#cancelkarates

@cancelkarates asked: “Daniel, I - I finally had enough of this karate shit. No more.”

Daniel   sat   frozen,   his   hand   hovering   over   the   cup   of   wine   Amanda   had   handed   him.   The   sharpness   of   her   words   cut   through   the   warmth   of   the   kitchen,   and   for   a   moment,   he   wasn’t   sure   if   he’d   heard   her   right.

His   first   instinct   was   to   deflect,   to   crack   a   joke   and   lighten   the   mood,   but   the   fire   in   her   eyes   stopped   him.   This   wasn’t   one   of   their   usual   spats.   This   was   different.   Amanda   wasn’t   just   annoyed;   she   was   at   her   breaking   point.   “Amanda,”   he   started,   his   voice   softer   than   he   expected,   “this   isn’t   just…   it’s   not   just   karate.   It’s   our   lives.   It’s—”

Karate   wasn’t   just   a   hobby;   it   was   a   legacy.   It   had   saved   him,   shaped   him,   and   guided   him   through   some   of   his   darkest   moments.   How   could   he   turn   his   back   on   that?

“You   think   I   want   this?”   he   asked,   finally   standing,   his   voice   rising   despite   himself.   “You   think   I   enjoy   the   chaos,   the   fights,   the—What   do   you   want   me   to   do,   Amanda?”   he   asked   finally,   his   voice   barely   above   a   whisper.   “Walk   away?   Forget   everything   Mr.   Miyagi   taught   me?   Pretend   it   never   mattered?”

@cancelkarates asked: “Are you okay?!”

It   feels   like   having   deja   vu   at   best,   as   he   looks   at   the   woman   before   him   and   his   mind   flashes   back   to   the   beach   and   he   has   no   doubt   in   his   mind   when   it   comes   to   who   is   she,   and   he   is   almost   ashamed   to   have   been   caught   twice   in   the   same   matter.   "I   am   not   hurt."   He   answers,   preferring   to   give more   concrete   evidence   rather   than   answer   directly.   Sensei   Wolf   had   always   been   tough   with   him,   and   he   understood   the   consequences   of   not   being   good   enough.  

He   keeps   training   and   he   keeps   preppin'   himself,   until   knuckles   bleed   and   he   feels   nothing   but   triumph.   The   hollow   victories   are   still   victories   when   you   have   nothing   but   one   goal   in   life.   "You   are   Sam's   mother,   yes?"   He   mentions   instead   changing   the   subject   of   the   conversation.

@cancelkarates coming in with the wisdom

"no, ma'am, i won't."

slender hands come up to tie her brown hair into a haphazard ponytail. "i've got three quarters of a lung, you see. that is to say, i mean---i've got two lungs in my body, sure, but only one of those is working at full capacity. the other one has one third of dead alveolus."

a nod and then: "i doubt i'd be making it through a round of sparring without dropping, anyway. i like basketball, though. and rollerblading! and i walk whenever i can. i think, for now, that's enough. no karate required to keep me healthy."

@cancelkarates

ㅤㅤ“ See, I’d take that as a compliment but… ”  The lighter tone about the man’s voice peters off for a darker edge to weave into place, a guarded chuckle from the recesses of Silver’s throat that deceptively relays amusement with her candid commentary. The rotation of a wrist brings a broad splayed palm upwards, a gesture extending a query for the clever brunette to grasp onto.  “  Given the theme of adversaries, that means you’re equating your  better  other half with a spy— ”  Blue eyes erratically light up at the thought as if a lightbulb had sparked to life in real-time, holding Amanda’s gaze with the cant of his head, weighing up the parallels - a dealership and a dōjō, those two settings couldn’t be any different, and it’s a wonder how Danny-boy manages to effectively juggle it all alongside the demands of family life  (  or… doesn’t  ).