Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing. "Thank you, Mrs. Irvine," she said quietly. "It's greatly appreciated."
Francis sipped his wine thoughtfully, not saying much. The glass was nearly empty. "We know it won't go to waste, so thank you for the assistance." She sighed. "That's two alliances. Things will be looking up."
Poppy's wine remained mostly untouched, except for the few sips that she had taken to be polite. "We sure hope so," she replied. "Starting these things are always difficult because no one wants to be the first one to ally themselves."
"Yes, I could see that being the case," she replied, nodding to the waiters as they took their plates. "It's a tough decision."
"It's intimidating for sure," Poppy replied. "Our enemy is a scary one. But we're doing well, I think. It's interesting, you know." She rubbed her knuckle of her ring finger. "Doing this job has the potential to really make or break your faith for humanity. Our nation has very little to offer, but so far a majority of the people have sided with us anyways because it's the right thing to do."
"Right," she said, seemingly a bit distracted. "I have a lot of other work to attend to, so I'm afraid I must leave you here. My assistant will show you out." She stood up, pushing in her chair. The man from earlier entered the room, waiting by the door. She extended her hand. "It was lovely meeting you. I'm glad we could work things out."
Francis stood up, giving her a nod of thanks, before turning to the man at the door, who led them back to the entrance. The overseers followed closely behind, without making a sound.
Poppy rubbed her forearm thoughtfully as they approached the door, thinking back on the conversation. She bit her lip. The overseers reminded her of their previous mission, even though this one seemed to be a success, and it made her uncomfortable.
Francis took her hand, but kept his eyes ahead. The man opened the front door for them, his foot tapping. "Goodbye. It was lovely having you." The overseers stepped out, looking around for safe measure. The cabs waited in the front, where they were before.
(I have to go to my viola lesson. Be back in about 45 min!) "Goodbye. Thank you," Poppy said quietly as they stepped out into the open air and she exhaled for what felt like the first time that hour.
The time was twilight, and the first few stars we're beginning to appear against the purple-blue sky. The dust wasn't as bad as before, and most people retired to their homes. Francis looked down at Poppy, his expression adoring. "Y'know, you did all of the talking yourself. I'd say it went well."
"Ugh," she muttered. She took his hand, her fingers intertwining with his. "Thank you. I hated it. But we got an ally. That's good."
"Yeah. Another victory for us," he said smoothly, starting to walk towards the taxi. "You did great."
She groaned slightly, following him to the car. "Thank you. Although, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have gotten out of there if you hadn't asked her what her decision was going to be. I'd never have gotten to that point without you."
He shook his head, laughing slightly. "That wasn't a big part. I mostly just drank wine," he said, opening the door for her before getting in himself.
She buckled herself in, the lock clicking quietly. "Is drunk Francis going to be making an appearance?" she asked, raising an eyebrow with a cocky smile.
(Should he?) "Hm. I don't know. I don't think I was paying attention to how I was drinking." He looked at her, grinning slightly. "I don't think you would like him."
