BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope looked down at Letitia with a hint of shock in her expression as the servant addressed him with such hostility. She knew that Letitia could be quite protective of her but even she was surprised to hear her speak unfiltered to someone who held the title of viceroy. Had it been anyone other than Crow, she might have actually been worried about what response they would have. As Crow turned to her, she raised eyebrow at him, slightly caught off guard by the amusement her showed. Letitia clearly was too as she saw the servant falter and glance over her shoulder at the knight.

"Well I was going to introduce you two once things had calmed down more." Penelope mused with a shrug.

Letitia remained a bit tense despite Crow's words to assure her that there was nothing to be concerned about. Though still clearly wary of him, her hostility lessened slightly as an equally strong wave of confusion washed over the servant. Seeming unconvinced by the former thief, she turned to Penelope, looking for a better explanation. "I don't understand. How is he the one you were talking about? When I talked to you, he had barely even gotten the position!" She shook her head. "And aside from that, what about all that I've heard from your uncle's letters to Krea, huh? I've heard about this man stealing from your battalion! Attacking your brother!"

Penelope shifted a bit on her feet. If Letitia's only knowledge about Crow was from Edward's letters, then it was easy to assume that the baron had likely painted him out to be quite the villain. "Well.. if you heard all of that, then you probably also heard about me working with him before, right? I'm sure he must have mentioned something about that. Layth and him had been furious with me." she said with a small shrug. Letitia would probably piece together that the two had been seeing each other before he had been promoted to viceroy so the knight didn't feel the need to hide it. She had already figured them out so if telling her a bit about their past would better the servant's view of him then Penelope had no reason not to.

Letitia raised a brow at Penelope. "I recall that... I try not to pay too much when he talks ill of you, dear." Her gaze flickered between them and she blinked with realization. "Gods Penelope since then?"

"Ah, a bit longer than that actually." Penelope said with a small laugh. She moved to shift closer to Crow's side, casting him a fond smile. "It's a bit of a complicated story but point is, he's not like Edward makes him out to be and you have nothing to worry about."

"I see you've been taking after your father." Letitia mused with a shake of her head. The servant let out a long breath as she took in this new information and then looked over to Crow. "Don't think I'm not still keeping my eye on you, boy." she told him sternly before breaking out into a smirk. "But from what I can tell, you make her happy so I'll try not to give you too difficult of a time."

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Yeah cx

And I don't! Probably just going to chill at home until I have to take my pup to training! What about you?

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Yeah, I can't either but they wanted to blame someone who wasn't them I guess haha

And nice! I'm excited for monday too since that's when I get my day off xD

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Rowan laughed a little as Evan specified he was more worried for his own neck rather than hers. As he asked about Damian getting angry with someone in the past for letting her get hurt, she gave her shoulders a shrug in response. It may have been true but she didn't really want to bring it up. It certainly wasn't a moment she was proud of after all. Her brother's protectiveness of her could be ridiculous sometimes. Although she had to admit that the guy had deserved a bit of his fury. He had been too worried about getting out of the fight to help her out of it as well and she had only gotten involved to help him in the first place. It was a situation that she didn't think she'd have to worry about when working with Evan.

"Well I'll try not to. Hopefully you're not rubbing off on me." Rowan chuckled as he told her not to do anything stupid. She nodded her head in agreement as he mentioned being excited to see their faces when she told them who she was. Pausing, she eyed to see that he placed his card down before she had a chance to pull out his wallet. She would have more than willing split the bill but since he already beat her to it, she supposed she'd just have to get him back next time. Or just count it as part of her bet earnings since she was rather certain of her victory.

Rowan rolled her eyes at him as he listed other reasons for the two to be running late. She slowly slid out of the booth and gave a stretch. "Yeah, yeah keep telling yourself that." she smirked. She moved to follow him out of the pub and gave her shoulders a small shrug. "That's true... Poor girl doesn't have a chance but I can respect the effort, I suppose." As they stepped back out into the chilly weather, she gave a small shiver and hurried after him to the car. Slipping into her seat, she ran a hand through her damp hair and gave a small sigh before leaning back against the seat.

"No we should probably head back now." she mused with small shrug. As they began driving, she looked over at Evan and gave a small smirk. "Also as far as Damian goes, you shouldn't worry about him too much for tomorrow. He may be an ass but he favors you too much to get too mad at you... You kinda got immunity so long as you don't get me killed probably." Rowan laughed.

---

Damian skidded to a sudden stop as the girl slipped and fell to the pavement. For a moment, he remained silent as she tried suggesting that she could just disappear. He didn't think it would be that easy though. He would have offered her help getting up but at the moment, he doubted she would even accept the gesture. As she went on to voice her confusion and pain over the situation, he averted his gaze for a moment, feeling a small stab of guilt. This hadn't been his preferred outcome but with his reign over his gang being still new and weak after the death of his father, he couldn't afford to appear soft by any means. He had saved himself and her father further trouble but at the price of her freedom.

Feeling pity for the woman in front of him, he took a step towards her and placed a hand on her back. "I don't know, but he did and I agreed to it." he muttered a bit stiffly. Damian wasn't really sure that he, out of every one, should be the one to try and comfort her. Even if he tried, she'd probably just get more upset by his attempts anyways. So instead, he focused on the more pressing matter and that was getting her out of the rain. "We'll discuss the terms of your stay under my care once we get you settled in. Most things will change but perhaps, a few things can remain the same.. Or be similar." he shrugged his shoulders with uncertainty.

Damian pressed his hand against her back, guiding her in the direction of where he had parked his car. "Come on. Let's get out of the rain. The last thing I need is to get sick from hanging out in the cold." he added.

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Got my post started but I'll finish it up in the morning cx

And yeah haha I think they're finally settling down though so that's at least good.

I've been good! mainly just working and not much else haha How have you been??

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Letitia maaay have heard bad things about him from the letters Edward wrote to his wife xD so Crow's in for some questioning lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope ran a hand through her hair as Letitia asked Crow for his name. She gave a small frown at his helpless shrug and looked towards Letitia as he introduced himself using his real name. Worried about Letitia piecing together who he was, she held her breath as she subtly eyed the older woman's expression. However, Letitia didn't seem to connect the dots at first. The servant smiled at him and gave a respectful dip of her head. "Well it's lovely to finally meet you, Collin." she said in a friendly manner.

Just as Penelope was beginning to relax, however, the older woman paused as the wheels in her mind seemed to begin to turn a bit more. Her friendly demeanor faded slightly and she glanced towards Penelope. "Say.. Isn't the new viceroy named.." she trailed off and her gaze snapped back to Crow. As Letitia's eyes widened in realization, Penelope cringed. She could already tell Crow's attempt to keep her in the dark about who he truly was hadn't worked. Though it had taken her a moment, the servant had already connected the dots that tied his familiar face and name together.

"Letitia, wait—" Penelope took a step towards her, trying to intervene before Letitia could react.

She was to late though. "You're the thief turned viceroy!" Letitia exclaimed with visible shock. "I've seen your wanted posters before.. and I've certainly heard plenty about you from the family I serve." Her gaze darted to Penelope and she shifted to put herself protectively in front of the knight. While it might have been a bit of an amusing sight to see a servant trying to defend a knight, this was the exact reaction Penelope had been afraid of. "What on earth is going on here? What business do you have being with her, thief? I may just be a servant but I won't stand for any nonsense here!" she declared, holding up her head a bit defiantly as she eyed Crow warily.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Poor Crow got his hopes up xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

For a moment, the knight just stood there as she took in the sudden appearance of the servant. She didn't even understand why Letitia was in her home and now that she had stumbled across the older woman with Crow, she wasn't sure how to recover. Penelope glanced at the viceroy as he answered her question vaguely, nearly making the knight grimace. Knowing Letitia well enough, she knew that the servant would want an actual name rather than a vague label. Unfortunately, both of his names wouldn't be of much help at the moment. Both would cause for some much unwanted questioning.

"Oh?" Letitia mused with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "You know I think I've met a good deal, but I don't really recall her ever bringing you around. Although your face does kind of look familiar.." Her gaze flickered between the two for a moment before a knowing smirk spread over her lips. "Ooooh you must be that mystery man she was talking about from last time."

Penelope tensed as Letitia brought up their old conversation. She had nearly forgotten that she had told the servant about breaking her courtship up with Gavin and that she had admitted to loving someone else. Of course, back then, she had thought that Letitia and Crow would first meet once things had calmed down and they were allowed to publicly court. Not accidentally caught sneaking into her own home together. "No, no it's not him." she denied quickly, despite the light blush that took over her cheeks.

Letitia blinked and looked over at her before giving an amused smirk. "Oh dear, come on now, there's no reason to lie to me." she snickered. Stepping closer to them, she gave Penelope's cheek a playful pinch. "The only other man you've ever brought around here was Gavin! I may be getting old but I'm not daft, Penelope. I'm a bit hurt actually. You said you'd introduce me to him when you could!"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think." she tried denying again. It was very much what Letitia thought but Penelope was a bit hesitant to let her know the truth, especially when they were still waiting for her father's blessing. "I was just stopping by to grab a couple things and he happened to be with me... Why are you here anyways? I thought Krea would have had you busy with the main house?"

Unfortunately, the knight's attempts to deflect went in one ear and out the other. Letitia gave her a dismissive wave and instead settled her gaze on Crow. She was already far too convinced that he was the one Penelope had spoke of before. While Letitia was completely right with her assumptions, it left Penelope with a feeling of unease. She wasn't sure how the older woman would react to finding out that while he was the man she loved, he had also been the infamous criminal that she had once escorted to Younis and was now the viceroy. Penelope knew that she would have had to tell Letitia one day but she was hoping that when she did, she wouldn't have to worry about any disapproval. If the servant held his past against him now and came forward to try and keep them apart, it'd just cause another obstacle for them. She shifted on her feet, glancing nervously at Crow, as if hoping he could find a way out of the current mess they were in.

"I'm sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Letitia, servant to the Vermillions and once the caretaker of this one when she was just a child." Letitia smiled, giving Penelope a small nudge. In the next moment, she eyed Crow with both a hint of mischief and intrigue. "So exactly who has gone and stolen my little girl's heart? What's your name sir? I don't think I recall your face from any of the noble families around here."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Whoops cx