PSL's Catch-All

[guardianofeden]

Because hey, I just realized that sometimes people want to do PSL's that aren't attached to memes, right?

If you have a PSL in mind, just ask me or leave a starter here! ٩( ᐛ )و

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[tadashiishere]

It was a particularly busy morning at the Lucky Cat Cafe, and Baymax had offered to lend Aunt Cass some assistance. A great many of the regulars were there for breakfast, but there were some new faces as well. One in particular drew Baymax's attention, in part because he had drawn Mochi's. Normally the cat avoided the cafe during its busiest times, as he found the amount of activity and unknown humans stressful, but he was currently curled up on a booth seat contentedly napping next to an older man in mildly old fashioned clothes who was reading a book while he waited for his order to be ready.

And as it happened his order had just be completed, so Baymax took it over to him, careful not to spill anything. "Hello," he said in his typical pleasant monotone to alert the man to his presence before he set the food down. "Here is your cinnamon tea with honey and blueberry scones, sir. I apologize for the delay." There was a slightly strange cadence to how he stated the order, as if he were reading the items from a 'fill in the blank' form, but the pleasant monotone remained.

[guardianofeden]

One thing he had to give the humans in this city - they certainly loved their newfangled electronic devices. Aziraphale had seen more of them in the couple of days he and Crowley had been there then he'd seen in a century back in London, and while he didn't understand how they worked, he wouldn't pretend not to be at least a little bit fascinated by their existence. It hadn't helped, either, when Crowley had snarked at him that they were "just machines, Angel. Like Siri, only bigger." Because that had made him ask who Siri was, making the demon pull out his phone and ask it to "tell me a joke." The fact that this Siri "person" lived in his phone and was sentient enough to make jokes and tell the weather and all sorts of other various relevant information had just made the awe even greater, which Aziraphale suspected hadn't exactly been the demon's intention.

By the time he had left to find breakfast, however, he'd managed to rein his bright-eyed wonder back under control so that he wasn't spending the entire time waiting for his food simply staring at the cheery, round inflatable robot as it tottered around the cafe. Harder, though, was reining in the unconscious habit of petting soft things as he read, something he'd developed after he and Crowley had begun living as each other's shadow after the Armageddon That Wasn't, when the demon would lay his head in his lap for a kip as they sat on the couch. His hair was very soft. So when that very round, very soft cat had perched itself next to him and begun rumbling away like a very tiny motor, he'd smiled to himself and let his hand rest on its head to stroke idly through its fur.

When, a few minutes later, the sound of the friendly mechanical being bringing his order over to him drew his attention, he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as he looked up from his book. Even with the strange cadence when it spoke, he couldn't not see the...creature? as a living, thinking entity, and he was equally fascinated and charmed by it.

"Thank you, dear, it smells lovely!" Granted, Crowley would have probably pointed out that he found all food 'lovely,' but Crowley wasn't there to tease him, nor to distract him with that particular staring thing he tended to do when they were dining together. Still. As lovely as the food smelled, his own curiosity was giving his appetite a run for its money, and it wasn't long before his sense of propriety won out over his sweet tooth, and before the robot could toddle away again, he turned another smile up to it. "I-...If you don't think it rude of me, what's your name?"

Crowley could tease him all he wanted to, later. He couldn't just let the Siris and Alexas and Roombas of the world be treated as if they weren't worthy of attention, the way the humans seemed to sometimes do.

Whatever a Roomba was. He had no Earthly idea, but that hadn't stopped him from saying that he absolutely would, when the demon had accused him of being the type who would make a bed for one, if he'd had one. And maybe he should, just to show him!

[tadashiishere]

"I do not," Baymax said. As far as he knew, there was nothing rude a about a simple request for an introduction. Though the man's accent identified him as being British, and Baymax was unfamiliar with how specific social norms in the United Kingdom might differ from those he'd become accustomed to in San Fransokyo. "I am Baymax, a personal healthcare companion. I reside with the cafe owner's family and sometimes assist her in the cafe when it is required."

"I see that you are petting Mochi," he added. "Stroking a pet is known to have beneficial effects such as a reduction in stress and anxiety and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. And studies have shown that the frequency of a domesticated cat's purring can also have a beneficial effect on joint mobility, especially after injury." Yes, when you have Baymax as your waiter, your meal sometimes comes with a side of fun medical facts.

[guardianofeden]

That was, in fact, something that Aziraphale had noticed about people who lived "across the pond," as it were. It wasn't uncommon for random strangers to strike up a conversation with you in the middle of a store, or while you were waiting for a bus, where back home, it was seen as somewhat unusual, even if his angelic presence tended to make people want to talk to him regardless. For once, though, he was the one striking up the conversation. He smiled at the robot, mentally feeling a small, smug bit of glee at just how sentient it - he? - seemed after all. This was certainly no 'glorified toaster!'

Aziraphale: 1, Crowley: 0

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Baymax. My name is Aziraphale." He went to take a sip of his tea before the name of the cat he was still petting occurred to him and he stopped, glancing down at the massive, furry creature and giving a tickled little laugh. "Oh. Oh, that is adorable. He is certainly shaped like a piece of mochi, isn't he?"

He blinked as Baymax rattled off a series of Petting-A-Cat facts, finally taking a drink of his tea as he listened, giving a small hum of delight at the taste of it. Oh, it may not have been proper English tea, but it wasn't bad, all things considered.

"You know, I believe I had heard that somewhere, though I'm not sure where. Perhaps on the same telly channel I saw that film about the gorillas." Not that Baymax would have any idea what he was talking about. He hummed thoughtfully, looking back down at the cat and giving it a scritch down its back, to its belly, and the particularly soft, squishy feel of its tummy under his fingers made him laugh despite himself and give a tiny, happy wiggle of his shoulders. "No wonder hum-er-people enjoy their company so much. I'll admit, if their lives weren't so short, and if they didn't have such a strong dislike of my-...er..." Friend? Partner? Colleague? None of those words quite seemed to fit right, anymore. "the person I'm traveling with, I might have been tempted to own one. Animals really don't agree with Crowley." Probably due to the whole demon thing. Or the snake thing. Either way, he could only imagine the arguments that would have ensued should he adopt a cat, all made in nothing but hissing noises from one furred dependent and one scaled demon who should know better then to argue with an animal, but would do so regardless.

[tadashiishere]

To be fair Baymax was technically a prototype, and more advanced than most AI enabled devices that were available on the general consumer market. And he was fortunate enough to live with a human family and friends who treated him mostly like an equal, which allowed him to gradually advance further as a learning AI.

"Yes, his general body outline is similar to the shape of most mochi," Baymax agreed. Most of it was just fur, but especially when curled up, Mochi did tend to look round enough to do credit to his namesake. And curled up seemed to be his favorite sleeping position, though he did shift slightly onto one side to allow the angel to rub his tummy. The cat gave the angel's thumb a few lazy licks before settling back to sleep properly.

Regarding Aziraphale's traveling companion and the general reaction animals often had to him, Baymax only nodded slightly. Well, as much as his construction. allowed, but it was still only slightly by human standards. "It is unusual for Mochi to be in the cafe when it is busy," he said. "Like many domesticated cats, he finds the presence of so many unfamiliar humans stressful, and usually remains upstairs. However, my scans indicate that he is currently entirely relaxed."