Work Text:
Johnny walks into the kitchen, but even through his bleary morning eyes he can see the stack of dishes piling up next to the sink. That’s unusual, especially since Daniel’s in the kitchen. He’s a freak about clean dishes.
“What gives?” He asks Daniel, who is cooking up breakfast for them and the kids.
Daniel just turns to him and raises a brow. Johnny points to the sink and Daniel rolls his eyes; don’t even get me started the look says wordlessly.
“Dishwasher is busted.” Daniel groans. “Didn’t find any time last night to wash the dishes myself and I certainly won’t have any before work.”
Sure enough, Daniel is dressed in his usual suit work attire. Johnny felt underdressed, only wearing a pair of Daniel’s pyjama bottoms.
(“You need to wear something in the mornings.” Daniel had argued. “The kids could walk in on you any second, Johnny.”
“When the kids are with Amanda?” Johnny teased.
Daniel smirked. “That’s a different story.”)
He doesn’t own any morning wear himself, so he’s taken to stealing Daniel’s. The loser has too many pyjama sets.
Johnny shrugs and sits down on the counter next to Daniel, but Daniel isn’t finished talking. When is he ever?
“Now, at work, I need to call someone to come fix it. Waste my time and waste my money.”
Johnny scoffs at that. “You have plenty of money.”
“Doesn’t mean I want to waste it.”
That’s fair, Johnny supposes.
“Don’t worry about it,” Slips from Johnny’s mouth. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Really?” A nod. “John, you’re amazing. Thank you.” Daniel sneaks a kiss to the corner of Johnny’s mouth before one of the kids wakes up and complains.
“It’s nothing, really.”
Daniel acts as if Johnny’s the whole world, sometimes.
Johnny realises after Daniel’s left for work and the kids have left for school that Daniel thought he’d meant he’d call someone to come and fix the dishwasher.
He was going to fix it himself. He’s set on that idea. It’s the least he can do, Johnny tells himself, after everything Daniel’s done for him.
He’s fixed plenty of things before, hell, it was his job not too long ago. He knows how to do this.. mostly. With some help from his friend Goggle. He’s just a little rusty.
Johnny experiments with opening the dishwasher door and slamming it closed. Some water spills out and Johnny groans. He has to mop and fix the dishwasher now. He might even have to do the dishes and dry them himself if this plan didn’t work out.
The things he does for LaRusso.
Johnny is in the middle of finishing off putting in the new spray arms when he hears the front door click open. Shit, he had hoped he’d have it done before Daniel got home.
“Johnny? Dad? Anyone home?”
It’s Sam.
“In the kitchen!” Johnny calls back.
Johnny pops his head out of the dishwasher to look at Sam. She looks amused yet a tad confused.
“Are you- Fixing the dishwasher?” She asks.
He let out a huff of laughter. “I sure hope so, kid.”
Sam smiles at him and reaches into the cabinet above him for a snack.
“Dad will kill you if you break it anymore. He gets really annoyed about stuff like this.”
“Your dad gets annoyed over everything, I’ve gotten used to it. Sometimes I wonder if he's my boyfriend or my teacher.”
Sam chuckles. “Best of luck, Johnny.”
“Thanks, kid.”
Johnny finishes before Daniel gets home. He’s done a test drive with a few of the dirty dishes and it’s working just fine.
He’s celebrating with a Coors Banquet on the couch when Daniel gets home.
“How was work?” Johnny asks, like he does everyday, but he doesn’t really care.
Daniel dismisses the question. “How were the workmen? Have they finished with the dishwasher?”
Johnny shrugs. “Why don’t you ask him? He’s sitting right in front of you.”
Daniel stares at him in disbelief. “You-?”
“Sure did. I did a test run and everything, it works better than before.” He exaggerates. “I had to get you new spray arms but they only cost like fifteen bucks, so no big deal. It was a lot less than calling one of those bullshit services.”
This had seemed like such a good idea before, but now, sitting here in the living room while Daniel stares at him, an indecipherable look on his face as he watches Johnny go through his explanation, it seems stupid.
It seems like overstepping.
“I probably should have asked beforehand, but whatever. If you’re not happy about it-”
“You fixed the dishwasher for me?” Daniel asks.
“Yeah, I just told you that.” Though there’s no bite in his voice.
Daniel’s eyes are focused on Johnny’s, just looking at him. Looking at him in a way he’s never been looked at before. He can’t tell if he’s fucked up or not.
“Why?”
Why has Daniel got to make everything so complicated?, Johnny wanted to complain. Why does he turn everything into an interrogation?
But, because. Well.
“I just like fixing things, man.” Johnny swallows dryly. It seems stupid now, the real reason.
Daniel just gave him that look he’d often give to his kids or their students.
The words thicken against his tongue, choking him, cloying in Daniel’s unbearable sticky sweetness.
He can’t say it.
But he will. Johnny groans, continuing. “I just- You do so much for me. Like, all the fucking time. I wanted to- Return the favour. Or, whatever.”
“Johnny,” Daniel says, in that annoyingly soft tone. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Johnny hesitates. “Yeah. Yeah, I did. I wanted to."
There was still so much to say. So much to do. So many words to find, to express what he was, to express how he felt.
But.
Here, on this couch, in this house- in these arms- he knows he has time.
He has time to find the words, and time to find the courage to say them.
“Jesus,” Daniel laughs. “I can’t believe you- God.”
Johnny can’t help but crack a smile.
“Thank you, Johnny. Seriously.”
“Yeah, of course.”
Daniel collapses down beside him, doesn’t say anything or look at him. Just holds Johnny in his arms.
He really needs it, Johnny realises. He had worked what was remaining of his muscles to shit, so he melts into Daniel’s touch as soon as it’s initiated.
Johnny doesn’t know how he’s gotten so lucky as to end up here-
“If it doesn’t work, though, Johnny, you’re dead.”
He’s determined to make this work, keep balancing things and gifts between the two of them-
“I don’t doubt it, Daniel.”
No matter what.