Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

She wore him down ^^;

True lol I'd guess it pays well in CA, since the economy thrives on movies and media.
Also, jobs seem to pay more in general there, I've noticed xD
The real question is: Does is counterbalance the cost of living? >>

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth and wiped the blood off on his pant leg. He hated that his illness had made an appearance when he was so close to the knights, and that it had come suddenly enough that he couldn’t do anything to stop it. The last thing he wanted was for Gavin or Olivia to realize he was sick, even though the disease barely affected him anymore. He trusted Penelope not to say anything about it, but he didn’t know either of the other knights well enough to believe that they wouldn’t tell their comrades that the thief who had been raiding their campsite was ailing.

He glanced up as Penelope told the others to go on ahead of them. For a moment, he guessed that she was just concerned about his health, and was trying to give him some time to recover from the coughing fit. However, that hope was quickly dashed when she turned on him with a worried expression and questioned him again about what he was trying to hide from her. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, still refusing to meet her gaze. He could tell by the sound of her voice that she wasn’t going to let it go until he admitted the real reason why he was acting strangely. Even though he really didn’t want to tell her the truth yet, he knew it was pointless to keep dodging the question when she was already so concerned.

Letting out his breath in a defeated sigh, he finally looked up from the ground to meet her frightened green eyes. “I think it would be best if we stop seeing each other,” he finally said in a hushed tone, his voice cracking slightly with suppressed emotions. He paused, taking a calming breath and running his hand anxiously through his hair. This was why he didn’t want to say anything to her right now. He had only gotten out one sentence, and he was already losing himself to the pain of his decision.

Steeling himself, he went on, trying to keep his voice steady as he spoke, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I just can’t deny it anymore… I’m not the man you should give up everything you have to be with. It doesn’t make any sense for you to lose so much to be with a thief who can only bring you more trouble. You’d be better off with a nobleman like Gavin.”

He lowered his gaze again, feeling another pang of guilt, “I’m sorry I made this harder on you than it had to be. I should never have approached you when you came to the outer villages. If I had just left you alone, you wouldn’t have to go through all of this again. You would have stayed with him, and none of this would be happening right now… I hope you can forgive me for hurting you. It was selfish of me to take you away from your life again.

“Also, please, don’t say that you still think you’ll be better off running away with me,” Crow closed his eyes, fighting back against the tremor that edged his voice. “You don’t know what you’ll want even a year from now, and I couldn’t live with myself if you woke up someday, regretting everything you lost for me. I think it would be best if we just end things now, so you won’t have to risk that. Just let me go before I ruin your chance of going back.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It's probably a good thing though, because he's trying to get to a point where he can end things between them, so he won't ruin her life ^^;

That's pretty cool. I just imagine that buying land in CA is h*ckin expensive xD
I definitely hope you get to do it though!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow faltered slightly when he felt Penelope slip her hand out of his. She hadn’t bought his excuse after all. He swallowed nervously, already expecting what was going to come next: She would question him about why he was really acting strangely until she managed to get him to spill the truth. He didn’t want to tell her though. Not yet—not before he had made peace with his decision on his own. If he told her that he wanted to let her go back to her life now and she protested, he didn’t think he had the strength to turn her down. He had to reach a point of acceptance first.

As expected, she told him right away that she didn’t buy his lie and rested her hand on his arm in a concerned gesture. This time, he couldn’t stop himself from involuntarily shying away from her touch. Lowering his gaze to the ground, he felt a stab of guilt for distancing himself from her so much. Even though he knew he had to do it if they were going to separate, the part of him that was hopelessly in love with the knight was pained by his own coldness towards her. He craved to gather her in his arms and forget about the problem altogether, to just move forward like he wasn’t going to ruin her by doing so. But that was the selfish thing to do, and he loved her too much to let that happen.

“I will admit that it’s something else,” he murmured without meeting her gaze. “But I still don’t want to talk about it yet. I’m sorry, love… I just can’t do it.” He let out his breath in a shaky sigh, loathing himself for keeping his thoughts from her. She had been nothing but honest with him, and he knew she deserved the same treatment, but he was too afraid that he would break down if he opened up to her about everything now. He needed to wait until he was more resolved in his decision.

Suddenly, Crow stiffened as he felt a sharp pressure in his chest and stopped walking, quickly bringing a hand to his mouth as a short coughing fit wracked his body. In general, the episodes brought on by his illness had decreased steadily, but they had yet to fully disappear. And now that he was away from Hazel, he didn’t have any way to get to the medicine that suppressed the little that remained.

“Damn it,” he muttered, spitting blood on the ground when the brief fit had passed.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's trying anyway xD

Hopefully you get there someday cx
Does California have good farmland, or would you have to move somewhere else to have horses?

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Being focused on watching the surrounding forest, Crow didn’t notice Penelope fall back to his side until he felt her slip her hand into his. He blinked, coming back to himself a bit, and turned to meet her gaze as she asked him if he was alright. At first, he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure where to even start. Admitting that he had eavesdropped on her conversation with Gavin the night before wasn’t an option, because he didn’t want her to know he had done it. Besides that, he also didn’t want to tell her that he was feeling inadequate for her. He was starting to think that it was the best decision to let her go back to her life as a knight after all, but he wasn’t ready to do that yet. Just the thought of saying goodbye to her all over again was crushing to him. He needed more time to prepare before he could handle that conversation clearheadedly.

“I’m fine,” he said after a moment. “I just haven’t slept well for the past couple nights.” As if to prove his point, he reached up with his left hand and gripped his right shoulder, rolling the joint until it popped in response. Unfortunately, the motion wasn’t enough to loosen up the tightness he had built up from his stress. Letting out his breath in a sigh, he dropped his hand back down to his side and looked down at her again with a reassuring smile, “I’m a little sore, but I’ll be alright.”

Giving her hand a squeeze, he fell silent again and returned to looking for patrols in the forest. He hoped the explanation he had given her would be enough for her to let the subject drop. The last thing he wanted was to tell her the truth—that he knew he wasn’t good enough for her, and that she would be better off without him around to drag her down. So, he tried to indicate with his body language that he was done with the conversation by avoiding her searching eyes and keeping lookout to stay busy.

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

Sorry that took so long! Not gonna lie, I completely forgot to reply last week ^^;
I should have more free time now that I'm out of school for a month, though!

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

Roman listened patiently as Abigail delved a little further into her family’s past. From what she shared with him, it sounded like she’d had quite an adventurous childhood. However, he hadn’t come to her apartment to learn about who she was, or where she had come from. He just had one end goal in mind: Earn this gorgeous woman’s trust enough to convince her to spend a night with him, and then move on to the next. His jade eyes traveled from her face down to her body as she spoke, impatiently awaiting the time when he would get what he wanted from her. He knew he was going to have to invest some time into a few dates, but he hoped it wouldn’t take too long. There were plenty of other hotties in New York just waiting for a shark like him to come along. He couldn’t waste all his time on a single one-night stand.

When Abigail finished speaking, he looked up again to meet her gaze. Havin only partially paid attention to her story, it took him a moment to remember what she had been saying to him. “You know, you’re a pretty trusting person,” he said with an amused smirk. “You invited a total stranger into your home, and then told him you’re living alone in the city with no nearby family, and almost no friends. For all you know, I could be a murderer just waiting around to kill you.” He chuckled to himself and picked up a butter knife from the table, twirling it between his fingers. Setting his own ambitions aside, he almost felt pity for this girl. If she didn’t wise up to the fact that most people were selfish and only looked out for themselves, she was going to have a hard life in New York. There was no room for innocence or blind trust in the big city. She was going to have to learn to watch her back.

“For the record, I’m not a murderer,” Roman went on, placing the knife back down on the table and leaning back in his chair. “But you might want to be a little more guarded about that information in the future. There are plenty of people out there who are much crueler than me, and I can’t promise I’ll be around to stop them every time.” He winked at her as he referenced the time when he had saved her from the robbers not long ago. Seeing an opportunity to earn a bit more of her trust, he tagged on one more quip at the end: “Just do me a favor and stay safe, so I don’t have to worry about you when I’m not around, okay?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That sounds like it would be fun cx
I have a friend who's pretty much doing that now. He has dogs, goats, turtles, a bird, a cat, a lizard, and some other animals that I forgot.
He lives at a house with acres of land, so it works out well for him. I love visiting his place because his animals are so fun xD

I like those! Especially the second one ^^
I found a few songs a while ago, but I was listening to them on a drive, so I couldn't save the names.
If I find them again, I'll definitely share them xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded when Penelope said Gavin would have to see that he wasn’t the one who had raided the knights’ camp. He hoped she was right. It was frustrating to have the knight constantly breathing down his neck over something he hadn’t done. He didn’t understand why Gavin was so convinced that it had been him in the first place. Sure, he was the most wanted thief in the kingdom, but it was because of the length of time that he’d been stealing and the high-ranking nobles whom he had chosen as his targets. Killing and plundering had never been on the list for him.

He let out his breath in a thoughtful sigh. Honestly, he was starting to think that, given enough time, Jaxon’s reputation would outgrow his own. The man was ruthless and clearly wasn’t afraid to kill during his raids. He was a much more dangerous thief than Crow ever was. Usually, murderous thieves were also more reckless, which was why they weren’t as successful as Crow had been. They would make more mistakes that usually led to their deaths. However, Jaxon was different. He was too calm to make the same errors that caused most criminals’ captures. It was what made him such a fearsome thief and deadly adversary.

Crow was drawn from his thoughts when he felt Penelope shift beside him, moving to get up. He took her extended hand to stand as well, stretching his sore back one more time before stepping over to put his bedroll away. Fortunately, since Gavin had taken care of most of their supplies, that was the only thing he had needed to put up.

Once they were all ready to go, Gavin took the lead again, and they began the last leg of their journey to Aramoor. Crow fell behind a bit as they walked, partly to keep his distance from Gavin, but also because he didn’t want the others to notice the difficulty he was having because of his soreness. His eyes swept cautiously over the trees around them, searching for signs of movement. If the knights’ barons were still sending patrols to the southern side of the outer villages, he didn’t want to be caught with his guard down, especially when he could tell that his reaction time would be slower than usual. So, he remained quiet as they trekked through the forest, keeping his attention on his surroundings rather than the knights he was traveling with.