Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow looked up at Penelope again as she went on to make a proposition with him. He raised a brow in surprise when she practically offered to use her high rank in the king’s army to work as an informant for the thieves. He knew her well enough to expect that she would want to come up with a compromise, but this suggestion was quite a bit more than he was hoping for.

He took a moment to think about her words before giving a reply. If she went through with it, she would be risking everything she had worked for. All it would take was one knight at the wrong place at the wrong time, and she would be discovered and probably lose her rank at the very least. In addition to that, the position would likely force them to see each other often, and he didn’t like that at all. He wanted to stay as far away from her as possible, not get closer. The thought of continuing to meet with her, even if it was only in a formal setting, was more than a little off-putting.

However, as the leader of the thieves, it was his responsibility to do what was best for his companions. He knew they were willing to fight, but it would be better for everyone if they had a way to avoid such dangerous situations in the first place. They already had enough trouble dealing with the battles between Younis and Brerra. Having Penelope working for them on the inside would bring him some peace of mind when handling the knights outside of war conflicts.

“I still can’t promise that I won’t defend myself against the knights if I need to,” Crow said, crossing his arms over his chest. “But, it would be helpful to have a set of eyes on the inside… Very well then. If you work for us and keep us updated on the knights’ activity, I’ll make sure my thieves don’t go out of their way to kill any of them.” With a satisfied smirk, he held out his hand to her. “Is that a deal?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I have a feeling she's not going to like his answer either

Nice xD
It's so freaking catchy

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As the silence dragged on between them, Crow began to regret agreeing to Penelope’s request. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to memories of the past, of happier times when they had been alone together. That fact that all those moments they had stolen to be alone were gone now brought a fresh wave of sadness to the thief. He snuck a glance at her from the corner of his eye. They hadn’t been this distant since the day they had first met. Only now, things were even more complicated and tense between them. He let out his breath quietly, looking away from her again and trying to focus on other things.

Eventually, Penelope broke the silence. Her words confirmed his fear that she wanted him to promise that he wouldn’t do anything to the knights. It was the one request she could have made that he didn’t know how to answer. He slowed to a stop as she finished explaining her point, but didn’t respond right away. Instead, he took a moment to gather his thoughts, hoping he could come up with a way to explain the position he was in without sending her running back to the other knights.

After a moment, he sighed, “It’s not that simple. You don’t understand what we go through to survive out here.” He finally looked up to meet her gaze. “You may have just arrived in this war, but we’ve been living in it for a year. We don’t have the support of a king, or a large group of trained knights to protect ourselves, or even money to get by. When you’re in life or death situations almost every day, you have to make… hard decisions.”

He shifted his weight slightly, “I’m not saying that I’m planning to go and attack the knights. Honestly, I’d rather avoid that conflict if I can. However, I also can’t promise you that I’m going to just keep standing back and hope we continue getting lucky enough to avoid getting caught. If push comes to shove, I’m going to do everything in my power to protect myself and my companions.” His eyes turned cold and he averted his gaze. “I’m sorry, but if that means fighting, then that’s just what I’m going to have to do.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow isn't loving this situation ^^;

Kind of ironically, that song made me think of this one xD
I don't think it fits as well as yours, but it's good so I'm sharing it anyways lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Olivia introduced herself rather flirtatiously, Alistair nudged Simon and leaned over to mutter in the other thief’s ear, “Dibs.”

Simon wrinkled his nose, “Really? A knight?”

“Who cares? She’s beautiful, and she’s interested.”

“You have no shame,” Simon shook his head as Alistair ran off to grab the bandages to treat Olivia’s wound.

Crow watched him go with a roll of his eyes. Even more so than himself, Alistair was an opportunist when it came to women. He flirted with anyone, regardless of status, and had surprisingly high success that none of the other thieves could understand. As far as Crow knew, Rikki was the only woman to have ever turned him down, and that was only because she had been eyeing Crow and didn’t want a reputation for sleeping around in the group.

“So,” Simon said in a hushed voice, moving to stand at Crow’s side. He glanced furtively at the knights before turning towards his leader. “It seems like the knights of our kingdom already have a vendetta against us.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Crow said quietly without meeting the other thief’s gaze. He already knew where Simon was going with this.

“Come on,” Simon crossed his arms. “They sent knights to ambush us. They’re at the point of sparing some of their numbers to take us down.”

“They still might give up.”

“At least consider the option,” the blonde thief sighed. “It would be a much more consistent income than what we’re relying on now.”

“…I’ll think about it,” Crow finally relented.

“Crow,” Penelope’s voice drew his attention and he turned to see that she had come up to speak with him. As she asked to talk with him about his plan to deal with the knight’s trap, he shifted his weight uncertainly. For one thing, he still didn’t feel like he was in the best place to converse with her, but more so than that, he was afraid she would want him to promise her that he and the other thieves would leave the knights alone, which he wasn’t sure he could do.

He met her gaze, intending to deny the request, but the concern in her eyes made him falter. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he felt bad for causing her to worry. He couldn’t just leave her like that.

“Fine,” he said after a moment’s pause. He turned back to Simon, who gave him a curious look, and tipped his head, indicating for the other thief to leave. Simon hesitated, seeming unsettled by the situation, but after a bit, he walked over to stand with Rikki.

Now alone with Penelope for the first time since the previous night, Crow’s inhibitions about being around her suddenly came flooding back. He shoved his hands in his pockets in subconscious defensiveness and cleared his throat before going on: “If you don’t want any unwanted opinions, we should go somewhere more private. This way.”

Pushing back against his discomfort, he started down the length of the ravine, towards the river at the far side. However, as they walked, he didn’t begin the conversation. He still didn’t know what to say to her about the subject, so he decided to wait for her to speak first.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow acts a lot more stoic when he's not sure what to do xD
He's trying to come off as a respectable leader

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Penelope explained her reason for coming to the thieves’ camp, Crow wavered slightly. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but it definitely hadn’t been a warning about an ambush. He swallowed and glanced discreetly towards her, trying to keep a neutral expression despite his inner turmoil. He hated that he didn’t know how to act around her. Being cold felt cruel, but he couldn’t just pretend like nothing had changed between them when everything was different now.

When she finished speaking, he hesitated, not sure what to say to her. However, he didn’t need to say anything, because Simon piped up first, “Well, this is just great.”

“If they think they can make fools of us like that, they’ve got another thing coming!” Alistair growled, curling his hands into fists at his sides. “We should go and fight them tomorrow. We can take them easily, especially since they don’t know we’re in on their little scheme.”

“Yeah,” Rikki grinned in agreement, cracking her knuckles. “If they don’t give us our money, we’ll just take it off their cold, dead bodies.”

Crow shifted uneasily, his eyes flicking towards the knights. He didn’t like how openly Rikki and Alistair were threatening Penelope’s and Olivia’s comrades. Even though the two had come to warn the thieves about the ambush, their loyalties still laid with the other knights. It could be trouble if the hotheaded thieves provoked them to turn on them.

“We can discuss it later,” he shot Alistair and Rikki a warning look, gesturing subtly towards the knights in the hopes that they would catch on to his concern. Fortunately, the female thief seemed to pick up his signal. She elbowed Alistair harshly in the ribs when he opened his mouth to make another snide remark.

Relaxing slightly, Crow turned back to Olivia and Penelope, “Thanks for the warning.” His gaze fell to the cut on Olivia’s arm and he paused, thinking something over before going on, “Before you go, let us treat that wound. It’s the least we can do, since you came here to help us, and we attacked you.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

So much tension

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow tensed as two knights came into view at the top of the ravine, and he gritted his teeth in frustration. This was the second time in two days! Perhaps they needed to consider moving to a new location, considering how easily their enemies were finding them lately. However, as he watched the knights for a moment longer, his eyes widened in recognition. It was Olivia and Penelope. What were they doing here? Olivia had no reason to come back, and Penelope had no business showing her face after what she had said to him. His heart leapt into his throat and his momentary confusion gave way to panic as he realized what was about to happen.

Unfortunately, being the farthest one away from the knights also meant he could do nothing to stop the other thieves from attacking. He stood up hurriedly as he saw Alistair leap down on Penelope with a vicious gleam in his eye. Rikki and Simon were quick to follow his lead, springing on Olivia before she had a chance to react. The three were clearly intent on taking advantage of the female knights’ surprise while it lasted, striking furiously in their desire to overpower them.

Damn it… Crow sprinted towards the battle, catching the sound of Penelope’s words over the clashing of blades as he got closer: “I know Crow! I’m here to warn you guys about what the knights are planning!”

“Sure you do!” Alistair laughed, swiping at her again with his short sword. “All you knights ‘know’ Crow. Try again, sweetheart.” His eyes flicked towards Rikki in a knowing glance before returning to Penelope. He dove to swing his weapon at her side while the female thief pivoted away from Olivia to come at Penelope from behind, her dagger poised to strike the knight’s back. However, before she could make contact, Crow intercepted the blow, using his own dagger to knock Rikki’s away.

“What the hell?” she snarled at him. “I had her!”

“That’s enough!” Crow snapped loudly, drawing the attention of the other thieves, who faltered at the sternness of his voice. Reluctantly, they obeyed his command and stood down, though they continued to eye the knights defensively, clearly prepared to keep fighting if Olivia or Penelope came at them again.

“What’s going on here?” Simon turned on Crow with a glare, seeming suspicious of the fact that their leader knew the strange knights.

Crow ignored his hostility and turned towards Penelope and Olivia. “I don’t know,” he said coldly. “What is going on here?” As his eyes fell on Penelope, he felt a harsh tangle of emotions—hurt, anger, longing, heartache—and he turned away again, unable to look her in the eye. Instead, he focused on Olivia, “What are you two doing here?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

If she can handle his narcissism, then they would xD
Crow and the others usually just mess with him, because he has such a massive ego

Feel free to use the npc thieves in your post if you need/want to