Crow frowned when Penelope said the mercenary had expected her to attack, which meant he had known she wasn’t just a peasant girl. It sounded like his suspicion that he had been following them was right. The man had probably just been stalking them until he could catch them alone and with their guards down… and he had almost succeeded. The thief glanced towards either end of the alleyway. It was likely that the mercenary had been working alone—he had never heard of any that were willing to team up for a split profit—but he didn’t want to take any chances.

He turned back to Penelope as she went on to tell him that it wasn’t his fault; that this was her job; and that she just did what she felt she had to do. The strain in her voice made him want to gather her into his arms. He could understand why she felt so terrible. Even though it was a necessary evil, she had killed the man pretty brutally. He would have been just as upset if he had been in her position.

[color=fff79a][b]“We should bandage up real quick and then get moving,”[/b][/color] Penelope said, changing the subject. [color=fff79a][b]“Lucky I grabbed some bandages from the cart before we left.”[/b][/color] She wrapped her arm a bit clumsily and then offered to dress the injury on his hand for him.

Crow observed her quietly for a moment before moving to sit next to her. However, instead of immediately offering his right hand for her to bandage the wound, he touched her cheek with his left, gently guiding her to turn towards him. Meeting her gaze for a brief moment, he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her lips. He closed his eyes and slid his hand down to her neck, momentarily letting himself forget about everything that had just happened to them.

After a moment, he pulled back and met her green eyes once more. “My mother used to tell me that the touch of someone you love can take away your pain,” He smiled a bit sheepishly, tracing his thumb along the edge of her jaw. “I can tell you’re upset, but you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. That guy was a murderer, and he was going to kill us. You did nothing wrong.” He lowered his gaze, letting his hand drop back down to his lap. “Also… I know you said this wasn’t my fault, but… I can’t keep being a handicap to you in battle.” He sighed, thinking about how differently things would have turned out if he could have fought the mercenary alongside Penelope. Instead of helping her, he had just been a coward that she had needed to protect. He couldn’t let himself keep doing that to her.

“I think you were right before, when you said I should learn how to fight,” he admitted, looking up once more. “I-I want you to teach me.”