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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I finally finished updating my travel playlist, so I'm gonna start on my reply soon :D
Also, I think my parents will be upgrading to unlimited data so we can use our phones to get wifi on our RV trip, so I should be able to post while they drive! If they do, I just won't be able to write while I'm in Mexico (July 13-18 or so).

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same here. I was also thinking that maybe the king got bad intel on the northern kingdom, so he doesn't know how powerful they are. That's why Crow and Penelope would want to try to stop a war from happening. Somehow they could kind out how big the northern kingdom had grown and realize Brerra doesn't stand a chance.

Ooh, and maybe the northern kingdom turns the people of the conquered kingdoms into their slaves, which Crow and Penelope definitely wouldn't want to happen.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Dang, that's dark xD
I like the idea, but I'm not sure how well it fits into the plot. It would have been much easier for the king to just execute Crow in prison, rather than send him on a doomed mission, so I think he would have just done that instead. Also, Crow's father doesn't know who his son is. He left before Madeleine gave birth. Crow only knows his name (and that he apparently looks quite a bit like his father), but not his face.

Wars are expensive, so the king isn't trying to avoid one for the sake of his people, but rather the sake of the contents in his vault.

It would be interesting to throw something in later, where maybe Crow meets his father when they get back to the kingdom. He tells him who he is, and his father then wants to try and have him killed before anyone else finds out he had a son with a peasant woman.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm unfortunate to be living with the most poisonous scorpions in the US in my backyard xD
They're called Bark Scorpions, and they're nasty little buggers. Not deadly (except maybe for small children?), but they're hella painful for 12 hours if you get stung. And crickets just happen to be their favorite snack
They're just one of the many reasons why I moved north, haha

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was relieved to see Penelope relax after Olivia had gone. It made him feel a bit calmer as well, now that he didn’t have to be quite so on-guard around her. He looked down at his arms when the knight asked how he was healing. “I think they’re getting better,” he replied thoughtfully. “They don’t hurt much anymore, and I forget they’re there when I’m busy with other things.” He honestly wasn’t sure how he was healing, since he had never been burned by a fire before. Cuts and bruises? He’d had countless. Arrow wounds? Sure. Broken bones? Absolutely. But burns? Those were a new experience for him.

“It might still be good to pick up some more medicine though,” the thief said, looking up at Penelope from where he crouched by the pit. “I used up a lot of the ointment from the stock on the wagon.” He toyed absently with the wood in the pit, tearing off some of the thin bark on the outside of the pieces to make a tinder nest underneath the cone-shaped arrangement he had placed the sticks in. Once it looked good and ready, he grabbed the two flint stones William had left nearby and struck them together, creating sparks, until the tinder nest started smoking. He leaned forward, propping himself up on his elbows, and blew gently on the tiny flame until it grew big enough to catch the surrounding wood.

When the fire was of self-sustaining proportions, he got back up and dusted himself off, smirking at Penelope, “Sorry, darling. I know you wanted to do this job, but I just couldn’t help myself.” He turned back to look at the pit, the reflective light from the flames dancing off his face. Fire was a comforting sight to him. Back in his days before prison, he only ever lit them when he was certain he was well hidden from bounty hunters. Because of that, they had grown to become something of a signal of safety, a signal that it was okay to relax. The thief needed that every once in a while.

“So, how’s your shoulder?” Crow asked in return to Penelope’s question. He sat down next to the pit and motioned for her to join him. “Are you healing?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I think this is my last post for the night. I'm getting super sleepy.
I'll respond when I can tomorrow! (Probably in the morning, because I have no plans right now)

Also, thanks xD
I'm from the desert, so I'm used to dealing with scorpions
That doesn't mean they're not Satan spawn though

G'night~

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow couldn’t help but dwell on Olivia’s prophesy. He never planned to pursue Penelope—at least, he never planned it in earnest—but for some reason, it frustrated him to know that it wouldn’t have worked out even if he did. Maybe it was just his stubborn spirit, but he wanted to believe that he could have made a relationship with her work, even if it were only in theory. Still, he wondered why he cared so much. He already had the knight as a friend, and he also had Olivia to satisfy his other needs. Besides, he wasn’t interested in Penelope in that way… was he? Somehow, he was even more uncertain now than he was before.

The thief listened in to the knights’ conversation again when he heard Penelope’s voice asking Olivia if she should leave immediately to bring news to the king. The other woman just casually shrugged the idea off, saying that she had time to spare. The tension between them was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife. Crow shivered. He was glad Olivia was going to stay, but he also couldn’t wait for her to leave tomorrow. Hopefully Penelope would return to her usual self once the other female knight was gone.

“I’ll get the fire started then,” Penelope said. “The sun will be set before long and it’s already getting chilly.” Crow felt a pang of disappointment. With her businesslike attitude, it almost felt like she was ignoring him. Had he done something to offend her? He didn’t think his questions had been that intrusive, but maybe she didn’t like the way he had tried to get involved with her problems. Or maybe she was just taking out her irritation with Olivia on everyone. Either way, he hoped her bad mood would lift soon.

“Ah!” Olivia exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. “I have food at my camp. It’s just west of here. I bought some chicken at a market in the last town I visited. I can go get it, and we can cook it for dinner if you’d all like.”

“That would be wonderful,” Abraxas agreed. “Chicken sounds delicious.”

The woman knight turned to Crow and quirked a brow, obviously awaiting his response. The thief glanced at Penelope before answering with a simple, noncommittal: “Sure.” In truth, he was desperately hungry, and chicken did sound delicious—his mouth even watered at the thought of it—but he didn’t want to upset Penelope, so he acted as if he didn’t care either way.

“Excellent,” Olivia said. “I’ll be back by the time the fire is started.” She turned and headed into the forest. As soon as she was gone, Crow joined Penelope in the center of the camp, aligning some sticks in the pit so they leaned against each other in an upright position to help her get a fire started.

“I haven’t built a fire in a long time,” he said in an attempt to make small talk. He wasn’t really sure what to say to her, but he knew he wanted to talk. “I used to enjoy doing it though. Having control over flames makes me feel kind of powerful.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Olivia is sabotaging Crow and Penelope :O
So much drama~

Also bugs. Lots of bugs
THERE'S ANOTHER CRICKET ON MY GOSH DANG CARPET >~<

--

EDIT: It's chirping so much and I can't even get it this time because it's in the corner behind my bed.
Why are bugs like this? I need help Dx
The crickets aren't even the bad part
I just don't want the freaking scorpions to come in
The scorpions are Satan spawn

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

There it was again: the soft color on her cheeks, that subtle fluster in her voice, the awkward smile that appeared on her face… If Crow didn’t know better, he would have thought Penelope was interested in him too. But he did know better—and that’s why it was confusing. What was even more baffling to him was the way the pressure in his chest seems to dissipate at the thought of the woman knight falling for him. The two factors were too obviously related now for him to write the latter off as sickness. Am I…? No. That can’t be it, he thought, shifting his weight uncertainly. He glanced up at Olivia once more, trying to reassure himself. Instead, the pressure returned. Damn it.

“I told you before,” Crow said to Penelope in mock exasperation, as if he was repeating the same information a hundred times. He was trying to distract himself from his inner turmoil by engaging with her in playful conversation. “I have the refined taste of an aristocrat. If I tell you I like you, it’s because I see something of quality in you. You could almost think of it as a compliment from a nobleman—” he halted with a grimace. “Actually don’t do that. I dislike nobles. Just think of it as a compliment from a thief, which is much better anyways.”

Unfortunately for the thief, he wasn’t able to hold Penelope’s attention for long. She shifted her gaze to the knights that were gathered near the fire pit and announced that it would be best for them to regroup with the others, moving to join the small circle before he could respond. Crow followed after her, slightly disappointed that he couldn’t steal more time alone with the knight.

He wanted to stand next to Penelope, but Abraxas and William were too close on either side of her. He couldn’t squeeze in without pushing one of them aside, and the thief didn’t want to deal with William’s comments about him being ‘lovesick.’ So instead, he moved in next to Olivia, who had stepped aside to make a gap for him the moment she saw him walking over.

“I see you and Penelope are quite close, hm?” the knight said softly while William addressed Abraxas and Penelope.

“You could say that,” Crow shrugged.

Olivia observed him in silence for a moment before cracking a knowing smile, “Ah, unrequited love is a painful thing, is it not?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Crow scoffed and shook his head. “I’m not in love with her. We’re just friends.”

“I see,” the female knight clicked her tongue. Her dark eyes flashed to the other woman for a moment before returning to the thief. “It’s best that you aren’t. No good would come of it.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it’s because of what you are, sweetie,” Olivia crooned, as if it were obvious. When Crow just stared at her, she went on. “You’re a thief. She’s a knight. Your lifestyles are completely different, you wouldn’t see eye-to-eye on anything, and you would fight constantly. You’re natural enemies, Crow. Trust me; it wouldn’t work.”

“You do realize that you’re a knight too, don’t you?” the thief pointed out blandly.

“Of course. But you do realize I’m looking for something different than what she would be, don’t you?”

“Touché.”

Olivia chuckled softly and brushed a stray hair out of Crow’s face. She placed her lips near his ear again, whispering seductively, “Midnight in the clearing to the west. I’ll be waiting.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah. Maybe William makes Penelope watch Crow (before the action goes down), while he and Abraxas scout ahead or something. It's realistic because of how women and men are treated differently in Younis. Maybe it would be strange for Penelope to be alone because the culture has men accompany women in public or something? Crow and Penelope would have to get over their awkwardness then.

Sameee. I'm okay with them when they're outside, but they're everywhere this summer! I literally just caught a cricket that was chilling on my bedroom floor and put it outside. Then the gnat dive-bombed my iced tea.

The insect world hates me T.T