Penelope laid down, still pressed up against him. She was calmer now, feeling a bit more relaxed in his arms, but still very aware of the loud thunder outside. It kept her alert and on guard despite the tiredness she felt. She knew falling asleep wouldn’t be easy for her until the storm passed. Her gaze drifted to Crow as he spoke again. A small wave of guilt washed over the knight, realizing that he was likely just as tired as she was but was forcing himself to stay awake. 

Normally, she would have insisted that he just go to sleep rather than answer his question and part of her wanted to, but she realized that the distraction of a story might be good for her own sake. “I actually met him on one of my first real missions after training. This also happens to be the time he got drunk on a mission..” She began. Penelope kept her voice soft and quiet. She’d use the story to distract herself but she also wanted to let Crow sleep if he could. One of them should at least be well-rested. “Me and a couple other newer knights accompanied William and another older knight named Christopher to the town of Balway where the local knights were having difficulty with some bandits that kept raiding the town..

“They decided to put me and the others on the case since it seemed pretty simple now that the local knights had reinforcements. The first time I met him, I remember him complaining about getting stuck with so many inexperienced knights. I don’t think he had worked with many female knights yet then so he had especially low expectations for me at the time.” The knight managed a small smirk and she closed her eyes as she saw a flash of light. “I was determined to prove him wrong of course.”

“Anyways, we went traveled to the town and worked with the local knights to capture the bandits.. We got a handful of them and thought that was the end so the group went out for some drinks to celebrate. I didn’t think that was the end though. The numbers didn’t add up to the damage done and I suspected there were likely more of them out there. But at that time, no one real listened since I had no real experience yet. So while the others drank, I decided to keep watch. Turns out they’re plan was to let the knights think they won and get drunk before attacking to free their comrades. I caught on quick enough and alerted the others... Problem was I was a little late. William was drunk off his ass and so were a couple of the newbies. 

“So the local knights, Christopher and I ended up fighting the bandits without them... Though William, proud as usual, still found his way out and tried to help us fight. He nearly got himself killed a couple times that night, lucky for him I was able to keep that from happening.. We managed to fully beat the bandits this time so the mission was still successful despite the mistake made. After that, William trusted and respected me a bit more as a comrade.. We worked together a few other times as royal guards but there’s not much of a story to that..” She mumbled. 

The knight finally opened her gaze again to glance over at Crow, unsure if the thief was even still awake. The story did her some good in passing the time. She flickered her gaze over to the hole in the ceiling, noticing the rain had slowed. She hoped that meant the storm would be passing soon and let out a tired sigh as she buried her head against Crow’s chest.