Sara was beginning to worry for her siblings, at first, Mikan was the one who gave her concern. The snow-haired girl would disappear from time to time, claiming to be on "errands" for her dad, and her change in demeanor to a more colder and aloof attitude brought more worry, especially how she started treating their other friends. But now David was beginning to worry her, he had apparently joined Mikan in her disappearing act, and would claim "you wouldn't understand," when asking for information.
"David, are you sure your trips with Mika are fine?" Sara asked for the tenth time.
He hesitated, deep concern fueled in her chest, "It-it's fine sis, besides, you wouldn't get it."
"I just worry, because I love you," she sighed, "I guess I can tone it down, but there's no need to keep secrets from me."
"Mika said you'd only get hurt.." David mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for her to hear. Oh god what has our sister gotten herself into?
Their lab space was disturbed when the door opened, it was Hiro. "Hey guys!" He waved, "I'm not interrupting any projects, right?"
"Not really," David answered, "What's up buddy?"
Hiro clapped his hands, "so, Fred's having a sleepover at his house this weekend, and he wanted me to invite you guys. Mikan's invited too, but my sister's passing the message to her since she's in the bio labs on the other side of campus."
"Ooh a sleepover!" Sara squealed, "reminds me of the time I used to go on sleepovers at your house!"
"Yeah," he chuckled, "remember that one time you got sick of Tadashi's snoring and you poured a glass of water on him because you were so tired."
"Oh my god! He was so mad!"
They both laughed, "what's the sleepover occasion for?" David questioned.
"It's uh...a surprise!" Hiro exclaimed, "you'll see if you attend."
"Well don't worry, we'll be going," Sara wrapped an arm around her brother, "I just hope Mika does, she's a stick in the mud sometimes."
On the other side of campus in the bio labs, Mikan sneezed.
"Achoo!" she rubbed her nose, "this has been happening lately.." Then without warning, Ari ran into her lab, "woah-woah-woah slow down mermaid!" she held up her hands, "dangerous stuff here!" She gently nudged Ari out of the labs.
"But Mikan! I have to tell you something!" Ari exclaimed.
"You can tell, but I don't want you to get hurt by the stuff in my lab, safety first is my motto."
"It is?"
"No, it's actually something else, not gonna tell you."
"Awww.."
Mikan crouched to Ari's level, "so, what is it mermaid?"
"Fred's having a sleepover this weekend and you're invited!" Ari exclaimed, "it would be really great if you go!"
"Oh..uh..this weekend?" she paused, "I can't go."
Ari's eyes dropped, "awww, why not?"
"I'm doing errands, for my dad," Mikan explained, she didn't have time for pointless sleepovers anymore, "it's stuff for my little brother and sister."
"David and Sara?"
"No, my other brother and sister," the ones her dad adopted, "they need some..things and I have to get them around that time so..family priorities."
"Oh..okay, I understand," Ari gave a slow nod, "I'd do the same for Hiro.."
Mikan ruffled her head, "he's glad to have someone like you in his life, someone that isn't overbearing as much as his other friends," she glanced away, "sometimes..well..I can see he's bothered by their caring sometimes."
"Really?" Ari's eyes wide, she didn't pick up on that, Mikan's really smart to catch that.
"Yep, someone his age who he can relate to, you're being a good sister on that," she chuckled, "keep being there for him, alright mermaid?"
"Don't worry I will!" She began to exit the hallway, "and good luck with your thing! I'll miss you at the sleepover!"
Mikan waved, "I will," when Ari rounded the corner, she huffed, "dad was right, her bond with Hiro could be useful. Eh, they're probably going to do boring sleepover things anyway, who cares if I miss it?"
Hiro had gone back to his lab to polish up some schoolwork, he glanced over to Baymax, the robot was resting in his charger. He chuckled and thought back to the time he tried overclocking the robot's supercapacitors, the result? Baymax on caffeine speaking rapid health facts for the whole day, "congrats you made him hyperactive," Ari claimed. Looking back, it was a funny memory.
"Hey Hiro!" Speaking of his little sister, she entered his lab, "bad news, Mikan can't come to the sleepover, said she was doing family stuff."
"Hmm," he crossed his arms, feeling anger at the older student, "did you tell her why for the sleepover?"
"No, I didn't want to distract her from family stuff," Ari explained, "I'd do the same for you.."
"Okay?" he flinched, "anyways, David and Sara are coming, and I think David's gonna bring his girlfriend."
"Yay!" she beamed, "I already asked Rachel if she could come, and she might bring Katie, so that just leaves-"
"Don't remind me," he grumbled, "do you have to invite her?"
"Yes!" Ari exclaimed, "I want Karmi to come, she's my friend," she crossed her arms, "you can live for one night. Just don't antagonize her, okay?"
Hiro groaned, "you should be asking Karmi to be nice, she's so annoying!" He got up but his foot hit the desk, "ow!"
Baymax chimed to life, "Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion," the robot waddled over to him, "I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said 'ow.'"
He just facepalmed.
Why couldn't Ari invite Karmi to sleepover herself? Hiro grumbled as he walked down to Karmi's lab. His sister was apparently too shy to ask Karmi, he didn't blame her, Karmi could be scary at times. Her reddish-brown eyes had a look that could kill when she was angry, he hoped to not see that glare today.
He didn't get very far, Karmi was walking down the hallway as he rounded a corner, Hiro took a deep breath before speaking. "Hey, Karmi!" He called out to her.
Karmi halted, her expression grew irritated, "what do you want Hiro? On your way to destroy one of my viruses again?"
"Hey!" he held up a hand in offense, "first of all, that was an accident and I apologized! Second, this is about Ari!"
He saw her eyes go wide, "oh...is she okay?"
"Yeah, kind of," he bowed his head down, "did she tell you about her...memory problems?"
"It came up, yes," Karmi nodded, "but I don't want to bother her with that, I bet she gets a lot of pestering from you already."
He rolled his eyes, "well this is about her," here it goes.. "We're having a sleepover at my friend Fred's house, and Ari really wants you to come."
Karmi hesitated, her mouth drew a thin line, "I'm not..I.." she stuttered, "I can't go to those kinds of things."
Hiro huffed, he could just say "fine" and call it a day, but his love for Ari triumphed over his dislike of Karmi, "okay I wasn't going to use this reason because my sister told me not to, but I'll make an exception for her best friend."
"Wait she calls me her best friend?"
"Yes," he frowned, "Ari really wants her best friend at the sleepover because it's her birthday that night."
Her eyes widened, "what?" Karmi gasped, "and..she wants me to go?"
Hiro wondered why the biotech major had a hard time believing that, didn't she know how much my sister values their friendship? "Yeah, it'll make her feel happy if you came."
"Fine," Karmi huffed, "this better not be a prank or something Genius Boy, or else.."
"It's not, I promise!" Hiro held up his hands, "look, we can tolerate each other for one night for Ari's sake, truce?" He offered one of his hands, and Karmi reluctantly shook it."
"Truce," there was a small smile on her face, "but only for the sleepover! And you better not play any tricks or something!"
"I was just going to say the same to you…"
Superhero Squad group chat
Ariel: Just double-checking, there's no robot invasion or the city's about to explode today, right?
Chop Chop: I hope not!
Speed Queen: Ari, pal, calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen on your birthday
Flame Jumper: It's a common trope in superhero history however! Like in Captain Fancy #39 where a supervillain crashed his birthday party!
Ariel: Noooooooo ;-;
Captain Cutie: Fred I s2g you're not helping
Chem Girl: Dw, we did extra night patrol last night so crime should be down today! You have nothing to worry about
Chop Chop: Don't jinx it.
Ariel: I'm so excited! I am now your age Hiro! Muahhaha
Captain Cutie: I'm still about 6 months older than you, pretty soon I'll be 15 and you'll be stuck at 14
Ariel: Darnit! Don't remind me! Let me have my moment!
Captain Cutie: Never.
Ari groaned at the phone, "Hiroooo," she turned to her brother, who was doing some sciencey things on the computer, "why you gotta be mean?"
He chuckled at her expense, "just trying to lighten the mood," Hiro turned the computer off, "I can finish this another time..Ari, are you doing okay today?"
"Other than the fact I'm worried something will go wrong and Aunt Cass is most likely making some sort of sugary surprise that'll rot my teeth for lunch, not really." She shrugged, "I know you've been worried since I found out what happened to my parents, but you've lost yours too, right? So I don't want to rain on your parade."
Hiro frowned, "It's okay to feel sad Ari, besides I don't really remember my parents, they died when I was three and Aunt Cass doesn't like talking about them. At least you got to know yours."
"Mhmm," she gave a slow nod, "I do feel sad, like I still feel normal-ish? But every now and then I get this sad mood."
"I feel ya," he walked over to the spot she was sitting on his bed, and sat next to her, "do you know who.."
"No, I don't remember who shot them," Ari's gaze darkened, "but maybe I'll find out soon."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, they stayed silent for a few moments.
"Happy birthday Ari!" The tense mood was ruined by Cass walking up the stairs holding a small strawberry cake with lots of whipped cream, sprinkles, and...blueberries? "Thought you might like your cake early since you're going to spend your evening at Fred's house!"
"Aww," Ari took the cake, she licked some of the frosting on her fingers, "it's so good! Thanks, you didn't have to by the way. I know I'm not really part of the fam-"
"Nonsense Ari! Don't say that!" Cass interrupted her, "Hiro, why don't you tell Ari what we both got her."
"Oh, oh right!" Hiro bolted down the stairs, Ari tilted her head. What on earth? He acted a little weird. He came back ten seconds later, with Baymax and Mochi even.
"Hello, Ari," the robot waved, "on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your birthday?"
"I'd have to go with a nine," she answered, "needs more sugar." Mochi hopped next to her on the bed, meowing in agreement and trying to swipe her cake, she playfully nudged the cat back.
Hiro had an envelope in his hands, "well this isn't a cake, but I think you'll like it," he handed it to her.
Ari opened the envelope, and gasped.
Small tears began pouring from her eyes, "w-what?" She gasped, inside the contents of the envelope, were adoption papers.
"I had Elio help out a little," Cass explained, "he said it was fine since you had been staying at our place for so long, and got us the papers."
"All you have to do is sign right here," Hiro pointed to the bottom of the paper and handed her a pen, "then you're part of the family! Well legally at least, because we've been considering you part of our family for weeks now Ar-"
He was cut off by her wrapping him and Cass in a warm, loving hug, "T-thank you so much!" She cried, "this is better than cake!"
Baymax joined the hug, "there there, it is alright to cry Ari."
Ari wiped away her tears, "I'm not sad or anything just.." she sniffled, "you-you really want to adopt me?" Her voice cracked.
"Why wouldn't we?" Cass frowned.
"I-I don't want to replace Tadashi.."
Hiro grabbed her hand, "hey, you're not replacing anybody," he told her, "Tadashi will still be part of us, and he's still a part of our family. We're just making it a little bigger, that's all."
"Really?"
"Absolutely," warmth shined in his brown eyes, "I love you Ari."
She smiled back, and signed the paper, "I love you too Hiro," she turned to Cass, "and I love you too Aunt Cass, and Baymax, and Mochi."
"Meow!" Mochi purred, nuzzling her arm.
"Umm..." Ari turned to the cake, "I'm not gonna be able to eat this, so do you guys wanna share?"
"I am a robot, I do not need to eat." Baymax stated.
They all burst into laughter.
Later that evening...
"Are we there yet?"
"Karmi you've been asking us that for the last five minutes, chill."
"I'm doing it because it annoys you."
"Hey!"
"Guys!"
"Sorry Ari." It was close to nighttime, the sun starting to dip behind the city skyscrapers, Hiro and Ari had picked up SFIT's other teen genius on their way to Fred's house. The latter getting mildly annoyed with their bickering before they even got there!
"I know you guys aren't friends, you don't get along, the other person is the worst blah blah blah," she ranted, "but still! Take it easy for one night."
Karmi responded first, "fine, anything for the birthday girl."
"What?" Ari blinked, "how did you know-" she narrowed her eyes at her brother, "Hiro…"
"Hey! It was the only way I could get her to come." He defended himself, then stopped at a house. "we're here."
Karmi glanced left and right to observe their surroundings, "wait, this is the upper class area."
"I know." Hiro had a smug grin on his face.
"Weren't we going to your friend Fred's house?"
"Mhmm," Ari nodded, sharing the same grin.
"So why?-"
Heathcliff opened the door, "good evening, welcome to Master Frederick's slumber party."
"Hey Heathcliff," both Hiro and Ari waved, Karmi's jaw just dropped.
"Wha-what-wha?" She looked to be at a loss of words, still processing as she was nudged through the door and into the house.
Hiro snickered, it reminded him of the time he and the others discovered Fred was part of the one percent. Granted part of the shock was due to near death by Yokai, but still.
"Yeahhh you get used to it," Ari commented, "Fred's super chill once you get to know him, but try not touching any of the paintings."
He leaned in to glance at Karmi, who was still shell-shocked, "too much for the former youngest genius at school?" Hiro teased.
She growled, gaining back some of her momentum, "hey! I'm not scared of anything," Karmi crossed her arms, "just didn't expect that your friend is a rich kid."
"At least he doesn't act like the snobby kind," Ari smiled.
"That's a good thing."
They entered Fred's room, where the gang was already there, as well as most of the invited guests.
"Hey guys!" Sara greeted them, she noticed the third party, "oh, hey Karmi!"
"Hi," Karmi replied coolly, not sparing a glance.
Ari squinted, "wait, where's David? And I don't see Sienna either."
Sara deflated, "Sienna got into a car accident, and David went to see her in the hospital."
"That's horrible!" Hiro gasped, "is she okay?"
"She'll live, it's just an overnight stay, but David's going crazy over the fact his girlfriend is injured," Sara sighed, "Sienna's a lucky lady to have my brother as her Prince Charming for sure."
"David has a girlfriend?" Karmi whispered under her breath. Ari turned to her and shrugged.
Karmi was stuck by Ari's side as the group greeted her. She felt rather... overwhelmed with the sudden attention. The others seemed to pick up on that, and began chatting amongst themselves.
A young girl with a rosemary accessory similar to Ari and bright green eyes walked up to her, "you must be Karmi," the girl greeted her, "I'm Rachel Rosemary."
"Oh," she felt a little more comfortable, "nice to meet you."
"Hey Rach!" Ari waved, "you'll like Karmi, she's the best!" She leaned in, "Also she's KheartsQT."
"Wait, really?" Rachel gasped, "the one who writes that funny fanfiction about Big Hero 6?"
Karmi chuckled nervously, "yeah..you read it?"
"I love it!" the girl smirked, "Katie loves it as well."
"Katie?" She then noticed the blue cat curled in Rachel's arms and gasped, "oh my god that's Katie the Talking Cat! I love her so much!"
"Joy, another fan," the cat yawned, she deflated.
Rachel huffed, "Katie... be nice, you promised."
"Fiiine," the cat hopped down, "I'm hungry." Katie turned to Fred, "you gonna order food now?"
Fred blinked, "oh right! Heathcliff, call the pizza place!"
"Right away sir," Heathcliff grabbed the phone, and began dialing a number.
"Um, so what are you gonna order?" Ari turned to her friend, "I'm just gonna go for one with mushrooms, those are good."
"I'm gonna get pineapple," Karmi replied, just as Hiro said the exact same thing, she turned to him, "jinx."
"Wh-what-hey!" He crossed his arms.
"You owe me a soda," she gave a smug smirk.
Hiro groaned, "uhg, fine, I'll buy you one."
As the pizza place answered, Fred walked up to his butler, "I'll take it," he answered the call, "Hi, I'd like to order a few pizzas delivered to the Frederickson manor..."
Fred finished taking everyone's orders, and soda debts. "Okay it should be here in about half an hour." he told the group.
"We're gonna die of hunger," Katie dramatically exclaimed.
"Katie!" Rachel huffed.
"Maybe we could play a party game to pass the time," Wasabi suggested.
"Oooh I got one!" Sara clapped her hands, "Truth or Dare!"
Gogo groaned, "sounds fun," she rolled her eyes.
"It'll be fiiine!" the blonde wrapped her arm around Gogo, "we can even set up some rules!"
"First one should be no "kiss so-and-so" dares," Honey Lemon glanced over to where the teens were, "especially since we have some kids in the group."
"Hey!" Hiro exclaimed.
"And if you can't tell the truth or do a dare, you have to take a drink out of this." Sara held up a can of soda.
"What is it?" Fred squinted.
"It's called beverly," Sara smirked, "it's a bitter drink that's from Italy."
The group groaned, "hey! There has to be some penalty!"
They all formed a circle sitting on the rug, Karmi was next to Ari and Honey Lemon.
"So, who wants to go first?" Fred questioned.
"Me!" Ari raised her hand.
"Alright, birthday girl gets to go first," Fred smiled, "Ari, truth or dare?"
"Truth!" She smirked.
"Why do you have a fear of eels?" Hiro questioned, the girl frowned.
"Because they're slimy, gross, and yucky!" She stuck her tongue out, "also I kind of remember going to an aquarium and in the super dark zone I stared out into the tank, and then a stupid slimy eel jumpscared me!... I might've had to go to the bathroom after that," her cheeks reddened.
"Oh." Hiro blinked, getting the gist.
"Hey, there's no shame in admitting you-"
"Thanks for the support Wasabi!" Ari blurted out, "um, I think I wanna ask...Gogo!"
She popped her gum, "alright, I wanna take a dare."
"Okay.." Ari hummed, "I dare you to… give Fred a hug!"
Gogo chuckled, "oh, is that all," she walked over to where Fred was sitting next to Wasabi and Hiro, "c'mere knucklehead," and wrapped him into a hug.
"Aww," Fred smiled, Gogo then ended the hug and sat back down.
"Easy," she smirked, "Fred, truth or dare."
"Truth!" He held up a finger.
"Okay," Gogo hummed, "when did you get your fear of spiders?"
"Is fear of animals a theme of tonight's game?" Katie muttered under her breath.
Fred took a deep breath, "when I was in kindergarten, I got bit by a spider. And I thought it was gonna kill me because one of my classmates said spider bites were fatal! It also hurt a lot! I had to go to the nurse and it was just the worst Gogo! It was just the worst."
"I'll bet it was.." she rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Wasabi!" He pointed to his friend, who leaned back a little, "truth or dare!"
"Um..dare?"
"I dare you to lick the rug!"
"Ewww gross!" Wasabi scrunched his nose, "no way, I'm not doing it."
Sara gave a smug smirk, "then it's time for the beverly!" She poured some of the soda in a shot glass, then handed it to him, "drink up."
He frowned, gulped it down, then curled his lip, "uhhg it's so bitter!" Wasabi stuck his tongue out, "where did you get such an awful drink?"
"Aunt Sally knows a guy that works at a bar and they-"
"Forget I asked."
Wasabi glanced around the room, "Honey Lemon, truth or dare?"
"Truth!" She hummed.
"Which of the supervillains on the news do you like the least?" Ari perked up, she narrowed her eyes at Honey Lemon as the gears rolled in her eyes.
"Hmm, I don't like the supervillains because I think they could do more productive stuff," she pondered, "but I'd have to go with Globby, I am very disappointed in his life choices."
"Same," Rachel added.
"Karmi!" The girl blinked in shock, "truth or dare?"
"Me?" Karmi gestured to herself.
"Yeah," Honey Lemon nodded, "do you not want to go yet or-?"
"No, no I'm good," she shook her head, "just didn't expect to get picked..I'm gonna go with... truth."
"Alright, so Karmi," Honey Lemon had a strange glint in her eyes, "how do you feel about Hiro?"
The latter yelped in question, and Karmi felt slightly flustered by the question. She just..didn't know how to respond.
"Just hand me the beverly Sara.." She gave up.
"Boooo," Katie jeered, "you guys are chickens!"
"Katie!" Rachel huffed, glaring at the feline as Karmi downed the bitter soda, "not everyone is comfortable with truths, or a dare."
"I'd answer any truth and do any dare," the cat boasted.
"Challenge accepted," Ari muttered under her breath, she turned to Karmi, who was attempting to get the bitter taste out of her mouth, and they smirked.
"Since you want to go next, Katie, truth or dare?" Karmi questioned.
"Dare!" The blue grinned.
"I dare you to tell me everything you like about Slow-Clap-Cat in a minute," as soon as Karmi said those words, Katie's blue eyes widened.
"Wh-bu-huh?" Her fur ruffled with shock.
"Start now," the girl smirked.
"Oh you guys are good," Fred commented.
Katie's whiskers twitched, and she began to speak, "W-well Mochi has a nice pelt, that's for starters..and he's got nice eyes..and of course he has all the gossip..which is good, also he's nice. And did I mention his pelt? Well then there's-" the feline had enough, her fur was turning a bright shade of pink from embarrassment, "okay I give! Uncle! Uncle!"
Both Ari and Karmi howled with laughter, "I thought you said you could do any dare?" The former questioned.
The feline twiched, "there are exceptions.."
Ari snickered, "Sara maybe you shouldn't pour the chicken beverly, who knows how cats would react to soda."
"You have a point," she shrugged.
"Hey Sara, truth or dare?" The feline turned to the blonde.
"Da-no truth!"
"Okay er, how old are you?" Katie squinted, "you look kind of eighteen."
"I'm twenty!" Sara exclaimed, "David's nineteen and Mika's old enough to drink, lucky gal.." she crossed her arms, "I'm gonna catch up around Christmas, just in time for the holidays!"
"Mentally however, the jury's still out," Gogo commented.
"Hey!" She huffed, "Hiro, truth or dare?"
"Dare!" He declared.
"Okay," Sara then turned to Karmi, "I dare you to give Karmi a hug."
"Oooooh," Ari clapped. Both teens turned red at the thought, considering the "incident-they-shall-not-name."
"Why Sara, why?" Hiro groaned.
"If you want, I can give you the beverly, chicken."
"I am not a chicken!" He walked over to where Karmi was sitting, "you need to come up with better dares though," and he pulled her into a hug. The warmth of it felt very foreign, yet comforting? She turned into a blushing mess when he pulled away.
"You are so dead by next round Genius Boy," she threatened, covering her flustered face with both of her hands.
"Is that a blush I see?" Ari teased.
"It's embarrassment from the torment Sara just inflicted!"
"It's a blush! I ship it!" The girl giggled.
"No!" Both teens exclaimed.
"Uhhg when is that pizza coming?" Hiro buried his face into a pillow, he was going to die of embarrassment before he starved at this rate. Just as he was about to ask Rachel truth or dare, the doorbell rang. "Finally!" He exclaimed.
The pizza had arrived, with everyone's toppings ranging from plain, to pineapple, mushrooms, broccoli, and...marshmallows? Hiro questioned Rachel's taste in pizza toppings, but he'd probably do the same with gummy bears. Everyone also had their drinks of water, and sodas that might've been won through jinxes, there went five bucks from him. Nobody wanted to touch Sara's cursed beverly drink, considering she downed the whole thing in one gulp and seemed desentized to the bitter taste. As he ate his pineapple with onion ring sides, he glanced over to Karmi a few times, who luckily didn't notice his staring.
I guess she's not too bad..sometimes, he thought, true she was an annoying show-off at school sometimes, but was a decent person. Considering Ari was friends with her, and she was a great judge of character!... Most of the time.
Once everyone had eaten their fair share and boxed their leftovers, they all squeezed onto the couch with little room for a mouse to wiggle in. Hiro was next to his sister, and Karmi… Fate really liked having them close tonight, didn't it?
"Now is the fun tradition of many great sleepovers," Fred declared, "the movie!"
"Or the worst part," Wasabi pointed out, "picking a movie is a hassle."
"I vote for the Mermaiden's Tale," Katie raised a paw.
"No, that makes me cry," Ari shook her head.
"Birthday girl has passed her judgement Katie cat," Rachel turned to the feline, who scoffed.
"And nothing to gore-related," Gogo crossed her arms, "I don't wanna wake up because we gave the kiddos nightmares."
"I don't get scared!" Hiro huffed.
"Yeah, sure."
"Oooh can we put on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?" Ari asked, "I love that one."
"Which one?" Fred raised an eyebrow, "the Gene Wilder or the Johnny Depp one?"
Sara shuddered, "the Johnny Depp one gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"It's not that creepy," Wasabi argued.
"The freaking flashback scenes man."
"Fair point.."
"I kind of like the Gene Wilder better," Honey Lemon added, "it's classic."
"All who favor the original version, raise your hand." Seven pairs of hands shot up, "okay, Gene Wilder version it is," and Fred turned on the TV.
As each of the golden ticket winners were shown on tv, Sara couldn't help but comment about "how does nobody notice the guy with the ugly scar whispering creepy things? I mean look at that scar, hideous."
"Hey!" Rachel frowned, pointing to the scar on her forehead and arm, "not all scars are ugly, I kind of like my scars, they're cool."
"Where did you get them from?" Hiro questioned.
"Tree incident, glass incident, and uh..survived a snake," Rachel chuckled, "don't ask about the snake."
"Okay?"
"Guys shhh!" Karmi shushed them, "there's a song coming up."
As "Cheer up Charlie," started playing, Ari sniffled a little. "Ari, you okay?" Wasabi turned to her.
"Nothing, just poked my eye.." She wiped away a tear, "what is with movies and making me cry.."
"You should've seen the theaters after the last blockbuster came out," Gogo commented, "so many tissues."
"Including her," Honey Lemon mentioned.
"You have no proof."
"You cried on my jacket, it still needs to be washed."
"Fine… I admit it."
"Welp, he's a goner," Hiro commented as the first kid of the group got eliminated.
"Oh my god, dude they're not dead." Ari crossed her arms, "they showed up after the tour in the Johnny Depp version and the book."
"But what about this version?"
"You have a point," he kept quiet as the next song number began playing, "moral of the story, don't fall in chocolate rivers."
"What kind of moral is that?!" Sara exclaimed.
"I fell in one once," Rachel confessed, "in Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge, I tripped on a candy cane and.." she motioned her hand dipping into a river, "tasted great, had to take a long shower."
"Isn't that the show run by the crazy baby man who kidnapped Katie and Mochi once?" Karmi questioned.
"Yep," Rachel growled, "thankfully Ms. Gogo here rescued my Katie cat, and we haven't seen Sparkles since, but he's a dead man if he touches Katie ever again."
Katie in question said nothing, her eyes still focused on the screen.
Which quickly turned into horror as the scene switched to the freaky tunnel one.
Hiro just buried his head into a pillow and tried to ignore the agonized screams from the movie.
"I feel like this is an ironic moral," Wasabi pointed out as the last kid got eliminated, "don't watch TV and yet we're watching TV."
"I think they mean don't watch too much TV," Fred argued, "like that kid."
Honey Lemon nodded, "yeah, too much time staring at screens is bad for your health."
"Baymax would probably say something like that in a sciency fancy way," Ari added, "if he was here."
"Why didn't you guys bring Baymax?" Karmi questioned.
"Aunt Cass needs someone to look out for Mochi when she's out for errands," Hiro answered, his eyes still focused on the screen.
As the credits rolled, Sara yawned.
"Uh oh, looks like we got a yawner!" Fred pointed to her.
"I always yawn after a movie."
"What do we wanna watch next?" Rachel questioned, "another movie?"
"How about we watch a few episodes of a show," Katie mewed, "those are always fun."
"Which one?" Fred began scrolling through netflix, "there's a bunch on here."
Sara grinned, "how about we watch Game-"
"No!" Several people chorused.
"That's banned, that show is banned," Gogo narrowed her eyes.
Honey Lemon hummed in agreement, "yeah, there are children here."
"I was kidding guys! Jeez."
"What about one of the cooking shows?" Wasabi suggested.
Ari shook her head, looking squeamish at the thought, "too many sharp objects, and knives."
Karmi nodded, she extended an arm to give Ari a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"Can we put on The Dragon Prince?" the birthday girl suggested, "I like that show."
"But the animation…" Katie whined, "it's bad."
"Katie!" Rachel cried in offense.
"I've never seen that show," Karmi confessed, "is it good?"
"Oh you'll love it," Ari's eyes lit up with glee, "it's in this fantasy world and it's about these three kids try-Fred just put on the show!"
"Got it," he clicked the remote.
Elsewhere in another location…
Mikan groaned, she dragged the heavy crate into the warehouse. "One batch of robot parts coming up," she collapsed to the ground.
A pair of red eyes walked up to her, "thank you for the delivery Mika!" NBB giggled, bouncing up to her, "Would you like a sticker?"
"I want a nap.." she groaned, "I've been moving crates all night..How heavy are Krei-Tech parts?"
"Golly, I do not know." NBB tilted his head, he held up a sticker and placed it on her chest, "you look swell Mika!"
"Thanks.."
"Noodle, leave our big sister alone," a pair of cold-blue eyes glanced from the darkness, "she's done some good work, we need these parts for repairs, and other things.."
"Like what?" Mikan sarcastically questioned, "starting our own blog about how trashy Krei-Tech products are?"
"Always with the sarcasm, aren't you?"
"Hey it's my job!"
After watching the first few episodes, everyone was beginning to yawn. "I think it's time to do the sleeping part of a sleepover," Honey Lemon had said. The rest of them nodded in agreement and brought out sleeping bags, air mats, or even used the couch after wiping away the popcorn stuck to it. Fred turned the lights off and soon almost everyone was off to dreamland.
The key being "almost", Hiro had a hard time keeping his eyes closed. He tossed and he turned in his sleeping bag, sweat dripped down his face and he groaned. He got up, and looked around, his eyes met Ari, she was sleeping peacefully. She deserves a good dream tonight, Hiro thought, she had been through so much over the past few days. He decided to get a drink of water to help him sleep, he carefully tiptoed over everyone's sleeping bags.
It wasn't too hard for him to navigate Fred's house in the dark, some of the lights were on luckily enough. So he got to the kitchen, got a quick drink, and was on his way back to Fred's room. A figure bumped into him, he yelped, the figure yelped too in a high-pitched voice. Wait... he recognized that voice, and those reddish-brown eyes in the dark.
"Karmi?" He narrowed his eyes, "what are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Um, getting a drink?" He huffed.
"So you couldn't sleep?" Karmi asked, he nodded, "me neither..." she sat down, leaning against the wall, "it's so weird.."
"Weird?" He sat down next to her, and noticed her gloomy mood, "aren't you having fun?"
"Well, I am but I'm not used to this," she sighed, "people wanting to befriend me, and being involved with the group, heck even you were tolerable tonight!"
Hiro ignored that last comment, "Well I know you feel, it took me a while to get used to the other's friendliness, the older kids at high school… weren't so nice."
"Yeah, so cruel," her gaze darkened, "I have an easier time getting along with younger kids, they just are more kinder, and having two younger siblings made me feel less alone. But I kept to myself when I got here. Then you showed up and burst my bubble. Now the Fern kids are bothering me again and just-" she paused.
"Yeah yeah I ruined your life," Hiro sarcastically muttered.
"Not that much," she smirked, "you brought Ari into my life, and she's just a ray of sunshine, and even helps me with my writing process at times!"
"I wish she convinced you not to name a superhero 'Captain Cutie,'" Hiro gestured with air quotes.
"You wish you were cool as Captain Cutie."
He rolled his eyes, "sure."
"I guess you can be tolerable sometimes," Karmi told him, "at least when your sister is around."
"Yeah, she's just got this calming aura and makes you less annoying," he chuckled, "considering she's friends with you, you're not that bad, I guess."
"You're not that bad either." Karmi looked away, "um, your friends, they seemed to like my company."
"They're nice people," Hiro replied, "and they can be your friends too, just like how Ari's friends with both of us."
"Technically she's your sister, that doesn't count," she pointed out.
"Fair point," he chuckled, "do you feel better?"
"A bit," Karmi gazed away, "hey um… back during Truth or Dare, you didn't have to hug me, how come you did?"
"Because I didn't want to take that bitter monstrosity Sara brought?" He was puzzled by her question, "seriously how could you drink it?!"
"Yeah, it was gross," she shuddered at the memory of it's taste.
"How come you didn't say 'I was the worst' and moved on?" Hiro asked her, it was something that bugged him after he got his dare, but the thought was coming back.
"Well, I don't know how I feel about you," she explained, "you can be the worst, but sometimes you're not." Karmi shook her head, "you Genius Boy, are an enigma sometimes."
He smirked, then yawned, "you're tiring me out Karmi."
"Hey!" She playfully punched him on the shoulder, "your fault for sneaking out of the room." They both chuckled, despite their differences, guess they could get along..for a night. They both headed back to their sleeping spots, before closing his eyes, Hiro glanced over to Karmi's sleeping bag. She fell asleep in an instant, her eyes closed and her bangs covering them, she looked rather peaceful and kind of cute in a weird way. I guess Karmi's a more tolerable person when she's half-asleep, Hiro yawned.
Sleep came to him in an instant, and the tugging of dreamland pulled him into a warm slumber.
AN: A cute little sleepover with everyone! How fun!
Well... almost everyone, Sienna is fine n.n'
But wanted to write this lil' chapter since Ari's now 14, and officially part of the them. Admit it, you felt the waterworks during that scene XD
It was nice writing fun character interactions, sprinkling some hcs n' stuff, and Karmi and Hiro bonding : D
They have a mutual friend Ari so it's making them get along sooner than in canon, fun!
Next chapter... *exhale* if you listen closely you can hear the internal screaming I did during certain parts.
But that's for another week!
QOTW: What's your fav oc-canon dynamic/relationship in this fic? Or if you like all of them feel free to name a oc-canon interaction from a fic you like or even your own fic.