Snippet #2820963

Phoenix was engrossed in the plants while Jaiden and Alex spoke. He was glad that they were talking, and that they were talking here of all places. It felt right. To Phoenix, the place felt exactly the same now as it had when Aurora was alive; and maybe that was the point. Jaiden and Zoe had done an amazing job, and even Phoenix was impressed with their range of plants. For the most part, that was all that held Phoenix's attention. But he shot the occasional glance towards Alex and Jaiden to make sure that everything was okay.

He knew it was an emotional conversation, and so he made sure to watch to see if everything was okay. He was almost surprised when they hugged, as neither of them had ever particularly been huggers. It was usually Phoenix hugging them, if anything. He took a moment to appreciate it, before slowly fishing out his phone and taking a picture of it to tease them with later, before going back to examining the succulents. It was only when he heard his name being mentioned that he glanced back at them again, seeing Alex holding a flower, one he didn't recognise. Well, if Alex was also getting flowers, Phoenix figured that it was fine for him to get a few plants. He picked up the couple of plants that had caught his interest and that he hadn't seen before, and turned back around to head back towards Phoenix.

As he reached them with an armful of pots, he overheard them agreeing to meet up. "You're coming to ours, for dinner, no questions asked. And Zoe. Next week," he announced. "Whatever night you're least busy. It's been too long and frankly it's weird not having food stolen out of my fridge and cupboards because you're not around as much." He adjusted the plants in his arms as he spoke. "And we've got to celebrate the good work you guys have done on the store too. Sound good?"