Let it Out

by CurlyNerdy101

The stress of uni gets to us all, but when Tadashi really starts to lose it he now knows he can always count on his friends. One in particular. I appreciate any advice, criticisms etc. I do not own Tadashi Hamada or the BH6 universe (slavery and spouse possession has been abolished people!), my only claim is to this plot and Dot. PS: Little Marvel reference in there for you ;)

Let It Out – Tadashi Hamada

I pushed the door to the Nerd Lab open with my backside, carefully balancing two foldout coffee holders and various food bags, curtesy of the Lucky Cat Cafe, "All hail the bearer of delectable delicacies! 'Tis COFFEE TIME my emotionally, mentally and in some cases PHYSICALLY drained friends," I sent a pointed look towards one of my lab-mates as a side-note, "Seriously Macey, you should lay off visits to The Argyle, those shades are not fooling anyone; it's OVERCAST with scattered showers." I made an anti-clockwise motion with my hand in front of my imaginary weather board before yanking the blinds up next to her work space.

I'd been at SFIT on exchange for nearly a year so far. Having come from a close-knit country town I was a bit rocky at first, trying to gauge how people interacted and how 'myself' I could be. I have been told I can be a touch 'in-your-face', 'loud' and 'mumsie' sometimes, which can put some off… apparently. But, I soon made friends with Honey Lemon, go figure, and she quickly introduced me to the rest of the crew. Honestly, I think we all settled into each other as quickly as I did with my friends at home; the bond between all of us was quite strong already. This however brought out my maternal streak again which a few people found irritating. Thankfully, the guys embraced it as openly as they did everything else.

I made the rounds dolling out the lab's orders, going to everyone else before I attended my mates. "Here's an espresso and a sushi roll for Gogo, which I really don't think is the best mix on those skates, but whatever," I walked past Tony's jet-boot testing area, barely holding out the items before Gogo whizzed past, snatching them up.

"Thanks Dot" Gogo started skating circles around me.

"You're welcome, just slow down a bit okay; I can see this playing out like a YouTube video!"

She gave me a look, "Come on Dotti, this is ME you're talking to."

I nodded, "True-dat." I reached Honey Lemon's workspace. Fred was enthusiastically watching her secure a test tube above a Bunsen burner from his perch on her desk. "The usual Freddie," I held out the bagged donut and coke.

"Awesome, thanks Dot! Just in time; after Honey puts the heat on I'm going to persuade her to make me the Cloak of Invisibility using TIIIIINY mirrors stitched together."

Honey Lemon glanced up from her work as she turned the gas nozzle and lit a match, "Fred, I've told you, I don't think it quite works like that."

I handed Honey her blueberry muffin and orange juice as Gogo parked herself next to Fred, "Besides, what would you do with an Invisibility Cloak?"

Fred's eyes held so much wonder and surprise I thought they were going to pop out of his skull! "What could you NOT do? And imagine all the free Comicons we could go to!"

Gogo laughed and lightly elbowed him, "You're an idiot."

I turned to Honey, rolling my eyes opening up my thermos of miso soup and a container of rice and beef, "'Man's reach exceeds his grasp'."

Honey didn't even look up as she put a few drops of some pink stuff into the test tube of clear liquid letting out a fizzle, "Preaching to the choir sweetie."

I jumped up to sit on the bench top to eat, with difficulty I might add. My major work decided to backfire and leave me a nice bruise on my leg. Wasabi walked up and seated himself next to me, "Hey guys, what's happening-? Thank you."

I handed him his odon noodles, "Oh, we were just contemplating the futility with which Fred implores us to scientifically realise his fan-boy vision." I flashed them both a smile.

"Says the girl making 'Earthbender Shoes' for her major work," Fred shot back, effectively cutting me up and earning him a round of laughs.

"… Honey, Gogo, help me out here." They barely even considered it.

"Working."

"Eating."

I took a sip of the hardy liquid, "Gee, thanks buddies."

It was just starting to sprinkle down outside. It was a weird balance of humidity, the beginnings of winter rain and delicious cross-breezes today (supplied by every open window available), creating a cosy but cool feeling within the lab.

Something occurred to me as I scanned our group, "Speaking of obsessives, where's Tadashi?"

Everyone stopped their munching and looked around for themselves. "He couldn't still be in his lab, could he?" Wasabi asked.

Gogo lowered her coffee, "That makes it what? Five days? A week?"

We'd all been so wrapped up in our own projects we hadn't really been able to give it much thought. Not that 'Dashi was being very social himself; he'd barely let ME in the other day.

Honey had left her mix to bubble for a while so she could eat, "Has he even gone home to shower or sleep?"

Fred squirmed involuntarily, "Well, he went home for a few hours during the first couple of days, but now he's set up a foam mattress and showers in the decontamination unit when he feels like it. That's a bit weird even for me."

It was hard to hide the concern from my voice, "I don't think he's gotten 'round to shaving in all this time." It sounded almost comical, how serious an indicative I found his facial hair, but he was usually so well groomed, it was bound to be a sign.

Honey nudged my side a bit, smirking, "Oh? And I thought you liked a bit of stubble."

I think my friends shipped Tadashi and me a bit. It wasn't a case lacking evidence; we were growing closer, and I did pay slightly more attention to him than the others, but lately that had been because of how obsessed he was becoming with his robot.

I forced a weak chuckled, "Well yeah, but not when it's attached to a moody, smelly, frazzled guy. Yesterday he even kind of yelled at me when I tried to visit him in his lab."

Just remembering the lack of patience he had made my stomach churn. I just wanted him to come and have lunch with us outside.

*** "Dorothy, could you PLEASE just leave me to my work? You really need to stop thinking of me like a child; I don't need your help."

"… No" I muttered, more to myself than to him, "I know you're not, but that doesn't mean you don't need help."

I slammed the door on my way out. ***

Fred, seeing how down we all now looked, piped up, "Well, I call he snaps at Day 10 of this escalating madness."

Gogo raised her hand, "Sames."

"Two week mark," I couldn't believe Honey Lemon was getting in on this as well.

Wasabi was next, "I have slightly more faith in the man; I give it until the third week, minimum."

I was laughing, but still… "Honestly, I don't think he'll make it much further the way he's going. You should've seen him."

There was a slight pause. We all were really concerned about Tadashi, and knew how frustrated he must be feeling, but we didn't exactly know how to act around him when he was trying so hard to avoid us. I guessed the only thing to do is to dive in head first, and keep trying.

"I'm going to go talk to him, whether he likes it or not."

Wasabi went to speak, "Um, Dotti, are you sure? You might just make him more frustrated."

I packed up my lunch and grabbed the last doggie bag. Tadashi hadn't ordered anything, but he needed to eat, "I'm sure. Besides, I still have to give him his lunch."

I gently knocked on the door to Tadashi's lab, "Hey Fish-Sticks," I called, my own nickname for him. I took Japanese class in Year 11 and when I met 'Dashi, I quickly drew a connection between his regular nickname and the fish broth, "You in there?"

I got no answer, but I could hear movement, "Come on Tadashi, open up. I swear I won't mother you again."

There was a pained moan from inside. I started to freak out a bit, "Tadashi?"

I waited another moment for him to answer, "Tadashi, I'm coming in!"

I quickly opened the door. Honestly, though I predicted it, I was not prepared for what I saw.

I don't think I had ever seen Tadashi this dishevelled, this tired, this… broken. That is probably the best word to describe how he looked in that moment, even if it is a bit clichéd. But that had been the genre of adjectives attributed to my good friend lately; worn out, snapped, cracked, broken.

Tadashi was on the ground hunched over his knees, his back against his desk. If his shoulders weren't shuddering so violently then I mightn't have noticed him crying behind his hands. His fingers were matted into his heavily mussed hair and his elbows supported them on his knees.

Tadashi's voice cracked between his light sobs, "Dorothy…" It almost sounded like a plea, "He just… won't work."

"Oh, Tadashi…" I murmured sadly, shaking my head. He finally looked up at me, letting his arms fall in front of him. Dark circles hung under his tired, puffy red eyes, eyes which seemed to be begging mine for something; anything. "Come here," I wasted no time. I quickly dropped my gear on the counter and enveloped him in as warm and comforting a hug as I could possibly give. He buried his tear damp head into my chest, tightly tying his arms around my waist with fistfuls of my old school cardigan. Home-made things tended to feel more… tender.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. We must've spent more than five minutes or so there with me stroking his hair and rubbing soothing circles on his back, humming things like, "Shhhh… There, there… It'll be alright… Just let it out"

Wasabi came in quietly through the door, probably just checking on us. I gave him a look saying, 'Could you give us a minute?' When he saw the situation we were in he gave me an understanding nod and jerked a thumb to signal him leaving.

I was really grateful for that. I've noticed that when heaps of people make a fuss over someone, then that someone is more likely to close off their problems with a brave face; not healthy, and it would've been retrograde to what was happening between us right now.

Once Tadashi's shoulders had stopped shaking so badly, he tried to say something. I strained to hear him, but with his face now buried in the front of my neck my soft, the thin cardigan muffled the sound.

I stroked his hair again and pulled away slightly so he'd look at me, "Pardon?"

His eyes made contact with mine, but the shame in them felt like it was squeezing my gut.

"I'm sorry, Dotti."

I tried to shrug it off, "Hey, it's okay. You are under a lot of stress and-"

"No." He cut me off insistently, his warm brown eyes growing harder in some effort to make me understand, "That is no excuse. I shouldn't have treated someone I care about like that. All you ever do is look out for me and try to help, and I just-." He paused, regaining his voice, drawing out his words so that I knew their sincerity, "I am so, so sorry."

… Oh good God, now I'm going to tear up! I smiled at him, "Apology accepted." He sighed finally seemed to calm again and regaining something of his NORMAL state, as I placed a quick kiss on his forehead, tucking into each other again.

I looked down, bemused, "… Are you going to sleep on me?"

"Hmmm…"

"Nah-uh. You are going to put something in that stomach of yours-," he went to interrupt me, "Yes, you ARE. I can feel your tummy groaning - and then you are going to lie down on for a bit on your dingy little mattress. After that you should go home for the night, okay?" I gave him a gentle shake to move him, but all he did was stare at me.

"…What?"

A small smile tweaked the corners of his lips, "…Nothing." He seemed to be contemplating something before he snapped out of his trance, "Nothing. Let's eat."

We sat on the ground, munching away and just chatting. The mood had instantly lifted once we got something into our bellies.

"So, how are your "Earthbender Boots" coming along?"

I pulled a face, "Ehh, bit by bit. I've found out how to amplify force from the user's foot so it can technically 'Earthbend' via vibrations and shockwaves from the generators in the soles."

Tadashi was both surprised and happy, "Oh! So you figured that part out? How'd you do that?"

"Well, I can thank my mum for that. She posted me over my 'Steampunk Bible' and my Avengers box set. I was looking through my book and saw one of the world's first "hand massagers"," Tadashi blushed a little and smirked into his tea, "then I watched 'The Winter Soldier and saw the machine Hydra used to smash open Fury's car window. I thought, 'If I could miniaturise these but put the same force behind them, maybe even amplify it – I did that by shortening the pauses between each pulse so it builds and eventually catches up to the next pulse - then this could work with certain terrains!' So I've done that and raised the shoes around the edges with a flexible but sturdy textile with rounds of support springs to provide space for the generators and stability for the user."

"Well done Dot. You have really done a lot since I turned hermit."

I laughed but it died down a notch, "Yeah, the only problem is, I'm having a hard time adjusting the direction of the force with how the user moves. Either I take a step and I'm flung any which way, or I press with all my force and it sends the power the wrong way!"

I absentmindedly nursed the brilliant bruise on my hip and leg which Tadashi noted, "Yeah, I noticed you limping a bit before. You okay?"

"Yeah," I rolled up my cotton pants, displaying the blue, purple and green mark spread across my shin, moving forward a bit so he could see. "It's a real shiner, isn't it?"

Tadashi reached forward to examine it, laughing, making me flush at his calloused hands. He seemed to realise what he was doing and coughed out an apology of sorts, stepping back again.

"Nah; 's'all good. Anyway, what's happening with Baymax?"

Tadashi grunted, "Urgh! It's kind of like your problem. All the medical info is in there and he has the capability to move and speak; it's just a matter of getting it in the right order." I nodded, understanding him, "It's something to do with his programing. Something must have scrambled or there could be a reoccurring anomaly in the coding allowing different functions to connect and cross over."

I shuffled myself closer to him, pushing my feet against his, "Well, even though you melted down like the Wicked Witch of the West, I'm glad to see you haven't given up. Just think, for all the hours of effort you have put in, imagine how many others will be getting."

"I know, but it's just so frustrating having this vision in your head;" Tadashi's jaw clenched, almost as tightly as his fists as his strong shoulders began to wind up like he was. "To know what you have to do and how you're going to do it, but there's just something, one tiny little thing that fucks it up and you have no idea what the Hell it is!"

Wow! When Tadashi begins to swear, shit is real.

He probably realised how loud he was getting when he saw my amused, bug eyed face and made himself relax, running his hands through his hair. He yawned, "I guess I've just been looking at it too long."

I threw my head back and cracked up, "That's what we've been TRYING TO TELL YOU FOR A WEEK!" I pushed his feet, making him loose balance. I started collecting our rubbish as we heaved ourselves up, "Come on, Fish Sticks. Either you sleep willingly or I will tie you down to your bed myself."

I tried to hide how I trailed off at the end, but we still had to giggle at the double meaning. Tadashi lowered himself onto the mattress, kicking his shoes off and tossing his hat to the side, completely ignoring he blanket crumpled up at his feet, "Remind me again why I can't just ride home now?" I could just understand him through his comically long yawn.

I turned from the trash can to give him a cynical look, "Do you REALLY think you'll be able to ride home safely the way you are-?" but 'Dashi's gentle eyes were already drooping as he wriggled comfortably into the mattress.

My mouth automatically curved upwards when I realised how quickly he had faded. I knelt beside him and carefully pulled his blankets up. I couldn't help but take in the shape of his body as the layers slid up past his legs, his firm chest and stomach, exposed by his wriggling, his arms, his shoulders, neck… face… lips…

I shook myself out of it when he started to stir again. I ran my hand through his hair. It was slightly oily from his neglect to shower. I ran my hand down to cup his bristled cheek and whispered goodbye despite my thinking him asleep, "I should get going then. I'll see you later, 'kay?"

I had no idea that he was completely aware of my hands' indulgences, and I had no idea how much he was indulging in them. He knew that when it came to friends I showed love with hugs and physical contact, but this time he could feel more than the usual electricity from my finger tips on his skin, and Tadashi didn't want it to stop. Not this time.

I moved to leave, but he took a hold of my hand before it could leave his face, that face that was staring up at mine through a sleepy glaze, wanting something; everything.

"Please, don't."

At that moment, suspicions became fact, and we both knew what we wanted.

In an instant we moved towards each other, lips connecting with a crash… and so did our teeth. Ow. It barely hindered our romance at all in fact it just made it cuter in my mind. We laughed and quickly went back to the kiss.

Now I've kissed guys before… Like, quite a few guys… Some I didn't even talk to on Facebook for long after (then again they WERE in different countries), BUT THIS WAS AMAZING! Not particularly because of technique, but because of who it was and what the kiss meant to me.

Tadashi did have his flaws as I no doubt did, but I loved him for him, and I'd wanted him for him, and now I could have him and he had me, by the lips, neck, hair, waist, heart, soul, and am I seriously trying to analyse probably one of the best moments of my life!?

STOP! Did you just say 'love' before?

Tadashi must've noticed me space out because he stopped, momentarily concerned he had done something wrong, "You okay?"

Ha… love…

It took me a moment to realise that he had spoken, but I was smiling all the same as I pulled him in again, all my attention now focused on him, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

He let out a relived breath, "Come here."

I happily joined him under the blankets and we snuggled into each other's warmth. I breathed in his intoxicating yet ordinary everyday scent as he wrapped those strong arms around me, holding me so close.

There's nothing quite as secure as a hug.

Gogo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Fred were back at their workstations. Gogo was getting frustrated.

"Are they seriously still in there? How much crying can one guy do?"

Honey Lemon checked the clock, "It's getting close to home time anyway. I'll go get them moving."

When Honey opened the lab door, she had to hold in the 'SQUEE!' and just take a photo.

She walked back out with a very poorly contained grin on her face. Gogo noticed first, "What are you so smiley about?" Fred and Wasabi were starting to pack up.

"Oh, you'll see."

Surely enough, out walked Tadashi and Dot; clothes wrinkled, rubbing sleep from their eyes, their hair conspicuously messy and completely oblivious to why about ten stunned and amused faces were staring at them.

Tadashi looked at them like they were crazy, "… What?"

Dorothy looked between them, and you could practically see the loading bar above their heads, "… OH COME ON GUYS! Nothing happened, we just slept together."

That was it; everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter!

Both their faces turned beetroot red, "NO! That's not what I meant-!"

"We never-!"

"Come on guys-!"

"We are at school-!"

"Yeah, it'd be weird-!"

"There are cameras-!"

"-Oh, screw it."

Dorothy and Tadashi walked over to collect their stuff from their workspaces. Dot's was currently littered with samples of rubber, remakes of contraptions from the Industrial Revolution she was testing, blueprints of various boots, greasy cloths and some of her dad's tools. Tadashi walked over, ready to leave as she plucked her tan leather jacket from her coat rack, pulling the form-fitting item around her. "Hey Tadashi, do you think you could give me a lift home?"

He draped an arm around her shoulder as they walked out the door, "I'll do you one better. How about dinner at ours tonight? Aunt Cass won't mind and I'm sure Hiro would like to see you."

Dot wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "Sounds great."