As soon as Crow’s eyes fell on the female knights, he could tell that something was off. Penelope was leaning heavily on her friend’s shoulder, and Olivia was looking a little too pleased with herself for his liking. [i]Did she get her drunk?[/i] he wondered as he walked over to them with Gavin. His suspicion was quickly confirmed when he saw Penelope raise her hand in a wave and smiled at him in a manner that seemed different than the way she usually looked. He shook his head. Perhaps the two had had a little too much fun, after all.

When he reached them, he blinked in surprise as Olivia passed her stumbling friend off to him right away. He hurried to wrap his arms around her as she practically fell into him, worried that she would just collapse if he didn’t support her. After checking to make sure that she was at least somewhat stable, he looked up again as Gavin began to chide Olivia for getting Penelope drunk. He didn’t often side with the knight, but in this case he agreed that it had been foolish of her for getting so carried away. They had come to the tavern to find out if the thieves had passed through, not play games and get intoxicated.

[i]In hindsight, it’s not like we did much better,[/i] he thought with a wince as he realized that even though he and Gavin hadn’t gotten drunk, they hadn’t done the best job of gathering information either. In fact, they had drawn quite a bit of attention to themselves as well with their fight. He let out his breath in a discouraged sigh as he realized that he was in no position to judge the female knights for drinking when he’d done just as poor of a job with the interrogation as they had, and he’d been sober.

Crow’s thoughts derailed when he suddenly felt Penelope reach up and trail her hand along his jaw. He turned to look down at her, thinking at first that she was trying to get his attention. However, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case when she continued to drag her fingers across his face and commented on his beard being scratchy. He laughed and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, finding her absent words somehow endearing.

“I’m glad you like it,” he smiled at her amusedly. “Shaving it all off was becoming a hassle, so I figured I’d try something different.” He shrugged and then took on a mischievous look. “Plus, now I can do this.” Leaning in a little more, he drew her close in a tight embrace so she couldn’t pull away and nuzzled his cheek playfully against hers.

Off to the side, he heard Gavin clear his throat. “We don’t have anything else to learn here, so we should get going,” the knight said, eyeing the thief with contempt.

“Fine by me,” Crow said, straightening his posture. The thought of supper and sleep were too alluring for him to argue with the knight, whom he was certain was only rushing them to separate him from Penelope again. Adjusting his hold on her, he shifted so that her arm rested across his shoulders and his hand was pressed sturdily against her waist. Once he felt like he had a firm hold on her, he glanced down with a teasing smirk, “Come on, lightweight. Let’s get you to bed.”