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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow had nearly made it to the door when he felt someone take hold of his hand. He blinked and turned to see that Penelope had caught up with him. Feeling a twinge of embarrassment for his actions, he averted his gaze. He knew he wasn’t being fair to her by letting Rikki get to him so badly. Ever since they had gotten back together, she had done nothing to make him have such little trust in her. In fact, if either of them should have a reason to not trust the other, it was her.

They had only been together for a short period of time, and yet he had already given her more than enough reasons not to depend on him. From lying to her about his illness, to hiding his accidental kiss with Rikki, and even to his current, secretive dealings with Jaxon, he had done nothing but let her down while she had been completely transparent with him. He had no right to even harbor a shadow of a doubt that she would leave him again when the war ended.

So, when she began to apologize to him about the past, he just shook his head in response. “I know,” he said softly and then sighed. “And I believe you. I do. It’s just…” He winced and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Now, hear me: I don’t want you to think I’m holding a grudge against you or anything like that. I promise you I’m not. I understand why you did what you did, and I’m just happy you were even willing to give me a second chance… It’s just hard to keep out that little voice in the back of my head that keeps saying ‘what if,’ you know?”

He finally looked up to meet her gaze, “I know you have no intention of going anywhere this time, but we made the same promises to each other two years ago, and they turned out to be meaningless. I guess there’s still a small part of me that’s wondering what’s changed to give those words more substance this time around.”

Crow looked away again, feeling strange for speaking about his inner thoughts so openly with Penelope. He still wasn’t used to sharing his emotions like this with another person. It made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable, but he knew he needed to be honest with her. If he didn’t address his worries now, they would just fester inside of him until they caused a bigger problem down the road. It was better to face them now, while they were still small and easy to combat.

After a moment of pause, he reached out to take her other hand, so that he held both of her hands in his. “I’m not saying any of this to guilt you into making any absurd promises to me about why I should believe that you’ll stay this time,” he went on, forcing himself to meet her gaze again. “I already know that you will. I just wanted to be honest, like I told you I would before. So… whether it’s rational or not, that’s how I’m feeling.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

She managed to strike a chord with Crow ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Still blushing from a mixture of embarrassment at the situation and anger with Rikki, Crow glanced furtively at Penelope. After everything that had happened between them the day before, he was worried that she would take the kiss personally. He hoped he was wrong, and that he had built up enough of her trust for her to know that he hadn’t wanted the other thief to kiss him like that, but given his less than noble past, he wasn’t sure if she would be so quick to just let it go.

Fortunately, the knight’s frustrations seemed to be directed towards Rikki, so he relaxed slightly. However, the moment of relief was quickly shattered when the female thief spoke up again to make a rather sultry comment to Penelope. He shot her a glare. She knew fully well that the only reason he hadn’t ended the kiss sooner was because she had taken him by surprise. It’s not like I even kissed her back either, he added in silent annoyance, taking another swig of his drink as he forced himself to look away from her.

In the next moment, he flinched slightly at the sound of Gavin’s sharp voice. He looked up to see that the knight was looking at both him and Rikki with disgust. It almost seemed like the man was including him in what had just happened, as if it had been his fault. He narrowed his eyes as Gavin went on to confirm his suspicion. He didn’t like how little the knight seemed to think of him. Just because he had been too slow to stop Rikki from kissing him didn’t mean he had given her his consent to do so.

Before he could open his mouth to defend himself though, the other thief spoke up first. Crow tensed, unsure of what Rikki was trying to do as she stumbled over to Gavin with a mischievous look in her eyes that set him on edge. So far, they had all done a decent job of keeping her in the dark about Gavin’s and Penelope’s past courtship, but he wasn’t sure if the knight would be as willing to keep his mouth shut about it if she pressed for more details. He held his breath, praying that the other man wouldn’t give away the truth. However, it seemed that his fears were quite far off as the thief didn’t ask him about his relationship to Penelope, but rather brought up Penelope’s past with Crow instead.

Crow’s eyes widened slightly as Rikki questioned Gavin about why Penelope had left him two years ago. He was surprised that she would even bring it up. It was something he tried not to think about, since he had convinced himself that he understood and supported her reasoning when she had explained it to him before. But now that the subject had resurfaced again, he couldn’t stop the pang of nervousness that gripped him as he thought about the other thief’s words.

Despite telling himself that he had accepted the past and moved on, he had intentionally tried to forget about how hurt he had felt when Penelope had left him before. Though he would never admit it out loud, there was a small part of him that was afraid she would do it again. He lowered his gaze to his lap. He felt sure that Penelope loved him and wanted to run away with him, but then again, he had felt just as sure two years ago when she had disappeared last time. Maybe there was some validity to the question Rikki had posed, after all.

Stop it, he grimaced, averting his gaze and sipping at his drink to hide the expression. He knew he shouldn’t let Rikki get inside his head so easily. Penelope had chosen to trust him, so he should have been willing to do the same. It didn’t matter that she left him once. This time was going to be different… right?

“Well, I didn’t know Penelope then,” Gavin finally began to answer the thief’s query, his gaze drifting to the female knight as he spoke, as if he was speaking to her instead of Rikki. “But I would assume she must have straightened out her priorities and realized she had more important things to do than run off with a wanted criminal.”

Suddenly, there was a loud grating sound as Crow’s chair slid back against the wooden floor. The thief blinked, caught off guard as he realized he had stood up from the table without thinking. Noticing that all eyes were on him, he reddened and shifted his weight uncomfortably. “I’m going to get some air,” he muttered without looking up to meet anyone’s eyes. Not wanting to linger while the others’ attention was on him, he stepped away from the table and quickly made his way to the front of the tavern, eager to get away from the crowd so he could clear his head.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Drunk Rikki is even more bold than sober Rikki ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow shot Gavin a glare as the knight accused him of making the situation worse. He knew he hadn’t tried to be particularly clever about encouraging the others to keep drinking, but with so many more important things to think about, such as how he was going to keep the drunken villagers from telling the knights about what he had done, he couldn’t afford to waste time trying to fool everyone about this. He just hoped the suspicious knight wouldn’t dwell on it.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

As Gavin suddenly suggested that Penelope should stay behind to make sure their drunken companions didn’t cause trouble, Crow averted his gaze to look over the tavern, hiding his frustrated expression from the others. It seemed like he should have put in a little more effort to keep his head down, after all. He exhaled, trying to think of a way to turn the situation around, but coming up with nothing helpful. In that moment, he was beginning to wish he’d gotten more sleep the night before. Maybe then he would have been quicker on his feet instead of stumbling just to put a little bit of distance between himself and Gavin.

Fortunately, Penelope came to his rescue by suggesting that Gavin should be the one to stay behind with the others. Crow glanced at her curiously. While he knew there was no way she could have known just how much she was helping him, he was grateful for her efforts to keep Gavin from breathing down his neck. Of course, the other knight tried to fight against the change in plans, but she shot down his attempt quickly by bringing up how poorly their last interrogation had gone.

When she turned to him at last, he returned her smile with a grin of his own, “I guess so.” Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and reached beneath the table to give her hand an appreciative squeeze. “Thank you,” he whispered. “That ex suitor of yours has been practically keeping me chained to his side today.” Not wanting to draw any more scathing comments from the other knight, he pulled away from Penelope again before anyone could react to their momentary closeness, bringing his mug to his lips and finishing off the rest of his ale.

Because of how much Olivia and the other thieves were drinking, a wench was quick to replace his empty glass with a fresh one. He eyed the full drink hesitantly. Usually, he preferred to stop after just one mug, since he wanted to stay sober, but two glasses of ale definitely weren’t enough to get him drunk either, especially if he worked on them slowly. He casted another look around the tavern. While his companions were drinking themselves into oblivion, there were very few other people who looked intoxicated. There was still some time to kill before he and Penelope could finish the interrogation.

I suppose it couldn’t hurt to have just one more, he decided, lifting the new mug to his lips.

Almost immediately, he felt someone wrap an arm around his shoulders, and he looked up to see a red-faced Rikki standing over him with a drunken grin. “So, you decided t’ join us after all, huh?” she slurred, getting closer to him than he was comfortable with. “Well, yer gonna have t’ do better than tha’! We’re all ‘n our fourth mugs.”

“I told you already,” Crow rolled his eyes, pushing her away from him. “I’ll drink with you, but I’m not going to play your ridiculous game.”

“Why no’?” Rikki pouted, fighting back against the hand he was using to try to put distance between them. “’S jus’ a bit o’ fun.” She managed to get a little closer to him again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “B’sides… you know we always have a grea’ time when yer drunk…”

Crow colored slightly and groaned inwardly, wishing she would stop bringing up their past in front of Penelope. “I’m not getting drunk with you, and that’s final,” he said stubbornly. “This is my last drink. After that, I’m—” Suddenly, he was cut off as Rikki leaned in and pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened in surprise, and he stiffened, taking a moment to comprehend what was happening before he snapped out of his shock and pushed her away more roughly this time. Behind them, Alistair and Olivia were whooping and laughing wildly, seeming to have found the kiss entertaining.

“Wha’ was tha’ for?” Rikki frowned disappointedly.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know,” Crow snarled at her. “I know you’re not drunk enough to have forgotten that I’m with Penelope. That was completely uncalled for.”

“It was jus’ a bit o’ fun,” Rikki shrugged. “Ligh’en up.” She turned towards the knight with a sly smirk. “Pe’elope knows i’ was jus’ harmless fun… righ’?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow definitely didn't xD

Of course, haha x3

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow observed the exchange between the others quietly as he sipped from his own mug, trying to formulate a more solid plan from everything that was already going on. It was clear to him that Penelope and Gavin had no intention to get drunk, and there was nothing that would change their minds. He wasn’t surprised about that, since they were both set on interrogating the villagers with clear heads.

On the other hand, Olivia, Alistair, and Rikki seemed more interested in the prospect of enjoying themselves as opposed to taking the rest of the mission seriously. Knowing the other thieves, he didn’t doubt that they were in no hurry to learn Jaxon’s whereabouts that very night. Living by their own rules, they operated on their own timetable and probably assumed that if nothing got done that night, they would just take an extra day to keep looking for the murderer.

So, when Penelope tried to convince them all to stop drinking, her words naturally fell on deaf ears. He glanced at her as she shot him a quick look, understanding that she wanted him to help calm the situation down with her. As much as he wanted to side with her, he knew he had to let the situation continue to spiral out of control for his own sake. It was his best shot at finding a way to disrupt the remainder of their mission.

“They’re right,” he sighed, turning to the three wild companions with a frown. “We should stay focused on questioning the villagers.” He took another drink from his mug before adding: “Besides, we all know Alistair would win, so you’d all be wasting your time with a competition. It would be better to put your energies towards something useful.”

At the offhanded compliment, Alistair stood up a little straighter. “Tha’s right,” he slurred. “You ladies are wastin’ your time against a man like me.” He brought a hand to his stomach, beaming proudly. “’M bigger, so I can drink more. ‘S nature!”

“That’s it,” Rikki growled, shooting the other thief a glare. “You’re on!” She snagged another two mugs of ale from the platter of a nearby wench, handing one off to Olivia. “Let’s show him how a woman drinks.” With that, she brought the glass to her lips and tipped her head back to down the whole thing.

“Now yer talkin’!” Olivia laughed, following the thief’s lead.

Crow grimaced as he watched them and turned back to Penelope with a lopsided smile, “Well, I tried.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's sort of just using whatever he can at the moment lol

Sorry that one took a little longer. My husband and his friend were arguing about the cup size of a character in Halo, so as the resident female human, I naturally had to get involved xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was just about to lead the way to the nearest empty table when a new voice spoke up that made his stiffen. He turned to see that Gavin was making his way over with suspicion written on his face as usual. He had been hoping to find some time away from the wary knight, but it seemed like the man was determined to keep him in his sight at all times. To make matters worse, Penelope was quick to invite her former suitor to come drinking with them.

This is fine, he thought as he followed the others over to the empty table, swallowing his nervousness. I can still make this work. Shortly after he sat down, a wench came over to take their orders. He put in a request for a mug of ale and then turned back to the other three. No matter which way he looked at it, it was going to be difficult for him to weasel his way out of this one. They had all firmly decided to question the drunken villagers, so if he tried to hinder their efforts, any one of them could catch on. He had to find a way to throw them off more subtly.

After a short time, the wench returned with their drinks. When she set down his mug on the table, Crow offered her a quick word of thanks and lifted the drink to his lips, taking a slow draught as he continued to ponder over his dilemma. However, he didn’t get much thinking done before another voice spoke up near his ear.

“Heey,” Olivia drawled, leaning over him with a deep frown. She and Alistair had gotten up from their table and made their way to join the others across the tavern. “I thought you said you weren’ gonna drink?”

“I never said that,” Crow said, leaning away from her to get away from the smell of alcohol on her breath.

“Does tha’ mean you’re gonna drink with us?” the knight grinned, throwing an arm over his shoulders.

Crow opened his mouth to remind her that he still wasn’t going to get drunk, but then paused. He wasn’t quite sure how yet, but it felt like he could use this situation to his advantage if he managed to play his cards right. “You know what? Fine,” he sighed. “I still don’t plan to have too much, but I suppose I’ll humor you a bit.”

“Ooh,” Rikki grinned, shifting a little closer from where she sat at his side. “I smell a drinking contest.”

“Out of the question,” Gavin growled, eyeing the group with contempt from where he sat. “We’re here for business, not pleasure. We can’t have everyone getting drunk and drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

“Too late now,” Alistair laughed, bringing his mug to his lips to take another long draught. He turned to Rikki with a competitive expression. “Bring it on, small stuff. I’ll defeat you any day!”

“Oh yeah?” Rikki met his look with a challenging grin of her own. She elbowed Crow at her side. “Come on, let’s show those drunken fools that we can outdrink them any day!”

Crow rolled his eyes, “I only said I would drink with you. I never said anything about participating in a competition. No thank you.” He brought his mug to his mouth and took a sip in a more tamed manner.

“Weak,” Rikki taunted before lifting her drink and downing the whole thing in one go.

“You idiots are going to ruin this mission,” Gavin said sternly. “Stop this before it gets out of hand.” Unfortunately, his efforts only earning him a snicker from Olivia, who downed the rest of her mug as well. The knight groaned and turned to Penelope with a pleading look, silently begging for her help to regain control over the situation.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is stalling xD