She laughed incredulously. "Wait, really? Francis, I just told him yesterday morning that I didn't think you liked me." She shook her head with disbelief. "He must have been a little frustrated with us."
"Wow, really? That's funny. I just didn't see a reason for you to like me, and I'm still in disbelief that you accepted me."
She kissed his cheek before they stepped into the lab. "Of course I like you," she said, shrugging. "I was just... scared, I suppose." Phos was scribbling notes into a journal as they walked up to him, unaware of their presence.
Phos glanced up at the two of them, and his face broke into a smile. "Ah! Hello, you two. How are you doing?"
He frowned and jabbed his thumb off to the side, gesturing towards a Bunsen burner. "I'm having trouble with this damn concoction," he said, lifting up a test tube that was blackened from the flame. "Poppy, would you mind getting your 14th notebook from the cabinet, please? I lost my key." "Sure," she responded, pulling her key ring from her pocket. "Although, you should talk to someone about that. The point of having the notebooks secure is so random people don't have the ability to get in. If they found that key somewhere, they would have access to all of it." Phos shrugged and waved off her concern. "How would they even know what it unlocked. You worry too much, Pops. It'll be fine." Poppy frowned, but went to go unlock the shelf that held her journals.
Francis turned to Phos, crossing his arms. "Thanks for giving me to confidence to talk to her. I needed it."
Phos' expression shifted to one of delight. "Excellent!" He nodded to himself and grinned at Francis. "I was hoping it would all work out." He nudged him playfully before turning back to his notebook. "Invite me to the wedding, okay?"
"I- Woah there. That's a little too far away to think about just yet. You might have to a wait awhile, yeah?" He chuckled.
Phos glanced up at him with a half-smile. "I'm not a patient man," he said with a sigh. "But I suppose I can wait." Poppy returned, holding her notebook. There was a large water stain on the front, the ink where she carefully wrote 'Poppy Abernathy' smeared slightly. She placed it on the table. "Here's 14," she said. She took her place back by Francis, and Phos grinned over at her. "I heard the news!" he said excitedly, gesturing towards the two of them. "I approve." She flushed lightly and glanced up at Francis, a small smile on her face.
"Oh?" Poppy asked, glancing over at Phos. "Phos, are you embarrassing him?" Phos raised his hands in mock surrender. "Me? Of course not. I'm just commenting on your relationship, that's all."
"It's fine. It's not too embarrassing. It definitely could be worse." He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Poppy glanced up at him with a smile until Phos cleared his throat. He picked up her notebook and flipped through the pages. "Aha! Perfect." Keeping his finger on an equation, he set down the book and added a few drops of a chemical to the tube and went to the burner. "Thanks, Poppy! That's all I needed." Poppy rolled her eyes at Phos, and glanced up to Francis. "That meeting is pretty soon," she said. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah. Too bad it's necessary to go. Though, I should curious to hear more about the new place we're going."
