Collection Perfection

If someone was to ask, Marina would say she always found puzzles to be something neat. She used that exact word when describing them, neat. A word she wouldn’t use for most other things, but here she was, frequently using that one word when describing her hobby. She liked puzzles of scenery, of succubuns, and thanks to a new release, she now also could enjoy puzzles of cherubuns. All of it, as Marina would put it, was neat. 

That’s why she decided to invite her good friend Dove to come and see the newest puzzle in her collection, which she hoped they would get a kick out of. She also wanted them to see her home and judge for themselves her hard work for her hobbies.

Especially given the fact that when Marina was finished with a puzzle, she would glue each piece together and frame it. Her home was now covered in the completed puzzles, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She found them to be more fun than posters, because that way she could say that she made it.

Lost in a train of thought, it took a third ring of the doorbell before Marina realized her guest had arrived. She clapped her hands together, smiled, and scurried towards the door. She was greeted with an equally big smile from the cherubun. 

“Dove! It’s so nice to see you, come on in!” 

The duo hurried inside, Marina closing the door and leading the cherubun towards the den. There, Dove saw a main table in the middle of the room with a large puzzle obviously being worked on, and piles and piles of boxes that seemed to be in Marina’s to-do pile. Dove hadn’t realized the extent to which Marina enjoyed puzzles, which they were realizing at this very moment was much more than Marina had explained. 

“You really love this, don’t you?” Dove said, a lone finger trailing along an empty puzzle box showing an image of Hops’ bar. They smiled as they saw a sticky note on the top, stating that the puzzle was homed in Marina’s kitchen. 

“It’s my absolute favorite thing to do. I’m just so glad I get to share it with someone now,” Marina explained with a bright smile.. 

Dove raised an eyebrow, looking curious. “What do you mean?”

Marina sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had someone I’ve been comfortable enough to invite inside my home, let alone show off my hobby room. It’s a little embarrassing to be absorbed with a silly thing like this.”

Dove waved their hands and shook their head, “You shouldn’t ever feel embarrassed about something you love! If you love it, you should be proud of it!”

Marina noticed a slight pout on Dove’s face, which she sheepishly smiled at. “Thank you… that means a lot to me. Not only to be able to share this with you, but for not judging me for it, and for even going a step further and defending it for me.”

Dove then smiled, and when they noticed Marina smiling back, they let out a slight giggle, before they remembered why they came here in the first place. “What did you want to show me? You said you got a new item in, right?”

“Oh!” Marina exclaimed, putting her hands to her face, her tail then starting to wag to and fro. She then headed towards a bag sitting on a side table. She flicked on the lamp and dug the beloved item out and tossed the bag in the nearby trash can. 

She turned around, making sure to keep the item hidden behind her back. “Are you ready for this?”

Dove cocked their head to the side, trying to think of what it could be. “Well, go on, show me!”

Marina made a mock trumpet sound with her mouth and revealed the newest puzzle in her ever growing collection.

“A Primrose puzzle? Where did you even get that?” Dove exclaimed, laughter bursting out of the mouths of both of the buns. 

Marina put it on the table so she could grab her sides, Dove already doing so. “I got it from Beanny! I have no idea how this was made, but it’s my favorite thing ever!”

They laughed until the giggles faded away, smiles replacing them. 

“We have got to put this puzzle together.” Dove said. 

Marina nodded. “So you want to put this one together with me? I think this’ll be the first time I’ll be doing a puzzle with someone else.” Dove grabbed the succubun’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “You can count me in!”

Hours of giggles and puzzles and gossip galore resulted in the most perfect piece in existence, at least they agreed it was. And while it would take about a day for the glue to set, that would give Marina time to figure out where to put the puzzle. She was excited to have a piece that not only was put together with a friend, but contained memories of other moments she shared with the same friend.