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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow stared up at Penelope blankly. His mind was too hazy for him to think straight anymore, so instead of wasting his energy trying to understand why she was looking at him so amusedly, he simply took in her features. He couldn’t believe this was the woman he was with. She was standing with him in the middle of a forest he didn’t recognize, for gods’ sakes. It was clear to him that they were lost, but she was still staying by his side. He really appreciated that. For some reason, it was hard for him to move, so he doubted he could find his way out of this place without her help.

Suddenly, he felt something move beneath his head, and he pouted as the knight pulled away from him. “Where’re you going?” he tilted his head confusedly. She couldn’t have been leaving him now. After all, neither of them knew where they were… right? He certainly didn’t recognize the strange waving trees around him. If she did, he would have expected her to tell him.

The thief was just about to question her further about it, when two other figures appeared. He eyed them for a moment before he realized it was Olivia and Gavin. “Hey, look who it is!” he grinned at them dazedly. Of all the people to show up in this strange forest, he was glad to see it was them. Maybe with the extra help, he and Penelope could finally find a way out of this place.

He watched the three knights talk amongst themselves, unable to comprehend much of what they were saying but trying hard nonetheless. In the next moment, he saw Penelope return to his side, and he smiled more softly, feeling a flutter of affection for her as she rested her hand over his. He wanted to lace his fingers with hers, but quickly found that he didn’t have control over his hand. Well, that was fine. This was nice too. He looked up at her as she said something about him that he didn’t quite catch.

Deciding it wasn’t worth asking her to repeat, his eyes wandered back to the other knights. He studied them both for a moment before breaking out in another delirious grin. “You know, I like you guys,” he said, his head lolling to the side as he gazed at them. “Don’t tell Gavin and Olivia though… It’s a secret.” He squinted at them for a moment and then widened his eyes. “Wait… you’re Gavin and Olivia.” Suddenly, he began laughing in a sort of mindless giggle, finding the situation amusing. “Whoops… guess they know now.”

“You’re right,” Olivia snorted, turning to Penelope with a smirk. “He’s gone.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's suuuper drugged up xD
It might be kinda funny if Olivia or Gavin walked in right about now

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Somehow, I doubt he would have listened no matter what you tried,” Crow pointed out, breathing a little slower now that he was no longer fighting against the pain. As the medicine continued to work inside him, he was starting to feel lethargic. His eyelids drooped slightly, and he found it difficult to move his muscles. It was a strange feeling, but it was much more pleasant than what he had been going through just moments before, so he wasn’t about to complain. As long as the pain was gone, he was content.

When Penelope kissed him on the forehead, he looked up at her with a slight frown. “It doesn’t matter that he’s your brother,” he insisted. His tongue was starting to feel heavier in his mouth, so he spoke slower than usual, though his thoughts were still coherent. “You’re not responsible for the actions of your kin.” He smiled softly. “If we were, then that would mean I’m responsible for everything my father has done, and that’s just not true.” He tried to lift his arm to rest his hand against her cheek, but the effort was too strenuous, so he just stretched it out to touch her side where she was standing beside him instead.

The longer the painkiller stayed in his system, the more disoriented Crow was beginning to feel. His head lolled slightly as he gazed up at the canopy over his head. It almost looked like it was moving, though he was still just clearheaded enough to know it was just the medicine that was making him see things. As Penelope brushed his hair from his face, he blinked dazedly and turned to look at her instead. He didn’t register what she said, but it didn’t seem important. Right now, he was too transfixed on her face to care about anything else.

“You’re so pretty,” he said, grinning up at her a bit dumbly. By now, he had forgotten about what had just happened between himself and Layth, and he wasn’t quite sure what was going on at the moment either. “Did anyone ever tell you that?” Suddenly, he knitted his brow confusedly as he looked around the tent, which, to his hallucinating mind, now looked like trees. “When did we go outside?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's gonna be super out of it once the medicine really kicks in xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was barely aware that Penelope had left his side to retrieve the medicine Hazel had given her. He had closed his eyes again, focusing on breathing through the pain as he tried not to let himself pass out. While being unconscious sounded much more pleasant than what he was going through now, he didn’t want to risk being even more vulnerable if Layth decided to come back and attack him again. After all, he wouldn’t have put it past the knight to injure him even more to wake him up again. As unbearable as it was to stay conscious at the moment, it was the safer thing to do.

“Here!”

Penelope’s voice drew his attention, and he opened his eyes again in time to see her come back to his side with a small jar in her hand. It took him a moment to remember what it was, but as soon as he did, he felt a burst of eagerness, leaning his head up slightly when she propped him up to take the medicine. Right now, he didn’t care about the side effects. He just wanted the pain to stop.

The liquid tasted bitter, but he ignored it as he downed the draught. Once it was gone, he let out his breath in a sigh and leaned his head back against Penelope’s arm. “It’s not your fault,” he mumbled, wincing slightly as his wound smarted again. He hoped the medicine would take effect soon. “That was a dirty trick. I didn’t know he was going to try it either.”

A short period of time passed before Crow began to feel a tingling sensation spread throughout his body, slowly replacing the ache of his wound. “I think it’s starting to work,” he sighed, looking up at Penelope with a weak smile. “Thank you.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm excited for that interaction when John finds out xD

Crow's panicking a little

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s vision swam as he felt his consciousness slipping away from him with the intensity of the pain. With the brunt of Layth’s weight pressing down on his still-fresh injury, he couldn’t even breathe in. It hurt nearly as badly as when Jaxon had driven his sword through him in the first place. He closed his eyes, fighting the temptation to talk just to make the knight stop leaning on him. He couldn’t let Layth win. If he gave in now, he would be giving the knight exactly what he needed to bring both him and Penelope down. For her sake, he had to keep his mouth shut and tough out the interrogation until her brother decided he wouldn’t learn anything.

Just when he was starting to think he would pass out, Crow felt the pressure disappear from his body. He gasped, finally able to inhale again, and quickly brought his own hand to the wound. Despite the fact that Layth was no longer bearing down on him, the pain didn’t fade very much. He grimaced, biting his lip to suppress a whimper as a sharp ache wracked his torso. It was hard to tell how bad the damage was at the moment, but he knew it wasn’t good. The knight had definitely made something worse.

Vaguely, he was aware of the two knights arguing hotly nearby, and he turned his head to pay better attention to what was happening between them. When he did, he noticed that Penelope was cupping the side of her face as if it pained her. He knitted his brow, momentarily confused by the gesture, until he made the connection that Layth must have struck her. With the realization came a flash of anger, and he shifted on his bed, wanted to get up to come to her aid. However, the motion of moving his body sent another wave of fire through him that made him freeze in his tracks. He squeezed his eyes shut, silently cursing the wound that was keeping him restrained from helping the knight.

After a while, he managed to open one eye again, just in time to catch Layth storm out of the tent. Thank the gods, he thought with relief, glad that Penelope’s brother had given up so quickly. After their last encounter, he had expected the hardheaded man to insist on finishing the interrogation no matter what his sister thought. However, now that the immediate threat was gone, there was also nothing left to distract him from his aching wound. He grimaced again as it sent another thrill of pain through his body.

That moron probably undid whatever healing already started, he thought scathingly.

When Penelope hurried to his side, the thief shook his head faintly, panting from the strain of breathing through the pain. “I don’t know… I don’t know,” he managed to say between breaths, some fear seeping into his voice in his repetition. “It hurts.” Another wave of pain coursed through him, and he moaned. “Gods, I think he was really trying to kill me.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah, I can't wait to see them interact. Crow is also probably gonna be low key afraid of him finding out about their relationship xD

He really is

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow stiffened as he eyed Layth’s sword hand, preparing himself for the painful part of the interrogation to begin. However, before the knight even had a chance to draw the blade, Penelope intervened. The thief watched as she stopped her brother and tried to convince him not to use such harsh measures. Of course, he didn’t expect her efforts to go very far, and they didn’t. Layth was clearly set on using whatever force he deemed necessary to handle their prisoner, and he wasn’t going to be persuaded otherwise.

Crow glared venomously at the knight as he belittled his sister yet again. It was a good thing he was chained to the bed, because he would have had a hard time staying still if he had a free range of motion at the moment. He clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to defend her verbally. Even though he couldn’t stand hearing her brother talk to her like that, he couldn’t say anything about it without giving away how close they were. So instead, he forced himself to simply glower at the knight’s back while it was turned to him. Perhaps when he eventually escaped from the camp, he could pay Layth an extra visit and steal something valuable from him as revenge.

When Layth turned back to him, the thief was quick to regain his composure, meeting the other man’s gaze with a look of mild irritation rather than hard anger. Of course, the knight’s first impulse was to ask him about what he had learned from Penelope. Somehow, it annoyed him more that his first question was designed to get his sister in trouble as well, and he wasn’t about to play along.

“I already told you the last time we went through this,” Crow curled his lip at him ferally. “I’m not going to tell you anything, so you might as well save your breath.”

“Answer the question,” Layth spat, drawing his sword from its scabbard. “This is your last warning.”

Crow swallowed as he eyed the blade, remembering how persistent the knight had been during the last interrogation. However, he was too strong willed to give in after just a few threats. Looking up again, he met Layth’s gaze doggedly, “Do your worst.”

“Idiotic cur,” Layth raised his sword to inflict a blow, but at the last second, he wavered as something seemed to cross his mind. In the next moment, a sinister smirk crossed his lips and instead of cutting the thief with the weapon, he brought down his free hand over the bandages around his torso, leaning his weight into the wound beneath.

Crow cried out as an intense pain spread like wildfire through his body, but his reaction only seemed to encourage the knight.

“Maybe you’ll think twice about fighting with me now,” Layth said without easing up. “Now then, tell me everything you know, thief!”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! Awesome. That worked out well then cx
Sounds good to me! I definitely see Crow panicking about that xD
I can't wait for all the confusion to happen when John suddenly shows up