She stood up as the waiter took their plates, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I have to go back to the lab for a minute," she said. "Phos has that medicine for me. You want to come?"
"Lovely," Poppy said as they began walking out of the dining hall. "Hopefully Phos has done enough digging for today. I swear, I love that man dearly, but every time I come away from one of those 'talks,' I feel like I've survived a war."
She nodded in agreement despite herself. "You're right. You're right. I can't blame him for that." They stepped into the lab, with Phos standing at a corner table. He poured a few droplets into a beaker, a frown on his face as he concentrated. Poppy walked over to him. "Hey Phos," she said, pulling her hair back into a bun. He glanced up, momentarily surprised, and then grinned at them. "Poppy! Oh, and Mr. Craw. Lovely to see you again." "How's the medicine going?" "Ah! It's in the shaker over there if you want to grab it." He pointed to the other side of the room. Poppy gave him a suspicious look before walking over, her brow furrowed slightly.
Phos watched Poppy leave with a frown and turned to Francis. Poppy removed the medicine from the shaker, peering at it through wide eyes. She swirled it in its vial and tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "I'm fine," he said quietly. "How are you?"
"I'm alright. It's been an interesting few days. My ex-fiancee is on the ship now, but I broke it off for good." He brushed back his hair.
Phos turned to him suddenly, his expression interested. "Oh? I thought you might've wanted to continue that relationship?"
(Digger) Francis shook his head. "No, not anymore. I might have at first, but Poppy helped me realize it was a better decision not to, because she was a bad person."
(He can't help it! He just wants things to go well for the two of them! In some ways, I feel like Phos ships Poppy and Francis more than anyone else.) "Ha. Poppy." Phos said, shaking his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her approaching, and he began to speak quickly. "If I were you, Francis, and I may be out of line for saying this, but I would figure out what you wanted fairly quickly, and then take action. You don't want to miss your chance because of fear." He fell silent as Poppy arrived. She held a vial of a baby blue liquid, and she passed it to Phos, her head cocked. "I feel like I grabbed the wrong one," she said sheepishly. "I seem to remember it being more purple-y than blue."
Francis was surprised by his words, and mulled them over in his head. He didn't say anything in response, but understood what he meant. Within his thoughts, he realized he wanted to speak to Phos more about, explain why he couldn't, but instead he was quiet.
Phos shook his head. "Nope. This is it. Here. Give me a moment." He poured the liquid into a small container, screwed on the lid, and gave it to her. She took it gratefully. "Thanks, Phos," she said. "It's the only thing that has worked." She glanced at Francis. "Would you hate me terribly if I went to try it out?"
"Alright. I won't be longer than an hour or so," she assured him. She waved at the two of them and left, the blue medicine held tightly in her fingers. When she was gone, Phos turned to Francis expectantly, one eyebrow raised. "Well?"
"I already know what I want, kind of. The signs are obvious that, once again, feelings aren't mutual." He crossed his arms, eyebrows furrowing.
Phos frowned. Honestly, these kids just had to get on with it already. "What makes you say that?" he asked irritably. (lol)
(Haha) Francis pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "She doesn't like me like that. She thinks I'm a player, or whatever the word is, and she's right. It's my fault she sees me like that."
"Damn it, Francis," Phos said, shaking his head. "You need to show her otherwise, then! If you care about her, and I mean 'want-to-be-with-her' care about her, then you can't just let her go because of a misunderstanding. Am I wrong?" He sighed and crossed his arms. He was a short little man, almost a full foot under Francis' height, but he glared up at him with an annoyed expression. "She's scared. I know she is. She's scared of getting hurt and so she's not going to do anything about it. It's up to you. You have to be the one to take the step. Otherwise, nothing is ever going to happen."
He squinted at him. The words meant a lot to him, and he paid close attention to them. "She doesn't like me that way, anyways. It's obvious."
