diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d6db6aa..84beb50 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
-        python: ["3.12", "3.13"]
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
+        python: ["3.12", "3.13", "3.14"]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
diff --git a/docs/supported-api.md b/docs/supported-api.md
index 02145fb..0a26ac8 100644
--- a/docs/supported-api.md
+++ b/docs/supported-api.md
@@ -80,9 +80,12 @@ Anything that reaches outside the simulation raises `SimulationFenceError`:
 executors and threads (`run_in_executor`, `call_soon_threadsafe`), signal
 handlers, subprocesses, file-descriptor callbacks (`add_reader` /
 `add_writer`), loop-level TLS upgrades (`start_tls`,
-`create_connection(ssl=...)`), `sendfile`, and pipes. TLS a library
-performs in memory reaches no loop API and so reaches no fence; what that
-means in practice is in [docs/compatibility.md](compatibility.md).
+`create_connection(ssl=...)`), `sendfile`, pipes, and an eager task start
+(`create_task(eager_start=True)`), which would run a task's first step at
+creation time, before the seeded draw could order it against anything. TLS
+a library performs in memory reaches no loop API and so reaches no fence;
+what that means in practice is in
+[docs/compatibility.md](compatibility.md).
 
 The socket calls are fenced with one exception. `sock_connect` on an
 `AF_INET` stream socket is simulated — it is how client stacks reach the
diff --git a/src/simloop/_loop.py b/src/simloop/_loop.py
index 118bb03..2c74049 100644
--- a/src/simloop/_loop.py
+++ b/src/simloop/_loop.py
@@ -449,8 +449,15 @@ def run_until_complete(self, future: Any) -> Any:
             # collector to complain about. Draining stops as soon as no work
             # remains, keeping the seeded draw the only source of order.
             fut.cancel()
-            while (self._ready or self._timers) and not fut.done():
-                self._step()
+            # The drain steps outside run_forever, but a task will only step
+            # while its loop is the running one (asyncio enforces this from
+            # 3.14), so the drain must declare itself the same way.
+            events._set_running_loop(self)
+            try:
+                while (self._ready or self._timers) and not fut.done():
+                    self._step()
+            finally:
+                events._set_running_loop(None)
         # A fire-and-forget task that failed keeps itself alive through a
         # reference cycle (its exception's traceback pins the coroutine frame),
         # so its exception only reaches call_exception_handler when the cycle
@@ -516,8 +523,14 @@ def create_task(
         *,
         name: str | None = None,
         context: Context | None = None,
+        eager_start: bool | None = None,
     ) -> asyncio.Task[Any]:
         self._check_closed()
+        if eager_start:
+            # An eager first step runs at creation time, before the ready
+            # queue ever sees the task, so the seeded draw would never get to
+            # order it against anything.
+            _fence("create_task(eager_start=True)")
         if self._task_factory is None:
             task: asyncio.Task[Any] = asyncio.Task(
                 coro, loop=self, name=name, context=context
diff --git a/tests/test_loop.py b/tests/test_loop.py
index 89b8e3c..c412572 100644
--- a/tests/test_loop.py
+++ b/tests/test_loop.py
@@ -179,6 +179,27 @@ def test_unsupported_apis_are_fenced() -> None:
         loop.close()
 
 
+def test_an_eager_task_start_is_fenced() -> None:
+    # An eager first step would run at creation time, before the seeded draw
+    # could order it, so asking for one must fail loudly. Declining it is the
+    # stdlib default and keeps working.
+    async def noop() -> None:
+        pass
+
+    loop = SimLoop(seed=0)
+
+    async def main() -> None:
+        await loop.create_task(noop(), eager_start=False)
+        coro = noop()
+        with pytest.raises(SimulationFenceError, match="eager_start"):
+            loop.create_task(coro, eager_start=True)
+        coro.close()
+    try:
+        loop.run_until_complete(main())
+    finally:
+        loop.close()
+
+
 def test_trace_is_recorded() -> None:
     async def main() -> None:
         await asyncio.sleep(1.0)
diff --git a/tests/test_pytest_plugin.py b/tests/test_pytest_plugin.py
index 9b6cbe4..7d8c9d4 100644
--- a/tests/test_pytest_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/test_pytest_plugin.py
@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _utf8_child_output(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    # A failure traceback can render source lines that carry an em-dash. On
+    # Windows the child pytest writes them in the console code page while
+    # pytester reads the output back as UTF-8, so pin the child's stdio to
+    # UTF-8 and let the bytes survive the round trip.
+    monkeypatch.setenv("PYTHONIOENCODING", "utf-8")
+
+
 _FLAKY = """
 import asyncio
 from simloop import sim_test