Demetri and Eli, Binary Boyfriends

Ooooh, a fics recommendation masterlist??? Why yes, I’d love to!!! I’ve been meaning to anyways, so what the hell? May as well do it here. All of these are on AO3! One-Shots

Anything to Forget by H8tedHannah One of my go-tos when I have no new Hawkmeat fanfic to read. The basic premise is that Eli, being the shameless adrenaline junkie that he is, takes Demetri walking around on the edge of a tall building, where he goes to forget all the painful memories of the dojo war and Cobra Kai and such. It switches between the boys’ POVs, and the way they describe each other is just...*chef’s kiss* like they both have such heart eyes and are totally oblivious to it until the very end, it’s great! And at the end, when it all comes together...man, I get legit CHILLS every time Eli says “I love you too.” I’M TELLING YOU, IT HITS DIFFERENT.

Your Kiss is the Best Drug by H8tedHannah They have their first kiss while high!!! Them getting high in general and High Demetri especially is pretty damn funny, but it’s also highkey wholesome. It includes one of my absolute favorite Binary Boyfriends tropes, i.e. Demetri tells Eli how much he loves his little lip scar. Every time I see it, I melt into a puddle of tears.

Taking Flight by solarphoenix Eli goes over to Demetri’s house after getting jumped by Cobra Kai post Season 3. They hang out, and we get to see them just having fun together!!! And BANTERING in a way that gave me a serotonin boost to last the next 10 years! And a little hurt/comfort with Demetri treating Eli’s wounds and we get a glimpse of their childhood together and when Demetri first started pining. AND THEY KISS! And exchange more smartass comments directly afterwards, it’s glorious XD

you can’t even see how much you’re mine by citriciel The perfect blend of angst, these boys actually TALKING THROUGH THEIR ISSUES, Demetri getting to be rightfully angry but still forgiving Eli because he always, always does, both of the disaster boys apologizing, banter and punch-flirting, and, best of all, DEMETRI KISSING ELI’S SCAR. HELL YES, LITERALLY MY FAVORITE BINARY BFS TROPE EVER??? If I don’t fuckin tear up every time I read “I love the way it stretches when you smile” ;___; And a saucy makeout sesh too!!! Plus, the way Demetri teases Eli at the end is utterly priceless XD

The Cobra Effect by slrandomperson Another go-to when I don’t have any new Binary Boyfriends fics to read, honestly. Basically an AU where Demetri manages to get through to Eli when he has him held down in the laser tag place, and Eli doesn’t break Demetri’s arm. Afterwards Demetri, of course, makes Eli hang out with him a bunch to make it up to him XD Has another one of my favorite Binary Boyfriends tropes--Demetri falling in love with BOTH sides of Eli--the timid, quiet, nerdy one and the cocky, snarky, and confident Hawk-esque one. And DEMETRI apologizing for trying to hold Eli back when he wanted to change and gain more confidence, even though it came from a place of fear of losing Eli??? HERE FOR IT. Also a lovely portrayal of Autistic Eli struggling with social cues and not picking up on things that seem “obvious” to others, and I am ALWAYS down for Autistic Eli!!! I mean...it’s basically canon, but super-convincing portrayals can be rare, and this fic NAILS it. Also, the BANTER??? Incredible. 10/10. And Eli kissing SUPER aggressively is always gonna be a YES in my book!

Leave the Past in the Past by agoldengalaxy Would you like to see Hawk going ABSOLUTELY FERAL protecting Demetri from the Cobras??? Look no further! Am I a misogynist for thoroughly enjoying when Hawk goes into full beating-up-Brucks mode on Tory after she tries to fuck up Demetri? I sure hope not, because I loved every minute of it! And they smooch at the end!

3 times Eli held Demitri and 1 time Demitri held him by Thejoysofcreativity Just a REALLY great hurt/comfort fic and a pretty realistic take on how the trauma of Eli breaking Demetri’s arm would play out for both of them, even after they make up. This fic is actually where I got my headcanon of Eli hurting Demetri during sparring sometimes triggering panic attacks for Eli. And Demetri obviously trusts Eli again on a mental and emotional level, but physically he’s...still scared of him, which is depressing as hell but also heartbreakingly realistic. Also I am ALWAYS down for the Cobras hurting Demetri and Eli UTTERLY FREAKING THE FUCK OUT and realizing his feelings, it’s always just *chef’s kiss* Nothing to match an anguished love confession on death’s doorstep!

How to Inhabit a Body by unsaid_eddie An AU where Hawk and Eli get split into two bodies, and they gotta figure out how to conjoin again with Demetri’s help! When I first read the synopsis I was like “that’s so goddamn wacky, I don’t know if I can jive with that” but it’s executed like...amazingly??? Like a surprisingly brilliant take on the whole “Eli/Hawk finds balance/union between the ‘Eli’ and ‘Hawk’ parts of his personality” thing, and seeing Hawk and Eli finally admit the things they actually like about each other was surprisingly cathartic. And seeing Eli’s take on his feelings for Demetri vs. Hawk’s take on his feelings for Demetri was somehow equally hilarious and heartbreaking. Also Demetri’s sarcasm here is A+, what an absolute savage legend.

Sparrowhawk by cc tinslebee Demetri and Moon talk about the gradual progression from “Eli” to “Hawk,” and how hard it was for both of them. Because they both loved his soft side :( A really great Demetri and Moon friendship fic (love their dynamic!!!), and I loved the epiphany they both have at the end that Hawk and Eli aren’t separate entities, but exist to balance each other out--one can’t exist without the other, and that’s okay. And the ending was JUST SO CUTE, like Moon seeing Eli and Demetri being together and friends again after the Christmas fight and knowing there’s A Thing going on between them, but not prying about it in case they’re not comfortable having it out in the open? Her being totally all right with it as long as Demetri’s happy and being treated well??? PURE

With Friends By Your Side by cc tinslebee Basically a fic exploring how Hawk processes Demetri having made several new close friends in his absence and basically ALL of them being suspicious AF of him, including none other than Hawk’s very own ex girlfriend!!! An utterly excellent time, and a fantastic way to indugle all of the many BroTPs I have for our boi Demetri! Also Hawk and Sam bonding over how freaked out Demetri was by Sam being in a hit-and-run (even funnier that it was JOHNNY) is PRICELESS. Moon and Hawk attempting to have a one-on-one conversation with some of that ex awkwardness still floating around is honestly pretty funny, too. ANYWAYS WHOLESOME FRIENDSHIP FLUFF FTW

Watch your back by Veirtyel For starters, I absolutely ADORE the initial look at Eli and Demetri's friendship AFTER it’s been fully rekindled after the christmas fight--no sitting through a bunch of tension and awkwardness this time, we just get straight to them being comfortable around each other and having fun together and teasing each other like they used to and sometimes that’s EXACLY what I need. Like as much as I love The Drama, sometimes I just wanna skip to the part where they’re bffs again, you feel? And Demetri and Eli??? Talking about Nerd Shit and also roasting the Star Wars prequels together??? Literally ALWAYS down for that, I just wanna see nerds being nerds and having nerdy conversations and nerdy arguments about nerd shit. EXCELLENT. And Eli letting the Cobras beat him up so that Demetri can get away??? My darlings Sam and Miguel showing up to help Eli, and Eli and Sam finally starting to become friends??? Eli and Sam bonding over what a fuck Kyler is, just like I’ve always dreamed??? Eli teasing everyone with that signature smug Hawk cockiness, but not being a total asshole about it??? Demetri realizing he actually PREFERS the combined Eli/Hawk to the original Eli, and deciding current Eli is Best Eli? UTTER FUCKING PERFECTION. AMEN.

Who would EVER kiss this shit? by Jackonthelongwalk The ultimate wish fulfillment fic we ALL need, i.e. Demetri Volunteering As Tribute when Eli starts panicking about Kyler saying no one would ever kiss that shit! After how CRUSHED Eli was after that scene, and how much I KNOW Demetri wanted to prove Kyler the Megadouche wrong, this was BEYOND cathartic. Also, nothing will ever be funnier to me than Demetri not noticing Eli’s texts...because he’s busy scouring the internet trying to figure out if he’s gay for Eli XD And Demetri kisses him??? So SOFTLY and TENDERLY??? I CRI

Spoilers for My Valentine by Asphodelia A recent favorite! I read this while gorging myself on a bunch of discount candy I bought the day after Valentine’s Day, which made it all the better XD This was so great, like Demetri just utterly trolling Hawk by getting him all these genuinely thoughtful little gifts that spoil the shit out of all the “nerd shit” he used to watch is the perfect blend of hilarious and adorable. And Demetri being a cocky little shit about his big master scheme to lure Eli back to the side of the light, and bragging about said scheme to Miguel??? Priceless. Also, the flashback to little Eli giving little Demetri all of his valentines because he didn’t didn’t like anyone else in their class??? Incredible. 10/10. An inspiration. And Eli’s utter obliviousness that Demetri is into him is, of course, priceless. And Demetri’s simple little love poems to Eli toward the end were just so understatedly sweet. Honestly, this one was entirely worth it solely for the line “Are you trying to fuck the nerd back into me?” Absolutely iconic.

Indelible by Emma_Oz So someone basically took the idea of Hawk saying “You may be a pussy, but you’re MY pussy” to Demetri and made it into a fanfiction...and it’s actually brilliant??? The slow evolution of Hawk going from calling Demetri pussy (derogatory) to pussy (affectionate) is just...fantastic??? And one of the rare examples of a soulmate-esque AU I can actually get into...I’m usually not big into soulmate AUs, if mainly because I’m not crazy about the whole there’s-a-person-you’re-cosmically-obligated-to-date thing XD But this one was EXCELLENT, especially with Hawk having the slow realization that being a “pussy” the way Johnny and Kreese talk about isn’t inherently a bad thing. And him learning to appreciate Demetri for not running headfirst into every fight and settling everything with his fists like an idiot “badass?” HERE. FOR. IT. Also seeing a bit of their childhood friendship and Demetri’s unrequited love angst was just *chef’s kiss*, even though it made my heart hurt real bad. Worth it in the end, though!

Friends Kiss, Right? by AKW_aka_Awkward A pretty great fic my buddy wrote based on the headcanon that’s been floating around in the Binary Boyfriends fandom that Demetri and Eli definitely did some romantic stuff pre-Cobra Kai without actually realizing it was romantic because...they were each other’s only friend, so they had no basis of comparison XD Seeing all of Demetri’s friends react to him thinking giving your friends comfort kisses ON THE MOUTH was normal was downright hilarious. Also the fact that Demetri has to seriously consider whether he would make out with Miguel before going “mmmm not into it” and Anthony’s brief but brilliant cameo are the BEST FUCKIN THING.

Balance by scifigeek14 Probably the best take I’ve seen on the “Hawk and Demetri use the balance wheel!” trope. And, of course, lots of bantering and talking about nerd shit, which I am ALWAYS down for. And Hawk and Demetri apologizing to each other!!! In depth!!! AND DEMETRI BEING JUST UTTERLY IN LOVE WITH BOTH HAWK AND ELI??? EMBRACING BOTH HIS BEST FRIEND’S SIDES AND LOVING THEM BOTH WITH ALL HIS HEART??? ABSOLUTELY, POUR THAT SHIT OVER ME LIKE A GODDAMN RAINSTORM. And Demetri saying how he should always have been proud of Eli, and then shouting about how proud he is to have Eli as a best friend??? Eli is crying, and SO THE FUCK AM I. Also Demetri being like “He pretends to like Dungeons and Dragons because he knows I like it!” HAHAHAHA what a good friend XD AND THEY KISS ON THE WATER WHEEL, FUCK YES. Also bonsai tree trimming and symbolism??? Daniel LaRusso having snark to rival Demetri’s simultaneously with ancient wisdom about balance and trust??? Demetri asking Eli to be his boyfriend VIA BONSAI TREE (it makes sense in context, I promise)??? LIVING. FOR. IT.

Who You Are Inside by Asphodelia A Golden Compass AU!!! Excellent!!! Demetri’s daemon being a chameleon was surprisingly brilliant--I honestly imagined it being a cat or something, but a chameleon actually fits so much better, considering he always wanted to be invisible. And the part where his daemon is walking around his desk imitating Hawk had me fucking WHEEZING. Also Eli’s daemon as a smol angeri bird, divebombing him? PRICELESS. A bonus is that the daemons for the other characters are also like 1000% appropriate, especially Miguel’s and Johnny’s.  A very good time indeed!

Multi-Parters

It’s the connection we cannot series by tudou4646 Basically just a series of really wholesome one-shots about Demetri and Hawk dating, starting after Hawk gets ambushed by the Cobras and Demetri realizes his feelings for him (and Hawk and Demetri??? Realizing via massive freakout when one of them gets hurt that they’re into each other??? I LIVE FOR THAT SHIT). It shows little snippets of their relationship after the dojo merge and it’s just CUTE AS FUCK. 10/10 banter and fluff, would read again. Also in the latest chapter they cosplay as Starlord and Gamora!!! My god, I was SCREAMING.

Flowers for You by WanderingSpiritCC The fic that taught me what the fuck a hanahaki AU actually is!!! Basically a look at the events of Season 3 from Hawk’s POV, but with him being...more explicitly aware that he’s in unrequited love with Demetri D: Also showcases how Hawk fights physically and Demetri fights with words pretty amazingly. Includes such other desirable tropes as Kreese being an absolute fuck, Demetri rambling and complaining about the movie endlessly all throughout Movie Night, Demetri talking a lot in general and Hawk absolutely loving it, adorable flashbacks to them both being younger and Demetri and Demetri alone getting Eli through the really hard days, and of course the Cobras fucking Hawk up and Demetri UTTERLY FREAKING OUT because OH GOD NO PLEASE DON’T HURT MY LITTLE ELI HE IS MY ENTIRE WORLD DON’T YOU DARE TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME (--Demetri any time Hawk/Eli gets hurt, probably). And Demetri??? Apologizing to Hawk for HIS part in their issues and falling out??? AGREEING TO CALL HIM HAWK IF HE WANTS??? ALWAYS cathartic (still holding out hope for some canon variation of this!!!). And Demetri fully loving and accepting “Hawk” as well as “Eli”??? MY HEART CAN’T FUCKIN TAKE IT, I’M TOO HAPPY

(You Can’t Handle) Somebody Loving You by hunkydorkling Oh my, someone is sneaking Demetri LOVE NOTES! Who could it be??? Heh, a lovely valentine’s day fic featuring one of my all-time favorite fanfic tropes--one half of the OTP sneaks the other love notes and shenanigans ensue!!! I even tried writing one of these fics, back in the day XD ANYWAYS this satisfied alllll my jealous!Hawk needs, and also??? Demetri being an idiot??? For 6 chapters straight??? Utterly fantastic. Also just really loved the dynamic between Hawk, Miguel, and Demetri in this, and the pretty realistic take on what a friendship between Hawk and Demetri would actually look like after they’ve grown back together after the Christmas fight, but Hawk still being the snarky, overconfident, hot-tempered fuck that he is and also salty as all hell about how oblivious Demetri is XD. And at the end, THEY WRASSLE! THEY SMOOCH! THEY ARE NO LONGER PAINFULLY OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THEY ARE IN LOVE! GLORIOUS! And Demetri yelling at Hawk to not be so self-loathing or he’ll beat him up??? The serotonin rush was UNREAL.

Can’t Fight This Feeling by SlySilver Another recent favorite! Do you like Sadboi Eli??? Do you love hurt/comfort fics??? This is the fic for you!!! Admittedly the they/them pronouns for Eli took a little getting used to, but I think the nonbinary Eli idea is a really fascinating concept and I love reading people’s takes on it! And of course, I am absolutely ALWAYS a slut for fics that have Autistic Eli on display, in his/their full glory!!! Like man, I eat that shit up like Halloween candy. There’s a part where Eli gets super stressed out and goes nonverbal for a bit, but Eli and Demetri worked out kind of a hand-tapping language to use in those kind of situations when they were kids so that they can still communicate, and reading about it makes me absolutely WEAK because that is ADORABLE. Plus Sam and Miguel show up and hang with the dudes!!! Sam and Eli talk things out!!! Like the fluff???? Demetri being a supportive boyfriend??? Eli getting to heal from their trauma??? Excellent. Utterly flawless.

Ongoing

Breaking the Hawk by OptimisticallyCynical Well, I can hardly compile a list of quality Hawkmetri fanfiction without mentioning this one, now can I? It started out as basically a super dark take on the question “What if Demetri just..snapped?” Like what if he finally had enough of Hawk’s bullying and abuse, and just decided to use their past relationship to get the ultimate revenge and mindfuck Hawk into absolute oblivion? I’ll admit, for a while I was just following because I was morbidly curious what utterly fucked up thing would happen next XD But then Demetri and Hawk actually...talk through their issues eventually??? And start dating??? I was not expecting the surprisingly wholesome turn, but I’m absolutely not complaining. And in later chapters, we get an interesting subplot of Robby becoming close friends with Hawk, and both Demetri and Hawk have to reconcile their close friendships with Robby with their close friendships with Miguel, since Miguel and Robby reeeeally don’t like each other. This story has been, and continues to be, an utterly wild ride, but you best believe I’m in it for the long haul.

Second Chances by Asphodelia A wacky magic AU where Demetri uses some supernatural meddling to accidentally swap the “Hawk” from his timeline with the earlier “Eli” from another timeline, so essentially Hawk and Eli swap places and shenanigans and angst ensue. Honestly both really interesting and lowkey heartbreaking to see how Hawk interacts with pre-Cobra Kai Demetri when he’s launched back into that relationship, and how Eli reacts to suddenly having a bright red mohawk and being in the middle of a dojo war where he’s pitted against his best friend. Also Hawk trying to karate-train pre-Cobra Kai Demetri so he can be “toughened up” by the time the inevitable dojo war comes into the picture, and Demetri being utterly appalled at the thought of him and Eli ever hurting each other, even if it’s just in sparring??? Excuse me while I go cry.

binary boys by extremebipanic Cobra Kai from Demetri and Eli’s point of view!!! Right now it’s still pre-Hawk, but it’s full of fluff and wholesome friendship moments and Demetri and Eli just blatantly crushing on each other and it’s great <3 Honestly a really great interpretation of what their friendship might’ve been like in Season 1, behind the scenes. Also love the take on how they react to Miguel--both happy to have a new friend, but kind of nervous about how the addition of a new person will change their dynamic with each other. I just know this fic’s gonna rip my heart out and stomp on it as soon as Eli turns into Hawk and shit goes down and I am SO ready for it but also terrified, anyways LET’S GOOOOOO

Sick of Losing Soulmates by Hope15 Y’all want a brutally realistic, slow-burn Eli redemption arc??? Look no further!!! Also an AU where Demetri and Eli were secret boyfriends before Cobra Kai, and a lot of Eli’s self-loathing and destructive behavior comes from internalized homophobia and hating that he’s gay, which is a really compelling take. Also the angst in this absolutely GIVES ME LIFE, even though it makes my heart hurt. Demetri’s anger, while hurting to read, is super realistic. And I really love Eli’s steely determination to fix ALL the broken relationships in his life--not just with Demetri, but with Miguel and Johnny too!!! Elimetri may be Best Ship but we DO NOT disregard the other important relationships in Eli’s life in this house. Also ELI HAS A LITTLE SISTER WHO LOVES DEMETRI, I’M DYING, THAT’S SO CUTE

Getting Back to Us by AKW_aka_Awkward Do you like angst??? Do you like reading about the Cobras targeting Demetri to get revenge on Hawk and then Hawk going absolutely fucking FERAL because he will NOT have that shit??? Do you want to see poor Hawk have a breakdown over Deme getting hurt and get some heartwarming moments where Johnny and Daniel attempt to comfort their Disaster Son??? This is the fic for you! Also Demetri having a foster mom and a not-great home life in general was a really interesting take that I don’t see a lot and a pretty neat concept to explore. Although it DOES add some tension between Eli and Demetri when Eli’s forced to reveal Demetri’s in the foster system, which made my heart ache even more than it already does for them every day D: Here’s to hoping my boys can be happy eventually!!!

Pinning this because every homie who comes to my blog deserves good Binary Boyfriend fic recommendations!

Also sorry I haven’t been doing asks lately, it’s because I’ve been working on this monster of a post!!! Hopefully I can get back to them now!