Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow really likes the perk of getting to eat better food than he could get as a peasant xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

When Penelope said that his father probably wouldn’t admit they were related, Crow nodded in agreement. He doubted Albin wanted anyone else to know he was his son, especially as he recalled what the king had said about his appearance ‘making things more difficult.’ It seemed that while his father had been intending to offer him the job as viceroy from the start, he hadn’t planned on publicly accepting the thief as his son. While something about that didn’t particularly sit well with him, he supposed he could understand why Albin would be so hesitant. After all, he didn’t have the best reputation in Brerra, and there would surely be nobles who would be upset to find out that their ruler had sired the most infamous thief in the kingdom.

However, in the same way, he wasn’t necessarily keen to tell anyone that he was the bastard son of the king either. While his father didn’t seem to be the terrible man his mother had made him out to be, he still wasn’t sure where they stood with each other. He preferred to work out their relationship in private rather than have the public eye following their every action towards each other. It was better that the people who knew about them remained small in number.

“You’re probably right,” Crow shrugged when Penelope said that his father would probably wait to tell anyone about their relationship until after he’d become accomplished as an ambassador. “I just can’t help but wonder how long it’s going to stay a secret; you know? I’ve only been here for one full day, and there are already a few people who either found out or seem to be suspicious.” He rounded a corner in the corridor, offhandedly noticing that he was getting better at navigating the halls of the castle without help.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine though,” he sighed. “My father seems to know what he’s doing, so it can’t be that bad if word spreads early.”

After a while, they reached his room, and Crow held the door for Penelope again before following her into the bed chamber. Right away he saw that the servants had indeed prepared another lavish supper for him, as the table on the left side of the room was covered in fresh platters. The thief made a beeline towards it, enticed by the delicious aroma of cooked meats and vegetables. His stomach growled again as he pulled out a chair to sit in and grabbed a plate to fill. “I could get used to this,” he said with a grin, gesturing for Penelope to join him at the small feast before focusing on piling his plate with another venison dish he’d spotted.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm honestly low key excited for Layth to find out xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded thoughtfully when Penelope said she doubted the other nobles would come around quickly. He had the same feeling, especially when everyone who recognized him took the opportunity to cast him bitter looks as he walked by. His father was probably being overly optimistic in assuming that his talents alone would be enough to change their opinions of him. Then again, the man was the king of Brerra. Perhaps he had a better idea of how to convince the others to accept him than the thief did.

He turned to look up at the castle as they approached it. Even if some of the nobles began treating him with more respect, he doubted he would return their trust. It was hard for him to imagine men and women of a higher class treating him with genuine kindness. If anything, he would likely just be even more wary of the ones who approached him in a friendly manner, since he had a feeling they would only do so to get something from either him or his father. After all, what other reason would they have to accept a man who was known to steal from them in his past?

As Penelope went on to list off the few nobles who would be on his side, a faint smile tugged at Crow’s lip. Naida had already made it perfectly clear that she was excited to help him transition into noble life, and he knew she was right about Olivia and Gavin too. Honestly, he expected Olivia to be entertained by the sudden change and poke fun at him about becoming a viceroy. He didn’t know Gavin well enough to expect anything from him, but judging by the fact that the knight seemed resigned to the fact that he and Penelope were together, he would probably be happy to know that she wouldn’t be giving up her status to be with him.

“Yeah, I’m glad I’ve got a few people on my side,” he said, casting her a fond look. “Of course, you’re still my favorite supporter though.” He turned to look ahead again as they reached the main doors of the castle, reaching out to pull one open for her to step inside first. As they passed through, he vaguely noticed the guards on either side of the doors watch him closely, as if they were afraid he was going to cause trouble, but he was growing numb to the constant negativity of the nobles in the inner kingdom, so he ignored them as he headed into the palace.

Once they were inside, Crow hastened his pace slightly, eager to get back to his room to see if his father’s servants had prepared him supper again. “I have to wonder how my father plans to handle our relation to each other though,” he mused in a low voice as they walked. “My siblings realized we were related just by looking at me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter figured it out too, since he keeps acting so nervous around me.” He turned to her with a shrug. “He hasn’t said anything about telling anyone that I’m his son, so I don’t think he was planning to, but it seems like the people who are closest to him are starting to figure it out anyway.”

Match Up in Malibu [Bee & Summer]

The next morning, Jett woke up to a faint throbbing in his head from a mild hangover. He groaned tiredly and rolled over on his bed, pulling the comforter as high as he could manage to block out the morning light that was coming in through the massive windows on the other side of the room. Though it wasn’t the worst hangover he’d had by a longshot, the faint discomfort made him reluctant to get up. So, he closed his eyes, deciding there was no harm in sleeping in a little longer, but before he could drift off again, he remembered that he wasn’t in his own apartment in New York; he was in Malibu on the set of a TV show—and last night had been the debut. The thought made him cringe as he recalled how he’d gotten a bit more drunk than he’d intended to and had gotten pretty frisky with one of the girls on the cast. It definitely wasn’t the first impression he’d wanted to make, but at least he hadn’t woken up next to anyone. That had to count for something.

Deciding he didn’t want to lay around all day while the crew was probably filming again, Jett forced himself to get up from the comfortable bed and ambled tiredly to the bathroom to get ready for the day. He could still smell the alcohol on his own breath, so priority number one was getting rid of that with a lot of toothpaste and mouthwash. Once he felt satisfied that he’d ridden himself of his bad breath, he finished off his other morning rituals—showering, shaving, a little bit of hair styling, the works—and went back to the bedroom to get dressed and properly put away all of the clothing and other things he’d brought with him from New York. He’d traveled fairly light, since he didn’t think he needed more than two weeks’ worth of clothes as long as there was a place to wash everything, so the process of putting it all away in the closet didn’t take him more than about fifteen minutes.

With that done, Jett finally made his way out the door to see what was left for breakfast. The time was nearing ten in the morning—he’d slept in later than usual because of how much he’d had to drink the night before—so he hoped there was still some hot food left. Of course, he knew the house he was staying in wasn’t a hotel, but he had a feeling that meals were going to be served like clockwork over the course of the show, so there was always a chance that he was the last to get up and would be stuck with the leftover fruits and oatmeal that no one else wanted to touch if he showed up too late. Right now, all he wanted was a hearty plate of sunny-side eggs and crispy bacon, so if he showed up to the kitchen greeted by a bowl of cantaloupe wedges, he was going to be severely disappointed.

However, to Jett’s surprise, there weren’t very many other people at the kitchen bar despite the late hour. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he only saw Adam—one of the non-celebrity guests that Bella had introduced him to the night before—standing at the edge of the bar with a pretty, dark-skinned woman he remembered seeing around the party but had yet to talk to. A short distance away from them was Anna. He wavered by the base of the stairs as his eyes landed on her. Even though he really hadn’t joined this show to meet any girls, he couldn’t help but be drawn to her, especially after the fun he’d had dancing with her the previous night. She was attractive, but she was also an intriguing person; one whom he wanted to get to know better while he had the chance.

Well, now is as good a time as any, I guess, Jett decided, pushing his arms forward to stretch his back as he ambled into the kitchen area and slid into the open seat at the counter next to Anna. “What a night, huh?” he mused aloud, reaching for one of the laminated breakfast menus that were strewn about the counter and bar. It looked like the house was at least somewhat similar to the five-star hotels he’d stayed at in the past in the sense that the meal options were prepared the same way. He browsed the selection, pleased to see that everything he had a taste for that morning was on the list today, before gesturing to get the chef’s attention.

“Have you decided what you want, sir?” the woman asked politely.

“Yeah,” Jett nodded. “I’ll have the eggs sunny-side up with a side of bacon.” He paused, tapping his index finger on the granite countertop before adding: “I don’t suppose you serve mimosas, do you?”

“It’s not on the menu, but I could make one for you,” the chef answered accommodatingly.

“Perfect,” Jett grinned. “I’ll have that too then. Thank you.” While he didn’t normally like to day drink, he supposed there was no reason not to have one mimosa, since he was pretty much on vacation here anyway. It couldn’t hurt to indulge a little.

“I’ll have that right out for you,” the chef said before turning back to continue working on someone else’s breakfast.

With his order put in, Jett turned back to Anna, resting his elbow on the table and propping his chin in his palm, “So, I noticed we’re neighbors. What do you think of that ocean view? Pretty nice, right?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same, haha. It's gonna be interesting to see where it goes from here

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I hope so,” Crow mused when Penelope said she was sure there would still be food in his room when they got back. She was probably right. Hunter had said that his father had tasked the servants with preparing a private meal for him the day before because he had missed supper. If they were late again, he would likely just do the same thing. The thought of another small feast of noble dishes made his mouth water. Aside from the fact that Penelope would no longer have to give up anything for him, the flavorful food was the biggest perk of accepting the king’s offer. He’d always been envious of the meals that noblemen and women got to enjoy, but now he would be able to have them every day too. Knowing that made the transition just a little bit easier for the thief.

As Penelope agreed to keep his decision between the two of them until he could speak to his father, Crow casted her a grateful smile and then nodded in agreement when she added that it wouldn’t be good if the news got out anyway. That was the main reason why he hadn’t wanted the word to spread before he had a chance to talk to the king first. The last thing he wanted was the unwanted opinions of the other nobles in the castle, who would surely want to threaten or pressure him out of taking the job. Plus, he wouldn’t have been surprised if there were people here who had been vying to become the next viceroy, but simply hadn’t earned Albin’s favor. If someone like that learned that the position was about to be usurped by the most wanted thief in the kingdom, they would probably do something rash. He shuddered at the thought.

“My father seemed to feel like the dissenters would come around in time,” Crow said softly, letting his eyes wander over the courtyard as they made their way back to the castle. “When we spoke last, he said he thinks I’m going to make a talented ambassador and that the other people in the castle would see that and stop fighting the decision with time.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how well I’ll actually be able to do the job when I can barely even write my own name, but for my own sake, I hope he’s right.”

He fell quiet as a small group of knights walked by, probably heading to the palace for their own supper. The men casted the thief scathing looks as they passed, and he narrowed his eyes at them in return. He guessed they were probably frustrated that the criminal they had all been trying to arrest for so long was finally in their midst, yet they could do nothing about it.

When the knights were out of earshot, Crow turned back to Penelope with a roll of his eyes. “I just hope they come around quickly,” he muttered. “I’m starting to get tired of all the dirty looks that everyone around here keeps going out of their way to give me.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Honestly xD
Everything changed so fast

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow smirked amusedly as Penelope suddenly seemed to realize all the changes she was going to be making now that she wasn’t going to be losing her status as a knight. After all the times she had altered her plans to accommodate him, it felt good to ease her burdens by doing the same for her. Even though he hadn’t been intending to make up his mind at that very moment, he was glad he’d done it. Seeing her reaction restored his confidence that he was doing the best thing for both of them, and gave him peace that he would be able to handle the changes that noble life would bring to him.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” he said assuredly, pressing one more kiss to her cheek before following her gaze to the view of the inner kingdom—the place he was soon going to be calling home. The thought was still strange to him, but he supposed he would get used to it eventually. He just hoped that entering into the lifestyle of a nobleman wouldn’t change who he was. Holding the knight a little closer, he leaned his head against hers to take comfort in her touch. He wanted to believe his morals were rooted deeply enough that he wouldn’t get swept up in the riches and luxuries that the castle had to offer, but money corrupted people. He’d been a thief long enough to figure that much out on his own. If he didn’t keep his guard up, he was well aware that he could get lost in the ease of nobility and lose sight of his values.

As Penelope pulled away from him, Crow looked down at her and nodded. “Yeah… It’s been a long day.” He let her lead them back down from the tower, following along closely behind her as they descended the long stairwell—it was relieving to go down the winding steps instead of up this time. When they reached the bottom, his stomach chose that moment to let out a hungry growl, and he reddened slightly. “I hope we’re not too late for supper,” he said with a lopsided smile. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Suddenly, another thought came to him, and he went on in a lowered voice, “By the way, I’m sure this already goes without saying, but when we get back to the castle, don’t tell anyone I’ve decided to take the offer. I want to talk to my father about it tomorrow personally, okay?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow has no idea he just dodged being arrested and executed ^^;

Same! They'd be a really interesting trio