deercountry | (closed) december catchall

Entry tags:

(closed) december catchall

Who: Ange (

entreats), Chizuru (

tealeafs), Daniel (

miyagimagic) and various others.
What: December shenanigans.
When: During all of December.
Where: Locations vary.

Content Warnings: Bullying, (mild) violence, will edit to add more later.

( starters in the comments! if you want to plot anything with me, feel free to either pm the journal or contact me at

queeningsquare, i'm always open to new ideas and threads! )

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Daniel may have expected a deep talk about the subject they were already on, especially when he sees those first few messages roll in. But then there's an indication that Robby is writing more, and when those words appear, they're suddenly very different.

Technically they're easy. Daniel knows what he wants, and deep down, it's to not be alone, especially right now. It's a reality that's been hitting him hard ever finding himself in Trench. No matter how busy of a day you have helping the kids in the dojo, or going out drinking with a friend afterwards, or even sharing a meal with someone - it only makes the contrast even more clear when everyone is gone, and the house is empty. No wife to sleep next to, no kids to dote on. Not even his mother and mister Miyagi waiting for him at all times, as they had for many years. It's just him, and it's hard. It's something Daniel doesn't know how to deal well with, even when he invents coping methods for everything else. No amount of balance is going to help a hole in your very soul.

And yet it's hard to type up a reply. It's hard to even say 'yes.' It feels like he shouldn't. Robby shouldn't have to concern himself with him, it should just be the other way around, because Daniel is the adult here. He doesn't want a boy to have to worry over a much older man, missing his family. (Drinking while looking at the portrait of his wife, Daniel tucking mister Miyagi into bed.)

...

A good few minutes pass before a reply of any kind arrives.

Can you come over?

im coming

Robby watched his omni a while before that message came through, right about as he'd slipped it into his pocket instead. His own reply is quicker, shorter, and he doesn't need to ask and say anything else. It'll be in his back-pocket in case Mister LaRusso sends another message, but he doubts it.

From the boy who often goes 'okay' at anything too revealing, he doesn't need much else.

There won't be a knock on Mister LaRusso's door when Robby arrives. There will be the sound of it opening, closing, a few footsteps and rustling. Robby's omen only appears when he does, keeping by his feet; and Robby won't be coming to sit down immediately, but just to figure out where it is Mister LaRusso is. Wearing a smile that might be a little too much, an energy joining it, or just what helps to mask the low energy Mister LaRusso's always trying to keep concealed.

"Hey. So, I've got cocoa, marshmallows for the cocoa, and marshmallows for snacking. You wanna pick the movie, or me?"

This doing it for you, Mister LaRusso? Of course, if there's a concerning sight, then it's unlikely Robby will get that far at all. But he's willing to do some heavy lifting here.

For a sensei.

Thankfully the sight Robby is greeted with isn't that concerning. Not everyone's coping method is drinking until they pass out in a gross puddle on the floor, clearly.

No, the boy can just find Daniel sitting on the couch. The reason Daniel's Omen didn't come to greet the boy enthusiastically the way it usually does is that the creature is instead laying on Daniel's lap, still in its usual more puppy-like form, but seeming to have grown a little in size to accomodate some snuggling here. Daniel's hand is buried in the fluffy fur, even as he looks up at Robby after the boy enters and speaks up.

".. you came prepared."

It's clear that Daniel isn't fully being his usual self. The energy that hangs around him is a little low, even as he tries to faintly smile at Robby, and there's something off about his eyes. They can't exactly be red when Daniel doesn't have red blood anymore, but there's a faint puffiness to them that definitely suggests the man has cried, even though there's no sign of water in his eyes at the moment.

There's a kind of sadness that has settled into the man's features though - one that he can't neatly tuck away the way he usually tries to, despite being in front of a kid he doesn't want to show it to.

He scoots over a little, making room for Robby on the couch as well. The Omen moves right along, shifting to get comfortable all over again in Daniel's lap, pawing at Daniel's hands until he's using said hands to pet the shisa again. (Look, he's trying to help distract the man, okay!)

"You can pick."

.. definitely not being as wordy as usually either, huh. But being wordy is dangerous when feelings threaten to spill over, especially when you're Daniel LaRusso and sometimes your brain to mouth filter is not exactly the best functioning part of your body.

When he's prepared, Robby can be real good at lying.

There's only a single twitch of his smile at the sight of the man, one he was expecting, but still tugs at his heart. But he's dealt with worse (a mom high out of her senses, that sometimes doesn't come out of bed all day, who'll tell him all her problems of a life unfulfilled, and he'll sit there stroking her hair), so he moves easily; a "okay, just wait there" that's more suitable for a warmer house than the colder mood of the one they're in, the sound of cups heard, water put onto boil.

The tinier marshmallows will stay in the kitchen while Robby comes back in with the larger bag to dump on the coffee table. Himself, he puts right next to Mister LaRusso, not bringing attention to it. Sitting arm-to-arm, flicking through on his omni.

"My mom had stay-in nights where we'd watch her movies and eat pizza. I thought about bringing over a frozen one, but tonight sounds like a cocoa night."

He looks at Mister LaRusso, his smile warm and giving, a contrast to the man's own. But that's okay, is what such a look says; because this isn't a time for the man to do anything but sit there, and let the world exist around him. Let Robby take care of things--that world, and Mister LaRusso.

Even with his current low energy, there's something in Daniel that drives him to want to get up and help the moment he sees Robby disappear into the kitchen - though he's stopped by the presence on his lap, especially when it feels like the Omen only presses down on said lap harder when Daniel attempts to stay up. It's a wordless sort of thing, but Daniel gets the message all the same, and he ceases any further attempts at freeing himself from the couch.

Instead he just remains there, seated, until the boy returns. Daniel doesn't shy away from the contact in the slightest, doesn't scoot over further when Robby moves to sit so close to him, just allowing the contact to happen.

Answering Robby's statement with nothing but a low hum of acknowledgement at first, Daniel's hand still idly moving through the fur of the creature on his lap.

"That doesn't sound so bad to me," he finally manages to answer a moment later. Still a little low on the energy, lacking the usual kind of supportive dad energy that drives forth the people around him, but he doesn't sound like he's lying either.

"Glad to join your mother's ranks," he adds, probably trying for a bit more of a joking angle, even if his tone doesn't quite match. But it's a genuine attempt, especially when he doesn't want the boy to feel like he has to drag the mood forth all by himself. "I know it's an elite club."

Sure, Shannon's actions have.. sometimes been far from ideal - like abandoning a kid all by himself in an apartment, for one - but it's not like Daniel is unaware of the adoration the boy still seems to hold for his mother. And Daniel also knows that she truly is trying, for Robby's sake even, and there's no way he can't view that sort of thing fondly himself.

Daniel exhales, looks around the room, and then returns his gaze to Robby. "You should probably get the fire started though. It's too cold for you."

He doesn't have it on by default - after all, it's not like Daniel needs it himself. And usually he gets it started when he knows Robby is coming over, but the after-effects of the memory have him feeling near unable to get off this couch.

"Or should I get a blanket?"

"I'll get it," Robby says instantly, patting Mister LaRusso on the arm. "You stay here--I've picked a few movies."

Here, Mister LaRusso, you can have his omni (he'll just sit it on Shisa's fluff, he surely won't mind) as he stands up, a few names and thumbnails showing. Working Girl, The Breakfast Club, Grease-- someone knows their 80s movies, apparently. With a couple of more modern ones, like Legally Blonde?? Catch Me If You Can? Mission Impossible??

...omni movie searches are a trip.

But maybe Daniel doesn't want to bother with that, even with the omni being left with him. Regardless, Robby will return with one of the spare blankets from storage (maybe even the same he was given the time he slept on the couch) tucked under an arm, and two cups of cocoa carefully held and brought over to sit with the marshmallows. Tinier marshmallows have already been dumped on into the drinks, and Robby scoots Mister LaRusso's drink over more his side once he no longer has a blanket in the way.

"Anything look good?" He'll ask if the omni's been moved at all, but not otherwise. He's unfolding the blanket to spread it out. ...and sorry shisa, but you know Robby's going to look at how much blanket there is, look at Mister LaRusso's lap, and decide to cover you to get the blanket over a sad old man too, right?

Because he's doing that. Goodbye, comfort omen....

"It all looks good to me," seems to be the man's simple answer - but at least it does seem like he bothered to look. Robby's Omni is actually in Daniel's hand, and his thumb is hovering over the topmost thumbnail - the Working Girl one - as he moves to hand the device back over to Robby once the other's hands are free again. (And the Omen covered underneath the blanket, but.. the shisa doesn't really seem to mind, just sprawling out on Daniel's lap for a nap now he's no longer necessary to pull Daniel's attention away from everything else. "We can just watch that first one."

Is it that most inspired way to pick a movie? No, not really, but-- with the current mood he's in, Daniel figures that anything moving at all will be a distraction enough for him, and it's not like he's an extremely picky guy to begin with.

(Not as long as it's about picking between tasteful things, anyway.)

There's a tiny pause, a moment where Daniel's gaze drops down at the blanket now draped over the both of them, before it returns to the boy.

"And, you know, I meant the blanket more for your sake.." P-Please, Robby, it's not like he can get cold. And clearly warmth is the only purpose of this thing, right. Not getting comfortable under the blanket together..

It doesn't seem to be a full on protest though, because Daniel is not moving to push the thing off him in the slightest. Maybe it's that the man actually does kind of like the idea of getting cozy here, but Daniel's natural inclination to be the one who takes care of others rather than the one being taken care of is trying hard to fight him on that one, on simply accepting all of this.

Robby doesn't comment or give any thought to Mister LaRusso's method of choosing. Really, he hopes that doing all of this is good, or that he shouldn't be having them just sit together and chat in the company of each other. But Mister LaRusso's had his words, more than likely spoken to a memory of his wife, and there's little better Robby can give in the face of that. He knows what he is, and it's not better than a wife.

So he sets the omni in a good place to project, even if it means he has to get up. Even as he's just set the blanket across, but that's not a problem, a hum in his throat that's fond.

"I know." Yes, he hasn't forgotten your lack of temperature, Mister LaRusso, and that's the only answer he's getting about that. As Robby returns, being bolder about covering the omen and man more as he pulls up the blanket around himself, too; a glance taken at Daniel and a smile on Robby's face, before he gets more comfortable this time around by sitting all the way back.

...arm to arm by Mister LaRusso, more obvious this time. His forearm sits against their legs, Robby thinking about reaching for the man's hand in a quiet gesture of comfort, but--that's the problem with a blanket. He doesn't know where it is, and he knows better than to go groping for it.

But he can lean slightly against the man. Offer instead the feel of another's weight there with him, not alone, not a memory.

Something--and someone--real and present.

It's not like he doesn't realise he's getting spoiled here, in a way. It's easy to see what Robby is doing. Coming over to his place just because Daniel asked, bringing a distraction in the form of a movie, and hot drinks, and getting them all nice and cozy like this.

There's no way the other wouldn't have noticed what Daniel would have felt after that memory. Robby isn't dumb by any standard, and - more than anything, Daniel thinks - he's so sweetly perceptive to the feelings of those around him.

It's just a touch harder to deal with when that sentiment is suddenly turned in his direction, when Daniel tends to be so much better at the giving than the receiving end.

He can't deny he likes it though, even to himself. After everything that happened, after that incredibly bittersweet reminder of someone so important to him and the way he misses her, it's nice to not be alone. Daniel has never been good at being alone. He thrives when surrounded by the people who believe in him - the people he loves.

And Robby, a boy so close to him that he feels like a son, definitely belongs in that latter category. Especially when he's so close right now, two bodies underneath a blanket, just enjoying each other's presence and company.

The movie is probably starting to play at this point. And it's not like Daniel is completely ignoring it, since he will gladly take anything that can distract his brain from twisting itself into noodles with all the complicated thoughts about what happened today, but he also isn't ignoring the boy next to him. His student's - son's - company might be the most powerful factor of all here, after all.

So Daniel's hand is the one that moves instead. Maybe because it's easier to tell where Robby's hand is through following the pressure of the forearm, so it only takes a moment before Daniel has grabbed the other's hand, holding it in his own.

Even for Daniel - cringe dad and sappy expert - it feels a little too much to comment on it here, other than just to add (out of a sense of consideration more than anything): "Tell me if it's too cold."

He's pretty aware he must feel like a walking corpse to anyone else, after all.

The movie can be doing whatever at the start--Robby isn't paying close attention. He's watching it, of course, but there's that area where they really need to settled: if Mister LaRusso might start talking, if either of them might need to move, that sort of thing. He's here for the person beside him before the media in front of him, though the quality of the film reminds him of a fondness that comes from 80s film. A different lighting, less sharp details.

Just like him and his mom watching Dirty Dancing over and over.

So Robby notices, feels the move of Mister LaRusso's hand before it takes his. There's a giddiness to it, shy; nothing dramatic, but a little indescribable. Even if Robby would've taken the man's hand himself, it's different when his sensei does it instead. Maybe it's the cold.

"You're not cold to me." --Even if he'll give Daniel an answer like that, his own fingers wrapping around his before he even speaks. Like there's no thought to it, and while the touch of him is like a cold pack to his skin and deeper, it means all the same, It's fine.

You're fine.

Robby only shifts to tilt his head slightly towards Mister LaRusso. Like an added show of comfort, to make this out to be more about what it's supposed to be.

Something ordinary, and for them.

Under lighter circumstances he may have made a slight joke in return to that.

But as it is - there's no need to jokingly call Robby a liar, or a flatterer, or anything along those lines. Maybe right now Daniel just wants to soak that compliment right up, and make it feel for himself - even if just for a few moments - like everything is normal. Like they aren't stuck in a place full of monsters, away from other people they know. Like Daniel's skin isn't absolutely frigid.

Like he doesn't have a heart that's bursting at the seams with longing, with pain, with worry.

In this moment he just feels Robby lean closer to him, and Daniel reprocicates in turn, allowing his head to slump to the side as well until it's leaning against the side of Robby's own head, still holding hands.

Nothing more has to be said. The sound of the movie idly playing in front of them is enough.

It's enough to just be in this moment with a boy Daniel has grown incredibly fond of.

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(closed) december catchall

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