Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“A-are you serious?” Rikki stammered as she stared at Crow with round eyes. She and the other thieves had arrived back at the camp while he and Hazel had been gone. As soon as he had returned with the herbalist, he had gathered them to tell them the truth about his illness, that he’d had it since the previous winter, and that he hadn’t wanted them to know about it, but the symptoms were becoming too apparent to ignore. Now finished explaining everything, he stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, avoiding their concerned and confused gazes as they took a moment to process what he had said to them.

“I knew something was off about you,” Simon shook his head. “You’ve been acting strangely ever since the last battle.”

“You should have said something sooner,” Alistair growled. “We could have handled it. You should know us well enough by now to understand that.”

Crow shot him a glare, “I know you all well enough to know that Simon would insist on taking over my responsibilities as leader, Rikki would get worried and spend all her time doting on me, and you would throw yourself into unnecessary fights to keep knights away from our camp while I try to recover.” His gaze swept over them as they said nothing in response to the accusations. “You know I’m right about this. I didn’t want my illness to be the cause of everything changing around here.”

“Are they really such bad changes though?” Rikki spoke up this time. “Everything we would do would be for you, Crow. We all care about you, so if you’re sick, we’re going to do everything we can to help you get better.”

“Yeah,” Alistair crossed his arms. “Why can’t you just accept our help?”

The thief shifted his weight, lowering his gaze again, “I didn’t want to burden you all with this. I know you want to help, but there’s nothing you can do. Hazel is already working on finding a cure. Apart from that, I just need to get more sleep and stay out of battles. Please don’t change your routines for me. It will do nothing to change the outcome of my illness.”

“He has a point,” Simon spoke up, glancing at the others. “As upsetting as this news is, we have more pressing things to think about, such as the location of our next permanent camp.”

“Exactly,” Crow nodded, glad that at least one of them was seeing reason. “I want you all to focus on looking for a new place to set up, preferably close to the border so we can respond quickly when battles happen.”

Behind him, Hazel cleared her throat and lightly kicked his heel with her boot.

Crow sighed. “So you can respond quickly when battles happen,” he corrected himself reluctantly. “Also, since I can’t risk running into a patrol right now, I will unfortunately have to stay here while you three search. Try to be back by dusk to report what you find.”

“Of course,” Simon nodded. “We should leave post haste to cover as much ground as we can before the end of the day.” He turned to the others. “Come on then. Let’s get going.”

Alistair joined him as he turned to head out of the valley. Rikki casted a final worried glance back at Crow before hesitantly following after the other two.

Now alone with Hazel, Crow let out his breath in a sigh. He could already tell that Alistair and Rikki weren’t going to be as sensible as Simon about everything he had just shared with them. He just hoped the blonde thief would be able to convince them not to waste their time by trying to take care of him unnecessarily. He preferred that they leave him alone to rest and go on with their routines as if nothing had changed. It would be a much more efficient use of their time and energy.

“Now what are you going to do?” Hazel asked, drawing his attention.

“I’m going to take my healer’s advice and get some sleep,” he shrugged, heading over to his bed. “Wake me if you need anything.”

--

Crow slept through most of the day, only getting up twice to eat lunch and supper that Hazel had prepared. Eventually, day turned to night and he got up one more time in wait for the other thieves to return to the camp. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long before he saw all three of them head down the hillside to join him and the herbalist in their temporary camp.

“How did it go?” he asked as they sat down around the fire he had built.

“Surprisingly great,” Alistair answered, plopping down heavily across from him. “We found a promising spot that’s not too far from our old camp.”

“Really?” Crow raised a brow in mild surprise. “I’d have thought it would be better to stay far away from the ravine, so the knights don’t find us again.”

“You would think,” Rikki chimed in with a grin. “But this place is perfect. It’s really hard to find. We only noticed it on accident.”

“Where is it?” Crow asked with growing interest.

“Do you know that drop-off in the river just northwest of Myrefall?” Rikki said.

“Of course. The one with the waterfall, right?”

“Right,” her grin broadened. “It’s behind the waterfall.”

“What?”

“There’s an old tunnel system behind the water,” Simon clarified. “We didn’t have a chance to explore them thoroughly, but it’s more than large enough to house all of us and store away any future supplies we steal from the knights.”

“The best part is that the tunnels will be easy to defend if we’re ever found again,” Alistair said. “If we all memorize the layout, we’ll have a huge terrain advantage if we ever need to fight off intruders.”

“I doubt we’ll even need to do that,” Crow shook his head. “I’ve lived in this area for years, and I never knew these tunnels existed.”

“So, you think they’ll make a good camp too?” Rikki asked excitedly.

“We can all head over there tomorrow,” Crow nodded, moving to stand up. “Good work, you guys. Let’s all get some sleep, so we’re well-rested for the move in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alistair yawned, climbing to his feet as well. The others followed suit, and the four thieves headed over to their mats as they got ready for bed.

Crow laid down on his mat and drew his blanket over himself. Despite the long naps he had taken throughout the day, he still felt just as tired now as he had been in the afternoon. He closed his eyes, but before he could drift off, he felt a familiar pressure against his side. Looking down, he saw that Rikki had curled up next to him again, and he frowned. Her formerly comforting presence had the opposite effect on him now that he was with Penelope again. An image of their accidental kiss that morning flashed through his mind and he blushed, feeling another harsh pang of guilt. He couldn’t let her sleep beside him anymore. It was too risky.

“I’m sorry, love,” he said softly, feigning a wince. “With this illness, it’s difficult to sleep while you’re pressed against me like that.”

“Oh,” Rikki frowned sadly, shifting to lay fully on her own mat. Meeting his gaze across the gap, she offered him a halfhearted smile, “Goodnight, Crow.”

“Night,” he murmured tiredly, closing his eyes again. Now that he didn’t have to worry about the female thief getting too close to him while he slept, he was able to drift off into a pleasant slumber.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I think the only thing that will convince Hazel to work with a physician is if she realizes she has no other choice
In essence, she'll come around if she sees Crow's condition deteriorate

It was! Apparently it was just a casual hangout tonight, so most of us left early because we didn't have to stay xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow took a steeling breath as he prepared himself to tell Hazel about Penelope’s suggestion, looking at the trees around them to avoid her critical gaze. The forest was thick and the ground beneath their feet was even. There was no sign of the valley they had come from. The two had walked far enough away from the thieves’ camp that he felt confident the others wouldn’t be able to hear them, even if the herbalist raised her voice like she had the last time. He had made sure to travel far with her because of her unpredictable temper. So, as long as none of his companions happened to pass through the area, they would be safe to speak openly without fear of being eavesdropped on.

After a hesitation, he forced himself to meet her eyes, uneasy green to piercing blue. After seeing her reaction to Penelope spending the night with them—and then later her reaction to discovering his taboo relationship with the knight—he was worried about how she would respond to the idea Penelope had come up with. He had his own reservations about working with a noble he didn’t know, but he was at least willing to lay down his pride to try and make it work. However, he was only doing so because of his love for the knight. Hazel had no such motivation to work with a physician. It was going to be difficult to convince her to give it a shot.

But he knew he had to try.

Finally ready to approach her, Crow squared his shoulders and began, “When you said you were going to help me look for a cure to this illness, you said you were just using me to help the people of Myrefall, right?”

Hazel frowned and crossed her arms, wavering for a moment before responding with a snort, “Obviously. I would never do this much work for someone like you.” She shifted slightly. “Why are you bringing this up now?”

“So, you’re saying you’re willing to help me, a man you’ve made it clear you dislike, for the good of a people who are suffering?” he pressed.

“That’s what I said, yes,” she growled, eyeing him suspiciously. “Where are you going with this, snake?”

“Just how far are you willing to go?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she answered guardedly. “What’s up with all these leading questions anyway?”

“I may have found someone who can help us find a cure for this disease,” Crow said, starting to get closer to his point. “It’s a person with a strong grasp of medicines and years of experience treating illnesses.”

“You think this person is better than me?” Hazel curled her lip.

“I didn’t say that,” he held up his hands innocently. “But I know you’ve worked with other herbalists before. You have to admit that two heads are better than one when it comes to finding a new cure.”

“I suppose,” she shrugged. “So, who is this person? Why am I only hearing about them now?”

Now it was Crow’s turn to shift uncomfortably, “It’s a noble physician.”

“What?” she shook her head vigorously. “No way! I refuse to work with one of those heartless wretches. They’re the lowest of the low. Count me out.”

“Just listen to me,” he requested, catching hold of her wrist before she could turn to leave. “I don’t love this idea either, but Penelope said she knows someone who might be willing to help us.”

“Oh, so this was your armor-wearing lover’s idea, was it?” Hazel spat. “Hmm, let me think about that… No.” She tugged her arm out of his grasp.

“So that’s it then?” Crow called after her as she began to storm away from him. “You have the opportunity to use a physician’s knowledge to find a cure for this, and you’re going to turn it down because you’re too proud to even breathe the same air as one of them?”

“I don’t need them,” she snarled over her shoulder. “I can do this on my own.”

“Maybe,” he took a step after her. “But won’t you have a better chance of finding it if you have their medicinal knowledge too?”

“Don’t care. You might have gone soft, but I’m a woman of integrity. I will not work with a noble rat, and that’s final.”

Crow stared after her in dismay as she marched back towards the camp. He had hoped she would be willing to go along with Penelope’s idea if he played on her care for the villagers, but even that hadn’t worked. His mind raced as he tried to come up with another approach, but he drew nothing but blanks. Without an alternative strategy, he hurried to run after the herbalist, hoping she might change her mind if he begged her enough.

“Wait!” he called again as he caught up with her. “Hazel, I—” Suddenly he inhaled sharply as a burst of lightheadedness struck him, and he dropped to his hands and knees.

Hearing him fall, the herbalist turned around. Her blue eyes widened as they landed on him. “Crow, are you okay?” she asked, all animosity momentarily forgotten as she quickly came to his side. “What happened?”

“I’m fine,” he muttered, embarrassed that she had seen him lose control like that. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear away the dizziness, he braced his legs to stand up. In the next moment, the world turned sideways, and he dropped back to the ground.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Hazel chided, holding up her hand as he moved to try again. “Just stay still until it passes.”

“Cursed disease,” he grumbled, bringing a hand to his head in frustration.

She observed him for a moment with a concerned expression and then proceeded to crouch down at his side and touch her hands to different parts of his body.

“What are you doing?” he asked warily, recoiling as she reached towards his throat.

“Shut up and sit still,” she said sternly, grabbing him by the shoulder to hold him steady as she pressed two fingers just below his jaw. She closed her eyes and didn’t move for a short period of time before releasing him again. She knitted her brow and muttered something under her breath that he didn’t catch.

“What?” he asked, staring to feel nervous by her reaction.

“It’s just… I can hardly feel your pulse,” she shook her head.

Crow felt his blood run cold, “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s just weird. Normally when someone runs, their heartbeat gets stronger, but it’s almost as if yours is doing the opposite.” She met his gaze with a frown. “How long did that old man tell you the second phase lasts?”

“He said it varies,” Crow said absently. “He’s seen it last anywhere from a month to a year.”

“And what comes after that?”

“I think the cough gets worse. He said if the illness gets to that point, all you can do is wait for death.”

“And by that point, you would be fully bedridden, right?”

“Probably… At least, that’s what happened to my mother,” he held her gaze anxiously. “Why?”

“Crow, if there’s another battle, you need to stay out of it,” Hazel said suddenly.

“What?” he blinked in surprise. “Why?”

“I think you’re making the disease progress faster when you keep pushing yourself like this,” she explained seriously. “You barely jogged from that tree over there to where we are now. You’re getting to a point where any sort of physical strain drops you to your knees. At this rate, it won’t be much longer before you can’t even walk. You need to stop exerting yourself before you reach that third phase.”

The thief lowered his gaze, “But what about—”

“No,” Hazel interrupted. “No ‘but’s. You told me the fatigue started less than two weeks ago, and you’re already at a point where you can barely function without nearly passing out. You’re going to kill yourself if you keep up like this.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how much damage you’ve already done, but you can still hold back now and hope it’s enough to stave off that third phase long enough for me to find a cure.”

“Do you really think you can figure it out in time?” he murmured, feeling his heart sink at her works.

“I…” she trailed off and pursed her lips, averting her gaze as she went on softly. “It’s not looking good.”

Crow closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath as he pushed down a pang of grief. “I should tell them,” he said quietly. “Raven, Alistair, and Simon… They need to know.”

Hazel nodded, “I think it’s for the best. You can’t keep pretending everything is fine anymore.” She reached out to take his hand in a comforting gesture, “But don’t give up yet. If you get plenty of rest and don’t put too much strain on yourself, you might be able to prolong it for a while longer. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on your medicine. I already have a new one for you to try tonight.”

“Thanks,” he said numbly.

“We’ll figure this out,” she said a bit more confidently. “Don’t let yourself lose hope just yet. You haven’t even reached the third phase, so we’ve still got time.” Standing up again, she dusted herself off and offered him a hand to stand up. “Anyway, we should go to the camp and see if your friends are back yet.”

“Yeah,” Crow took her hand and rose unsteadily to his feet. “Seems like I’ve got some news to tell them.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was a little out of it this morning ^^;

My meeting tonight might not be as long as usual, because they cancelled the second half!
They might have done that because the first half is gonna be longer than normal, but I'm choosing to be optimistic xD
If it's the same length as always, I'll just be out until maybe 8 at the very latest. Probably 7:30~

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The next morning, Crow awoke to the feeling of Penelope shifting against his side. He didn’t remember when she had joined him on his bed during the night, but still half-asleep and content that she was there now, he didn’t bother to stop and question it. He groaned tiredly and rolled onto his side, wrapping his arm around her slender body to hold her close to his chest. Between his exhaustion from the late trip to Farhill and the fatigue caused by his illness, it didn’t take long before he started to doze off again.

After a short while, he felt her stir again. She slipped her arm around his waist and wriggled a bit closer to rest her head against his. The motion roused him enough to wake up, but he was too weary to open his eyes. He smiled softly and leaned against her, enjoying the moment. Blearily, he thought something seemed strange about the fact that she was sleeping next to him. He could have sworn they had talked about having to sleep apart that night, but he couldn’t remember why. Putting his confusion aside, he exhaled softly and focused on the steady rise and fall of her chest instead. If he couldn’t remember why they had talked about such things, it must not have been very important.

She ran her hand gently over his shoulder and brushed her lips against his cheek, trying to coax him to turn his head so that she could more easily reach his mouth. His smile broadened slightly. He liked how bold she was getting. They had only just woken up, yet she was already pining for a kiss. Feeling her nuzzle him one more time, he shifted to comply with her unspoken request and opened his eyes to meet her gaze. However, in the next moment, he flinched in surprise to see not Penelope, but Rikki’s face in front of him.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” the thief grinned at him before moving in to meet his lips in a kiss.

Still overcoming his initial shock, it took Crow a moment to comprehend and respond to what was happening. Once he had snapped out of the trance, he quickly recoiled from the kiss and pulled away from Rikki, removing his arm from around her body as well. His heart raced in his chest as he realized what he had just done. While he had only gotten so close to the female thief because he had mistaken her for Penelope, he still felt a leaden weight of guilt hit him hard in the gut.

Unfortunately, Rikki noticed his hasty response and frowned in confusion. “What the hell was that?” she asked bluntly, eyeing him as she tried to figure out why he had drawn back from her so suddenly.

Not expecting this situation at all, Crow wracked his brain to come up with a believable excuse. After a moment, he offered her a hapless smile as he thought of a lie, “Sorry, love, but your breath is terrible. How much did you have to drink last night?”

“I honestly don’t remember,” she shrugged, though her skeptical look didn’t disappear. “But that’s never stopped you before.”

“Even I have boundaries,” Crow snorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Is it really that bad?” Rikki’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth self-consciously.

“Go drink some water or something,” he waved her off, hiding his relief that she had bought his lie as she hurried to go find a water flask. He was glad that he had managed to keep the situation from becoming worse, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling of shame that weighed down on him for kissing her. Suddenly, he paled as he remembered that Penelope had been sleeping nearby. Worried that she might have seen him with Rikki, he spun around to look at her mat, only to find that her bed was empty. He blinked confusedly, Did she get up early?

“If you’re looking for your knight, she’s gone.”

He looked over his shoulder to see Hazel walking towards him, arms crossed over her chest and an irritable expression adorning her cold features. Her stern façade was only broken by a slight upward curl of her lip as she went on, “Although I’m sure this comes as a relief to you after that little show you just put on.”

Crow flushed as he realized the herbalist had seen him with Rikki. “It wasn’t what it looked like,” he said hurriedly, sitting up on his bed. “I wasn’t fully awake, and I thought she was—” he paused and then averted his gaze. “You know, I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain myself to you.”

“Me neither,” Hazel smirked.

“Penelope left?” he looked up at her again, changing the subject. “When?”

“Early this morning,” Hazel shrugged, examining her fingernails as if their conversation was uninteresting to her. “She said she couldn’t wait to go back. Something about being sick of hanging around with thieves, missing her own people, needing a bath, blah blah blah.”

Crow fell silent for a moment and then narrowed his eyes at her, “You’re lying. She would never say something like that.”

“How would you know? You weren’t there.”

He glanced around to make sure none of the others were nearby before he went on in a hushed voice, “I know her. She doesn’t care about status and trivialities like other nobles. So, spill it: What did she really say?”

“Fine,” Hazel muttered. “She really did go back to her camp, but she told me to tell you she said goodbye.”

“Oh,” he frowned disappointedly. “Why didn’t she wake me herself?”

“She didn’t want to interrupt your rest,” the herbalist curled her lip at him. “Speaking of which, why did you let her find out about your illness? Do you know what a knight could do with that sort of information?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Crow said defensively. “We were being chased by other knights, and I passed out. If anything, you should be glad she found out, since she was able to protect me when I was unconscious.”

“I’m sure there had to be another way,” Hazel said stubbornly.

“How would you know? You weren’t there,” Crow taunted.

“Real cute,” she muttered dryly. “Anyway, she also told me to ask you about a physician and said you’d know whatever the hell that meant.”

“Right,” he closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair. He had almost forgotten about Penelope’s idea to involve a noble physician in the search for a cure for his illness. Judging from Hazel’s current mood, he doubted that conversation was going to go well.

“So?” she prodded when he didn’t say anything more. “Are you going to tell me what that rat was babbling about or not?”

“I am,” he nodded, glancing around the empty camp once more before throwing off his blanket and rising to his feet. “But we should go elsewhere, just in case the others come back. This isn’t a discussion for their ears.”

She shrugged, “Lead the way, snake.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yaaas
I love it cx
You played Hazel really well too lol

I'll get a reply up after my family leaves today! (like 1-2, probably)

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That took a while, but I got one done cx
Crow is happy they're both thinking the same thing

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow met Penelope’s lips with rivaling desire, pleasantly surprised by her reaction as she leaned up to kiss him. He was glad that his comment hadn’t scared her off. Since they had only just gotten together again, it felt soon to bring up the idea of starting a family, but he couldn’t help himself. It was something he found that he was looking forward to, and he wanted her to know it—even if it wasn’t something they would be expecting to do for quite a while.

When Penelope pulled back from the kiss to rest her forehead against his, he opened his eyes and grinned at her breathlessly, running his hand along her back. At her following words, he was relieved to know that she wasn’t as upset as he had thought about the idea of giving up her knighthood. However, he knew it was still going to be a difficult transition for her, so he planned to do his best to make that change as easy for her as possible. He wanted her to see that the life they were going to have together would be much better than anything her life as a noble had to offer.

He was about to tell her again but wavered as he noticed her take on a bashful look that caught him by surprise. Not used to seeing her like that, he found the expression to be somewhat charming. However, what she said next got his heart racing even more. She’s thought about it too, his eyes widened in realization, and his lip curled upward in a smile of its own accord. He wasn’t the only one that had thought about the prospect of starting a family. Somehow, knowing that made him even more eager for their future together.

As Penelope stepped out of his arms and announced that they should go to bed, he nodded in agreement, quickly reading that she wanted to change the subject. While he was excited to find out that they were on the same page about their life to come, he knew they would have plenty of time to discuss what that life would look like later on. There was no point in talking about it now, when it wouldn’t happen for quite some time.

Moving a little closer to her, Crow brought a hand to her chin to gently tilt her head up as he leaned in to kiss her once more. Unlike their last kiss, he met her lips tenderly until he pulled back to hold her gaze. “I can’t wait to be with you for the rest of my life, no matter what it looks like,” he murmured with a soft smile. “I love you, Penelope.”

Touching one more kiss to her forehead, he walked with her over to the bedrolls that had been laid out by the others and took one that was close to the spot Rikki had set up for the knight. Laying down tiredly, he glanced over at her and sighed, “I also can’t wait for the day when we can sleep next to each other again.” Once he had settled down comfortably, he drew his blanket over his body and reached across the gap between them to give her hand a squeeze. “Goodnight, love,” he yawned. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I've been hanging out with my fam today, so I was busy anyway :)

I'll get started on a reply in a few minutes!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

No worries! I was hanging out with my brother and his wife, since they're staying at my place this weekend ^^

Crow had a cute moment