"I do," she said quietly. She hesitated before speaking again, feeling the weight of her words. "I promise to love you as long as you'll have me."
He considered her for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her gently. He seemed to be deep in thought, carefully pondering events. Quickly realizing what he was doing, and regaining his sense of reality, he pulled away. "Hm," he said shortly. "Right. Sorry."
Poppy cocked her head, obviously a little confused. "No, don't be sorry," she said, her arms sliding from where they had wrapped around his neck during their embrace. She straightened his lapel before speaking again. "But what was that about?"
He shook his head, looking at the ground. "It's nothing. I just... I don't like imagining things changing for worse, you know?"
"I know," she said softly. She reached up, and rested her hand on the side of his face, her skin warm. "But it's not going to change for the worse, okay? It won't happen." (IT WILL HAPPEN)
(This is a sad event that makes me happy because it's sad but will be happy again!) He exhaled, relaxing under her touch. His hand reached up and covered the one she was holding him with, brushing her fingers lightly. "Okay. I trust you."
(Speaking of which, are we just going to get right into it once they get back on the ship, or are we going to go through RPing the meeting between Vivienne and Evan?) He was quiet for a moment, just watching her with enamor. "I love you."
(I was actually thinking about that. It's up to you. I can do either way. Evan still needs to reintroduce himself, and become a little friendlier towards the two, at the very least. Also, would you want to do a time skip until after dinner? I don't think the family has anything really planned for the rest of the day, and it would just be Poppy and Francis wandering around. Which is fine, if you want to do that.) "I love you," she replied, resting her forehead on his before kissing him deeply, her fingers resting on the back of his neck.
(I expected the part where Evan needs to get closer, but I'd honestly rather just skip the plotting between those two. And yeah, let's time skip.) He held her close as they kissed, like she would disappear if he let go. His hand brushed her back lightly, and he felt serene again.
(Oh, good! I was actually hoping you would say that.) They parted, and Poppy looked up at him with wide eyes until she laughed lightly, shaking her head. "We should probably go back downstairs," she said reluctantly. She took his hand and began to pull him towards the door. "C'mon. Let's go." (...zoom?)
That evening, after dinner, the whole family sat on the porch, watching the sun go down over the trees. Lewis passed out blankets to individuals, and the whole group was quiet as the stars began to appear over the horizon. "There's Orion," Ed said eventually. He and Eve were sharing a blanket and staring up at the heavens, and at his words, Poppy looked over at Francis with a secret smile.
Francis glanced back at her, his eyebrow raised in amusement as he turned to look back up at the stars. His arm slid comfortably around her as he moved closer.
She rested her head on his shoulder, her hair pulled back in a bun so she could watch the stars clearer. She felt a curious sense of deja-vu but said nothing. Instead, she adjusted the blanket so it encompassed both of them, and gently rubbed his back as they watched the skies together, her fingers tracing small circles into the material as if she were coloring it in. Her legs were curled up underneath her, and she kissed his cheek lightly before resettling on his shoulder, her breathing calm and consistent.
Although they had done similar things before, his heart still skipped a beat, and there were still butterflies in his stomach. At the time. he just thought about this moment. How lucky he was, and how happy they were. Eventually, he tuned out and listened to the forest, the ideas still floating in his head.
Eventually, Lewis stood up, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning. "I think that's it for me, everyone," he said in his quiet way. "Good night." Clara, and Kellen stood up as well. Bee was fast asleep, curled up in Kellen's arms. "I think we're going to go too, Papa," Clara said quietly. She tucked one of Bee's stray locks of hair behind her ear affectionately. "Good night, everyone." All four of them left, and Poppy raised her head from Francis' shoulder sleepily. "Do you want to go too?" she asked, her arms wrapping around his waist.
He looked down at her fondly, kissing her forehead. "Yeah," he said softly. "It's getting late, so we should probably get some sleep." His voice was low and smooth, keeping quiet as to not disturb the evening stillness.
"Mm. Alright," she murmured before standing up. "Night, you guys," Poppy said quietly to the remaining four people. They gave varying noises of farewell, and Poppy took Francis' hand as they headed up towards their room, her fingers intertwining with his.
(Oh God, they're so cute. I feel so bad for being excited to split them up.) He rubbed the side of her hand with his thumb, opening the door when they got to the room. "Hmm," he murmured tiredly. "I'm pretty eager to sleep right now."
