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

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded thoughtfully when Penelope said she doubted the other nobles would come around quickly. He had the same feeling, especially when everyone who recognized him took the opportunity to cast him bitter looks as he walked by. His father was probably being overly optimistic in assuming that his talents alone would be enough to change their opinions of him. Then again, the man was the king of Brerra. Perhaps he had a better idea of how to convince the others to accept him than the thief did.

He turned to look up at the castle as they approached it. Even if some of the nobles began treating him with more respect, he doubted he would return their trust. It was hard for him to imagine men and women of a higher class treating him with genuine kindness. If anything, he would likely just be even more wary of the ones who approached him in a friendly manner, since he had a feeling they would only do so to get something from either him or his father. After all, what other reason would they have to accept a man who was known to steal from them in his past?

As Penelope went on to list off the few nobles who would be on his side, a faint smile tugged at Crow’s lip. Naida had already made it perfectly clear that she was excited to help him transition into noble life, and he knew she was right about Olivia and Gavin too. Honestly, he expected Olivia to be entertained by the sudden change and poke fun at him about becoming a viceroy. He didn’t know Gavin well enough to expect anything from him, but judging by the fact that the knight seemed resigned to the fact that he and Penelope were together, he would probably be happy to know that she wouldn’t be giving up her status to be with him.

“Yeah, I’m glad I’ve got a few people on my side,” he said, casting her a fond look. “Of course, you’re still my favorite supporter though.” He turned to look ahead again as they reached the main doors of the castle, reaching out to pull one open for her to step inside first. As they passed through, he vaguely noticed the guards on either side of the doors watch him closely, as if they were afraid he was going to cause trouble, but he was growing numb to the constant negativity of the nobles in the inner kingdom, so he ignored them as he headed into the palace.

Once they were inside, Crow hastened his pace slightly, eager to get back to his room to see if his father’s servants had prepared him supper again. “I have to wonder how my father plans to handle our relation to each other though,” he mused in a low voice as they walked. “My siblings realized we were related just by looking at me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter figured it out too, since he keeps acting so nervous around me.” He turned to her with a shrug. “He hasn’t said anything about telling anyone that I’m his son, so I don’t think he was planning to, but it seems like the people who are closest to him are starting to figure it out anyway.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled at him and moved to step into the castle as he opened the door. The knight glanced at the nearby guards, silently wondering to herself how much longer they'd be looking at him like that, before she focused her gaze back ahead and walked on as Crow picked up his pace slightly. As he spoke up about his father again, she gave a thoughtful look at his words. It was difficult to say how the king was going to handle their relation. Surely assumptions would be made since the two looked quite a bit alike.

"I'm not sure how he'd handle it either." Penelope mused quietly. "I doubt he'd openly admit it right now, even if you are taking the job. After all, doing that would probably only fan the flames more when you take the position and it'd drag him into them as well." The knight shook her head. She couldn't imagine the king announcing his relation to Crow would go over well if he decided to address it. He had a lot of favor amongst the nobles in the kingdom at the moment. Promoting Crow to viceroy would bring him trouble, announcing that he was his son would surely bring him more.

"Those closest to him might know but I doubt they'll do anything about it.. And those that become suspicious likely won't approach him about. After all, it'd be a risky move on their part if they did." Penelope pointed out as she thought about it more. She looked over at Crow and offered him a half smile lowering her voice more as she added, "If he did tell people, it'd probably be a while after you accepted the job, when things began to cool down from that. He'd have less to worry about then, especially if you become a talented ambassador."

[Rogue Sloth]

When Penelope said that his father probably wouldn’t admit they were related, Crow nodded in agreement. He doubted Albin wanted anyone else to know he was his son, especially as he recalled what the king had said about his appearance ‘making things more difficult.’ It seemed that while his father had been intending to offer him the job as viceroy from the start, he hadn’t planned on publicly accepting the thief as his son. While something about that didn’t particularly sit well with him, he supposed he could understand why Albin would be so hesitant. After all, he didn’t have the best reputation in Brerra, and there would surely be nobles who would be upset to find out that their ruler had sired the most infamous thief in the kingdom.

However, in the same way, he wasn’t necessarily keen to tell anyone that he was the bastard son of the king either. While his father didn’t seem to be the terrible man his mother had made him out to be, he still wasn’t sure where they stood with each other. He preferred to work out their relationship in private rather than have the public eye following their every action towards each other. It was better that the people who knew about them remained small in number.

“You’re probably right,” Crow shrugged when Penelope said that his father would probably wait to tell anyone about their relationship until after he’d become accomplished as an ambassador. “I just can’t help but wonder how long it’s going to stay a secret; you know? I’ve only been here for one full day, and there are already a few people who either found out or seem to be suspicious.” He rounded a corner in the corridor, offhandedly noticing that he was getting better at navigating the halls of the castle without help.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine though,” he sighed. “My father seems to know what he’s doing, so it can’t be that bad if word spreads early.”

After a while, they reached his room, and Crow held the door for Penelope again before following her into the bed chamber. Right away he saw that the servants had indeed prepared another lavish supper for him, as the table on the left side of the room was covered in fresh platters. The thief made a beeline towards it, enticed by the delicious aroma of cooked meats and vegetables. His stomach growled again as he pulled out a chair to sit in and grabbed a plate to fill. “I could get used to this,” he said with a grin, gesturing for Penelope to join him at the small feast before focusing on piling his plate with another venison dish he’d spotted.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod of agreement. The king seemed capable of handling such sensitive information getting out. After all, he surely must have at least considered it a factor when he requested to see Crow in the first place. He had clearly taken measures to keep more people from finding out about it, even sending her own father on the mission. Albin likely already had a plan in place for when Crow accepted the deal.

As they reached his room, she stepped inside and was quickly greeted by the savory scent of the small feast the servants had prepared for him. The knight smirked in amusement as she watched the thief head straight for the table where an assortment of food had been placed. She stepped over to join him and gave a small laugh at his words. "Well, I guess that's another perk for you then." she said amusedly as she began to fill up a small plate for herself.

She began to eat and swept her gaze over the room with newfound interest as it dawned on her that this would be his room now. It wouldn't be a temporary place for him to stay after he accept the offer. It would be his official room once he took the job. Penelope fell silent for a moment as she ate her supper, silently thinking about all that would change with Crow's new title. It was still overwhelming to think about, mostly because there were so many aspects of it to think about.

As she finished her food, she quietly stood up to her feet and looked over the library again before moving to lean against the bed. Penelope crossed her arms and looked over at him. "Gods.. I know you haven't even formally accepted the offer yet but I just can't stop thinking about how much is changing." she mused softly. The knight shook her head and gave a soft laugh. "I just... really didn't think you were going to choose this. I was already making plans for when I'd head back to my battalion.. Now I'm not even sure if I'm going back now that there's the option to stay and make sure the king ends the war."

[Rogue Sloth]

As the two ate their food, Crow lapsed into silence, focused more on filling his empty stomach than holding a conversation at the moment. Just like the last dinner, the food was incredibly flavorful with a variety of spices he’d never tasted before to enhance each dish. He mostly filled his plate with venison, since it was his favorite type of meat, but he also made sure to try the other platters, since almost all of it was new to him. While there wasn’t much about noble life that was appealing to the thief, the meals were something he knew he would never grow tired of.

Once he felt pleasantly full, he leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. It wasn’t often that he had the chance to eat to his heart’s content and still have food leftover. Living in the outer villages, it was rare that he could even completely fill his stomach and remain full throughout the day. Most of the time, he and his companions would split what they could while trying to ration their food to last long enough that they wouldn’t have to frequently go on raids to replenish their supply. They still ate enough to sate their appetites, but he often found himself growing hungry again mere hours after finishing a meal.

However, that didn’t happen with the rich dishes of the castle staff. After his supper the previous night, he hadn’t felt famished in the morning like he usually did after eating the lighter foods that he and the other thieves could scavenge. It was nice to finally be able to truly satisfy his ravenous appetite with red meat and other heavy foods.

Crow glanced at Penelope when she stood up from the table, following her with his eyes as she looked over the library and leaned against the bed. “I know what you mean,” he murmured when she brought up how much was changing, letting his gaze wander over the ambassador’s room—his room. It was still strange to think that he was going to own anything. Aside from the house in Myrefall, he’d never had any possessions like this to his name before. Even though it was technically part of the castle that his father was the ruler of, it was still a private space that would belong to him when he took the job. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it yet.

As Penelope went on to talk about how she hadn’t been expecting him to take the king’s offer, Crow stood up from the table to walk over to where she was standing. His green eyes swept over her, and a smirk tugged at his lip. “A lot of things will be different,” he said in a low voice, moving to stand in front of her with his hands resting on either side of her waist. “But not everything has changed.” His eyes flicked back up to her face. “I may be taking a new title, but I’m still me.”

Leaning in, he touched a few soft kisses to her jawline, letting his lips brush against her skin as he added in a sultry whisper, “And I still find you unbelievably attractive.” In the next moment, he moved in to kiss her more passionately, leaning his weight forward to push them both back onto the bed so that he was lying on top of her. Guessing that no one else would be stopping by now that it was so late, he let himself sink into her touch without worrying about the door.

“Want to help me make this room feel more like my own, love?” he grinned at her breathily when he pulled back from the kiss, trailing one hand down her side to toy with the hem of her pants.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up at him as he stepped over to her, noticing him smirk a little. She smiled at his words and slipped her arms around him. The knight sighed contentedly as he softly kissed her jawline, shuddering the feeling of his lips against her skin. At his sultry words, she looked up at him and smirked before meeting his lips with equal passion. Her heart began to race excitedly, as it usually did with his touch. With everything that had been going on, it was comforting to feel the sense of familiarity of being with him. She smiled against his lips as he pushed them back onto the bed, enjoying the lack of distance between them.

"Well, I'm glad that hasn't changed." she said with a breathless chuckle as he pulled back from the kiss. At his suggestive words, she hesitated, glancing towards the door. It was a little risky letting their guard down that much in the middle of the castle, however, it was rather late. Most were probably retiring to their own rooms by now aside from the guards. She doubted anyone would be coming to disturb Crow until the morning anyways. Having made her decision, her gaze flickered back up to him and she smirked. "I don't see any reason not to as long as we're quiet."

The knight leaned up to trail kisses along his neck while shifting to allow him to remove her pants. She let the fabric drop to the floor and pressed into him. "I'm certainly glad this won't be changing." she murmured against his skin before moving to press another passionate kiss to his lips. She closed her eyes as she kissed him and trailed a hand down to the hem of his tunic, letting her hand remain there until she pulled back from the kiss to remove it.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow felt his heart begin to race excitedly as Penelope agreed to be with him as long as they were quiet. He was glad that she didn’t object, since he knew it was unlikely that anyone would be dropping by until the morning. They had all the time in the world to be together that night. As she began to kiss him along his neck, he sighed softly, slipping her pants off and chuckling at her words. “Me too,” he murmured before moving to meet her when she pressed a passionate kiss to his lips.

Pulling back slightly, he shifted to allow her to remove his tunic and then reached to hold her by the waist when the clothing was off, adjusting the way they were lying on the bed so that they would be more comfortable. Once that was done, he hovered over her teasingly for a moment before carefully sliding her shirt over her head, trailing kisses from her stomach to her chest as he did. He closed his eyes and dropped her shirt to the ground, enjoying the feeling of being with her like this. After going so long without her intimate touch while he’d been recovering, he was more grateful for the opportunities they found to get away lately. And now that he had his own private room in the castle, they wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking off to find someplace to hide. It was nice to have such a luxury.

Crow met Penelope’s lips again with zeal, guiding her hands to his waistband and allowing her to remove his pants as he kissed her. His heart pounded in his chest, and he ran his hands sensuously over her body, shifting on the bed as he got ready to take things farther. However, just as he began to meet her, the thief tensed as a knock sounded on the door. Someone was coming inside.

With no time to hide, Crow spat a curse and reached for the blanket that was folded back at the bottom of the bed, fumbling in his urgency as he pulled it over both of them and making sure to cover Penelope’s head as he did. It was still obvious that he had someone with him in the room, but he didn’t want whoever was about to enter realize that someone was Penelope. If it was Hunter or one of the other servants or—gods forbid—William, he needed to make sure they didn’t spread word to anyone else that the two were together. So, even though it was a rather clumsy attempt, he hoped it would be enough to deter the unknown visitor from asking any questions.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy.

As the door opened, it wasn’t one of the servants, but John who stepped inside. Crow met his gaze across the room, staring a bit dumbly as his mind failed to come up with an excuse to give the other man. John wasn’t much better off. The older knight stiffened by the entrance as his eyes flicked from Crow’s flustered face to the clothing piled haphazardly on the floor to Penelope, covered by the blanket the thief had thrown over her.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke a word, until Crow managed to overcome his shock and cleared his throat awkwardly, “Umm… I wasn’t expecting company…”

John said nothing at first, but the thief could tell he wasn’t happy. His jaw was set, and his lips were pursed into a thin line as he folded his arms over his chest and turned back to his daughter. “Penelope, is that you under there?” he growled with clear displeasure.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope lightly bit her lip as he trailed kisses up her torso. She savored the feeling of his touch, glad they had found another moment alone. As he met her lips again, she went ahead and removed his pants as they kissed. The knight felt her heart racing in her chest as the thief readied to take things further, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. She paled at the sound and froze for a brief moment before hurrying to help him pull the blanket up and over them. She held her breath as she settled underneath it.

She heard the door open and an unexpected silence follow. Her heart pounded anxiously in her chest as she worried about who was visiting them and why nothing was being said. The knight knew she wasn't exactly well hidden but she hoped that Crow would be able to lie their way out of this mess. Unfortunately, she soon found out why that wouldn't exactly work. Penelope cringed as she heard the voice of her father. While she was partly relied that it wasn't William, that certainly didn't make their current situation any better. For a moment, she didn't reply and debated if she even should.

Eventually, she reluctantly poked her head out about half way from under the covers and avoided John's gaze. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment over the situation. "Y-Yeah... W-What-What are you doing here?" she stuttered nervously from beneath the blanket over the lower half of her face.

"I was looking for you since you hadn't gone to your room yet and I wanted to ask you about your meeting with the king." John growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His gaze narrowed his gaze at Crow and shook his head. "And you, fool, are lucky we're in the castle where I can't cut off your hands." He shook his head and turned back to the door. "I'm going to step outside now and expect your clothing to be back on when I come back in. Do you understand?"

Penelope gave a wordless nod of her head. That was enough for John who, though angry, clearly wanted to get out of the room while they were both still clothesless. "Good." he grunted and dipped out of the room, shutting the door roughly behind himself.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow slid a little further beneath the blanket, averting his gaze uncomfortably as John and Penelope spoke. Why did it have to be her father of all people who had come into the room tonight? He could have lied his way out of this mess if it had been Hunter or another servant who had stopped by, since no one else knew he and Penelope were together. Instead, it had to be the one person who knew exactly who was hidden underneath the blanket with him who decided to show up at that moment. Worse still, it was the only person who would be angry about catching them sleeping together. He wanted to bury himself underneath the bedsheets in discomfort.

As John turned on him with a glare, Crow shrank beneath his cold gaze and nodded dully at the older knight’s order to get dressed. The rebellious part of him was almost tempted to defend himself and Penelope, since they were their own people and had every right to be intimate if they wished, but he knew that would just make the situation worse. Nobles weren’t the same as peasants anyway. From what he knew, parents of noblemen and women had much more control over their children than anyone in the outer villages did. He’d be fighting against John’s culture if he tried to push his own values on the knight. So, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort, he held his tongue.

Once Penelope’s father left, Crow fell back onto the mattress and pulled the blanket over his head with a groan. “Gods, he’s going to kill me, isn’t he?” he muttered sourly, his voice muffled by the thick fabric that was covering his face. As much as he wanted to just crawl underneath the small mountain of pillows on the bed and pretend like the awkward moment had never happened, he knew it wouldn’t be long before John came back into the room expecting them to be fully dressed. So, forcing down his discomfort, he climbed off the bed to retrieve his clothes from the floor and put them back on.

Not long after they were decent again, another knock sounded on the door, followed by a slightly longer pause before John stepped back into the room. Crow leaned back against the bottom bedpost with his arms folded defensively over his chest and his gaze averted from the knight’s, leaving some distance between himself and Penelope to keep from angering her father more. Unfortunately, the gesture did little to improve the older man’s bitter mood.

“So,” John growled, looking between the two with narrowed eyes. “Would one of you care to explain to me what the hell you two think you were doing?”

[BuzzingBee]

"He's going to kill both of us." Penelope groaned, closing her eyes tightly for a moment. It wasn't very often the knight wanted to disappear but this situation certainly had her wishing she could. Of all the people to walk in on them, it had to be her father. She let out a heavy sigh and slipped off of the bed to collect her clothing, putting the fabric back on. A little after she had, John reentered and she avoided her father's gaze as he looked at them with narrowed eyes.

She shuffled her feet awkwardly, casting a furtive glance at Crow before lowering her gaze to the ground. "W-Well.. We thought it was late enough that no one else would be stopping by.." she mumbled.

"You're in the middle of the damn castle, with no lock on the door. It sounds like you didn't think at all." he growled. "You already have William suspicious of you, doing something like is is practically begging to get caught. And what's more, Penelope, you two are not even courting!"

Penelope flinched at her father's furious tone. Perhaps they had made a mistake by letting their guard down so much but she didn't think his point about them not 'courting' was far. In her opinion, they were technically courting, even if it wasn't in the same, traditional style that her father was used to. It was the closest they could get to. Despite feeling this, she didn't dare voice her opinion. It'd only lead to him getting more furious and that wasn't something she currently wanted to deal with.

"I've been lenient on behalf of both of your mothers but by the gods you are testing me." John curled his lip as his gaze then shifted to focus on Crow. "And you, Lockton, are starting to seem more and more like your father. I mean really, what exactly are your intentions here?"

"Father, please." Penelope groaned.

"No. I want to know." John snorted. "I'm not going to ignore this, Penelope. This type of recklessness that endangers you and your name is exactly why I wanted to get a proper nobleman to court you in the first place." He glared at Crow challengingly. "What happens if she were to get pregnant? Or if someone else had come through that door? Exactly how are you going to lie your way out of that? Or are you just going to run instead?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow glanced up at John as the knight questioned them, biting his tongue to keep himself from spitting a reflexive: “Do you really need me to explain it to you?” Even though he was embarrassed about having been caught by Penelope’s father, he was also getting a bit frustrated by how involved the older man was trying to be in their lives. Sure, the knight was her father, but what business was it of his if they wanted to sleep together? They were adults who were perfectly capable of making their own decisions, even if the decisions they made weren’t very traditional. It wasn’t John’s job to dictate the way they conducted their relationship.

He set his jaw stubbornly as the knight went on to say that they had been practically ‘begging’ to get caught. In his opinion, they hadn’t been that careless. It was quite late, and the servants wouldn’t come by until the morning. If John hadn’t shown up, he felt certain they would have gotten away with it without anyone knowing. Besides, they’d mostly snuck out in the woods to be alone in the past. By her father’s logic, that wasn’t very safe either since there weren’t even walls, but when they didn’t have any other choice, they just had to make due with what they could get. Comparatively, a private room in the castle seemed much more secure.

At John’s comment about the fact that they weren’t courting, Crow felt a twinge of annoyance. It wasn’t his fault that they couldn’t have a traditional relationship. Given their lifestyles until this point, it simply hadn’t been an option. He was a thief, and she was a knight. By the kingdom’s culture, they shouldn’t have even been together to begin with, yet here they were. He didn’t think it was fair of her father to question the manner in which they chose to make their relationship work.

When the knight suddenly turned on him and questioned his intentions, Crow bristled, disliking the way John compared him to his father yet again. He opened his mouth to retort, but then faltered when the other man went on to ask what he planned to do if the situation had gone worse. The thief shifted uneasily, averting his gaze off to the side. Of course he didn’t want to get Penelope pregnant, but that was why he’d been taking precautions to keep that from happening. “We’re being careful,” he muttered defensively.

“‘Careful’ isn’t good enough,” John growled in response. “You can be as careful as you want, but that doesn’t guarantee that everything will go as you plan.”

Crow looked up again to meet his gaze with a frustrated glare. “Maybe not, but I wouldn’t just run if something happened,” he argued hotly. “I’m not my father. I care about Penelope. Even if she got pregnant, it would be my responsibility too.”

“There shouldn’t even be a responsibility to discuss,” John shook his head exasperatedly. “Because the two of you shouldn’t be risking this in the first place.” His eyes flicked between them before landing on Penelope as he went on. “This stops now; do you understand me? I am not going to allow my daughter to throw her life away over a man who isn’t even courting her for marriage.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope finally lifted her gaze over to her father as he argued against Crow. She supposed there was some truth in her father's words about careful not always being enough but it had worked for them this long so the chances for it going wrong seemed slim in her opinion. As his gaze landed on her, she frowned. She had thought her father was done trying to separate them after speaking with her mother but it seemed that wasn't the case now.

It caused for a twinge of annoyance to spark in the knight. She wished she could tell John that that could change soon with Crow accepting the job but since she had promised not to say anything, she was just going to have to argue with him about it with a different point. She wasn't just going to accept his words though. "It's not like we wouldn't court if we could." she argued, shaking her head. "Just because it's not the courtship you want for me doesn't make it any less serious."

"No, it makes it all the more serious and ridiculous because of what you're risking." John grumbled. "I'm not letting this go a step farther. I won't let you ruin your life for some snake who can't even think his action through."

Penelope clenched her jaw, frustratedly. Feeling past frustration mixing with new, and shot her father a defiant look. "I'm not ruining it and he's not ruining me. I'd be ruining my life if I started doing everything you told me to. In fact, all you've done is try to take away the things that mean the most to me. My job, my freedom, and Crow. I'm not letting you control our relationship."

John fell silent for a moment and held her gaze. Eventually he let out a snort and shook his head. "I don't remember raising you to be this reckless...I'm not ok with this, Penelope, and if I have to start fighting you on every turn, I will. I'm only trying to protect you and you'd be wise to remember I'm not the head of our family. And as for you," he looked at Crow and glared at him bitterly. "if you're not like your father then I suggest you start proving it before you sully a good woman's name like he did with your mother, boy."

[Rogue Sloth]

As John brought up the fact that Crow and Penelope weren’t courting yet again, the thief curled his lip irritably. He wished the knight would stop reminding him of something he’d always been a little ashamed of about himself already. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to court her. If it had been up to him, he would have started courting her a long time ago, but it just wasn’t that easy. There were too many obstacles in the way for him to give her the treatment she deserved. Of course, he didn’t believe he was disrespecting her in any way by sleeping together outside of wedlock, since she had made it quite clear that she wanted to be intimate with him too, but he did wish he could give her all the same things that a man of a higher status could.

But I might be able to soon. Crow blinked as the realization hit him abruptly. As soon as he accepted his father’s offer, there would be nothing standing between them anymore, and he would be able to court her properly for the first time. He still doubted that it was a good idea to come public about their relationship, since almost every noble in the inner kingdom despised him—he didn’t want to ruin her name by letting any of them discover that they were together until he had a better reputation—but it was better than nothing. The thought caused a faint smile to tug at his lip.

However, his brief moment of excitement was quickly interrupted as John turned to address him again. The knight’s scathing words made him grit his teeth in annoyance. It was really starting to grate on his nerves how often Penelope’s father compared him to Albin. His father’s selfish decision to abandon his mother had nothing to do with him. Unlike the king, he actually cared about the woman he was intimate with, and he wasn’t just using her for his own pleasure. He wished that John could put his own traditions aside long enough to see that.

“Would you quit with the comparisons already? I told you; I’m nothing like my father,” Crow snarled. He paused, taking a moment to reign in his temper before going on. He didn’t want to make an already bad situation worse by raising his voice at Penelope’s father. Even though the knight was frustrating him, he knew he was just doing so out of concern for his daughter. As annoying as it was, he couldn’t hold that against him.

He also knew he needed to give John a reason to believe him.

Taking a calming breath, the thief continued in a more level-headed tone, “I do care about Penelope, and I can prove it.” He turned his head to look at her, his expression softening as he met her gaze. “I’ve decided I’m going to take my father’s offer so we can be together, and she’ll lose nothing.”

[BuzzingBee]

John glared at Crow and opened his mouth to bicker further with the thief but didn't get the chance to as he announced that he'd be taking the job offer. The older knight wavered slightly and closed his mouth as he took in this new information, subtly glancing towards Penelope. Penelope met Crow's gaze and smiled faintly at him. She didn't like that her father had put him in a position where he felt the need to prove his care for her—especially in a way that made him admit to another person about taking the king's offer—but it still warmed her to hear his words.

"That might have just been the smartest decision you've ever made." John grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. Crow's words seemed to cool his anger slightly as he glanced between the two of them, his eyes still narrowed. "I suppose that means you're expecting me to approve of a courtship then?"

Penelope shifted uneasily under the gaze of her father. "Well, I'd like you to... at some point." she mumbled, averting her gaze. She wasn't quite sure how courting would go between her and Crow once he rose to nobility. After all, the knight didn't really feel like anything between them would or should change. Aside from having to sneak around, she didn't find much wrong with how they acted and didn't see any reason to adhere to a traditional courtship now. The knight glanced over at the thief and shifted a little closer to him. "I plan to be with him, father.. He'll be a nobleman so you won't have any reason to worry about me losing anything and there will be no reason to argue about this any further."

"I think about it. You two shouldn't even be together openly for a while anyways. I can't imagine that going over well with many people around here." John muttered with a glance at Crow. "You have a long ways to go before you've earned my blessing." He paused and let out a long sigh. "But at least you've taken one step in the right direction."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow snorted when John said that accepting his father’s offer was ‘the smartest decision he’d ever made.’ It wasn’t like denying the job would have been that much worse. He and Penelope still could have had a decent life in Farhill, since he was a successful enough thief to support them both well enough to get by in the poor outer villages. He’d just decided on his own that he didn’t want to make her give anything up for him as long as there was a way for him to prevent her from doing so. So, even though he agreed that becoming the king’s viceroy was the better choice, he didn’t like the way the older knight acted like he would have been a fool to choose to continue being a peasant criminal.

As John went on to ask if they were expecting him to approve of a courtship between them, Crow blinked, caught a bit off guard by the question. After everything the knight had said about wanting to separate them, those words were the last that the thief had expected to come out of his mouth. He shifted his weight, unsure what to say. He didn’t necessarily feel like he needed John’s blessing to be with Penelope, since, in his opinion, they were perfectly capable of choosing to be together without anyone else’s involvement, but there was a small part of him that felt it would be nice to know that her father approved of him.

However, before he could say anything, he glanced at Penelope as she spoke up first. It seemed that she wanted her father to approve of him as well. He turned back to the older knight, studying his reaction as Penelope went on to tell her father that she planned to be with him, implying that they weren’t going to end things no matter what he thought of their relationship. John’s facial expression was difficult to read as he took in everything his daughter was saying, and the thief held his breath as he waited to hear his response.

“I’ll think about it.”

Crow’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. It may not have been an outright ‘yes,’ but it certainly wasn’t a ‘no’ either. His heartbeat quickened in his chest. He’d never thought he was the type of man to earn any father’s blessing, let alone the father of a noblewoman. In fact, he’d always just assumed that if he ever married, it would be because someone chose to be with him in spite of her father’s opinion. The possibility that John would actually give him permission to court his daughter made the thief feel unexpectedly eager to prove himself.

He nodded dazedly as John said that he’d taken a step in the right direction. “Hopefully that won’t be the only one then,” he said, casting a fond smile at Penelope and reaching out to give her hand a gentle squeeze.

John just grunted in response before gesturing to his daughter, “Come on; it’s getting late. We’re going back to our own sleeping quarters now.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope felt a bit of relief to hear her father agree to think about giving Crow his blessing to court her. It would make things easier to have her father's approval rather than having to fight against him at every turn. Plus, she simply wanted him to approve of Crow. She cared about her father and his opinion, even if they didn't always see eye to eye, so him approving of the man she loved would certainly be an added bonus. She smiled at Crow as he took her hand before her gaze shifted back over to her father. The knight gave a small nod and waited for him to turn around to open the door to leave. With his back turned, she quickly leaned up to press a kiss to Crow's cheek. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight." she said softly before letting his hand go and stepping over to follow her father.

John glanced over his shoulder at them and let out a tired exhale before looking back ahead as he lead the way out of the room. Penelope followed after him quietly. The whole situation had been rather embarrassing but she was glad that things had settled for now. Due to that, she didn't want to risk getting him angry again while he was still simmering down from his talk with them. Instead the knight began to think about what the next day would bring, since Crow would be telling his father about his decision. It'd begin the change of everything.

Eventually the two reached their room and she mumbled a quiet 'good night' to her father before laying down on her bed. It took awhile for the knight to fall asleep as she was filled with both excitement and anxiousness about the coming day. She hoped that Crow's meeting with his father would go over well and that the king would grant him the time to leave to speak with his companions. After a bit of tossing and turning, the knight finally managed to drift off into a light sleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow frowned disappointedly as the knights prepared to leave. He’d been hoping to get at least a little more time alone with Penelope, since John had interrupted them earlier. However, he supposed he was expecting too much. The older knight was still clearly disgruntled about catching them sleeping together, so it made sense that he would want to separate them as soon as he could. Of course, that didn’t mean the thief had to like it. He let out a soft huff as John turned around to leave but chose not to argue about it, since he didn’t want to anger the other man while he was finally calming down.

When Penelope leaned up to kiss his cheek, he softened a bit and turned to look at her. “I guess so,” he shrugged with a hapless smile. “Goodnight, love.” Though he wished she would stay with him longer, he supposed it would just have to be good enough that he would see her in the morning. Besides, it wasn’t like they had anything else to do if she lingered. He was too tired to hold much of a conversation, and her father had quite successfully killed the mood by walking in on them, so he didn’t really want to try being intimate with her again that night either. Honestly, the more he thought about it, the better sleep sounded to him at the moment.

Once the knights left, Crow stretched languidly and wandered back to the side of the bed with a weary yawn. He slipped back out of his clothes, remembering how warm the layers of sheets had been the previous night, and laid down as his exhaustion from the long day finally caught up with him. Thinking over everything, it was hard to believe just how much had changed in the span of one day. Penelope was on her way to ending the war, he’d discovered that he had siblings, and he had decided that he was going to leave his lawless life behind to become his father’s ambassador. With his upcoming conversation with the king, he had a feeling that tomorrow wasn’t going to be any less crazy either.

So, knowing that he was going to need as much rest as he could get, the thief settled down comfortably on his side and let out his breath in a slow exhale as he drifted off to sleep.

[BuzzingBee]

The sound of shuffling stirred the knight from her sleep the next morning. Penelope reluctantly opened her eyes and turned to look over to see her father getting up from his bed. It took a moment for the past day's events to resurface in her mind, most of it nearly didn't seem real. She ran a hand through her hair and slowly sat up. "Morning." she mumbled to her father with a small nod. She stretched for a moment and then got up from her bed and let out a long yawn.

"So.." Penelope mused tentatively as she glanced over at her father. A hint of hope seeped into her voice as she asked, "...Am I still on guard duty?" Things would likely be changing soon enough with Crow taking his father's offer but she still wanted a reason to be there with him until it did. After all, if his father did approve of him taking a week to go to the outer villages, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to join him or see him for that time. With so much going on, she wanted to be at his side as much as time allowed.

Unfortunately her father seemed a bit reluctant to let her go, unlike before. The older knight didn't reply and pursed his lips together as he studied her. John let out a small huff. "For now, I suppose." he finally grumbled with a small nod. "He shouldn't be needing one soon enough if he meant his decision last night anyways." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Just don't do anything to make me change my mind about this."

Penelope brightened slightly and nodded her head. "Of course. Thank you." she said before turning to head out of the room. She was glad that her father had agreed rather easily to let her still take over 'guarding' Crow, especially considering what the day would likely bring. She hastened her pace slightly as she headed to his room again, pausing outside to knock before opening the door to step inside.

[Rogue Sloth]

The next morning, Crow was awoken by a knock on his door, followed by the familiar figure of Hunter, who had come inside to clean away the plates from supper. The thief stretched tiredly and sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of him palm as his lingering weariness began to subside. The attendant glanced in his direction when he noticed him move, his brown eyes flickering down to the bandages around his chest before returning to his face with a slightly uncomfortable expression, as if he was imagining the suturing beneath them again.

Crow studied the nervous servant for a moment before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to get up. “’Morning,” he greeted him in a friendly manner as he put his clothes back on, hoping to distract the uncomfortable attendant by covering up the bandages and making small talk with him.

“Good morning,” Hunter dipped his head slightly, averting his gaze from the thief as he began setting up the breakfast dishes he’d brought. There was a brief pause before he added: “How are you feeling today?”

Crow eyed him with an amused look. It was obvious that the attendant was referring to his wound when he asked the question, even though he had assured him that his injury was healing well enough. “Fine,” he answered with a casual shrug, making his way over to the table once he’d finished getting dressed. Like always, there was a wide assortment of dishes for him to try. His mouth watered as he spotted bread with butter: yet another luxury peasants of the outer villages couldn’t afford. Aside from the two or three times he’d managed to swipe some from the local guards, he never got the chance to eat it either.

“I’ll leave you to your meal,” Hunter dipped his head again and turned to leave.

Snapping out of his distraction, Crow quickly looked up from the food, “Wait. I’ve got a request.”

“Yes?” Hunter frowned, turning back around with a curious expression.

Crow hesitated for a moment before going on, “Could you tell King Mannering that I’d like to speak with him this morning?”

Hunter stared at him contemplatively for a moment before giving a curt nod, “Of course. I’ll speak with him right away.”

“Thank you,” Crow offered him a half smile, feeling both relieved and nervous about meeting with his father. He watched as the attendant exited the room and then sat down at the table, filling a plate with food to eat for breakfast. As usual, he finished everything off quickly, but before he could reach for a second helping, he heard another knock on the door.

The thief looked up and grinned when he saw that it was Penelope who had come to see him this time. Standing up from the table, he stepped over to meet her halfway in an eager embrace. “Long time no see,” he smirked at her jokingly, leaning down to kiss her on the nose. “Want to help me finish all this food again?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked musedly at his words and returned his embrace. "I'm just glad it wasn't. For a moment there, I was worried my father wouldn't be as willing to leave me on 'guard duty'." she mused, her featured softening into a smile as she looked up at him. As he offered her some of his food, she gave a small laugh and moved to take his hand. "I'll have a small bite. Since we ate kinda late yesterday, I'm not that hungry."

She gave a small shrug and looked over at the food. Though there was quite a bit still left, she noticed he had already made a dent in it. The knight turned back to him with a playful smirk. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're still not slowing down yet. I'm starting to think your gut has no limit." she teased, squeezing his hand affectionately. Penelope let go of his hand and moved to take a seat at the table. Grabbing a small cut of bread, she took a bite and looked back over at Crow, falling quiet for a brief moment as she let her thoughts wander.

"So," she spoke up again in a bit more serious tone this time as she studied him with a hint of concern. "are you still sure about your decision?" He had seemed rather certain of it the night before but perhaps things had changed after sleeping on it. She could still barely believe that he was choosing to accept the job offer and despite being excited, was still a bit worried he would end up regretting his choice. At least if he was feeling any doubt about, she could still reminded him he could change his mind.

Penelope offered him a small smile. "I know you said you were yesterday but if you've changed your mind at all, just say the word and we can get out of here. I cause a distraction while you fill up a bag." she winked jokingly.