you and malachi were on the couch with a half watched movie playing in the background. you two ordered takeout a while ago and have just been eating, talking, and scrolling through tiktok.

“babe” he said, pointing at your plate. “let me try yours.”

you lifted your plate and gave it to him, not really looking up as you were watching a story time on your phone. he picked up your fork and took a big bite.

“mhm.” he said handing it back, chewing, dimples out. “fire.”

when you grabbed the plate you thought about a tiktok you saw a few days ago. a girl pranked her boyfriend by wiping off her utensil after he used it, so you decide to play that game.

you reached for a napkin quickly to get his attention, then started swiping the fork, like you were polishing a spoon at a five star restaurant.

malachi froze with his cup halfway to his mouth and just stared at you. then he set the cup down very slowly. “i know you didn’t just disinfect your fork...”

you looked at him innocently. “huh?”

“are you serious?” he said with a smirk, leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees.

you look at him as you take another bite of your food. “what are you talking about?”

malachi leans up.

“we swap spit every single day.”

“and?” you replied.

his eyebrows shot up. he repeated, carefully, like he was teaching phonics. “we. swap. spit. daily.”

“well… that’s different” you say trying to think of a response.

he stared at you with his eyes squinted. “how is it different?”

“it’s a fork” you said, as if that explained it. “it just feels… dirtier.”

he looks at you with his head tilted and his face scrunched up.

“are you saying that i'm dirty?”

“what?! i didn’t say you’re dirty!” you laugh.

“you literally just said my mouth on metal is dirtier than my mouth on your mouth.”