"I probably could have described what to do over the phone," Honey Lemon said, helping Hiro carry in various pieces of the team's armor. "I mean, anti-rust? Pfft, that's first year chemistry!" Baymax followed behind Hiro, dutifully carrying an armful, and Wasabi was last, and he chuckled as he dumped what he was carrying onto the overly-frilly couch in the main room.
"Yeah, and what else is 'first year chemistry to you, Honey Lemon, deconstructing the atom bomb?" he quipped, to which she gave a little shove.
"But I'm always glad to have you over, Hiro!" she continued. "Do you want anything? Tea, cookies? I think I still have some of those little sandwiches you like." Hiro shook his head, sitting down beside the pile of multi-colored armor. No matter how many times he was over at Honey Lemon's house, it never ceased to amaze him just how pink the whole place was.
"I'm good, but thanks. I probably won't be very long, Baymax and I have a couple of diagnostics I wanna run before tomorrow.
"Okay, lemme just go get a few things from the study, and I'll be right back." She skipped off to retrieve the supplies she'd need to help Hiro fortify the team's armor. He didn't really know why he hadn't thought of it the first time around, even after the original batch started to rust out. He wouldn't be making that mistake again. Wasabi flopped down beside Hiro, letting out a sigh.
"Orange, huh?" Wasabi asked, holding up a piece of Aria's new armor. "So you finally convinced her?"
"Yeah, it wasn't all that easy. She was pretty reluctant at first, but, I think she's finally won over on the idea." He turned one of her gauntlets over in his hands, inspecting the inner wiring. "Wait'll you see her in it, she looks like she's always been part of the team!" One of Wasabi's eyebrows rose at that statement.
"And that's the only thing you have to say about the way Aria looks in her suit?" he asked, begging an innocent tone. The question threw Hiro off for a moment, but he wasn't quite sure what Wasabi meant. Either way, his tone was up to no good; he'd better change the subject quick, he figured.
"Usually Gran is bustling around this place when I come over," Hiro observed, suddenly realizing Honey Lemon's grandmother wasn't fussing over them like usual. "Is she out? I don't think I've ever seen her leave the house before."
"Nah, Gran's been under the weather lately," Wasabi said. "She's probably still resting upstairs.
"What? Why didn't Honey say anything?" Hiro was shocked, Gran felt like one of his own relatives, he'd spent so much time around her here at Honey's place. Why hadn't Honey Lemon told him Gran was sick?
"Well, we've been so busy with Aria and everything, Honey didn't want to say anything. She knew it would overcomplicate things." Wasabi rubbed the back of his neck, checking over the back of the couch briefly. He wanted to make sure Honey was still out of ear shot. "Honey's actually been pretty worried about her. Gran's just turned 90, for an old woman to be this sick…well, it isn't good."
"She should have told me, what, did she think I wouldn't care?" Hiro felt more than a little bad; was he spending too much time with his thoughts on Aria and her problems? He hadn't really had time to worry about anything else…
"No, it's not that. You know how Honey Lemon is. She hates to make a fuss." Wasabi shook his head. "Look, don't tell her I told you. She'll just get more flustered and upset. She's so optimistic, the last thing she needs is for everyone to be pitying and bringing her down right now."
"If you say so," Hiro said, nodding slightly, just as Honey Lemon returned, her arms full of various sized beakers and containers.
"Clear the coffee table, please!" she chirped, setting her armful down on the white polished surface. Hiro stood, to better watch what Honey Lemon was going to do, and as if on cue, Wasabi stretched, yawning loudly.
"Alright, Honey, I think I'd better go," he said, standing. "Thesis papers don't write themselves."
"Really?" she asked, straightening up and dusting off the front of her dress. In her usual platform heels, Honey stood a full two inches taller than Wasabi, but the latter didn't seem to care all that much. "You didn't even have any chai today."
"I'll videochat you later, okay? And you can always text me." He turned briefly to Hiro, and pointed to him. "Remember what I said, dude."
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, rolling his eyes. He was turned away from where Honey and Wasabi stood, but he could still feel that weird energy pulsing through the air. Hiro felt suddenly very strange being in the same room with these two, and although neither made a move to kiss the other, Hiro still felt as awkward as if they had. A wave of relief washed over him once Wasabi was gone. Why was it like this all of a sudden? He hung out with them all the time, and only just recently was it getting weird. He didn't know how to feel about it.
"What did Wasabi mean, 'remember what I said'?" she asked him once they were alone. She pulled two pairs of safety goggles from the little pink cross-body purse she wore, and handed one to Hiro.
"Oh, uh, nothing really," Hiro stuttered, though he realized he didn't sound too convincing. He fumbled to put the googles on, and only succeeded in snapping them painfully against his forehead.
"Oh, Hiro, you're so adorable when you're lying!" Honey laughed, giving him a knowing look.
"I am not 14 anymore, Honey."
"Oh, but you'll always be like my little brother!" She nearly knocked him over hugging him, and he couldn't help but smile. She was too endearing. "Now c'mon, tell your big sister what you were talking about!"
"Haha, ah, it was really nothing…" Hiro didn't know how else to avoid the topic. Maybe if he steered the conversation in a different direction?
"Was it about Aria?" No, no, wrong direction! His face immediately flared red, and the look of shock he wore made Honey Lemon giggle. "Ha! Oh, you and Wasabi are terrible at hiding things from me! It was, wasn't it?"
"N-no, what…why would we be talking about her!?" His voice pitched up an octave for a moment, cracking hilariously, which only embarrassed him further. Honey Lemon started to uncork several bottles in front of her, measuring out specific quantities.
"Hiro, I see how you look at her," she said matter-of-factly. "Everyone does. You're just a tad obvious."
"Obvious!? Haha, I have no idea what you're talking about…" Hiro never knew what to do with his arms, especially in awkward situations like this. He tried casually leaning on the arm of the couch, crossing his arms, shoving them in his pockets, it all felt awkward. God, this was not how he wanted this conversation to go!
"Hiro, you're totally smitten with her, just admit it!" she said, smiling, adding a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to the main beaker. "I mean, if anyone would understand, it would be me!"
"Smitten? Whoa whoa, Honey Lemon, who's smitten? Not me, I'm-" He started to laugh, but Honey was sitting up straight, looking right at him, with an eyebrow cocked. He knew she wasn't buying it. Crap. "I'm…well…she's...I, uh, I guess, I sort of…" He felt way to uncomfortable talking to Honey Lemon about this, but unfortunately for him, Baymax was there to ruin his attempts of keeping any secrets.
"Hiro's neurotransmitter levels become elevated when Aria is around, or when she is brought up in conversation," the robot interjected, much to Hiro's chagrin. "Cortisol levels increase, as do dopamine levels, indicating strong hormonal and chemical attachment."
"Okay, that's enough!" Hiro said, laughing nervously. "Baymax, don't you have, uh…updates to install? We should get going-"
"Conversation between the two indicates withheld information and romantic frustration-"
"Baymax!"
"What!? That means she feels the same way!" Honey Lemon gasped, abandoning the project and hand and standing. "Oh, Hiro, you have to tell her!" She spun him around and held him by the shoulders, shaking him. Damn, there was nothing better to make a 6' guy feel short than to be shaken by a girl in platform heels. "This could be the turning point of your first relationship! The one you look back on fondly when you're old and reminiscing about when you first fell in love!"
"Seriously, I'm not in love-" he started to say, backing up to escape Honey's grasp, when he tripped over the TV remote, falling and landing on his butt. The TV across from the sprung to life, tuned to Gran's favorite channel, the local conservatively biased news report. Both eyes snapped to the screen when a familiar topic was brought up.
"Could liberally prone violent protesters be behind the disappearance of Dr. Hattingfeild, Jim?" the pretty blonde on the screen asked her cohost, who nodded gravely.
"That's my humble opinion, Diane," he replied, stacking the papers in front of him neatly. "Who else would be so against the recent human trial scandal? Only liberals would want to derail the march of progress, for the sake of 'human rights'!" A picture was flashed on screen, a small, hunched over man wearing orange, as if in prison clothes. Honey squinted at the TV, wondering where she had seen that face before. It came to Hiro almost immediately.
"That's one of the doctors indicted in the human neurological trials scandal!" he gasped, scrambling to his feet. "He was shown, being led from the hospital in the news report the other day at the lab, remember?" Honey nodded slowly, realization dawning on her.
"So, he was snatched right from the country criminal holding?" Jim asked Diane on screen, who nodded solemnly. Hiro's eyebrows shot up his forehead, and the familiar knot formed in his stomach.
"What does this mean, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked, as he run both hands through his hair.
"This can't wait any longer," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "We've got to catch Ome, before he hurts that scientist, or anyone else."