BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope didn't bother to point out that her father had only changed his mind because he thought she was acting careless. The knight had to agree it was quite lucky though. Every step she had taken in her life, mainly career wise, had led her to him. From proving her abilities to William so he would recommend her for the king's mission to becoming Mia's lieutenant to end up in the battalion near him, everything took her to him. Though, she supposed that was also largely thanks to some divine interference but she wasn't going to complain about that. Even if most of their meetings had been planned by someone else, she was still grateful she wouldn't have to know a life where they had never crossed paths.

She smiled a bit bashfully at Crow's words and wrapped her arm around him as he hugged her. "Yes, well, things certainly worked out for the best in that aspect." she mused resting her head against him as she casted him an affectionate look. The knight glanced back over to Letitia and gave her a small smile. "We should probably get going though. This was just our first stop for the day."

"Already?" Letitia frowned a little and then crossed her arms. "You're just trying to get out of here before I bring up Scratch aren't you?"

"Well I wasn't until now." Penelope felt her face growing warm again at the name. She shook her head and smiled at Letitia. "We'll be back again at some point so I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to tell him more stories then."

"And don't think I won't." The older woman grinned. "You two better stop by again soon." She stepped over to wrap Penelope up in a hug. She gave her a firm squeeze before letting her go and turning to Crow. "It was nice meeting you, Collin. I'm glad the new viceroy isn't as horrible as some say.. Good thing too since I would have whacked you if you were." She gave him a playful wink and patted him on the back. "I'm sure her father isn't giving you an easy time so good luck. If I hear or see him, I'll put in a couple good words for you.

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

True! :D she's doing really good in her training class at least so I'm happy lol

And I've heard of it! Never really played it myself but nice :D

Also finally got a post up!!! ^^ Sorry that took so long!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's not thrilled about this turn of events xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope rolled her eyes at Crow as he nudged her shoulder and quickly jumped in on the chance to tease her a bit. It wasn't like her childhood had been particularly bad but as most people, she knew that she had done some things that she now considered embarrassing. She would prefer to keep such things to herself rather than having them retold. Of course, Letitia was only further encouraged by Crow's reaction though. The servant gave a laugh and nodded her head.

"I figured you would." Letitia grinned. "Believe it or not but she was quite the feisty little child. Always pushing the boundaries with everyone... Although to be fair, she had quite a few restrictions because of where she came from so it was hard for her not to." The older woman casted Penelope a half hearted smile before looking back to Crow. An amused glint entered her gaze and her smile grew into a smirk as she recalled the past. "I think the worst habit she had back then was picking fights with local boys around here."

"I did not pick fights with them, you're exaggerating." Penelope stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Letitia quirked a brow up at her. "Dear I remember you throwing rocks when they came by and hitting them with sticks if they approached you."

Penelope blushed a little and then shifted her gaze away. She knew exactly what Letitia was speaking about. Some of the noble boys had developed a habit of picking on her when she was a child. With her father busy as a knight and her brother being doted on by her uncle, she had often either been left to her own devices during the day or under the care of servants, namely Letitia. Back then, word had spread about her and her peasant heritage. Since their parents had looked down on her, she supposed it was only natural for the children to follow in their footsteps, except to a slightly worse degree. Luckily it was mainly just mean and taunting words rather than anything actually physical.. At least on their side.

"Well... yeah." she admitted reluctantly before going on in a defensive manner, "They kept making nasty comments about me and my family so I tried to chase them off by throwing rocks. I was only like ten, I didn't know any better way to handle it.. Plus in my opinion they deserved every bit of it. They were snotty brats."

Letitia looked at her with fond amusement and leaned over to Crow. "I also think that's why John decided to make her a knight. Probably thought she had scared away all the potential suitors." the old woman snickered. "'Course he's caught onto how wrong he was in recent years. Likely a lucky thing for you too since he waited until recent to try and marry her off." Letitia mused with a wink.

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Rowan gave a small laugh as he admitted to being a bit scared of her brother. She didn't really understand why he, of all people, would be. As far as she could tell, Damian relied quite a bit on his second and seemed to be fond of him enough. After all, Evan was likely only second to her when it came down to the people Damian trusted most. "I guess. Personally, I think my brother's more annoying than scary but that's just my opinion." she mused with a shrug.

As they pulled up to the home, a slow grin spread across her lips as she realized victoriously that Damian had yet to show up. With as much time as they had wasted by getting a bite to eat, surely her brother should have been there by now if nothing had gone wrong. Such as a certain someone trying to get away. She turned to Evan as he gave up. "Hmm... I would but there's not fun in it if you're already expecting it. I'll rub it in sometime later." she decided with a grin.

Stepping out of the car, she looked up at her grand family home. It was far from modest, both in size and decor. She silently took note of a couple faint lights already on inside, telling her that some of her family members were still awake. For her brother's sake, she hoped they wouldn't get too curious about hearing their arrival. It was late she was rather certain he wouldn't want to explain himself until after he got the new girl settled in for the night. As Evan addressed her again, she nodded her head. "Alright. Guess we better get to work before the boss actually does get back." she smirked before sauntering off into the home and heading to retrieve the air matress.

----

Once they were both back in the car, Damian turned on the heater, trying to remain rigid despite his urge to shiver at the cold. They may have been out of the rain but his drench clothing had him freezing and she was likely no better off. He snuck a quick glance at Iris, wondering how much she had actually packed in the suitcases. They had clearly been a ploy to throw him off as she made a run for it but he hoped she had at least committed to the trick. She'd need to get out fo her soaked clothing after all. \

He was just beginning to think about what would come once they reached the home when her voice caught his attention. He glanced in her direction before focusing on the road. It seemed that whatever she had thought of saying, she had decided against it. He wondered what had crossed her mind but not wanting to push for any answers, he went ahead to speak anyways. "Once we get to my house, you should get out of those clothes. I hope you packed something but if not, maybe you can borrow something from my sister." he told her with a small shrug. "She was the one that was at your father's office with me."

"You'll have your own room, that should be set up once we get there. If you need anything else, just ask me, my sister or the other man that was with me today. His name's Evan. He doesn't live with us but he's my second so you'll see him around fairly often." Damian explained calmly. Eventually the large estate came into view and he pulled up his car. Parking it, he paused and turned to look over at Iris. "For now, don't worry about anything other than getting dry and getting some sleep. I'm sure you have more questions and concerns but we can go over that tomorrow."

He let out a breath and stepped out of the car. "Come on then." he mumbled to her before stepping to get the bags from the trunk of his car.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Letitia's the type to bring out the baby pictures xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope gave an amused look at Letitia. She was glad that her words seemed to have gotten through to the servant. Though she doubted Letitia would go running to the guards, she did worry about her trying to convince her father to keep them separate. Especially with everything she knew from Edward. It made the knight inwardly cringe to think how John would react if he learned about Crow attacking his son. She was hoping to put off dealing with her brother learning about them for as long as she possibly could, especially since she didn't need him whispering anything in her father's ear to make him despise Crow more.

As Crow's gaze softened, she blushed lightly at his words, feeling a burst of affection for him. "Well, I don't have any complaints." she mused with a smile, leaning slightly into his side.

"Good lad." Letitia casted Crow a smile before shifting her gaze over to Penelope. "So, assuming that errand talk was all lies, what brings you here? Not that I don't mind the surprise visit."

"I was actually just showing him around Bellmare. It's the first time we've both managed to have a day off." Penelope admitted, seeing no reason in trying to cover up the real reason behind their visit now. "This was just our first stop. I'm planning to take him to the marketplace next."

"Oh how nice." Letitia said then paused as a mischievous gleam entered her gaze. "Of course, if you're showing him around, I sure hope you're including some stories about this place." As Penelope casted her a confused look, the servant clapped her hands together with sudden excitement. "It's fine if you haven't dear. I can take him on a more detailed tour of this house. If you're interested Collin, I can show you the dent in the wall where a seven year old Penelope tripped her seventeen year old brother, that's always a fun story. There's also a doorway where we kept track of her height as she grew older.. She was such a funny little girl. She'd try to cheat by standing on a stool and claiming that it counted."

Realizing where Letitia was going with these stories, the knight's face grew a bit red and she shook her head. "Oh gods please don't bring up my childhood."

Everything has a price [Suki & BuzzingBee]

Good! She can be a bit of a terror sometimes but she's learning bit by bit cx

And nice! What are you cosplaying as?

Also sorry for not replying yet! I'll get a post up today though c:

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice xD I have a feeling they're going to get along well lmao

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."