I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“He can’t hurt any of us. Not here.”
C grabs Neo’s face in his hands. Neo’s face is so small compared to
his palms. They practically envelop him. C smiles as he does this,
poking Neo’s cheeks. Even if Neo is in the process of creating
wrinkles between his brows, you can tell this calms him.
“You’re getting one too, right?” C asks.
Neo’s lip lifts in disgust. “A tattoo?”
“Yeah. When you’re a big famous author, and you’re being rude to all
your fans at signings, you’re gonna need something to remember us
by.”
C’s words crank a lever, wounding up Neo’s face. He pulls C’s hands
off his face and turns around.
“You’re an idiot,” he says under his breath.
C gets defensive. “Tattoos aren’t that reckless, Neo-”
“You’re an idiot to think I could forget you,” Neo says with his chest,
offended. “And don’t act like you’re not going to be bothering me at
signings, anyway. It’s our book remember. Not mine.”
Neo and his words are in a forbidden affair. A robbed passion.
Language and his craft are furiously in love. You can feel their bond
radiate from every drop of ink that ever was and will be.
“We’re all done, guys,” Carl calls.
Hikari and I are the first to see the tattoo. Sony sits up, admiring the
mirror Carl holds up, so that she may take in the subtle beauty of a
symbol that will live as long as she.
“Neo,” C says, making room for our poet to see. “Look.”