It was awkward, pressing his hands all over a stranger's body, the fact that the stranger was a male made things worse and the fact that it was a child even more so. No, Alibert was neither a homosexual nor a pedophile but that probably didn't help things.
Alibert had taken care of living things before but all of them could be left alone, under the right conditions, for a few minutes, with the exception of Ruel; but at least he was sentient enough to understand his surroundings and legally a senior in all nations. Due to his lack of experience with humanoid younglings, Alibert left Yugo lie on his softest rug when he went to the restroom. A few minutes later, he came out, relieved, at least until he saw the child.
The dirty blonde boy found his way into a Hessian sack and was covered in flour. Before Alibert took any physical actions, he thought, tried to rationalize how this happened. The best answer he could come up with was "He must be able to crawl"; after all, how else could have he gotten into the kitchen? He decided to stick with that answer because it made a molecule of sense.
Alibert held Yugo in his left arm while he gathered the soap, shampoo and dishcloth, soon to be promoted into a washcloth, needed for the future bath. A little bit later, Yugo was gently placed in his crib so that Alibert could make a fire to slightly warm some water. Yugo promptly fell asleep and about half an hour later, was awoken by Alibert's hands.
Alibert slowly peeled off the child's clothes just in case a little mess flew out; thankfully, there was only white powder. After his shirt, pants and diaper were removed, Yugo was delicately placed into a wooden washtub filled only a third of the way to help decrease the risk of drowning. His head leaned against the ash wall and while his hat drooped over the rim; by some miracle that article of clothing escaped the powdery massacre.
The brunette man slowly made his way to the other side of the makeshift bath for two reasons. He did not want to disturb the child by moving Yugo again and also because he did not think to make the child face him when bathing it. It was still his first week taking care of a child, surely the gods would forgive him for any mistakes he made today.
Alibert grabbed the light green washcloth, dipped it into a gray pale of soapy water and slightly wrung it out before bringing it to the child's body. At first he dabbed the cloth against the small chest. Later he tried wiping with the cloth. After deeming the cloth to be no longer soapy enough, Alibert decided to douse the fabric in soapy water and wring it once again. After thoroughly cleaning the front half of the child, the man slowly flipped the child over and used his left hand to prop the boy up so that Alibert could clean Yugo's back side.
Now all that was left was Yugo's greasy hair. There was a reason why Alibert saved this part for last, this young boy was oddly possessive of his hat. Both times the man tried to remove that hat and each time it lead to the young boy suddenly bursting into tears, screams and untamable limb flaring. These episodes lasted even after Alibert pushed the hat back into its normal position. If the man had attempted to wash the child's hair first, the following tantrum might have prevented Alibert from washing Yugo any further.
For some reason, the third time really was the charm. Yugo teared up as he felt his hat leaving his head but calmed down when he saw it hung up on the other side of the washtub. Yugo started to relax again while Alibert tensed up.
Blue wings.
This child had blue bat like wings on his head that looked like they were made of a soft fire.
He looked at the baby in fear.
Blue wings.
Blue wings.
Blue wings.
Bworking BLUE WINGS!
The more he thought about it the more terrified he became until…
A laugh, a small laugh and a petite smile from the child.
Alibert calmed down, this boy is not a fiend, nor will ever be one, Alibert will make sure of that. He will raise his son to be something admirable. He smiled back at the boy and tousled his hair before wetting it and washing the metallic locks.
When Alibert finally removed Yugo from the bath water, it was a creamy white and had flour caked to the edges. Alibert slowly lifted up Yugo and discover that the boy had some flour caked to his bottom half. Alibert placed Yugo on a blanket and wrapped the fabric around him to help keep the child warm. After Yugo was cocooned, they headed to the kitchen and Yugo was placed in the bread basket.
Yugo's father grabbed the plain white tea kettle off of his stove and pressed his fingers against the bottom while keeping an eye on Yugo. The bottom was still warm but the water should have been cool enough for the boy. Alibert poured some water on the bottom of his lower arm, just to be sure. Alibert quietly said "It should be fine." Alibert removed Yugo from the bread basket and placed him in the sink. Slowly, the lukewarm water trickled down the baby's skin and took the remaining bits of flour as its prisoner.
Alibert kept his hand around the child, in fear that he might crawl out of it, while he searched for a soft towel under the sink. He could feel the boy try to wiggle out of his grip but to no avail. Alibert smiled and pulled out the fluffiest towel he could find. The first thing that was dried was his hair so that Alibert could put the child's hat back on. Don't want the neighbors to think that the infant was on fire. With his thumbs, Alibert kneaded through the cloth, drying Yugo's skin.
The man put Yugo into some of the clothes that he bought from Ruel yesterday. That man seemed to have everything in his sack except Kamas, but the former bounty hunter was confident that he was just hiding them. The blue and orange outfits were a bit pricey but considering the fact that the seller was an Enutrof, it was a bargain. Ruel was there when Alibert freed the apple thief, when Alibert committed a crime. The white haired male could have sold him out and collected his bounty but didn't. He firmly believed Ruel, his friend, would not do such a thing but he paid the extra Kamas anyway as a thank you for keeping his secret; also it did not hurt to grease the palms of Ruel as long as you weren't a wallet.
When all the bathing was finished, it was already night. Yugo was drowsy and barely could sip his dinner. Alibert wiped Yugo's face one more time that night before putting the boy in his cradle. As gentle as a Piwi's feather, the brunette tucked in the blonde boy and shortly afterwards went to bed himself, trying to figure out what his next job should be, his savings won't last forever and even Ruel has yet to discover a Kama growing tree. He always enjoyed cooking, maybe he could be a chef.
Several hours later, the horror of the thought of the young boy in the kitchen alone hit Alibert.
Hope you all liked it. Please let me know if you think I should boost the rating.