Gwen Stacy/Cobra Kai AU (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fightagain) wrote2021-05-24 08:36 pm
fightagain) wrote2021-05-24 08:36 pm
Entry tags:
Camping Trip -! Or- That Time the Eagle Fang Sensei's really tested their luck.
With everything going on, a couple days away from karate gang wars might just be what the doctor ordered. Or, it could be a grand exercise in unsupervised chaos. Either way, the next three nights and four days are going to be interesting.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to the first annual (and probably last ever) Eagle Fang/Miyagi-Do camping trip!
It seems as though Sensei Lawrence and Sensei LaRusso decided this camping trip would be a great way to create team bonding. Which...maybe?
Or, they brought a bunch of keyed up, feral teenagers into the woods and everything that can go wrong will.
For example, sleeping arrangements. While it was wise in theory to put girls with girls and boys with boys, some of these teenagers are dating and the rest of them just aren't the best at listening.
Also, they're smart. If there's a loophole in the rules, they will find and manipulate it.
At the same time, these kids are actually good kids. It's probably best to assign tasks to various groups. One is responsible for picking up firewood from the camp's small shop. Another is responsible for keeping the camping sites clean.
You get the picture.
So, after the last week of school, this is where most of the Miyagi-Do kids will find themselves. At a lovely campground two hours away from Reseda. There's swimming in both the pool and the giant lake. The camp shop has some of the best ice cream and junk food around. There are hiking trails, a frisbee golf area, and two of the nights at camp will have outdoor movies (the first nights movie being Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the original the less family friendly Deadpool). Entry is a dollar, there's freshly made popcorn included in the price of admission.
Just please be mindful of the free-range feral karate kids. They travel in packs, are ridiculously loyal and really aren't in the mood for anything ruining their camping trip.
Not even the rain on the third night.
Throw up a top level, tag around. Have fun. Get into trouble.
Y'know. The usual Cobra Kai bullshit.
Gwen Stacy - Semi-Open prompts below.
It wasn't so much procrastination that had the girls shopping for camping stuff literally the night before the trip. For once.
It was Gwen had her job at Urban Air, they both had commitments to family things, and Gwen just started dating Hawk after a kiss at the recent county fair. That and Gwen already had almost all the camping gear she needed.
She was just at the REI in the mall to pick up a new tent. The other one was too big, and it smelled like sweaty boys and flatulence. She wanted her own tent. So she spent several days looking at the website for the store, until she found the one she wanted, and ordered it for in-store pick up.
While she wasn't supposed to know the assigned sleeping arrangements the Sensei's had worked out, Gwen was grateful Sam found out the two of them would be sharing a tent. At least she considered her tent-mate her best friend.
Never mind the fact that any time Gwen or Sam slept at the other persons house, they'd be up until really stupid hours, giggling about nothing.
"Hey, you didn't happen to see where they kept the shaker flashlights, did you? I might have missed them," Gwen asks Sam, peeking around a display of S'Well bottles to talk to her friend.
[Takin' my time on my ride - for Hawk and anyone else she might have given a ride to. ]
Shopping with Sam had been fun. Going on a date with Hawk soon after had also been fun. And waking up at Hawks house when her alarm went off at 5 am?
That was not so much fun, considering neither Hawk nor herself had gotten much sleep. Needless to say, she was glad they thought to load up her car the night before, otherwise Gwen would have never gotten in her car to leave in the first place.
So now she was sitting in the drivers seat of her black Rav4, punching in an order for the nearest Starbucks before shoving her phone at the passenger right beside her.
"Order something so you can keep me awake if my coffee fails me," she manages to yawn out, finally turning the car on and heading down the road.
"We gotta get Miguel and Demetri, too." A pause, a tired sigh and a shake of her head. "At least, I think we're picking D up. I don't remember if he got back to me about his mom driving him, or not."
[ Camping. ]
Gwen has the coolest tent in the camp grounds, by far. It was a pain in the ass to set up, sure, but now that it was up? She was stepping back to really give it a good look, a small smile on her face.
Her and Sams tent was now two feet off the ground, like a covered hammock. Oh, it looked like a regular tent, but it was secured to three nearby trees, keeping the girls off the ground and out of the bugs. Now, it was just a matter of getting things stored properly while Sam goes to help others with their own tents.
Gwen has music playing from her phone as she does so, humming along softly to herself as she puts her flashlight, headphones and book light in one of the tents interior pockets.
Looking around for a moment, she spots a charging cable she'd dropped and, not wanting to get out of her very comfortable, off the ground tent, she motions for the nearest person.
"Hey, can you grab that for me? I didn't even realize I dropped it."
[Wildcard: Find her anywhere. ]
Gwen & Sam.
"Got em right here," Sam said holding up the basket. She had a bunch of stuff in there she thought they might need. It had been a long time since she'd been camping. And this was...a pretty big trip.
Daniel and Johnny weren't exactly the best of friends and there were definitely some tensions between Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do too. Sam would be lying if she said she wasn't worried about how this was all going to play out.
Her boyfriend was really good friends with Gwen's boyfriend. But not so long ago, Hawk had been the biggest bully in Cobra Kai. Sometimes when Sam closed her eyes, she still saw Demetri's arm snapping. She'd felt so powerless then. Sometimes she still had nightmares, even though she'd finally been able to stand up to Tory.
This trip was going to do them all some good. At least, Sam hoped so. She was still reeling from the fact that Cobra Kai had attacked her, the students of Eagle Fang, and the students of Miyagi-Do all in her own home. If they were willing to do that, what else could they be capable of?
"Anything else we need to grab?"
Re: Gwen & Sam.
Gwen lived for her coffee sometimes, okay? She had several fun flavors ordered from a coffee company in Seattle and she has plans to pack them all. She just really needs that hanging coffee pot.
"And batteries for the string lights, just in case solar power isn't enough. My plan for those is to wrap them around the straps of the tent so no one trips over them in the middle of the night."
She'd laugh her ass off, Sam. For hours. She's no bully, but she is a jackass.
"Did you see anything we might need?"
Gwen & Sam.
"That is a great idea," Sam said. Camping had a lot of things that could go wrong but they would do whatever they could to prevent that. Still, it was likely with this group there would be some mishaps.
"I think we pretty much got everything on the list," Sam added, taking another glance at it, and then around the aisle in case there was something she'd missed.
"If only we had some kind of guarantee that everyone would get along." They all needed some chill down time, away from the karate wars and all that.
Re: Gwen & Sam.
Absolutely no one wants Gwen without caffeine, and she's not really a soda drinker, so this is the best source.
God help them all, though. This trip, while a great idea in theory, could easily fall apart. Gwen had nightmares about Cobra Kai figuring out what was what and purposefully making the two hour trip just to fuck with them. With the way things went last year, what with them harassing people at work (Gwen included) and the whole home invasion around Christmas? It wouldn't surprise Gwen like...at all.
"Well, they'll have us to deal with. And some of them already know we have a zero tolerance policy for bullshit. Portable hammocks, yes or no?" Because that wasn't on their list, and she spotted a couple nearby on sale.
Gwen & Sam.
Sam was trying to be optimistic about how the trip would go. But she did have concerns. She didn't want to think about it, but her anxiety had been heightened ever since the attack on her home. She didn't want anything like that to happen when they were all vulnerable sleeping in the woods.
"Portable hammocks could be fun," Sam pondered as she looked at a nearby display of cloth folding chairs. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a few of those either. "And we need to grab stuff for s'mores too. And can't forget peanut butter cups so I can make Samores."
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Remind Daniel why he ever thought this was a good idea? It looked like a good idea on paper. Team building camping trip in the wood. Away from the city. Away from Cobra Kai and all the madness going on. It seemed perfect. But in reality? Taking a rabble of teenagers into the wood, away from their parents and guardians... it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Honestly, within five minutes of arriving one kid had twisted their ankle, another had forgotten bug repellent and was already being eaten alive and another had pissed off a skunk, got sprayed and needed collecting by their parent. So far things were going great. Daniel was just glad he had gotten all the kids' parents to sign permission slips wavering all liability on Daniel and Johnny's part because a lawsuit for a child being eaten by a bear or falling in a ravine was the last thing Miyagi-Do needed right now. Their reputation still hadn't fully recovered after the whole school fight situation.
All he has to do is make sure that the remaining teenagers make it through the next four days without major injury and it'll be fine.
[ Kata in the woods - open ]
It wasn't so much that Daniel had fled and abandoned the other adults to watch over the kids. Daniel LaRusso didn't flee. He fought with everything he had. That was probably why he had gotten himself into so much trouble over the years and made enemies everywhere he went.
No. It wasn't that he was abandoning his fellow sensei or their students. It was just that he needed to take a few moments to collect himself - to find his balance. He hadn't gone too far that he was hard to reach in case of emergency, and he had his phone with him. But he had found a clearing.
It's not quite silence - he can still hear the kids in the distance. But it's quieter. He starts working through his breathing exercises. In through the nose, hold. Out through the mouth, hold. Hands together, arms out from the chest on the exhale, back in on the inhale. Up on the exhale, down in the inhale. Rinse and repeat. It doesn't matter how many times he does it, he can still hear Mr Miyagi's voice in his head - 'when you feel life out of focus, always return to basic of life. Breathing. No breathe. No life'. How many times has Daniel found himself taking a moment to just focus on his breathing? Too many to count. But it works.
Feeling calmer, Daniel takes a stance and starts to run through the Miyagi family kata.
[ Camping - open ]
Daniel holds his marshmallow over the fire. Come on, what is a camping trip without s'mores? So far no one has burnt down their tent or scalded themselves with molten marshmallow fluff so Daniel's counting that as a win.
And okay... maybe camping - crazy as it's been - maybe camping was a good idea. The kids seem happy and relaxed and they deserve that.
2:
But there was nothing to drum on in the woods that wouldn't make her look ridiculous. So she opted for a walk.
Catching Mr LaRusso mid-kata, it's easy for her to focus on the natural beat of it and that helps.
She turns off the music that had been playing from her earbuds and tilts her head a bit, studying the way he moves and trying to memorize just a bit of it.
When he's gone through all of the steps, Gwen speaks up.
"Is that gonna be one of the lessons some day?" She would love to learn as much of it as she could.
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Daniel lets out a soft laugh. "I hope so. If Sensei Lawrence lets me spend time teaching 'pansy-ass karate yoga' when we should be focusing on 'badass kicks'. I think some of the kids will really benefit from doing kata." Like Hawk. "It's not just the moves, it's something more. It's about finding balance." If anyone would understand then it was probably Gwen. After all, kata was like a dance. Poetry in motion.
"Mr Miyagi once told me that all karate can be found in this kata." God, he wished Mr Miyagi was here now. Maybe if he was then Daniel and Johnny wouldn't have dragged the Valley into an all out karate gang war with Kreese.
"What do you think? Teach everyone the moves then pair them up on the balance board to see who really can find their inner balance?"
okay so i used the wrong damn journal.
"What if you taught it to a couple people and then had them teach people? I could definitely see that being some kind of bonding experience. And then you use the balance wheel in the pond to teach that part of it?"
It could be fun. It could go badly. But people would learn about themselves and each other, and she thinks that's what the dojo really needs. It's still a bit fractured. There are still tensions and problems between former Cobras, Miyagi-Do students and the new Eagle-Fang group. But this might help.
Emphasis on might.
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"Let's face it... we need all the team building we can get. The tournament will be here before we know it and we're nowhere near ready." Daniel doesn't mean it in a cruel way. There are some really talented kids, and plenty with the potential to go far. But Gwen's right, the group is still fractured. And Cobra Kai are ruthless. Sometimes Daniel feels like he and Johnny are practically sending lambs to the slaughter by entering their kids in the tournament.
He ponders Gwen's suggestion. "Well Sam already knows it. You volunteering to learn? The pair of you could teach others, and then they could teach others." A pyramid scheme of kata.
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In her own laidback way.
“Sam’s been teaching me. The last few times I hung out at your house while Simon and Anthony played video games. I know half of it? Roughly? But we got into this conversation about balance and dancing and that came up so I asked.”
That’s what Gwen does. If it’s something she wants to learn about, she asks questions. She studies hard. Researches. Does her best to understand as much as she can.
“Basically I think Sam teaching would be a great idea. Me, maybe when I’ve had some practice.”
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This is why he shouldn't be allowed to teach children. In fact, how are he and Johnny actually allowed to teach impressionable teens?
A smile breaks on his lips. "I'm kidding. It's great that Sam's teaching you. You wanna run through it now?"
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She can even grin about it, laughing just a bit. She's not showing anyone, honestly. Just keeping it to herself. She hasn't even shown Phil, and that's her favorite brother.
"I kinda do, yeah," Gwen states without much hesitation. She would love to run through it, is what she's saying. "I'll follow you, Mr LaRusso."
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"But if you do make millions then the dojo could use a new mini-fridge and one of the screen walls needs repairing... just sayin'." He knows she's joking, but part of him wonders how Mr Miyagi would feel about people profiting off of his family kata. He often wonders about how Mr Miyagi would feel about a great many things - opening up the dojo, combining with Johnny's dojo, going up against Kreese. He really wishes the old man was here to give him some guidance.
Mr Miyagi had once told him that he would one day find his own way of doing karate. Daniel hadn't understood at the time. He did things Mr Miyagi's way. But maybe joining forces with Johnny had been what Mr Miyagi had meant. Taking everything Miyagi-Do and everything Eagle Fang and combining it into something new.
Daniel steps into position. "I'll go slow. Just tell me if you need me to go over anything," he says, as he goes through the first few moves.
oh hi
So he's sticking to popcorn. He's already made three batches for himself and others. Some of them are combining popcorn with S'mores.
Whatever. Phil's having a good time. He might be one of the newest members of Miyagi-Fang or whatever it's called, but he's managed to fit in well enough.
Shaking the popcorn maker on the fire, he tilts his head a bit to listen for popping. Nothing yet, but that's fine.
Looking around for a moment, he frowns a bit before looking over towards Mr LaRusso, pointing at something near his feet.
"I dunno how it happened, but the shaker of spicy cheese topping for the popcorn is at your feet. Do you mind, uh..." Throwing it his way please and thanks.
no subject
Phil is one of the newbies, but he's settling in well. He's pretty shy - the complete opposite of Gwen. But he's a good kid.
He looks down at his feet, noticing the shaker. "Oh, course. No problem." He picks it up but doesn't throw it. Knowing his luck it would end up in the flames if he did. So instead, Daniel stands, walks around to Phil and hands it to him. Spicy cheese, huh? Sounds good."
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And, yeah. Phil isn't much of a talker, unlike Gwen. But, like Gwen, just because he's talking to someone doesn't mean they're friends. He and his siblings were raised to be polite and respectful, which doesn't really stop him from ragging on his sister for being shorter than him even though she's the eldest, but other than that he's a good kid.
He grins and nods once. "It's my favorite. Gwens, too. It's the only popcorn topping we can have to ourselves without having to share with Howard or Simon."
That doesn't really sound right, Phil. "Not that we don't like sharing. We don't really care. But their idea of sharing popcorn involves stealing the entire bowl and dumping it everywhere while they fight over it."
It's chaos.
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Daniel waves Phil off. "You don't need to explain." If there is one thing he knows for a fact about Gwen and Phil it's that they're polite and generous kids. Daniel has contemplated on more than one occasion (usually after a lot of wine) asking their dad if he can swap them for Anthony. Don't get him wrong, he loves his son... he's just gross and preteeny.
"Even the most generous people in the world don't want to share everything and that's okay. Plus I know exactly what it's like sharing popcorn with a kid - if it isn't spilt everywhere then they have their gross hands all in it."
It's those kinds of things that make Daniel glad to be an only child.
"So, how are you settling in at Miyagi-Do? Getting along with everyone? No one giving you any trouble?"
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"I'm good. If anyone's trying to give me trouble, I'm pretty sure they know I'm related to Gwen and reconsider." That is mostly a joke, though he's aware of how hard Gwen fought during that home invasion to keep her friends safe. And she tends to tolerate exactly zero bullshit when it comes to people messing with her brothers.
"I'm kidding. It's going well. Made a couple new friends, so that helps."
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Sometimes he fails.
Still, he's determined to do better for these kids. To teach them the skills to end a fight without the need to start fights. Like Johnny says ... you can be badass without being an asshole. That's a good life lesson.
"Trust me, no one would dare get on Gwen's bad side," he chuckles soft. "But it's good you're making friends. If you do have any problems though, any at all, you can always talk to me or Sensei Lawrence."
miguel diaz
[It's a good thing. It's a nice thing. It's a bonding thing, a growing stronger thing, a knitting together thing. It's objectively positive that they're all out here together.
It's just also really, really weird to be back in the woods for karate purposes.
With a little time, this will settle into being uncomplicated fun. While still newly unpiled from his ride, Miguel can't help frowning up at the trees.] --but this is a little weird, right?
2. the cobra effect
[Night in the city is a very known quantity. Night out here, with only the dim glow of campfires and a few small buildings around the campsite? Is sort of distractingly captivating.]
Hey. [Miguel is sprawled out on the ground at a slight distance from the light of their own fire, an arm behind his head, pointing up at a bright cluster of stars.] Those ones have a name?
[He could probably figure it out if he engaged his brain, but sort of drifting around in teenage spaceiness is pleasant as heck.]
3. two-time champion (for sam)
Okay. So.
[Have a bucket of popcorn, Sam, because Miguel is absolutely not going to miss the opportunity to half rag on and half genuinely enjoy one of the worst films in the Indiana Jones franchise.]
I've scoped it out, and we could go sit over there where the chairs look comfier-- [a nod to the left where a handful of Miyagi-Fangs have been taking over a small corner of the audience] --or over there-- [a nod to the right, notably devoid of familiar faces] --where we'd be under a tree.
[Which doesn't mean much while watching a movie at night, but there has to be some excuse to not sit with the gang.]
oh hi other half of the idiot twins what's up
[ Gwen's in the back of her black Rav4, pulling out her own gear for camping as she watches the others arrive. There are still some wary looks passed between Ex-Cobras (of which Gwen is one) and Miyagi-Do students (Of which Gwen is also one) and Gwen sighs a bit, frowning briefly. Please, God, please let none of these idiots ruin what could be a great four-day weekend. Let this be the one time the group of them are together where there isn't some kind of fight. ]
You still drinking this?
[ Gwen asks, holding up the drink she got Miguel on the way to the campsite. She needed that Starbucks so bad and didn't hesitate to treat the people she drove down. ]
2: have gwen's brother
But this? This is a good distraction. He's in a portable hammock that Gwen bought him, swinging gently between two trees and looking skyward. Looking where Miguel points, there's a shrug. ]
I don't know. Probably? Someone might have 'bought' a star and named it. That was a thing a while ago, right? Like...adds all over Facebook?
[ A pause and he looks at Miguel, giving him almost exactly the same eyebrow raise Gwen does when she's curious about something. ]
Is there an app for that? For figuring out what stars are named?
Re: miguel diaz
[Hawk had a little bit of a smirk as he said it, mostly just teasing his friend. The fact that he could still call Miguel a friend was something that he didn't take for granted.]
But yeah, those? I think that's... Hercules.
3 (obviously lol)
[ It would give them some degree of privacy at least, and decrease their chance of shenanigans. There would likely be enough shenanigans during this...adventure. So a break from that would be good. ]
Senor Octopus likes trees.
[ Of course, Sam had brought him along as he was basically the mascot of the Miguel and Sam relationship. ]
Johnny - open prompts galore
He's overreacting. It'll be fine. Maybe?
He jumps in with both feet anyway though, per usual. Barks orders to assign chores, leads some games in the woods, a variation on the one Kreese had Cobra Kai play but with less 'beat the shit out of each other' and more 'capture the headbands of the other team', being sure to mix the teams. He's there for movie nights, happy to throw popcorn at anyone misbehaving, and cranky and sulking when it rains.
no subject
Bringing beer into the equation is probably the worst idea in existence but Daniel has never been known for making good decisions.
He hands Johnny a can of Coors Banquet and sits next to him with his own can of some overpriced fancy IPA. The kids seem to be occupying themselves. There are no emergencies that require their immediate attention. "You still up for that rematch?"
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"Oh, you mean up to kick your ass like I should've the first time?"
Ha. He hadn't because it wasn't the Right thing to do, because despite all the lessons going after a guy who was already hurting, already shouldn't have been able to stand, hadn't sat right. He could have won, easiest thing in the world, but he'd kept it clean so he'd lost. As much as he bitched about the kick he knew Daniel had won fair and square.
no subject
Daniel's not stupid though. He knows he only won that fight because of luck. Johnny had every advantage - he had been better than Daniel, more experienced, more disciplined, stronger and smarter. Daniel had been a terrified, inexperienced rookie, with only a handful of karate classes at the YMCA and a few months training with Mr Miyagi under his belt. It was a miracle he even made it to the final.
Hell, if Kreese had kept his dirty tactics out of it and let Bobby and Johnny play fair then Daniel has no doubt in his mind one of them would've beaten him. But no one had expected Daniel to pull off that kick, especially on a busted knee. Luck and the element of surprise were what won it for Daniel that day.
"You're welcome to try... if you think your old man bones are up to it." Never mind the fact Daniel is older and potentially in worse shape than Johnny.
The fact that it was Daniel's kata confusing Mike Barnes in his second tournament isn't lost on him. Both tournaments were won by bamboozling his opponent and not because of his skill. Remind him why he is now teaching karate to young, impressionable kids?
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"Yeah, well I know all your moves now. You think you can get the edge this time?"
no subject
Remind Daniel why he thinks sparring during the middle of a camping trip away from hot baths, ice and painkillers is a good idea?
He steps into a defensive position of his own. "Oh, I got a whole catalogue of new moves since last time. Still not too late to back out, save your pride from being wounded."