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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki wasn’t sure what she had been expecting after she’d unintentionally poured out a piece of her heart to Penelope. She honestly wasn’t sure why she’d done it in the first place. It was a question she couldn’t get off her mind though: Why would Crow possibly want to be with a noblewoman when she had gone out of her way to make herself available to him? Perhaps she was just losing patience with waiting for an answer that never seemed to reveal itself on its own—perhaps that was why she had turned so desperately to the knight for clarity. Either way, she found that she regretted bringing it up. No matter how hard it got waiting for an answer, she shouldn’t have shared her troubled thoughts with a noble. It wasn’t the other woman’s business to know.

So, when Penelope suddenly crouched by her side, the thief flinched and turned her head to avoid the knight’s gaze. Her heart raced with nervousness. Why was this woman suddenly being so nice to her? After the harsh words Penelope had spit at her earlier, she had thought the knight wanted her to suffer. Instead, she was speaking with a softness that Rikki had never heard come out of someone of her class before. Despite herself, she snuck a peek at Penelope’s face as she said she had originally felt threatened by her. The comment made her raise a brow in surprise. She hadn’t known the knight had ever felt that way about her.

As Penelope went on, Rikki listened somberly. She agreed that it sounded completely absurd that a knight would ever be with a thief. Their worlds were just so different. Putting her personal prejudices aside, she couldn’t imagine how they would be able to cross over enough to make a relationship of any kind work, even just a friendly one. However, listening to this knight go on about how she hadn’t planned or expected to fall in love with Crow, she found herself feeling slightly swayed. The realization made her wrinkle her nose. Was she actually coming to understand this noblewoman’s point of view?

“That wasn’t the answer I was hoping to hear,” she muttered, propping her chin in her hand as she stared down at the pot of medicine. She had been hoping for a quick fix—something practical that Penelope had figured out about Crow that she could learn too. Instead, the knight’s answer made it feel like his affection was out of her hands, and she didn’t like that. Still… she glanced up at the knight again. Even though her words weren’t what she had wanted to hear, she was actually grateful for the other woman’s attempt to comfort her. It was strangely nice, even if it was from a noble.

“Thanks, though,” Rikki added with a shrug. “I don’t like it, but… I think I understand.” She sighed, feeling Crow drift farther away from her as she spoke. It hurt, but she was starting to think there was nothing left that she could do to stop it. If the thief was really as head-over-heels in love with Penelope as he seemed to be, she couldn’t win him back. He was already gone.

The thought made a surge of sadness well up inside her that made her stomach twist into a knot, and she could feel the beginnings of tears sting her eyes. However, she didn’t want to show such emotion to Penelope, so she turned her head away. “I think this medicine is done,” she said, hating the way her voice broke as she tried to change the subject. Rising quickly to her feet, she turned her back to the knight. “I’ll have Hazel double check it for me.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki needed to hear it xD
Although, she's pretty hurt now

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki cringed when Penelope said she’d never heard Crow speak about their future together. She hated how the knight’s words actually managed to strike a chord with her this time. It was true that she hadn’t heard him talk about the details of the life he was planning with the noblewoman, but she had heard him tell her about his feelings for the knight as well as his intentions to leave the other thieves to be with her. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, there had been a tenderness to his voice and eyes that she had never seen in him before. Usually, he was guarded with his body language, even around her and his other companions, and she considered them all close enough to be family. To see him wear such a gentle expression had been strange.

The thought made her feel a twinge of jealousy. She wanted Crow to be thinking of her when he looked like that, not some noblewoman who didn’t deserve him. It pained her as she questioned why, even after a year of living together, he had never once looked at her so softly, while he had only been with Penelope for two or three months at the most and looked at her like that every time she’d seen them together. She bit her lip, feeling her chin quiver slightly with emotion. It wasn’t fair. She had done everything she could to win his affection, and all the knight had had to do was walk back into his life.

“I just don’t understand,” she said quietly after Penelope finished speaking, lowering her gaze dejectedly to the ground. “Why doesn’t he leave you? I’ve been his closest friend for over a year. He’s told me things about himself that no one else knows, and I’ve kept every secret without fail. I was there for him in every way he could have wanted, and yet he’s still with you.” She shook her head, running her slender fingers through her long, dark hair. “What am I doing wrong? What do you have that I don’t?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Of course xD
Although it's a hard conversation to avoid when everyone and their mother disapproves of their relationship
And unfortunately that probably won't change much even when he becomes a noble

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki wasn’t fond of Penelope initial answer to her question. She snorted softly when the knight tried to flip the question back on her. Of course she would have wanted to save Crow if she’d had to. He was everything to her. It was why she had felt like her world had been shattered when she’d believed him to be dead. However, that still didn’t answer her question. While she felt genuine love for the thief, she had a hard time believing this other woman—this noble—could ever feel the same way.

As Penelope murmured about how he shouldn’t have even been at the battle, Rikki wanted to roll her eyes. You’re right, she agreed silently. He should have been here with me, not running after you. Whatever had happened between them that had left Crow feeling like their relationship was over obviously hadn’t been enough to stop him from throwing himself in front of a sword to save this knight. Her hand tightened around the handle of the wooden ladle in frustration. Why was it so hard to get through to him that she was the better choice? If he had just accepted that three days ago, Penelope would have died, and there would have been nothing standing between them anymore. They could have finally been together.

She looked up at the knight again as she finished by saying that she just wanted him to be ‘happy and alive.’ “Sorry, but I just don’t buy it,” she shook her head, deciding it wasn’t worth it to pretend like she believed Penelope’s sappy expression. Even if the noblewoman really did care about Crow a little bit, there was no way her feelings could match the thief’s. She loved him so much, she was willing to risk their friendship to make him see that she was the better choice for him.

“If you really wanted him to be happy, you would let him go,” Rikki went on. “He may be infatuated with you now, but he’ll eventually wake up and realize that settling down isn’t really what he wants.” She stirred the medicine again. “He’s a thief. It’s in his blood. This is the life where he’s happiest: Living amongst others of his kind where he’s free to do whatever he pleases.” She looked up again to meet Penelope’s gaze with a challenging expression. “If you don’t believe me, just listen to him talk about his life as a fugitive sometime. You’ll hear it in his voice—he loves every bit of it. If you take that away from him, do you honestly think he’s going to be happy?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It still hasn't really made a difference though lol
Rikki's getting a little more confrontational

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki sat aside while the others added in the herbs they had ground up for her. Everything seemed to be in order, so she scooted toward the pot once they were done and resumed stirring the mixture. As she worked alone, her thoughts continued to wander back to what Hazel had said. She was still convinced that she was better for Crow than some noblewoman could ever be—nothing could change her mind about that—but she was bothered by the herbalist’s insistence that she should stop pursuing the thief.

Everything inside her protested against the thought of simply giving up on being with him, but she was worried that Hazel was right about his feelings for the knight never changing. Penelope may have nearly gotten him killed, but to look at it from another perspective, she had also gotten him treatment for his wound that had saved his life. Knowing Crow, he was probably going to focus on that part and forget about receiving the injury in the first place.

Rikki let out her breath in a sigh. She loved the man, but he could be too optimistic for his own good sometimes. As long as there were positive things for him to see about Penelope, he wasn’t going to acknowledge the truth that the knight was bad for him. If she was going to open his eyes to that fact, she was going to have to find a way to prove to him that the noblewoman wasn’t what she seemed. But that was easier said than done when the snake seemed to have even convinced Hazel that she was a good person. She couldn’t help but wonder how the knight had pulled that off. Hazel was one of the most hateful people she had ever met towards nobles, so it would have taken quite a bit of persuading to change her mind.

The thief tensed slightly as she heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see none other than Penelope standing before her. She narrowed her eyes slightly and averted her gaze, thankful for the darkness that had hopefully hidden her bitter expression from the other woman. At the knight’s question, she just shrugged. “It’s coming along,” she answered vaguely, stirring the medicine again. From what she could tell, it was almost done, but it still needed a little more time. She would have to ask Hazel to check on it soon to be sure.

Furtively, Rikki glanced up at Penelope again. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was about this knight that continued to keep Crow’s attention. Before she knew what she was doing, she spoke up to the noblewoman: “Tell me something.” She paused, pursing her lips together hesitantly before going on. “What is it that you want with Crow?” She turned her head to meet the knight’s gaze straight on. “There has to be something, right? I mean, why else would you keep him alive?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Hazel finally called Rikki out on her BS cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Rikki absently stirred the oil in the pot with a wooden ladle, resting her chin in her palm as she watched the liquid for bubbles. With Penelope sitting less than a stone’s throw away, the thief’s mind was a tangled mess. Every time she looked at the knight, she was reminded that there were still obstacles between her and Crow. As long as that other woman was around, she was practically invisible to him. She just hoped that he would return to them quickly, so she could get him away from her and keep working on helping him understand a noblewoman could never be right for him.

He has to see it now, she thought with a mixture of desperation and determination. Chasing after her nearly got him killed. He has to see that she’s not good for him. She stared at the oil in the pot as she realized that, while she had been lost in her thoughts about Crow, the liquid had come to a boil. Glancing back at the knights and the other thieves, she saw that they weren’t quite finished with their task yet, so she climbed to her feet to talk to Hazel. She had gotten better at herbalism during her time being mentored, but she still didn’t feel confident enough to oversee something as important as the medicine Crow needed to heal from his illness. She wanted to check with the herbalist to make sure she was preparing it correctly.

When she reached Hazel’s side, Rikki sat down next to her. “Could you tell me the ratios again?” she asked, turning to meet the other woman’s gaze. “For the herbs in Crow’s medicine. I want to be sure I’m making it right.”

“Don’t worry about ratios for this batch,” Hazel shook her head as she stirred her own pot. The experienced herbalist was much further along in her painkiller concoction, having already added the herbs into the boiling oil. She was observing it with a keen eye, searching for a sign that Rikki couldn’t see that to tell her when it was finished cooking. The thief bit her lip as she watched her mentor work. It was a good thing Hazel had denied her offer to make this medicine, since it looked much more complicated than what she and the others were preparing. From what she knew about the ingredients the herbalist had told her she would be using, they could quickly turn deadly if they were left sitting over the fire for too long. She shuddered at the thought of accidentally killing the very man they were trying to save and was glad Hazel was using her advanced knowledge to create the perfect painkiller.

“What do you mean?” she asked after a moment. “I thought you said the ratios were important.”

“They are,” Hazel shrugged. “But you’ll be using the rest of my supply anyway, so just throw all of it in. It might be a little bit off from what I usually prepare for him, but we need to use everything, so nothing is wasted.”

“Okay, thank you,” Rikki nodded. She shifted to get up again, but Hazel spoke again before she could rise to her feet.

“Rikki.”

“Yes?” she blinked, caught off guard by her mentor’s softer tone. The herbalist was never gentle, so it was strange to hear such a quiet word come from her mouth.

“Everyone else here is too nice to say it, so I will,” Hazel looked up from the pot to meet her gaze seriously. “You need to stop chasing Crow when he comes back.”

“What?” Rikki’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Look,” Hazel sighed. “I’m not saying this as your mentor, but as a friend of both of you thieves. I saw how distraught you were when we all thought he was dead. You were no better off than I was when Simon was killed. I know you have feelings for him, but you need to stop trying to win him over.” She reached out to rest a hand on the thief’s shoulder. “He’s in love with Penelope, and that’s not going to change. Ah!” she held up a finger when Rikki opened her mouth to protest. “Just listen. I didn’t like it either when I found out, but it’s become clear to me now: Penelope isn’t like any of the noblewomen you or I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. Crow was the first one among us to see it, but she’s different. She’s kind and generous and even honest, and she’s proven that she’s going to stay by his side no matter what the costs.”

Her gaze softened a bit as she glanced over her shoulder at the knight, “No matter what our prejudices tell us, I believe she’s earned the right to his affections. That means we need to accept that he chose to be with her and do our part as his friends to support that decision.” She turned back to Rikki. “It also means you can’t keep trying to get between them.”

Rikki averted her gaze, feeling a familiar anger rise up in her chest at the thought of Crow being with a knight. “I know I’d be better for him though,” she said stubbornly. “I don’t care who this woman is. She’s not one of us. She’s just going to ruin his life if he stays with her.”

“We have no way to know that,” Hazel objected. “And besides, it’s not your choice; it’s his. Whether you would be better for him or not, he chose Penelope, and you’re just going to have to accept that.” She turned away to stir the medicine again. “Ultimately, it’s up to you, but just know that if you continue to try to get between them, I’m not going to stand idly by anymore. I care about both of you too much to let you keep causing strife for him as well as yourself.”

Rikki said nothing as she stared at the ground. No matter what Hazel said, she couldn’t bring herself to simply accept that Crow was going to throw his life away to be with a knight. He should have chosen to be with her, not Penelope. However, there was no point in arguing about it with a woman who was just as stubborn as she was, so instead, she stood wordlessly and headed back to her own pot.

Another short period of time passed before the others finished working on the herbs. Eager to take her mind off her conversation with Hazel, Rikki was quick to begin delegating more tasks.

“Collect as much of the crushed plants as you can and put them in the oil,” she said, pointedly avoiding looking at Penelope while her emotions were still in turmoil within her. “All that’s left is to cook it, which is easier if I do it alone.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Figured I'd try giving Rikki's perspective a shot cx
It was pretty fun, haha