#anyways i had fun with this lol. silverusso is always a really...fun pair

[rosesradio]

i’m out of the timezone for silverusso day but whatever, have some silverusso anyways!

warnings that, since it’s my silverusso, i peppered in all that gross wording and dub-con (it’s just kissing no smut but it’s still ~gross~)

words: 1.3k. this was unedited and written at midnight. enjoy!

Daniel knows everything. He's not misinformed in the slightest. He would be foolish--immature--to have doubts in Sensei Silver. His new Sensei was a brilliant man, and the bond of trust between them was to remain unquestioned.

If it were, he might face uncertainty on the mat. Not trusting Sensei Silver would be his downfall, it'd get him hurt just like last time, with Johnny Lawrence.

Silver had commented on the fight, on how Daniel could have been more prepared. It'd been a close match. The crane kick took Lawrence out not because it was powerful, but because it was a surprise. Silver had told him during training that it was better to surprise his enemy with power than to surprise them with a flimsy party trick.

But Silver knew he was powerful. He was the head of a newly forming era of Cobra Kai, and Sensei Silver would trust no one but him. But with that responsibility came trials, which were never easy.

The boy in front of them, no older than nine, was trembling. Nose twitching like a rabbit, arms curled in on himself. Daniel tried for a smile, but after meeting Silver's eyes over his shoulder, he couldn't help but raise a brow and smirk. Honestly. A piece of meat in the lion's den, and Daniel had overcome his lions long before.

"He wants to be Cobra Kai," Silver explained, hands behind his back and walking leisurely circles around them. "He's driven by desire--much like you, Danny-Boy. And as you know, in the quicksilver method, I can teach him all the discipline required. But you...well, I need your help. I need you to test just how devoted he is."

A velvety veil of silence slipped over the dojo then, as if someone had drawn the blinds further closed and upped the temperature. The boy in front of Daniel had the same messy black hair that Daniel had, but lighter skin dotted with freckles. He even had large front teeth like Daniel. Comical. Daniel wondered if he got made fun of. Shoved around. Maybe that was why he was here.

As Daniel looked up into Silver's clear blue eyes, though, he knew the boy's purpose didn't matter. His name was meaningless here if he couldn't make a name for himself--they might as well assign him a number.

"Go on," Silver nodded, his smile reserved only for a moment before stretching wide across his features. Daniel liked making him smile--it made him feel good, doing what he was told and doing it right, doing it well. So why did his smile make his blood rush every which way, or his hair stand on end?

Daniel got into fighting position. The boy eyed him for a long moment, lagging, missing his cue. He had these large, sad pissy eyes like his dog just died. Daniel looked over at Silver again; he wasn't going to let his opponent get in the way of being an unbiased teacher, that's what he would say. If he went soft on this student, he would walk away thinking he was a champion without actually earning it. Then the world would pummel him into a flattened mass of blood-sticky, contorted bones.

Contorted.

Daniel can't let this boy get contorted. His vision hones in on the target, the objective.

And everything else fades to black.

Silver's grip around his wrist and the frantic ringing of the shop bell brings Daniel back to full awareness again. His breathing is erratic, and he can smell the blood on his hands before he sees it, before he feels it, slick and sticky and so dark it doesn't seem real on his fingers.

Daniel's heart is thudding in his chest, but it feels distant, off-kilter. Like he's having a dream or watching a movie.

"This isn't--" Daniel starts, and hearing his own voice makes his eyes sting. And he's looking at his hands in confusion because if he looks in recognition he might fall to his knees and draw his own blood to repent.

But why does he feel bad? He tested the kid's devotion, and he ran off. Nothing wrong with that. Wounds could be fixed, and maybe, if he really was devoted, he'd return.

"Did I...do something wrong...?" He asks, feeling like a kid asking where his pet goldfish is going when mommy flushed it down the toilet.

"Wrong?" Sensei Silver laughs softly, his large hand patting Daniel's shoulder comfortingly. Perhaps the grip is harder than he intended, but Daniel can feel his nerves jolt. Can feel his stomach tighten, his cheeks flush.

His limbs tremble, worse than the boy's did earlier.

First love, hm? Can't live with them, can't live without them.

"No, Danny-Boy, you were perfect. A born beautiful fighter. That kid, just...didn't have it in him."

Daniel took his words to heart, could feel the hesitant smile on his lips. Because Silver complimented him. And smiling would be polite.

"Thank you," Daniel grinned, shrugging as if it were nothing. Because when he saw Silver's smile in return, his eyes like brilliant bright shards of broken glass, he knew he'd do anything for him. "When he comes back...if he comes back, though...I want to give him another chance. That would show devotion."

Silver grinned, giving Daniel that curious look that made Daniel feel on a tightrope. Like Silver was trying to take apart his gearbox and see all the components in order to put that statement together. Other people had given that look before, but never were so curious, so caring as to investigate.

"I'm not sure that would be fair," Silver said. "To show devotion, he'd need to stay. To endure. You can't leave a fight in the street and come back when you're ready, right?"

Daniel hesitated only for a moment. He knew Sensei Silver hated it when he hesitated to agree to his teachings. He had this aching guilt that it made Silver insecure, even if he didn't show it. Because he could be quite sweet to Daniel...his favorite student.

(His only student. Until they could find more with proper Cobra potential.)

Daniel swallowed. Nodded. Smiled. Silver wrapped his arms around Daniel's waist, a hand coming up to ruffle Daniel's hair. "You did so well for me today," He complimented, sweet like honey.

He was being incredibly sweet today, this affection Daniel ached for, stung in every vein for. He put his hands on Silver's biceps and looked up at him with a smile, meaning it a little more here and there. It came in waves, a natural rhythm.

When Silver asked Daniel to do something, Daniel obeyed. When Daniel obeyed, he got that affection he so desperately craved. When he got that affection, Daniel had to say thank you.

He knew how Silver liked to be thanked.

Daniel leaned up on his tip-toes, pressing his lips to Silver's. Everything about him felt so incredibly adult. His face, his hands, his lips, they all felt bigger. Hotter. Like he was drinking straight vodka at a party when his mom said he could have a sip of champagne. The hot, heavy need settled over him like a blanket in a fever: the desire to prove his desire worth it.

(Because it's not childish, and it can't be childish because he's not a fucking child. He's not a fucking child and he'll prove it until his knuckles bleed red and he's relishing the salty taste of his own tears.)

He'll rip himself to shreds. Rewire himself. If that's what it takes to grow the hell up.

He'll fucking kiss him until he can convince himself he likes it.

And his world is upside down by feeling, underwater and flipped on its axis whenever this happens.

(He misses Jessica. It pangs in his heart when he's with Silver this way. Everything he's given up.)

But when Silver's got him pinned against the wall, it's the only time Daniel is allowed to lose, and he takes it graciously.

His arms fold in on himself despite how Silver has opened him, as meddled in the middle there. His nose twitches much like a rabbit as he eyes Silver curiously, breath heavy with Desire. Devotion.

Silver kisses him firmly, unequivocally. Hot, heavy. Suffocating.

Silver is the lion, and perhaps if Daniel remains still, he can learn the Discipline it takes to become a lion alongside him.