this armor of mine.

“I suppose that’s reasonable.”  Magnets were fairly inexpensive, and who was he to deprive Alphonse of testing his hypothesis? He couldn’t stand in the way of science. Sighing, he reached into his wallet and produced a few bills. “Bring back the receipt. You’ll have to let me know what the results of this experiment are.”

@yinseal | honesty meme

Alphonse shifts.

To tell the truth, the topic makes him a little uncomfortable, but not in the sense that he doesn’t want to talk about it--just the opposite, actually. He not only wants to talk to and about his father, but thinks Ed should, as well, not that suggesting as much could every end anything but poorly. 

“When Dad went away,” he starts quietly, “we were too young to understand why, and Mom didn’t give us a reason in the first place. I missed him a lot and, heheh, I definitely cried about it a lot, but I never got angry quite like Ed did. We were both hurting, but it was different for him.” Alphonse quiets. “I think he blames Dad for mom dying or...Or at least leaving us alone.” 

“Of course we had the Rockbells! We weren’t totally alone! But it was always a little...Our dad was out there alive somewhere and not with us so it seems like we shouldn’t have had to rely on the Rockbells, you know?” There’s a cadence to Al’s voice, a dash of unintentional bitterness to his words he himself is unaware that he’s harboring. 

“Anyway, that is to say I get it. But when I think about that time before Mom died, I remember her missing him, but she was never mad at him. She never had anything bad to say about him. She’d just tell us he loved us or changed the topic...and sometimes she’d tell us stories about when the two of them were younger, although if I’m honest, it’s all a little hazy now.”

Alphonse pauses. There’s more he wants to say, but it’s not relevant to the question.

             “I SEE YOU’VE NOTICED my Xingese body art! Ling tells me it’s very dignified.”

…

pfffft- don’t call it vandalized! oh my god, he sounds like a car-