Back before season 5 aired, I really wanted to write a fic about Demetri and Eli dealing with their shit while Miguel was in Mexico. I had the vision of them remotely helping Johnny and Robby find Miguel, but also strengthening their relationship through therapy, because let's face it, someone in this show needs a therapy arc. And ofc they'd be going to a couple's therapist because Demetri let Hawk set up the appointment, and that's what made sense to him. And there would have been a bunch of her just objectively looking at the karate wars and being like, wtf?
But I never got very far into writing it, and at this point I figure I won't ever go back to finish it. But, I really liked my opening scene, so I figured that I'd throw it into the void here so it doesn't live and die in my drafts.
It’s dark in the arcade, and, on an unconscious level, Demetri is aware that what they say about losing one sense making the rest stronger is indeed correct. He knows because he can smell the sweat around him, hear his own heart thudding over the screaming about finishing him, and feel the tension in his arm that tells him that it’s about to snap.
“Eli, stop! It’s me! It’s me!” words that should mean everything, but they don’t make the hand twisting his arm back release him.
He knows his arm is going to be broken— can see it in flashes, can almost prematurely feel the pain, like it’s a phantom of something that’s happened before.
“Stop! I’ll go, I’ll go!” But Eli’s not going to stop.
Eli is going to break his arm. Eli is going to leave him here. Eli isn’t his best friend anymore.
The smell, the screaming, the tension in his arm— it floods his senses. He knows what’s next. Somehow, he knows what’s next.
First the begging, then the…
Demetri’s eyes open, and it’s not dark anymore, but his heart is still pounding as his hand darts out from under his blanket, searching for Eli on the air mattress beside his bed.
Demetri supposes that from a logical standpoint it might not make sense that his first reaction to a dream about his best friend breaking his arm (a thing that very much did happen and isn’t at all imaginary) is to reach out said appendage to find said best friend, but he can’t argue with the relief that fills his body when his hand wraps securely around Eli’s inner elbow.
Eli doesn’t flinch and instead reaches up to wrap his hand around Demetri’s elbow (or at least the spot right under it). “Bad dream?” he asks, tone already soft and knowing.
It’s not like Demetri has nightmares every night, but it’s often enough that Eli knows the signs by now. They’ve been living like they share lungs all summer.
“Yeah,” Demetri admits as he takes Eli in. The hand that isn’t holding his arm is holding his phone, a telltale sign that he’s been awake and waiting on Demetri to follow suit. “I’d tell you about it, but frankly they’re just boring at this point. You’d think the karate wars would have given me more interesting material.”
Eli’s thumb runs gently over his skin, a silent comfort before he says, “Yeah, who’d have thought trauma would be so boring.” It’s a half-hearted response, whether because he wants to say something more helpful or because he worries the dream is about him, Demetri doesn’t know.
He figures they’ll both be happier not knowing. They can save the honestly for therapy.
He switches to a new train of thought, even as his hand stays wrapped around Eli (He’ll let go when he’s ready, when he’s had his fill of the reassurance of his best friend’s skin— which is only a creepy thought if one voices it, which Demetri does not). “Any updates from the rescue team?”
Eli sighs, keeping his hold on Demetri even as he looks at his phone with a frown. He’s looking at a map, a red dot on it that represents Sensei Lawrence and Robby. “No, but they’ve been stopped at a bar for a while.”
Demetri can tell that he’s trying to hide the anxiety he feels surrounding their missing friend, so he squeezes his elbow and then does what he does best— commentary. “Oh, is it time for Sensei Lawrence’s breakfast beer already? I hear he can’t drive without one.”
Eli sighs again. Demetri wishes it was because of his mean joke, but he knows it’s not. “They should have found Miguel by now.”
Worry fills Demetri’s stomach too, but he refuses to humor it. For once he doesn’t want to be the one talking about all of the bad things that could be happening. “Come on, man, those two? We didn’t exactly send the dream team on this one,” Demetri says before realizing that probably wasn’t as reassuring as he meant it to be. “What I mean is, you have two capable guys who are… very emotionally constipated. When you factor in stops for family drama, they’re making good time.”
“We should have gone,” Hawk says, not for the first time since they’d found out that Miguel had left the country. It’d taken a lot for Eli not to jump on his bike and go. Demetri is pretty sure that had they not been together when they found out, Eli would be in Mexico too.
“Hey, we’ve been over this,” Demetri says softly, squeezing his friend’s arm again. “We can’t all just run to Mexico, and Sensei Lawrence beat us to the punch. Plus, with Miguel dealing with the whole dad thing… Well, we’re not exactly the father figure he’s looking for.”
Eli sighs again but this time in acceptance. “I just hate waiting.” Demetri watches as Eli looks at the dot again. It still isn’t moving.
“I know; me too,” Demetri admits before forcing a smile. “But hey, at least we get to play tech guy on operation ‘Star-crossed Fathers.’”
“That name sucks worse than the last one,” Eli says, a small smile forming.
“The right one will come, my friend. Mark my words.”
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