500 pieces. Estimated time: 2 to 5 hours.

You had just finished eating your meal. The two empty bowls of udon noodles were still on the counter and the plate of sugar cookies laid out of reach on one side of the table.

"Sorry they're a bit hard," Kronii said. "I don't usually do any baking."

"No, no," you said after using the last drops of wine from your glass to wash away the dry crumbs of the cookie. "They're good."

She sat across from you, with a rolled mat and jigsaw puzzle box in front of her.

"Say... do you want to help me with this?"

"Oh! Sure!" you replied semi-excitedly.

You couldn't remember the last time you had completed a puzzle, or even worked on one. Is this something that people still do? As she unrolled the mat you saw that only the sides of the puzzle had been completed so far. From looking at the box cover, it seemed to be a painting of a countryside house. Pretty common choice for a puzzle; there must exist thousands of them in that vein and this one didn't seem to have anything particular to it.

"I got it as a gift a while ago," Kronii said after having poured the pieces on the table. She paused briefly before finishing her sentence, "but I never found the time to finish it."

She started to sort through the pieces, grouping them roughly by colors. While helping her scan through the pieces, you wondered if you should ask who the gift was from. After all, you hadn't seen her in years and neither of you had any idea what the other had been up to during that time. You vaguely remembered her interest in movies and animation. Maybe she'd gotten into doing some kind of voice acting work? You stopped for a moment to look at her and appreciate the way her hair flowed from side to side as she combed through the pieces, or the swift movement of her ice blue eyes darting around with intense focus. It really surprised you how beautiful she looked when compared to the dour expression she often wore in your memories.

"Oh come on" she muttered after letting out an exasperated breath, bringing you out of your daydream. The piece she was trying to place did not fit.

You thought you might be able to bond over how aimless some of the past years had felt. About the people that had come and gone from your lives, or the different places you had been to. There were so many things you could think of asking her, and so many things you thought you could share with her. 500 pieces; 2 to 5 hours. That was a good amount of time to get to know someone.

You looked down at the clustered pieces in front of you and cleared your throat before finally breaking the silence.

"Let me know if you find any blue flowers. I think this section is almost done."