Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow flinched and closed his eyes as William prepared to punch him. However, the strike never came. He looked up again to see that Penelope had captured her comrade by the arm and was now restraining him. Not wanting to lose his opportunity to get away from William, he slipped away from the wall and stood closer to the center of the room so he would have more options if the knight came after him again.

As Penelope began chiding William for the fight, Crow winced. In his anger towards the knight, he had completely forgotten that they would get kicked out if they drew attention to themselves. He hoped none of the other patrons of the inn had overheard the commotion. Since there were so few lodgings in this part of Younis, it was unlikely that they could find anywhere else to stay for the night, and he didn’t want to keep moving without getting some sleep first. Between all the travelling and fighting with William, he hardly had the energy to stand upright anymore.

He was about to go lay down on the now unprotected bed, when Penelope said something else that caught his attention. She was used by a nobleman before? He glanced at her curiously. She had never mentioned anything about that to him before. By the context of her statement, it sounded like she had been with another man romantically at some point and been deceived by him. He felt a pang of annoyance to know that someone had had the audacity to abuse her affection like that.

I suppose there is one thing I can offer her that a nobleman can’t, he mused, feeling a little better about their relationship now. I may lie to get what I want from strangers, but I would never play with her heart like that.

When Penelope finally turned away from William and came over to ask if he was okay, he nodded, “I’m fine.” In truth, his head still pounded from the older knight’s punch, but it was nothing compared to William’s injuries. He looked over at the knight, unable to hide a smug grin when he saw the other man nursing his broken nose. It was quite clear which of them had come off worse in the fight, and even though Penelope had technically saved him from getting beaten up by her comrade, he was proud that, for once, it wasn’t him.

“You’re both going to regret this,” William growled as he wiped blood off of his upper lip. “You’re both acting like I’m the bad guy here, but I was only trying to keep you from throwing your lives away.” He looked at Crow and Penelope in turn. “You’re going to end up hanged, and you’re going to lose everything you’ve worked for. You just wait and see. This little romance of yours is going to tear you both apart.”

“Thanks for the input,” Crow said dryly, putting an arm around Penelope’s shoulders. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind the next time we sleep together.”

William curled his lip at the thief’s bawdy comment, “I can’t wait to see you standing on the gallows, cur.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Crow rolled his eyes. He hesitated for a moment before adding, “Oh, and by the way.” He took a sharp step towards the knight, causing him to flinch reflexively, and smirked. “Looks like you finally learned your place.” Taking Penelope by the hand, he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, letting out his breath in a tired sigh. After such a long day, he was ready to get some much needed sleep.

He pressed a kiss to her cheek and leaned against her shoulder. “I’m glad all of that is finally over,” he whispered into her ear.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm back to running in the mornings now that I'm not sick anymore, so I'm gonna go to bed early
I'll get my reply done tomorrow :)

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EDIT:

So much testosterone xD

I probably won't be on until after 8 or later tonight because I have plans all day
I might have a couple breaks throughout today, but I'm not sure yet

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

This is definitely their low point as a reluctant team ^^;
Crow reached his breaking point... literally lol

EDIT:

Here's another song I found that fits Crow pretty well after the time skip x3

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow relaxed slightly as Penelope rested her hand on his back, but he continued to hold William in his sight, ready to defend himself if the knight chose to attack him despite the fact that she was on his side. With the way William was looking at them, he definitely seemed like he was still planning to fight. His furious expression made the thief’s blood boil. He wanted to knock it off his face, but he also wanted to avoid coming to blows if it was still an option. After all, it would be a problem if they got kicked out of the inn for causing a commotion. It wasn’t worth the risk.

He stood back as the two knights argued, glaring at William when he continued to try to convince Penelope that she was being manipulated by him. He didn’t understand why the stubborn old fool was still bothering with that argument. It was obvious that his feelings for her were genuine. William just couldn’t seem to believe that someone of his low status could ever act out of genuine intentions. It was annoying how belittling his words were.

When William suddenly grabbed hold of Penelope’s arm, Crow bristled. He couldn’t stand the sight of the knight handling her so roughly. Before he had a chance to think through his actions, he lunged at him. William, using both of his arms to restrain his comrade, couldn’t move fast enough to block him. The thief’s fist landed squarely in his solar plexus, knocking the breath from his lungs.

The knight released Penelope and clutched at his stomach, gasping for breath. However, before he could recover, Crow moved in again, landing a punch to his face this time. There was a faint cracking sound as William’s nose broke from the impact. He groaned and brought his hands up to his face, shooting the thief a glare through watering eyes.

“Touch her again, and I’ll break more than your nose,” Crow snarled at him.

“Son of a bitch!” William spat blood onto the floor and charged at him, throwing a punch at the thief’s throat.

Remembering what he had learned from his sparring lessons with Penelope, he brought up his forearm to block the knight’s attack and countered by shoving him off balance so he stumbled. William blinked, caught off guard by the thief’s new fighting abilities, but recovered quickly. He used his momentum to swing his left leg up and kick Crow’s knee, forcing it to buckle. Crow cursed, unable to stop himself from falling. The knight didn’t skip a beat. He spun around and landed another punch to the thief’s head before he could get up.

Crow’s vision swam from the blow, and he reeled back to get away from William until he could recover. However, the knight didn’t give him the chance. William shoved him against the far wall of the room. “Now you’ll pay,” he growled, cocking his fist back to swing at his face.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

So much tension in the group

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

When he met up with Penelope at the inn, Crow took her hand and returned her smile. He nodded when she said she had gotten a room with two beds. It wasn’t as good as a separate room would have been, but he wasn’t about to complain at the prospect of sleeping on a soft mattress again, even if William was there too. As she went on to warn him that the older knight planned to make him sleep on the floor, he rolled his eyes, “Of course he is. That jackass can’t stand the thought of us sharing a bed.”

At her question, he nodded again, “I hid them in the back of their extra stores of hay. I’d be impressed if anyone managed to find them there, even if they were looking.” He glanced down the hallway and then back to Penelope, “We should go to the room before William thinks of a way to make me sleep on the floor tonight. Come on.”

He walked with her to the room they had been assigned and opened the door. Inside, William had claimed one of the beds by throwing his cloak over it and was standing next to the other one with his arms folded sternly. His eyes swept over Crow and Penelope in the doorway, lingering on their intertwined hands, and he curled his lip, “Penelope, you take the bed. Thief, your spot is over there.” He jabbed a thumb towards the opposite corner of the room.

“Yeah right,” Crow snorted, closing the door after they stepped into the room.

“You think this is a joke?” William narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m not about to stand by and watch a criminal disgrace my comrade. You will be sleeping on the floor tonight.”

“And what are you going to do if I refuse?” Crow shot the knight a glare.

“Back down now and you won’t have to find out,” William warned, cracking his knuckles threateningly.

The thief hesitated near the doorway, eyeing him warily. He’s bluffing, he thought. He can’t be stupid enough to start a fight in a small room like this and risk getting us all kicked out. Feeling more confident, he disregarded the knight’s warning and began to make his way towards the bed. However, as he moved to step around William, the knight caught him off guard by throwing a punch that connected with his jaw. He staggered from the unexpected impact and brought a hand up to his cheek, staring at him in surprise.

“Don’t test me, Lockton,” William growled. “Consider that your final warning.”

“You’re insane,” Crow spat.

“You two are the insane ones,” William snapped. “It’s indecent for a criminal to share a bed with a knight. You are both going to stop while she still has a chance to reclaim her title as a respectable knight of Brerra.”

“You call looking down on anyone lesser than a noble respectable?” Crow scoffed. “Where I’m from, we call that shallow.”

“You can fight it as much as you like, but this is the way of the world,” William stood up slightly straighter. “Some lives are worth more than others, and yours, thief, is worth nothing.”

“Like I give a damn what you think,” Crow snarled at him. “All you nobles care about is status. I could save your gold plated ass a thousand times and you’d still say I’m just a criminal. There’s no point in trying to convince you that maybe—just maybe—there’s more to life than simply following the law.”

“The law is what holds our kingdom together. Without it, we have chaos.”

“With it, people are dying!” Crow said sharply. He took a calming breath, forcing his temper into check, and glowered at the knight. “Forget it. I’m not going to waste my breath on you. Now, stand aside. You can’t take on both of us at once, and I refuse to sleep on the floor.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Right,” Crow frowned as he recalled the last inn they had stayed at. The lack of lodging wasn’t the only thing that worried him. Back then, it had been hard enough for him and Penelope to share a bed. He could only imagine the awkwardness of the situation if they couldn’t find a place that had more than one bed to sleep in this time. He was exhausted from all the travelling, so he was going to fight for it if William tried to make him sleep on the floor again. After being spoiled with soft mattresses on their way to the castle, he didn’t plan to settle for anything less on the journey back.

Leaning against Penelope, he closed his eyes to rest for the last leg of their trip that day. The warmth of her body against his made him relax despite his efforts to stay alert, but he enjoyed it too much to move. After all, the other two were still keeping watch for danger. He could afford to let himself unwind for a little while. He let out his breath in a long exhale, holding her by the waist as he reclined comfortably against her back.

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When they finally arrived at a small inn, it was getting close to dusk. Crow slid down tiredly from the horse’s back, wincing slightly at the soreness in his legs and back from riding on the animal all day. He would be glad to lay down on a bed again after spending the last few nights on the ground in the woods. Casting a furtive glance at William, he silently prayed that the inn Penelope had found would accommodate multiple people this time.

Or maybe we could get our own room, he blinked as the idea suddenly came to him. It would be nice to get away from William and all of the tension that lingered between them. He wondered if Penelope would think it was worth the extra money too. However, there was no way for him to ask her while William was standing so close, so when she said a quick goodbye, he just nodded and hoped that she was thinking the same thing he was.

Taking the horses by the reins, he guided them over to a stable behind the inn. He pulled the door open and peered inside to see if anyone else was there. Fortunately, it appeared to be empty aside from a few other horses left by other travelers. He smiled to himself and stepped into the stable, closing the door behind the horses.

The thief led them over to two empty stalls and managed to get them in without too much trouble considering his lack of experience with the beasts. Once that was done, he slid the bow and staff out from their hiding place and began searching the room for a place to hide them where they wouldn’t be found accidentally. It wasn’t long before he spotted a good location behind some bales of hay. Any stable boys that came to check on the horses would have a hard time noticing the stolen objects lodged back there.

That should do it, he thought as he finished hiding the bow and staff. Satisfied with his work, he turned and headed back to the inn to meet Penelope.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Sorry I haven't replied yet! I just got home from my meeting
we ran so late, oh my lord @.@

I'll get started on my reply tonight. If I don't finish, it will be up tomorrow whenever I'm not on campus doing projects ^^;

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EDIT: Managed to get that done a lot fast than I was expecting~

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow and William are going to be cooped up in a room all night... oh boy xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow climbed onto the horse after Penelope and shifted in the saddle so he was sitting comfortably behind her. He slid his arms around her middle, enjoying their closeness once again as they headed into the town. While he now felt safe from William, he remained on alert for signs that any of the Younisians they passed by noticed the staff or bow he had tied to the stallion. They were quite literally hiding in plain sight by taking the main road. All it would take was one noble to catch a glimpse of their stolen cargo or even of Penelope’s face, and there would be trouble. He couldn’t afford to relax as much as he had been during their ride through the forest.

And we still haven’t caught a trace of those other people who supposedly want to stop us, he remembered as he glanced cautiously down a side street. It had been a while since the mercenary had attacked them, but the silence just set him on edge. He didn’t like how their unknown enemy was able to strike from the shadows and disappear again just as quickly. It was much easier to deal with a threat that made itself known. At least we can be prepared, he thought. We know they’re still out there, so we won’t let our guards down again.

He turned towards Penelope when she asked where they should spend the night, pondering her question for a moment before replying tentatively, “As risky as it is, I think an inn is our only option here. Without the forest for cover, we can’t camp outside without getting caught by a patrol. The only other thing I can think of is sleeping on a roof, but there’s no way we could hide the horses if we try that.” He leaned into her and sighed, gazing out at the town as he mulled over the dilemma.

After a moment, he turned back to her again, “We can stay at an inn, but we’ll need to hide the staff and bow in the stables. I’ll do that while you and William get a room for us.” He glanced up at the sky, where the sun was beginning to sink towards the western horizon, and went on in a quieter voice directed mostly to himself, “I just hope we can find somewhere to rest before it gets dark.”