Kaito pressed the power button on the dish washer to wash up the breakfast dishes with a faint smile. The two plates had seemed lonely by themselves in the washer. So he had put a couple other dirty things that needed to get washed in there too. That way it wouldn't be wasting the wash, right? Master would probably praise him for his good thinking, when he got back, and Kaito told him. The thought made his small, slightly lonely smile grow a bit in pleased expectation.
"Too bad I can't fit me inside there," the bluenette said to himself thoughtfully. "Then it would have been even more efficient. Oh, well. That dishwashing soap probably doesn't smell as good as shampoo, in any case. Speaking of which, next up on the agenda..."
Stripping off his clothes while still in the kitchen, Kaito paused, looking at them in his hands. They were dirty, too. Rumpled and smelling like it. Was it too late to add more things to the dishwasher? He tried to open the door to no avail at first. Scrunching his face up in thought, a blue-tipped pianist's finger trepidly punched a few buttons hopefully, and was rewarded as the program stopped and the handle permitted entry. Some hot water spilled out a little messily when he opened the door, but the machine had stopped, so it was indeed possible to add to the wash after it had begun.
Kaito used a towel that was hanging on the oven door handle to clean up the spilled water, and put it, and his clothes, in the top rack of the machine. Satisfied, the Vocaloid closed the door again and pressed the start button once more. The machine whirred productively back to life.
"Okay, now for me," Kaito stated proudly, and walked, naked-butt, to the bathroom. Because he hadn't been able to watch Master before when the human operated the shower, it took a little trial and error to figure out how to turn the overhead sprayer on. Then it was too cold. Then scalding. But eventually Kaito found the right temperature, and a few minutes later, the approving Vocaloid stepped inside. Instantly he was doused with steaming water, and it felt wonderful. Kaito sighed and stretched his slim back under the stream of perfectly warmed fluid, letting it rinse away the smell of sweat and fear and exhaustion.
Looking at the various products for cleaning that were on the few tiny shelves in the shower, blue-lacquered fingertips first touched one bottle, then another, then a partially used bar of soap, wondering which would be best to wash up with. The bubble bath had been put away, apparently, as it was nowhere to be seen. Choosing a product at random with his water-wet hands, the item Kaito selected instantly became very slippery.
"Oops!" Kaito startled as he dropped a bar of soap. Flushing red, he looked around, as if someone might have seen his fumble, before bending over to pick the offending bar up. As he rose back up, Kaito noticed that there was water running down the side of the not-entirely-closed shower curtain, which wasn't fully tucked into the tub portion of the shower, and a large puddle of water had grown outside the shower. "Oh, no!"
Dropping the soap again as he fumbled to fix the curtain, Kaito stopped, took a breath, then peeked out at the puddle again around the corrected shower curtain. It seemed... really big.
"I'd better clean it, or Master will think I can't do this myself," Kaito thought, appalled. Getting out of the shower and fumbling in the bottom of the tub to pick up and then put the soap back where he got it, the blue-haired male looked around for dry, clean towels to mop the mess up with, but couldn't find any. He sweatdropped badly, scolded himself internally for not making sure there were some there before getting in the shower, and then decided to go look for them. He left the shower running, not wanting to mess up the temperature. It would only take a minute, after all.
Wet, adult male footprints tracked right through the puddle, then out of the bathroom, and down the hall. Kaito dripped water profusely, shivering from being naked and wet, while he searched the different rooms in the house for where the towels got kept. Finding a linen closet at long last by sheer luck, the Vocaloid returned triumphantly to the bathroom, where to his dismay, the previously large puddle had turned into a small lake. The shower curtain was messed up again, the shower had been running without him there, and finding the towels had taken significantly longer than just a minute. Kaito made a moaning sound and dropped the towel he had found onto the floor. It got soaked instantly.
"I'm going to need more towels," He said out loud, growing anxious. Running back down the hallway, blue-nailed feet slapping both tile and carpet, Kaito grabbed all the towels that were left and returned to the bathroom, and dropped them ALL on the floor. He sighed a deep breath in satisfaction as it was enough, and he mopped up the mess in relief, doing a good job.
"Now, just... stay there, okay?" Kaito asked the towels and climbed back into the shower. The water was much cooler now, despite the temperature gauge staying the same, and the bluenette shivered with chattering teeth as he grabbed at one of the bottles inside the shower and slathered himself up with liquid shampoo, ignoring the devilish bar of soap. He kept his eyes closed tightly so that the product wouldn't sting his eyes, and himself rinsed off well when he was done- or as well as he could under a spray of now cold water.
Kaito got out of the shower and stood, dripping onto the already wet towels under his feet. He moved his wet hair away from his eyes and stared at the mirror. Blue eyes stared back. They looked unhappy and tired.
"I guess I should leave the towels there until the dishwasher finishes," the Vocaloid spoke out loud unhappily. "Then I can wash them. Master won't know I messed up if I clean it all up."
Turning and closing the door behind him so he didn't have to think about it, Kaito walked back to Master's bedroom. He didn't know what he expected to find there, but a change of clothes laid out thoughtfully for the bluenette wasn't it. Kaito walked slowly to the side of the bed and picked the shirt up. He put his face against it and hugged it, and just stood there for a minute, before getting changed. Master had been thinking of him even though the human had been running late to work. It made Kaito's heart ache a little bit, in a pleasant way.
The fresh clothes felt good on Kaito's clean but still damp skin, and the gentle movement of the cool, ambient air drying naturally him as he walked back to the kitchen to check on the dishes felt refreshing and not too cold. The cycle on the machine was less than half done, so Kaito wandered out to the living room to look at some of the videos Master had stored there. It wouldn't be a bad idea to familiarize himself with the house, honestly, but the video discs might be one good way to use up some time while waiting for his Master to return home.
The movie they'd watched last night was still there in the disc player, but Kaito found he didn't really want to re-watch it when Master wasn't there, even though he knew he'd fallen asleep towards the end, and he wondered how the story ended. As Kaito pulled out and looked through them one by one, the rest of the movies felt sort of the same. What if Master really wanted to watch something together? Kaito wouldn't know which one. The thought distracted the bluenette and made him smile again. Master might be sad if Kaito wasn't watching it with him. It felt good to think that Master wanted him even just to watch a movie... maybe?
Leaving the stacks of movies on the ground, Kaito got up and went to sit on the couch, turning the TV on to see what was playing, instead. There were a lot of channels, but most of the things on were in the middle of one story or another that Kaito didn't know the beginning to, so it was hard to follow them. Learning what the remote controller did when the buttons were pressed by trial and error, the Vocaloid channel-surfed for a little while as he waited for the washing machine to complete its cycle.
It was a little lonely. And boring. The former was a lot worse than the latter. Kaito found himself sighing audibly, and realized that he was hugging his own midsection as he pouted in shame at his quiet outburst, even though no one was there to judge him poorly for it. Releasing his grip on his own tummy, Kaito put his hands straight out on the couch to either side of him, pouffing his cheeks out even more in a comical fashion. Kicking his mostly dry now, bare legs out back and forth in front of him, Kaito accidentally upset the nearest of the tower of stacked DVD cases.
Kaito jolted, alarmed. Then, determining no actual damage had been done, he relaxed again and sighed even louder, upset at his inability to just sit still, and decided to physically sit on his own hands, hoping that it would calm the nervous energy.
He kicked his legs out again after a few more moments, a sulking look on his face, the attempt at stillness impossible. The videos had already been knocked over- it's not like they'd get knocked over twice- but he still kicked more carefully, feeling a little annoyed.
How much longer until Master came home? Gradually the kicking legs kicked slower and slower. Kaito wasn't sleepy but he felt tired, drained. Maybe a little depressed. Getting up seemed like a monumental effort, but he left the TV playing and he wandered through the house, going first to Master's room again, then to his own play room, with the toys and things Master and he had picked out for Kaito before.
It wasn't like the blue-haired Vocaloid expected his human to magically be in the bedroom- he did know better- but Kaito still felt a little disappointed despite it, when he found the room was still empty. Laying down among the covers that smelled faintly like Master, Kaito closed his eyes and just breathed quietly for a moment, before getting back up, restless. He continued to the next place: his own room. The toys Master had gotten for him greeted Kaito's depressed blue eyes, but he smiled faintly as he picked up one, then another, then a third and a fourth stuffed toy, and dragged all of them back to the living room.
Arranging the toys next to himself on the couch, Kaito simply looked at them for a long time. Master had picked all of these toys up with love for him, even before he knew Kaito existed. Eventually, the bluenette picked up a small blue rabbit plushie and snuggled up against it, while moving the other plushies around at random, as if they had free will to move themselves. Looking back at the blue rabbit plush closely, Kaito glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching, then he made the bunny dance a little in the air, as if it were alive.
"Hello, Kaito, I am a blue toy bunny!" Kaito said to himself in a slightly squeaky voice as the plush danced slightly. "Do you like me?"
"Yes, I like you, thanks. Would you like to play with myself, and our Master, blue bunny toy?" Kaito asked in his normal Kaito-tone voice, as the bunny's dancing stalled, then continued.
"Yes, I want to play with you AND Master. When is Master coming home?" Kaito's squeaky voice replied, then the bluenette sighed explosively and fell back on the couch on purpose, making a "whumph" sound with the force of it. Kaito responded lackluster in his normal voice as his arms fell over the side of the couch bonelessly, "I don't know. Sometime. Later. Soon."
Kaito must have fallen asleep on the couch, because some short while later, he woke up to the chime of the dishwasher being done. Getting up groggily and not minding as the piled toys spilled from the couch, the bluenette stepped over them to get to the kitchen. He yanked the dishwasher open and stared at the result. Everything was still wet! Trepidly pulling his clean clothes from the top rack, Kaito shook the top he had been wearing overnight out, splattering water everywhere. It was supposed to be clean but... it didn't look so good. And it was very wrinkled and VERY wet. Kaito sweatdropped.
"Maybe it just needs to dry," the bluenette said dubiously and pulled out the other things from the dishwasher. One of the things he'd put in there had melted, and he nervously shoved the bits he could peel off of it behind the dry clean dishes in one of the cupboards. The other items he left on the counter, starting to feel a little anxious again. They'd dry on their own, soon, right? If left exposed to the air well enough... right? "Where do I dry them, though? Maybe if I hang them up somewhere good..."
One scant armful of dripping wet clothes, and a short trip around the house, made Kaito think that maybe the best place would be outside. But Master had said not to go outside. So the second-best place would be... the bathroom? Maybe. He needed to go there anyway, to get the dirty towels. Kaito wanted Master to praise him when he got home, for doing a good job. So the towels definitely would need to get washed next.
Stepping onto the drenched towels and unintentionally soaking his socks through, Kaito made an uncomfortable squishy face as he threw his dishwasher-cleansed clothes over the shower rail, hoping that they might dry magically. Next, the frowning bluenette picked up the saturated towels from the bathroom's floor and marched them, still dripping, all the way back through the house, to the dishwasher.
They wouldn't all fit. Kaito stared and shoved and tried this and that, but despite the splattering mess he made during the attempt, they just wouldn't all fit. The blue-haired Vocaloid shook his head, sighed as he gave up the effort to make everything all work in one go, and instead put in what he could, pressed "start," then tromped the rest, still yet dripping water everywhere, back to the bathroom floor, to await their turn next time the dishwasher finished.
He sighed. This was a lot of work. But it was worth it, if he could impress Master.
Sitting back on the couch with wet feet inside wet socks, Kaito started to feel even more lonely and a little more depressed. If Master were here, he would have taught Kaito what to do with wet clothes, how to dry them. The human would have watched something with Kaito, and let Kaito snuggle up to him instead of the plushies. Master would have... would have washed him...
Kaito blushed a little and lowered his eyes, picking at a loose, frayed stitch on one of the toys he'd recovered from the floor, as he thought about being bathed by the human. He let his mind drift a little as he thought about what Master did when he was with Kaito. Baths... meals... snuggling... complimenting Kaito... smiling happily at Kaito... eating ice cream... playing together... singing... diapers...
Kaito frowned and put the toy down, crossing his arms a little at that memory, his lower lip jutting out. He hadn't really hated that but... he hadn't hated it... but... he didn't need it, either. He didn't. He was a Vocaloid, he didn't need to be treated like a human baby that wore diapers. It was weird. Wasn't it? ...But Master had said that it was just meant to let Kaito feel comfortable, know he was loved, taken care of...
Kaito stared at nothing. He missed Master. The toys that Master gave him, the videos Master had, the bed that he and Master slept in... really, none of that was as good as even a single smile of approval, or a single, "I love you, Kaito," or a single hug after Kaito did something good or worthy of praise. Those hugs were like magic. Just a few days ago, Kaito wouldn't have even believed they would ever possibly exist.
The depressed, anxious look on his face melted into a slightly shy smile. Kaito picked up and touched the face of the nearest plush, smiling a little more. Instead of moping around and being lonely, it really did make more sense to use this time to his- and Master's- benefit. The bluenette had thought earlier it would be a good chance to acquaint himself with every nook and cranny of this new home, right? So that seemed like a good plan.
Kaito got up and nodded in resolve, starting to feel a little better. Next time, when Master mentioned something, Kaito would be able to find it. Beautiful sweet lips smiles happily at that thought, starting to feel a little excited at the idea of becoming more useful to Master.
From the very first room, their bedroom, the earnest Vocaloid quickly found all kinds of spots that things were hidden away in.
Master's clothes. Extra cleaning supplies of some kind. What appeared to be old key rings with old keys still on them, apparently forgotten or simply no longer used. All sorts of small and variously assorted curious, if not especially always apparently helpful, items. But even the things that appeared out of use were clean and upkept. Kaito found himself smiling more and more, feeling more at ease, and more and more approving of his new human Master as he explored the area.
After all, if Master took care of even unused things this well, then surely he would never leave Kaito left alone, and unused or dusty or forgotten, either. Shaking his head, the blue-haired Vocaloid grinned a little to himself, thinking that kind of selfish thing. He didn't want to be a burden to his human Master, to always seem to need attention all the time, but it felt so wonderful to think that Master wouldn't forget him, even if he wasn't always there with the Vocaloid male. It made Kaito feel intensely grateful and happy, and also maybe a little possessive, all at the same time, even though Master wasn't even currently present as all those thoughts ran through the bluenette's inquisitive mind.
Rubbing his face with both his hands as if to wake himself up, Kaito shook his soft blue head again, feeling satisfied with his exploration of the current room. He almost went into the next room down the hall, to start a more thorough exploration again, but in doing so would pass near the bathroom, and that seemed like a good spot to investigate, too. Maybe the secret to drying clothes would be found there, if he looked more carefully. Also, he could check on the wet clean clothes. It had been at least 10 minutes, so maybe they'd be dry now! It seemed like a good plan.
Despite hopeful intentions, the clothes were still very wet, almost like they hadn't dried at all, even a little bit. Kaito sweatdropped, and averted his eyes, hoping that if he didn't look, the drying would happen faster. Instead, he started to take all the items out of the cabinets, to see what was there.
Medicines? Of some variety, from the top cupboard. Long strips of things packaged in paper. Tubes of things Kaito didn't recognize, and didn't taste like food when he opened them. Toothpaste. Toothbrushes. Dental floss. Strange looking objects made of metal, like some sort of weird type of scissors, but tiny, that he couldn't figure out how to make function.
The sink quickly became littered with various objects, but since Kaito knew he would put them all back when he was done exploring, he wasn't too worried. One cupboard down, the curious Vocaloid squatted down to open the under-the-sink cabinet.
Blue eyes lit up in recognition as they found the bubble bath container almost immediately, just behind some so-labelled toilet cleaner that took up the front visual. He looked the bubble bath over in his hands, flushed, glanced around, and set the bottle carefully on the floor, still blushing from recent, intense, though not unpleasant, memories. But Kaito's blue eyes became more eager after that, as more items joined the collection on the shiny, smooth floor tiles nearby.
The cabinet was almost empty when blue-lacquered fingertips touched a soft package and pulled it out. Kaito stared down at the package of diapers in his suddenly stilled hands.
These... they were... the same. The one that Master had put on him. That first day after coming home. After Master had bathed him. Master had told him then, that he wanted to take care of Kaito. That he only wanted happy, comfortable things for Kaito. To let Kaito know he was loved, even if the shy, anxious Vocaloid didn't do anything to earn it. The diapers. Kaito's diapers.
The fabric of the disposable nappies was soft as Kaito's fingers touched there, his face suddenly serious. Master had only put a diaper on him once. Kaito had taken it off during the night, but the human didn't raise the issue again or replace it. Master didn't expect Kaito to wear them all the time, it had become clear. Did that mean that the diapers were special? Only for... special times, when Master wanted to let Kaito know he was truly loved?
Master hadn't asked the Vocaloid- his baby- to use the diaper, unless he wanted to. It was for comfort, to feel special. To feel safe. To be loved as Master's baby.
"It felt like my butt was getting hugged," Kaito mumbled to himself as he looked the package over. "It felt weird. It was embarrassing. Master saw me wearing it, so it felt embarrassing. I was worried Master would think I wasn't very good as a Vocaloid if I wore... baby things... But it made Master happy, didn't it? Because Master loves me?.. and he wants to... take care of me. My Master wants me to feel safe, loved... give me soft things... happy things. Comfortable things? Good things."
"...I didn't hate it. So it... is it like... getting hugged by Master? When I put it on? Or maybe it's okay, just because it'd be like having a chair cushion strapped to your butt? Master, I still feel a little confused, but... if you put one on me again, maybe it'd... be okay. When you make me feel safe, and loved, it's okay, right?" Trying to figure out his jumbled feelings wasn't an easy task, even though Kaito tried to talk himself through it, understand his own jumbled thoughts. "But... do I really want you to only think of me as a baby? I love you, after all... I like you, Master..."
Kaito pulled out one of the diapers from the container, and put the soft, mostly-full, lightweight plastic-wrapped package back down on the floor. Stared at the innocuous item still held in his blue-tipped hands. Despite his internal confusion, there was no arguing that the material still felt really soft. It was thickly padded, like a thin pillow, maybe. He knew it felt comfortable to wear it. Felt... different, a little bit. But not bad. The impulse to try again was strong.
No one was here to see, right now, even if he tried it on secretly. It was okay, right?
It would be okay, surely, either way. Because he was Master's baby. Even though he wasn't a human infant, but a grown Vocaloid. Kaito sighed heavily, conflicting worries in his mind.
Was it really okay to embrace such a thing, when he knew very well he was an 'adult' and not a 'baby'? Even though he was happy with Master's affection and love for him, it didn't change that he was an adult-sized, grown-up male Vocaloid. Did he have to choose? Could he be both? Loved as an adult, but also as a child? And what about as a Vocaloid? Master hadn't him sing much, yet, either. Maybe he was more interested in other aspects of Kaito than his vocals.
Then again, maybe Kaito was worrying too much, about too many things, too quickly. He didn't need to know everything right away. As long as there was a tomorrow with Master, it would be okay to take time and figure out things together. Right?
"I've been so worried about doing everything perfectly for so long, and yet couldn't do anything perfectly. ...Or, I would surely have been purchased before. So, maybe it'd be okay to just try doing things, even though they're imperfect, or I'm not sure about them. Maybe it's okay to try just... something comfortable, even if it seems..." Kaito trailed off and glanced in the bathroom mirror, then scrubbed his cheeks furiously with his free hand as if to deny the blush that was etched on his reddened face. "It's just fabric! There's no need to be embarrassed... right?"
Nothing gave him an answer as blue eyes stared back at themselves in the mirror. Kaito glanced back down at the nappy. One blue-tipped finger found its way to Kaito's soft pink mouth and he distractedly nommed it a little bit, not even realizing he was falling back into his self-decided "bad habit" due to being so deeply in thought.
"I can always take it off before Master comes home. It won't be for a few more hours at least, anyways, probably... I could just... try putting it on... and see... if it feels more comfortable? If it feels like being hugged."
Kaito's brow furrowed as he opened the diaper up and looked at it critically, blushing hard again, and feeling a little bit like an idiot, perhaps. "...Well, Master put it on me in just a few seconds, before... Right? How hard can it be..? I'm sure I can easily do it by myself."