zerotohiro | OVERFLOW;

I'll be okay. [So yes. He'll have Baymax grab him some aspirin or water or just flat-out carry him home later. This isn't the first time he's functioned while his head hurts.]

You could say that. I mean he wasn't really built for me--[Though Hiro and constant trips to the ER sure did inspire his brother]--but Tadashi made him to be a healthcare provider when he first brought Baymax to life. I guess it's kinda cool, isn't it?

Brought him to life? [ She can't help but frown at that. ] But I thought... Tadashi said machine weren't real. That - that they didn't have souls. [ He probably DID NOT say this, but it's the sum of what she took away from their brief touch upon machines and AI. ]

[And he suddenly looks a little upset.] What? When did he tell you that? ...I mean I guess it's true that most machines don't have souls but that's not true for Baymax. He's different.

["He's special", is really what he means. Please don't get him on a rant about Baymax being his bff, Rapunzel, that won't go well for anybody.]

[ Fortunately for them both, her eyes land on Baymax, followed by a laugh. ]

Yeah. I thought so. I can tell. Pascal too. [ The responding chirp is lukewarm, but definitely in agreement! ] It's... hard keeping things so abstract like that straight in your head, you know?

That's why people like us have to always think outside of the box. Look at things from new angles, try new things...that's the whole point of experimenting. Science has some heavy ground rules...but isn't the whole point to push boundaries?

[A beat.] ...and why are you carrying a lizard?

[ Without a beat. ] Chameleon. And - yeah! Yes, I completely agree. Boundaries. Heh. [ hold on ] --Wait, if Tadashi built Baymax then... why is he always partnered with you, Hiro?

That totally didn't answer the question. [But he grins, even leaning forward a bit to get a better look at Pascal. It's for that reason it's easier for him to respond to her next question even as he tenses up slightly and gives her a wary look.

What a question.] ...well...we're part of a team back home. Teammates stick together and...he's my best friend. You and Pascal clearly stick together all the time, don't you?

Well, we try. [ They do. Their time on the ViViD level was the longest they'd ever been apart. ] What question did you want answered? Oh, by the way--

[ She nods, her eyes hovering at a point just over his shoulder. The vendor is standing behind them looking furious at the fact that they've been holding up the other fairgoers and, as if that weren't enough, making a mockery of the game by standing about after Hiro's been set free.

The tentacles rise threateningly. ]

--Oh. Yeah, I guess - I guess we were being pretty rude, huh?

Never mind. [He thinks he gets it now that he's talked it out. He's about to ask her something else, but the vendor's pissed and Hiro's not in the mood to fight with him (or be strung up again), so he nods even as he glares.]

More like he was being rude first. Come on, let's get out of here and continue this somewhere else. [He sticks his tongue out at the vendor and a tentacle lashes forward, causing Hiro to yelp and dart away. Baymax and Rapunzel will just have to follow.

When they get far enough away and start moving toward the main part of the carnival, he looks back to her again.] ...so. You were starting to say something else back there. What was it?

Was I? [ Her nonchalance makes it impossible to tell whether she's truly forgotten or if her yawn, sleepy smile, and clasping of hands behind her back is all an act. ] Hm. Well, I don't remember whatever it was now, so-- Hiro!

[ g r i n ]

Teeeeeell me about yourself...

[He looks a little like a deer in the headlights at that question.]

Whaaat exactly do you wanna know? [He can do that word elongating game too!!!] You know I have an older brother and my best friend's a robot and we're superheroes. I'm good at inventing stuff...I've been here for a little over three months...[He shrugs.] I'm not really sure what is and isn't boring to you.

[He doesn't particularly care if someone's bored with him, except for the part where he's not sure he wants Rapunzel bored with him. He's too curious about her.]

I think you'll find I'm a pretty captive audience. [ She throws him a sidelong glance that's meant to be reassuring, but which likely just... ups the pressure because her laid-back attitude has it coming off as heavy with expectation. ] What kind of hero work have you been doing lately? People keep mentioning the need for it, but other than what I saw in ViViD...

[Ugh Rapunzel why...]

You want the whole list, or just the stuff me and Baymax have been doing for the last month? [But it seems like a rhetorical question seeing how he continues to talk after that.] A lot of things have happened here since before you guys showed up. Bad things. People keep saying we need heroes here because sometimes things come through in the colony or we get sent to the middle of nowhere and have to fight to survive.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Yup. Ghosts? Definitely real. Monsters too. Now I know for sure. Even though Mother only ever said she'd seen them under my bed.

[ Hold up what. ]

Hold on-- ...What?

[ Close enough. ]

Sent where? Come through from where? I... I thought the area outside Cerealia was uninhabitable. [ To be fair to Rapunzel, she's only been on this investigation track as hard as she has for about a day. Naturally there are gaping holes in her preliminary research. ]

...we've got a lot to catch you up on. [Where to even start...] Has anybody told you anything about the jungle at all since you've been here? That's the first place we should start.

Well...

[ She looks around. ]

Actually, Hiro, could we... do this somewhere else. Like. Anywhere else? Heh. Jungle sounds like a good place to start but I want to see the rest of the carnival too.

What? [He seems genuinely surprised but he shakes his head then.] Oh, right. Sorry. [He's used to being in work-mode, excuse him.] We can talk about it all later.

...I owe you something for rescuing me, don't I?

Yes, but... no. [ She's grinning because she likes to be in work-mode too and this kid is fucking awesome. Adorable and awesome. She just-- ] I want you to pay me what you owe me as your saviour. [ said snootily ] But I... definitely also want to talk about what you know about Cerealia! [ said all in one breath ]

Why choose, right? Heh.

[...girls are so confusing sometimes. He looks up at Baymax like he's hoping for an explanation and he's definitely not getting one, so he rolls his eyes instead.]

I guess you shouldn't have to choose. If you can have it all, you should take it all. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. [He rubs the back of his neck.] It's just that sometimes people don't walk to talk about the bad things around here while they're trying to enjoy themselves.

Hm. [ It's no overstatement to say her eyes go cool and wistful here, but she doesn't want to seem like a boring, stuffy adult so she trims her melancholy to just: ] I don't know. Isn't that what most people do on a daily basis? Deal with the horrible while juggling the wonderful?

I don't know. Don't listen to me. Are you hungry at all after all that - hanging?

["Some of us are still learning to juggle." He doesn't say anything out loud, lifting his eyebrows in an almost playful manner even as he shakes his head.]

Sure. [It's both an answer to her question and also the idea of food.] I saw a cart not too far from here that sells cupcakes the size of your face. Wanna split one?

Uh. Wanna split two so we can each have one?

[ Seriously cupcakes? No way she's going halfsies on a cupcake. If anything, cupcakes are a call for seconds and take away!! ]

I'm pretty sure that's like the opposite of splitting but yeah, okay. Two giant cupcakes. [And in the back of his head he's actually pretty relieved. There's really only one person he wants to share a cupcake with. Maybe he'll buy a third just to split with Ruby later. Strawberry frosting. She'd like that.

But for now it's him and it's Rapunzel and they're off on a search for cupcakes.] They probably have some weird flavors, too. It'll be awesome.

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