Vexen had felt it too; the warm, foreign heat against his thigh. The way the teen had frozen in horror as the heat began confirmed Vexen's suspicions. Though he longed to curse, he did not wish to upset the water prince more than he knew and dreaded the boy would be. "Number seven," Vexen hissed.
"Hn?" Saix grunted as he glanced back toward Vexen.
"Bathroom. Now." Vexen grunted with a scarlet flush.
Saix frowned. "…If you have developed a reaction to the gas, I will put in a request that you be humanely termin-"
"Not me you imbecile!" Vexen snapped.
Saix shifted his golden eyes to Demyx just as the boy took in a deep breath to sob. Cringing, Saix began gawking awkwardly for a sign.
"Hgh…. Nnn… Nnn!" The few grunts Demyx made did show that he was making an effort not to cry, but it was in vein. The boy burst into tears and though Vexen quickly tucked the boy's face down to his shoulder, Demyx continued howling. "N- No! Please! I'm no- ot a ba-aby! I di-idn't!" the boy lied.
Vexen, entirely unconvinced, padded back to the rear of the store and flagged an employee. "You! … Where is your lavoratory? I require clean floor and a sink," Vexen ordered.
For a long moment, the acne-faced kid gawked at Vexen as though he'd spoken a foreign language to him. "Uh… no … habla… Frankosnian?"
It was then Vexen's time to stare at the boy. "Idiot! I'm asking you where the bathroom is-and Frankosnian is not a language," he sniffed.
"Oh. Right… haha….ha…" the teen chuckled nervously before gesturing above his head toward a clean white sign that read… in giant letters no less… RESTROOMS.
"…ASSENINE!!!" Vexen spat as he turned and disappeared into the bathrooms. Saix proceeded after his skinny partner in crime and stared down the clerk.
"...His brain synapses are very large," Saix commented dryly. Unfortunately the joke was lost on the clerk.
"I HEARD THAT, NUMBER SEVEN!" Four growled over the top of Demyx's bawling. Once Saix had entered the bathroom, Vexen gawked about in horror. The floor? Filthy. The toilets? Questionable. The sinks? Sparkling clean, surprisingly. The staff obviously needed to work on hygene protocol. It was the men's room though… go figure. "I'm not putting him on that filthy floor!" Vexen growled as Saix lifted Demyx from Vexen's arms tenderly.
"Come," he murmured quietly to Demyx who was still blubbering incoherently about how much he didn't want to be babied. Surprisingly, Demyx glued himself to Saix's shoulder and cried a bit quieter. "Put the diaper bag down and sit on the lip of that sink," Saix ordered strangely.
"Why?" Vexen asked awkwardly as he set the diaper bag down and did as he was instructed. Vexen's question was soon enough answered as Saix handed the taller scientist the bawling nocturne. Seating Demyx sideways across Vexen's lap, Saix was able to somewhat recline the boy for a proper changing. "What on earth are you doing?" Vexen grunted as he begrudgingly shifted Demyx in his grip to recline him a bit more.
"Changing him," Saix replied calmly as he tugged up Demyx's shirt and began to fuss with the boy's trousers.
"Not on my lap!" Vexen growled.
"I am also unwilling to put him down on that filthy floor," Saix replied as he tugged Demyx's britches to his knees. The poor boy's towel was sagging and wet, though thus far it had not leaked terribly. A small spot of urine had leaked at the side of the boy's leg, spotting the twerp's trousers. Saix paid no mind to this and instead hiked up the boy's shirt. "…Hold onto this for me, please," Saix softly uttered. Demyx complied awkwardly grabbing hold of the hem of his shirts, but the twerp was quite heartbroken to be in his present predicament. As Saix began to slide the pins open and free from the towel, Demyx began crying loudly. Without the muffle of Vexen's shoulder, his cries bounced obnoxiously about the washroom. Saix frowned at Vexen and growled: "…quiet him."
"HOW?!" Vexen snapped in return as he instinctively began stroking a few of the boy's sideburns from his cheek. Saix offered no reply and unfolded the wet towel. Wiping the boy's groin with a dry edge of the towel, Saix pulled away the sad fabric and tossed it into the trash. What a waste of towel-yet, he did not feel compelled to wash the towel in the sink, bag it, and cart it back to the castle. Demyx continued to cry, quivering from chill as his lower half was exposed to the air. Digging frantically through the diaper bag, Vexen handed Saix a clean disposable diaper and the little packet of disposable wipes. Though Vexen had briefly covered Demyx's mouth, he found it distressed the boy more. Reluctantly, he wound up stuffing his index finger into the boy's mouth. This caused the little imp to suckle gently, hushing his tantrum to a minimum.
"Mnn," Demyx whimpered, slobbering up the scientist's finger awkwardly. Vexen cringed at the feel but took the opportunity to feel around Demyx's mouth. His gums were swollen and his teeth had already started to retreat beneath the gum-line. Demyx was soothed at the soft press of Vexen's finger over his sore gums. Saix was also pleased, as it kept the boy a good deal quieter-and prevented staff members from checking up on the awkward situation.
Unfolding a few wipes, Saix swept the moist cloth over the boy's wet-spots, carrying away the smell and residual itch the urine left behind. Though Vexen had not handed it to him, Saix reached forward and groped around in the satchel on Vexen's shoulder. "What are you doing?!" Vexen spat crossly.
"Powder," Saix concluded. Upon removing the little travel container, he sprinkled a small bit over the boy's crotch leaving the soft velvety flakes to drift aimlessly. Yes-Vexen wound up with an awkward power blotch on his thigh. To this, the scientist twitched, but said nothing. The diaper was last to come and as Saix shifted the boy to be fitted to it, Demyx let out one last protesting bleat behind Vexen's skinny fingers. The disposable diaper crinkled loudly as Saix tugged it up between his legs and fitted it properly. Two sticky announcements of tape later declared the deed done and with that much handled, Saix put away the supplies and tugged up Demyx's pants.
Vexen promptly pulled his hands away from the boy's maw and stepped down from the sink. The boy parted with Vexen's fingers with a sticky smack of his lips. Whimpering, the boy reached forward for the man's hands only to find Vexen washing them with appall. Quivering, Demyx glanced to Saix and then back to Vexen before he began his wailing once again. "Demyx! Kindly stop that racket," Vexen grumbled as he took hold of the boy's hands and stuck them under the faucet. Though Demyx hadn't really touched any of the diapering stuff, Vexen considered it a good idea to keep the boy's mitts clean. Turning to Saix, Vexen grunted: "Wash your hands," only to find his blue haired accomplish had stepped up to the urinal and had unzipped himself. The quiet splash of urine sounded as Saix lifted a brow as though to inform Vexen he was breaking the unwritten man-rule… Having a nice chat while taking a piss was just a no!
Vexen groaned and fished his hand into the diaper bag. Pulling out one of the pacifiers from the satchel, he silenced Demyx in a hurry. The little nub was crammed into the boy's mouth, forcing the startled water-babe to clamp his lips together in surprise. "Mmn!" Demyx whimpered once again. Though he'd tried briefly to turn away from the pacifier, he esoon began suckling quietly. At last, the boy's crying had stopped leaving only the occasional red-eye'd sniffle. Once Saix had washed up, the trio stepped out from the wash room to find the same bewildered clerk gawking at them.
"Is everything okay, sirs?" the teen asked awkwardly.
"Yes." Vexen spat without explanation. Demyx awkwardly tucked his head down against Vexen's shoulder in embarrassment. Sucking a binky in the privacy of one's own room was one thing… but to be saddled with one in the grocery store… it was a little too much! The pity of it was that Demyx was unwilling to part with the little rubber nub. It made his teeth feel better to have a good suckle and more than that, it made him feel sleepy and comforted. The boy whimpered and nuzzled his forehead against Vexen. A few remaining tears splashed against Vexen's neck drawing a small inkling of shadow-pity from the reedy man. Sighing bitterly, Vexen turned his head and offered the boy's cheek a chaste kiss. "…now hush. If you mind yourself, I'll let you get a little something, hm?"
While Demyx was pleased to have a kiss, he didn't feel he needed to be bribed. Shaking his head a timid 'no' he buried his head against Vexen's shoulder. The scientist sighed and began stroking the boy's back. "Really," said Saix; "you're going to spoil him with that nanny coddling…"
"I suppose you'd do something differently?" Vexen growled as he tucked Demyx a bit closer. Saix couldn't help but smirk a bit. He wouldn't have done a damn thing differently. The fact was, he knew he was just as prone to spoiling the boy.
"I suppose I wouldn't," he confessed quietly as he pushed the cart to the baby isle. How was it there was always more baby items at the grocery store than anyone could possibly know what to do with? Saix gawked like a deer in headlights for a moment and was relieved when Vexen gave him something to do. "We'll go with the stage-three size. Just read the front and make sure you pick up things that would make a balanced diet… and go easy on the fruit! I don't want him living off of sugared-up candy-puree," Vexen grunted as he pawed over the dry snacks. A few baby-safe cookies were picked up as well as a small container for the little Oaty-O's the twerp would undoubtedly be eating a good deal more of. A plain box of the aforementioned cereal was selected and then? Vexen added a few sippie cups to the cart. Instant infant cereals and another can of baby formula was added to the cart before Vexen rubbed his brow in thought. "…I think that should last a while… Shall we?"
Saix pushed the cart forward until he paused noticing a ridiculus looking stuffed puppy and duck. Yes.. they matched the blankets they had bought earlier. Blushing momentarily, the scar-faced elder snatched up the toys and dropped them into the cart. Vexen lifted a brow but decided it best not to even bother asking why on earth Saix was wasting currency. It wasn't even their currency-so why worry?
Once at the check-out lane, Saix unloaded the items while Vexen did his best to keep little nine quiet and content. "Hmm. There's a little stand of icecream… and you've been a reasonably good boy," Vexen began. Demyx was still too upset to listen. Frusteraited, Vexen opened the cooler and pulled out the first blue piece of icecream he saw. It wasn't sea-salt… this world didn't have that variety, but it was radio-active colored… Kids liked that, right? "How about this one?" Vexen murmured. Demyx clung a bit tighter to Vexen's neck and shook his head without looking at the frozen treat. Dropping the frozen confection back to the cooler, Vexen allowed Saix to pay and stepped outside with Demyx. "…alright… What's the matter, number nine?" The boy made a quiet fuss, but refused to answer. Vexen supposed it would have been difficult with the pacifier in his mouth, but he had assumed the boy would at least try to answer! How infantile. "Hnn. That sounds like an: "I'm tired" to me," Vexen murmured. Demyx offered a weak cry behind the pacifier but did not protest. His dose of fever-reducer was wearing off and he was starting to feel a little icky all over again. Vexen sighed and reluctantly nuzzled the tip of his pronounced nose to the boy's baby-soft cheek. It was the third gesture of kindness he'd offered the boy in a 12 hour period. Perhaps the gas had affected his mind. Surely he was insane! -or perhaps Vexen just liked the kid, deep down. Saix exited the store laden with sacks and offered a glare to Vexen.
"It isn't exactly easy carrying all of these heavy sacks. Here I find you've abandoned me to the task simply to smother number nine's dignity."
Vexen offered the diviner a roll of his eyes and tore open a portal… in broad daylight. "Oh be quiet and put all this away somewhere. I need to finish researching this toxin so I can find a cure" A few folks gasped at the sight of a glaring black void, but it was gone in an instant with the three strange gentlemen who had confused the life out of the small shopping district. All in all, Demyx's first trip out while ill wasn't terrible, but it hadn't been easy either.