Hiro emerged from his lab like a bear emerging from a long winter's hibernation--hungry, messy, and squinting.
The crucial difference, however, was that the bear had spent a good few months chilling out. He, Hiro Hamada, had been working for seven solid hours.
Sleep. That would be really nice right now.
"But I can't," he said aloud, not caring who heard. Then he remembered the real reason he had stepped away from his computer.
"Oh, right. Coffee." The fourteen-year-old stumbled towards the vending machine in the corridor.
He paused midway when he saw a rare sight: Fred with his head buried in a book that wasn't a comic book. He instead slumped over The Complete Guide to Shakespeare. Not that he was reading it. Rather, he had rested his head on the pages, his eyes drifting shut.
"Hey, Fred, wake up," Hiro said, shaking him gently, knowing that the SF State English major would appreciate it, since no one could afford any lost time during the last week of project work.
Fred stared at Hiro through half-closed eyes, then wordlessly grabbed the can of energy drink next to him and chugged it down without taking a breath.
"Ugh," he moaned, letting his head droop back onto the book. Apparently the caffeine took a while to kick in, because when Hiro left him he was still muttering incoherently about symbols and and kings of Scotland.
He rounded a corner. The movement had woken him up slightly. Very slightly. But he was still walking like a drunk who had been spun around twenty times. He heard a distressed cry from Honey's corner.
"No, no, no," the usually cheerful Latina girl mumbled, banging her head against the wall. When she spotted Hiro, she grabbed hold of him desperately. "Hirooo!" she said, dragging out his name. "Hiro, I'm going crazy. I'm developing a glue that holds things together quickly but remains adjustable for about ten minutes, yes?"
"Yes," said Hiro, sleepily surprised at how uncomfortably strong her grip was.
"But what happens? I think I have it, then I overheat it by one degree. One degree, Hiro! I don't know what happens! I don't know if I mixed the ingredients wrong! It turns so sticky, my notes are permanently glued to the table!"
She went off into a string of agitated Spanish, none of which Hiro understood.
"This is due tomorrow. I cannot afford this time. I cannot," Honey cried, going resignedly back to her work, her shoulders slumped. "I don't even know what I am doing."
That sounds dangerous, Hiro thought absently, but he was too drowsy to take the train of thought further. As he left, he heard Honey shout in agitated resolve, "I will conquer you!"
COFFEE.
Wasabi seemed to fare no better. He looked fully awake--courtesy of several strong espressos, with just the right amount of milk and sugar--but he also looked ready to tear his hair out with his hands.
Hiro had seen a test of the project earlier in the day, when he had actually been lucid, and it'd seemed to work just fine. But apparently the inventor didn't think so.
"Listen to me," Wasabi said, glaring at the handheld laser cutter.
"Huh?"
"You think you're smart, don't you?" he continued, and Hiro realised he was talking to his rebellious project.
"Man, I put in the calculations, and you produce the results! What part of this do you not understand?" He tinkered with the inner workings of the machine, frowning in concentration. Then a wire broke, and he snapped along with it, practically shaking with emotion, letting out a frustrated yell.
"I can't stand this any more." he gasped in a panicky voice, his hands tense and trembling.
Hiro tiptoed past the frantic physicist, hoping that Go Go wouldn't notice him either. She was particularly snappish when stressed. He narrowly avoided being hit by a flying disc, his reflexes dulled by sleep deprivation so he actually felt the object whiz past his ear.
"Whoa!" he couldn't help crying out, and then cursed inwardly as she turned, her eyes burning straight into him.
"Uh, hi," he said slowly, and breathed a sigh of relief as she went back to her work without a word.
He jumped a foot in the air a second later as she threw a screwdriver at the wall.
~~~
Hiro stuck a coin into the vending machine, popped the can open and drank down the thick black liquid like his life depended on it. Then he headed back to his lab clutching another emergency can and feeling the coffee jolt his system alive. On the way back he saw Fred talking animatedly to his empty mascot suit, also running on caffeine fumes: "I should totally get a donkey head, huh? Yeah..."
Sliding into his seat, Hiro cracked his knuckles, preparing for another four hours of torture. Suddenly he heard soft, padding footsteps behind him.
"Hey, Baymax! You finished charging?"
"Yes, I did," the robot said. "Hiro, your hormone levels indicate that you are stressed."
"Ya think?" Hiro ran one hand through his hair. "Hours more of work to do on this thing. I may not even be able to finish before dawn." He yawned. It would take a while longer for the caffeine to have effect.
"My scan also indicates that you are suffering from lack of sleep. May I suggest you take a short nap? What is often called a 'power nap?'"
"That sounds really good, but I can't right now," a bleary-eyed Hiro answered, trying to get back into coding mode.
To his surprise, the robot settled lightly onto him and turned on his heating function, surrounding Hiro with soothing warmth.
"Hiro, fifteen minutes of rest will not significantly impact your project. The caffeine will wake you up naturally after a short amount of time, but I can also set an alarm."
"I can't," Hiro murmured, but the warm, soft surroundings made his eyes droop shut.
"In fact, rest will increase your cognitive abilities and help you to work more efficiently," Baymax added, tilting his head to one side.
"You got me there, buddy. Wake me up after fifteen minutes, okay?" Hiro smiled languidly, leaned deeper into the comfort of Baymax's vinyl, and closed his eyes.
Authorly Notes:
1. Hey, a fic ended "and closed his eyes" without being angsty!
2. Well, I bet the nerd herd felt quite a bit of angst, but still...
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