Hopefully it will sort itself out, but in all likelihood I imagine some are just dead scales. Not much to do about it until the new ones start growing in though, then we can see what damage has been done.

[Hopefully the dead scales would get pushed out in favor of newer healthier ones, but honestly he couldn’t speak from experience. He’s never had to deal with that much damage before, and his father… well he was tragically scaleless. So even if he had the inclination to talk to him about anything, he still wouldn’t be able to help. He’d nearly taken him to the medical ward when he started losing his baby scales, if Alfonse hadn’t informed him it was normal.

He did at least assume since of the damage would be too much, and the scales just dead, it will be good to have someone that can actually get a good look at his back to help him with it. That and he really didn’t want to be the one plucking the scales off, something about the thought of it made him a bit squeamish.]

So, should we head back then? I-if you want to of course, you’ve honestly helped me more than enough for today if you’re tired.

[He had no idea hope magic worked. At all. Could casting it make someone tired, he… he assumed so? But really, he had no concept of it at all. He just wanted to be considerate.