Poppy frowned and shook her head, hardening her resolve. "I'm not enough to be the girl that's worth the commitment for him," she said eventually, sounding almost tired as she stirred the concoction. "And I don't want to get into something that is just... temporary." She cleared her throat and turned to him. Phos frowned, and crossed his arms. "Poppy..." he began, but she cut him off, shaking her head. They looked at each other for a moment before he sighed. "Do you have any more of that dream medicine?" she asked quietly. He studied her face with a frown. "They're back again?" he asked, cocking his head. Poppy nodded, and Phos bit his lip as he thought. "I don't have any more, but I could make some. The instructions are either in notebooks 42, 43, or 44. Would you mind going and checking?" Poppy nodded, and turned on her heel to go look through Phos' notebooks, each with detailed descriptions of his experiments throughout the years. (They're kinda done talking about it for now.)
(Sure!) Poppy stepped into the dining hall. She wore a grey tank top and a simple pair of jeans, and she fussed with her watch as she walked to her seat, her brows furrowed as she worked.
Francis joined not long after. He wore long black pants and a white button up with a black tie, a clip holding it. He sat across from Poppy, head tilted. "How was the science work?"
She glanced up at him and smiled, although her face seemed tired. "It was alright," she said easily. "Phos was digging a little bit. You know how it goes."
"A little drained, that's all," she said, shaking her head. "I didn't sleep much last night, but everything is alright. Thanks for asking." She closed her hands around her mug of tea and she blew on it to cool it down. "Anyways," she said, trying to change the subject. "Do you know where we're going next?"
"I have no clue, but maybe we'll get a message on it soon," he said, sipping his coffee. "Maybe you should sleep after this?"
She laughed slightly, leaning back in her chair. "I'm not sure I'll be able to," she admitted, stretching her arms out. "I'm lucky if I can get more than an hour or so without these damn dreams coming in and ruining everything." She sighed and splayed her hands out. "Phos made me some of this medicine that I took when they first started up a couple years ago, so I might try that again." She smiled across the table at him, folding her hands in her lap. "Don't worry about me; I'll be okay. How are you doing?"
He leaned back, an eyebrow raised. "Alright. I'm doing alright. Encountered Viv- Vivienne." He mentally scolded himself for calling her by the nickname. "It didn't go well, but I think it's done with."
Poppy ignored the twist in her stomach when she heard the nickname. "Oh? What happened?" she asked, leaning her head on her hand. "If you don't mind me asking. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"I told her that I didn't want to be with her, because I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. It was little hard." He sighed stirring his drink with a spoon.
Poppy frowned, her head cocked slightly. "I'm sorry," she said eventually, holding her tea with both hands. "I know that would have been difficult."
"It's... nothing. Just a bit bad that she has to go on this ship as well. I can deal with it, though," he said, looking at the table.
"Still, I'm sorry," she said, smoothing her hands across the table. "Hopefully, we can avoid any further confrontation." Her watch beeped with an alert that reminded her. "Also, I've got to teach you how to message better," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"I made a comprehensible frowning face. I think that's enough for one day, don't you?" He smiled, crossing his legs. "Thanks for coming with me to the observatory last night. I wouldn't have been able to find any constellations."
Poppy rested her head on her hand, her fingers slightly curled against her cheek. "Thank you for inviting me," she responded. "I had a lovely time. Although, you found the Twins pretty easily. I'm not sure you wouldn't have figured it without me."
"When I was younger they tried to teach me to find my way using the stars, but I was never any good at it. I guess that's why I caught on so easily, but I don't think I would have been able to find it without your help."
