I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“You. Sit in that chair,” he says to Sony. “Carl, you take them.”
“Boss?”
“I’m going out for a drink.”
“Sony’s got that effect on people,” Neo says.
Hikari and I look at each other and shrug. None of us are really
shocked at Sony’s bullshitting abilities. We’re just impressed they
worked.
Carl leads us to one of the hydraulic chairs. Sony plops herself
down, shimmying in excitement. Carl puts on his gloves, gathering
his supplies.
“Um, that was amazing, by the way,” he says.
Sony blanks. “What was?”
Carl points back to the front desk. “What you said.”
“Oh, that?” Pride licks Sony’s teeth. “I stole it from a book.”
“Everything’s stolen from books anyway,” Carl says.
“Everything’s stolen,” Sony rebuts, poking his nose ring as if he’s a
close friend and not some stranger, although Carl doesn’t seem to
mind. “Or it will be. By us. We’re killer thieves.”
Carl smirks. “Where do you want the ink, honey?”
“Right here. In the middle,” Sony says, taking off her sweatshirt and
pointing under the crest of her collarbones, the peak of her sternum.
Carl nods and explains the process to her, says it might sting a little
bit and if she’s on any medications, she should tell him before he
starts.