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Richard woke to the light of the early morning sun breaking through the curtains. He stretched under the heavy layers of blankets that he was buried under, taking a few moments to rub the sleep out of his eyes before gently getting out of the bed to go start breakfast.
before he got to making breakfast, he slowly opened the door opposite of his, to check in on his sleeping ward. Of course, Matt would still be sleeping like a log, somewhere buried under a nest of pillows, blankets, and unfolded laundry.
It was a perfect Saturday morning, the muted sound of the light foot traffic that traversed the little shops and restaurants in Shambles below their quaint Flat gave a unique lived in ambience. Rather than waking up to birds and crickets chirping in the distance they would wake up to shops opening up, tourists and locals alike, shuffling along to get breakfast and of course the faint but pleasant smell of coffee brewing and bread baking.
It wasn’t so long after he started up the coffee pot that he hears faint footsteps coming down the stairs and in comes a drowsy god of creation, the leader of the five, the bog boy himself, Matt. With a blanket wrapped around himself he trudged over to the kitchen table.
“Morning Richard” Matt said or would have said if he didn’t sleepily grunt it out from underneath his blanket shell.
“Morning Mr. Sleepyhead.” Richard replied smiling at the ridiculousness of the cocooned blanket groggy teen sitting at the breakfast table.
“You do know it’s a Saturday, right? No need for you to be up just yet.”
No response
Richard sighed, knowing that Matt had probably fallen asleep at the table.
“I swear if you fell asleep at the table, I will give you a wetwilly, Matt”.
Turning away from the boiling pot of coffee, he moved closer to the kitchen table where the sentient mass of blankets gently snoozed.
Lifting the the blanket slightly he peered at the mess of soft raven, it was an endearing sight, but he didn’t feel like lugging the boy back up the stairs and into their bedroom.
“Come now Matt, no sleeping at the table.” Richard coaxed as he gently shook the boy.
“Mmm”
“I will dump ice cubes on you”
“You wouldn’t dare” Matt said as he shot up more aware and awake than he was a few seconds ago.
Richard smiled; Matt was sure fun to tease.
The boy rubbed his eyes and gave a wary glare at his best friend who was giving a crooked mischievous smile.
“Good morning Richard”
“Good morning Matt” the journalist said playfully shaking the boy awake before turning back to their cooking breakfast.
“Please don’t burn the toast, Richard”
“Okay, burnt toast it is.”
After their breakfast was all setup on their small kitchen table, the two helped themselves to the food. It was simple yet comforting. A small testament to the gradual improvement of Richard’s cooking skills.
The they sat in silence enjoying each other’s company and the prospect of a new day.
Would it be trip to the countryside? To the theater? Another day at the flat with video games, movies, and junk food? The day was theirs.
The sun was shining, the sound of the waking world was a quiet hum in the background as they finished their breakfast and cleaned the plates together.
“Sometimes I wish the dishwasher wasn’t broken so we wouldn’t have to clean wash the dishes”. Said Matt as he dried their cups.
“The landlord said it would come out of our pockets sadly, so the good old soap and sponge method will have to do for now.”
“I guess so.” Matt said grimacing. “At least we didn’t leave a mountain of dishes in the sink like last time.”
“Yeah I guess we’ve been getting good at the whole cleaning thing.”
Looking over at his guardian, Matt smirked. “Richard?”
“Yes”
“You got soap on your cheek”
“Oh really” said Richard as he wiped at his cheek not realizing that his hands were still soapy, noticeably increasing the amount of bubbles on his face.
“I’m surprised that all the bubbles haven’t popped from your morning stubble” Matt giggled as he threw him a clean towel.
“Hmph, I’ll have you know my stubble is as soft as baby’s hair”
“Soft stubble doesn’t help, when people mistake you for a homeless bloke.”
Matt teased as he finished wiping off the rest of the dishes.
“Well at least I can grow stubble, unlike you Mr. Smooth as a babies butt.” Richard replied back throwing the used towel at the boy.
“At least I haven’t got the Scotland Yard after me.” Matt said as he caught the towel and placed it on the counter. He smiled to himself, remembering how Richard nearly got arrested, while waiting to pick him up for the station.
Richard rubbed thoughtfully at his stubble. “Hmm, should that be next story for the Gazette or ?”
“Maybe, title it Local Journalist Sucks at Shaving, Gets arrested.” Matt quipped before he was pulled into a tight hug.
“Or maybe I’ll name my next story, Local teen gets thrown into a bog for being insufferable.”
The broke out into a fit of laughter.
Gently breaking off from their hug, Richard made his way to the bathroom, before calling out to Matt. “Common bog boy, you get ready too.”
“Where are we going?” Matt called back.
“Does it really matter? On an adventure.”