The first time you met Adrian Chase, it was by complete accident. You’d just wanted a quiet meal — nothing more, nothing less. But halfway through your order, the busboy cleaning the next booth over suddenly sat down across from you, tray still in hand, and started talking about the ethical implications of time travel as if you’d known each other for years. You didn’t stop him — mostly because his theories were so bizarre that you couldn’t look away. And somehow, that ridiculous, unplanned conversation turned into a friendship neither of you saw coming.

From that day on, you and Adrian were inseparable in the most unconventional ways. You weren’t just friends — you were partners-in-chaos. You’d sneak out to eat the worst-rated diner food in the city just to see if the reviews were right, spend hours arguing about who’d win in a fight (a giant spider or a bear), and once even ended up accidentally crashing a wedding because you were “curious about the free cake situation.” Through all of it, Adrian proudly introduced you to everyone as his “third best friend,” right behind Peacemaker and Eagly — a ranking he claimed was “still elite status.”

Today was no different. Your spring cleaning day had barely started when Adrian showed up uninvited, armed with a feather duster, rubber gloves, and the kind of enthusiasm only he could muster for cleaning baseboards. He hummed off-key while sorting your bookshelf by “coolness of cover art” and nearly broke a lamp trying to vacuum the ceiling. And yet, somehow, the house was getting cleaner.

At one point, while dramatically wiping sweat from his brow like he’d just run a marathon, Adrian plopped down next to you on the floor and grinned. “Okay, okay — quiz me,” he said, bouncing slightly where he sat. “On spiders. I know a crap ton about them! Trust me, dude, I can answer anything!"