"Hell yeah, I found a cool-looking puzzle. Yuliy!" Phillip grabs the puzzle off of the shelf and walks over to Yuliy's door, knocking on it. "Yo, open up! I have a puzzle I want us to do!" The door opens and reveals Yuliy in grey sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt.
"Why do you wanna do a puzzle?" Yuliy looks at the box Phillip is holding up and sees that it says 1,000 pieces on the front. "Dude. Did you even see that it's a thousand pieces? We'll be dead before we solve that."
"Yeah, what about it? We could totally complete this together perfectly fine."
"Nah, you're crazy for thinking that we can. Go ask Willard or something." He starts to shut the door but is stopped when a foot is placed in front of the door.
"Pleeeeease? I don't want to ask Willard. He's not fun when we do puzzles," Phillip pouts and holds the puzzle box up again. "Please? If anything... just the edge pieces?"
Yuliy sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Fine. But just the edge pieces, you got that?" he says, opening the door. Phillip backs himself up against the wall, watching Yuliy exit his room and shut the door.
"Just the edges, I got it. Thank you!" Phillip exclaims and holds the puzzle box above him before rushing to the living room floor and dumping the pieces out. Yuliy walks into the room after him and looks at Phillip who's already scattered so many pieces across the hardwood flooring. Yuliy sits next to Phillip and starts to check for edge pieces. He follows Phillip's example and throws any pieces that aren't an edge piece into the box.
"Dude. My fuckin' back hurts. How do you just do puzzles all the time?" Yuliy asks and stretches his back. Popping can be heard and then a relieved sigh. "I think I gotta be done. The sun is setting now; I found the edge pieces and helped put quite a bit of them together." Yuliy stands up, reaches his hands above his head, and groans.
"Man. You're just too old apparently. Whatever though-" Phillip looks up and smiles at Yuliy. "-you did more than you had to honestly."
"Yeah, as if I'm too old. You're just a freak." Yuliy chuckles and rolls his eyes. "Have fun with the puzzle, yeah?" Phillip nods and watches Yuliy walk out the door to the room before continuing his puzzle. The edges are almost done being put together and Phillip is determined to get it done and more than that.
A tap on the shoulder and Phillip nearly has a heart attack. He jumps up and turns to find Dorothea looking at him with a confused smile on her face. "Uh, dinner's ready, kid," she says and laughs, shakes her head, and walks back out of the room. Phillip shakes his head and yawns.
"It can't be that late, can-" Phillip looks out the window and freezes as he notices that night has fallen. "Damn... I guess it really is that late. How long was I doing my puzzle?" He mutters and rubs his eyes, yawning again as he stands up. He walks into the kitchen and looks at the stove. Steaming hot soup sits in a pot and bread sits next to it on the counter. "Dorothea, what kind of soup is this?" Phillip asks, looking over at the table where she is sitting and eating.
"It's just some simple pork soup. Dipping the bread in the broth is my favorite part, honestly," she says as she dips a piece of bread into the broth in her bowl. Phillip smiles and grabs himself a bowl, using the ladle to pour himself soup before grabbing a piece of bread and heading over to the table.
"Why is no one else out here?"
"Willard wanted to eat by himself, Fallon had something he said he had to do, and Yuliy- oh! speak of the devil, there he is." Phillip turns around to see Yuliy walking into the kitchen.
"Why are you two staring? Do I have something on my face?" Yuliy reaches his hand up and feels around his face. Phillip giggles and shakes his head.
"No, no. I was just wondering where everyone else was."
"Ah. Alright then." Yuliy turns to the pot, grabbing himself a bowl, and filling it. "So, how's the puzzle going?" he asks as he turns around and leans back against the counter.
"It's actually going really well! I got all the edge pieces put together and a fair amount of inner pieces connected," Phillip explains with a beaming smile. Yuliy nods and swallows the food in his mouth.
"Well, hope you have fun with the rest of that. I'm gonna go finish eating in my room," Yuliy says and walks out of the kitchen, leaving Phillip and Dorothea at the table. Phillip turns to her and motions toward the living room.
"I'm gonna eat while doing my puzzle. Thanks for the dinner, it's really good," he says and goes back to the living room. He sits down and looks over the puzzle once again. He props himself up on his elbows and starts to arrange the pieces into color coordinated piles. His upper back and neck starts to hurt after and hour or so of laying like this. It's gotten darker in the house. He rolls over onto his back and stretches, letting out a soft groan as he feels his back pop from the movement. My back hurts now... if I just lay here like this for awhile it'll feel better. He thinks to himself and closes his eyes. He rests his hands on his stomach and takes slow, calm breaths. He doesn't even realize that he's drifting off to sleep.
Yuliy walks out of his room to put his empty bowl in the sink. He thinks to check on Phillip and his puzzle and quietly steps into the living room. Luckily, his socks make his steps quieter since Phillip is sleeping on the floor. He's curled himself into the fetal position with his hands between his thighs to keep them warm. Yuliy smiles and shakes his head. He pulls the blanket off of the couch and places it over Phillip. He kneels next to the sleeping boy and softly pushes some of his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his ear. Phillip stirs and moves slightly, making Yuliy pull away and stand up. "I hope you can at least sleep well like this, Phillip," he whispers before making his way back to his room.
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Hi!! I rewrote another chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoy how this one came out in the end. Have a wonderful day/night, wherever you are and remember, you're never alone! <3
word count: 1104