Life in the Nerd Lab: Coffee Run

They tried to take turns getting coffee, but somehow Honey ended up doing it most of the time.

Fred always got all the orders wrong. Wasabi took too long to get every one right. Go Go had a tendency to just order five of the same and then spill half of them by the time she get back. Nobody trusted Hiro with hot drinks or the power over their precious coffee. They would have sent Baymax, but the first time he'd been knocked over by a hot dog cart, the second he'd reduced the sugar and cream in everyone's cup, and the third he'd been waylaid by a distracting beetle.

So the lot fell to Honey (something of a coffee expert herself). Not that she minded, of course. As long as she could tear herself away from her work, she rather enjoyed the task, relishing the quiet moonlight and conversation with the baristas.

That Thursday she noticed a lull in lab activity, and, glancing over at her friends, surmised that a bit of a pick-me-up might be in order. "All right, coffee time," she announced, slinging her purse onto one shoulder. "Any special requests?"

She had learnt her friend's favourites by heart, but it never hurt to ask, and, besides, Fred changed his order every single time.

Go Go shook her head, dropping a few coins into Honey's hand. "Just the usual." For her, that meant black coffee with no sugar.

"Same here," Wasabi called from his lab area. "Thanks, Honey Lemon." (Honey was pretty much the only one who could get his coffee just the way he liked it, with the correct proportions of milk and sugar. Most of the time he just made his own.)

"Freddie?"

"Oh, hey, Honey!" Fred's head popped up from behind the comic book he was reading. "I feel great, thanks."

"No, I was asking if you wanted coffee."

"Oops." Fred put down the comic sheepishly and thought for a minute. "How about a strawberry frappe? With caramel sauce? And marshmallows?"

Honey could sense Wasabi grimacing behind her and laughed. "Sure, Fred," she said as he sank back into the story.

Finally she stood, hesitating, in front of a familar blue door.

Tadashi usually got a latte. Sometimes hot, sometimes iced, sometimes matcha, but always a latte.

There was a different Hamada brother here now, though, and she didn't know how he liked his coffee.

~~~

"Hiro?" Honey said, knocking softly on the lab door.

She heard a thump and "it's not locked!" from inside the room, and pushed open the door to see Hiro getting up from the floor, clutching a robotic joint, and Baymax waddling over to him.

"You okay?" she asked, with a look of concern.

"Yeah, fine," Hiro answered, running a hand through his hair. "Just almost fell over reaching for something," he added, prompting a smile and a "oh, Hiro" from the taller girl. 

"I will scan you for injuries," Baymax interrupted. 

"No thanks," Hiro said. "I fall over all the time."

"Seeing that you managed to catch yourself in time, injuries sustained will be minimal and require no treatment," the robot agreed. "Hello, Honey."

"I was just going to get coffee. Anything I can get for you?"

Hiro shook his head. "I...don't really drink coffee much. I've got a soda."

"Are you sure?" Honey asked, peering closer at Hiro's red eyes and rumpled hoodie. "No offense, but you kind of look like you might need it."

"I'm sure. Really."

"It is advisable to limit the caffeine intake of adolescents as it may affect sleep patterns," Baymax chipped in.

"Okay..." said Honey, sharing a short laugh with Hiro. "I might get cookies or something, though, so I'll make sure to inform you when I get back!"

Hitching her pink purse higher on her shoulder, she stepped out of the brightly lit lab building into the breezy night air, headed for the 24-hour coffee shop on the other end of the campus.

~~~

A week later, Honey found herself taking coffee orders again. Due dates drew nearer with every second, and the atmosphere in the lab that night was tense.

"I don't even think they sell jellybean-pepperoni lattes, Fred. Much less with raspberry compote."

"Just tell them Big Freddie asked," said Fred, twirling his beanie confidently.

Dubiously, Honey shrugged assent. She was just about to leave when a short kid with a tremendously messy head of hair shot out of the Hamada lab.

"Honey! You're going to get coffee, right?" Hiro said breathlessly.

"Yup. You want something? A Coke, maybe?"

"Get me as many espresso shots as this will buy," Hiro demanded, pressing a crumpled wad of cash into Honey's hands.

"What?" 

"Espresso. Coffee. Caffeine. Please."

Glancing doubtfully at the boy, Honey rapidly counted the notes in her hands. "Hiro, there are almost thirty dollars here. I don't even want to think about how many--"

"Just do it. Please." Hiro cut her off, staring straight into her face with wide, bloodshot eyes. 

"You look terrible." Honey suddenly noticed the heavy bags under Hiro's eyes and the way his hands trembled slightly.

"I feel terrible," the fourteen-year-old groaned. "Honey, I've lost count of how long I've been here. I can't keep awake for more than five minutes, but I've still got six hours of coding to do on this thing. And I promised Prof. Roe that I'd get it done tomorrow. I don't know what possessed me, I'm going to die--look, Honey, just get me the coffee."

"Of course I'll get you coffee, Hiro, but not thirty dollars--" Before Honey could finish speaking, Hiro had slipped back into his lab and closed the door.

Shaking her head, Honey set out for the coffee stall. There was no way she was getting Hiro fifteen espresso shots, but he really did need that caffeine, so she settled on two. It's just this one time, she told herself as she placed the order. Baymax can't call me out for this, can he? 

Toting the coffee fix back to the lab building, Honey sipped at her own green tea latte, enjoying the comforting warmth. 

When Hiro heard her heels clicking on the floor, he burst out of the room. "Where--"

"Here," Honey said, dropping the espresso and the change into Hiro's outstretched hands. 

He didn't seem to register that Honey had only bought two shots, and immediately downed one of them, gasping for breath and wiping his mouth with one hand when he was finished. "Thanks, I needed that!" he called over his shoulder, taking the rest of the coffee into his lab.

Thirty minutes later, the team heard some very alarming sounds coming from that direction: Hiro shouting garbled war cries and Baymax's even, insistent voice warning him to "please take care."

"Is he okay?" Wasabi asked, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"Wow, what was in that coffee?" Fred tried to peek into the lab as Go Go put her ear to the door and then rapped sharply on it. "Hiro! Open up!"

The boy obliged, bouncing up and down on his heels, his eyes wide and crazed. "Hey guys! What's up!"

"Hiro, are you feeling okay?" Honey's heart sank; he was clearly on a caffeine high. Had he even had coffee before? Was he sensitive or something? Giving him all that espresso was a really bad idea.

"I feel GREAT!" said Hiro, grabbing Fred with one hand and Go Go with the other and dragging them into his lab. "Six hours of coding! I'm going to slay this thing, guys! Just you wait!"

"Hiro is suffering from an overdose of caffeine," Baymax said. "It is relatively mild, but if he shows further symptoms, treatment may be necessary."

Go Go shook the over-energetic Hiro off her arm, her sharp eyes picking out a familiar red and blue can in the corner.

"You haven't been drinking Red Bull, have you?"

Author's Notes:

1. I don't typically drink coffee. So I did research.
2. Caffeine overdose can actually be very dangerous, guys!
3. Cover image source