Chapter Text
Ed was overworking himself, clearly. And, as it turned out, he was doing it while avoiding his employer.
“Rip the bandage off already ‘n go talk to ‘im.” Pitt had urged one night, exasperated at the late calls. “If he's mad now, it’ll be worse later.”
“ Working on it .” Ground out Ed. “Damn bastard wants these reports face-to-face— I can’t teleport , Pitt!”
“Ya could be goin’ worlds faster, though.”
Grumbles marked the begrudging acceptance.
Time passed, more calls came. Edward got worse.
“What’s Al think of this?” Pitt finally asked. Then, when the silence dragged on, “…Does Al… Ed, does Al know ?”
Silence. A swallow. The faint sound of the cord being tugged and coiled.
“Edward,” Pitt started, slow and firm, “Put Alphonse on, please.”
“Al’s not— he’s gone right now.” Ed finally responded.
“Gone?!” They never separated, ever .
“He likes late night strolls… I go with him, normally.”
Late night strolls… late night calls…
Oh.
“If yer having problems, ya need to tell him . He can’t help you if he ain’t informed .” Carefully, sternly, with every bit of ‘I’m the doctor, don't give me nonsense’ Pitt could muster.
“….No.”
“ Edward .”
“…”
“It’s not-” Pitt pulled away from the phone, exhaling and pinching at his brow. “ Al needs ya at yer best , right?”
A small, affirming puff.
“ But you need to be actually at yer best ,” he stressed. “If yer faking, you’ll get worse; Al needs ya taking care of yerself .”
“…”
“Isn’t yer teacher’s moto all about treating the body like a temple or somethin’?”
“…I don’t like where this is going.”
“Then just go talk to someone. A doctor, who you can see, who is physically nearby. Uhm, what about that doctor ya mentioned a while ago? The one who saw ya on yer way out?”
“No? That doctor…first off, I saw him for something unrelated; second, that was right next to Resembool— I couldn’t- can’t drop by for a check-up there even if it was relevant.”
“Huh?”
“I’m pretty far out?”
“Yeah, I know, but what did ya see ‘im for…?”
“Hey, what if I see you ? The tickets wouldn’t be expensive from where I’m at.”
“Nice change of topic there, Ed.” Pitt remarked. “Don’t think yer gettin’ off that easy. But ,” he sighed, conceding, “Where’re ya even at?”
“Some place called Aquroya— we plan on leaving in a few days, though.”
“Headin’ ta see yer boss afterwards?”
“…I hate you.”
“No ya don’t~!” Pitt chirped merrily.
“Yer right, I- damn it! ”
Pitt pulled the phone back, barking with laughter.
“ Every time! ”
“Embrace the accent, Edward.” Pitt managed to say through his hilarity. “It’ll just keep creepin’ in on ya otherwise.”
“Oi, you stop that.”
He snickered and failed to compose himself, “Ah don’t reckon ah know whatcha talkin’ ‘bout, ser.” Spoken with an exaggerated drawl.
“Oi!”
“Accents aren’t contagious.~” Pitt sang, slipping back into his more natural intonations.
“Yes they heckin’ are, now shut it!” Ed responded, playfully irate.
The calls stopped for about a week. Another call came, this time leaving Pitt feeling unnerved. What was said wasn’t what concerned him— it was the usual stuff.
No, what bothered him was that Edward had called in the day , the clink clank clunk of Al’s armor somewhere in the background. There was an artificial casualness in Ed’s tone, a softened edge, that told Pitt that something was wrong .
That was when he decided to make the trip, if only to haul Edward to a local doctor, or just have Alphonse corner his brother and force him to take up some bed rest.
