In honor of the flood of Kiaz requests I've gotten on ao3, I've decided to do my own young lawrusso prompt instead

In my defense, I told @/MeroNiakeehl on ao3 about the prompt and they said I gotta write it now lol

My prompt: "After the events of kk1, Daniel works at a diner to help make ends meet when his mom is sick. The Cobras come in and make fun of him—but one day, Johnny stops. What happened between them to make Johnny nicer to him, and why is he suddenly short on cash?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cobras didn't come to this particular diner often.

It was a crappy little place on the edge of Reseda, all dressed to the nines in fifties design. There was a jutebox glowing in the corner and records donning the walls, the lady waitresses in billowing poodle skirts as they rolled on roller skates to serve people.

Tommy was on Johnny's right as they found a table, saying something sleazy about what he'd like to do to some red-haired waitress behind the counter. Once Johnny did a once-over of the place, taking in the surprisingly busy atmosphere, he figured out with dreading speed that they probably would not be getting the red-haired waitress.

Daniel Larusso was running his mouth again, from the looks of it.

He was arguing with an older man, looking back at the Cobras and his manager like it were an infuriating tennis match, like he were losing a bet and it'd cost him big time. Finally, he huffed, coming over to the Cobras with a notepad to write down their order.

Johnny could hear Tommy and Jimmy start jeering and poking fun at Daniel, and he grinned.

"Not pretty enough for a poodle skirt, Daniel?" Johnny found himself asking, snickering as Daniel glowered at him. With how small he was, he looked like a pissed-off kitten.

"What can I get for you guys?" Daniel asked, ignoring their teasing.

"The red-head's number?" Tommy asked, nodding towards the front counter. "You're probably her gay little friend, right, Danielle? You two talk about boys together?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll definitely put in a good word for you, now." Daniel sneered. "Tell her how charming you are."

Tommy just scoffed, but Bobby cut in. "Come on, guys, leave the baby alone." He looked over at Daniel. "I'm sorry about these goofballs. I, for one, think you'd look very pretty in a poodle skirt."

The group erupted into laughter at that, and they all continued to joke around ("Hey, hey," Jimmy was saying. "I wouldn't piss him off too much, you don't want him spitting in our food!"). Eventually, though, they got around to ordering. Other than Bobby, they were all assholes about taking forever to order, changing and specifying their orders to confuse Daniel.

Finally, they were all done, and Daniel went back with the order, having to explain to the cook why several things were scribbled and rewritten.

When Daniel brought out their food, Tommy attempted to trip him, causing him to slam their food down as he slipped. The group laughed, Johnny taking a sip of his soda. "I asked for regular coke, not diet." He corrected.

"No," Daniel pulled out his paper, as if expecting this. "I wrote diet, just like you asked." His voice was shaking, overwhelmed with anxiety and anger.

"Well, you wrote it down wrong." Johnny shrugged. "Get me a new one, could you, doll?" He fluttered his eyes innocently, trying not to grin too wide when he could hear his friends laughing.

Daniel huffed, taking the soda and wordlessly going back to the back.

"Remember when you had him sit on a blueberry pie?" Bobby asked. "He ended up getting it all over your sweater. There's no riling him up and expecting nothing in return, you might be going home with soda all over you."

"Relax, man." Jimmy stepped in. "Larusso's not gonna do anything, not while his job's at stake."

Johnny frowns at that. He knew that, that was the understood reason he was able to be the way he was, and why Daniel couldn't retaliate. Even so...Johnny had never had a job before, and he wondered if perhaps they were being too hard on Daniel.

The Cobras stayed at that table until close to close, loitering much longer than necessary. They asked for things that weren't necessary, messing with Daniel in the name of light-heartedness whenever he had to come around and check up on them.

Eventually, Daniel clocked out for the evening, and the Cobras wrapped up their overstayed welcome. Johnny went around to the back of the store, getting some air. (And, because it looked empty outside, rolling a couple joints for the gang. Not that that was relevant, though.)

Just then, there was some rustling and a curse, and Johnny looked up quickly. He put his potential contraband in his pocket, investigating the noise. In the dark, behind the dumpster, Daniel was counting a small handful of tips.

"Son of a bitch," Daniel whispered, sniffing and recounting his bills as if hoping the added number would change. He looked up at the soft pad of Johnny's feet and looked up at him, glaring as he saw who it was. "What the hell do you want, man? Couldn't get enough harassing me in there?"

Johnny just frowns, head cocked to the side like a confused puppy. "Whatcha crying about out here for, Danielle? If you wanted better tips, you should've been nicer."

Daniel looked at Johnny as if he'd grown an extra head. "You guys didn't give me anything at all! Five Encino assholes, and you couldn't spare a dime! Of course I wasn't happy with you giving me shit in there, you think I'm not miserable enough dealing with my piece of shit manager? Jesus..."

"Oh, get over it, we weren't that bad." Johnny insisted, as if that'd make things easier. "If you hate it that much, just quit."

Daniel gave Johnny that same incredulous look, and the silence between them tensed to something sharp as a knife. "Is your bed warm at night?" He asked, insidiously calm.

"My bed?" Johnny replied, confused. At first he thinks Daniel's trying to get into his bed, and he's not entirely sure what to make of it. He nods. "Sure, I guess."

Daniel nodded, smiling. "You have no idea what it's like to have a problem—"

"Hey!" Johnny protested. "You don't know what my life is like! You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Yes, I can!" Daniel argued. "Your bed is warm, your mansion too! You got a motorbike that your parents paid for, they always give you cash and dress you in fifty dollar sweaters and feed you thirty dollar steaks at the country club! You've never known what it's like to give up one thing for another, you've always had it all—" he grabbed Johnny's shirt, pushing him up against the back wall of the diner. Johnny wasn't allowed to touch him, but he wondered if he'd have to; he wondered if he'd win this time.

"Daniel," Johnny said, the one word simple, grabbing at his shoulders. He wondered if he'd have to push Daniel back; he could wrap his hand around the entirety of Daniel's arm, but he knew Daniel could still kick his ass.

"My mom's been sick for a while." Daniel cried, his grip softening, his brown eyes shiny with tears in the reflection of the orange lamplight. "I don't wanna ask Mr. Miyagi for money, I want to fend for myself...I'm having to decide between heat and food this month, and I really don't want to sell the car...I love that car, man, I just..." Daniel's fist clenched in Johnny's shirt, and Johnny's hands moved up to the sides of Daniel's neck.

Not threatening, or pressuring, or even sexual. Just there.

And then Daniel was hugging him, crying into his shirt.

And Johnny felt like the biggest piece of shit in the world.

"I'm so selfish, I'm so selfish for not selling the car, it's just..." Daniel was repeating, and Johnny patted his back. It was awkward at first, but then Johnny's hand moved to comb through his hair (had it always been this soft? Johnny couldn't remember). Daniel pulled away, looking up at Johnny in disbelief. "You're gonna make fun of me...I shouldn't have said anything. Just...leave me the hell alone at school and work, alright? I already got enough goddamn problems..." he started towards his bag, but Johnny grabbed his wrist, halting him in his tracks.

Johnny suddenly remembers an entirely irrelevant moment with Ali, something like this only physically. She had pulled him into the food pantry at her parents' house to tell him something (what it was, he forgot) before making her way to leave. Johnny then grabbed her wrist, giving her a moment to pull away before pulling her towards him to kiss her.

It was a really good kiss. Johnny had no idea why he was thinking of it now, other than the fact that he had grabbed Larusso's wrist, and he was now looking at him with those big round eyes and slightly parted lips.

Jesus, this night was surreal. Wasn't Johnny treating him like shit earlier?

Johnny said nothing, wasn't sure what to say, but he dug into his pocket. He had a hundred dollars in cash, and he offered Daniel the whole thing. The Cobras would probably give him shit later on as part of that money was supposed to get them beers, but Johnny couldn't give a damn about those assholes now.

"I can't take your charity," Daniel said hoarsely. "I don't want to owe you anything."

"You don't." Johnny said simply, though after a beat it was clear that the trust in the statement alone wouldn't fly with Daniel. "Fine," he sighed. "Twenty bucks of this is for tutoring. I want you to tutor me in calculus after school tomorrow, because I want to graduate this year and you're annoyingly good at math."

Daniel adopted an odd expression. If Johnny weren't mistaken, he thought it was the start of a grin.

"Twenty more is for you teaching me karate." Johnny continued. "I wanna learn that crane kick. Twenty more dollars is for letting me crane kick you in the chest—not the face—because I, unlike some people, know how to show mercy. Twenty more dollars is your Shut Up Tax, meaning you're not gonna tell anyone about me giving you money in the dark out here like you're some prostitute..."

"And the last twenty?" Daniel asked. Johnny hadn't even noticed; damn him and his fast math.

"That's the, uh..." Johnny considered for a moment being an asshole. It's what he was good at, after all. "It's for your mom. Get her some soup or something, pay for her medicine." Daniel looked at him skeptically, as if the answer wouldn't fly with him. "You really want me to be an asshole, huh? Alright. She's hot, and once she feels better, I might hit on her at the high school graduation."

Daniel snorted, punching Johnny's arm lightly. "If you can pass calculus." He replied.

Johnny nodded. "If I can pass calculus..."

Daniel paused, then looked up at Johnny, putting the cash in his pocket. "You're not really into my mom, are you? 'Cause she's out of your league."

"Watch how you talk to your soon-to-be stepdad," Johnny shot back, walking with Daniel back to his car. It really was a beauty, even if it wasn't Johnny's style.

Daniel got in, and it seemed for a moment like he was going to ask Johnny to go for a ride. He hesitated, and the pair knew Johnny had his motorbike and Cobras. And Daniel and Johnny definitely didn't go for rides together.

Daniel thought on something for a second as he started up his car. He looked up at Johnny peculiarly. "Don't call me 'doll' again, alright?"

For a second, Johnny didn't know what he was talking about. When he remembered, he flushed bright red but tried to play it off. "Even if you're pretty like one?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow at that, and Johnny realized he just made things worse. Everything he said was one suspicion on top of the other.

"Watch how you talk to your stepson," Daniel says simply, and he pulled out of the parking lot before Johnny can think of anything remotely close to witty.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to wrap it up there, this seems like a good start to a potentially much longer story in which the worlds of Daniel and Johnny are intertwined with a healthy dose of angst and sexual tension. Alas, I have other works to write

I have 3 Kiaz requests, 2 young lawrussos, 1 samtory, 1 samrobby, and 1...surprise of mine, potentially.

I've got to study. Who told me being a business major was a good idea?

ciao,

~mw