Disclaimer: Big Hero 6: The Series is owned by Disney Animation. The almost literal novel down below, however, is totally mine.

Now, let's get awkward up in here.

Save The Date

San Fransokyo is a bustling city. That would never change.

What can change, however, is what's inside. In particular, the places and people.

And even more in particular, one Hiro Hamada.

Less than a year ago, he was a rambunctious teen only eager to find out when the next bot fight was taking place. Now, he was a current student of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, leader of the superhero team Big Hero 6, and a soon-to-be patron of one of those new places that the city was granted.

Wait.

Where exactly is that Hamada kid, anyway?

"I would have personally gone with Rockwell with the lettering, but that's just me."

Ahh, there he is. In line. With his aunt. Talking about fonts.

The Hamada duo were currently near the front doors of Gramercy in the downtown area, waiting for their turn to enter the restaurant. The group in front of them were having an...animated conversation with the hostess. Hiro took another glance at the letters glowing bright above him.

"And who names their restaurant after themselves? Seems sort of selfish, doesn't it?"

"Hiro, do you have any questions that don't involve his interior design choices?

"I do, actually." Hiro shuffled his feet in an effort to alleviate some energy. "How did you manage to get a reservation to this place? I heard the wait list is already months long."

"Oh, he owes me a favor."

"How does someone like Bolton Gramercy owe you a favor?" The kid attempted to loosen his tie to no avail.

"Oh, you know."

Hiro shook his head slightly. "No, I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"Look." His aunt turned to face her nephew. "I wanted to take you out to a congratulatory dinner for you finishing your first semester at SFIT, and Chef Bolton was gracious enough to get us into the grand opening of his new restaurant."

"...Wow. You've explained so much yet so very little." Hiro continued to fidget in his suit. "You know, we didn't have to go the whole nine yards on this."

"Well, yes. But I felt bad about not doing this closer to the end of the school year, and I wanted it to be special. Besides," she continued as they neared the lectern at the front of the line, "When was the last time you took the old girl out on the town?"

"Aunt Cass, you are not old."

"Aren't you sweet?" She clutched her purse close to her, arriving at the entrance. "At least we're doing this before you start taking girls other than me out on these fancy dates."

Hiro looked away, his blush crawling up his neck. Cass, sensing victory, turned to the hostess manning the front. "Hello, table for two, please."

The woman, free from whatever argument that had occurred earlier, flipped through her very large notebook. "Do you have a reservation, ma'am? We have a very full list for tonight."

"It should be under Hamada. First name Cassandra."

His eyes scanned down the page, then lit up. "Ahh! Here you are. It looks like Chef Gramercy wanted to know when you arrived. Pardon me for one moment." She stepped through a side door and into the restaurant.

"I wonder if she's going to get the red carpet for you?"

Aunt Cass made a motion to respond to his teasing, but the hostess was already back, and with someone in tow.

"Chef Cass!" Bolton wiped his hands on his apron. "How are you doing this evening?"

"Just fine, thanks!" Aunt Cass leaned in to give him a hug. "Glad to see everything is going so well for you."

"Ah, yes, not too bad for our first night. I cannot wait to show you." He grabbed two menus from the hostess stand. "Please, follow me."

Hiro tailed both adults inside and looked around. He had to admit it; the pictures that Aunt Cass had showed him at the Cafe beforehand didn't do the place justice. It was rather dim inside, with the dark walls and the chandeliers above giving off only a faint light. A couple of columns were painted black, in start contrast with the white tablecloths adorning each table. It was a very beautiful interior. Other patrons were busy with their food, exchanging conversation as the group walked past. A couple of people craned their neck to look at the celebrity chef, perhaps hoping to get a quick word with him, but Gramercy paid them no mind.

"Here we go." He had lead them over to one of the small front tables, near the window looking outside. A small "Reserved" sign was on top, which the chef immediately removed. He pulled out the seat to their right, motioning for Aunt Cass to sit. "I've made sure to keep aside one of the best tables here for you. And I would advise you to order anything you'd like off of the menu, because as far as tonight is concerned, it's on the house."

"Oh, Chef! That's very kind of you, but is all of this really necessary?"

"Chef Cass, I insist. It's the very least I could do-"

One of the waiters came up behind them and cleared his throat. "Chef Gramercy, table 15 wishes to speak to you. They...er...are very adamant about it."

Bolton sighed. "Ahh, yes. I wonder what he wants to complain about this time. Pardon me for just a moment."

As the two walked off, Hiro leaned in to whisper to his aunt. "You have blackmail on him, right? That's the only explanation. You watched him murder someone or something, and he has to do your every bidding."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hiro," Aunt Cass waved him off. "He's just being really nice."

"Really nice? I've seen the clips of him in other people's restaurants. There's more beeping than an EKG machine at a hospital."

"Repeat any of the words he's said and I will make sure we don't stick around for dessert."

"What? You mean like-"

"As I was saying, before I was interrupted..." Chef Gramercy made his re-entrance, his mood a little worse for wear. "Please order anything you like. All of the food is locally sourced and exquisite."

"I will make sure to do that, but first..." Aunt Cass got up from the table, her purse in hand. "Would you mind telling me where the ladies' room is?"

"Of course." He pointed off behind Hiro with his finger. "Just down that hall on your left. You can't miss it."

"Thank you. Be right back."

Hiro took the opportunity to look over the menu. It definitely wasn't like any menu he was used to: it was one page front and back, and it matched the black and white theme of the interior. And the lettering seemed familiar, too.

"I knew I would see Rockwell somewhere tonight."

"I wasn't aware that you were an expert of typography."

"Heh. Sorry." Hiro had forgotten that the celebrity chef was still there. "I just have a lot of things going on in my mind."

"I've heard." Chef Gramercy bent over towards Hiro. "Your aunt has told me that you attend SFIT. Quite an impressive accomplishment for someone so young."

He looked down at the table, now embarrassed. "I just try to do my best, sir."

"That's all we can do, really." Chef Bolton pulled a tablet out of his pocket and started rolling through it. "Now, let me go ahead and get your server while we're waiting for your aunt." He hit the side of it in anger. "I swear, sometimes I think I'll never understand this rubbish. I have to reformat this over the weekend. Ahh yes, there it is! Karmi!"

Oh no.

"There you are; come quickly now."

Surely, this was someone else with that same name, right? What were the odds?

"Now, I want you to listen very carefully."

Hiro took a chance and looked up.

Apparently, they were pretty good odds.

Karmi's attire was remarkably similar to what Hiro wore for Fred's bro-trillion and the gala, but instead of a black bowtie, she had a yellow tie around her neck, just like the other waiters. Her hair, normally to her shoulders, was tied up in a messy bun. A couple loose strands of her bangs fell over the left side of her face.

And clearly, from the widened look in her eyes, she was not expecting him either.

Chef Gramercy was not paying attention to their silent interaction, instead talking straight to Karmi. "These two here are very special guests of mine, so I want their service to be impeccable. Is that understood?"

Karmi's eyebrow raised very slightly, eyes still not leaving Hiro, but she kept her composure. "Of course, Chef."

"Very good." He now turned his attention to Hiro. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to the kitchen. Tell your aunt thank you again for coming." With that, he made a beeline back towards the kitchen, darting between other occupied tables.

Karmi's eyes returned to their normal size. "Should I even ask at this point?"

"No, you shouldn't," Hiro replied as he tried to use the menu to block his face. "But you probably will anyway."

She chuckled to herself, her notepad in her hand. "Relax, Genius Boy. I'm on the clock. I won't annoy you too much tonight."

"Trust me," he said through gritted teeth. "You're not the one I'm worried about."

Karmi moved to ask him what he meant, but Aunt Cass chose that moment to come back to the table.

"Sorry, there are way too many settings on those faucets; I got sidetracked." She took her seat again and turned to Karmi. "You must be our server. I promise I won't interrupt anymore."

"Umm...not a problem, ma'am." She took a moment to collect herself, and began her spiel. "My name is Karmi; I will be your server tonight-"

"I've heard that name before," Aunt Cass tilted her head in thought, clearly forgetting her words from five seconds earlier. "Hey, Hiro, don't you go to school with a girl named Karmi?"

"Yes, I do," Hiro replied. "She's actually standing in front of you right now."

"Oh." She took another look at her. "Oh! I thought you looked familiar! It's the hair, I bet. The one time I saw you, you had your hair down and..."

Karmi glanced at Hiro as his aunt continued on, but he was busy looking at the glass separating them from the outside. Maybe, if it wasn't thick enough, he could combat roll through the window and escape the disaster that was unfolding.

"Silly me, I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Aunt Cass stopped herself. "I do this when Hiro and I are out. Chat up the service and get everyone distracted. That's my mistake."

Nope, the glass wouldn't do. Too thick. Ducking under the table and crawling out was going to be the best bet.

"Anyway, I'm just going on and on. I didn't mean to cut you off."

"That's fine, ma'am," Karmi smiled. "Have you gotten a chance to look over the menu yet?"

"I haven't, although I've heard it's excellent." She picked up the paper from her plate and began to review it. "Why don't we just start off with waters and we'll take a look at this."

"Absolutely. I'll be right back."

As soon as Karmi departed, Aunt Cass was back in her nephew's face. "I think she's doing an excellent job. And she's so young. I didn't get my first waitress job until I was eighteen."

Yeah, this knife was definitely not sharp enough to make an impact on the jugular vein.

"Hiro, are you paying attention?"

"Huh?" Hiro's mind broke away from his escape planning. "What about Karmi?"

"Strange how your mind jumped to her, isn't it?"

"I mean, you were talking about her."

Aunt Cass sat back in her chair. "How often do you talk at school?"

"I don't know." Hiro threw his arms outward. "Why are you giving me the third degree?"

"I'm just curious. All of your other friends are much older than you, but she's closer to your age. Surely, you guys have some things in common."

He pointed over in her direction. "I know exactly what you're doing here. And it's not going to work."

Luckily, Karmi was back with their water, saving him temporarily from his aunt's interrogation. "Now, before I take your order, are there any food allergies that we need to take care of?"

"Yes, Hiro does have an allergy to peanuts."

"How severe is it?"

"I'm not sure; we haven't tested how far we can go with it yet."

Both Aunt Cass and Karmi shared a laugh, and Hiro halfheartedly looked down at his knife again. Maybe it would have to come into play sooner rather than later.

"Seriously, it's not severe, but it does cause him discomfort."

"Well, we don't have anything on the menu currently that has them as an ingredient," Karmi explained. "But we carry them for some dishes that are off-season. We do have a separate station for our kitchen staff to prepare dishes for anyone who may have allergies. Can't be too careful these days. I can certainly let them know."

"You're such a sweetheart. If you could let them know, that would be great," Aunt Cass said, menu back in her hand. "As for our order, I think we'll share the scallop appetizer, and as my entree, I'll have the jidori chicken scallopini."

"Everything on it OK?"

"Absolutely."

"Excellent." Karmi finished her note with a flourish and turned to Hiro. "And for you, sir?"

The emphasis was not lost on him, but he chose to ignore it. "I think I'll have the beef wellington. Everything with it as well."

"And how would you like that cooked?"

"Well done."

"Nonsense," Aunt Cass interrupted. "You need a little red meat. You are a growing boy, after all. He'll have it medium well," she said to Karmi.

She made a new mark on her notepad, a small smirk on her face. "I will go ahead and get your order in. I'll be back in a little bit." She turned and walked away, her bun bouncing atop her head.

Free from his rival's presence, Hiro turned again to his aunt. "You need to stop this."

"Hiro, I'm just being nice. You could stand to learn something from her."

He looked over to his right, where he could see the kitchen through the window in the wall. Right in front was Karmi, tapping buttons on the POS, undoubtedly putting in their order. She had a look of concentration on her face. Not a surprise; he had seen that look before whenever she was working on a project. Whatever it was, she gave it her all.

Maybe he could learn something.

"Have you at least gotten her number?"

Hiro smacked his forehead with his palm. It was going to be a long night.

The rest of the night was, for the most part, uneventful. All of the food came out promptly and to Hiro's delight, was delicious. It wasn't every day that he could sit down in a fancy restaurant and delve into their offerings, so he made sure to take in all the flavors he could.

There was a little hiccup when they got their entrees, however. As he has observed with other tables, the wait staff made it a point to serve everyone at the table simultaneously, which meant multiple waiters for multiple people. Luckily for him, he and his aunt were afforded the same luxury.

Unluckily for him, guess who his was?

Karmi and Chef Gramercy brought out their food, splitting off and stopping at Hiro's right and Aunt Cass's left respectively. Together, they lowered their plates, to the delight of his aunt.

Hiro, however, noticed something else. Separate from the smell of beef and vegetables was a very distinct floral scent. He couldn't quite place it.

And then he realized who was next to him.

He craned his neck up, and was met with the gaze of Karmi. For a moment, he was transported back atop that blimp, her hand on his helmet, looking longingly at him with those dark brown eyes of hers.

And then she straightened back up, coming to the front of the table. If she had gone through the same mental roller coaster he had, she didn't show it. "Is there anything else I can get you guys?"

"I think we're good for now. Thank you very much."

Karmi gave a warm nod and walked off. Hiro's eyes followed her away, almost wishing that she had stayed for just a second longer.

"Sweetie."

He turned toward his aunt, who had her knife and fork already dug into her food. "What?"

"If you stare at her any more, your eyes are going to dry out."

"I wasn't...staring."

"Mmhmm."

Thirty minutes later, the dishes were clean and their stomachs full. Hiro sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I don't think I can eat anything else for the rest of my life."

"Yes, you say that, but I know you're going to be sneaking gummy bears into your room later tonight." Aunt Cass smirked.

Karmi walked up, her hair a little frazzled but a smile still on her face. "Can I interest you guys in any dessert?"

"Oh, I'm barely going to be able to drive home, much less have any dessert. But thank you for the offer." She got up from her chair, her purse at her side. "I hope they're not working you too hard here."

"I have a cap on my hours. Even though I can work more, I still have school to worry about."

"Smart cookie." Aunt Cass reached into her purse and pulled out a few bills. "This, Karmi, was for your excellent service tonight." She followed it up with an identical wad of bills, placing it all into Karmi's hand.

"And this...is for putting up with my nephew."

Karmi returned her smile, tucking it in her shirt pocket. "I appreciate that, ma'am."

"Have a good night, Karmi." Aunt Cass waved to her as she walked off, Hiro at her heels.

She waved back at them before turning her attention back to the dining room. Only a couple more hours before she was done with her shift. Maybe if she was lucky, she could experiment more with her myriad of perfumes she had gotten beforehand.

At least she could say at least one person noticed it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hold on.

You didn't think I was actually going to end it there, did you?

Hee hee.

The next day...

Karmi's pencil was almost worn down to the eraser as she took more notes about her new organism. Even a few hours at her new job was enough to throw her off course of her latest microscopic discovery, so she had to play catch-up today.

She took a quick glance to her open door. She was expecting someone to show up any minute now. Hopefully her professor had been able to reach him before he blew up his lab or something.

Definitely not out of the question.

"You could have just gotten me, you know."

And there he was.

She looked up fully to see Hiro in her doorway, somewhat hesitant to walk in. To be fair, the last time he was in here, it was with Professor Granville, and she wasn't too receptive to him.

"I didn't know where you were."

"I'm always where I am."

"I...don't know what that means," Karmi stammered. "I saw Professor G in the hallway and thought it would be quicker for her to get you."

"Are you going to murder me because of last night?"

She wordlessly pointed over to the far counter, Hiro following her gaze. On said counter was a large white bag, adorned with the initials of her employer. "Chef Gramercy wanted me to give you and your aunt something for coming out last night. I mentioned that I know you and asked me to find you today."

"What's in it?"

"Dessert. Chocolate lava cake and vanilla bean ice cream."

Hiro's face lit up. "Sweet! I haven't eaten anything all day."

"You're going to ruin your appetite like that," Karmi said, adding more notes to her journal.

"Thank you, Aunt Cass, for your input. But you heard her. I'm a growing boy." Hiro began to open the bag, no doubt undeterred by her words.

"Well, you got half of that phrase right." She looked up to see the boy genius with two small containers out on the bag. "Are you seriously going to eat that in here?"

"What? I told you I was hungry. And I don't see any flesh-eating bacteria in here that can ruin my day, right?"

"I put them away already."

They stared at each other for a moment before Karmi awkwardly cleared her throat. "That...was a joke."

"Huh. That sounded odd coming out of your mouth."

She didn't respond, instead returning to her notes. She had to finish this up. "There's cutlery in the drawer next to you."

"Why do you have that in here?"

"Because I eat in my lab sometimes. I can't always get out of here to go grab stuff."

Hearing no response and said drawer opening, she thought the conversation was over. Hey, maybe gobbling down whatever he was given would give her enough peace and quiet to get everything done.

She felt the gentle tapping of something on her head. Annoyed, she tried to swat it away, but her hand never came in contact with anything.

And then she felt it again.

"Will you stop-"

Karmi looked up and saw the exact cause of the tapping: Hiro had a spoon, handle out, silently offering it to her.

"Wait, are you for real?"

"You seriously think I'm going to eat this entire thing by myself? On second thought, don't answer that," he quickly added with a wave of his finger. "Besides, you...look like you could use a break."

"...Thanks."

Hiro tapped the top of the first container, and it opened automatically to show the lava cake, still steaming hot. "I like these biodegradable auto-convection containers. Normally, you don't see them used in a hospitality sense, but it's good at keeping things warm and cold when traveling. Better than a thermos, since we're dealing with solids and not liquids."

Karmi heard literally none of that, still fixated on the decadence in front of her.

"...Karmi, you're drooling."

"What?" She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Sorry, I guess I am a little hungry."

"What happened to appetites and all that?"

She wrestled the spoon out of his hand. Now amused, Hiro pulled up the stool from her other table. "Ladies first."

Karmi cautiously dipped her spoon into the cake, taking a chunk off of it. She put the bite in her mouth...

"Oh my God." She brought her other hand up to cover her mouth up, clearly enjoying the food. "This is really good."

Hiro smiled as he dug in himself. After a very short period of time, the entire cake was gone, and only a little bit of the ice cream as well, which Hiro was finishing off.

"That really hit the spot."

"I'm surprised you don't pig out there with all of the food," Hiro said through mouthfuls of ice cream. "I would probably gain about 50 pounds after a month."

"Well, we don't really get fed that much there."

"Really?"

"I mean, I just started there a couple of days ago. A lot of the people there are senior members from his other restaurants. We do get some plates from people who need their meals redone, but I'm at the bottom of the totem pole. I don't get dibs on anything."

"It's a shame. You should really try it when you get a chance. I might have to take you out there sometime just so you can enjoy it." Hiro finished off the dessert, setting down his spoon. "Man, that was good!"

"...Hiro."

"What?"

Karmi's face was fixed, staring at him with a little surprise in her eyes. "Repeat what you just said back to me."

"Man, that was good?"

"No, before that."

"I would gain about 50 pounds-"

"No, you...Grr." Karmi shook her head in annoyance. "Between those two things."

"What? I should take you out there sometoooooh."

...Ladies and gentlemen, we are reaching awkward levels that shouldn't even be possible.

"Did..." Karmi had to restart her train of thought, pointing her spoon at her classmate. "Did you just ask me out on a date?"

"What? No! I mean...no!" Hiro stumbled over his words. "Look, I..."

He stopped, mouth agape, trying to come up with the correct words to say. However, it was becoming abundantly clear that was not going to happen. She could feel her neck starting to rise in temperature.

"OK, here's what I'm going to do. I...am going to leave. Because you...clearly...are not thinking straight. And I'm sure you have to finish your...whatever."

Hiro's face was turning a very impressive shade of red. Karmi never knew that faces could color change that drastically.

"I am going to take these containers. I can probably reuse them for something. Or maybe Aunt Cass can." He grabbed the bag and hastily threw them inside. "Thank you for...this. This being the food. That's exactly what I meant." He turned to walk through the open door...

WHAM!

And missed.

"Ow! Since when has this wall been here?" Hiro winced and rubbed his nose. "You have some weird dimensions in your lab. We'll have to talk about that at some point. Gotta go!"

Karmi had said nothing during his impromptu stammering and his clumsy departure. She stared at the open door for a long minute, and then put the back of her hand to her cheek.

Yup. Just like the cake from before, still plenty hot.

Karmi silently opened the laptop to her left, waking it up from sleep mode. She minimized all of her documents and opened up her calendar. She paused for a second, and opened a note for that day.

He actually did it. The absolute madman.

Oh, she was definitely going to have to save this.

THE REAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: Holy mother of pearl, this story was gigantic. I was not sure I was even going to finish this in time for today. I should really learn to write more in advance.

As I've mentioned in some of my previous Valentine's Day fics (featuring Phineas and Ferb), I actually don't really like the holiday. I do, however, love the intensely awkward situations that come from it, mostly in the animation category.

At one point in time, I had tabs open on my internet browser about convection, Gordon Ramsay restaurants, and fonts. Fonts. Good gravy, I do too much research for my own good sometimes.

This is the longest one shot I have written in a very long time. And I have no reason to believe that this would ever happen in the show, but this story has actually been partially written since...the end of season 1? It's also a nice way to bring back Bolton Gramercy, even just temporarily.

My next story will be a new multi-chapter fic, also primarily focused on Hiro/Karmi, but we'll have the rest of the team around. I'm sure you readers will be bowled over by it.

...Crap, I'm not being cryptic enough. I'll need to fix that.

Read and review, if you like. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Until next time.