Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's a creature of habit xD

Oh okay. I just saw a poster for it somewhere. Yeah, I'm not into romance movies in general either. Some romantic comedies are good, especially if they focus more on the comedy than the romance though

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I thought so,” Crow clicked his tongue with mock thoughtfulness, slipping the wristband off and tucking it away in his pocket for safe keeping. “Well, at least it looks like it’s worth some gold. Maybe I’ll give it to Alistair. He likes this sort of jewelry.” Really, he’d only taken the innkeeper’s wristband to get back at the man for treating him so poorly, but he supposed it could make a nice parting gift to his companion. Perhaps it would be worth holding onto after all.

When Penelope nudged him and brought up her concern about the innkeeper noticing his missing wristband, Crow just shrugged carelessly in response. “He had so many rings and bracelets on his hands, I doubt he’ll realize one is gone,” he met her gaze with a sly smirk. “Besides, I took the least expensive looking one anyway. I’m sure he cares much more about his bejeweled bracelets than a plain-looking gold band like this.” As he spoke, he patted his pocket where the wristband was stashed.

When they reached the room, the thief followed Penelope inside, letting out another weary yawn and closing the door behind himself. He followed the knight with his eyes as she leaned against the closest bed and teased him about his earlier comment. “I don’t know,” he crossed his arms, feigning a serious frown. “I don’t think it’s quite enough space to keep me away from you.” His stern expression cracked as a smirk found its way onto his lips, and he made his way over to stand in front of her by the bed.

“Oh well,” he murmured, resting his hands on her waist and leaning into her so that his lips hovered against her neck. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, I always say.” With that, he pressed a kiss to her skin, running his hands up to her chest as he gently pushed her back into the bed.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow may have caused a small amount of trouble cx

Five Feet Apart? I don't know it, but it looks kinda like a chick flick, and I don't really watch those

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow blinked in surprise at the innkeeper’s sharp reaction to his presence and glanced back over his shoulder at Penelope as she responded calmly to the man’s frightful request for help. It was a bit strange to him that the innkeeper didn’t seem to realize they were traveling together, but then again, his attention seemed to have been completely absorbed by the book he’d been reading. The man hadn’t seen him until he was standing right in front of him, so he probably hadn’t noticed that they’d walked in together either.

If I was here to steal from you, I could’ve walked out with everything in you own by now, he thought dryly, folding his arms irritably over his chest as the innkeeper continued to argue with Penelope about putting him in chains. He wished the man would just stop fighting and let them purchase a room already. After walking all day, he just wanted to lay down and rest. Fortunately, the innkeeper seemed to shrivel slightly at the mention of the king giving permission for the thief’s freedom.

“A room with two beds will be two gold pieces,” he muttered after a long pause, shooting the thief an untrusting glare.

“Thank you,” Crow slipped the bag from his shoulder to retrieve the coin purse his father had provided him with. He withdrew two pieces of gold and passed them off to the other man, who snatched them quickly, as if he expected the thief to try and trick him somehow in the exchange.

After holding the gold up to the light and testing to make sure it was real, the innkeeper gave a satisfied nod and held out a room key to Penelope. “It’ll be down the hall on your left.”

Crow rolled his eyes as he shouldered his bag again and turned to the knight, “Let’s go. I want to get some sleep.” He led the way away from the innkeeper, waiting until they’d put some distance between themselves and the skittish man before he turned to her again with a mischievous smirk, “By the way, what do you think?” he held out his right hand, which was now adorned with a gold-plated wristband that he’d swiped from the innkeeper when he’d handed him the money for the room. “Too gaudy?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's going to enjoy lording his status over nobles like the innkeeper once he becomes Albin's ambassador xD

Awesome! Yeah, me too. It looks like it's from a movie

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded in agreement when Penelope said she was getting tired of the gawking. Because of his reputation, the thief was used to drawing some attention to himself, but this was excessive. He supposed it was because of how openly he was walking in front of the crowds though. Normally, when he visited the inner kingdom, he would wear a cloak and try to keep to himself, since he only ventured this far south when he wanted to steal something. To blatantly show himself to the locals was something he hadn’t ever done before. It wasn’t something he was very fond of either. He rolled his eyes as a woman dragged her child away from the road when he and Penelope walked by, as if she expected him to try and take the boy from her.

These people are ridiculous, he huffed irritably and shoved his hands into his pockets, hastening his pace slightly in his eagerness to get off the road and into a private room at the inn.

--

It took until the end of the day before they finally reached Sarton. Crow yawned tiredly, stretching his arms and back as the inn came into view up ahead. After spending the whole day walking, he was ready for a hearty supper and a good, long rest. He felt like he deserved it after enduring the nosy stares of the locals all day.

He glanced down at Penelope, matching her eager smile with a smirk of his own. “Finally,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Let’s hurry up and get our separate rooms, so we can go to bed without feeling tempted to touch each other.” He winked at her teasingly as he referenced her father’s absurd restrictions before he led the way to the entrance of the building, opening the door for her to step through first.

Once they were inside, he stepped up to the innkeeper’s desk, where a man was leaning back in a chair with his nose in a book. “Excuse me,” he tapped on the table to get the noble’s attention.

“Yes, what can I do for—” the innkeeper looked up and then yelped in surprise as he recognized Crow. Fumbling with his book, he quickly stood up from his chair and looked frantically around the room in search of aid until his wide-eyed gaze landed on Penelope. “Help! It’s that thief! Arrest him before he steals my money!”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow just realized if negotiations happen, he's going to be the one in charge of ending the war ^^;

--

EDIT: Found another song that fits Crow and Penelope really well cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s shoulders sank when Penelope said she couldn’t just ignore her barons. Though he wished they could just pretend like her leaders had no influence over her, he knew it was a longshot that Mia would simply let her lieutenant go, even if they chose to skirt past the battalion on their trip this time. The knight was probably right when she said that she was going to have to get permission to return to the castle to work as a guard no matter what. He just hoped the baroness would be willing to hear her out when she got there.

As Penelope went on to say that she might not be gone long if Mia denied her request, Crow looked up at her again with a frown. The uncertainty in her voice didn’t slip past him, and he doubted she was right about the war ending so soon. There were simply too many steps for that to happen. First of all, she was going to have to convince Albin to agree to a peaceful negotiation with the king of Younis, which didn’t seem easy to do. Even if his father was reasonable about it, he would probably have a lot of things to take into consideration as the king of Brerra that would delay his answer. Then, if he did agree, he would have to start communicating with the other king to come up with a compromise to end the feud, and there was no telling how long that would take.

Oh gods, that’s going to be my job, isn’t it? Crow grimaced as the realization struck him. Suddenly, the weight of the title he’d accepted began to bear down on him a bit more heavily. How could a simple, illiterate commoner like him possibly learn enough to negotiate with a foreign ruler? It seemed impossible that he would be able to handle such an important responsibility, and he began to wonder if he’d bitten off more than he could chew by deciding to become his father’s viceroy.

“No matter what happens, there’s nothing more we can do about it now,” he said with a halfhearted shrug. “I suppose we should just enjoy the time we’ve got while we still have it.” Letting out his breath in a calming exhale, he offered her a small smile. He wished he could hold her hand or kiss her or do anything to close the distance between them, even for a moment, but with so many other people around, he couldn’t risk getting any closer to her than he already was.

“I can’t wait until we get to the inn,” he murmured quietly, changing the subject as he glanced up at the sky overhead. “It’ll be nice to escape from all these prying eyes and just be alone with you.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

William is probably gonna assume Crow is just trying to sleep around with all the pretty noblewomen xD
If he makes a comment, it's gonna be so awkward for Crow and Naida lol

Yeah, that could make sense. Like maybe she goes through a similar experience as Penelope did when she and Crow split up the first time, where she breaks things off with Alistair and ends up missing him and deciding that she wants to go back. I could see her talking to Penelope about it after a while of keeping her feelings a secret from everyone and then using Crow's connection to the thieves to get in touch with Alistair

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“That’s true,” Crow smiled at Penelope when she said they could eventually start meeting alone. If they spent time with each other when Naida was around too, then perhaps it wouldn’t seem as strange to the other nobles in the castle when they began to linger around each other without his sister. To anyone who might try to keep tabs on them, it could just look like they had begun to get along after he took the title of viceroy, which in turn could make it easier for him to officially start courting her without raising too many brows as well. The more he thought about it, the better the plan began to sound in his head.

The only obstacle left would be her father. His excitement faded slightly as he realized that John technically still hadn’t given him his permission to court Penelope. Normally, the thief wouldn’t have cared, but now that he was entering into the world of noblemen, he was going to have to start playing by some of their rules. If the older knight didn’t want him to court his daughter, it was going to be difficult to get around his denial, since they couldn’t just run away together like they would have done in the outer villages. Now, if he wanted to marry Penelope, he was going to have to roll over to some of her father’s wishes. It wasn’t the most appealing thought, but he supposed it wouldn’t be too bad as long as the man didn’t ask him to do anything outlandish.

When Penelope spoke up again, Crow glanced down at her with a frown. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might not be able to come back to the castle with him after their trip to the border. The idea of returning without her was disconcerting, to say the least. She was the whole reason why he was accepting a noble title in the first place, so he didn’t want to stay at the palace by himself. Sure, having Naida around would make the transition easier, but if Penelope remained on the front line, he would have no way to see her again for an indefinite amount of time. After all, he’d already agreed to his father’s terms that he wouldn’t leave the castle grounds again unless given permission to do so. Albin was probably going to have the guards keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t sneak out too.

“I’m sure you can get her to come around,” he ventured, although his voice was tinted with uncertainty. Perhaps if Penelope had been just a regular knight in the battalion, he wouldn’t have been worried, but she was a lieutenant. It was hard for him to believe that Mia would let her go so easily when she held such an important role. He lowered his gaze to the ground, absently kicking a pebble down the road as he lapsed into a brief silence. Maybe it would have been better for me to take a different guard to the outer villages…

After a moment, he looked up at her again. “What if we just don’t go to see your battalion?” he suggested tentatively. “I mean, they don’t know you’re going to be back in the area, so as long as they don’t see us, we can just slip in and out, and you can come back to the castle with me without getting permission.”