Sharp Turns

Kikidori lay sprawled across his bed, lazily tossing a stress ball in the air while Ere'ana sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning back against his bed frame. Their dorm room was comfortably messy—not dirty, just lived-in. A few discarded hoodies were thrown over chairs, an empty snack bag sat on the desk, and their shared mini-fridge hummed quietly in the background.

"So, hear me out," Ere'ana started, twirling a pen between her fingers. "If we had to survive a zombie apocalypse, I'd be the leader, obviously."

Kikidori caught the stress ball and gave her a look. "Absolutely not."

Ere'ana gasped, hand over her chest. "Excuse me? And why the hell not?"

"Because you would get us killed *so fast.*"

"Bitch, *how?*"

Kikidori sat up slightly, resting his arm on his knee. "One, you have zero patience. Two, you pick fights with literally everyone. And three, I guarantee you would punch a zombie *just to see what happens.*"

Ere'ana opened her mouth, paused, then shrugged. "Okay, fair, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't *survive.*"

Kikidori rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't survive *five minutes.*"

"Okay, well, what's your genius survival plan then, Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Easy," Kikidori said, leaning back. "Stay quiet, stay out of trouble, and don't go punching the undead for fun."

Ere'ana smirked. "So basically, be boring."

"If boring means *not dying,* then yes."

Ere'ana huffed. "Lame. If I go out, I'm going out with a bang."

"More like a *bite,* but sure."

She flicked a stray hair tie at his face, and he batted it away with ease. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the kind that only years of friendship could create.

Then, because Ere'ana *couldn't* leave things normal for too long, she randomly blurted out, "You ever wonder what it'd be like if we fucked?"

Kikidori *choked* on his own spit.

"*What the fuck, Ere'ana?!*" he coughed, sitting up so fast he nearly fell off the bed.

Ere'ana just laughed, completely unfazed. "What? I was just asking!"

"WHY?!"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Just popped into my head."

Kikidori stared at her, absolutely baffled. "*Why* is that what pops into your head?! We were just talking about zombies two seconds ago!"

"Yeah, and now we're not. Conversations evolve, Kiki."

Kikidori ran a hand down his face, trying to process. "You can't just *say* shit like that out of nowhere!"

"Why not?" Ere'ana tilted her head. "It's not like I *want* to or anything, I'm just curious."

Kikidori pointed at her. "*That* is the worst kind of curiosity."

Ere'ana smirked. "Come on, you've *never* thought about it? Even once?"

"NO!" Kikidori shouted immediately. Then he paused. "…Okay, maybe, like, *once,* but I instantly regretted it."

Ere'ana burst out laughing. "HA! So you *have* thought about it!"

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO!" Kikidori groaned, flopping back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling like he was questioning every life decision that led him here.

Ere'ana leaned back against his bed frame again, still grinning. "Relax, Kiki. I'm just messing with you."

"Messing with me? *Messing with me?!* You can't just drop existential crisis-level questions like that for fun!"

Ere'ana shrugged. "I just did."

Kikidori sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," she said smugly.

"…No, I don't," he admitted begrudgingly.

She nudged his leg with her foot. "But for real, though. You'd probably be terrible in bed."

Kikidori sat up *again,* looking personally offended. "*Excuse me?!*"

"You just give off 'awkward virgin' energy."

"I—" Kikidori pointed at her, then stopped himself. Then pointed again. "I'm not *dignifying* that with a response."

Ere'ana cackled. "That's a yes."

Kikidori groaned loudly, grabbed his pillow, and smacked her with it. "I *hate* you."

"No, you don't," she repeated, grinning.

And, once again, Kikidori sighed. Because, as much as she pissed him off sometimes… she was absolutely right.