Alphonse set his book down and sighed contently. Sleepless nights may be heinous and lonely, but he can read an entire book with the time he's given. The clock read 3:15 in the morning. He decided to check on his brother sleeping in the next room. The problem was Ed was still awake. He had his bedside lamp turned on and Al could see that Ed had never changed out of the clothes he had worn the day before. He was seated at the foot of his cot and was reading a book intently. The eldest brother had bags under his eyes that twitched periodically.
"Brother! What are you still doing up?" Ed's eyes flashed instantly at Al. Al would have sworn he read a sign of fear in them for a fleeting moment. The expression was gone as quickly as it came, and a small smile tugged at Ed's mouth.
"Oh, nuthin. Just wrapping up this book."
"Ed, Its three in the morning, go to bed. You're always cranky when you're tired and I am in no mood to put up with it." Al joked. Ed didn't catch it and looked sad for a moment while he dog-eared his book.
"Oh…okay Al, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'll hit the sack." Ed stripped off his layers of clothing and snapped off his reading lamp. Once the room was consumed in darkness, Al left and closed the door behind him. Ed waited until the echoing footfalls faded away until he reached under his mattress and removed a small ziplock bag with a dozen or so small capsules within it. He popped one dry and snapped his light back on before continuing his work. While he read, he gauged the amount of pills he had left and sighed. He would have to separate from his brother at some point to buy some more.