VII.- Of Being A Ladies' Baby
Alphonse was looking at the sky, ready to go home. He was bored from school, he already knew everything there was to know of the grade he was. Specially chemistry. But age was age, and he had to stick to grade eight despite the fact he was mentally nineteen. Or so he wanted to believe. Lately he's not been sure of his own mental age, not after everything that's happened.
He walked on campus, ready to go home.
"Hey, Alphonse!"
He blinked and looked back, staring at three girls that were standing near him. They were wearing school attire and backpacks, and each one of them were giggling and they stared at him, and he was oblivious of what was going on. He couldn't help but wonder if they were giggling at him.
"Yes?" asked Alphonse as he walked towards the girls with what he hoped was a nice smile.
The first girl looked at him with a happy look, while the other girls just stared, giggling like twins. "Alphonse…is it true that you suck your thumb still?"
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Alphonse couldn't help but blush deeply. He couldn't believe that word had spread out so quickly. Just a couple of days have passed since the incident. "I…I don't know what you're talking about!"
Another girl smiled. "Come on, don't be shy! They said you were in English class sucking your thumb like a little wittle baby!"
Alphonse looked down, embarrassed.
"Could you do it for us?" asked the other girl, with a mischievous look on her eyes. "I mean, you'd look so adorable! I can't imagine a fourteen year old sucking his thumb, it would be so cute!"
Alphonse wanted to die. "I…I…"
All the girls looked at him with puppy eyes, as if they were really trying to buy him with those looks. They were clearly really excited on seeing a teenager suck his thumb like a little child. "Come on, Alphonse!"
And Alphonse, being the always-willing-to-make-people-happy type of person, couldn't help but look down in embarrassment and nod. "Okay…I guess…"
The girls squealed in happiness.
Alphonse sat on a bench and sighed deeply, unsure about what he was about to do. Without further thought, he placed his thumb into his mouth and started sucking on it, making sure the girls were the only ones around that could see him like that. He felt so good sucking his thumb, yet so embarrassed at the same time.
"Aww! That's so cute!" exclaimed one of the girls with a gleeful smile.
Then the girls sat next to him and started pinching his cheek as if he was a little boy. One of them even baby-talked to him. "Aww, wittle baby Alphonse needs his paci!"
"Yeah!" exclaimed another girl, as she patted his back.
Alphonse blushed even more deeply, yet he couldn't help but enjoy the treatment he was receiving from the girls. Why was he feeling so happy to be babied? Was he really that desperate to be back to babyhood? He knew he wanted his childhood back, but was he pushing it to the extremes?
"What are you girls doing to my brother?"
Edward's voice resounded all around them, and they all looked back to see that the blond man was staring at them with a curious look. He couldn't quite understand what was going on with the girls and the babying of his brother.
Alphonse couldn't believe his brother had seen them. He looked down and turned away. "The girls were…you see...Brother…I…"
The lead girl smiled. "We were just fooling around, Professor Elric."
"I can see that," said Edward with a smile as he understood what was going on. He looked at his flustered brother and smiled. "Come on Al, we have to go home."
With a nod, he picked his stuff and walked towards his older brother. He looked back at the girls, who were smiling at him with wide smiles. "Bye Baby Alphonse!"
"Bye…" replied Alphonse quietly, yet a small smile formed on his lips.
As he walked away with Edward, his brother placed an arm around him with a grin. "So you're now a ladies' man. Or should I say, a ladies' baby."
"Oh, shut up, Brother," replied Alphonse, yet he couldn't help but wonder what was going on with him. Why was he turning backwards? Why was he enjoying it?