“I suppose so,” Crow agreed reluctantly when Penelope said they should go back to the camp. He didn’t want their time alone to end, but he knew it was for the best. They didn’t want William to find out about their relationship, and that meant not ditching the knight for extended periods of time every day. So, picking up one of the full containers of water, he followed after her towards the clearing.

As she leaned into him, he grinned at back at her, “Oh yeah? Wake me up when you’re ready to go.” He winked at her and then moved to put distance between them as they came within sight of the camp. William was standing off to one side with his arms folded sternly over his chest. As he took notice of the two returning from their trip to the brook, he narrowed his eyes, “I thought you both went to get water. What took so long?”

“Relax, father,” Crow gibed with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. “We thought we heard Younisians, so we took cover for a bit. Turned out it was just a herd of deer.” He shrugged. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

William just grunted in response and turned his head away from the thief.

[i]Prideful old fool,[/i] Crow clicked his tongue in annoyance. [i]He can’t even look me in the eye.[/i] He started towards a patch of grass to rest, but then paused, thinking something over. Instead of going to sit down, he turned around and walked up to William, holding out the canteen of water he had brought back. “Here,” he said noncommittally. “Take it. You haven’t had any water all day.”

The knight blinked at him in mild surprise before reverting to his usual look of disgust, “I will not share water with a thief.”

“Look,” Crow said irritably. “You don’t like me, and I don’t like you. I get it, but we all have to work together if we want to get back to Brerra. That means accepting my help whether you like it or not. Now, just take the damn water so I can go to the other side of this clearing, and we won’t have to look at each other anymore.”

William hesitated for a moment before he snatched the canteen from the thief’s hand and lifted it to his lips in a long drink.

Crow shook his head and walked away from him, settling down in the patch of grass he had been eyeing earlier. It wasn’t much, but at least he was making some progress with the temperamental knight. He just hoped they would be able to trust each other if or when they ended up in a fight.