Crow took a slow breath as he felt Penelope trail her hand over his back. Her gentle touch was soothing to him, and it continued to remind him that leaving his companions behind would be worth it in the end. As long as he had her, he would be happy. Besides, it wasn’t like he had to completely let go of the other thieves… Right? His eyes wandered over them all individually, and he frowned. Hartley was married, so he would probably be returning to Younis to be with Kip soon; Hazel was about to have her first child; Alistair was still pining after Olivia; and things between him and Rikki would likely never be the same now that he was leaving to be with Penelope. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was entirely possible that they would never be all together like this again.

Crow blinked as Penelope’s voice suddenly drew him from his thoughts. He glanced down at her and nodded, managing a small smile when she kissed him on the cheek. At her question, he opened his mouth to tell her that there was no reason for her to stay when she could use the extra time to talk to her baroness, but Alistair spoke up first.

“Of course you should stay!” the wily thief grinned and then turned to his leader with a competitive look. “It’ll be more fun if I beat you in front of your lover.”

His feisty words made Crow’s smile broaden. In that moment he realized he was being foolish by mourning the loss of his companions while he was still with them. He had plenty of time to be sad about it later, so for now, he decided to enjoy the time he had left in the hideout.

“Are you sure about that?” he taunted. “You’re just going to be embarrassed when I win.”

“You wish,” Alistair rose to his feet and glanced at Penelope again. “Stick around just a little longer. I promise this won’t take long.”

“Ooh, I get to be the officiator!” Rikki chirped excitedly, standing up as well. She paused to look around for a moment before pointing at another part of the cave where the ground was flat and even. “Both of you, go lay down across from each other over there.”

Crow complied, getting up from his spot by the hearth and casting Penelope a subtle shrug before following Alistair over to the place Rikki had indicated. He laid down on his stomach facing his friend and propped himself up on his forearms, shifting slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable. It wasn’t as ideal as using a table, but since they had no furniture in their hideout, he supposed this was the next best thing. He rolled back his right sleeve as the other thief set up across from him. Once they were both ready, they clasped each other’s right hands and waited for Rikki to give the word to begin.

“Okay,” the female thief beamed eagerly, crouching down nearby so that she could make sure neither of them cheated. “When I say ‘three,’ that’s when you start.” She waited for them to nod in understanding before clasping her hands together in clear entertainment. “One… two… three!”

Immediately, the two men launched into their match. Crow’s arm trembled slightly as he fought to overpower Alistair. He was a bit surprised to find that they were fairly evenly matched. Neither one was able to gain the upper hand over the other.

“I’ve gotta say,” Alistair said breathily as he continued to push against Crow’s hand. “You’re stronger than I thought… But that doesn’t mean you’re going to win!”

“Touché,” Crow grinned.

For a few minutes, neither of them budged, but eventually, Crow felt his muscles beginning to tire. He narrowed his eyes in focus, but he could feel Alistair beginning to force his arm towards the ground. In one more burst of defiant effort, he managed to push back against his friend’s hand, but it didn’t last long before he felt his energy dissipate and his weary muscles give way. He cursed as Alistair wrestled his arm to the ground.

“Told you I’d win,” the wily thief laughed, shaking out his arm.

“Yeah, yeah,” Crow rolled his eyes and sat up to roll his shoulders. Lying on the hard, stone floor of the cavern had made him quite sore. “To be fair though, I was bedridden for three weeks and haven’t exercised my arms in over a month.”

“Sounds like an excuse to me,” Alistair prodded him teasingly.

“Next time I come back, we can have a rematch, and we’ll see who wins,” Crow challenged.

“You’re on,” Alistair agreed without hesitation. “I’ll beat you every time, especially if you’re going off to become a soft-palmed nobleman.”

“I may be becoming a noble, but nobody said I was going to get soft,” Crow smirked. “Just you wait. It won’t be long now before you have to say you lost at arm wrestling to a nobleman.”

“Never gonna happen,” Alistair scoffed.

“We’ll see about that,” Crow winked and then turned to Penelope. Now in a better mood than before, he gathered her into his arms and pressed an affectionate kiss to her lips. “You should probably get going, huh?” he smiled at her when he pulled back, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “I think we’ve kept you here long enough.”