I need Zoya and Aki to become friends in the show as well
although him being Obie's bff wouldn't make it easy
I liked the way he immediately said he was a non drinker too, when she first went to Dumbo Hall (I rewatched the pilot today). I feel that she would also defend him against homophobe comments of any kind, while I'm not so sure about Obie.
Yesterday was International Coming Out Day and HBO Max Pop made a post about it, but they got Aki wrong
he's bi, not just "queer". They could have used him for the bi instead of that other character.