Crow’s eyes flickered down to Gavin’s hand as the knight reached for his sword. The thief tensed and moved to rest his right hand on his dagger’s hilt as well, prepared to defend himself if Gavin chose to come after him. While he had been trying to prod at him, he hadn’t expected the knight to react so violently to his last comment. He eyed him curiously. For some reason, his words had struck a raw nerve in the man. He didn’t know why, but he made a mental note to tuck that information away in case it proved to be useful another time.

As Gavin stood hostilely before him, the thief slowly drew his blade from its sheath at his hip. However, before either of them had a chance to attack the other, Penelope intervened. Crow watched as she snapped at her former suitor, feeling a twinge of pleasure as Gavin caved to her and released his weapon. He liked that she was still openly siding with him. The competitive part of his nature took it as a victory over the man she had left for him, which made him feel quite satisfied.

He was just about to make another snide remark to Gavin about it, but he stopped when he felt Penelope jab his side and tell him that he needed to learn when to stop. Apparently, he wasn’t quite as in the clear as he had thought. Glancing down at her, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug and offered her an apologetic look. She definitely seemed more upset with him than before, and he didn’t want to give her another reason to snap at him like she had with Gavin. “Sorry,” he murmured, deciding it was a safer move to simply apologize to her rather than give her the childish excuse he had wanted to say: [i]He started it.[/i]

As Olivia finally spoke up, Crow turned to her inquisitively. It sounded like she had been watching them so quietly because she had been expecting the situation to spiral out of control on its own. He shook his head. She was just as devilish as he remembered. However, his amusement faded as she went on to address Gavin. He narrowed his eyes as he glanced back at the male knight. So, his initial suspicion that Penelope’s ex suitor was trying to win her back wasn’t wrong, after all.

“And just what were you doing before?” he growled, suddenly curious to find out how this man had been trying to win over the woman he was with.

Gavin’s eyes darted to Penelope’s face for a moment before he shook his head. “Olivia doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he said, shooting the female knight an annoyed look. “I told Penelope that I would respect her decision… even if I find myself questioning the character of the man she chose.”

“Is that right?” Crow studied him coldly. As a thief who deceived others for a living, he could tell that Gavin was lying through his teeth, but he also knew the knight probably wouldn’t confess to his ulterior motives while Penelope was present. Besides, she was already upset with them both as it was. He didn’t want to risk angering her further by arguing with her former suitor to draw the information out of him. So, he let the subject drop, venturing instead to take Penelope’s hand again as he hoped she had cooled down enough to accept the gesture.

Off to the side, Olivia clicked her tongue in disappointment, “Well, that was boring.”

Crow rolled his eyes. He was beginning to think he wasn’t going to enjoy her company as much as he had thought if she was going to keep trying to instigate fights between him and Gavin.

The group fell into a tense silence now that Crow and Gavin had stopped bickering with each other. However, it didn’t last long before the thief’s stomach decided to interrupt. He blushed and turned to Penelope with a bashful smile, “I don’t suppose you knights packed any lunch, did you?”