plug, it’s plausible. I wouldn’t put it past him.

He also traveled back in time and killed Daniel LaRusso’s father. Now I know you’re thinking, that doesn’t make any sense! Well, he was going to SAVE Daniel’s father because that would prevent Daniel from needed a father figure and finding that in Mr. Miyagi. But he realized that he didn’t want to avoid Daniel, he wanted to beat him, and so he killed Mr. LaRusso just to create that emotional tension. He thought it would alter the timeline, but this is when Kreese realized that the All Valley Under 18 Tournament was a fixed point in history, and that he was absolutely right to believe that teen karate tournaments really are the most important thing in the world.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: oh crap, Kreese killed Betsy! That’s where you’re wrong. Obviously Captain Turner arranged a special ops mission where he personally ran Betsy’s car off the road, so that in a key moment he could manipulate Kreese with this information. Just like all of the other bad behavior Kreese learned from Turner, he learned the trick of “kill what someone loves in order to emotionally manipulate them, even if you must bend space and time to do it” from Turner as well.

I predict that the big season ender is going to be Hilary Swank appearing as Julie Pierce to say “I am here to avenge my parents, who you killed in that car wreck so long ago!” and then taking him down.

[puella-peanut]

Omegaverse! High School sweethearts Alpha!Johnny and Omega!Daniel are getting married because Daniel is pregnant. Problem is, Johnny doesn’t know the pup is Kreese’s. Hehe. 

Daniel hadn’t meant to, really. 

To let things go this far. But Johnny had mentioned, when they’d gotten together senior year, that he had a strained relationship with his father, John.  

Laura, Johnny’s now-deceased mother, had left John when Johnny had been a toddler, and Daniel, having lost his own dad at 7, had urged Johnny to repair his relationship with John before it was too late. 

Johnny had agreed eventually, mostly thanks to Daniel’s persistence, and after several awkward phone calls, Daniel had tagged along with Johnny one day to introduce himself to his future father-in-law.

“Omegas have a healing, soothing effect, right? Make yourself useful!” Johnny had joked in the car while Daniel had rolled his eyes. He’d not been sure what to expect from the Alpha anyways, a former Captain in the military, who now worked in construction, and lived in a trailer several towns over. 

Daniel knew he’d married Laura, his omega girlfriend, right out of High School, because she’d been pregnant with Johnny. But then the war had come, and John had signed up, and when he’d returned, the relationship had quickly fallen apart. Laura and Johnny had left. Apparently there had been another omega in John’s life, but she’d passed away before they could be married. John had been a bachelor Alpha for years now, keeping to himself, and living on his own. Lonely, probably—but it was simply in an omega’s nature to want to cuddle and love on everyone, so Daniel had ignored that thought, and simply baked some cookies to bring instead. 

John had been surprisingly…nice, oddly enough. Quiet and brooding for sure, and yes—intimidating and not much of a talker, but not unwelcoming. He’d made them both steaming cups of Sanka in his tiny but sunny kitchen, taken a cookie, and listened as Johnny attempted a conversation. Looked when Daniel had showed him the pretty ring on his pretty finger. 

Most surprisingly, Daniel had thought to himself in the car later, John had also been rather handsome, in this rugged, muscular, very Alpha way. That one old, worn picture Johnny had showed him hadn’t done John justice. In person he’d been…tall. Broad and built. Strangely charming, and intense. His sharp blue eyes had lingered on Daniel, roaming slowly over his petite, slender figure when they’d got up to leave. 

Daniel knew he’d colored, feeling nervous. Shy, and interested, and flustered in a way Johnny hadn’t made him feel…ever. Daniel had felt that gaze on him, heated and unrelenting, even as Johnny had curled his arm around Daniel’s waist on the way out. And at the car Daniel had looked back, and found John leaning against the door frame of his trailer, hands in his jean pockets, a subtle smirk on his lips. A knowing smirk, Daniel would think later. Like he’d already known what would happen. 

Over the next few weeks, Johnny and he visited again, again more because of Daniel’s insistence than Johnny’s interest. Then once or twice more over the month. 

John never came over to their apartment, however. It wasn’t something he did, Johnny said offhandedly. Daniel made some funny remark about Alphas, their aloofness, their oddities—anything to hide the surge of strange disappointment he felt. 

One day, bored and alone, Daniel had gone on his own for a visit while Johnny was at work. Innocently (he told himself later), wearing a modest, soft pink, chunky sweater he knew he looked very good in, and carrying one of his delicious casseroles he’d baked as some sort of…good will gesture. He’d placed it on the table, John watching his every move intently. He had asked, more to break the hot, heavy tension that crackled with electricity between them, where John kept his dishes and his silverware so he could cut him a slice—and then he’d quite suddenly found himself shoved against the kitchen wall, John’s arms tight around his slight waist. He’d been yanked up on his tip-toes as John tilted his head down, and his mouth hungrily descended upon his. 

Later (and this upset him most of all), Daniel remembered how he hadn’t even pushed John away. Hadn’t even attempted to pretend that this was wrong, and terrible, and disgusting. He’d only arched up into that passionate kiss, a strange and strangled noise rising from his throat. Not from surprise—but from desperation. Like he’d wanted this a long time. Yearned for it. Like he’d die without it. 

“You little whore,” John had murmured, voice full of desire, a string of spit connecting their lips when they parted. “Little slut.” He slipped in some tongue, plundering Daniel’s soft mouth again. “Pretty little thing.” 

And Daniel could only moan at that, and tug at John’s thick, sandy-brown hair; whimpering as John’s mouth trailed down his shaking body, pulling both sweater and undershirt off in an easy, practiced movement, kneeling to torment the subtle, gentle swell of Daniel’s omega tits with his tongue, his large, thick, brutal fingers working his soaked little pussy open all the while. One, two, three. Four, and then teasing him with the edge of his thumb until Daniel couldn’t hold himself up, slick pouring out of him, running down his shaking thighs, and making his jeans sticky where they were bunched up at his ankles, meaningless words spilling like madness from his mouth—and John had carried him to bed, kissing his breath away, and then he’d fucked him like he’d never been. 

He returned home hours later on wobbly legs, John’s cum running down his thighs without end, his cunt tender, sore. Worked open. He put his undershirt, sweater, jeans, and underwear in the laundry, and showered, and promised himself this would never happen again. He stopped crying before Johnny returned, made dinner, and proceeded to moan when Johnny eagerly fucked him, completely oblivious that he’d been fucked within an inch of his life only hours before. 

It wouldn’t happen again, Daniel told himself while Johnny snored beside him, after. It was a mistake, a slip up. He was barely 19; these things happened! No, Daniel told himself, snuggling into Johnny’s warm chest—

—it’s not going to happen ever again. 

But it did happen, less than two weeks later. And then again, less than a week from then. And again, again, again. Again. 

Until Daniel was throwing up in the morning, and Johnny, eager, excited, blissfully unaware Johnny—showed him the test that not only confirmed Daniel’s worst fears, but exposed them. Shoved them out into the sun so they would burn.

"C'mon, Daniel, you're happy...right?" Johnny asked later on that day, his eyes bright. Hopeful.

Daniel swallowed. Bent his head against Johnny's chest. And found that he couldn't even bring himself to answer, though Johnny held him in his arms and waited.

[ereiniel]

For @allvalley100's Amnesty Week (III), Boys Don't Cry.

--

“John.” Ponytail caught Kreese by the arm right before they headed out.  “If I don’t make it back today … please, look after my wife and baby when you get home.  She’s so young, I’ve never met my son, and I can’t leave them –”

“You’ll make it back,” Kreese reassured him.  “We all will.”

Ponytail’s eyes filled with tears.  “You don’t know that.  Promise you’ll make sure my Laura and Johnny will be okay.”

“Be strong, Alex,” Kreese said.  “Boys don’t cry, remember?”

“Kreese!  Lawrence!  Move out!” Captain Turner barked.

“Promise me,” Ponytail whispered.

Kreese nodded solemnly.  “I promise.”

[terrence-silver]

How would Terry and John react if they find out beloved is or was a soldier. Like maybe a captain or a commander. Say like they've been together for a little while and beloved never told them until the day they were called for active duty

I think they'd recognize a fellow soldier flat out. Immediately.

By their stance.

Mannerism.

General airs.

Whatever background check Terry does would reveal as much in the off chance his and John's collective intuition doesn't already clock beloved as, effectively, a colleague. Both John and Terry immediately take action, regardless how impressed, possessive, envious or turned on by the fact that beloved is basically one of them they might be, in fact, that's exactly why they do it. And now, I'm not saying beloved mysteriously doesn't pass their drug test or regular medical army check ups because someone with an awful lot of power and influence intervened to prevent them from being deployed all the way to (throws dart) Iraq and into active combat, but yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Is it these two?

Yeah, probably.

Look at them go. Look at them scheme!

I just imagine they're all pro-military and very much for serving one's country until it's someone theirs serving their country and then that's just no longer good or valid for them when their beloved should be serving them instead, here, at home, domestically --- seeing as how I imagine John Kreese's rather egalitarian stance towards women flying right out the window when it's his woman in question, in the off chance beloved is a woman and Terry flat out thinking nobody and nothing is going to take away someone his under any circumstance imaginable. Not without him meddling enough behind the scenes to change things perfectly in his favor.

I don't know, just the idea of them being complete and utter hypocrites and even donning the guise of situational pacifism and 'war is bad' when it's convenient and when it's their beloved about to be sent to war is just downright hilarious and very much on-brand.

Oh, look at them laugh!

Beloved will be now transferred to a comfortable army desk job somewhere within the States, possibly somewhere in California and preferably in the general Valley area (mother of all coincidences) and these two would've achieved precisely what they sought out to do and that is keep beloved right where beloved belongs --- by their side; a task as easy to achieve as making a couple of important phone calls and tempering with a little something here and a little something there.

Semper Fi, baby.

[msfbgraves]

Terry’s gotten hurt on a job before, and Daniel’s patched him up. But what if Daniel was the one who got hurt instead on a job? Nothing major, he just runs into a bit of trouble with an Alpha who got too touchy feely, and instead of knifing them and making this into a massive incident, gets away and returns home with a sprain, like his wrist or something. Terry of course is planning the apocalypse and blood retribution, but Daniel is trying to calm him down while Terry bandages him up and refuses to let him go.

“Terry,” Daniel says wiggling on his lap, “I’m at home, nothing can hurt me here—“

“The table corner could, Danny. Kitchen knives, a sewing needle. You could trip on the carpet and break your ankles.”

“Terry—“

“Hush.”

Maybe we could see something like this, since Daniel is always the nurturing one who bandages Terry up. It would be nice to see Terry in this switched role. Maybe even after a tough time between them, like following the cheating reveal. 😭

Yes, but Nonnie, part of the fun of "welcome to genderessentialsm XL verse, have some coffee" is that, well - Terry would suck at it. He's terrible at day to day nurturing, at least without help, he's an Alpha, he can't really do it. I've mentioned The Sound of Music in this verse before and Captain von Trapp's bizarre behaviour, essentially putting his litter of pups through basic training, is normal Alpha behaviour. It's all he can imagine doing, especially under stress. He needs reminding of the softer side of life, it doesn't occur to him otherwise. Similarly, Terry needs Daniel with him to access that caring side of him, because omegas can touch something in Alphas that they have trouble cultivating in themselves. They can feel it, but nothing in their instincts is geared to that side of humanity. Same as Terry is the one who has to pull Daniel out of himself a bit on mob business - Danny has the skills, more than most, but none of the inclination. Look I'm not saying Terry doesn't love to cuddle, but if he'd have pick out a throw pillow or select a colour for the guest room, this might just cause an existential crisis. Your ask is an example of a beta superpower - they can switch up the dynamics to suit the situation. So if this were Terry and Daniel in our verse, yeah, Terry could do what you ask, but in Knights and Pawns? He'd simply bluescreen. He'd probably demand Betsy Kreese come Right Now to look at a simple scrape until Daniel learns to navigate those moods: "Terry, you're doing it."

"But -"

"No. Stop."

"You're hurt!"

"Terry, one more word and I'm calling my Ma over."

Frantic pacing - "You need medical att -"

"Do you want her to bring aunt Lisa?!?"

Terry wouldn't see any job he sent Daniel on as something minor, either. Of course something could happen if Daniel struck out himself without telling him, but that's not something he'd likely do without very good cause: it's one of the only ways he could make Terry genuinely angry with him. Daniel's far more likely to send somebody on a job than go himself.