Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

After following the street for a while in search of Penelope, Crow slowed to a stop and spun around to go back the way he had come. With so much thunder and lightning, she couldn’t have gotten far. He just wished he knew where she had gone. Shivering from the chill of the water that now soaked through his clothes, he kept going, calling out for her again as he began to weave through different alleyways as he looked for the knight.

His heart raced as another flash of lighting illuminated the night sky, and he hastened his pace, growing more desperate in his search for Penelope. Even though he knew it wasn’t his responsibility to comfort her anymore, he couldn’t stand the idea of her hiding somewhere by herself during a storm as bad as this one. He cared about her too much to let that happen.

After a while longer of searching, his efforts were rewarded as he caught a glimpse of a small figure huddled behind a pile of wooden crates in one of the alleys. He turned sharply and made his way towards the person. It had to be her. Who else would be out like that in the middle of a thunderstorm?

“Penelope!” he called again, slowing to a stop by her side and crouching down next to her. She looked petrified, and he couldn’t tell if she was even aware of him kneeling beside her. With a concerned frown, he reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, love,” he said gently, trying to coax her out of her fright. “You need to get out of this rain before you catch a cold.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice! I hope you have fun ^^
Same lol I tried last year, but he didn't want to do it because he thinks it's weird if we both dress up as guys
I just told him I'm practically a man anyway, so he can deal with it xD
It's a running joke among our friends that I'm the man in our marriage because I'm so androgynous

I'm excited for this storm x3

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow listened as Penelope gave him her update on the knights’ activities. He was relieved to hear that there wouldn’t be any more patrols coming after him and the other thieves aside from Layth’s. The others didn’t try to hide the fact that they were getting annoyed about being so confined to the southern side of the forest. He was sure they would be excited to hear that they could start going out on raids again without worrying about knights hiding around every bend.

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair thoughtfully as she went on to explain how the barons didn’t intend to launch another attack on the Younisians until the king replenished their supplies. While the news by itself was encouraging, he also wondered if there was some way that he could use such information to his advantage. Perhaps if he and his companions raided the knights again, they could keep delaying them from starting up another battle. He made a mental note to work on that idea more later.

As Penelope suddenly trailed off and muttered something to herself that he didn’t catch, he raised a brow at her in confusion, wondering what had caused her abrupt change in demeanor. In the next moment, he blinked and looked up at the ceiling as he took notice of the pouring rain outside. Not paying much attention to the weather on his way to Myrefall, he hadn’t realized the clouds he had seen before were storm clouds. The rain must have started after he got inside.

Crow turned back to Penelope as she hurried to get up from the table. “O-okay,” he frowned, still a bit taken aback by her sudden urge to go back to her camp. He stood up to follow after her, reaching up to draw his hood over his head, but then faltered as he remembered the time two years ago when they had been trapped in the stables by a storm in Younis. She had been too frightened back then to even think straight.

And now she was heading right into a rainstorm by herself.

Muttering a curse under his breath, the thief moved quickly for the door and pulled it open. He stepped outside and looked up and down the street, trying to see if he could figure out where the knight had gone. Unable to see the her, he guessed she had already started back towards her own camp. For a moment, he contemplated going home as well. After all, he remembered that she had been afraid of thunder, not rain, and he had yet to hear any. As long as the storm didn’t get any worse, she would be fine.

As if the gods were mocking him, a flash of lightning lit up the sky almost as soon as he finished his thought, followed by a deafening roar of thunder. He flinched slightly at its intensity. Well, any hope he had of going back to the ravine now was gone. Without another second to spare, he turned and ran down the road towards the northern forest, calling out for Penelope as he looked for her in the alleyways between houses.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Sounds like fun! Are you gonna wear a costume? ^^
I'm trying to convince my husband to do an El Dorado couple costume of Miguel and Tulio with me lol

Crow still has one secret he's not going to tell Penelope about

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was relieved to hear that Penelope hadn’t gotten caught assisting him in his escape. The last thing he wanted was to cause her any more trouble than he already had. He felt a little bad that some of her comrades were still holding her responsible for their prisoner getting away, but he was glad her baroness wasn’t upset with her about it. Recalling the authoritative looking woman, he wondered what kind of person she was. Every time Penelope spoke of her, her voice was full of respect. Judging by that alone, he guessed the baroness was a more just person than her comrades were.

At Penelope’s smirk, he returned a smile of his own. He was glad that she seemed to be doing alright since their last encounter. The sight of her proud face was more than enough to put his mind at ease and reassure him that she was doing just fine taking care of herself. He hoped she wouldn’t need to risk so much for him again though. She was already taking a big chance every time she came to Myrefall to meet with him. He didn’t want to put her in any more positions where she could lose her status or her job.

After a short moment of silence, she went on to ask him how he was feeling. He opened his mouth to answer, but then froze as she followed up the first question by asking him about how the knights had caught him to begin with. Shifting his weight, he looked away from her to watch a group of peasants at another table, as if they were suddenly interesting.

Even though he and Penelope were getting along again, he wasn’t about to tell her the real reason why he hadn’t been able to get away. No one knew about his waning health, not even the other thieves. It was a secret he intended to take to his grave—possibly quite literally if he couldn’t find a cure for the illness. He glanced back at the knight. Though they probably wouldn’t be together for more than a few seasons, he didn’t want to tell her either. Knowing how protective she was of the people she cared about, he was sure she would just worry about him unnecessarily. He couldn’t put that burden on her with everything else she was already dealing with.

“They were going to kill Rikki,” he said at last. “She was out by herself and a patrol found her. I saw them and tried to protect her, but there were too many of them for me to take on by myself. They overpowered me before I could get away.” He shrugged, offering her a halfhearted smile. “In hindsight, it wasn’t my best plan, but I’m just glad it was enough for Rikki to get away with her life.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

This is literally the first time I've managed to be consistent since I started college lol
I know, man. Your work sounds like they don't care at all about your sleep :c

Okay! I'll be around until about 4 for sure, but then I'm driving down to PHX for my brother's wedding, so I have no idea when I'll be on after that. It really depends on if my family wants to hang out or not while we're staying with them

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It took Crow longer than usual to make the trip to Myrefall. Though he had healed quite a bit over the last few days, his more severe injuries still pained him enough to slow his pace slightly. In addition to that, he also moved more cautiously so he could keep watch for knights. He didn’t know if Layth would sent out patrols so late at night, but he didn’t want to take any chances while he was in no condition to defend himself.

He shuddered to think what would happen if he got caught again. The last time had been unpleasant enough. If Layth found him again, he would probably just kill him on the spot. So, not wanting to risk losing his life, the thief traveled especially carefully through the woods that night, taking advantage of the darkness provided by the cloud cover.

When he got to Myrefall, his caution was replaced with excitement at the thought of seeing Penelope again. After they had made up during their last meeting and she had helped him escape from the knights at her camp, he felt like they were getting along quite well again.

By this point, he had given up on forcing himself to move on from her. It obviously wasn’t working, and it was much more enjoyable to just relax and be with her in the moment without trying to put distance between them. Of course, he had no intention of trying to win her back, since she was with Gavin, a nobleman who suited her better than a petty thief ever could. He just wanted her friendship back, since it was the next best thing he could get. He knew it would probably make it harder for him when they would inevitably part ways after the war, but he didn’t care anymore. He intended to make the most of his time with her while she was still in the outer villages.

When he reached the tavern, Crow casted one final look around to double check that there were no knights nearby before he stepped inside. His gaze swept over the room until he spotted Penelope at one of the tables. Lowering his hood, he greeted her with a friendly smile as he made his way over to her and took a seat on the other side of the table.

Suddenly, the memory of his impulsive gesture at the knights’ camp resurfaced in his mind, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering if she remembered it too. Not wanting to talk about it when they were finally getting along so well, he quickly brought up a different subject.

“Did any of the other knights see you help me when I escaped?” he asked with a concerned expression. “I hope they didn’t give you any trouble.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Honestly though xD

Yep! That's the plan, at least

I'll get a reply up in the morning, because I'm trying to keep a consistent sleeping schedule for myself ^^
I'll probably be on at like 7 or 8am, since I don't have any early plans for once in my life lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That's so sad though lol
I don't think Rikki will be completely blindsided either when Crow and Penelope get together, since he accidentally drops hints that he still has feelings for her sometimes, but she'll definitely be upset

I threw in the time skip ^^

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow spent most of the following three days sleeping as he recovered from his injuries. Between the battle and his encounter with the knights, he was too sore to do much else. During this time, Simon took over his command of the thieves, leading Alistair and Rikki on patrols of their own to keep watch for enemies. After learning about the additional scouts the knights had started sending out, the anxious thief wanted to make sure they didn’t get anywhere close to the ravine where their camp was hidden. Fortunately, all remained quiet on the southern side of the outer villages, and they didn’t run into any trouble.

Whenever she wasn’t helping Alistair and Simon on their patrols, Rikki stayed close to Crow’s side during his recovery. The day after he had returned to the camp, she admitted to him that she had felt somewhat responsible for his capture because he had gotten caught while he was trying to protect her. Despite his numerous assurances that it wasn’t her fault, she chose to stay by his side anyway, bringing him food and water and redressing his wounds while he stayed in the shelter.

Even though he didn’t agree with her reasoning, Crow found that he did enjoy Rikki’s company. She had a comforting presence, and he liked having her around to talk whenever he wasn’t sleeping. Chatting with her made the time go by faster and took his mind off of the pain of his injuries, which was something he greatly appreciated.

On the evening of the third day, Crow got up to have dinner with the other thieves in the center of the camp instead of eating in his bed as he normally did as of late. Knowing the time was drawing near for him to meet with Penelope again, he wanted to get his body used to moving again so he would be prepared to make the trip to Myrefall. He felt stiff from lying around all day, but otherwise the soreness of his wounds had faded enough that he didn’t think he would have any trouble getting there and back on his own.

As he walked over to them, Alistair looked up to greet him, “Hey, Crow. Finally feeling better, I see.”

“Much,” he nodded, sitting down by the fire pit and reaching for a bowl to serve himself his portion of dinner.

“Do your wounds still hurt?” Rikki frowned concernedly as she moved to get up. “I can get your food for you.”

“Sit down,” Crow rolled his eyes at her teasingly. “I’m fine. A little sore, but it’s nothing compared to two days ago. Don’t worry.”

“I take it you’re still planning to meet with that knight then?” Simon said as he lifted a spoonful of stew to his mouth. Crow had told them all when his next meeting with Penelope would be a couple days ago.

“Of course,” he shrugged, filling his own bowl up and taking a bite.

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?” Rikki asked. “I could go in your place, if you want.”

“Calm down, love,” Crow chuckled. “I really am fine.”

“Okay,” Rikki reluctantly dropped the subject.

The thieves spent the rest of the dinner conversing idly until night fell and it was time for Crow to leave. He got up to put his cloak on and arm himself with one of the spare sets of daggers they kept in their small store of weapons. The blades weren’t as high quality as the ones he had lost to the knights, but for now, they would have to suffice.

Once he was ready to go, he said his goodbyes and headed up the side of the ravine to meet with Penelope in Myrefall.