Crow listened patiently as Penelope began to tell him about her thoughts on the war. He already knew a bit about how she felt towards everything that was happening, since they shared similar views about how the knights should or should not treat the villagers. Their lack of empathy was the whole reason why he and the other thieves had gotten involved in the first place. However, seeing the sadness on her face brought him a pang of sorrow as well.

He gave her hand a comforting squeeze as she went on to talk about the other two barons, Bennet and her uncle, and how they did nothing to better the situation. It wasn’t surprising to find out that there were such single-minded people in charge of the knights, but he was still a bit disheartened to hear it. He was glad that she had found some others amongst their battalion who were different though. It was encouraging to know that even though their leaders were solely focused on destroying the Younisian frontlines, not all of the knights shared their value to such a degree.

As she asked him about what was going on in his life, he took a moment to ponder the question. “Well, you know about the biggest issue I’ve been facing now,” he shrugged, looking up to hold her gaze. “That was the only thing I was trying to keep from you. Honest.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before going on, “Let’s see. Aside from dealing with the illness, I’ve mostly been focusing on getting settled in the new camp. We’ve managed to buy back most of the supplies we lost, but we spent almost all of our money, so we might need to steal the rest of what we need from your camp. It won’t be a big raid though, so I doubt your comrades will even notice we took anything if we do end up looting you.

“Apart from that, there isn’t really much else going on right now. Because of the lull between battles, my companions and I have been spending a lot more of our time relaxing. It’s actually been nice. It sort of reminds me of what our lives used to look like before all the fighting started.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Back then, we used to be much more carefree. With only ourselves to look out for, we only needed to go on raids every once in a while to get by, so we spent the rest of our time enjoying each other’s company.

“We still try to be together often, but it’s not quite the same anymore,” he sighed, shifting to lay more comfortably against Penelope’s lap. “I think the only ones amongst us who are still able to prioritize quality time are Alistair and Rikki. Simon’s always been a bit of a loner, but he’s withdrawn into himself much more since the battles began. None of us are quite sure why, but he doesn’t want to tell anyone, so we’re not going to ask him.

“I also can’t spend as much time with them anymore, since I have more responsibilities as their elected leader. Whenever additional work comes up, I’m usually the one that has to pick it up, which includes going on more trips and errands.” He frowned slightly. “Lately, since my illness has worsened, Simon’s been taking over some of those duties, but I still don’t see them all as often as I’d like. Now, I tend to sleep through half the day anyway, so I only get to spend time with them in the evenings.

“Honestly, the only one I still spend time with as often as before is Rikki,” he shook his head. “The day you left our camp, Hazel and I decided it would be best for me to tell the others about my illness. When I did, Rikki sort of… got protective, I suppose you could say. She stays by my side as often as she can now as if I could collapse at any moment.” He exhaled softly. “I guess I understand why she’s doing it, but I wouldn’t mind having a little more space to myself, you know?” He opted to leave out the detail about how the female thief had confessed that she wanted to be with him, not because he was unwilling to tell Penelope about it, but because he viewed it as his own problem to deal with. There was no reason for her to get involved when he was more than capable of taking care of it by himself.

“Anyway, even though things are different now because of the war, we’re still making the best of it,” Crow smiled up at her, running his thumb gently over her hand. “I can’t wait for all of this to be over though. I mean, I enjoy being with my companions, but I’d much rather wake up every day next to you, love.”