Welcome to my first published story. I won't write too much here since I know you likely just wanna read. But I wanna quickly say thank you to Arctimon for the inspiration from his story "Overnight" and his creativity to have The Weeknd as Karmi's favorite artist. Anyhoo, enjoy and remember: I do not own any of the characters, songs or scenarios portrayed in this story.

Edit 9/4: Fixed a few redundant word choices and other tiny structural things.

Blinding Lights

Saturday night.

Hiro walked up the stairs from the Hamada living room to his bedroom, head hanging down, watching his feet as he ascended. The day felt exceptionally long and he had no idea why. Saturdays gave him & his friends plenty of time to do what they wanted & needed. And while the list of things needing to be done seemed to grow with every passing day (schoolwork, Baymax R&D, Big Hero 6 projects & patrols) Hiro almost always felt accomplished at the end of each Saturday. This one, however, seemed like it just wasn't conducive to getting work done.

On anything, really.

Internally, Hiro acknowledged that he had been super unfocused all day. He'd tried to make progress on something; the new creative writing assignment from Granville, adjustments on Baymax's overdrive mode routines to reduce power consumption, patrol with Fred-meleon but he just didn't have the drive to work on any of the tasks. Coming home from patrol early, he racked his brain for an answer, giving Aunt Cass a tepid greeting in passing. He knew he wasn't tired from lack of sleep. In fact, he'd gotten a little extra sleep the night before, thanks to a delayed alarm… and certain semi-questionable decisions regarding sharing his bed with a brown-haired bio-tech genius.

'Maybe that's what's got me so worked up,' he mused, his cheeks turning just the slightest bit pink. 'Or down, rather. Karmi's gone back home.' The blush faded quickly.

"Room's all mine again…" the boy genius stated dryly & with some sadness.

"Was this room not always 'all yours' after Tadashi's passing and before Karmi's stay, Hiro?"

Hiro glanced up at Baymax, momentarily startled. "Uh, Baymax! I… I thought you were downstairs," was his mumbled reply.

The healthcare companion had turned to face the stairs upon hearing someone climbing them, that someone turning out to be Hiro. The robot blinked once before responding, "I was accompanying Aunt Cass as she watched a scary movie. She insisted I come up here & recharge as I had experienced a 'busy day.' She also stated that I was ruining her immersion with my frequent heartrate warnings."

Hiro chuckled a little bit. 'Guess even Baymax can't beat Aunt Cass' enthusiasm for horror.'

"You have not answered my inquiry. Is my understanding of the phrase 'all yours' incorrect?" Baymax tilted his head to the left a little and blinked again.

"No, Baymax, you've got the right understanding," replied Hiro, shoulders slumping a little.

"Your vocal stress levels and wavering, in addition to your body language, indicate that you are upset. Would you like to talk about it?"

Hiro looked back at Baymax's huggable midsection. Normally, the teen genius would've found a way to dismiss the offer. But tonight…

"I miss her."

Hiro made his way toward his desk chair, plopped into it noisily, and sighed heavily.

"Karmi."

"…yeah. Karmi."

"You were honest with her last night when you shared that you were not prepared for her departure today."

"Guess I wasn't honest with myself…"

*blink* "I do not understand."

"I knew she was leaving today," said Hiro. "I knew, last night, that when I would come up here tonight she wouldn't be here. That everything would be back to the way it was at the start of the week. You, me, Aunt Cass, and Mochi; just the four of us again."

Hiro blinked, then scrubbed his face with his hands. Sighing again, he looked up at Baymax as he continued.

"My brain understood the facts but somehow refused to accept them as the imminent, now current, reality."

Baymax watched Hiro's form, slumped over in the chair, head down, elbows on his knees, one hand clasping the opposite fist. Another blink. "Hiro, perhaps you should take a shower."

Hiro's head snapped up pretty quickly. Of all the things Baymax could've said, he wasn't expecting something so... mundane.

"Um..."

"You have had a 'long day.' As your healthcare companion, I suggest that you remove the day's accumulations & prepare for a good seven to nine hours of rest."

If it had been anyone else, Hiro might've gotten angry or the impression that they were simply trying to avoid an awkward conversation. But not with Baymax. Or at least, not tonight with how unmotivated he'd been feeling all day.

"Ok, buddy," he replied, getting up from the chair & making his way to the bathroom.

"Hiro..."

Hiro stopped, looking up at Baymax.

"...I will be here when you are finished."

Hiro gave his robot buddy an incredulous look. 'Where else would you be?' he thought. The bathroom door shut with a soft click.

Baymax stepped out of his charging cradle and waddled over to Tadashi's computer.

*(it's the computer that Baymax used to download the personal loss database)

Placing his hand on the monitor, he established a link to Tadashi's computer, then began interlinking Tadashi's system to Hiro's laptop.

Forty-five minutes later Hiro exited the bathroom, showered, teeth brushed, wearing his pajamas, and tossing his dirty clothes near the hamper. He had spent a longer than normal time in the shower... because someone had left their coconut-scented shampoo behind. He'd relished the fragrance for as long as he could, but his need for sleep had eventually coerced him to stop for the night. Hiro looked up and stopped walking just before he would've bumped into Baymax.

"Hey, Baymax," the teen genius said softly. "Whatcha doin'?"

Baymax removed his hand from the computer monitor and rotated his head to acknowledge Hiro.

"I am preparing several sleep assistance methods for you. I have determined that tonight may prove especially difficult for you to enter a restful sleep without Karmi's presence or other sleep remedies."

'Yeah... Definitely.' was Hiro's only thought. "Well, come on buddy. I'll get in bed and then you can get started," he responded, walking toward his bed, climbing in & getting under the covers. Baymax, having gone to turn off the lights, made his way back towards Hiro and stopped at the right side of the bed.

Hiro stared up at Baymax as he glanced up and down the length of the bed. "Uh... Baymax? Staring at me isn't really gonna help me go to sleep."

Baymax glanced at Hiro, blinking once before responding, "I have now finished the last of my preparations and am now ready to begin. I will start with soothing sounds & imagery."

Baymax's tummy television blinked on, blinding Hiro temporarily. Baymax lowered the brightness to near its absolute minimum & adjusted the blue light output, to reduce eye strain & prevent overstimulating Hiro's brain. The screen now was like a nightlight; soft, comforting oranges & yellows gently swirled on the screen while the sound of waves, rhythmic and even, played out of Baymax's internal speakers. Hiro sighed as he started to relax.

'Maybe it won't be that hard to go to sleep after all...' he thought, closing his eyes.

A few minutes later however, a small little something started nagging him, rousing him from his relaxed state. His eyes flew open and, after raising himself up on his elbows, he tried to figure out what could be itching his brain so badly. 'You know what.' the little voice inside him said, 'Or rather who isn't here to help you sleep.'

"Uuuuuuugh..." groaned Hiro, his head leaning backwards cause he knew that little voice was right in a big way. Hiro sat up fully in the bed, scrubbing his face & running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Hiro. What is wrong? The treatment appeared to be working." Hiro turned to face Baymax, defeat evident on his face & in his body language. "Sorry Baymax. I... I can't relax. I know this sounds silly cause Karmi was only here for five nights and we only... uh... did the thing together last night-"

"Are you indirectly referring to 'sharing your bed with Karmi' as 'the thing?'"

"Yeah... But that's not important right now Baymax. I just don't understand it. Why...?" Hiro's question petered out, but his mind finished for him. 'Why do I feel incomplete with her being not here?' Hiro sniffled, his eyes getting a little misty. Suddenly his ears perked up when he heard a new song coming, not from Baymax but, from his room's speakers.

I been tryna call

I been on my own for long enough

Maybe you can show me how to love, maybe

Hiro turned to Baymax, who blinked at him twice. "I have adjusted my treatment. Shall we try again?"

I'm going through withdrawals

You don't even have to do too much

You can turn me on with just a touch, baby

Despite how energetic the song would normally be, the lowered volume & lack of sound enhancements like boosted bass or subwoofers let Hiro ease into a more relaxed state.

I look around and Sin City's cold and empty (oh)

No one's around to judge me (oh)

I can't see clearly when you're gone

Hiro eased back down onto his pillow, willing to try to sleep again. As he did he looked towards Baymax and inhaled a short sharp breath. Baymax had changed the image to a picture of Karmi, wearing her blue dress from the SFIT gala and, more recently, their date. But it wasn't her azure dress or perfect smile that drew his attention. Hiro's eyes were locked on Karmi's, enraptured by the way her eyes seemed to have a light all their own.

I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights

No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch

Hiro felt a warm gentle pressure on his ankle and looked away from Karmi's image to his feet. Baymax had slid his left hand under the covers and was using the therapeutic warmer in it to simulate radiated human body warmth.

I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night

Oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust

Hey, hey, hey

Baymax repeated the action with the right hand's warmer, applying gentle pressure to Hiro's torso, left side shoulder. 'Where Karmi slept on me last night...' Hiro realized, looking back at Baymax's chest where the display now showed Karmi leaning against a railing somewhere, the setting sun highlighting her silhouette.

I'm running out of time

'Cause I can see the sun light up the sky

So I hit the road in overdrive, baby

Hiro smiled and took a deep, albeit slightly shaky breath. His eyes started to water a little...

Oh, the city's cold and empty (oh)

No one's around to judge me (oh)

I can't see clearly when you're gone

Blinking a few tears out of his eyes, he looked at Baymax's screen again, a new picture of Karmi on it. Well, it was her student ID/SFIT profile pic, but Hiro didn't care. Once again, he was staring at her eyes.

I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights

No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch

Baymax began slowly moving his left hand back & forth, attempting to imitate the rubbing Karmi's foot had done the previous night.

I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night

Oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust

Hiro's mind began to fill with cobwebs. His eyes kept trying to focus on the slow yet everchanging images of Karmi on the tummy-vision, but coupled with the softened music of Karmi's favorite artist & the warmth of the heaters on the same spots from last night, Hiro found it practically impossible to do so.

I'm just walking by to let you know (by to let you know)

I can never say it on the phone (say it on the phone)

Will never let you go this time (ooh)

The next picture surprised Hiro, though he was now too relaxed & sleepy to try to figure out how this picture was taken. It clearly had to have been taken during Big Hero 6's escape from Akuma Island when Momokase had kidnapped Karmi & trapped the team. Karmi's eyes were big & sparkling, filled with her infatuation for Hiro's alter-ego, but Hiro could only focus on just how beautiful and bright her eyes are.

I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights

No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch

Hey, hey, hey

"Hey... Baymax..." Hiro spoke so slowly, sleep practically held absolute power over him.

"Tomorrow, Hiro." Baymax responded with his volume at the lowest setting possible. "Right now, the treatment is working."

Hey, hey, hey

"Thanks buddy. G'night... Karmi... Zzz..." Hiro's breathing was now even & steady, that first light snore a one-time occurrence. For the next hour Baymax maintained the warmth & pressure, gently easing both until the warmers were deactivated & his hands were out from under Hiro's covers, He blinked twice, wanting to be sure that his patient would not suddenly wake from the lack of stimuli. Satisfied that Hiro would stay asleep until morning Baymax made his way back to his charging cradle, stepped in and, closing his eyes, entered standby mode. Baymax's tummy display remained on, glowing gently with an edited picture taken from Karmi's fanfiction profile. The background had been changed from the stale off-white to be similar to the gentle swirling oranges & yellows Baymax used earlier in the night, like a sky at sunset. But nothing about Karmi in the photo was edited: not her chocolatey brown hair, her radiant bronze skin, nor her dazzling white smile. And especially not...

I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights

No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch

The beautiful, brown, brilliant, blinding lights that are her eyes.

THE END

Author's Note: In the original story don't recall either Karmi or Hiro telling Baymax "I am satisfied with my care" before they drifted of to Slumberland together. And missing details left me a wonderfully fun opportunity to explore how Hiro handled his first Karmi-less night.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! It means a lot to me!

Once again a big thank-you to Arctimon (u/2944565/?a=b) for writing their story(ies) first! Without their work, this one-shot wouldn't have happened.

I may post more stories in the future but I'm gonna try and not post partials/incomplete stories. I don't wanna be added to many someone's ever growing list of authors who don't finish their stories.

Anyhoo, I'll catch you next story! Bye!