Crow approached the merchant’s stand and began looking over his goods. All of his interest in staying in the marketplace with Penelope was gone now that he was certain she had changed her mind. He wasn’t mad at her about that—it was perfectly understandable that she would choose not to give up everything to be with a thief—but he was frustrated that she was waiting so long to end things between them. He couldn’t just keep going about the day pretending like everything was fine when he knew what was coming. It was too painful. Part of him even toyed with the idea of ending it himself, just so he would have closure, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that either.

[color=fdc68a][b]“Is she okay?”[/b][/color]

He was so lost in thought that he almost didn’t hear the merchant’s question. He blinked and looked up at the man confusedly, wondering what he was talking about. In the next moment, he heard Penelope’s sharp response from beside him, and he turned to her in surprise. He opened his mouth to remind her not to draw attention to them, but then stiffened when he saw the tears in her eyes. A wave of sorrow washed over him as he realized she was probably having just as hard of a time with her decision as he was. He needed to get her out of the crowd.

“Would you excuse us?” he nodded apologetically to the merchant and walked up beside Penelope, pressing a hand to her back to usher her away from the stands. “Come on,” he said softly. “We’re going somewhere quieter.”

After doing a quick search of the area, Crow spotted an alleyway around a corner that was clear of people. He took Penelope’s hand and led her towards it, walking briskly in order to get away from the marketplace faster. Once they were out of sight, he let go of her hand and turned to face her, feeling another pang of sadness upon gazing at her face. Wanting to comfort her, he gathered her into his arms, pressing her head against his chest as he held her. Though he wanted to get closure, he felt it would be cruel to force her to talk to him while she was so emotional. So instead, he simply held her without speaking.

After a while, he pulled back to step out of her grasp, letting out his breath slowly as he braced himself for what was to come. “Penelope… we really need to talk,” he began and then paused, searching for words. “I don’t know why you’re trying to put it off, but I can’t take it anymore. The waiting is killing me.” He raked his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. “Please, just make this easier on both of us and say it already.”