Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow isn't prepared for the shitstorm headed their way after he goes to Younis later ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow closed his eyes and met Penelope’s lips when she kissed him, trailing his hand further down from her neck to rest at her hip. Being with her like this reminded him why it was worth it for him to lose his peasant status and enter into the world of nobility. Once he accepted the title of viceroy, all the barriers that existed between them would finally disappear forever. There would be no more difference in status, no more reason for her to lose everything she cared about, and no more bounty hunters chasing after him. Even though it wasn’t the future he dreamed about, he was excited to know that he would no longer have to wait until the end of the war to be with her, and he could truly give her the life she deserved.

As Penelope went on to say that she had changed too, Crow opened his eyes again to meet her gaze. Her words brought an amused smile to his lips. Thinking back on how she had acted toward him when they first met long ago, she certainly seemed to have changed a lot. He remembered how she had looked down upon him for stealing and even seemed to look down upon him as a person for what he did—though, to be fair, he’d been even more disagreeable than usual after spending a year locked up in prison. Now, she was able to look past what he did for a living to see who he really was underneath his title as a thief, and she knew the difference between blindly following the law and having a real sense of justice.

Crow turned his head slightly to press a fond kiss to the palm of her hand. “Of course,” he smirked when she said she had been able to do more to help people than she had before. “You figured out something that most knights never learn in their entire lifetimes: People can help others without letting the law guide their every action.” He touched another quick kiss to her lips. “I think it’s a great change.”

Settling down a bit more comfortably on the bed, he yawned and let his eyelids droop closed again. “It won’t be much longer before we get to sleep like this every night,” he murmured with a faint smile, pulling her close to himself in an affectionate embrace as he imagined their new future together in the inner kingdom. “I can’t wait for that.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow got a little emotional cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow glanced back at Penelope as she sat on the other side of the bed and then leaned over to take his boots off for the night. After doing so much walking since he’d recovered from his injury—well, mostly; it still pained him slightly if he stressed it too much—it felt good to sit down and rest again. Letting out a quiet sigh, he straightened his posture and looked over his shoulder as he felt Penelope slip her arms around him. A fond smile played on his lip, and he closed his eyes, leaning into her when she kissed him on the cheek.

Despite his lingering concerns about facing his companions soon, he was still able to enjoy the warmth of her company, alone in their room at the inn. Hopefully it wouldn’t be much longer before they would be able to spend every night together like this. He felt like they deserved it after all the trials they had been through so far. Surely if the gods really did favor them, they would be granted some sort of reward for everything they had done. It only seemed fair.

Crow opened his eyes again to meet Penelope’s gaze as she spoke to him. “That’ll be nice,” he mused at her mention that they could slow down once they reached Myrefall. Weariness aside, he wanted to take his time saying goodbye to the outer villages since, as far as he knew, it was going to be quite a while before he could ever come back, and even if he did, nothing was going to be the same. He wanted to savor the time he had left in his homeland before he returned to the castle to begin his new life as a nobleman.

When Penelope moved away to let him lay down, Crow twisted at the waist to swing his legs onto the bed. In the next moment, he casted her a mischievous look and wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her down with him as he collapsed back onto the mattress. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and grinned at her playfully as he held her tightly against himself, “Huh, seems like I’ve still got some energy left after all.”

Looking into her eyes, his teasing expression softened into a tender one, and he moved in to meet her lips in a deep kiss, overwhelmed with a sudden burst of affection for the knight. “I don’t think you know just how grateful I am that I met you,” he breathed when he pulled back again, trailing his fingers gently through her hair as he held her gaze. “You mean so much to me, love. Really. Before I met you, I didn’t care about anyone other than myself, but now I couldn’t imagine going back to living on my own… I think it’s a good change.”

He rested his hand against the nape of her neck, smiling softly, “I’m so lucky I’m going to get to marry my first and closest friend. I love you, Penelope.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's definitely going to rub it in Layth's face that he's got the protection of the king right now though xD

That's probably a valid concern lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded thoughtfully when Penelope said that his companions would still be glad to see him again. He supposed she was probably right about that. It had been nearly a month since he’d been stabbed by Jaxon, and he hadn’t been able to get in touch with the other thieves at all during his recovery. They were probably worried about him, so at least he would be able to let them know that he was still alive and healthy. Even if they didn’t take his decision well, they would know he hadn’t been executed by the knights. That had to count for something.

As Penelope added that she hoped everything would work out alright, he murmured his agreement. It was hard to imagine a scenario in which his companions wouldn’t be upset with his decision, but he hoped they would respect him enough not to fight about it. He knew he as going to go through with his choice, but it had been hard enough for him to choose it on his own. He didn’t need to hear their dissenting opinions about it and deal with the temptation of running back to the outer villages. After all, he still had some hesitation about becoming a noble. If the other thieves challenged him, it was going to be hard for him to stand firm in his decision.

I just have to remember who I’m doing this for, he thought, taking a steeling breath as he glanced at Penelope. Even if they beg me to stay, I already committed to taking the job for her. I’m going to keep my word. No matter how hard it was, he couldn’t go back. His companions were just going to have to accept that he was leaving. Besides, they had already made it a month without a leader, so surely they had figured out some sort of routine to get by without him by now. The thought was reassuring to him, since one of his main concerns before had been uprooting himself from their lives suddenly and leaving them without a leader. At least this way, they had already had time to get used to going on without him.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out, even if they don’t like it,” Crow said with a bit more confidence, meeting Penelope’s gaze with a smile.

--

Like the day before, the rest of the trip to Wellspring went by without any trouble. The farther they got from the inner kingdom, the less people stared at Crow as well, which was relieving to the thief. It seemed the rumors of his supposed “execution” had yet to spread this far north. Eventually, they reached the inn, and he decided to linger by the entrance while Penelope got the key, since he didn’t want to cause another scene if the innkeeper here recognized him. While he wasn’t worried about being recognized by itself, he did worry about drawing any more attention than they already had. He preferred to keep his head down and avoid confrontation, so he could enjoy the time he had left with the knight without any unwanted interruptions.

Fortunately, if the innkeeper knew who he was, he didn’t say anything, and they managed to get to their room without any trouble. Once the door was closed and they were safe from prying eyes, Crow set down his bag and stretched to loosen up his back, which had grown a bit stiff from walking all day. “Is it just me, or did the walk between Sarton and Wellspring feel longer today than it did last time?” he said with a yawn, sitting down on the closest bed. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah xD He'd probably complain a lot to everyone about it if he was in the inner kingdom

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Shut up,” Crow rolled his eyes at Penelope’s nudge, although his face reddened slightly at her words. “I didn’t mean we should go out of our way to tell them… It’s just that I don’t mind giving them the truth if they press for it. That’s all.” He averted his gaze uncomfortably. It still felt strange to him to put his trust in someone other than Penelope, but her friends had proven to him that they were capable of keeping a secret, so he knew he could trust them too. He didn’t think of it as a ‘soft side’ so much as a willingness to give credit where credit was due. Olivia and Gavin had earned the truth after everything they had already done for him and Penelope. That was it.

As Penelope went on to mention that Olivia might tease him about it, Crow shook his head. “I’m already expecting that,” he admitted with a shrug. Between Olivia and Gavin, he was more concerned about how the former would take the news. It was an interesting realization, since until now, he and Gavin had constantly been at each other’s throats whenever their paths crossed. Now that he was getting along better with Penelope’s former suitor, he didn’t expect the other man to react poorly to finding out that he was going to become the next viceroy.

“Honestly, I’m more worried about how my companions are going to take this,” he murmured, meeting Penelope’s gaze with a somber look. “I can’t hide it from them anymore. They don’t deserve that, so… no matter how they’re going to react, I have to tell them what’s going on.” He exhaled resignedly. “I just hope they’re still willing to accept me afterwards.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's starting to trust other people more cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow listened contemplatively as Penelope explained that she was going to use the angle of ending the war to convince Mia to let her leave early. After speaking with the baroness, himself, he took her to be the sort of person who would actually care about something like that, so the knight’s plan could work. As long as she didn’t need to get the permission of the other two barons—the ones whom appeared to be more warmongering in the thief’s opinion—she hopefully wouldn’t have a problem getting away.

As Penelope went on to question him about how they should explain his sudden reappearance to her comrades, Crow knitted his brow in thought. He hadn’t thought much about it before, but he supposed it would look strange for him to suddenly reappear in the battalion’s camp barely a week after he had left for the inner kingdom. Like the rest of the nobles he’d encountered lately, the knights on the warfront had probably assumed that the king had sent John to arrest him. They must have been expecting an announcement for his execution by now, so his return was likely going to cause some confusion amongst them.

Regardless, he didn’t think it was going to be too big of a problem for them to deal with.

“I don’t think we’ll have to explain anything at all,” he said with a shrug, pulling out the paper his father had given him before they had left the castle. “They can’t touch me as long as I’ve got this, and we technically don’t owe them anything. If anyone pesters us about it, we can just tell them that the king is going to be giving an explanation soon enough.” He returned the paper to his tunic pocket and turned to her with a smile. “I suppose it wouldn’t matter if we said something to Olivia or Gavin though. They’ve kept plenty of our other secrets, so I trust that they would go running their mouths about this.”