post-armor Alphonse headcanons

[teamalphonse]

• Alphonse ducks under doorways instinctually after he gets his body back and doesn’t realize he’s doing it until Winry points it out. It’s a little funny for outsiders to watch this tiny twig of a boy try and duck under doorways and ceilings that are a good couple feet taller than him - but only to outsiders.
  
• Alphonse also tries to make himself smaller anytime he goes through a crowd or is around people, and keeps a pretty good amount of distance between people and objects and walls, etc, because he’s used to being so big and not being able to feel when he’s bumping into things
  
• but he’s also incredibly touch-starved and desperate for physical interaction - he’s just very, very conscious of and deliberate with his movements because he’s had to learn how to move very precisely and carefully
• he used to jump on his brother in hugs/wrestling like all the time before the armor, and he doesn’t do it afterwards. even though he KNOWS logically that he has his body back and he won’t hurt Ed (he’ll probably just do more damage to HIMSELF) he can’t help but be subconsciously worried about not being able to feel how much force/weight he’s putting on Ed
• Ed does everything he can to fight that learned behavior - he’s constantly touching Al, shoving him around, trying to start wrestling matches (when he’s sure that Al’s body can handle it - which takes a little while, because he’s so panicky about always hurting Al at first)
• but he also touches everything!! all the time! he’ll reach out to touch clothing for sale as they pass it. he asks to pet every single dog and cat he sees. he sometimes shyly asks people if he can touch their clothing - he asks Winry if he can feel her earrings, if he can touch her tools, if he can hold her hand. he asks Ed the same.
• clothes are really hard at first - he doesn’t know how to handle the feeling of something constantly touching him. The hospital gown is itchy and irritating and actually causes some panic attacks - and eventually Ed goes to find the softest clothes he can. Ed learns more about fabrics than he’s ever learned in his life because he wants to find the ones that won’t bother his brother.
• Al’s kind of upset he can’t wear all the pretty fashionable clothes he dreamed about at first, but they’re just so uncomfortable!! he can feel every seam, every button. The less layers the better. Socks are nightmares.