BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope frowned at his less than certain words. She gave his hand a small squeeze as she took it in hers. The knight wanted to hold on to the hope that they could figure out some way to help with keeping his illness at bay while he recovered. However, the more she thought about it, the less possible it seemed. She didn't have experience when it came to healing so she couldn't be of much help. Not to mention they couldn't risk going to Jane. While Penelope trusted the physician's abilities, she'd likely be less than willing to treat Crow and if she spread the word about him being ill, there was no telling how the barons or other knights would react to such information.

As Crow spoke up again, she shifted her focus back to him and a small gleam of hope relit in her gaze. She had briefly forgotten about Hazel. Though the herbalist didn't have professional training, her knowledge and skill were still respectable. If anyone could help them deal with his illness, it'd be her. "Maybe I should go speak with her." she wondered aloud before her gaze moved to met his.

She offered him a hopeful smile. "We can't do anything but maybe she can... Maybe you need to take the medicine more regularly again to help fight it off more. Or maybe she has something that can suppress it a bit better so your coughing fits aren't as bad." She shrugged her shoulders and shifted her gaze over to the makeshift shelves of books and medicine in tent before moving to rest it back on him. "It couldn't hurt to try and we don't really have any other options... What do you think?"

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I decided Penelope would help hide them cx
I'm thinking it could lead to her having to visit the others to get some help from Hazel

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope stood back as Jane moved to help Crow. The knight found it increasingly difficult to merely stand back and watch as she noticed how roughly the physician handled treating the thief. Having seen the physician work before on such injuries, she knew she could be much more delicate. It frustrated her that the physician wouldn't treat Crow with the same kindness as other patients and seeing him having to go through such pain made her feel helpless as she was unable to do anything more. So, she bit her tongue as she shot a subtle glare at Jane's back as she shifted uneasily from where she stood near the exit of the tent.

As Jane finished re-stitching the wound and turned to her, the knight quickly reverted back to her stoic expression, despite still lightly biting her tongue. She gave a curt nod at Jane's request and walked over to Crow's side to help sit him up. Taking a careful approach, she slipped an arm around him and used her other to help pull him up. As he began to lift up, her gaze caught sight of the bloodstains on the mattress from his coughing.The knight doubted it would be a good idea to let her know about Crow's illness, especially since she could go running to the barons with such information and argue that letting him die would be the easiest solution. Penelope couldn't risk letting her know more than him just having a simple cough.

The physician was luckily looking away as she gather the bandages to rewrap his wound. With her distracted, that meant there was still a chance to hide them from her. Penelope strained as she held Crow up with one arm and briefly freed the other from him to subtly scoot the blanket over stain to hide it from view. She narrowly managed to avoid Jane noticing as the physician looked up to start wrapping his wound. She eyed them for a moment and then sighed.

"You're going to have to help me hold him up a bit higher." Jane instructed.

"Right. Sorry." Penelope mumbled before moving to use her other hand again to lift him up enough so Jane could bandage him up. She waited for her to get done, watching as Jane worked effectively but with little care for her patient, before gently laying Crow back down on the mattress.

"Now then, I better go finish treating my patients." Jane said as she looked to Penelope for approval to leave. The knight took a step back from him and dipped her head to Jane, silently dismissing her. She supposed the one good thing about Jane's dislike of Crow was that she was willing to leave them alone without any arguments, which meant it gave them a good amount of time alone. Penelope watched as Jane headed out of the tent again, wasting no time to get away, before she turned back to look at Crow with a frown.

"I'm sorry she's like that...Gods, I wish I knew more about healing." she mumbled shaking her head as she moved to his side again. She brushed back his hair and met his gaze with a worried expression. "If your illness keeps acting up like this.. we'll have to do something..I don't know what."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Me too lol I imagine most things won't go over well XD

I'm also looking forward to Penelope getting to show him her world cx she's going to be all excited since she never thought she'd be able to before lol it'll be cute

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope gave a small nod as responded to her question about Gavin. It was hard to make any judgment based on Crow's response about the male knight. She was glad to know that he was still treating Crow better than before at the very least. Her attention focused back to Crow as she noticed his question fall short. She gave a confused look, wondering what had cut him off, only to quickly find out it was his illness. The knight frowned worriedly and moved to rest a hand on his shoulder as the coughing fit took over.

As it passed, she gave his shoulder a soft rub, wishing there was more she could do for the pain he was in. "I'm sure it's not.." she agreed. Noticing him shift to look down at his wound, her gaze followed his and widened at the sight of the red on the cloth of his wound. At his words, she gave a small nod, muttering a quick, "I'll go get Jane." before quickly turning and heading out of the tent to find the physician.

She walked briskly down the row of tents towards where some of the other patients were located. The knight assumed Jane would be there taking care of the injured knights as well as checking in with the other physicians in the camp. Worry bubbled inside and she struggled to not let it show. She couldn't risk coming off as too concerned about Crow and his health, she was certain that it would cause for some suspicion if not worse if she did. Ducking into the tent, Penelope forced herself to calmly sweep her gaze over the knights and physicians inside until she was able to locate the familiar figure of Jane.

The female knight walked over to her with a quick pace and dipped her head in greeting as Jane noticed her approaching. Penelope paused slightly before speaking, nearly tempted to address Crow as Crow rather than just simply as 'the thief' as most knights referred to him if not using other more insulting terms. "The thief needs your attention. He broke his stitching." she informed the other woman.

"I told him not to touch it." Jane grumbled, shaking her head. She hesitated before adding, "I'll be there after I finish here."

"I'd rather you just come with me now." Penelope said with a hint of sternness. The knight Jane was currently treating was clearly just getting a quick check up on his healing wound. It wasn't anything that needed urgent attention and it annoyed her that Jane was trying to push off aiding Crow. "He busted it open by coughing. He's already bleeding rather badly."

Jane gave a small sigh and nodded her head reluctantly. "Alright... Let's go now then."

"Thank you." Penelope mumbled before turning and beginning to lead the way back to the tent.

"He has a cough, huh?" Jane asked.

"I guess so.." Penelope shrugged as she focused her gaze ahead.

"It must have been pretty bad to open his stitches." Jane mused and shook her head. She paused then added,"He keeps getting more troublesome.. Are you sure it's worth it to keep him alive?" She glanced subtly towards the knight with a hint of hope in her expression. The physician clearly didn't want to keep treating the thief.

"Yes, of course it is." Penelope stated a bit protectively. Realizing how her words likely came out, she looked towards Jane and shrugged as she tried to play it off. "At least until the barons decide otherwise. And until then, you've got to treat him like any other patient." Jane frowned a little at Penelope's words and looked a bit ready to argue. However, before she could, the female knight picked up her pace slightly and hurried towards the tent, signaling that she wasn't going to speak on the matter further. She lead the rest of the way back in silence and ducked back into the tent with Jane following behind.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah me too cx It'll be a lot more politics and stuff than the usual action and fighting that we have going on from the journey and the war

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Crow reassured her, Penelope gave an uncertain look. While she was glad that he wasn't upset with this outcome, she couldn't help but wish there was something more she could do. She hated feeling like her hands were so tied in this situation, one wrong move and their relationship could be discovered but if she didn't fight back against some decisions, Crow would be put at greater risk. She let out a conflicted sigh and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I suppose.." she mumbled and nestled her head against his for a moment, seeking comfort in his touch. Things were complicated now and she still worried for his safety. She wished there was a way to prevent her brother from doing anything that might harm Crow. Perhaps she could if he visited during one of her shifts, but if it was a different knight, there wasn't much she could do if she wasn't even there. "This whole thing is going to be messy until we can get you out of here...I'll try to figure out a way to keep Layth at bay... There has to be something I can do."

She closed her eyes for a moment and relaxed a little. There had been a way around nearly every issue they had faced so surely she could figure something out, right? She just need a bit of time to think it over. Content with that, she shifted away from Crow and glanced over her shoulder towards the tent entrance before looking back to Crow as another thought came to her. "How was Gavin?" she asked him, wondering how the male knight was holding up since the other night. He had said that he was fine with continuing to stay on guard duty for Crow but she wondered if it still might be better to remove him from it.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Cool c: I'm excited to introduce them lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope intertwined her fingers with his as he took her hand. She gave a small nod of understanding at his words. Her own near fatal injury from the mercenary had taken her quite some time to heal from in the past. She could still recall being bedridden for over a week and how restricting it could be with both the inability to move as well as the pain that came from even moving slightly. She was about to reply to him but fell short as she noticed him frown and go on to ask her about speaking with her barons.

"I just got done doing that actually." she admitted with a small nod. Thinking he was worried about the outcome of her meeting, she gave him a half-hearted smile. "It didn't go too terribly. The barons were a bit reluctant but they agreed to my choices for guards." she assured him then hesitated as she thought of the small issue with Layth and potentially other less than friendly knights. Her smile faded slightly and she moved to lean down against the bed so she could be closer to him.

"There might be one problem though.." she admitted softly as she lowered her gaze. "I got control of the guard but they're only here to make sure you don't cause trouble... The barons made it clear that if other knights wanted a word with you, they were entitled to it.. Especially Layth." Penelope shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. "I couldn't argue against that and I'm not sure how much I or any other guard can protect you if they do choose to utilize that fact."

Penelope gave his hand a soft squeeze and looked over at him with an apologetic gaze. "I'm sorry.. I would have fought them on it if I could but that'd just draw more attention to our relationship and I don't think we can risk much more of that right now."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah cx It should be kinda fun to include to lol

I'm thinking he'll probably return with Penelope when Crow returns from Younis (likely to work with her on the plan to help out the outer villages) and he'll end up meeting one of the new characters I plan to introduce who is a childhood friend of Penelope's who's in an abusive relationship (I can't decide if she's just going to be courting the guy or actually married to him already but something like that cx)