"Wow…" Fred breathes as a few minutes later he enters the Lucky Cat Cafe for the first time. Illustrations did not at all do it justice, and he loved everything about it, from the calming green color of the walls to the cute lucky cat motifs that had been incorporated into the decor to the mouthwatering smell of pastries wafting from the display case near the back of the restaurant.
"You like it?" Tadashi asks with an eager, if somehow hopeful glance over at him.
"Like it? I love it!" Fred cries.
"I'm glad you think so!" Tadashi grins at him before slowly adding, "Y'know, Hiro and I help out here when we have free time… I know that we told you that you don't need to get a job here, but maybe, if you wanted to, we could see if Aunt Cass would let you help out too? It would be a nice way to spend some extra time together…"
"Do you think she'd actually let me?" Fred gasps.
"I can't see her turning down an offer for extra help!" Tadashi answers with a grin.
"That would be the coolest thing ever!"
"I'm glad you think so!" Tadashi gently squeezes his hand. "Want to go ask Aunt Cass about it yourself?"
"Yes please!"
"All right, let's go, then!"
Fred was practically buzzing with excited energy as they make their way up to the counter. Getting to actually see the Lucky Cat Cafe in person, and maybe even getting to work here part time? How much better could this day get?
"Aunt Cass?" Tadashi calls once they reach the counter, leaning slightly over it and towards the kitchen that was partially obscured by hanging curtains. "Aunt Cass, are you in there?"
"Tadashi, is that you, sweetie?" a voice calls back.
"It is!" Tadashi confirms. "Are you busy right now?"
"I'm just finishing something up real quick, and then I'll be right out!"
"Sounds good." Tadashi relaxes against the counter as he waits, giving Fred a soft, warm smile that practically made his knees melt. "She shouldn't be long. I would have told her that you were here but I didn't want her injuring herself by rushing to get out here."
"I-Is she really that excited to meet me?" Fred asks, his cheeks burning slightly under Tadashi's gaze.
"Pretty much," Tadashi chuckles, looking slightly embarrassed himself. "Although she may have gotten it into her head that you're my boyfriend even though I think it's a little early for us to be quite at that stage yet…"
"Oh yeah, I totally agree!" Fred quickly answers. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted Tadashi as his boyfriend if Tadashi wanted to be, but even with over a year of online conversations and flirting, they had only just met in person yesterday. It was probably a good idea to give themselves some time to really get to know each other better before putting an actual label on things.
"Glad you think so," Tadashi says, lightly squeezing Fred's hand and planting a gentle kiss on his cheek, just as a petite woman who could only be Aunt Cass came walking out of the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron.
"Tadashi, sweetie, is everything oka-" Aunt Cass started to say, only for her eyes to wide as she takes in the sight of her nephew and another man in a rather intimate position. For a moment, Fred was afraid that he'd made a terrible first impression, even though Tadashi had been the one kissing him, not the other way around. But then suddenly Aunt Cass breaks out into a huge smile as she rushes forward.
"Oh my gosh, is this him?" she cries, directing her question towards her nephew. "Is this the Fred I've been hearing so much about? Oh, Tadashi, he's just as handsome as you said he was! I can't believe I finally get to meet your boyfriend after all this time!"
"Yes, this is Fred," Tadashi confirms, his cheeks tinting a slightly darker shade of pink. "But he's not actually my boyfriend yet, Aunt Cass…"
"Well you'd better not take too long on doing that or someone else is going to snap him right up!" Aunt Cass answers with a playfully reproving look.
"Oh, trust me, there's no way I'd ever even look at anyone else-Tadashi is way too amazing," Fred answers, also feeling his cheeks burning but glad that Aunt Cass seemed to approve of him.
"And he just keeps getting sweeter!" Aunt Cass beams at him before glancing at the clock on the wall and asking, "Have you eaten yet?"
"We had a kind of late breakfast before coming over," Tadashi answers.
"Oh…" Aunt Cass looks slightly disappointed. "I was hoping you hadn't eaten so recently… It's almost lunchtime, and I wanted to get to cook for Fred now that I'm finally meeting him!"
"Well, maybe give us a little bit of time and we'll be hungry for lunch," Tadashi tells her placatingly.
"I would absolutely love to try your cooking," Fred quickly adds. "I've been dreaming about getting to try your food ever since I was a kid!"
"You are just too sweet!" Aunt Cass gently squeezes his hand. "Well, I won't keep you-I know that Tadashi probably wants to take you upstairs to spend time with you. But please know that you're always welcome here any time!"
"Thank you so much," Fred breathes, unable to believe he was actually this lucky.
"Fred was actually saying that he'd like to help out here sometimes if you wouldn't mind," Tadash adds.
"Really?" Aunt Cass glances over at Fred in surprise.
"Yeah, definitely!" Fred hurriedly agrees. "I don't have a lot of experience working in a restaurant before, but I have worked in customer service for a few years, and I'd love to help out if you'd be willing to take me on-I wouldn't expect any payment, of course! I'd just like to help out if I can."
"...Okay, this makes it official, I'm adopting you and no one can stop me!" Aunt Cass says, pulling Fred into a bearhug.
"O-Oh, thank you?" Fred breathes, knowing that she probably meant her words lightly but appreciating them more than she could ever know.
"Aunt Cass, I think you're overdoing it a bit…" Hiro mumbles, looking slightly embarrassed by the curious looks the cafe patrons were throwing their way.
"Right, right, sorry!" Aunt Cass laughs, letting Fred go. "And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you boys from whatever you were doing! But yes, Fred, if you ever want to help out in the Cafe I would be more than happy to have you! And if you ever need anything, you just let me know, all right?"
"All right," Fred agrees, flashing her a grateful smile and hoping she understood how much he meant it as Tadashi and Hiro start leading him towards side door and up a set of stairs which Fred could only assume lead up to the main house.
"Sorry, I know she can be a bit overbearing at times, but she means well," Hiro sighs as they climb.
"What? Oh, no, she was great!" Fred hurries to tell him. "It's nice actually feeling like I have a family for once…"
"Of course you have a family here, Fred!" Tadashi says firmly, pausing for a moment to kiss Fred on the cheek. "No matter what, you'll always have us, and we'll always have your back."
"T-Thank you…" Fred mumbles, fighting back the urge to cry and wondering why was this was always his reaction to all the nice things that these amazing people were doing for him?
"So, this is the main house," Tadashi says when they reach the top of the stairs. "I know it's not much, but it is home."
"Are you kidding me?" Fred gasps as Tadashi leads him out into the living room. "T-This is amazing!" His brain almost couldn't believe that he was actually standing in the Hamada's living room. How could this possibly be real?
"Nerding out alert," Hiro sighs, shaking his head.
"Hiro, be nice!" Tadashi scolds him before turning back to Fred. "Well I'm glad you like it!"
"I definitely, definitely do," Fred agrees.
"You want to see our room?"
"Um, hell yes!"
"C'mon, then!" Tadashi laughs as he gently tugs Fred towards another staircase. "It's up this way. You'll just have to excuse the fact that Hiro's side looks like a tornado hit it-and no, there wasn't a storm, that's just how it always looks."
"Hey!" Hiro cries out in protest. "It does not! And besides, I just cleaned it since you told me you were bringing Fred over, especially since I knew you'd be a nerd and want to show him our room."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Hiro sticks his tongue out at his older brother but doesn't say anything more as they climb the stairs to the bedroom.
"Wow, this place is awesome!" Fred cries when they reach the top-sure, it was a mess, but it had a nice lived-in feeling to it, and there was tons of nerd stuff scattered throughout.
"Thanks." Tadashi grins over at him before starting to tug him over towards a red case that was resting up against the wall. "Oh, and this seems like the perfect time to introduce you to someone very special!"
"Oh my God…" Fred breathes, eyes lighting up. "I-Is that-?"
"This is Baymax," Tadashi agrees with a proud smile. "You want to meet him?"
"Um, hell yes!"
"Okay then!" Tadashi chuckles as he presses a button on the side of the case. Almost instantly the case opens up and a large white form starts inflating out of it. Moments later, Tadashi's nursebot-turned-crime-fighter (who bore a striking resemblance to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) was standing in front of them, fully operational.
"Hello," the robot greets them in his robotic yet somehow still incredibly friendly voice. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."
"This is so freaking cool…" Fred breathes, eagerly clutching onto Tadashi's hand.
Tadashi gently squeezes his hand in return, seeming pleased by Fred's enthusiasm, before turning to the robot and starting introductions. "Fred, this is Baymax. Baymax, I'd like you to meet Fred."
"Hello, Fred," Baymax greets Fred with a slow, mechanical wave.
"Hi!" Fred eagerly waves back, unable to believe that this was actually happening to him.
"Your heart rate is elevated," Baymax notes, a digital projection of a medical chart appearing on the robot's vinyl stomach. "This is usually caused by cardiovascular exercise, stress, or excitement, but it can also sometimes be caused by underlying health problems. Would you like me to scan further to diagnose possible health risks?"
"I think he's just excited, but thank you," Tadashi says when Fred fails to answer.
Baymax nods before continuing, "I also detect high levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and dilation of the pupils."
"Uh… What does that mean?" Fred asks, feeling slightly nervous-wait, what if there really was something wrong with him?
"Together, these are usually signs of attraction!" Baymax answers helpfully.
Hiro, who was watching all of this go down, starts cackling so hard he has to lean up against the wall for support as soon as he hears this diagnosis. He starts laughing even harder as Baymax turns to Tadashi and helpfully states, "Tadashi is exhibiting similar symptoms!"
"O-Okay, that's enough, Baymax, thank you!" Tadashi cries, his cheeks glowing a bright pink.
"I am starting to detect raised body temperature levels in your-"
"WEARESATISFIEDWITHOURCARETHANKYOUBAYMAX!" Tadashi shouts out, his words all running together. Baymax, though clearly eager to share more, nods in agreement and deflates down into his case.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Tadashi apologizes to Fred, looking thoroughly mortified. "H-He tends to do that sometimes… I'm trying to work on his programming to teach him tact but it's taking a lot of trial and error…"
"I-It's okay," Fred reassures him, still feeling embarrassed himself but on the other hand secretly a bit glad to know that Tadashi was actually attracted to him and he wasn't just making this all up in his head.
"So, um, do you want to maybe meet some of our less socially inept robots? Specifically ones that don't talk, at least not in human words?" Tadashi asks, clearly trying to salvage the situation.
"Sure!" Fred quickly agrees-he'd certainly never turn down the chance to see more cool robots.
"Okay!" Tadashi heads over to a partitioned off part of the room, gesturing for Fred to follow him-Fred had a sneaking suspicion that it was Tadashi's portion of the room, and while he couldn't help but notice that Tadashi seemed to have been sequestered into a rather small portion of the room, he got the feeling that Tadashi was willing to put up with it for Hiro's sake, which pretty much officially made him the best older brother ever.
"All right, here she is!" Tadashi says, stooping down to pick up something brown and furry from beside the bed, and it took Fred a moment to recognize what exactly he was looking at.
"Holy shit! I-Is that an Eevee?" he cries.
"Yep!" Tadashi agrees with a grin as the robot in his arms stirs to life, slowly blinking its surprisingly realistic eyes open. "Fred, meet Spring!"
"Oh my gosh, she's adorable…" Fred breathes, hardly able to believe what he was seeing-the pokemon looked absolutely lifelike, he'd never seen anything anywhere near this close before.
"Isn't she?" Tadashi was practically glowing, looking like a proud parent. He gently scratches the fur under the Eevee's chin, and she lets out a happy chirp in response, seeming to be enjoying the attention. "She's my precious little girl. Aren't you, Spring?"
The Eevee lets out another happy chirp, nuzzling into his hand as he strokes her ears.
Okay, this was officially way too much cuteness for any reality to withstand. Fred wasn't sure how the universe wasn't imploding from the combination of Tadashi, the purest cinnamon roll ever, with a freaking Eevee!
"D-Did you make her?" Fred finally manages to get out-the answer seemed pretty obvious, but he knew just standing there practically drooling was not the greatest way to make a good impression when he and Tadashi were still on fairly new ground with each other.
"Yeah, I did!" Tadashi grins at him, practically making Fred's heart stop from just how gorgeous that smile was. "Hiro and I don't just make projects for school or to serve a particular purpose, sometimes we enjoy just making things for fun. And making robotic Pokemon was definitely one of our better ideas."
"Totally!" Fred hears Hiro agreeing, and he turns to see the younger teen plunging his arm into a rather large fish tank on his desk. It emerges a few moments later with what looked like a miniature Gyarados wrapped around it. "This is Ryu-he's my pokemon."
"This is seriously too insanely cool!" When Hiro gestures for him to come take a look, he hurries over to examine the robot, which, like Spring, was incredibly lifelike, right down to the tiny glistening scales.
"We've made Pokemon for most of our friends too-sometimes we take them out for playdates when we need a break from studying and superhero work," Tadashi explains as he comes over to join them. ""If you want, we could definitely make one or you."
"What? Oh, no, I couldn't accept something that generous!" Fred blanches at the offer, even though inside he was practically dying for a Pokemon of his own at this point.
"Since all of us have one it would almost be weird if you didn't have one," Hiro points out. "And besides, we're on summer break and we've been looking for a fun project to work on."
"C'mon," Tadashi gently urges. "You've got to have had a favorite Pokemon at some point in your life."
"I… Well… I-I've always loved Growlithe," Fred finally admits.
"Growlithe sounds perfect!" Tadashi beams at him. "I bet Spring would love to get to play with one of those!"
"It sounds like a fun challenge," Hiro agrees with a thoughtful nod, and Fred could practically see the gears spinning in his head, as if he was already planning out just how to make it. "Once we're done with your suit we'll make that our next project."
"I-I don't know how to thank you guys for all of this…" Fred whispers, a surge of emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
"You don't have to, we're glad to do it," Tadashi answers, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pecking him on the cheek.
"You're not used to people doing nice things for you without expecting something from you in return, are you?" Hiro asks after looking Fred over seriously for a moment.
"W-What?" Fred was completely caught off guard by the question, but he forces out an embarrassed laugh, trying to keep Hiro from realizing just how close to the mark he was. "I-I guess not… I mean, I grew up in the foster system, I kind of had to learn how to take care of myself, there wasn't anyone I could really count on anyone but myself. I tried a few times but I always got let down. But that's just life, right? You learn to deal with stuff and keep going."
And great, he'd officially just said way too much. Still, oddly enough he thought he saw Hiro's expression softening slightly, and, after glancing over at the large robot themed clock on the wall, Hiro says, "Y'know, we've still got some time before the others get here. Did you want to… I dunno, watch a movie with me and Dashi until they arrive or something?"
"I… Um…" Fred wasn't fully prepared for that response, but he sees Tadashi nodding encouragingly to him so he answers, "Uh, yeah, sure, if you wouldn't mind, that sounds great!"
"Okay then." Hiro doesn't quite meet his eyes, just abruptly turning and heading down the stairs, and Fred wonders if maybe he'd just made things worse.
"Hey, I think he's starting to warm up to you."
Fred feels Tadashi's warmth breath against his ear before he feels one of his arms circling his waist and starting to guide him towards the stairs. He wasn't sure that Tadashi was right about that, but then again Tadashi did know Hiro a lot better than he did. And he couldn't help but notice that, once the three of them had come to a consensus of what to watch (Wreck-It Ralph being the ultimate choice), Hiro chose to station himself on the other side of Fred from Tadashi on the couch. It could have a casual decision, but there were plenty of other open seats in the room, and it seemed more likely that Hiro would have chosen to sit next to his older brother than someone he'd only just met. Purposeful or not, it seemed that Hiro was at least starting to get comfortable with him, even if he wasn't fully ready to accept him yet. And even the chance of this family actually wanting him to be a part of it was more than Fred could have ever dreamed of.