I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“There’s not enough food in your body to feed your brain, ego, you
cannot be one hundred percent sure that I’m right or wrong.”
“It’s ergo, you idiot!”
“Baby, don’t start another argument. If I keep winning, you’re just
gonna boost my ergo.”
“What are you two fighting about?” C asks, peering over the board
game laden with stray pieces.
“It started with monopoly,” Hikari says. “Now they’ve declared war.”
“I’m still right about monopoly,” Sony says, flipping her hair.
“You landed on my property and didn’t pay. That’s the whole point of
the game!”
“Okay, but you’re in jail. Was I supposed to give money to a criminal,
baby?
That’s just not right.”
Neo leans forward, another comeback on the tip of his tongue. It
never leaves his mouth. His breath hitches, his teeth grit together,
his eyes shut tight, body paralyzed in an instant.
“Neo? You okay?” Hikari touches both his shoulders, steadying him.
His back seizes up, throat laboring as he fists the bedsheets. “I–I
need to stand.”
Neo and pain have a far different arrangement. C doesn’t stand still
when it takes pleasure in lighting his nerves on fire. He runs his palm
across Neo’s back and carefully pivots him out of bed, Sony moving
aside to make room.
“Hold on to me,” C says. Neo’s fists curled around the fabric of his
shirt, beads of sweat catching on his hairline.