His touch relaxed her, but she was still tense, and she remained standing as they entered, her hands clasped primly in front of her. Others would probably not notice it, but because of Francis' familiarity with her, if he was watching close enough he might notice that her gaze flickered to every movement, and her shoulders were tight and alert.
He walked over to a couch, taking her arm and pulling her along. The footsteps echoed in the room against the tile floor. He sat down, crossing his legs. "Relax," he said. "It's okay. There's nothing to worry about right now."
She hesitated before sitting next to him, her fingers fiddling together in her lap. "Am I that obvious?" she asked with a sheepish chuckle.
She looked down at their hands thoughtfully, her fingertips lightly tracing the veins in his wrists. "Well," she said quietly, tilting her head with a small smile. "Maybe Mrs. Irvine will take pity if we act nervous. Having some humanity might encourage generosity."
He observed her quietly, his expression at ease. "I wish it worked that way, but unfort-" He was cut off by a woman's voice. It was sharp and cut through the low volume of the room. "Mrs. Abernathy and Mr. Craw, I assume? It's lovely to meet you," she said kindly. She was a spindly woman, with dusty brown hair that was beginning to turn grey. She looked to be in her early 40's, and wore a deep blue coat and pencil skirt. Her blue eyes were welcoming, and she extended a hand to them. "I'm Mrs. Irvine, as you were probably told."
Poppy's eyes widened with surprise when the voice rang across the room, still obviously a little on edge, but she quickly recovered, turned towards her and stood up. "It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Irvine," she said quietly but clearly, shaking her hand. "Thank you so much for meeting with us."
Francis did the same, saying nothing at the moment, only inspecting the woman in front of him. "The pleasure is all mine. Let's discuss business at the table, shall we?" she said, leading the way down a well-lit hall. There many doors, but most were closed. "I'm glad you two could make it. When I was contacted by your government for a meeting about the war on its way, I just had to accept."
Poppy listened carefully, one of her hands rubbing the back of her neck. "Yes, well, the recent attacks have shown that Utrana is not hesitant in its actions," she said. "So swift communication among possible allies is imperative for us."
(Finally finished another project. Life is good.) "Yes, yes. I see what you mean," she said, turning into a room with a table set for dinner. She sat at the end, brushing her lap. "It's truly terrible what happened."
(Woo hoo!) "Yes," Poppy said quietly, sitting down. She brushed a curl back behind her ear self-consciously, and looked down at her lap for a moment, remembering the whistle of the bombs as they fell. "It is. And unfortunately, we have reason to believe that Utrana is going to continue doing it to more nations as this war goes on. It's how they've managed to convince their allies to join them."
Francis did the same, speaking up finally. "And they're using sums of money to win people over, so we learned from our last meeting." Mrs. Irvine cocked her head as a waiter poured wine into their glasses. "Is that so?"
She folded her hands in thought. Two waiters entered from a door, bringing the food. "So you want our alliance? What would we get in return?"
Poppy tucked on a lock of hair thoughtfully. "It's not really a trading scenario, Mrs. Irvine," she said. "Unfortunately, this isn't really a fight anyone can stay out of. Your nation is going to have to pick a side eventually, and our side is the one that is trying to protect innocent individuals."
She nodded slowly, in thought. "Who else is on your side? I don't want to get involved with anything if we're the only ones fighting."
"Opiren? I see.." She looked at the table. "And... Do we know if Utrana has any allies? Besides the one who captured you for ransom, of course."
"Well, we have reason to assume that they have sided with the Caedis," she said quietly. "But we know of no others."
She tapped her fingers on the table nervously, and Francis raised an eyebrow. "So what will it be?" he asked, his head tilting ever-so-slightly. "Will you help us." She frowned, looking up at the two of them. "Ah.. I suppose. I don't want to be on the wrong side of history."
