[ There's an instinctive desire, even in the middle of the all the physical pain, to protest those claims. He didn't get heated once, he got heated twice. And nothing is a good reason to ever get that mad at a kid, let alone one you care about. Not to mention that the thought keeps haunting him that if he had done something different, anything at all different, maybe things wouldn't have ended up the way they did. He could have spared Robby so much hurt.
.. but that's exactly what the kid doesn't want him to do, right? It's not like Daniel doesn't hear Robby, and it's those last words that force anything else he could say back inside before it can escape him.
Instead he breathes once, and then moves his head into a slow nod as well as he can manage right now. ]
Alright. [ The word is soft, a hand still brushing against Robby's hair. ] I'll try. I promise.
[ It's not that it's easy. Daniel knows it's not going to be easy - because if there's anything he hasn't been very good at, it's actually letting go of things.
But for Robby? For his kid? He'll try. ]
.. I've always known you were a good kid, Robby.
[ Maybe he forgot a few times in a fit of rage, but-- discounting that. He thought so when he met Robby, and even the knowledge he lied doesn't hurt that in retrospect. He still believed it even after the school fight. Even when Robby was waist-deep in Cobra Kai.
It's true, even now. Robby is a kid who can let go of all of this. Who can forgive. That's not easy.
Who would mind risking their back for a kid like that? ]
no subject
.. but that's exactly what the kid doesn't want him to do, right? It's not like Daniel doesn't hear Robby, and it's those last words that force anything else he could say back inside before it can escape him.
Instead he breathes once, and then moves his head into a slow nod as well as he can manage right now. ]
Alright. [ The word is soft, a hand still brushing against Robby's hair. ] I'll try. I promise.
[ It's not that it's easy. Daniel knows it's not going to be easy - because if there's anything he hasn't been very good at, it's actually letting go of things.
But for Robby? For his kid? He'll try. ]
.. I've always known you were a good kid, Robby.
[ Maybe he forgot a few times in a fit of rage, but-- discounting that. He thought so when he met Robby, and even the knowledge he lied doesn't hurt that in retrospect. He still believed it even after the school fight. Even when Robby was waist-deep in Cobra Kai.
It's true, even now. Robby is a kid who can let go of all of this. Who can forgive. That's not easy.
Who would mind risking their back for a kid like that? ]