Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Forty Five: Every little detail is important

It had taken some creativity to show the appropriate expression, already knowing what was going to happen, but somehow Hiro managed it. He even managed to show the right amount of horror at the change of course Tadashi decided upon once they were outside on his moped.

Driving past the SFIT campus sign, Hiro couldn't help but give the older Hamada a smack to the shoulder, really playing on the confused brother routine. "What are we doing at your nerd school?" Hiro tried to put in all the horror and outrage he could into the comment, knowing he had to sell this or there would be problems.

Then Tadashi parked his moped and took off his helmet, leaving Hiro sitting on the back. "Gotta grab something."

It wasn't hard to remember his irritation when Tadashi basically ignored him so he followed him inside. "Is this going to take long?" Hiro asked as he carried Megabot in one hand, looking very much like a kid dragging around his favorite teddy bear.

But Tadashi was smiling. "Relax, you big baby." Hiro could hear the smile in his voice, even though his brother was ahead of him. "We'll be in and out. Besides, you've never seen my lab."

"Oh great, I get to see your nerd lab." He played up the body language as he stepped through the door of the open lab space Tadashi had walked through.

It was all happening so fast, much faster than he remembered it as he was almost mowed down by GoGo's bike. He was still surprised when GoGo confronted him when he inspected her bike. He didn't have to pretend his emotions when she turned on her usual charm, welcoming him to "the nerd lab" with all the sarcasm she could muster.

Then, of course, there was Wasabi's introduction. And this time he didn't butcher it, teasing the man about his OCD tendencies until GoGo messed up his perfectly arranged tools and Honey Lemon interrupted with her giant ball of tungsten carbide.

Before Hiro knew it, he was watching Honey walk him through the steps of making her formula before spraying the giant ball of metal and turning it pink. Unlike last time, however, he let her do the exploding, though he didn't have to pretend his awe. It was cool no matter how many times he saw it.

"Chemical Metal Embrittlement," Honey announced with pride.

"Not bad, Honey Lemon," Tadashi smiled and Honey smiled back, with a hint of a blush underneath the pink matter on her skin. Hiro didn't need to read their body language to know the two had a thing for each other. He'd seen it too many times in the past cycles.

Of course, he couldn't help but rib his brother a bit about everyone's nicknames, trying to not sound too incredulous about them. After all, that's how he knew the gang, by their nicknames, not that he didn't know their real names, because he did.

"Fred's the one who comes up with all the nicknames," Tadashi responded to his comments, shortly after Wasabi left the room in a huff.

"Who's Fred?" He looked around, half expected the man to jump from the ceiling. Even if it wasn't strictly by the script, it was still within the realm of possibility.

And no matter how many times he'd lived through this, or similar moments, Hiro jumped as Fred came up behind them. "This guy right here!"

Hiro couldn't help but look suitably impressed at Fred's sign spinning skills as he explained who he was. And of course, he couldn't help but feel amused at the usual declarations about becoming a fire-breathing lizard and various things not being 'science'. He probably could have stayed there, listening longer, but Tadashi called for him so he followed his brother back into the hall.

He did catch the tale-end of Fred's comments as he entered Tadashi's lab and asked his brother what he was working on. And, unlike in the last timeline, he was still riding on the wave of amusement when Tadashi pulled out the roll of silver tape from his toolbox. He'd already delivered his snide remark about how duct tape had already been invented the moment he realized what is brother was doing. He had no more than half a second to brace himself. All the same, it still hurt when the older Hamada pulled the tape off his arm.