Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow made his way back to the clearing where he had left his bag, still seething over his encounter with Penelope’s father. Every bit of it just made him angrier the more he thought about it. He was upset that the knight had followed them; he was mad that he had forced them to separate; and he was furious at the accusations he had made. The thief clenched his jaw as John’s words replayed in his head. Even if the older man just thought of him as a lowly criminal, he wouldn’t have cared that much, but for him to compare him to the king of all people made his blood boil.

When he reached the spot beneath the tree where he had left his supplies, Crow found and shouldered his bag, wincing as the motion sent a twinge of pain through the wound in his torso. Though he had packed light, the strain of the walk along with the weight of what he was carrying was starting to get to him. Still, he refused to let the ache slow him down. He couldn’t stand the thought of facing John again while the knight’s words were so fresh in his mind. He wanted some time to himself to cool down before he even attempted to get close to the older man again.

So, as the group continued to make their way towards Wellspring, Crow continued to walk as far ahead of the others as he could get. He wished he could have Penelope by his side—he craved to hold her until his raging emotions wound down—but after Jon had threatened to kill him, he couldn’t get close to her. Normally, he might have tested the waters a little and tried to get near to her anyway, but her father had already swung a sword at him once. It was quite clear that he wasn’t afraid to follow through with his word, even if it meant ruining the mission the king had sent him on. As long as the knight was determined to stand between them, there was no point in even trying.

Because of the accelerated pace that the thief had set due to his impatience, they managed to reach the village by the end of the day. When they arrived, John led them to the local inn, where he intended for them to stay for the night. In his persistence to keep Crow as far from Penelope as he could, he forced the thief to wait outside while the two knights paid for a room. It was a bit degrading, but as long as it meant he wouldn’t have to be anywhere near John, he didn’t complain.

Once the room had been bought, John came back outside to retrieve him, and the three made their way to settle down for the night. But, of course, even that couldn’t be easy for them. Almost as soon as the door had closed behind them, Penelope’s father turned on Crow with a stern look, “You, take that bed.” He gestured to one on the right side of the room.

Crow just rolled his eyes in response, but, not wanting to start another fight, complied with the demand. He stepped over to the bed and dropped his bag on the floor, rolling his shoulders with relief as the weight was shed off. However, he barely had time to relax when he suddenly felt someone take him by the wrist. He flinched and turned just in time to see John fasten another chain cuff to his hand and attach the other end to the bed post.

“What the hell is this?” he snarled, wrinkling his nose at the restraint.

“This is to make sure you keep your filthy hands off my daughter,” the knight glared at him untrustingly. Having secured the thief, he turned to Penelope next. “And now you. Take the bed on the other side of the room.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow had to leave before he did anything he regretted ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow lowered his gaze to the ground, glaring angrily down at the grass. He wasn’t anything like the king. It didn’t matter what John thought; he knew that he wasn’t the same. His father was selfish and greedy, and he didn’t care who he trampled in his path as long as he continued to rise in power; while the thief was perhaps self-centered to a degree but would never go to such lengths to get what he wanted. If he had been in Albin’s shoes and gotten a peasant woman pregnant, he would have stayed to help her raise the child, not turn around and call her a harlot to ruin her reputation.

As Penelope tried to calm the situation, Crow glanced up at the two knights, hoping her words would get through to her enraged father. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help, and John continued to insist on separating them. The older man’s stubbornness made the thief grit his teeth in frustration. He was getting sick of all the people who thought they had a right to get between him and Penelope. It seemed like any time someone found out they were together, they would fight against them as much as they could. He wished that for once, they wouldn’t have to constantly defend themselves to everyone who thought they were making the wrong decision.

Crow curled his lip at John as the knight told him to keep his distance. “Sure, take her away from the one man who’s treated her the way she deserves and replace him with a noble who will just use her for his own selfish gain,” he spat. “That seems like a great way to earn your daughter’s trust.”

“Bite your tongue, thief,” John growled. “I know what’s best for her, and I’m not going to let some rogue ruin her life. You will stay away from her, or I’ll kill you before you can so much as lay a finger on her.”

Crow scoffed and averted his gaze again. He could see now that there was no getting through to the knight, so he didn’t bother to give him a reply. Instead, he pushed past the other man as he made his way into the surrounding trees, eager to put some distance between them before he lost what little control he still had over his temper.

“Where are you going?” John asked sharply.

“To get my bag,” the thief answered without looking back. With the peaceful break ruined by John’s interference, he wanted to keep moving and get the rest of the trip over with. He just hoped it would go by quickly.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow really didn't like being compared with Albin ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow had been expecting John to back down or at least hesitate when he’d reminded him of the king’s mission, but instead, he realized all too late that his haughty words had only served to further fan the flames of the man’s anger. As the knight raised his voice at him and moved in to swing his sword, the thief’s eyes widened in fright. He wanted to run, but the shock of seeing John come at him with a sword had frozen him in place, and he was unable to even duck out of the blade’s path. Turning his head, he squeezed his eyes shut as he prepared himself for the bite of the weapon. However, it never came.

He flinched as the sound of metal clashing with metal filled the air and looked up in surprise to find that Penelope had come to his defense. Feeling weak with relief, he finally found the strength to step backwards and put more distance between himself and the enraged father who was clearly not afraid to kill him despite his relationship to the king. Once he felt a little safer, he watched the two knights speak with a wary expression, tensed to run if John came after him again.

Of course, Penelope’s attempt to explain that she loved him fell on deaf ears. Crow didn’t expect anything less. It was why he hadn’t bothered to try and tell John that they were in love when the knight had first questioned him. The older man would never believe it, even though it was the truth.

As John grabbed Penelope by the wrist, the thief watched in dismay, wishing he could stop the knight from pulling them apart, but helpless to do anything since he didn’t have a weapon of his own. However, his worry was quickly replaced with a sharp flash of anger at John’s following words to him. “I am nothing like that bastard!” he snarled, curling his hands into fists at his sides. He trembled slightly as he fought to keep from swinging at the knight, triggered strongly by the accusation. His father was the last person in the kingdom that he ever wanted to be compared with, so for John to say so now struck a very personal chord in him.

“How dare you even suggest that,” he continued venomously, unable to back down as the knight’s comment rang incessantly in his head. “We may share blood, but that’s as far as the similarities go.”

John just scoffed in response, “You have more in common with him than you think, cur.” He gave Penelope’s wrist a sharp tug. “Come. I don’t want you anywhere near that criminal.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow may not have handled it very well ^^;
Although he's not used to the authority noble fathers' have, since he's used to being with peasant women who aren't nearly as controlled

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s heart was pounding in his chest as he and Penelope kissed passionately in the woods. He wished they could get away from her father long enough to be a little more intimate with each other, but, not wanting to risk the older knight coming after them, he supposed this was good enough for now. Besides, they had the whole trip to find time alone. There was no point in rushing into anything at this very moment when he felt confident that a better time would make itself apparent later on.

He tilted his chin up and sighed softly when Penelope moved to kiss him along his jawline. The touch of her lips and the warmth of her breath made him tremble slightly with excitement. “I love you too, Penelope,” he breathed, turning to kiss her again with equal desire when she met his lips again. In the heat of the moment, he lost all awareness for his surroundings, and he didn’t even notice the third figure approaching from the tree line.

That is, until a furious voice boomed: “PENELOPE!”

Crow felt his heart skip a beat as he whirled around to see none other than John storming towards them with his face contorted in anger. The thief stumbled hurriedly away from Penelope, as if there was still a chance that they could hide the fact that they had been kissing rather passionately just seconds before. His eyes were wide with horror as he watched the enraged man come towards him with his sword drawn. His instincts screamed at him to run from the danger, but he found that he couldn’t, because his feet were rooted to the ground with shock that refused to fade.

Oh gods, he’s going to kill me, he thought in a panic, staggering backwards as John got closer. The knight had caught him in the act of being rather physical with his daughter who was supposed to be marrying another man in one year. He couldn’t imagine a single way in which this situation could go well.

At John’s sharp question, Crow opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t find his voice. What was he supposed to say? ‘Sorry you caught me kissing your daughter?’ ‘We’ll try to be more subtle next time?’ ‘Hey, at least she’s not pregnant?’ He certainly wasn’t going to apologize for kissing her. Whether John approved of it or not, he was in love with Penelope, and he was going to be with her.

Suddenly, his panic turned to obstinance, and he met John’s gaze with an unwavering glare. He may have been pathetically outmatched by the older man—he was both heavily wounded and unarmed, since the knights in the camp had confiscated his weapons—but that didn’t mean he was just going to roll over and beg for mercy. “Go ahead and try,” he sneered, tilting his chin up at the knight. “Then you’ll have to explain to my father why his son never made it to the inner kingdom.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm already getting excited for the confrontation xD
It was such a dad thing to say lol I love it

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow trotted after Penelope as she headed out of the clearing, falling in step beside her once they were making their way into the forest. Truth be told, he hoped she wasn’t actually expecting him to find a stream for her. He did know the general areas where they might find one, but because the summer had been so dry, it was unlikely that any of the locations he knew of were filled with water at the moment. The next closest stop would be the river that flowed past Wellspring. At the thought of it, the thief smiled to himself.

That river had been a turning point in his relationship with the knight. Two years ago, it was the place where he had first ventured to open up to her about himself and where they had made their deal for her to let him go if he completed the former king’s mission. It was likely thanks to that river that they had ended up where they were now. Feeling a mixture of nostalgia and affection for the knight, he sidled a little closer to her side and eagerly laced his fingers with hers when she took his hand.

At her comment Crow nodded and shot her an amused look. “I’d say so,” he agreed. “Well, either that or your father is going to think you’re a clumsy fool by the end of this trip.” Returning her bright laugh with a small chuckle of his own, the thief leaned in to meet her lips when she kissed him. He closed his eyes and held her close, enjoying being able to have some real time alone with her for the first time in almost a month.

When she pulled back again, he grinned at her confidently. “I’m sure we’ll think of something,” he said, his eyes wandering desirously down to her lips as he spoke. “Your father still thinks you’re being courted by Gavin. It can’t be that hard to keep fooling him a little longer.” Unable to keep himself from her any longer, the thief moved in to kiss her again, meeting her lips with fervor and trailing his hands over her back as he lost himself in her touch.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow caught on pretty quick cx
Also, I thought it was funny how much of a dad John was when he said "language" xD