"Actually, that does sound pretty fucking cool."

Ellie starts to resist the urge to reach out and yank the braid, and decides, fuck it. She's going to live dangerously.

She reaches out and bats at it hard enough that it smacks back between her shoulder blades when gravity reasserts itself. She'll be able to hear the grin in Ellie's voice.

"Maybe you should write that book after all."