BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Penelope stepped into the room, her gaze immediately landed onto Crow. A smile started to grow on her lips, glad to see that he had made it in with as little trouble as she figured he would, but was quickly stunned by what was also waiting for her in her room. Her gaze traveled over the warm but low glow of the candles he had place all around her room. It was a thoughtful touch that made her heart swell with affection for the former thief. She found the unexpected set up of the candles sweet and only served to add to the nearly perfect night she seemed to be having. Any remaining issues or fury with Cedric had been pushed out the window as soon as she had left the ballroom. Now all she cared to think about was the man in front of her.

"Well I was about to apologize for making you wait so long but now I'm thinking maybe I should test your patience more often." the female knight said with a low whistle as she study the crackling light of the candles. Her gaze softened as she felt her heart swell again. "It's lovely, Crow."

Focusing her gaze back onto him an affectionate smile took over her lips and she suddenly felt overwhelmed by the fact that they were completely alone for the first time in a long time. She stepped fast to close the distance between them and threw her arms around him like she had been want to do all night. After going so long with getting away with quick and usually friendly mannered touches, the lack of distance between them now sent her heart racing. If there's one thing the forced distance did it was make his touch excite her.

Leaning up, she pressed a passionate kiss to his lips, savoring the feeling as she did. Eventually she pulled back and nestled her face against his neck, lightly brushing her lips against him as she did. "Gods I've missed you." she breathed.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope would have to if she didn't keep getting stopped xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope was glad to hear that Crow approved of her suggestion. The knight smiled as he winked at her playfully and nodded her head in confirmation. Her gaze followed him for a moment before she turned to walk the opposite way, moving more casually through the crowd as she waited for him to leave first. Of course, it was only a matter of a few moments before Cedric swooped in now that she was alone. She caught sight of the male knight making his way over to her from the corner of her eye. She turned to shoot him a glare and while it seemed to catch him off guard, it didn't stop him.

Seeming to realize she was furious with him, he approached her with a hesitance and offered her a soft smile. "You were amazing up there. I think you convince just about everyone in this room." he said.

"Thanks but you're the last person I feel like talking to right now." Penelope grumbled as she took a step away from him. Now that her initial shock had faded away and her worries about Crow being put to rest, she was left feeling resentment towards her former suitor for putting her in such a position.

A hurt expression crossed his face. "Penelope I didn't mean any offense early. It was just a kiss."

Penelope clenched her jaw. "You don't understand, I—" she hesitated for a second, catching herself mid-scolding. As much as she wanted to be direct and just say she was spoken for, she couldn't. Not yet at least. "—it was a kiss I had no interest in receiving. And right before my speech too. Just leave me alone, Cedric."

"Penelope, wait." As she turned to leave, she felt him catch her by her wrist. The touch made her quickly yank her arm out of his grasp, sending him another cold look that he shrunk under. "Ok I messed up." he said holding up his hands and taking a step back to give her space. "I was impulsive and didn't think it'd hurt you like this. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you, I was just hoping you'd remember what you had once felt for me.. The good parts at least."

"Well it did the opposite." the knight muttered bitterly. While she was still mad at him, her fire died down slightly. He didn't seem to have been coming from a malicious stand point and besides that, he didn't know that she was already taken. Reminded that Cedric likely thought he had simply kissed an unattached woman, she felt slightly less frustrated with him. However, she refused to pass any real judgement on him until she thought it over more as watched his behavior a bit more cautiously. At the moment, all she wanted to do was get to her room. "Now leave me alone Cedric. If you're looking for forgiveness, you won't be getting it tonight."

This time the male knight didn't try to stop her as she headed off. After her run in with Cedric, she subtly searched the crowd to locate Crow. When she didn't find him, the knight figured that he had left sometime during the exchange with Cedric. Feeling a thrill of excitement, she began to make her way towards the exit of the ballroom, which proved to be much more difficult than she originally expected it would be. Several times she got stopped by various noblemen who wanted to chat or ask her to dance. She was able to brush off most of them by appearing busy but a couple stubborn ones made her stick around longer than she would have liked. She used the excuse of needing to get some air alone.

Eventually the knight made it out of the ballroom and from there it was an easy shot to her own room without any worry of someone attempting to stop her. Penelope let out a breath of relief, nearly feeling a bit smothered by the sudden attention. Picking up her pace slightly, she hurried off to her room, luckily without anymore interruptions. As she reached it, she glanced around the corridor before stepping inside and softly closing the door behind her.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope came up with a few ideas pretty quickly xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope listened as Crow pointed out that the people watching them weren't as alert as she thought. Glancing around the room again, she supposed he was right. Most of the nobles were slightly intoxicated by now. While it still might be a challenge to get past everyone, she had snuck around much more observant and sober guards before just to meet up with the thief. There might have been less places for her to hide and many eyes,but the silent reminder made her a bit more confident about being able to sneak away without anyone catching them.

"Alright, I think I can manage that." she mused, unintentionally following his gaze over to where Cedric was. She pursed her lips noticing that the other knight had yet to completely let her out of his side. It seemed that grabbing more time with her still wasn't off the table and made her all the more eager to sneak off with the man she loved. As Crow drew her attention back onto him, she crossed her arms thoughtfully as he mentioned needing a meeting place. Of course not all of the castle guards had been free to go to the party, some had to work that night to make sure the castle was still secure.

However, the party still likely meant there had been cut backs on how many guards were in certain areas. It was just a matter of remembering where they usually cut down guards first.

The most obvious answer was on the bottom floor near the kitchen and servants quarters. A couple likely guarded the main entrance so not just anyone could come in but there were like far fewer elsewhere on the bottom floor. That didn't help them anyways because the only place she would know of to go down there was just a supply closet and those hadn't proved to be the best method of stealing time alone. The next place she thought of was the garden. The courtyard itself was usually rather exposed and often had a few knights patrolling. With the party going on, she figured most of them would be keeping near the walls incase some criminal attempted to sneak in, meaning that the garden would likely be easy access.

She was just about to suggest that when a more simple solution popped into her mind. "I might have a couple ideas." she told him with a small smile. Lowering her voice she explained, "We may not be able to go to your bedchamber but we could likely get to mine. There will be fewer guards near the knight's quarters so I'm sure you could sneak past the couple that are there." A grin crossed her lips as she looked up at him with a hopeful gaze. "What do you think?"

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's interested but still worried about being caught xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope grinned as she finally reached Crow. With the success of her speech, the knight was beaming and wished she could throw her arms around the viceroy in celebration. Unfortunately, that was still one more hurdle they'd have to cross at a different time, though she was hopeful that it'd be sooner rather than later. Keeping herself in check despite the happiness she felt, she made sure to keep her hands at her sides and a distance between them.

As he complimented her, Penelope gave a small giggle at his words and shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly didn't even think I did that well. I'm glad I was wrong though. Or perhaps my audience was just the right amount of drunk." she mused with a glance over towards the table. No matter if it was the alcohol in their systems or her speaking capabilities, the knight was just joyful that their plan was working. With everything on track, she was hopeful that she'd have similar luck once she went to speak with the king. She had gathered quite a few powerful voices in her efforts so he couldn't just ignore her. They had a real fighting chance of ending the war.

Penelope raised an eyebrow at Crow as he shifted a little closer to her and lowered his voice. Her heart fluttered at the offer of getting away from the others to spend alone time—true alone time—with him. However, she wondered if it was a wise move. After her speech, even she couldn't help but noticed the high increase of eyes on her. Slipping out and way from the crowd would be much more difficult now. "I certainly like the sound of that but," she frowned slight and glanced around the room, silently noting the different sets of eyes on them. "do you really think we can get out of here without being noticed? We have quite a few eyes on us and I don't think that'll change soon enough."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's ecstatic about how well it went xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Having said her peace, she stepped off the stage. As soon as she did, she felt noticed her legs felt like jelly and her heart was racing in her chest. She might have been able to get through most of the speech rather smoothly but the anxiousness had still affected the knight out. The one thing that kept her heart racing with excitement was the rather enthusiastic applause that she received at the end. Before she could even get a step further, she felt two hands pat her on the back and glanced around to notice that Naida and Dimia had joined her off the stage.

"You killed it!" Naida grinned with excitement.

"You think?" Penelope gave a soft laugh. "I feel like I messed up at the beginning."

"Penelope, you haven't looked over at the table have you?" Dimia smirked in amusement and gestured over to where several nobles were moving towards the table where Oliver remained, kindly overseeing it and personally thanking those who signed it. The knight's eyes visibly widened with surprise, making the noblewoman snort in laughter. "I think you may have seriously pulled this off. I'm glad I bet my money on the right horse. Come on your highness, we better move before we get caught up in any swarm being around her."

Naida laughed a little and shot Penelope a smirk. "I'll find you again once you're back with us." she said giving her awe-struck friend a playful nudge. Turning, she headed off in a separate direction to join the party once more while Dimia moved to join Oliver. Momentarily leaving Penelope alone.

Penelope felt a swell of emotions in her chest, mainly all of them positive unlike the ones leading up to the event. If as many nobles as she saw moving towards the petition, there was a real shot of her convincing the king. Everything seemed to actually fall into place and the knight couldn't have been happier. Of course, there was still the matter of actually presenting it to the king, but for now, she choose to celebrate this victory. And she knew exactly who she wanted to celebrate it with. Immediately her eyes began to flicker around looking for Crow amongst the crowd. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find him fast enough.

"Well, well.. I must say I'm quite impressed with you, Miss Vermillion." The low voice of Kane caught her attention along with the smell of alcohol on his breath.

She blinked and looked over at the tipsy nobleman, offering a polite smile. "Thanks. I'm glad I managed to exceed expectations then."

"You certainly did." Kane nodded, crossing his arms. "I thought perhaps Oliver was just too taken with your features but I see now that you're more than that." He swept his eyes over her. "I was wondering if perhaps I could have the honor of one more dance with you tonight?"

"I—" Penelope paused, noticing two things. The first was Crow, who was making his way from the edge of the room towards and the second was Cedric who was finishing signing the petition and kept glancing in her direction. Knowing him, he was likely going to try to approach her again. Reminded of what had happened before the speech, she wanted to avoid him. "—I'm sorry but I think I'm done dancing for the night.. I have a couple other matters to attend to before this night's over. It was wonderful to meet you though, Kane." She gave a polite dip of her head.

"That's a pity." Kane sighed, seeming genuinely disappointed. He offered her a charming smile though. "And likewise. I hope our paths cross again soon."

Penelope shot him a smile before slipping away from him. Leaving behind the nobleman, she made her way through the crowd, trying to avoid getting stop as she moved to meet Crow halfway.

The Case of the Full Moon [buzzingbee + Sunflower]

Kate walked into her office and moved over to her desk. She hopped up on top of it, sitting with her hands resting on the edge as she waited for the others to get settled in. Even though the appearance of the child had lessened her suspicion of these strangers, she still remained on edge with their knowledge about the so called 'deer'. As Charlie finally spoke up, Kathryn gripped her desk. The man wasn't even accusing her, he spoke with the confidence of already knowing.

Growing defensive of herself, she curled her lip slightly, preparing to chide him for such a ridiculous accusation. However, before she could, Sadie spoke up. Her dark gaze flickered over to the woman as claimed they were all werewolves. A pack. she realized tensely. That didn't make the detective any more at ease though. In her experience, packs were violent, cruel groupings of wolves who had forgotten the human parts of them. It wasn't something she had ever been interested in getting involved in again.

For the moment, she remained silent as Sadie went on to talk about the possibility of her kill being a hunter. She had heard of them before and knew bits of what to be on the lookout for. However, she had no personal experience with them. As Sadie finally finished, Kate let out a sigh. "If you can help hide what happened to avoid attracting hunters for the good of all of us then fine. I'll help in whatever way I can. But that aside, I don't want anything more to do with this pack and I certainly don't want them around my family." Kate snorted.

"My family doesn't know about this.. part of me. And I certainly don't intend on ever letting them find out. I might be a lone wolf but I've been able to handle myself fine. Whatever screw up happened last night was not part of whatever your friend, Charlie, was saying." she waved her hand dismissively.