#challenging myself to draw action poses and guys ( ; w ; )

[baymaksu]

Well, thank you @theangrycomet you posed an excellent question about Tadashi and Karmi interacting and... You inspired this scene in my head and I absolutely had to draw and write it out. And now here are the beginnings of a spontaneous one-shot I will complete, called: “BH6: Among Titans.” Here’s the storyboard and an excerpt:

At the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab, Karmi timidly knocked on the door. Peering her head into the office, she looked towards the SFIT dean who was going through paperwork, “You wanted to see me, Professor Callaghan?”

Taking off his glasses, Professor Robert Callaghan smiled at the teenage prodigy, “Ms. Khan. Yes. I wanted to check in with you. How’s your first semester at SFIT been treating you?” Holding onto her biotech textbook, Karmi smiled back, “It’s been good, Professor. I’m getting a hang of the class schedule.”

Callaghan nodded, “Your professors have been telling me you’ve been doing remarkably well. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, of course.”

Flushing at the compliment, Karmi chuckled, “Oh, thank you, Professor Callaghan. It’s everything I was hoping for. It’s been a good challenge so far.”

“Good. I knew I chose well when I selected you at the Expo. The future is in bright hands. Although, it’s a shame I couldn’t be your mentor. I’m afraid biotech is just not my field of expertise. Unless you’d consider double majoring in Robotics?” The old professor laughed good-naturedly.

Surprised at the offer, Karmi stumbled shyly, “Oh. Th-that would’ve been an honor, Professor Callaghan. I’m already so grateful you chose me to be in SFIT despite my age. But… unfortunately I don’t think robotics is quite a field I see myself in, either.” It truly would be an honor, too. Although she had no inclination towards robotics, she recognized that Professor Callaghan was regarded as one of the “Fathers of Modern Robotics.”

Professor Callaghan frowned lightly for a moment, but quickly laughed as if to expect this response, “Hmmm… I understand, Ms. Khan. I was simply wondering if you’d humor me. I’m still happy to play a part in your growth as a scientist. Well, perhaps you’ll consider it in the future. While I have you here at the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab, how about I introduce you to one of my proteges?”

“Um. Yes, I’d like that, Professor.” The dean walked over towards her and placed a comforting hand along her shoulder to guide her towards the halls of the robotics lab building. If Karmi was being honest, she found it comforting to be around the dean. She was far away from her parents, from her family. But Professor Callaghan seemed to exude the presence and aura of a very caring father-like figure. And while he wasn’t her mentor in her intended field of biotechnology, he certainly was a mentor that made an exception to accept her to the school of her dreams.

Coming upon an opaque screen door, Professor Callaghan knocked a few times, “Mr. Hamada. Are you free at the moment? I’d like you to meet someone.”

The voice of a young man could be heard into the opaque private lab room, “Yes, Professor. One moment…”

Momentarily, the door opened to reveal a tall young man sporting a grey cardigan sweater and an all-too familiar signature San Fransokyo Ninjas baseball cap that was slicked backwards. The young man had a warm smile on his face. Professor Callaghan looked to Karmi, “Ms. Khan. Meet Mr. Tadashi Hamada. One of SFIT’s best and brightest. His capstone project blends robotics with healthcare and biotech. I think he would be a great student mentor for you.” Now, looking to his protege, “Mr. Hamada, this Ms. Karmi Khan. She’s a first year biotech major.”

Tadashi chuckled warmly, “You know, Professor. If you keep singing my praises, I may never be able to live up to that.” Now focusing his attention to the new student, Tadashi stepped forward to offer a handshake, “Hello, Karmi. Welcome to SFIT, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re already the talk of the school with the honor of being our youngest student. It’s quite a feat, you must be proud.”

Karmi awkwardly took his hand and shook it, “Oh, thanks! I.. I am. The honor- or umm… pleasure is all mine, Mr. Tadashi.“ She was utterly taken aback, bashfully processing that he was complimenting her. She was proud, to be sure. But to hear this from the young man that everyone seemed to liken as a “handsome, brilliant white knight.” She had already known about Tadashi. It was hard not to, he really did have an impressive reputation at SFIT.

“You can loosen up, Karmi! Call me Tadashi!” The young man laughed, rubbing the back of his head. He put a hand along his chin contemplatively, “Sixteen years old… You know, if only I could get my little brother to meet you. Maybe you’d inspire him to do something with his big brain, too. He could use a genius friend around his age.”

“Oh…” Once again, Karmi was thrown for a loop. She honestly has never been great with socializing with other people her age, or with most people in fact. But she did feel honored that Tadashi would feel like she would inspire other people like his little brother.

———

Meanwhile, in an alleyway deep within San Fransokyo’s illustrious Good Luck Alley…. With his megabot in hand, Hiro “innocently” walked towards a roaring crowd circling around several bot fighters.

Right before he could weave into the crowd, he suddenly sneezed. The boy had a habit of not covering himself when he sneezed. Some calloused, unsavory characters turned around to scowl at the little boy who sneezed at them. Hiro shrunk with a nervous chuckle, “S-Sorry. It’s… uhhh… dusty here.” With another roar in the crowd, the ruffians looked back towards the action and dismissed the kid. No doubt, their money was betted on the line and wanted to see the victor.

Hiro’s eyes narrowed annoyedly, a finger scratching his nose and sniffling at the sudden sneeze. He muttered to himself, “I sense a disturbance… Tadashi must be talking about me…” The young boy pictured in his head his older brother trying to tell him to go to school like him rather than bot fight…

Hearing the roaring of the crowd at the declared victor. Hiro shrugged his shoulders at the thought, grinning mischievously, “Well, looks like business is good!” The little boy squeezed himself into the crowd, making his way towards the center…

———

Back at the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab, Tadashi welcomed Karmi and Professor Callaghan into his private lab, “But hey, you caught me at a good time. I was about to conduct another trial test of my project.”

Recalling that Professor Callaghan stated that his project blended robotics and biotech, this piqued Karmi’s interest, “What is your project… if I may ask?”

“Of course. I think it’d be best to show you.” Walking over to his holographic monitor, Tadashi typed away. Until suddenly, a white balloon-like entity inflated from a red station. When it fully inflated, it revealed a marshmallow-like robot, as Tadashi gestured toward his creation, “This is Baymax. He’s a robotic healthcare companion. Fully capable of a comprehensive, non-invasive diagnostic scan and will have over 10,000 medical protocols and procedures coded into him, among other things.”

“He’s…” The summary description of his project was already incredible, Karmi couldn’t quite articulate herself and yelled, “He’s adorable! He looks like you can just hug him!”

With a wide smile, Tadashi crossed his arms proudly, “Yeah. That’s what Dr. Bay and I were going for. He’s going to help a lot of people, so he needs to be approachable.” With an even wider grin, “Want to watch a test trial?” Karmi’s eyes lit up, “Yes, of course!”

With a nod, Tadashi grabbed a labeled object and stood in front of the inflated robot, “This is Tadashi Hamada. And this is the 62nd test of my robotics project.”

They could hear the machine initializing, until suddenly it looked towards Tadashi and spoke, “/Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare- care- Hello. You look like you could use a hug./“ It stepped off of its charging station.

Tadashi mused to himself, “Hmm… A bit out of sequence. Going to have to recode that.” Now addressing his creation, “But ummm… sure, I would love a hug, big guy.” Tadashi raised his arms, preparing himself for a hug.

The robotic healthcare companion waddled towards him, raising its arms to envelope around Tadashi, “/I will hug you now./“

But to Tadashi’s horror, Baymax began wiggling his fingers during the embrace, “W-Wait! B-Baymax! That’s n-not- THAT’S TICKLING!” The young man erupted into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, trying to wrestle out of the machine’s grasp. “/There. There./“

Suddenly, Baymax looked towards Karmi and Professor Callaghan as Tadashi pried himself away, “/Would you like a hug, too?/“ Slyly, Professor Callaghan smoothly sidestepped himself outside of the private lab. But Karmi couldn’t quite process the odd predicament she was in…

“Karmi, look out!” Before the rogue tickle death machine could grab the young prodigy, Tadashi selflessly got in its way and pushed Karmi out of Baymax’s destructive tickling path. Tadashi yelled valiantly, “Save yourselves! I’ll hold him off!”

Karmi ran out of the room, a hand at her mouth agape. Trying to see if she could help the young man. Professor Callaghan calmly closed the door on Tadashi and Baymax, smiling coolly as they could hear the young man wrestling with vinyl and howling with laughter. Karmi couldn’t help but giggle. The professor seemed to simply wait until they heard, “I- I’M SATIS- SATISFIED WITH MY CARE!”

They could hear heavy breathing until Tadashi opened the door, “Whew… I’m sorry about that you guys. He still needs a lot of work.”

Karmi’s eyes were still wide at the spectacle. Looking to see that the robot was now powered down. Recovering from the shock, she awkwardly tried to comfort the young man about his project, “He’s still really amazing! I think when he’s ready, he’ll really help a lot of people. And tickling could help? It makes people laugh?”

With a soft chuckle, catching his breath, Tadashi smiled at her, “Thanks, Karmi. He’ll get there. I won’t give up on him.” Finally regaining his initial composure, Tadashi stood tall, “But listen. I know it can be intimidating starting your first year here. I’m no biotech or medical whiz, or a robotics whiz as you can see for that matter… But if you ever need any help, feel free to come see me.”

This brightened up Karmi’s expression, “Thank you, Tadashi. I really appreciate it. It was a pleasure meeting you and Baymax. I’ll come around if I need help.” Tadashi nodded at the young girl, “Good. I’ll hold you to it, then.”

Professor Callaghan chimed in as he looked towards his protege with an approving expression, “Well, we’ll leave you to it, Mr. Hamada. Keep up the progress. You’re making great strides. Good luck on your project.”

“Thanks, Professor Callaghan. See you around, Karmi! As you could see, I have a lot of work ahead of me. So if anything, you know where to find me!” They all waved farewell to each other as Tadashi slowly closed the door to his private lab.

As they walked down the hall together, Karmi was deep in thought as she processed meeting Tadashi. She finally looked up towards her professor and remarked, “62 tests? I don’t know if I’d be able to keep trying like that… He’s just… incredible.”

Professor Callaghan nodded as he hummed, “Even geniuses have to work hard, Ms. Khan. Mr. Hamada believes in his work and adheres himself to a higher standard. As I said, I only chose the best and the brightest who can shape the future. That’s why I chose you.” He looked down to the biotech prodigy proudly and fondly like a father would to his accomplished child.

Karmi was elated to hear this, shyly responding, “Thank you, Professor Callaghan. Although, I think seeing even Tadashi struggling with his robotics project didn’t exactly inspire me to consider taking up robotics…”

The dean laughed heartily, “I just wanted to show you that an interdisciplinary approach could be an interesting path less travelled. And I’d certainly enjoy having you in my class. You never know. There may come a day you’ll take an interest.”