#sandsi

“If you had to, would you kill me?”

“No,” scoffs Eduardo, fishing his roast beef sandwich out of its casket and taking a bite, grimacing when au jus drips down the bones of his wrists. “Well, maybe,” he amends, mouth full.

“Because you’d be mad at me?”

“No. Fits-of-passion murders are dangerous, and stupid, and won’t work. They only look like they’re popular because they’re the ones most often caught. If I was going to kill you, Mark, I wouldn’t be angry.” He chews in silence for a moment, thinking. “I’d have to care so little about you that your life meant less to me than myself.”

Mark’s mouth pulls, in that way it does when he’s satisfied with an answer, and Eduardo feels the warm glow of approval against his sternum.

“Speaking of which,” he says, and jerks his chin at Mark’s tray. “Eat.”

The reminder works, and at the first bite, Mark’s expression blanks out in surprise, like he’d forgotten that food actually tasted good. He inhales his own meal, and then Eduardo’s coleslaw — “hey!” — and then, to distract him, he fixes his eyes on some point over Eduardo’s shoulder and says, “Her. How would you kill her?”

Eduardo turns. Across the dining hall, there’s a girl pouring Cap’n Crunch into a coffee mug at the cereal station. She’s in sweatpants and has a long, thin neck that attracts his attention immediately.

“Fork,” he decides. “To the jugular.”

“Angle?”

He looks again. “30º. Arc to 45º and twist.”

I finished it about a week a half ago and I really kind of adored it way more than the rest of the series, which was weird, but whatever.