[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow closed his eyes as he felt Penelope lean her head into his shoulder, giving her ear a soft nip once he had worked his way back up to it again. Taking a break from kissing her, he rested his head against hers and let out his breath in a contented sigh. While kissing and touching intimately got his heart going, he also enjoyed just sitting and holding her close just as much. Her warm body relaxed him while they were pressed against each other, and he was almost tempted to take a nap right there.

He felt her fingers brush the side of his face, and her following words made him smile joyfully. No matter how many times she said she loved him, he never got tired of hearing it. He held her gaze as she stared at him, wondering absently what she was thinking about now. However, before he had a chance to ask, her expression suddenly turned playful. He blinked in surprise as she leaned in to rub her cheek against his, claiming it was “payback.” The gesture in its unexpectedness made him laugh.

“Y’got me,” he shook his head in mock defeat, wrapping her in a tighter embrace as he was struck with a strong wave of fondness for the knight. He noticed she was about to do it again, but then stopped to look at something over his shoulder. Wondering what had caught her attention, he peered back to see Gavin walking towards them with a disgusted expression at the sight of Penelope sitting on the thief’s lap. He rolled his eyes. It seemed like no matter what they did, the knight would disapprove of it.

Crow watched quietly as Penelope and Gavin spoke, a bit confused when the male knight’s demeanor suddenly turned harsher. Curious, he glanced back at Penelope to see what had made the other man so upset and then bit his tongue to stifle an amused laugh when his eyes fell on a few dark marks along the side of her neck. In his excitement, he supposed he hadn’t realized just how roughly he was kissing her. It wasn’t a longshot to guess that the sight had angered her former suitor.

As Gavin held out his hand and insisted they leave, Crow was reluctant to let Penelope out of his arms. However, the longer he stayed sitting, the more he felt his weariness from the long day and the alcohol creep over his body. As tempting as it was to fall asleep in the tavern, the thought of his bed in the woods sounded much more comfortable. He made his decision.

“’e’s right,” the thief said with a yawn, patting Penelope on the back in a soft prompt to take the knight’s hand and get up from his lap. “’M tired, so we shoul’ go.” He waited for her to moved and then stood up as well, swaying on his feet as the motion made him feel like he was tipping over again. Despite how unstable he was, he still had just enough clarity to stand without support, so he stepped away from the table somewhat ungracefully in preparation to leave.

Gavin was quick to get Alistair and Olivia’s attention as well, but when he looked for Rikki, he frowned when he spotted her in the middle of a heated kiss with the man she had been flirting with. He glanced at Crow and wrinkled his nose, “Get your other thief so we can leave.”

Having not noticed what Rikki was doing, Crow knitted his brow and turned to look at the other table. When he caught sight of her with the peasant man, he snorted. “Nah, she c’n ta’e care o’ herself,” he waved his hand dismissively. “She’ll pro’ly jus’ sleep with ‘im an’ show up sometime durin’ th’ night. Happens a lot.”

“Is that so?” Gavin muttered, seeming unamused. The knight took a moment to check his balance while he supported Penelope and then began to make his way towards the door, murmuring to her on his way out: “Come on. Let’s get out of this place while we still have some dignity…”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod and took Gavin's hand as she slipped off of Crow's lap. She swayed a little and leaned onto the male knight for support. Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure Crow had gotten up alright as well before fixating her gaze towards Gavin as she waited for him to take the lead. After a bit of talking about Rikki, he began to head towards the door, keeping a slower pace than usual so she would be able to keep up easily.

At his words, she gave a small giggle. "Oh comm'on i's not that bad, is 't?" she asked looking up at him with an amused expression. Penelope didn't seem to catch on to what the issue was. All in all, she thought the night had been quite enjoyable.

"I'm sure you'll have a different opinion of that in the morning." Gavin sighed as he looked down at her. He shifted his arm a bit so he could have a better grip on her and then focused his gaze ahead.

Penelope eyed him for a moment and then frowned. It suddenly occurred to her that Gavin was the only one that was sober out of the group. That must have left him in a foul mood, along with how poorly talking to the villagers had went. The female knight glanced over her shoulder at the others before looking back up at Gavin. "'orry I got dru'k. I didn' mean to, I s'ear."

"It's alright. I doubt it was your fault anyways." he muttered. He shot an accusing glance towards Crow—one that Penelope didn't catch as she focused her gaze back ahead as they walked.

"Well don' worry. 'ext 'ime you can get drunk and we'll stay sober." she promised, thinking it was a fair solution in her current state.

Gavin gave an amused look. "No thanks. I think I'd prefer to stay sober." he mumbled.

Penelope shrugged, losing focus on the conversation as her gaze drifted over to Crow. She smiled at the thief and reached out to take his hand, still wanting him close. "How're you doin'?" she asked him, eying how he was walking. "You 'eed help too?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow trailed after Gavin and Penelope as they led the way out of the tavern. He managed to make it to the door without running into any tables or chairs, but it definitely took all of his focus to do so, and he had a few close calls before they were finally on the open road. With nothing in his path to look out for, the thief relaxed a little more, raising his arms over his head in a long stretch and yawning again. He couldn’t wait to get back to the campsite, so he could lay down and get some sleep.

Behind him, he could hear Alistair and Olivia chatting and laughing loudly with each other, and he smiled faintly to himself. Now that the two weren’t trying to trick him or otherwise mess with him, he found that he was feeling happy for them. In all the time he’d been living with Alistair, he had never seen the thief as enamored with a woman as he was with the knight. While he still had his doubts that Olivia would be as willing to follow the same path that Penelope was—who knew if she even wanted a long-term relationship to begin with—he hoped things would work out for them to some degree.

Crow was drawn from his musings when he heard Penelope speak up and stretch her hand out towards him. He trotted up beside her to intertwine their fingers as he took her hand. “’M fine,” he answered her question with a shrug and then frowned thoughtfully. “But I shoul’ pro’ly drink some water when we get back, so I don’ wake up too hungover.” He squeezed her hand and smiled. “Y’should too, love.”

“It’s probably too late for that,” Gavin muttered, seeming more irritable at the thief’s sudden appearance by his side.

“No ‘arm in tryin’,” Crow pointed out. He shifted to walk a little closer to Penelope’s side, wanting to stay next to her as they headed back to their camp. “A li’l water an’ sleep sounds great righ’ now.”

Gavin just grunted in response and then fell silent for a moment before he casted the thief a glance from the corner of his eye. “Why don’t you stay back with Olivia and that other thief of yours? They’re far drunker than the two of you, so they might need help getting back to camp.”

Crow frowned, “I’d rath’r stay up ‘ere.”

“Then why don’t you just go check on them?” Gavin insisted. “If they don’t need anything, then you could come back.”

“I guess’so,” Crow relented after a moment, too inebriated to realize that the knight was just trying to get rid of him. He pressed a quick kiss to Penelope’s cheek and let go of her hand. “I’ll be righ’ back. Don’ miss me too much.” He casted her a teasing wink and slowed his pace to fall back beside the others.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled at Crow as he took her hand. As he advised her to drink some water once they returned to camp, she gave a small nod of agreement. She looked ahead as they walked, silently listening as Gavin and Crow spoke. When Crow finally agreed to go take care of Olivia and Alistair, the knight frowned a little, wishing he would have just stayed by her side. However, his teasing words managed to cheer her up quickly and she gave him a small smile. "Alrigh' I'll 'ry no' to." she said with a soft chuckle.

Her gaze followed him for a moment as he dropped back besides the other couple, whom seemed to be enjoying themselves. She smiled to herself and looked back ahead, feeling particularly happy both due to spending most the night with Crow and because of how smitten Olivia seemed to be with Alistair. It seemed like it had been a good night after all, even if they had gotten a bit sidetracked.

"This reminds me of the first night I met Olivia.." he muttered as he heard the other female knight's laughter from behind them. He glanced down at Penelope and raised an eyebrow. "Do you remember that?"

"Mhm?" Penelope blinked and looked up at him before nodding her head with a grin as the memory resurfaced. "O'course. She 'ried to sleep with you an' you got oll angry." she let out a small laugh.

"Then she ended up going home with some other man she found at the tavern." Gavin shook his head. "And we had to listen to them them the whole walk back to the castle." He shifted his gaze to glance over his shoulder and let out a small snort. "I guess something never change."

"Ahh 'hat's not true." Penelope said, her gaze softening a bit. "'livia's changing. She only had her eyes se' on one guy 'onight far as I could 'ell."

Gavin gave her a doubtful look but still gave a small nod. "Maybe..." he mumbled. "Though I have my doubts about the man she's chosen."

Penelope snorted. "You go' doubs bout the man I've chosen too." She eyed him challengingly, causing for the male knight to shift his gaze away from her as they walked. As he fell silent, she relaxed again and focused her gaze ahead. She grew a bit more eager to reach camp as she thought about lying down. Weariness from the day mixed with the alcohol in her system causing for the knight to grow a bit tired. However, before she could think about it much more, she felt Gavin shift a little closer to her as they walked. Confused by his action, she shifted her gaze to look up at him questioningly only to find him frowning at her.

"Penelope..." he murmured her name then paused before going on in a quiet voice. "Are you really sure about the man you've chosen?" He let out a small sigh and shifted his gaze to the ground. "I just... We were together for a year.. Were you not happy then?"

Penelope stared up at him for a moment. Even though she was intoxicated, the sudden spill of him asking her about their past was surprising, especially due to how heavy the words sounded. For a moment, she wasn't sure how to reply. "'s complica'ed." she finally said with a frown. "I 'as but only cause I se'tled for a future wih'out him. I was supp'se to be with him but 'hen the 'ar ha'pen and I couldn'... I do care 'bout you Gavin, I 'lways ha'e but I'ove him."

Gavin frowned at her and lifted his other hand to lightly touch his fingertips to her neck. "Even though he treats you like another fling?" he asked shaking his head. "Or is gallivanting with that other woman? Or possibly responsible for attacking our camp?"

Penelope looked at him, confused when he touched her neck. She didn't understand what was there to lead him to that conclusion about Crow so she merely dusted his hand away with her own. "I don' like these ques'ions." she mumbled with an annoyed frown. She would have moved away from him completely if she could but knowing she needed the support to walk, the knight didn't do much besides avoid his gaze. "'one of tha's even righ'. He didn' do any of tha'." she shook her head. Her gaze caught a glimpse ahead as she shook her head and she realized their camp had come into view.

"Ah fin'lly we're almos' back." she said with a smile, unintentionally switching the subject before Gavin had the chance to pester her about it further.

[Rogue Sloth]

Almost as soon as Crow fell back to join Olivia and Alistair, he felt someone throw an arm over his shoulders that made him stumble. Looking up, he saw that Alistair had appeared next to him with a wide grin. “Look who d’cided t’join us,” he laughed and then met the other thief’s gaze. “’M glad y’let us come wi’h you o’ this trip. S’ been fun.”

“Why wouldn’ I?” Crow shrugged, momentarily forgetting about his reasoning for keeping Alistair and Rikki in the dark about Jaxon. In his current state of inebriation, it sounded like a good enough idea to bring the others along. Well, maybe not Rikki. She had been pestering him quite a bit, and he was beginning to regret letting her come along. Alistair, however, had spent all of his time with Olivia, causing no trouble whatsoever aside from tricking him into getting drunk. He was pleasant company to be around.

“I ‘unno,” Alistair shook his head and then glanced at Olivia with a coy expression that made her giggle. “But ‘m glad y’did.” He looked back at Crow again with a knowing glint in his eye. “So, I no’iced you seem pretty close t’that other knigh’, huh?”

“Yeah,” Crow’s eyes wandered to Penelope ahead of him, and a soft smile spread across his lips of its own accord. “I love ‘er.” The alcohol in his system took away his reluctance to admit his feelings for the knight to his companion, so the words flowed easily off his tongue.

“Really?” Alitair quirked a brow and then clapped the other thief on the back, making him stumble again. “Well, goo’ f’r you!” In the next moment, he leaned in close and lowered his voice again, casting a subtle gesture towards Olivia. “Maybe ‘f I c’n ge’ this one o’ board wit’ it, we c’n both marry knigh’s.”

“Maybe,” Crow smirked at him in amusement. It was difficult to tell if Alistair was really serious about marrying Olivia or if it was just the alcohol talking, but the thief didn’t bother to press him for the information. Instead, his eyes wandered back to Penelope one more time as he suddenly wanted to walk beside her again.

“’Ey,” he said, looking between Alistair and Olivia. “I jus’ came back ‘ere to see ‘f eith’r o’ you needed any ‘elp. So, do you?”

“Nah,” Olivia waved a hand. “We’re fine ‘f we jus’ lean on each oth’r som’times.”

“M’kay,” Crow nodded, standing up slightly straighter in excitement at the thought of rejoining Penelope at the front of the group again. “Then ‘m gonna go back t’ Pe’elope now.” Without waiting for a reply, he hastened his pace to trot up beside the knight again, fumbling to take her hand in his again when he reached her.

“Guesss who’s back,” he grinned at her fondly, taking no notice of the fact that Gavin had gotten closer to her in his absence. “Di’ y’miss me?”

The knight wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste at the sight of the thief and then turned away from him. He only spoke up again when they reached the edge of the camp, when he addressed Penelope: “Do you need help sitting down?” He studied her with a softness in his eyes that didn’t slip past Crow’s drunken gaze.

The thief narrowed his eyes, disliking the way the other man was looking at her. “I c’n help ‘er do tha’ much,” he said, wrapping one arm around the female knight’s waist both to steady her against his side and make it clear to Gavin that he wasn’t going anywhere. “Thanks, bu’ she doesn’ need yer help an’more.”

Gavin shot him a glare, but after a moment of hesitation, he looked away again, seeming to think better of arguing with the stubborn thief. “I’m going to get started on supper,” he muttered, pulling away from Penelope as he made his way over to the cooking supplies near the center of the clearing.

Crow watched him go until he felt content that the knight would leave them alone and then turned back to Penelope with a smile. “C’mon,” he said, holding her close to his side as he walked her over to a nearby tree. “Le’s sit ov’r here ‘til supper’s ready.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blinked in surprise as she felt someone take her hand. Turning to look, she saw it was Crow and returned his grin with one of her own as she was glad to have the thief back besides her at the front. "'Course." she giggled giving his hand a small squeeze. Her gaze flickered back ahead to the camp as they neared it, finding herself eager to finally come to a stop for the night. Luckily for her it didn't take them much longer to reach the edge of the clearing.

As Gavin spoke up, she turned to him, about to answer until Crow spoke up instead. She looked over at the thief as he wrapped an arm around her and offered to help her instead. A hint of confusion seeped into her gaze as she noticed he seemed a little annoyed with Gavin. She wondered what the male knight had done to annoy Crow this time, as she didn't think he had accused him of anything at the moment. The knight didn't ask though as Gavin pulled away from her and announced he was going to start on supper. "'hanks Gavin." she said with a small smile before her gaze shifted over to Crow.

"Alrigh'." she nodded at his words and slipped one arm around him as they walked over to the tree. Aware that Crow was still drunk, the female knight tried to be a bit more careful as she walked besides him as she didn't want to end up sending both of them to the ground. She managed to keep fairly balanced all the way up to the tree and paused to position herself to sit down, using the trunk of the tree for some support as well.

She flopped a bit clumsily onto the ground and let out a sigh of relief, glad to be sitting down again. Penelope shifted a bit to get more comfortable as she leaned back against the tree and turned her head to look over at Crow as he sat down besides her. She smiled and pressed closer to the thief. "'onight was fun. Even 'f we mess u' a'ittle." she said with a small laugh. Unable to recall the details in that moment, the knight didn't see much of an issue with how the night had gone.

Her gaze flickered over to Gavin, who was getting started on the food. "'least 'ne of us man'ged 't sta'ed sober. 'm glad he's so depen'able. We 'ould buy 'em a drink or somethin' t'hank 'em." she said looking back over to Crow with a smile. Gavin did seem rather helpful in that moment. He had finished whatever they needed to do at the tavern, helped her get back to camp, and was now preparing them dinner. Although she was aware of him annoying her at times, that didn't seem as important at the moment.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow walked carefully as he guided Penelope over to the tree, finding it much more difficult to stay balanced with her extra weight leaning against him. Despite the added difficulty, he was glad that she was using him for support instead of her former suitor now. He hadn’t thought much of Gavin’s offer to help her until he’d caught that strange look in the man’s eye. Now, a protective instinct inside of him didn’t want the knight to come anywhere near her.

Fortunately, he managed to make it to the tree without falling and let go of Penelope when she was close enough to use the tree for support instead. He waited for her to sit down first and then followed her lead, dropping haphazardly to the ground by her side. Once he had settled down, he rested his back against the trunk and let himself lean sideways so that his shoulder was pressed against the knight’s. Finding the position to be quite comfortable, he let out a content sigh and closed his eyes, resting his head on hers as they reclined beneath the tree. Now that they had stopped walking, his exhaustion was catching up with him even more, and it wasn’t long before he felt himself begin to drift off.

Before he could fall asleep, Penelope’s voice roused him from his half-conscious state. He blinked his eyes open and stretched out his legs, trying to wake up a little more so he could pay attention to what she was saying. As he listened to her tell him that she enjoyed the night, he nodded in agreement. He had also found their time in the tavern to be fun. Even though he hadn’t intended to let himself get drunk, he supposed it was alright since he’d had her by his side the whole time.

As she went on to talk about how she was glad that Gavin had stayed sober, Crow frowned slightly, reminded of his annoyance with the knight. “I s’pose so,” he shrugged noncommittally, averting his gaze to glance at the other man, who had set up a pot over the firepit to cook. While he was still frustrated with Gavin, he was pleased to see that the knight seemed to have given up on getting close to Penelope for now. Deciding to forget about the incident for now, he turned back to her with a mischievous smirk, quickly distracted yet again by his attraction to her.

In the next moment, he leaned most of his weight into the knight’s side, forcing her to the ground so that he was laying partially on top of her in the grass. He propped himself up on one arm and used his free hand to explore her waistline as he kissed her passionately, savoring the feeling of their lips moving against each other. Just like before, he didn’t care who saw them at the moment. All of his attention was focused on his affection for her.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked at him with a confused expression as he smirked at her. Suddenly, she felt the thief shift some of his weight into her side, easily causing her to fall back into the grass as her balance still wasn't the best in her current state. She looked up at him as he hovered just slightly about her. She gave a small giggle at his spontaneity and met his lips enthusiastically as he kissed her. The knight reached up and ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him back fervently.

She eventually pulled back to catch her breath and grinned up at him dazedly. Her gaze locked on his for a moment, studying his eyes before moving to rest her hands against his cheek. "'ou're eyes're so pretty." she mused a bit absently as looked up at him. Perhaps it was due to the alcohol in her system, but she found she could get lost in them rather easily. A pretty shade of green with a warm look in them as they looked at her, she felt her heart flutter out of fondness for him. Penelope smiled and leaned up to press a series of affectionate kisses from his cheek to his jaw. After a moment she pull back, still smiling up at him.

As she laid her head back down, she became a bit more aware that they were making a bit of a scene with the way they were currently acting. Though it wasn't in the tavern, she supposed it was still a little wrong to act that way in front of the other three that were with them, even though she doubted Alistair and Olivia even noticed. Penelope placed a hand on his chest to keep a bit of distance between them to prevent things getting more heated. "We should prolly s'op. W're not esactly alone." she said with a small chuckle.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow’s heart raced with excitement as he and Penelope kissed in the grass. He trailed his free hand down the length of her side, only pausing when he reached her thigh. Being with the knight like this was one of his favorite pastimes. He shuddered at the feeling of their bodies moving against each other with the rhythm of the kiss, a bit lightheaded between his passion for her and his irregular breathing from his zeal for her lips. The dizziness didn’t bother him though. In fact, it just encouraged him to press into her all the more fervently, easily losing himself in the moment and forgetting everything else.

Eventually, he felt Penelope pull back, and it was then that he took a moment to catch his lost breath, panting softly as he held her gaze. At her compliment, he laughed, finding her dazed words both endearing and flattering. “Thanks,” he grinned, leaning his cheek into the palm of her hand. “I ‘ike yer eyes too.” He studied her eyes as he spoke, taking in every detail. He found it interesting that even though they both had green eyes, the hues were quite different. In contrast with his pale, bright irises, hers were a deep, rich shade of jade that reminded him of the precious stones he had seen in the jewelry of some noblewomen. It was a unique color that he had never seen in another person before, and it was another trait that he loved about her.

He closed his eyes and sighed as she kissed him along cheek and jaw, relishing her touch. She always made him feel so good. When she leaned back again, he chased after her, pressing a series of soft kisses along the skin of her neck—he wanted to be gentler with her after noticing the marks he had left last time—and bringing his hand up to rest at her waist again. Soon, he heard her say that they should stop and felt her hand on his chest, but he didn’t want to.

“Don’ worry abou’ it,” he murmured, speaking between kisses as he shifted to trail his lips along her jawline. “They don’ care. B’sides, we’ve go’ time t’kill b’fore supper… Migh’ as well enjoy it.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope closed her eyes as he kissed along her jawline. She found herself a bit tempted by his words. It wouldn't be too difficult to ignore the slight discomfort at the thought of kissing so passionately in front of the others. However, the knight realized it likely wasn't a wise thing to do. She let out a small sigh as she glanced towards the thief as she was about to argue against him. Pausing, she realized that action might speak a bit louder than words at the moment as he seemed rather focused on her.

The knight smirked. She moved to wrap her arms around him tightly, holding him close to herself, then in the next moment slipped her leg behind his and rolled them over onto their sides. Penelope let out a small giggle and pressed a playful kiss to his nose as she looked over at him, briefly forgetting the reason for rolling them over in the first place. It finally dawned on her that she was supposed to be encouraging him to not be as caught up in his passion. Realizing she was still holding him tightly against herself, she let him go and shifted to put a small bit of distance between them

Holding his gaze, she gave him a soft smile. "'m se'ious 'ough. 'tfeels a'k'ard with 't others around." she said with a bashful expression. "'sides we c'n 'ill enjoy 't righ'?" she asked him with a soft smile. She shifted a bit closer to him now, nestling her head under his. Just because she didn't want to be as physical in front of the others didn't mean she wanted to put a ton of distance between them. Penelope found that she's be perfectly content resting against him and hoped that he'd feel the same without having to push for more.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow smiled against Penelope’s skin as he felt her snake her arms around his back and pull him closer. It seemed like she had come around to his way of thinking, after all. Well, good. Who cared what the other three thought? Olivia and Alistair were probably off kissing somewhere else, or perhaps doing more by this hour—and he couldn’t have cared less if the sight of their intimacy made Gavin uncomfortable. If the knight didn’t like it, he could just look away. It seemed like a simple enough solution in the thief’s hazy mind.

Now that Penelope seemed more into the moment, he pressed into her a little more fervently, kissing her along the side of her neck and using his teeth to gently nip at her skin. He was so focused on her that he didn’t notice she had hooked her leg behind his, so when she suddenly pulled to roll him off of her, a sharp gasp of surprise escaped him as he landed rather clumsily on his side. He blinked, wondering why she had done that when they seemed to have been having such a good time.

Crow finally pulled back to meet her gaze, wide eyed as he recovered from being caught off guard by her abrupt change in attitude. When she kissed him playfully on the nose, he almost believed she had just tricked him as a joke, but in the next moment, her arms loosened around his back and she distanced herself from him. He frowned, disappointed that she didn’t seem to want to keep kissing him. In his mind, it was the best thing to do while they were waiting for Gavin to finish cooking supper. Why wouldn’t she want to do it as well? He couldn’t understand.

As Penelope insisted that she didn’t want to be so physical with him in front of the others, Crow let out a defeated sigh. He couldn’t argue with her when she looked so cute with her bashful expression. Besides, it seemed like just because she wanted to stop kissing didn’t mean she wanted to make him go and sit somewhere else. He smiled softly as she nestled her head beneath his. “A’ight, fine,” he relented with an affectionate chuckle. “You ‘in.” He closed his eyes again and buried his head against her neck, but this time made no moves to get more intimate with her. “I s’pose this’ ‘s nice too.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled as Crow gave into her words and rested with her. "'t is." she mumbled with a small giggle at his words. Shifting to get a bit more comfortable against him, she let out a content sigh and closed her eyes, feeling it grow a bit difficult to keep them open. Between the effects of the alcohol and his warm presence besides her, the knight found herself slowly beginning to drifting off to sleep.

"Supper's ready."

The knight jumped slightly at the sound of Gavin's voice, quickly pulled from her light slumber. Penelope blinked her eyes wearily and turned to look over at the male knight as he stood at her side with a bowl of food in one hand. Slowly, she pulled herself away from Crow's side and sat up. She must have swayed slightly upon sitting up as she felt Gavin his free hand on her shoulder to steady her. Though she felt a bit groggy from the short nap she had taken, her head felt a little clearer than before.

"Thankss Gavin." she mumbled gratefully as she took the bowl of food from him. A familiar scent wafted from it and as she looked down at the food, she was surprised to find out it was porridge. She blinked then looked back up at the male knight with a small hint of excitement in her expression. "'ait is this your sweet porr'dge?"

Gavin smiled faintly before nodding his head. "I was going to make it for breakfast tomorrow but I figured it'd be better for you now than stew would." he explained with a small shrug.

Penelope grinned. The dish was one of her favorites that he was able to make—largely due to the sweet tooth that she had—and it had been a while since he had last cooked it. Drunk or sober, the knight was eager to eat it again. She nearly dove right into it but hesitated as she realized he had only brought one bowl. She glanced towards Crow then looked up at Gavin. "'here's 'is?" she asked him.

Gavin hesitated, eying Crow with contempt that made Penelope frown. He noticed and finally seemed to think better of trying to make the thief get his own dish. "I'll grab it right now." he mumbled reluctantly. "Just eat." He gave her shoulder a soft pat before walking off to grab another portion of the food.

[Rogue Sloth]

Comfortable with Penelope wrapped up in his arms, it wasn’t long before Crow began to feel himself slipping off to sleep. He yawned tiredly and nestled a little closer to the knight, finding her presence relaxing. In that moment, he no longer felt the rush of urgency and excitement that had coaxed him to be so physical with her before. Instead, the feeling was replaced with a peaceful contentedness that tempted him to let go of any guardedness and inhibitions to simply nap by her side.

He wasn’t sure how long he was asleep before he was roused by Gavin’s deep voice. The thief blinked dazedly and lifted his head to see that the knight was standing over them with a bowl of food in his hand. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see what was in the bowl, but the aroma that wafted down to him smelled sweet. It was far different than the rich and savory scents that usually came from the suppers that the knight cooked for them. He wondered what the man had made for them this time.

Feeling Penelope shift against his side, Crow loosened his hold on her to allow her to pull away from him so that she could sit up. He was just about to get up as well when he noticed something that made him stiffen with a pang of annoyance. He narrowed his eyes at Gavin, who had leaned over to rest a hand on Penelope’s shoulder when she had gotten up from the ground. Even in his drunkenness, it wasn’t hard for him to see what the knight was trying to do, and he didn’t like it.

While the other two began to speak—he noticed with another twinge of frustration that Gavin seemed to have tailored their supper to her liking—he sat up slowly and leaned back against the nearby tree again, observing them in quiet contemplation. Perhaps he was being a bit paranoid, but he wasn’t about to give the knight the benefit of the doubt. Gavin had made it perfectly clear that he believed Penelope would change her mind and go back to him after she’d had her fill of running around with a criminal. It didn’t take a sober mind to tell that all of this was probably part of his long game to win her back.

He’s getting bolder, Crow thought as he watched Gavin walk away with a scathing look in his green eyes. He didn’t like how brazen the knight was being by putting his hands on Penelope right in front of him. Before, it hadn’t bothered him as much because she had needed help getting back to their camp, but now there was no more reason for him to keep acting this way. It was unnecessary and rather haughty of her former suitor to behave like she was still with him in the thief’s opinion.

“I don’ like ‘ow touchy ‘e’s gettin’ with you,” he growled once Gavin was out of earshot, refusing to take his eyes off of the knight in his frustration. “Cocky bast’rd… ‘e’s actin’ like ‘m not ev’n ‘ere.”

[BuzzingBee]

As Gavin walked off, Penelope shuffled to lean back against the tree besides Crow. While she settled in besides him, she blinked in surprise as Crow growled about disliking how Gavin was acting towards her. The knight furrowed her brow as she thought about it for a moment, glancing over towards the male knight. Eventually she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess.." she mumbled with a small frown.

"'s not that bad though 'sit?" she asked as she looked over at Crow with a confused expression. "He barely e'en touched me." She didn't understand Crow's point very well. Though she was aware that Gavin was still hoping for her to change her mind about Crow, he hadn't done anything particularly bad at the moment. If anything, he just seemed friendly and a bit helpful in her drunken opinion. It was nothing brazen or overly irritating like how she recalled Rikki acting at the tavern.

Reminded of that, she added with a little more confidence, "'s not a big deal. Not 'ike he tried to make a move on me or somethin'." She looked down at the bowl of food and stirred it absently with the spoon he had given her as her stomach rumbled with eagerness. The knight wanted to wait for Crow to get his bowl as well but found it increasingly difficult to hold herself back. Luckily she didn't have to wait too long as she heard footsteps approaching them again and looked up to see Gavin walking back over.

The male knight seemed displeased at the fact that he had to get a bowl for the thief and came to a stop in front of Crow. "Here, thief." he grumbled as he held out the dish to him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow sighed when Penelope didn’t seem convinced that Gavin’s actions hadn’t been as innocent as they seemed. He remembered vaguely that he’d tried to explain it to her before when he was sober, and she hadn’t seemed very willing to believe him back then either. Now that they were both drunk, there was no way he would be able to explain to her why he was suspicious of her former suitor. He just hoped she would be able to see it on her own if the other knight grew more persistent.

“Well, no,” he frowned when she pointed out that Gavin hadn’t made a move on her. “Bu’ that doesn’ mean he wasn’ tryin’ an’thing…” Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to say anything more to her about the matter, because the knight was on his way back with a second bowl of porridge. He averted his gaze, still bitter about the way the other man was acting around his woman, and only looked up when Gavin offered him the food. He muttered a brusque word of thanks as he took the dish and then lowered his gaze to the bowl, pointedly avoiding the knight’s eyes as he ate.

To make the situation worse, Gavin took a seat on Penelope’s other side with his own bowl of porridge. It seemed he had no intention of leaving them alone this time, much to Crow’s displeasure. The thief shifted slightly against the tree, wishing the knight would eat somewhere else so he could be alone with her. However, not wanting to start another fight, he kept his frustrations to himself and listened silently as Gavin tried to strike up a conversation with Penelope.

“How are you feeling?” the knight asked as he studied her with a keen eye. “Do you need me to get you some water too?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope didn't wait very long to begin eating her food once Crow has his. After swallowing a bite, she shifted her gaze over to Gavin as he sat down besides her and questioned her. "'m fine." she answered him with a small shake of her head. "'hanks though." She gave him a small smile then focused back on her food as she ate, clearly not thinking much of the male knight sitting besides her in her current state.

"That's good.. I just hope you're not too hungover tomorrow." he sighed with a worried frown. "We've got a long walk back to camp tomorrow."

"'e can take i' slow." Penelope responded with a shrug. "I thin' most o' us are gonna be hungover af'er all."

"Yeah but we shouldn't waste too much time. The faster we get back to camp, the better." he muttered to her with a quick glance at Crow. He paused for a moment, sweeping his gaze over the clearing before looking back to Penelope. "You know.. why don't you sleep on my bedroll tonight?" At his words, she nearly choked on her food. Bewildered by his words, she quickly shifted closer to Crow, eying Gavin with shock at his question. Did he think she was drunk enough to forget she was with Crow? It was extremely bold of him to suggest such a thing in the first place and in front of Crow no less. Perhaps the thief was right to get upset before after all.

Gavin blinked, seeming to realize something and raised his hands up defensively, his face reddening slightly. "I-I didn't mean with me." he stated quickly. Trying to recover from the misunderstanding, he sat up a bit straighter and cleared his throat as his gaze shifted between Penelope and Crow. "I'll be on guard duty for most of the night and with both of your current states, I figured it might be best if you had your own, separate beds is all."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow ate in silence while the knights talked amongst each other, trying not to let his anger with Gavin get the best of him. He really didn’t like how friendly the knight was getting with her. Even though Gavin hadn’t done anything particularly romantic or even different than how a typical friend might behave with another friend, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to his choice of behavior than that. It made him want to get between them to put an end to whatever the knight was doing. However, knowing that Penelope didn’t see her comrade in the same light that he did, he restrained himself. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea that he was trying to control her or tell her who she was permitted to see or anything like that.

He nearly managed to keep to himself, but then Gavin said something that made his head snap up in a mixture of surprise and anger: “You know… why don’t you sleep on my bedroll tonight?”

Crow glared at the knight with unbridled disgust. He knew Gavin was getting bold, but this was a whole new level of confidence. Did he really think he could get her to share a bed with him just because she was drunk? It sickened the thief that he would even consider trying to take advantage of her like that. He wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders when she leaned into him, clenching his jaw as he prepared to intervene if the other man persisted in his attempt to win her back.

Even when Gavin tried to backtrack, Crow didn’t let him off so easily. “Y’said you’ll be keepin’ watch f’r most o’ the nigh’,” he pointed out, eyeing the other man with as much venom as he could muster. “I wond’r what yer plannin’ t’do f’r th’ rest of it?”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” Gavin returned his glare. “I just think it would be best for Penelope to have her own bed while she recovers.”

“Oh yeah?” Crow scoffed in blatant disbelief. “An’ wha’ diff’rence does ‘t make if she’s wi’h me instead? I cer’ainly can’t think of an’ good reas’n.”

Gavin gritted his teeth, as if he had something he wanted to say but was holding himself back. “I just think it’s a better idea for you both to focus on sobering up,” he said calmly after a pause.

“We c’n do tha’ while sharin’ a bed,” the thief said stubbornly. “Jus’ b’cause we’re sleepin’ nex’ to each oth’r doesn’ mean we ‘ave t’ sleep togeth’r. We’re no’ stupid. Tha’s why we did ‘t yes’erday.”

Gavin opened his mouth to respond, and then stopped, seeming to think something over as he studied the thief with a critical eye. “I don’t remember seeing you leave yesterday,” he said slowly.

“Tha’s b‘cause we left when y’ were all sleepin’,” Crow waved a hand dismissively. “Durin’ ‘er guard shif’.”

“Really?” Gavin’s eyes flicked towards Penelope for a moment before returning to the thief. “I didn’t know you had even gotten up.”

“Oh yeah,” Crow shrugged uncaringly. “I was awake f’r a long time. I go’ up t’ be wi’h this beauty—” he shot Penelope a flirtatious smirk. “’N then I took ov’r th’ res’ o’ her shif’ ‘cause she was tire’.”

“Is that so?” Gavin mused, seeming interested in this new information. He leaned forward slightly as he went on in an accusative voice. “Did you do anything else last night?”

Crow hesitated at that, leaning away from the knight and watching him with a wary gaze. He knew he shouldn’t tell Gavin any more than he already had, although he couldn’t remember the reason why. All he knew was that the thought of telling the other man about what he had done after taking Penelope’s shift raised a red flag inside of him that he was quick to heed. “No,” he finally answered, lowering his gaze and fidgeting with the hem of his tunic. It was much harder for him to hide his tics while he was drunk. “I didn’ do an’thin’ else. Jus’ woke ‘livia an’ wen’ to sleep.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope remained close to Crow as Gavin tried to explain himself. She supposed that made sense—considering neither her nor Olivia would likely be able to take over for him during the night—but like Crow, she didn't see any reason for her to sleep separate from him. As Crow brought up them sleeping together, the female knight blinked and shifted a bit uneasily as he mentioned how they had left during her guard shift.

She averted her gaze as Gavin looked over at her. Though no harm had been done from abandoning her shift, she still felt a little guilty. Penelope was expecting the male knight to chide her for spending part of her shift with Crow but instead he seemed more interested in questioning Crow. She looked a little confused and lifted her gaze again as he leaned in slightly. At Crow's words, Gavin smirked faintly, which only confused the drunken knight more. He was acting like he had discovered something but she didn't understand what.

"Uh huh.. I doubt that." Gavin mused as he leaned away again. "Seems like you getting drunk was more productive than I thought it would be since it seems to me you must have done something during her shift."

"'hat do you mean?" Penelope asked him.

Gavin glanced towards her. "This thief must have done something to sabotage us. He's having us chase down false leads." he said, glaring at Crow.

"No' this again." Penelope rolled her eyes. It seemed the male knight was still as certain as ever that Crow was the enemy. She had nearly forgotten how annoying Gavin could been when he was trying to turn her against Crow. Unfortunately for him, she knew better and trusted Crow too much to be easily swayed, even when she was drunk. "Gavin he 'idn't do wha'ever you think he did. You're jus' being ridic'lous again."

"I'm sure I'm not." Gavin said with clear certainty in his voice.

"Oh?" Penelope snorted and met his gaze challengingly. "'hen you ca' prove it?"

Gavin shifted a bit. "Well, I.." he paused and let out a sigh. "I'll explain it to you in the morning when you're sober. I don't know if you'll understand me now."

"Sure." Penelope muttered, clearly unconvinced her opinion would be any different in the morning. The male knight seemed to give up for now and slowly rose to his feet to go put away the supplies he had used for the meal. He paused to shot one last glare at Crow before continuing on his way. Penelope watched him for a moment and shook her head before moving lean her head against Crow's shoulder. "'es such a pain some'imes. He needs to jus' 'rust you already."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow swallowed nervously when Gavin’s serious expression was broken with a knowing smirk. He wasn’t sure what he’d done, but he felt certain he had slipped up somehow. He studied the knight guardedly, trying to wrack his brain as he worked to figure out what had tipped him off. Unfortunately, he was too inebriated to come up with an answer. All he could tell for sure was that Gavin knew something that he wasn’t supposed to know, and it wasn’t good news for him.

His heartbeat quickened slightly as he listened to Penelope try to vouch for him, only to be shot down right away by her former suitor, who seemed convinced that he was right. The thief glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Whatever had clued Gavin in to his actions the night before didn’t seem to have alerted her. He was slightly relieved about that, since it would be much harder to convince both of them that he had stayed in the camp for the entirety of her guard shift. If he was going to get away with sabotaging the knights, he needed to keep her trust long enough to thoroughly throw them off Jaxon’s trail.

He was just starting to regain hope that he still had a chance to keep them off his scent, when Gavin added one last comment that made his blood run cold. He’ll explain what to her when she’s sober? He thought, staring at the knight with thinly veiled worry. Was it possible that Gavin had actually found proof of his allegiance to Jaxon? How could that have happened? He had been so careful to make sure everything had gone according to the plan. As hard as he tried to think of a way that the knight could have caught him, he drew nothing but blanks.

He’s bluffing, he bit the inside of his lip, already feeling himself starting to sweat from his nervousness. He has to be bluffing. He has no proof. He’s just trying to scare me. Despite his efforts to reassure himself that he was just being paranoid, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something important, something that just might incriminate him for what he had done. He groaned inwardly. Why did Olivia have to switch my drink tonight? I wish I was sober right now…

Crow was so wrapped up in his spiraling thoughts that he barely noticed when Penelope leaned her head against his shoulder. He blinked, realizing suddenly that Gavin had left, and he was still staring at the ghost of where the knight had been. Coming back to himself a bit, he broke his gaze away from the spot and turned to look at her. “Right…” he frowned, holding her closer to himself and resting his head against hers as he subconsciously sought comfort in her touch. The threats of her ex suitor continued to weigh heavily on his mind as he struggled once more to understand what could have made the knight so certain that he was right.

After some time had passed, he cleared his throat. “We shoul’ ge’ some sleep,” he murmured, pulling away from her to stand up. “’S late, an’ I don’ wan’ to wake up wi’h a headache t’morrow.” Once he felt steady enough on his feet, he braced one arm securely against the tree and offered her a hand to get up as well.

[BuzzingBee]

She didn't catch his frown as she settled comfortably against him. The knight smiled as held her close and closed her eyes for a moment as she enjoyed the peaceful moment, oblivious to Crow's inner turmoil. When the thief finally pulled away from her, she leaned back against the tree and nodded her head reluctantly. With her belly now full from the supper Gavin had made, laying down for the night sounded like a wonderful idea.

As he offered her his hand, she hesitated to take it merely because she wasn't sure how stable he was. Penelope eventually grabbed it, realizing he was bracing himself against the tree, and carefully got up to her feet. Since they had been on the ground for a while, she had to lean against the tree slightly in order to find a bit of balance. Once she had, she laced her fingers with his and slowly stepped away from the tree so they could begin to head over to where the bed was located.

The knight walked slowly at his side, occasionally having to lightly lean on him to recover her balance. She had at least improved a bit from the last time she had been walking. As they reached the bed, she let go of his hand and clumsily lowered herself back to the ground. She shifted a bit, both to get more comfortable as well as give him room to lay besides her. Once he did, she leaned over and pressed a tender kiss to his lips.

She pulled back and settled contently against him for the night. "Goodnigh' Crow.. I love you." she murmured. Letting out a soft exhale, she closed her eyes and gave into the weariness that she felt. Her breathing grew softer as she sunk into a deep sleep rather quickly besides him.