Author's notes: HEY, I'M ALIVE! I'm really really sorry for the late updates. I had my Mid-Years and Chinese O Levels, hence why I couldn't get back into writing. I feel as though many people lost interest in the story as such - but to those who willingly waited and are still interested in reading 'moments with you', I honestly cannot thank you enough for this chance. Thank you.
"Hello? GoGo? GoGo Tomago? Are you in there?" Tadashi Hamada squints into the peephole of the wooden door - only for it to swing out and hit him in the face seconds later.
"What do you want?" A frazzled GoGo addresses the figure clutching his nose. Her tousled hair - sticking up in odd angles - along with her too-large shirt and black boxers is a fair indication that she has been asleep (or trying to fall sleep) before Tadashi rung the doorbell a few seconds ago. "And woman up. I didn't open the door that hard."
GoGo Tomago does not appreciate people turning up at her doorstep 8 am in the morning - especially when she's supposed to be in bed with a flu. And cough. And a slight fever. And a serious lack of sleep because she's been coughing a lung out for two nights and counting. Even if it's Tadashi Hamada (Or rather, especially if it's him.)
"You weren't in the lab yesterday or the day before," Tadashi points out, now rubbing his nose gently. "And Honey Lemon said you weren't feeling well. So I came to visit." His demeanor seems to brighten at the word 'visit', but GoGo grits her teeth instead because she does not appreciate Honey Lemon blurting out every single fact about her to Tadashi (including the one last week on how she was actually a closet Captain America fan (1) ).
"I'm not in the mood for-" GoGo pauses flatly to search for a suitable word. "For whatever you have in mind. And I only slept for about two hours last night, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed." GoGo prepares to close the door, but Tadashi jams his foot in between (She winces at his yelp of pain).
"C'mon GoGo, let me in," Tadashi insists. "I'm helping you make breakfast cos I'm pretty sure you're an awful cook." GoGo bristles mildly (though even she can't deny the truth of the statement), pretty sure that piece of information comes courtesy of Honey Lemon.
"Do you and Honey Lemon always talk behind my back when I'm not there?" She gripes. But she relents and swings the door open for Tadashi to enter anyway. His persistence is culminating in a headache that she cannot afford to have.
"Well," Tadashi mulls over it for a while. "I happen to talk about you a lot. Honey Lemon just supplies more information." He turns in the direction of her kitchen and proceeds to dump his groceries on the counter top dismissively.
GoGo's face turns a light shade of red. She's pretty sure it's due to her fever.
She ends up changing into something that smells less and is more presentable. In the midst of pulling on her sweatpants, GoGo thinks she's pretty lucky that Tadashi didn't notice the heart print boxers she was wearing when he came in. It would have done a lot to her 'Punk-Biker-Tough-Girl' image - the one she's ended up adopting to keep people away. When GoGo looks back, she thinks it's strange how it never worked for Honey, Wasabi and Fred. And Tadashi.
Now dressed in a white shirt far too big for her, and a pair of grey sweatpants, GoGo curls back into her bed. The new clothes makes her feel just the slightest bit better, but it's still hard to breathe (the flu, she mentally notes), it's still a little cold (the fever), and she's still coughing at 120-second intervals (Yes, being ill has made her bored enough to count the seconds between each of her coughs).
"GoGo?" Her rest is suddenly and promptly interrupted by three rapid knocks to the door. GoGo rolls her eyes (under her closed eyelids) and shifts her body to face the door. She wraps her blanket tightly around herself and waits for Tadashi to open it. But a few silent seconds pass and no Hamada appears.
"What are you doing, Hamada? Weren't you gonna come in?" GoGo grunts, loud enough for Tadashi to hear. Finally, the door creaks open in an almost tentative fashion and Tadashi slips in.
"You didn't answer, so I thought you were changing," He mumbles, looking embarrassed. GoGo's starting to feel as awkward as he looks, but she ends up simply grumbling under her breath and moving to sit up on her bed.
"I made you some food," Tadashi changes the subject cheerfully, his previous traces sof awkwardness gone. GoGo eyes the plate in his hands warily. It's porridge, she mentally notes, with small chunks of cut vegetables in it. Then she glances at Tadashi.
"What?" He replies, puzzled.
"You actually made this?"
"Yea, it's a... Family recipe. Hiro took it all the time when he was sick as a kid," Tadashi answers, his face starting to lose its initial puzzlement. It's being replaced by a distant, guarded look that is vaguely familiar to GoGo.
"What about you? Didn't you eat it too?" She asks, in an attempt to break the tension.
"I was the one making it after my mum died." Tadashi replies flatly. GoGo can feel her body stiffen, because there are still instances when Tadashi shuts up and distances himself whenever his parents come into the topic. (There are still instances where she's careless enough to mention them, instances where Tadashi gives her a blank stare that hurts more than any glare or rebuke he can possibly provide).
"But-" Tadashi clears his throat, breaking her out of her train of thought. He tugs off his cap and runs his left hand through his tousled hair. "Well, I never really told anyone this, so, just-" A hint of red is starting to form across his face. "Just keep it a secret. And eat up. The food's getting cold. I'll go clean up the kitchen - give a shout when you're done." He gives a small, embarrassed grin and turns away. Tadashi's out of the door before GoGo can even blink and watch him go (Despite her need for speed, she's starting to think he can be a surprising lot faster).
She stirs the porridge absent-mindedly and spoons some into her mouth. It's been cooled, and tastes like a mixture of ginger, vegetables, and the warm comfort of a family. As she was ate, her appetite slowly improving again, GoGo's thinks of how Tadashi has finally started opening up about the topic of his parents. She tries hard not to smile too widely (and look like an idiot in the process).
When she's done, GoGo (while not wanting to admit it) is contentedly full, in spite of her still running nose. She rises from her bed, empty plate in hand (it was good enough for her to scrape it clean), but just as she stretches her left hand forward to twist open the door knob, it turns on its own accord and the door nearly slaps her in the face. GoGo steps back hastily (Thank god for her quick reaction, she thinks) and escapes with a nasty shock instead.
"GoGo? I thought I said to give a shout when you're done?" Tadashi asks, as he peeks out from the door. GoGo glares at him in return. "As if I'm gonna shout across the whole apartment just to get a plate returned."
"I was supposed to give you your medicine in bed after you shouted," Tadashi replies, sounding disappointed. GoGo hesitates momentarily.
"I'll take my medicine in the kitchen-"
"I- I'm not done cleaning it yet," Tadashi stammers. Hastily, he grabs the plate from GoGo. "I'll just put this in the sink and come in with your medicine. Go back to bed, GoGo, I'll come in in a while." It's not like she has much of a choice, when Tadashi's already pulling the door close. GoGo huffs in irritation at his almost dismissive manner - but given everything, she supposes (and she knows) she's pretty thankful for his visit.
(She doesn't think she'll ever get to telling him that though.)
A short while afterwards, Tadashi comes in with a few bottles of medicine and pills - GoGo scrunches up her face in disgust when she sees them. Tadashi simply grins and places them on the small chest next to her bed. Then his expression turns serious as he stares contemplatively at GoGo.
"What?" She demands, unnerved.
"Just thinking," Tadashi replies, "If I'm supposed to feed you your medicine or if you can do it yoursel-" GoGo answers by throwing her pillow at him.
"I'll do it myself," she snaps back. Her fever feels like it's starting to shoot up again. Tadashi just laughs in reply. Now she's sure her fever is shooting up again.
GoGo downs her series of medicines with a lot of water - screwing up her face when the bitterness stings her tongue. Tadashi watches her as she does so. GoGo starts to feel uncomfortable under his questioning gaze ("Woman up." She growls to herself) and strangely self-conscious, until she realises he's taking notes.
"What are you doing?" She asks, confused and slightly groggy as the effects of the medicine starts to set in.
"Well," Tadashi pauses. "Remember the project I was working on? The one I told you about before?"
"That..." GoGo tries to recall what Tadashi has told her before she has fallen ill. "That healthcare robot? Bay-something?" She distantly recalls a large, white marshmallow looking robot on one of Tadashi's blue prints.
"Exactly!" Tadashi exclaims in triumph. "I wanted to know more about how to make patients comfortable even when they were ill - and this was a pretty good opportunity." He proceeds to ramble on details of healthcare and comfort, but even as GoGo listens, she feels something within her fizzle out - like a half-hearted firework.
"Is that why you're here?" She asks slowly. "As an experiment?"
Tadashi freezes.
"Well, uh, not exactly," He stammers. He's starting to lose his composure, GoGo realises, as the normally calm Tadashi struggles to grasp for words.
"I thought you would want company since you were ill..." Tadashi mumbles. He takes a deep breath. "And to be honest, I kinda wanted to see you. The medical knowledge part was an excu- a bonus. A bonus." He repeats, his face flushing slightly.
Now it's GoGo's turn to lose her composure.
"I, erm, never mind." Her fever feels like it's rising again. "Thanks, Tadashi." She coughs a little to cover up for the use of his first name, but the older Hamada simply smiles. GoGo returns it and she knows he understands all the words she has wanted to convey.
Later, GoGo ends up falling asleep. Upon waking, her fever seems to have subsided. When she presses a hand against her forehead, she no longer feels a fuzzy lingering heat. Similarly, her throat no longer feels as scratchy and her breaths - less suffocating. Clearing her throat, GoGo groggily clambers out of bed, wondering where Tadashi has gone. The entire apartment is silent empty, and the kitchen, newly cleaned. GoGo realises Tadashi has left. Something strangely alike disappointment settles in her heart heavily - until she notices a large purple origami crane propped up on her kitchen table, along with a note.
I cleaned up your apartment for a while after you fell asleep. Hope you feel better after your rest. Honey, Fred, Wasabi and I decided to make you a gift as a surprise! See you tomorrow. Tadashi.
GoGo promptly eyes the said origami crane. There's writing on one of its wings ("Open it up" in what she presumes is Honey Lemon's loopy handwriting). Hesitantly, she pulls apart the entire origami crane - comforted by the fact that she knows how to fold it back again if Honey's instruction yields nothing. But as she unfolds the crane, GoGo starts spotting splashes of colour and indeed, when the crane reaches its initial state of a white piece of square paper, GoGo flips it around and sees a series of messages adorning the underside of the crane (2).
Get well soon GoGo! Even though it's only been a few days, we still miss you (along with the sound of your bubblegum-popping). Don't feel too down, I'm sure Tadashi's visit will cheer you up. Honey Lemon :).
Hope you recover soon, GoGo, no one's around to mess up by tools anymore - which is great, by the way, since it takes a long time to rearrange everything after you randomly snatch up my belongings - but anyway, hope you're feeling better. Wasabi.
Hey GoGo, get well soon! Since we didn't have time to fold a thousand origami cranes, we ended up folding just one big one (3). The lab isn't the same place without you around. Hope you're recovering as fast as you can go! Fred.
"Getting all mushy for no reason..." GoGo shakes her head and sighs, preparing to fold the origami crane back into its original shape. No one sees the uncharacteristically soft smile on her face even as she meticulously creases the paper once more to get it back into the figure of a crane.
"Thanks."
(1) Gotten from L.C Li's fanfic, Stars and Stripes, which details of the headcanon that GoGo is secretly a Captain America fan.
(2) and (3) I got this idea from an episode of Crayon-Shin-Chan anime - paper/cranes are usually given to those who are ill, but since GoGo isn't dangerously sick, Tadashi, Honey, Wasabi and Fred simply wrote their messages on the bottom side of a square piece of paper and folded it into a paper crane so their messages are kept within it. I may add Tadashi's message if I have the time.
Thanks for reading!