Trash Panda

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

Feel free to use Jose in your post if you'd like to. He's just an NPC.
Character details for Jose (I'll add these to the 0th post later):
-He basically acts as Roman's wingman, so he would play along with Roman's flirting, and he wouldn't tell Abby about the other girls he's brought to the cart
-He's a super happy guy running a successful ice cream cart, and he's proud of his product
-He's married and lives with a large family, but still finds it fun to get involved in Roman's dating life

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

“It’s not necessary,” Roman agreed. “Neither is saying ‘please’ or holding a door open for another person. It’s just courtesy, doll.” It amused him how unfamiliar chivalry seemed to be to Abigail. Any time he did anything remotely kind to her, she pushed back. It was almost as if… He paused, his green eyes sweeping over her curiously. Has she never been on a date before? He couldn’t believe it. A girl as pretty as her had to have been in a relationship at least once in her life, right? If not, he was going to have a much harder time trying to get her into bed with him. Damn my rotten luck.

Roman laughed when Abigail stretched her arms in obvious bliss. He stepped up beside her, resting his hand on the small of her back, “You know it, cutie.” He pushed her forward gently in the direction of one of the paths in the park. “I promise you won’t be disappointed. Jose sells the best ice cream in all of New York City.”

As they walked through Central Park, Roman took the time to look around at the other people that were there. Children ran around tossing Frisbees back and forth, college-age women laid around in sunny spots trying to tan, older men sat on benches reading newspapers, and joggers ran by training their bodies while the day was still warm. It was a peaceful scene—one that Roman wasn’t very fond of. He preferred the wildness of busy clubs and the bustle of city streets. Chaos was something that entertained him; something he thrived in. He knew it was strange, but he had always been that way, and he had come to accept it.

After a while, they came to a food cart labelled: “Ice Cream.” It was run by a short Hispanic man with a goatee. His face was overcome by a large, beaming smile when he saw Roman and Abigail approaching.

“Señor Sousa!” he greeted cheerfully. His words were thick with a Mexican accent. “Long time, eh?”

“Good to see you, Jose,” Roman replied. “Yeah, it has been a while, hasn’t it?” He hadn’t visited Jose’s cart since he ‘dated’ Cindy. In fact, he took every girl he ‘dated’ to get ice cream here. It was one of his trademark spots that just seemed to work. He flashed the man a smile and threw an arm around Abbigail’s shoulders, “My lady friend here would like some of your famous ice cream.”

“Ah,” Jose said with a knowing twinkle in his eye. He had known Roman long enough to understand what he was up to. “Of course. Anything for such a lovely señorita.”

Roman looked down at Abigail, leaving his arm draped over her shoulders, “You heard the man. You can have whatever you want, darling. So, what’ll it be?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I had to throw in another awkward moment xD
It was just too tempting

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow quirked a brow in surprise when Penelope adamantly stated that she would go with him into the palace. The corner of his lip twitched upward when she called him ‘love.’ She was blatantly teasing him for his use of the pet name, but the way her cheeks turned rosy when she said it was oddly endearing to him. It was cute how embarrassed she got. He let the persistent smile take over his mouth and shook his head, Stubborn woman.

However, her following words didn’t go over quite as well with the thief. He didn’t like how insistent she was about joining him on the mission. He was fine with failing if it meant only he would be caught for it, but the thought of Penelope getting captured—or worse—as well made him shudder. Thievery could be an incredibly dangerous occupation, especially when dealing with such a well-protected target. He didn’t know how to make her understand, and he doubted she would change her mind even if she knew what was at stake.

If Crow was honest, the knight was even beginning to sway him with her words. As much as he hated to admit it, she had some good points. This wasn’t like his other runs in the past, and he was pretty out of shape after spending so long in prison. He didn’t like the idea of using Penelope as a scapegoat if things took a turn for the worse, but would it really be such a bad thing to have another pair of eyes watching his back?

Crow’s thoughts derailed when Penelope moved closer to him. His heart pounded at her proximity, and he had to force himself to calm down. Stop getting so excited, he reprimanded silently. Nothing is going to happen. Once the spontaneous burst of adrenaline faded, he met the knight’s gaze evenly, ready to give a reply.

“Besides,” Penelope continued before he had a chance to say anything. “Although I prefer that you just agree to my help, I’m willing to play the ‘thief might run away with the staff’ card to William. He’d of course say that someone should accompany you and naturally, I’d volunteer since he’s a bit too arrogant and Abraxas is a bit too slow.”

“Wow,” Crow pouted in mock betrayal. “After everything we’ve been through together, you’d use William against me like that? I’m hurt. And besides,” his stern expression melted away with a wry grin and a wink. “I was going to say you can come with me, love.” He leaned in closer to the knight’s face when he spoke the pet name, teasing her for the way she had tried to turn it around on him earlier. “You’ve convinced me, alright? No need to bring William into it.” He paused. They were so close together. For a brief moment, the thief’s eyes flickered down to Penelope’s lips. If he just leaned in a bit more, he could almost kiss her… What am I thinking? He quickly drew back and turned away, fixing his gaze on a cloud outside. His heart was racing again, and his face was scarlet. He couldn’t believe how close he had been to kissing the knight. He cringed, imagining how awkward that would have been. He could actually feel the sting in his cheek from the slap that would have followed if he had been so impulsive. It was going to be harder than he thought to get over his feelings. I really need to watch myself around her…

Crow cleared his throat uncomfortably and attempted to change the subject, “Anyway… do you think we’re close to the outer villages of Younis? We’ve been on the road for quite a while now.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I love Penelope's sass so much xD
And it's cute how she tried to pick up Crow's lingo just to tease him, haha
He calls all the pretty girls 'love' and 'darling' out of habit :p
He likes to think it makes him more of a gentleman if he compliments women like that lol

I'll get started on my reply tonight at the next Cali hotel!
Yay for another seven hours of driving @.@

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

Roman enjoyed the feeling of Abigail’s arms around his waist. Her touch was electrifying—even more so than the other women he had brought for rides on his bike. It made him want to take a few extra detours on the way to Central Park, where the ice cream vendor would be. He didn’t know how well Abigail knew the area though, so it was a bit risky for him to knowingly take a wrong turn. He didn’t want to scare her while she was still skittish around him, after all.

“Ah, ah,” Roman tutted when she tried to tell him not to pay for her. He flashed her a grin over his shoulder, smoothly leaning to his left to dodge a stopped taxi up ahead without slowing down. His driving was both reckless and controlled, the mark of someone who had years of biking experience and the confidence that came with it. “Don’t even bother trying to cover your own bill, darling. It wouldn’t be very chivalrous of me to let you get away with that, now would it?” He leaned to his right to skirt around the side of a truck, laughing wildly. “Almost there now!”

With his efficient driving, it didn’t take long for them to reach Central Park. Roman slowed his motorcycle to a stop and climbed off. He held out a hand to help Abigail down, leaning forward in a garish but gentlemanly bow, “M’lady.”

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

It's all good! I'll try to get my reply done before I go to bed tonight

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm good with whatever, but at this point that scenario is pretty likely.
Also, Penelope can argue with Crow if she wants to. He's being stubborn xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow opened his mouth to make a snide comment about him and Penelope acting like they were married, but quickly changed his mind. He controlled his impulse and bit his tongue. Given everything that had happened the night before, it was still too soon to say anything about a romance between them—even a fake one. His emotions were still too raw. He needed to give himself a bit more time before he could flirt so casually with the knight as he used to.

“Another thing to worry about is how you’re going to manage actually getting inside and stealing the staff,” Penelope went on. She seemed concerned. “It would probably pay off to simply camp out somewhere near the castle and get as much information as we can. Even a little bit would help at this point.”

“Of course,” Crow nodded. “I would never go on a blind run. That’s just suicide. A skilled thief always studies his target as extensively as possible. Remember, love,” he winked at her playfully. “You’re working with a professional. I’ve spent my entire life learning and perfecting the tricks of my trade.” What he didn’t say was how long it usually took to scout out a new place—especially one as large as a royal palace. When he had attempted to steal the king’s crown in Brerra, it had taken him two months to fully memorize the layout and escape routes in that palace. He’d had to steal the armor of a royal guard and patrol the numerous hallways over and over again before he was comfortable enough to conduct the real run. And even then, he had gotten caught. The palace was just so huge that it was easy to make mistakes. The thief chewed on his lip in thought. He doubted the king of Brerra would allot him enough time to do a proper inspection of the Younisian castle before attempting to steal the staff. He just hoped the gods would be merciful to him this time.

“Also... I want to go in with you,” Penelope’s determined voice interrupted Crow’s musings. “Out of all of us, I’ll be able to keep up with you the best, and if things go awry, I can distract the guards so you can get out of there with the staff.” He blinked at her in surprise. Despite all of the planning he had done until this point, he had never taken into consideration the possibility that someone else might be coming with him into the palace. The idea of it was off-putting to him.

“I don’t know,” Crow said hesitantly, shifting his weight. His friendship with Penelope didn’t change the fact that he was more comfortable going on runs alone. The only time he had ever attempted bringing a partner, the other thief had gotten killed. It was just easier for him to watch his own back without worrying about someone else’s safety. And if Penelope came with him, he would definitely be worrying about her the whole time. “Don’t take this the wrong way, darling, but I prefer to work solo.” He shrugged and smiled at her apologetically. “I’ve been doing this for years, so I can handle myself. Just trust me. It will be faster if I go in alone.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Got my reply done! I'll be traveling for a while tomorrow, but I believe the first hotel we're staying at in California has wifi, so I should be able to write a post or two when I'm there :)