bakerstreet | OTHERWORDLY.

Honey pursed her lips and lifted one eyebrow before deciding that she wasn't going to ask about the gummy bear situation. She hadn't yet been around Hiro enough to fully realize how deep his sugar addiction went. Once she found out, he was doomed to be a taste tester if she ever tried her hand at making candies.

For Tadashi's benefit, Honey Lemon lifted the phone slightly to give him a better view. Several more dings heralded the arrival of a small force of kaiju emotes. "Practice," she said after a moment's hesitation. She winced as another message came in. "Lots and lots of... practice."

She preferred the simpler ones, herself. Freddy's were just a little... much.

Edited 2015-05-29 06:33 (UTC)

On the one hand, Tadashi admired Fred's enthusiasm and energy for things he loved. As a scientist, he understood the concept intimately. It was the fact that he took it this far that made some of Tadashi's research into psychology programming for Baymax stray into kaijukin and other degrees of weirdness. There was a reason that Fred took the school mascot costume home, but ultimately Tadashi's just decided to roll with it and not analyze it psychologically anymore.

"You know that Jon Stewart quote - 'Some people look at the glass and say it's half full, some people look at it and say it's a dragon'? That's Fred." In a good way, though. Fred brightened things up in his own way. "Ask a simple question, get kaiju. Just tell him Mothra is yes and Godzilla is no and see what we get."

Those are the only monsters Tadashi can ever keep straight, anyway.

That quote really did seem to sum up Fred perfectly. Fighting a smile, Honey obediently tapped the message into her phone. Another popped back almost immediately:

Can't talk. Godzilla attack. Millions dead. Send help. Tomorrow: all signs point Mothra.

She had to shake her head. Freddy really was something else. He brought a definite spark of something different to their little group dynamic in the lab. Even if he did insist several times a month that she should mix up a formula to turn him into a fire-breathing lizard.

All of that aside, there were still no replies from Gogo or Wasabi.

"I guess that answers that," she said, carefully tucking her phone into the purse that was still slung over her shoulder. Honey swallowed her disappointment, accepting that last minute invites sometimes didn't go well. There was always tomorrow to try for a group thing. "I guess it's just us for right now. What do you want to do, Tadashi?"

He was the one who seemed to really need the break, so she would follow his lead.

"...unbelievable. I really didn't think the Mothra thing would work." He's not surprised, though, when he really examines it in his head. So he shakes his head slightly and snaps his fingers as he remembers something. "Didn't Gogo say her folks were in town tonight? So that's a no there. They threatened to reveal her real name if she didn't come." A threat that worked on Wasabi, too, although Tadashi had seen the black boy's actual name on a piece of paperwork once and was now sworn to secrecy on a copy of National Robotics Society magazine, in lieu of a Bible.

He eyed the clock and realized he didn't know if it meant AM or PM. This project would be the death of him at this rate. "Well, there's a place just a little bit off-campus I've been stopping by regularly. Y'know, get some food that isn't my Aunt's cooking but isn't cafeteria slop. And I'm pretty sure I missed a meal, so, since you got me cupcakes - foodbreak, my treat?" It's only fair. She's brought them all snacks more times than he can even remember. Honey's good to them all like that. "I know you're always up for trying new things."

And then she'd go decode the food's recipe using only her mind because baking was but one more form of chemistry, and she knew her science well.

"Oh, they are!" She had completely forgotten about it, but now that Tadashi mentioned it, she did remember Gogo rolling her eyes in disgust at the idea of her parents blackmailing her. That explained the lack of texts -- Gogo had likely turned off her phone while visiting. She really wasn't the type to play on her phone while someone tried to spend time with her.

At the idea of food, she tapped her lip thoughtfully, considering it fully. She didn't want to put Tadashi out by accepting (really, since it was her idea to go out, shouldn't she be paying?), but she also didn't want to be a burden by arguing unnecessarily -- this was supposed to be a fun break! Finally, she soothed her conscience by deciding that yes, it was fair trade and flashed Tadashi a bright smile. "I can't think of a better way to spend a break! But there's one condition."

She turned to face him, holding out both hands to stop any thoughts of disagreement if there were any and looking him dead in the eyes. "Our projects? They stay in the lab, okay? You have to promise me." She dropped the serious expression for a concerned one as she clasped her hands together at her chest. "You're so stressed lately!"

Edited 2015-05-30 06:49 (UTC)

"Knew there was a catch - fine, not one word about our projects, I promise. I'm not stressed, though. Just working. There's a difference." In theory there is, anyway, but he's not sure where his workaholic tendencies, the secrets he keeps and the quiet nagging doubt he'll ever invent something truly remarkable end and begin when it comes to stress. It's a blur of worries he can't quite remember living without anymore.

He found it hard to hold her gaze, though, looking at her earnest amber-green eyes that trusted and cared for him. If she only knew the things going on behind the scenes, would her eyes have the same compassion in them? More likely she'd look at him aghast at what he's done, the thing he turns into in his darkest hours.

Rubbing at his neck awkwardly, he adds, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, Honey."

"Don't be sorry," Honey said immediately, smiling gently and reaching out to touch his arm. "I just want to be sure you're doing okay -- that you're taking care of yourself."

She wanted what was best for all of her friends. What use was using chemistry to make the world a brighter place if she couldn't brighten the lives of those immediately around her?

Worried that she'd brought the mood down too much, Honey brightened again and turned to at least lead the way out of the lab (she'd let Tadashi take point after that), making her way toward the elevator and pressing the button before spinning around to face Tadashi again. "Okay, enough of that! We are on a break. Let's recharge those brain cells, get that fresh air, and relax!"

"Right. It's nice enough out I'm actually onboard with walking instead of taking my moped everywhere. Assuming you don't mind walking in heels that far," he added, wondering if they were really as uncomfortable as Aunt Cass said heels were. They never seemed to impede Honey's movements, but then again, not being a girl, his knowledge of that kind of thing was limited.

Tadashi yawned and stretched before smiling a little sheepishly at her. "Thanks. For getting me out of the lab. We don't hang out enough these days." It was entirely possible that he had just missed his friends more now that more fragments of his other personality's memories were occupying his time. He couldn't recall much of it clearly, but what he did remember was enough to drive a man mad in and of itself. He felt like his head was getting too crowded to function sometimes.

If he could just get Baymax to be able to help him- no. He had to give it all a rest. He was with Honey, the San Fransokyo air was crisp and alive, and he could feel his stomach, woken up by a wonderful cupcake, gurgling at him, reminding him he needed food. All this would be waiting when he got back.

"Y'know, my mom was the same way about her work? My dad was a cardiologist with a specialty in pediatric cardiology so you'd think he'd be the one always looking at his notes, but my mom was a neurologist and some nights I'd try and sneak a late night snack and she'd have four medical journals spread out on the table and be comparing their notes for her own practice. She'd give me cookies if I promised not to wake my dad up so she could stay up."

In a lot of ways, Hiro has their mother's visible enthusiasm and definitely looks like her more than Tadashi, particularly when it came to their large eyes, but Tadashi had realized lately he was more of his mother's son than he'd given himself credit for.

Because of her years of interest in fashion, walking in platforms and wedges had become second nature to Honey. A lot of people tended to like the quote about how a person had to suffer for fashion, but Honey didn't quite agree. Fashion was one of her favorite ways to express herself. Some of her choices in footwear might seem impractical, but she was comfortable with the balancing act of navigating the world several inches above her natural height. So she waved Tadashi's question off. "These are great for walking. I actually picked them out just in case you would agree to go out tonight."

If they had to sprint anywhere, she might be in trouble, but for a leisurely stroll? She would be fine. Honey Lemon closed her eyes, clasping her hands behind her back and enjoying the night air as they walked. It did a lot to wash away worries about deadlines and all of the minor problems that filled day-to-day life.

She opened her eyes again when Tadashi started to talk about his parents. She couldn't recall him ever talking about them extensively, and she didn't know a lot about how they died. She tried not to pry when it came to things like that -- Honey couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do if something ever happened to her immediate family. She missed them enough as it was living apart from them.

"Hearing that, now I know why you always seem like you would be a great doctor," Honey observed. "It sounds like you had some really great role models."

It was nice, learning something new about Tadashi. And sort of cute to hear that his mom would bribe him with cookies. They sounded like people who Honey would have loved to meet.

"But I think we need to stick more with you eating cookies, than with you overworking yourself."

"Oh." That's... really nice even for her and he blushes faintly. Honey wanted to go out with him tonight and his brain had to fight itself to reconfigure that into the non-date it actually was. Fortunately the cool night air helped clear his head and he inhaled deeply, savoring the light breeze.

It's beautiful out and he's safe with her, he knows that. He's never had a switch of personality in front of his friends. For once, the tension eases out of him, and he looks out at the cityscape dominated by lights and lanterns and sees it for the beautiful spectrum of glows that it is. Even if it's just for now, with Honey, he's normal, and thus, free.

Tadashi has never talked about his parents much - Hiro doesn't remember them, Aunt Cass grew pained by the mere mention of them, but he still thought about them, mulled over his memories, remembered those simple days. It doesn't feel as strange as he thought it might to talk to Honey about them.

"I dunno, eventually my dad started bribing me with brownies to tell on my mom. So the moral of the story here seems to be 'bribe your way to victory'." He grins, though, because those were good times, and he nods at her. "I get what you're saying. That's why I'm out of the lab for once." And he's grateful for that, he really is.

For her part, Honey Lemon didn't notice the blush. She was too busy looking at the signs they passed, reading the Japanese advertisements and guessing at some of the smaller mom and pop business with tiny signs written in Korean. The diversity was one of her favorite parts about San Fransokyo. It was always giving her new ideas for outfit designs, inspiring her to tweak and add to the boutique whenever she had time to sit down with her laptop and make updates.

But she had told Tadashi they would leave projects behind. She intended that to mean all projects. So she turned her attention back to him, listening intently and wrinkling her nose slightly as she fought a smile. Watching Tadashi talk about his parents like this, she couldn't help but notice how happy those memories seemed to make him. Which was good -- she was glad to see that he'd taken a positive route and focused on the good times from those days.

She started to open her mouth to continue along the current conversation, but her eyes widened as they passed one street and... the angle was too perfect. That sliver of sky! The wind turbines lit up with bright neon blues and greens! Everything about it screamed photo.

Excited, she tugged at Tadashi's arm to make him stop, bouncing a step away the next moment and spreading her arms to gesture energetically at the side street.

"Oh my gosh, Tadashi! Look at that view -- it's perfect. I mean, we can't not take a photo, right?" If it was an actual question, it didn't require much input on Tadashi's part -- Honey was already hopping back a step with her phone flipped to camera mode, lining up the shot. "Quick, get in frame -- say break~ night~!"

The laugh that escapes him is genuine, startled but not surprised, and he mock-salutes as he dutifully gets into place, smiling. Only Honey sees beauty in San Fransokyo these days, it seems - it overwhelms a lot of people and makes others long for the countryside, and San Fransokyo natives are used to it. But through Honey's eyes, everything old is new again, and he loves that about her, that she can look at the world around her and find things not only good but worth getting excited about.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders (well, just below the shoulders; he's not that tall) and smiles for the picture, resting his head against hers. "Break night~!"

Tadashi can't help but think he's kinda glad everybody else is busy. Tonight, there's nowhere else he'd rather be other than with Honey.

Honey stayed close for an extra minute after the picture, using the excuse of pulling up the result to inspect it. She smiled once she had it displayed, angling the phone slightly for Tadashi so he could see as she tapped the screen to add a few stickers and effects. "What do you think? It's a keeper, right?"

She smiled at the picture for a moment longer, then seemed to remember what they were supposed to be doing and stepped away, closing out the app on her phone and sliding it away again. It was easy to take things at a slower pace with Tadashi. Gogo was a results and destination rather than the journey kind of girl. Wasabi was high strung in a way that sometimes made her anxious. And Freddy was... well, it was hard to focus on anything but Fred's adventures if they ever hung out. But Tadashi was different. And it was a nice different.

"Once school lets out for the semester, we should absolutely go on more walks," she decided. "At least when it's this nice out!"

Edited 2015-06-06 05:07 (UTC)

"All your pictures are keepers. I hear the school's looking for a new newspaper photographer next semester, and I think you should totally go for it," he replied earnestly, looking at her keen eye for the lights and angle of the shot. He'd walked by these kinds of places his whole life without ever grasping that there was another angle to them, but Honey captured the relaxed mood of a lazy San Fransokyo night perfectly.

He took a half-step back, not wanting to get up into her personal space if she didn't want him to be. It was just easy to get relaxed around her and forget about that kind of thing; she had a sort of easy-going attitude that radiated from her and spread. "Once school lets out for the semester I'll have to help out my Aunt at the cafe. Maybe you could debut your new and improved cupcakes there." It's half a joke, but seriously, kids would love it.

Newspaper photography? She had never really thought about it before, but... wow! She would need to check with her current projects to make sure she would have the space to squeeze it in while still saving time for the other things she enjoyed, but...

"I don't know that I have enough free time, but I will look into it for sure! Thanks, Tadashi." She beamed and pressed her thumbs and forefingers together to create a frame that she lined Tadashi's face up in.

At the mention of the cafe, Honey clapped her hands together. She wasn't sure if he was actually serious, but if he was... Well, lately she hadn't had any chances to really get her cooking experiments out there (other than to their little group). She missed the flutter of excitement she always got in her stomach when she had her cooking judged. The cooking contest she'd entered had been amazing, but it had been years ago. Other things had come up since then and she'd just... had other experiments come first.

"Do you think your aunt would mind? I mean, are you serious? I could write her an official proposal and bring a sample set, or--." She was getting ahead of herself. Honey Lemon reined herself in. "Or I could try to not create another project to work on when we're in the middle of break night."

"Honey, calm down - of course my Aunt would let you show 'em off. She'll probably love it more than I do. And it's not a project, just an idea." He sighed, recalling all the times he'd hung out with his friends before... before his inner demon had made its' presence known again. But he couldn't put the focus on himself, he had to make it the rest of the nerd herd's issue. "Sometimes I wonder if college is taking away all our time for hobbies, you know? I mean, other than Wasabi going to that one Star Trek thing, lately it seems like everybody's all work, except Fred. So yeah, you should do the cupcake thing at the cafe. But only if you have fun with it."

Fun. That was not a word he should have used; it set off a memory of all too recent events. He'd come to his senses in the lab once about a week ago, washing red off his hands, dirty clothes hidden in a bin under his work station in the lab, eyes still wearing the colored contacts of his other personality, and had a flash of memory from what that monster had said and done before he came to - a recollection of fire and eerie orange streetlights reflecting in a scared man's face as the person controlling Tadashi's body grinned like a madman and jeered, 'Let's have some fun tonight, shall we?'

Nausea overtook Tadashi in the present day and he turned, abruptly, hand over his mouth, stomach churning around the one cupcake he'd had. It took him a moment to push the feeling away, and he blinked hazily, inhaling the soothing cold air.

"Even Fred keeps busy," Honey added, wrapping her arms around herself and smiling wanly as she considered it. Out of everyone, Fred was probably who she texted most. Usually he talked in nerd code that she couldn't always decipher clearly, but sometimes he brought up what he was actually working on. From what she understood, he did a lot of volunteering, though she wasn't sure where. That was a different sort of busy than the college course-load sort of busy everyone else was falling prey to, however. "I would have fun with the cupcakes. I could talk to your aunt, we could get everyone together, and we could whip up a--"

"Tadashi? Are you okay?"

The instant Tadashi turned away, Honey stopped as well. Her eyebrows drew closer together in concern as she noticed his posture and she quickly moved to stand beside him again, automatically attempting to sooth whatever was wrong by rubbing his back. "Hey, talk to me? Are you feeling sick?"

Whatever was wrong, it had occurred so suddenly that it alarmed Honey.

He tried to say something in reply, but for a moment all that came out was a ragged breath. Screams. He remembered screams, choked off by something, something that sounded like liquid hitting the ground- gasoline. It hit him suddenly. The police's report had mentioned excellerants. And then Tadashi felt positively light headed, and slumped against the nearest building to stay standing. After a few seconds, that ceased to be enough, so he slid down until he was sitting.

A secondary, different panic hit him: he had to explain this to Honey. He had to come up with some kind of excuse. Keeping her out of this was top priority, no question. Still struggling to keep his food down, he took deep, slow, deliberate breaths, trying to make something up. An idea finally fumbled out his mouth half formed.

"S-sorry. Don't usually eat sweets on an empty stomach, or much at all. That's really Hiro's thing. Guess my stomach isn't thrilled with me skipping meals, either."

Those are weak enough seperately, but maybe together, they'll work? Either way, he can honestly say, "I feel dizzy." Is that a low blood sugar symptom? He hoped it was. Anything that could give his lies a bit of a credibility was always welcome.

To Honey, Tadashi had always been an upstanding person. She would never suspect he was lying without something to give her an obvious clue. And even then, she would be slow to give in to suspicion -- she tended to try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Swallowing the lump of panic that formed, Honey nodded quickly to the explanation.

She couldn't panic. Keeping that firmly in mind, she switched over to a no-nonsense tone and whipped out her phone. "I'm calling your aunt to come pick you up."

Though she didn't have the number programmed into her phone, she knew the name of the cafe and it was easy enough to pull up on the internet and select the number. She pressed the phone to her ear and placed a comforting hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Don't worry! We'll get you home and to a decent meal in a jiffy. Just don't move for now. Everything will be okay -- I promise."

Once Tadashi felt better she would give him such a lecture for skipping meals often enough for this to happen. It was exactly what she had been worried about -- Tadashi wasn't taking care of himself at all.

He groaned. "Aunt Cass is going to kill me." And oh God, that was not a lie. She expected this kind of thing from Hiro. She didn't like it, but she could tolerate it in Hiro because it seemed to be a phase geniuses went through. Tadashi was supposed to be past this point. He was supposed to be the responsible one.

But arguing with Honey not to call would just raise more questions, questions he didn't have answers for because logically he should have wanted to go home. Tadashi would, if he was really just running on low blood sugar, accept the barrage of his Aunt Cass's questions and dutifully eat and go to bed. So he lets Honey make the call and just facepalms, hard, trying to focus on the moderately cold ground and not on the horrible mental images still lingering in his mind's eye.

Honey, still crouching down, shuffled slightly to put her back to Tadashi as she listened intensely to the woman on the other end of the line grow more high-pitched. She talked quietly into the phone, giving the proper directions and assuring the older woman that, yes, she would look after Tadashi until she got there and, of course, Cass was not a bad parent and Tadashi would be just fine after some food and rest. Once the conversation was finished, she hung up the phone and turned sheepishly back to Tadashi.

"She says she'll be here soon. Do you want some -- I think I have some water in my bag." Not waiting for an answer, she shuffled things aside, looking for the water bottle she was sure should still be in there. Honey Lemon found it near the bottom, still unopened, and pulled it triumphantly free. "Found it!"

That sounded bad. He hated that he had worried Aunt Cass like that, because at points her volume grew to the point he could hear it from his point on the ground, and he winces because he's put her through so much already. It was so selfish that he wished he could tell someone about the real reasons behind this when it would hurt them so much.

He blinked slowly, taking his hand away from his mouth where he'd been biting at his knuckles. "Thanks. I - I'm really sorry, Honey. This hasn't happened since high school, so I just. I don't know, I guess I sort of figured I was past this." Tadashi was referring to a totally different 'this', but it was true, and he wasn't sure if that time gap between public breakdowns would help or hurt his case with Aunt Cass. Inhaling slowly, panic subsiding even as the nausea remained, he muttered quietly, "You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. I know I messed up pretty badly, here."

Honey was the last person he wanted seeing him like this. She deserved so much better from life, from her friends, and if he could go back and do life over he'd push her clear of the blast radius that was his life. Exhausted, he sipped at the water, feeling his heartbeat in his head and his friendships crumble and crack with the weight of all his bad decisions, willing and otherwise.

Honey eyed the spot on the ground next to Tadashi for just an instant, then settled herself down gingerly beside him so that she didn't drop too hard to the pavement because of her platforms. Once settled, she folded her hands over her knees, her shoulder not far from his and offered a smile.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm going to stay." She couldn't think of a single reason why she wouldn't. Tadashi was in trouble. And it was up to her to save the day. "Did I ever tell you about the time I messed up a chemical reaction under the kitchen sink?"

She paused for effect, looking at him over her glasses, then lifted the fingers of her hands slightly in a gesture of 'surprise!'.

"The answer is no. Because I haven't told anyone. I was so embarrassed. I was trying to find just the right formula to get the level of viscosity I needed. I was experimenting with potassium, but then I forgot that I'd promised a friend to help her with her outfit for the weekend." She made a face as she talked with her hands, making it very obvious that her story was about to take a turn for the worse. "What I didn't know was that our sink had a leak. My dad went to get water for coffee and BOOM!"

She fluttered her hands before dropping them to rest on her knees again and biting the inside of her lip. "No more kitchen sink."

Leaning over to nudge Tadashi's shoulder slightly, she offered another smile. "We all mess up sometimes. It's okay -- that's life, right?"

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