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"Another one?" is, apparently, Ed's idea of an appropriate response to Al's announcement that he's brought back another cat from his last trip: they're harder to transport now that he has a body rather than a suit of armor, but much easier and more fun to pet too, so.
"I have pictures." If Winry'd been here, she'd have wanted pictures.
As a matter of fact, Al has found that most people are happy to look at cat pictures. He likes to think it's because he has a talent for photography, and because his cats are the most adorable, photogenic cats in the world (they are).
Ed's determined to be the exception to the rule, of course.
Ed's response to the offer of cat pictures consists of an "Ugh!" which Al feels shouldn't make him smile but does anyway. "There'd better not be as many of them as last time."
"You don't have to look at them if you don't want to, big brother," Al says, feeling a tiny bit mean: his body isn't as tall as the armor, only he's still taller than Ed, is always going to be taller than Ed.
"No, no, I'm sure Winry's going to want to hear details, so I'd better look - oh, and you should tell me a cute story about where you found it," Ed says, holding out an impatient hand. "And she'll want to know how it's getting along with your other cats, and if they like those new cat toys she made last month."
"But if I tell you those things now, what stories am I going to tell at dinner tomorrow evening?" Al hands over the pictures, hoping against hope they'll serve as a distraction.
Ed has always been single-minded in his pursuit of knowledge, though. "How is that my problem? Anyway, they're cats. They do cute stuff all the time. Kind of like kids."
Al doesn't mind that Ed ended up being the one to marry Winry after all, while Al got a bunch of cats. It feels like an equivalent exchange, or close enough of one not to quibble.
Cats are nice, and soft, and easy to get along with if you know how, and while they never seem to mind if Al goes on another trip, they always seem happy to greet him when he gets back.
Al knows Ed is happy, too, that all this grumbling and complaining and muttering about a 'bunch of hairballs that all look the same' is merely Ed's way of saying 'welcome home, I missed you'. Still, it's nice to have other people in his life now, people who are maybe a little more straightforward even if they can't talk to him with words.
"All right, I've seen them, and I think I remember what the new one looks like," Ed says, handing back the pictures. (There's only about a dozen of them. Al's spent three hours picking and choosing on the train which ones to include and which ones to hold back for Winry.) "Still haven't heard any stories."
Al grins. "Maybe I should write you a report next time."
Ed grimaces, the way he always does when Al brings up Colonel Mustang - not that that's still his rank now, of course, but old habits die hard. "No, you're right. Who cares if Winry will nag me to death before tomorrow evening? Obviously, your having a funny story to tell during dinner is much more important than my life."
"Winry's not that bad."
Ed sniffs. "Shows what you know."
"Well," Al says, "I was going to give you some extra cat pictures to give to Winry, because I know she likes them, but if you're going to be like that, I guess I might as well keep them."
Ed glowers. Al stares back. (It felt really weird, those first months, having facial expressions again, needing to think about stuff like 'what are people seeing when they look at my face?' and 'am I okay with everyone knowing what kind of mood I'm in?'.)
After maybe half a minute, Ed holds out his hand again. "Give."
"Say 'please'," Al counters, because Ed really could be more polite sometimes.
"I'm not going to say 'please'," Ed says and then, "That counts, right?"
Al sighs, but he knows when he's pushed things just this side of too far, and he knows as well as Ed that one of them's going to have to give in, and it's never ever going to be Ed.
"Thank you," Ed says, accepting the much thicker stack of photographs. "There. How's that for being polite?"
"There may be hope for you yet, big brother," Al says, grinning at Ed's scowling face.
(And, all right, also because he suspects the first person who's going to be looking at those pictures isn't actually going to be Winry - only that's for Al to guess at and for Ed to keep to himself.)