Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow smiled to himself as he felt Penelope relax in his embrace. He was glad that his words seemed to have brought some level of comfort to her at least. He didn’t want her to feel guilty over something neither one of them could change. Her actions had been meant for good; the results had just happened to go in a different direction than what either of them had expected. Plus, it was in the past now, so the only thing they could do now was focus on turning the situation back around.

His smile broadened slightly when she kissed him on the cheek, and he laughed softly at her following words. “You would think,” he mused with a melancholic shake of his head. “But it seems nothing can ever come easily for us, can it?” Letting out his breath in a sigh, he closed his eyes again and stroked his hand along the knight’s shoulders. There was a small part of him that was beginning to wonder if the gods had more of a hand in their lives than he used to give them credit for. After all, Aeklora had spoken to him personally two years ago—or at least, he was pretty sure she had. The more time passed, the less certain he felt that the encounter had been real—so he knew someone was watching them.

Maybe they’re just throwing us into trouble for their own personal amusement, he thought dryly, glancing up at the canopy of the tent with narrowed eyes. If you are doing this, you’d better not let those knights cut off my hands. You hear me, you jaded spirits? Of course, there was no response, and he leaned his cheek against Penelope’s again with a frustrated exhale. Whether it was the doing of the gods or they really were just this unlucky, he supposed complaining about it now wouldn’t do him any good. What had happened, happened, and they were just going to have to ride it out until the end, whatever that end may be.

Turning his head slightly, Crow pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and then glanced at the entrance of the tent as another thought came to him. “Do you think anyone else will be stopping by tonight?” he asked tentatively, pulling back to meet her gaze. “I remember you said you would be taking the night shift… Maybe you could lay up here with me for a little while?” He smiled at her pleadingly. “If you stay close to the edge, you could get up quickly if someone comes by.”

In his head, the thief knew it wasn’t the smartest idea to do something so risky, but it didn’t change the fact that he wanted to lay beside her right now. With the weight of the barons’ decision hanging over his head, he wanted to feel some sense of normalcy, and Penelope’s presence gave him exactly that. “I understand if you think it’s too dangerous,” he added in a low voice, fidgeting sheepishly. “But I think both of us would feel better if we did, so… do you want to?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Her crying made him sober up real fast xD
Psychology sidebar: I think it's interesting how when one person freaks out, the other usually calms down in stressful situations

No worries lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Though the situation looked bleak, Crow managed to find some solace in Penelope’s presence. He held onto her tightly, trying to focus on the feeling of her arm that was wrapped comfortingly around him, the touch of her hand as she stroked his head, the smell of her hair that his face was buried against… anything to distract himself from his fear of what was to come. He supposed that there was one good thing to come out of this, at least: Even if the barons decided to choose their original plan, he would still have her. Death would have parted them, but now, he could be certain that no matter what his fate may hold, they would still be together. The thought brought him some level of peace, and he nestled a little closer to her neck.

As Penelope suddenly spoke up again in a weak voice, the thief frowned. He didn’t agree at all that this was her fault. She had just been trying to stop Layth from interrogating him so brutally, even he could tell that much. There was no way anyone could have known the barons would have reacted like this. He didn’t want her to blame herself for something that had been completely out of her control, and he was just about to say so when she pulled away to meet his gaze.

As she did, Crow froze, catching a glimmer of tears in her eyes. The sight made him feel a pang of sadness, and instead of speaking right away, he gently pulled her down to press a tender kiss to her lips, trailing his hand up to the back of her neck. He lingered for a long moment before he leaned away again. “It’s not your fault,” he said softly, brushing his thumb along the corner of her eye to wipe away the tears. “You couldn’t have known this would happen. Besides, even if you hadn’t said anything, Layth could have found a way to turn the situation in his favor somehow. Perhaps he would have even convinced your barons to kill me if you had let him go ignored.”

He gingerly caressed her cheek and offered her a halfhearted smile, “Please, don’t blame yourself for this, love. Just do what you can and know that I’ll be rooting for you from a distance.” He touched one more quick kiss to her lips and pressed his cheek against hers as he drew her into another embrace. “I’m sure we’ll get out of this mess one way or another… we always do.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same cx

She may have dragged Crow down with her

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow furtively studied Penelope’s face, gauging her reaction as he waited for her to reply. Despite his confident words, he was still worried that his efforts to change the outcome of the barons’ decision hadn’t been enough. He had only spoken to one of them, and he didn’t know how the other two would respond to his offer at all. Surely Penelope would have more insight, since she worked with them on a regular basis, and he hoped that she would be able to give him a clearer picture of what to expect.

So, when she seemed relieved and even leaned down to kiss him, the thief felt a wave of relief wash over him. It seemed like she thought his efforts had been worthwhile, so he relaxed a bit more, closing his eyes when her lips touched his skin. However, the moment of respite didn’t last long when he looked up at her again and noticed that her face was laced with worry. Seeing her look at him with such concern made him shift nervously, and he wondered if she thought his attempt, while good, wasn’t enough?”

His fears were confirmed when she went on to ask him what they were going to do if Mia couldn’t convince the other barons to listen to the alternate idea. He averted his gaze, finding it difficult to meet her eyes as his own worries flooded him again. Usually, whenever the knight got anxious about something, he was the one to keep a level head and come up with a solution, but he found it harder to do that this time. He felt so walled in by the knights, their barons, the chains on his body, and even the wound that had landed him here in the first place. Every instinct he had screamed at him that he was in danger, but there were so many obstacles in his way that he just couldn’t think of a way out. He was trapped.

After a moment of silence that seemed to drag on forever, Crow spoke in a low voice, “I don’t know.” He turned to meet her gaze again, the fear he had been trying to suppress seeping into his eyes. He felt helpless. The biggest obstacle he faced was the hole in his middle that had yet to even heal enough for him to sit up properly. As long as he was immobilized, there was no way for him to get out of the camp, even if they did come up with an escape plan. The best he could think of was that Penelope could go back to his camp again and recruit his companions to help her sneak him out during an upcoming night, but that would take at least two more days. The barons were making their decision tomorrow. They didn’t have that much time left.

Suddenly, he reached up with his free hand to wrap his arm around Penelope’s back, pulling her to him in a tight embrace and burying his head against her neck. His throat was tight with fear, so he couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. At the moment, all he wanted was to hold her close as he tried to find comfort in her warmth.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Honestly, when he approaches Crow at first, Crow is probably gonna be freaking out inside that John found out about him and Penelope somehow and came to kill him personally xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded faintly when Mia said the barons would make their decision the following morning, feeling a sense of foreboding rise up inside of him. That wasn’t very much time for her to persuade the others to listen to reason. If Layth was still demanding blood, they might just decide it wasn’t worth it to keep him around any longer than they already had to. He dreaded to think that the remaining two barons had already made up their minds unchangeably.

Still, he couldn’t give up hope yet. With one of the knights’ leaders in his corner, he had a fighting chance to make it out of this with his body intact. Plus, Penelope would be there too. Even if she was on shaky ground with the barons lately, she was still a lieutenant, so her voice had to carry some weight. The thought relaxed him a bit. Layth may have been calling for his execution, but there were two knights who would want to take up his offer to help them in the war.

After Mia left the tent, Philip was quick to replace her. The young knight took up his usual guard spot near the entrance of the space, as if he expected the bedridden thief to jump up and make a run for the woods. Crow found his watchfulness almost comical, but he was in no mood to prod at the boy while he had so much else on his mind. Right now, he could barely keep his thoughts straight as they all tangled together in a mixture of unresolved questions and battling emotions. The uncertainties of everything made him feel nauseated, and he closed his eyes, deciding it would be better to sleep than lie awake when he couldn’t do anything but worry about a situation he had almost no control over. Even though it took a while, he eventually managed to drift off into a fitful slumber.

--

Crow slept through the rest of the day, only to wake again when he heard someone else approaching the tent. He stretched tiredly, feeling like he hadn’t gotten much rest at all after enduring a long nap filled with nightmares of what the barons were going to do with him. However, he perked up right away when he realized that the person at the entrance was Penelope, who had finally come to visit him. After everything that had happened, he was glad to see her again. Her presence brought him comfort in the midst of all the uncertainties.

He waited impatiently as she dismissed the younger guard, itching to be close to her again. Fortunately, Philip didn’t linger, and it wasn’t long before the knight was at his side once more. He was just about to greet her, but she spoke up first, asking urgently about his conversation with her baroness. The mention of the talk made him shift uncomfortably. “She did,” he said softly, looking up to hold her gaze. “And she told me about the decision she and the other barons were considering.” Reflexively, he clenched his hands into fists at his sides as he thought about the lingering possibility of losing them for his crimes.

“But it wasn’t all bad,” he went on a little more hopefully. “I sort of made a proposition… to make the same deal that Jaxon did with the Younisians.” He smiled at her lopsidedly. “Basically, if they let me go, I’ll be indentured to work for them and sabotage the other battalions.” He shrugged. “She seemed to like the idea and even said that she’d argue in my favor during your next meeting tomorrow.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I like that xD
I imagine Penelope would be super confused with her father popping up out of nowhere

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

To Crow, the silence seemed to drag on forever as he waited to find out what Mia would do with his offer to aid the knights in the war. His heart pounded deafeningly in his ears, and he wondered if he would even be able to hear her answer at all in its loudness. This was, by every angle he could see, his last chance to save himself from a cruel and twisted punishment. If the baroness didn’t accept the proposal, he would end up mutilated and potentially crippled for the rest of his life. He just couldn’t let that happen. As long as he held even a sliver of power over his own fate, he was going to fight with all his strength to come out of this thing with his limbs intact.

So, when Mia finally responded in a positive tone, the thief felt utterly weak with relief. He was so caught up in his elation that he barely heard her as she explained why she would consider his offer. He couldn’t believe he had managed to talk his way from nearly losing his hands to forming an alliance with the very knights who were threatening to harm him in the first place. To make matters even more unbelievable, he had convinced a baroness, one of the highest-ranking nobles he had ever met. Perhaps Hazel had been right when she’d called him a silver-tongued snake. He hadn’t expected that he would have been able to pull off something like this, but he was overjoyed at the outcome nonetheless.

However, Crow was quickly brought back to reality when Mia reminded him that she would still have to convince the other two barons in order for their decision to change. He nodded soberly, realizing that just because one of the knights’ leaders had liked his offer, it didn’t mean the others would share her opinion. There was still a very real possibility that they would choose to ignore his plea and cripple him anyway. He shuddered at the thought.

Still, he was glad that Mia would be vouching for him when it came time for them to discuss what to do with him. One voice on his side was better than none at all. “Thank you,” he murmured, tucking his chin slightly to her in a respectful gesture. Though he despised nobles in general, he couldn’t deny that he owed this one at least some respect for everything she was doing for him. After all, he had enough honor to give gratitude where it was due.

“For the sake of everyone involved in this war, I hope your comrades are willing look past their hatred,” he added with a halfhearted smile. “If they do, then I look forward to working with you. If not…” He swallowed nervously. “Well, I appreciate that you gave me a chance to defend myself.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow played his ace cx
You can have Mia respond however. If she denies, we can just continue with what we had planned. If she and the others accept, I could see it leading to an alliance between the other thieves and the knights while Crow is at the castle with Penelope