One of the most important things being in the army taught John is how to get a handle on a situation. He has previous experience of elements of this situation he finds himself in: he has rented apartments before, so he is familiar with the kinds of negotiations required, he has shared living quarters with a wide variety of difficult people, and knows how to deal with children.
Tory is almost an adult now, but in his eyes she'd always be very young in comparison to him. She did have this air of maturity to her even when they first met, and when he learnt about the situation with her mother, it made sense. He knew all about how responsibility forced you to grow up. But adult or child, he'd treat her the same regardless. Unlike some people, he didn't believe in treating kids as an entirely different species. No matter who walked in through his dojo doors, he would teach them all the same.
It's good to have a place to call home again. Still, an adjustment period is always necessary. They all have their own things to focus on, Tory with her jobs, Brandon with school, and John with his plans to reopen Cobra Kai. Mostly they keep out of each others' way, which suits John just fine.
John had anticipated further difficulties to arise around Tory and Brandon's mother, but so far nothing has been mentioned to him so he leaves the subject alone. Most of the items in the apartment belong to the Nicholses, and it took a few weeks for Tory to finish unpacking. Irritated by the sight of the same boxes piled up, John asked her if she wanted a hand, and her emphatic no was enough stop him from asking again. Partnerships require compromise after all, and although certain things annoy him, he has to remind himself that the Nichols siblings are far from the most difficult people he has ever had to live with.
He appreciates the value of personal space, and therefore it is only right that he does not enter their rooms uninvited. Tory and Brandon seem to have the same idea. So it's a surprise when Tory turns up at his half-open door, and actually knocks on it.
John turns around from folding his clean laundry.
"Hey, I just put my share of the rent on the kitchen table," she says, lurking in the doorway. "Just telling you because I'm putting Brandon to bed then I'm gonna turn in myself, I've got an early shift at the supermarket tomorrow."
John nods. "Thanks. I'll deliver it to the landlady tomorrow."
"You know we could set up a direct debit, right? That's the way people normally do it these days."
"Yes. But I prefer the personal touch. Maintain a relationship with the owners, remind them I'm a real person, not just a piñata they can continuously beat for more money."
Tory smirks at that, then shrugs. "Please yourself," she says. And that should be the end of the conversation, but she clearly wants something else because she stays where she is. "Um, what are you doing?"
John frowns, and places the folded shirt in his hands into his duffel bag. It's an odd question, but there is nothing else she could be referring to. "Hey, I don't tell you how to do laundry."
Tory takes a tentative step into his room. "Yeah, but you have a wardrobe," she says.
"I do." Now he understands what she's getting at.
"You thought about maybe using it?"
John looks at the wardrobe, the down at his duffel bag on the floor. Old habits die hard. He'd wanted Tory to unpack, but it's different for him. He doesn't have much. And it always seemed wise to be prepared to move on. Not staying anywhere permanent for over ten years had done that to him, and even before that he'd always been going from one place to the next, never settling down, never really getting comfortable anyplace.
He picks up another shirt and goes to fold it, but Tory huffs and takes it out of his hands, throws the wardrobe open and hangs the shirt on one of the wire hangers the previous tenant left behind.
"There. You do the rest," Tory says, on her way out of the room. "At least pretend like you're staying, yeah?"
After she leaves, John stands there for a moment. He can't blame Tory for being concerned that he might take off and leave them high and dry. She's been in some tough situations, and even he let her down a few times, not that he ever wanted to.
He looks at the open wardrobe again. Something about this situation reminds him of helping Tory to pack up her mom's room, but the other way around. He's no good at offering sympathy or anything like that, but helping with practical matters comes as second nature to him. He felt a little put out when she came and snatched the shirt out of his hands and hung it up, made him feel stupid and incapable. But maybe there was an element of care in that gesture.
John shakes his head. Nah, he's overthinking it. But now one shirt is hung up, it's easier to hang up another.
That isn't the only odd little moment between the two of them. It seems right to keep a respectful distance between them, they aren't real family, after all. But sometimes, Tory steps over that invisible line.
"When's your birthday?" she asks one day when she's writing on the calendar attached to the refrigerator.
"That's privileged information," John says without looking up from the ham he has just opened for the sandwich he's making.
"I just wanna put it on the calendar. You know, so I can throw you a party. Okay, I probably won't do that, but I'll at least help Brandon make you a card."
He continues making his sandwich, and wonders if she's being serious. Who would she possibly invite to a birthday party for him? He's burnt a hell of a lot of bridges over the years, all for good reason, but the point stands, there ain't many left standing. A handmade card from Brandon is a nice gesture, if the boy even wants to make him one. He's a quiet kid, and John isn't the kind of person to force conversation on a kid who doesn't want to talk to him. In fact he thinks Brandon has only spoken to him to ask if he wanted to play a video game with him. John didn't, so it was a pretty short conversation.
Tory presses on. "Any important birthdays coming up? Just so I know?"
"Now you're going too far," he says, turning round to narrow his eyes at her and give her a slight smile.
Tory shakes her head. "There's a pen. You can write it on yourself. If you want."
John considers this after Tory leaves him alone to finish making his sandwich. He's mostly ignored his birthday going on decades now. There was never anything to celebrate, or anyone to celebrate with. And what's more he doesn't exactly like being forced to think about his age.
He idly flips through the calendar. He finds Tory 18! written against one of the dates in August with a smiley face drawn next to it. And Brandon is 10 in December. It occurs to him that Tory may have been hinting to him that she wants a party. Well, she's practically a grown-up, he's sure she's perfectly capable of organising one on her own.
Dropping the calendar pages and letting them flutter back into place, John is about to walk away, but then he goes back and writes his own name on. However he draws the line at adding his age. Some things he must keep to himself.
Attempting to find a new location for the dojo had so far proved far more difficult than finding a place to live. It was so easy before, he'd never had to worry about this particular part as both times it was handily arranged by other people.
Rent negotiations had resulted in them splitting it down the middle, it was only fair since Brandon had no income and although he was also living in the apartment too, Tory already had to pay for things for him as well as herself. He had made calculations prior to this and figured that he could afford rent on dojo premises based on his military pension and now meagre remains of his life savings, but minus the living expenses this limited his options considerably. He hadn't had to prioritise paying for a place to live until Tory came to him. But what was he gonna do, turn her away and let her and her brother end up on the streets?
It was fairly irregular that any kind of exercise studio comes on the market for rental anyway, especially as he is limiting himself to Reseda. So far he has come across only two which might be affordable with some haggling, and today he got news that his offer on the second one had been bettered by some asshole of a property developer. It's unfair that those crooks can waltz in there with their overstuffed wallets and snap up places they don't even give a damn about. Reminds him of someone he used to know.
He spends the rest of the day walking round the city. First, scouting for other places to rent, and later, just walking for something to do with himself. Eventually his feet hurt too much and he heads home. Brandon won't be home from school yet, and with any luck Tory might still be at work. He's in no mood for talking to anyone just now.
As soon as he steps through the door, he hears Tory talking.
"Are you sure you can't get anyone else to cover? Yeah, I know I missed a few shifts. Okay, more than a few, but I told you why! Yeah, I know. Yeah." Tory sighs. "Fine, I guess I'll have to come in."
Tory turns around to see John. She throws her hands up and makes a frustrated sound.
"Should have put your foot down," he says.
This seems to irritate her more. "Didn't you hear me trying?!" she explodes. She rakes her hands through her hair and sighs. "Remember me telling you I finally arranged a sleepover for Brandon?"
"Oh, that's right, that's tonight," John says, and doesn't want to admit that it slipped his mind. "I'm supposed to make myself scarce, yes?"
"Don't even worry about it. It's not happening now. They need me at the damn supermarket. So I missed a few shifts after my mom died, so what? Bitch of a supervisor won't ever let me forget it."
"You shouldn't have to put up with that."
"I wish I didn't. I should've quit that job instead of the one at the movie theatre," Tory says. "Whatever. I just wanted to do something nice for Brandon for once. And his friends. He's spent so much time at their houses this past year, I don't want their parents thinking I won't make the effort. Now I've got to tell them I'm cancelling."
"Well, what if you didn't have to?"
"I'm gonna be at work, there's nothing I can do."
"You won't be here, but I can be. Lucky for you, I didn't make any specific plans."
Tory looks at him for a long moment, and wraps her arms around herself. "Are you sure?"
John laughs. "You think I can't deal with a couple of kids? You're forgetting I'm used to dealing with classes of up to forty!"
"Oh. Yeah. 'Course," Tory says. She still looks unsure about it. "Look, are you sure you don't mind?"
"It's no problem at all."
Tory hustles to get everything prepared before she has to leave for work. She gives John strict instructions on bedtime and sleeping arrangements and what to do if there's any sort of emergency. It's all very simple stuff, but he smiles and nods along. The way she cares about her brother is obvious.
The kids are dropped off by one of their parents, and John is introduced to Rafael and Emily.
"Hi," Emily says, giving him a little wave.
"Is he your uncle?" Rafael asks, and Brandon shakes his head.
"He's our grandpa," Tory says before things can get complicated. "I got called into work, but John will be here in case you need anything."
The kids don't look particularly interested in this, and Brandon takes his friends over to sit in front of the TV.
Tory grabs hold of John's arm and drags him into kitchen. "So yeah, all the snacks and stuff are here, and parents' numbers are on fridge," she says. "And, before I go, I need to tell you something about Emily. She's, um, a girl."
"I've noticed."
"Well she only just changed her name and started growing her hair out, but-"
"I get it," John says, but the tension doesn't leave Tory's shoulders.
"Just, be nice to her, okay?"
"Nichols, you don't need to be concerned. There were kids who changed their names in my other class, the one for the younger kids. Was never a problem for me, since I call all my students by their last names anyway."
Tory visibly relaxes. "Right, yeah, of course. I just thought, since you don't like modern stuff like cell-phones and direct debits and-"
"That I'm a total dinosaur? Come on Nichols, you know me better than that."
Tory smiles, and turns to grab her coat. She whips back around and holds up a finger. "One last thing, no karate."
"Now you certainly know me better than that," John says, and this time he's grinning.
Tory raises her eyebrows and smiles. "I'll be back at ten, but they should be in bed by then. If you hear them talking after lights out, don't yell at them, okay? Everyone secretly stays up late at sleepovers."
"Leave it to me, I've got it covered."
The kids are easy enough to deal with. Tory has prepared a bunch of games and activities for them and they amuse themselves with those and the TV. All John has to do is keep them supplied with drinks and snacks and sit in a corner with a book to keep an eye on them.
"Grandpa John?"
John looks up to see Brandon and his friends staring at him.
"We need four people for this game, do you want to play with us?" Brandon asks.
John has never played a video game in his life. They seem to have far more buttons than arcade machines and what happens on the screen is way too fast to follow. He really has no interest in trying. He shakes his head, but then is bombarded by a chorus of please please please and ends up relenting.
Brandon patiently explains the controls to him while in the background his friends grow restless and impatient with grandpa for being such an amateur. Ordinarily he would say something, but he promised Tory to be nice to them, so he pretends not to hear. Despite Brandon's assurances that it's an easy game, John finds it difficult to co-ordinate his fingers on the buttons well enough to keep the little car on the track. Not only is it difficult, he finds his fingers soon start to cramp from holding them in strange positions. He's determined not to back down from the challenge, stupid as it might be, but by the time the kids have tired of the game he has only succeeded in coming in third one time.
Despite being terrible at the game, joining in seems to have made him more approachable, so the kids start asking him questions. He ends up telling them about karate, and Brandon doesn't seem too impressed, probably since his sister has talked about nothing else for years, but his friends listen to him wide-eyed.
They spend the rest of the evening trying to get him to show them some moves. And that's why when Tory comes back home, he's fending off kicks and punches from Emily and Rafael while Brandon watches them and eats candy.
"What's going on? It's past your bedtime," she says. "Go on, get into your pajamas and brush your teeth."
The kids look sad, but do as they're told.
"Great, thanks for making me be the bad guy," she says.
John shrugs. "What can I say, we must've been having so much fun we lost track of time."
"Well, whatever. Thanks for helping me out tonight."
"My pleasure."
From that point onwards, John makes an effort to help Tory out by taking Brandon to school and picking him up when it's difficult for her. He didn't offer before because he didn't think it was his place to do so.
And when Brandon asks if he wants to play video games, he doesn't automatically say no. He does however have to make comments about how a so-called war game he likes to play is full of inaccuracies. Brandon's standard rebuttal is but it's fun, and once John starts to get a handle on the controls he can see his point.
They start to eat some meals together instead of cooking and eating separately every time. It's all getting disconcertingly domestic. But as time goes on, he finds himself getting more comfortable with this arrangement, and from the looks of it, it's the same for Tory and Brandon.
When he'd initially made the suggestion to live together, he hadn't expected Tory to agree to it. What he thought would happen was that his ridiculous idea would prompt her to think of some other, more sensible solution that she'd been overlooking. But when she agreed, he knew he had to stand by his promise. It was a crazy idea, but somehow it worked.
Sometimes thinking outside the box is the only way to solve a problem, and that's what prompts him to think about applying the same sort of logic to finding a new dojo location. The obvious ways had brought him no joy so far.
So what he starts to do is expand his search. If no fully kitted out studios within his budget come on the market, then he'd just find any place large enough and do it himself. This increases his pool of options enormously, and soon he's signing a deal with a landlord offering a long-term let on a former shop on the outskirts of Reseda.
It'll require a fair amount of work and money to get into a fit state to open, but he's a hell of a lot closer than he was. His first thought is to find a payphone and call Tory, tell her the good news. When he suggested to her that she could help him, he'd meant it. It'd be some time before he could afford to pay her a wage, but he was sure she would enjoy being involved with karate again. Maybe she could even teach some classes eventually.
When he calls her number, there's no answer. He should have known she'd be busy, she's at work. For the first time in recent memory, he takes a walk not to clear his head and chase away his troubles, but to think about the possibilities. Finally, the future is looking bright again.
Tory isn't home until later, so John goes to collect Brandon from school. He restrains himself from telling the boy about the new dojo, he must hold out to tell him and Tory together.
He enlists Brandon's help in ordering take-out for dinner, the new dojo is a call for celebration, after all. Tory arrives home in a bad mood, so he's especially glad to have ordered take-out. He can't wait to tell her that all their troubles are over.
He waits until they're all sitting down and raises his glass. "To the new Cobra Kai!" he says.
Tory looks confused. "Wait, what?" she says.
"I found us a location," John says with a smile.
"Oh. Good for you." She sounds unimpressed.
"No, good for us. I told you, I want us to run it together."
"You think I have time and energy for that crap when I'm still working three jobs?"
"Nichols, you can't tell me you're happy working retail for the rest of your life."
"So what? You think I'd be happier working retail and working for you for free? Tell me the truth, is this why you wanted to move in together? Free labour? Next you'll be telling me you want Brandon to work there too."
John stares at her. He didn't expect her to react in this way.
Meanwhile, Brandon has filled his plate and started eating, seemingly unconcerned by their conversation.
"No, that's not what I wanted at all. I thought this was what you wanted. It's who you are, you're Cobra Kai as much as I am."
Tory shakes her head. "Not any more. I'm done with karate, after everything that happened."
"Look, what happened at the tournament-"
"I don't wanna talk about it! I'm done, okay? The answer's no. I don't want anything to do with this stupid little venture of yours. You wanna resurrect Cobra Kai again, you're on your own."
John can't believe what he's hearing. What is she doing, turning against him? After everything he'd done for her. "I expected better of you, Nichols," he says, trying to keep his anger under control.
Tory sighs and crosses her arms. She gives him a look, but doesn't say anything.
"You said maybe."
"Yeah well, sometimes maybe actually means no."
This wasn't the first time this had happened to him, being left to run things on his own. That thought almost has him yelling at her. But what's the use? She's made her decision and that's that. Besides, he doesn't need her. He did it before all on his own and was a massive success. He can do it again.