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Boys’ night at the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang hybrid dojo was always going to be interesting from the moment Sensei Larusso had suggested it. He saw it as a way to build bridges; between him and Johnny, between Robby and Miguel, between Hawk and Demetri, not realising that those two had managed it themselves. Sensei Lawrence saw it as more of an excuse to get hammered, but anything involving alcohol tended to have him sold. It took a little more convincing for the kids to play along, but surprisingly, they were in on it, too. After Sensei LaRusso had brought up the idea to Demetri, the black haired boy had seen this as a brilliant opportunity for two of his closest friends to make amends after all the shit they had put each other through. So, his task had been convincing Robby, whilst Eli had been set about talking Miguel into it. Somehow, though neither Demetri or Eli really had any idea how, they managed to convince them, and that Friday evening after training, the four teenage boys alongside their two senseis were sat inside the living room of the LaRusso household.
The supposedly civil group of six managed to last all of an hour, before it became overly apparent that the two adults had consumed far too much alcohol. Bantering and joking had become rather intense, and soon enough, Johnny and Daniel were out in the pouring rain, entertaining some Rocky III type bullshit and having one final fight on the new training podium Eli had designed for Miyagi-Do. Figuring none of their blows could be fatal, being fueled by Coors Banquets rather than bitter hatred, the boys came to a mutual agreement to leave them to it and continue the evening as just the four of them. Tensions were rather high between Robby and Miguel, and between Robby and Eli, so Demetri’s mission was to keep them all separated until he could be sure they wouldn’t kill each other. Robby sat at the far end of the couch, still not used to being back in the building of Miyagi-Do after his time at Cobra Kai, even if he hadn’t officially rejoined the dojo. Next sat Demetri and Eli, their hands intertwined awkwardly, so as not to draw Robby’s attention to it. Miguel sat silently by Eli’s feet.
Robby made the first move, leaning forward to grab another beer. Miguel raised his eyebrows at him, but copied the gesture, grabbing a drink for himself. Eli, too, reached for a drink, causing Demetri to let out an awkward cough. “Well, gentleman, I see we’re choosing alcohol instead of working out our differences.” “You haven’t changed one bit,” Robby nodded towards Demetri with a small, tight lipped smile, though Eli appeared not to see the friendliness behind it. “What the fuck is that meant to mean?” Eli sat forward, leaning over Demetri to glare at Robby. Demetri squeezed his boyfriend’s hand, attempting to calm him down and pull him back onto the couch, but he stood his ground. “It wasn’t meant to mean anything, Hawk, calm your ass down,” Robby retorted, sipping from his beer with a scowl. “And since when were you so defensive of Demetri? Last I knew you broke his fucking arm.” “And you cut off Hawk’s fucking mohawk with a razor!” Miguel countered, jumping up from his seat on the floor and causing Demetri to sigh exasperatedly. “At least Eli apologised for what he did. You haven’t even managed to do that.” Robby scoffed, but Miguel simply walked around the couch until he was looming over him. “You know, I never blamed you for all of this, but an apology would’ve been fucking nice,” he glowered at Robby. “Maybe you should have blamed me then,” the blonde retorted, standing up hurriedly so he and Miguel were face to face, the tension thick in the air.
“Okay, guys,” Demetri tried, standing between them, his hands placed on their chests in an attempt to separate them. “We’re all on the same side now.” “No we’re not,” Robby spat, “Just because you and Hawk made amends doesn’t mean the rest of us have.” “Dem forgave Hawk because he loves him!” Miguel yelled, and Eli suddenly became aware that Robby could see his hand intertwined with Demetri’s– their somewhat secret relationship had not stayed that way for long. The little laugh that escaped Miguel’s lips told Demetri and Eli that their friend had drunk far too much already: “Then again, Keene, what would you know about love?” “Where are you taking this, huh?” Robby shouted back, brushing past Demetri with such force that he fell back onto the couch next to Eli. “You gonna tell me that Sam didn’t love me? That my dad doesn’t love me?” For a second, Miguel’s face softened, and Eli watched as his friend went to protest, as though that hadn’t been what he was going to say, but instead, his scowl resolidified. “You know what, maybe you guys should take this outside,” Eli stood between them, pointing to the vase that Robby very nearly knocked onto the floor with an angry jolt. “You can go join the sensei’s and duke it out where you’re only at the risk of breaking each other and not Mr LaRusso’s fucking furnature, becuase god knows he’s had to replace it enough times.” Dem smiled smally at his boyfriend, proud of his responsibility and assertiveness, because he knew that Hawk would have been itching for this fight, whereas Eli now was more logical. Miguel raised an eyebrow, looking between Eli, Demetri and then Robby. “Sure, I could take it outside,” he nodded, taking another drink, and Robby shrugged. “Works for me.”
Stepping outside into the darkness of the evening, the four teenagers greeted Sensei Lawrence and Mr LaRusso on the podium. “I told you, Rocky III is always the answer,” Johnny laughed at Daniel who scowled at him. As Robby and Miguel took their stances opposite each other, Demetri sighed, smiling softly at his boyfriend. “If we ignore everything else about this evening and only look at the four of them in this split second, it’s almost like they’re just a normal family getting ready to do karate, and not about to go to war with each other,” Demetri explained, making Eli chuckle. “Your imagination is something else, Dem,” he spoke, standing on the tips of his toes to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek, trying to ignore the sounds of the four men fighting just ten metres away. “Now let's go make sure nobody dies.” “Maybe us all getting along is the story of another night,” the lanky boy sighed, watching as Mr LaRusso landed a two footed kick to Johnny’s chest. “Then what’s the story of tonight?” Eli asked. “What are we supposed to tell Sam and the others? That boy’s night was a total bust?” “I think she’s going to figure that one out when she has to pick up either her dad or her boyfriend from the hospital,” Demetri grimaced as Robby sweeped Miguel’s feet so the boy landed on his back with a groan. “My money is on Family Lawrence tonight.”