“I never knew nighttime was this long. Just awhile ago, at night, Brother and I would talk about things such as alchemy and the future… When we get tired from from chatting, we’d fall asleep and have happy dreams… Nighttime was very short. Now, since nighttime is very long, I think about nothing but unnecessary things.”
- Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist Gaiden: Long Night)
#it really says something that ed really truly believes that being unable to feel is MORE painful than what he’s going through #and like we’re even told that the pain of amputation and automail installment is so painful that grown men will scream in pain #but ed just clenches his teeth and takes it #ALL of it because he’ll take on every little bit of pain if it means he’s one step closer to restoring his brother #but to accept pain on behalf of one who cannot feel it… #even al later says that his brother shouldn’t take on so much #but ed doesn’t care and goes on with it anyway #and then there’s al who never complains and never speaks up about how much he does suffer #what can he really do during the long stretches of the night while everyone is asleep? sit there and read? #or watch the steady rise and fall of ed’s chest as he breathes slowly? it’s a half life and incomplete #but he never says a damn thing because he knows how much guilt his brother carries on his little shoulders #ugh #codependent brothers and their willingness to do anything for each other