Fred was stuck in the closet. Not the metaphorical closet that many other people struggled with- he was past that, thank you very much- he was trapped in an honest to God physical closet.
And whether you'd count it as misfortunate or not, he was not alone.
He was trapped in his somehow not metaphorical closet with Tadashi. Who was his metaphorical closet crush. Did it count as a closeted crush if everyone else knew you liked the person, but the person themselves had no idea? Were closeted crushes even a thing? God, he needed to get out of this closet right now.
Why was his luck so bad? They were just supposed to find a mop for fuck's sake. He never should have volunteered to help clean up their coffee. It wasn't like they would have been angry if he hadn't. They were all just so busy with the convention going on, he figured it would be best if he cleaned it up. The poor kid that bumped into Honey and inadvertently caused her to drop all seven of their coffees had offered to help, but Fred waved him off. The kid was practically in tears, so he told the guy not to worry about it. No need to cry over spilled coffee after all.
The kid reluctantly let Fred go find a way to clean up the spill, but only because he was under a time limit and had been waiting months for the con. Tadashi on the other hand, refused to let Fred clean up everything on his own and insisted on tagging along.
Fred tried to convince him to stay at his booth, but it was in vain. When Tadashi Hamada decided to help people he became the most stubborn unmovable pile of bricks in the world. He just patted him consolingly on the shoulder and told him Hiro would handle it. Never mind the fact Hiro had his own booth nearby that needed tending. Still, he would not be persuaded otherwise, so Fred eventually gave in.
They first went to the bathrooms to try and get paper towels, but unfortunately they used hand dryers. And there was no way in hell they were going to try and take toilet paper out of a bathroom flooded with convention goers. That would just be bad.
So they went looking for a mop.
Miracle upon miracles they actually found a janitorial closet with the door opened. Now, the convention was pretty busy with lots of people milling about and jostling things, so when the door shut they didn't really think about it. Until they tried to open it of course. Because they were apparently idiots, they hadn't checked to see if the handle was locked when they wandered in. Hence, their current situation.
They tried banging on the door and yelling, but like he said- the con was pretty busy. There were lots of mechanized gadgets whirring and things exploding (intentionally), and hordes of people trying to talk over each other. It wasn't surprising that nobody heard them. It was, however, extremely disappointing.
And as luck would have it, Tadashi left his phone back at the booth. Fred's had died about 10 minutes before they started their search.
"There's a window. Maybe if we can reach it we can get out," Tadashi sighed. Fred looked up and sighed too. It wasn't a very big window. Buuuuut...one of them might be able to fit through it.
On the other hand, it also wasn't a very big closet. There was barely enough room in there for the janitor's supplies and them, so moving at all was tricky.
"Well," he said, drawing out the word, "I guess if one of us gets out they can come around and open the door from the hallway. Unless it's locked from the outside too." With Fred's luck it would be.
Tadashi grimaced. "Yeah, let's hope not. So which of us should, uh..." he glanced meaningfully at the window.
"You should probably be the one to climb out. You know the building's layout better than I do. Plus, you got places to be. So if one of us gets stuck in here forever, it might as well be me," Fred sighed dramatically. "Don't forget about me. Remember the young me when you're old and gray and commanding an army of medical robots."
Tadashi laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Oh never. How could I forget the magnificent Fredzilla? I really don't think it's possible." He smiled at Fred, and the other felt butterflies in his stomach. He probably had that dumbass look on his face again. The one everyone said made it clear he was so whipped.
He cleared his throat.
"Oh I don't know. New superheroes pop up every day. One day I'll fade into obscurity, and no one will think about the guy who used to go fight crime in a fire-breathing lizard costume," he said, smiling ruefully.
Tadashi's gaze softened, and he reached out to squeeze one of Fred's hands.
"I wouldn't," he spoke quietly. His voice and expression were so gentle and sincere it made his heart do back flips in his chest.
He squeezed Tadashi's hand back gently. "I'll hold you to that."
The smile he got in return was enough to take his breath away.
He would have like to hold Tadashi's hand and stare into his eyes a little longer, but alas, there was work to do.
"Okay, so maybe if I crouch down like this-" he said, awkwardly bending to one knee, "-and I give you a boost, you'll be able to reach the window."
Tadashi shuffled his feet and reluctantly put his foot on top of Fred's joined hands.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked hesitantly. He peeked down at Fred's face, frowning.
He smiled in response. "Yeah man, go for it. This is our best shot."
Tadashi sighed but complied all the same.
It was not the most comfortable position for Fred to be in, but that was okay. It's not like it would last forever. In fact, the worst thing was not how uncomfortable crouching in the tiny closet was- it was that there was a small patch of uncovered skin taunting him.
Tadashi's shirt had ridden up just the slightest bit as he lifted his arms, exposing a strip of soft skin much too close to Fred's face. He tried to look away and ignore it, but it was making his brain short circuit. If his brain ever regained the ability to work properly after this, someone would have to call the Vatican, because it would be a goddamn miracle.
Like looking through a dream, Fred watched Tadashi hoist himself up and partway through the window. His weight lifted from Fred's hands, and Fred let out a quiet sigh of relief when Tadashi's stomach was no longer right in front of him.
"Um, Fred?" Tadashi called, so quiet he almost didn't hear.
"Yeah buddy?"
"I just remembered something."
"What's that?"
"We're on the second floor."
"..."
"..."
"...Fuck."
