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“Do you want a piercing?”
Matt’s head whipped around to stare at the source of the question, mouth hanging open.
“What?”
Boss tipped her head as she asked again, “Do you want a piercing?”
It seemed completely out of nowhere. They hadn’t exactly talked about the subject before - at least not at length - and they hadn’t even been talking to each other about anything now. No, the question appeared from thin air and hung there awkwardly.
“You stare at mine all the time,” Boss added the helpful bit of context after a moment of silence, “The tattoos, too. Same way I used to.”
“You’ve always been crazy, but I think this takes the cake.” Matt rolled his eyes and turned back to his work, pretending hard not to be interested in the Boss’s line of thought.
“No, bullshit. Yes or no, you don’t get to smart ass your way out of it.”
Silence filled the room again. Obvious tension leaked from Boss and gripped tight around Matt’s shoulders as he idly tapped at the touch screen.
“My ears. I always wanted to get my ears done.”
“S'that it?” Boss flopped down onto the ratty couch next to Matt as if that’s all she wanted, as if it was always that easy. “Just your ears? Why’d you never…” She finished the sentence with a wave of her hand, gesturing to her own diamond-studded ears and then his bare ones.
“I tried. Every time they brought out the needle…” Matt glanced back at Boss who leaned forward, practically perched on his words, “Nevermind. It’s not important.”
“Spill, Miller.”
Matt sighed, “I passed out.”
As he predicted, Boss practically fell over herself with laughter.
“It’s not funny!” Ah, but he protested too much. Boss eventually stopped snickering and righted herself. She even reached a hand out to pat the small of his back in some kind of reassurance.
“I’ll do it even if you pass out, if you’re down.”