It was nearly midnight and Cass' quarterly accounts were only half-done, so she had headed down for a doughnut - just one, just to keep her going until that particular regularly-scheduled-misery was over.
It was just the thing to lift her spirits, and she was so absorbed in it as she left the cafe area she barely noticed the crackling in the kitchen. Not nearly noisy enough to be Hiro - it had to be Mochi, yet again into something he shouldn't be, and she scowled as she stepped in to see what he was up to now.
Instead of Mochi she found Baymax, sorting gummy bears into a dish one-by-one, and like her he was so focused on the matter it was a moment before he straightened and turned to her.
"Hello, Aunt Cass."
He raised a hand in greeting; she returned the gesture and stepped closer as the robot went back to his task.
"Hi there Baymax... um, what're you doing?"
"I am measuring out the recommended serving size." He paused, holding up a bear in each hand. "Hiro tells me that gummy bears will improve his study performance."
"Of course he did." Cass bit back a smile as she watched Baymax examine the bears. "So... you believe him?"
Baymax considered that a moment, humming - a short two-note drone she'd often heard him make while deep in thought. She recalled Hiro doing it too these days, and she was vaguely surprised to realize she had no clear idea who had learned the habit from whom.
"The idea that sugar intake increases energy is unfounded," Baymax admitted. "But I have noticed that gummy bears tend to have a positive effect on Hiro's emotional state, and a positive mindset is likely conducive to study."
"Ah ha." Cass nodded, unable to hold in her smile at the robot's earnest tone. "Well, I can't argue with that."
Baymax nodded back, eyes squinting in a way she'd learned to read as 'pleased' as he continued in a slightly lower tone.
"Also. Hiro is currently studying a subject he is not fond of, and I believe he was using complaining about gummy bears as a distraction. So I decided that obtaining a promise that he will study after he has had his gummy bears might help get him... 'back on track'."
She laughed at that, shaking her head.
"Well good luck there. I guess you know how he gets."
"Yes. I know." He went back to the gummies, studying the pair he was holding again, and Cass finished her doughnut as she watched.
"So uh... there a problem with those two?"
"They are perfectly sound as gummy bears go. However." He motioned toward the bowl. "The recommended serving of gummy bears is seventeen, but there are four colors of gummy bear. I cannot evenly distribute the colors."
Cass raised her brows, head tilting as she licked frosting from her fingers.
"Let me guess... Hiro told you it had to be even?" A good way to be free from studying while the robot pondered; it sounded like something Hiro would do.
"No." Baymax shook his head. "But I have noticed Hiro prefers to eat gummy bears in a particular color cycle. I suspect they are all more or less the same, but he seems to believe they taste better that way and it is not important enough to attempt contradicting him."
"Oh." She blinked, looking at the dish. "Huh. You're right, he does do that." She watched Baymax ponder a moment longer. "What's the plan?"
He hummed, eyes half-closed.
"I suppose I will have to leave off the final color." He glanced at her, head tilting. "Unless you have a better idea, Aunt Cass?"
"Yeah. I think I do." She grinned, patting his puffy arm. "Get me one of those bowls up there - I'm gonna show you how to make a gummy bear sundae."
Getting the ice cream was a production - once committed to the idea Baymax followed wherever she went, even if it was only a step or two, and Mochi had arrived to wind invitingly about their ankles so that they bumped each other in the cramped space as they tried to pet him or reached for ingredients or attempted to arrange those ingredients in the bowl. Finally Cass stood back to let Baymax finish for himself, watching the robot carefully stick gummies into the chocolate sauce.
"See there?" She grinned as he delicately set the last bear in place and stepped back to survey their work. "In the sundae, the number of colors won't matter - he'll just wolf the thing down in big bites. What do you think?"
"That is considerably more than a recommended serving of ice cream. And of chocolate sauce." Baymax hummed again, then squinted happily. "Hiro will be delighted."
"You bet he will." She moved aside to let Baymax pass as he picked up the bowl and shuffled toward the stairs. "Good luck again."
"Thank you, Aunt Cass."
She smiled fondly after the robot, then grabbed another doughnut and headed upstairs herself; moments later she was giggling into her fist as she overheard Baymax earnestly diagnosing an ice cream headache and Hiro wailing in response, and it wasn't until hours later that she wondered when Baymax had started calling her 'aunt'.