Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow smiled as Penelope pressed a kiss to his forehead. Now that they were out of sight of the people and guards that patrolled the main roads, he relaxed and enjoyed the fact that they could get closer to each other without worrying about getting caught by a random passerby. He slipped his arm around her waist as she sat down next to him, leaning lightly against her side. Being with her now, he was reminded of the first night when he’d brought her to this house. Even though she had been frightened by the storm, he counted it as a fond memory, since it was then that they had first talked about getting together again after being apart for so long.

If it hadn’t been for that thunderstorm, she might have never left Gavin, he thought with a faint shake of his head.

When the knight spoke up beside him, he turned his head to meet her gaze. “I know,” he sighed, looking over the small room once more. “It just feels wrong to let it sit here empty.” Part of him wondered if he should just give the place to the next needy peasant who came along, but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to do it. Perhaps it was selfish, but this was the house where his mother had raised him. It was too important to him to simply pass off to the first stranger to walk by. If he was going to let it go, he wanted to hand it over to someone who he knew would appreciate it the way he had.

He turned back to Penelope again as she brought up the idea of fixing it up. He recalled her mentioning something about that before, but the plan still brought a smile to his face. “Maybe when my father lets me leave the castle again, we can come back here and do that,” he suggested, holding her a little tighter against his side and pressing an affectionate kiss to her cheek. As he did, his heart skipped a little quicker in his chest, and in the next moment, he shifted to meet her lips passionately. He closed his eyes and rested his free hand against her thigh, leaning into her a bit more as they kissed.

After a bit, he pulled back again to catch his breath, meeting her gaze with a dazed grin. “Sorry, love,” he laughed softly. “I think I even caught myself off guard with that one.” He pressed a couple more quick kisses to her cheek along with a playful one on her nose. “We probably shouldn’t stay here too much longer. We’re already going to get to Wellspring after nightfall, and we’ve still got two more days of travel left.”

Match Up in Malibu [Bee & Summer]

Jett wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he had decided to approach Anna, but the strange look she gave him definitely wasn’t it. He tilted his head slightly, wondering what he’d done to warrant the expression. Retracing his steps, all he had done was walk up, sit down, order some food, and strike up a conversation with a familiar face. He hadn’t done anything that out of place, right? For a fleeting moment, he worried that he had bad breath or something. After all, he’d had quite a few drinks the night before, and he hadn’t thought to use any mouthwash the next morning. It wouldn’t have been that shocking to find out that toothpaste alone hadn’t been enough to get rid of the beast that was alcohol breath. He nearly leaned away from her in case she really had looked at him funny because he had bad hygiene.

Luckily for him, it seemed like his guess was wrong. Jett cracked an amused smile when Anna made a comment about the drink he had just ordered, acting like it was too early in the morning for mimosas. He nearly laughed at that. Who in their right mind drank mimosas after ten in the morning? Everyone knew the orange juice was just an excuse to get champagne-drunk before noon under the guise of being classy. It was a classic vacation move, and it was one that he intended to take advantage of while he didn’t have a manager breathing down his neck about ‘maintaining a proper image.’ Of course, he didn’t plan to make a total idiot of himself, but a little bad publicity never hurt anyone—honestly, it would probably bring in more fans. So why not have a little fun?

“Are you kidding? The view here knocks my street-view of Manhattan out of the park,” Jett said in answer to her question. He turned away from Anna when the chef brought over his breakfast, only pausing in their conversation to offer her a quick ‘thanks,’ and take a sip of the mimosa. Like everything else in this paradise house, the drink was excellent. The orange juice was freshly squeezed—not the usual concentrate from a container—and the champagne had to have been from a thirty-dollar bottle, at least. Not only was the flavor good, but it was also a little stronger than other champagnes he’d had at various hotels, and it fizzed pleasantly on his tongue. I have a feeling I’m going to be ordering one of these every morning.

“Judge me all you want, but I know I’m doing this thing right,” Jett added, shooting Anna a wry smirk and taking another swig of his drink. Maybe he came off as a bit of an alcoholic after drinking both the night before and the morning after, but he didn’t care. He was a social drinker, so he found it fun to be a little buzzed when he was hanging around so many people. Besides, the contract he’d signed when he had joined this show stated that all of their expenses within the boundaries of the property would be covered by production. That meant free booze. Who didn’t like free booze? Definitely not Jett. He was going to milk this for all it was worth. Perhaps he would slow down as the novelty wore off, but they were only on day two in this luxury mansion. Right now, it was still new and exciting.

He casted Anna a sideways glance. Despite the poke she’d made at his drinking habits, she seemed like the type to enjoy doing things a little out of the ordinary. Honestly, most of the people on this cast did. It was probably how they’d gotten selected in the first place, since ‘abnormal’ got more views on a show like this. She had been interested enough in trying new things last night—the fact that she’d kept up with him while dancing was proof enough of that—so maybe he could play on that trait a little more now.

“This is actually pretty good,” Jett mused, sliding his glass across the granite countertop toward Anna with a hint of challenge in his eyes. “Try it. I guarantee it’ll be the best mimosa you’ve ever had.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's definitely on board cx
I also see him giving his childhood house to Hazel when she gets closer to having her baby

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow chewed on the inside of his lip in thought as Penelope said he probably wouldn’t be able to send physicians to do charity work in the outer villages. She was probably right. He didn’t know very much about the different kinds of roles in the inner kingdom, but as far as he had ever heard, the king was the only one who ever ordered anyone else to do anything outside of the castle. Whenever there were traveling noblemen, they were always out on assignment from the king, never anyone of a lower rank. Though his title would carry weight, it likely wouldn’t be enough to accomplish the things he wanted to do.

However, the situation didn’t look totally bleak. He studied Penelope with interest as she went on to bring up her plans to get more nobles to join her efforts in restoring the outer villages. If she could convince enough people to participate, they could do quite a lot of good for the peasants who couldn’t support themselves. Of course, he knew they wouldn’t be able to stop the high taxes that the former king had set and that his own father had raised, but their efforts would definitely help out with the other difficult aspects of village life. He could already feel excitement and determination bubbling up inside of him at the thought.

“I want to help too,” he said, meeting her gaze seriously. “I’m not sure what sort of wealth my father plans to give me, if any, but I don’t need much.” He shrugged. “I’ve lived on practically nothing my whole life. Honestly, I could get by on just a few silver coins every season, especially since it seems like food and shelter are already part of the deal when you live at the castle. I’d much rather give what I have to the villagers than hoard it for myself when I’ve got no use for it.”

Crow turned to look forward again as they approached his childhood house. He walked slightly ahead of Penelope to open the door for them, letting her in first before he followed after her and closed it behind him. Once he was inside, he took a moment to look over everything. It all looked exactly like he’d left it, which wasn’t surprising since there was nothing valuable enough to attract bandits. He stepped over to the bed and sat on the edge. Glancing down, he spotted the tear in the mattress that Jaxon had caused when the killer had nearly stabbed him in the chest with his sword. He gingerly traced the frayed fabric with his fingers. If he had more time, he might have wanted to patch it, but it wasn’t important enough to delay their trip any more than they already were.

“I still haven’t figured out what to do with this place,” he mused contemplatively. “I suppose there’s no point in holding onto it any longer if I’m not going to be living out here anymore though.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It just clicked in Crow's head that the nobles already had a cure for the disease that's been killing the people in his home for decades ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

When Penelope commented on the villagers’ willingness to help each other, Crow nodded in agreement. The communal mentality of the people here was one of the reasons why he loved his home so much. No matter how hard things got, he knew he could always count on the fact that there were always people around who would take care of him. It had mattered much more when he’d been young and didn’t have the life experience to make it on his own, but even now, he occasionally found himself in situations where he needed the generosity of others to get by.

Thinking about it now, he could recall a number of times when he’d had to take cover in the homes of peasant families while local knights had been hot on his trail. If they hadn’t hidden him from the guards, he might have found himself in chains again. He shuddered at the thought. Though he was skilled in escaping from knights, he wasn’t perfect. Especially with such a high price on his head, he had needed all the help he could get to stay away from bounty hunters remain a free man.

As Penelope went on to talk about Hazel and the court physician, Crow turned to her with a hopeful look. “Hazel is already planning to make more of her medicine to give to the people here. Since Simon passed, that plan was put on hold, but I think she’s getting ready to pick it back up again soon. She definitely seems eager enough.” He lapsed into a brief silence as he pondered over the physician from the castle. Eldon had been quite confident that his poultice would work, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the old man really did have a cure. Somehow, the thought brought a twinge of frustration to the thief.

He absently lifted a hand to his chest, where the disease usually pained him. If Eldon had a cure for his illness, then that meant it had been curable since the start. It also meant the people of Myrefall had been dying for no reason. He clenched his jaw slightly. It upset him to know that there could have been a cure at the castle all along, and the only reason he was being treated now was because he was the king’s guest. The peasants of the outer villages deserved just as much respect. It didn’t matter that they were of a lower class; their lives still had just as much worth as his, if not more. They should have been receiving treatment too.

“I wonder if being the viceroy means I’ll have the authority to send physicians to the outer villages,” he mused out loud, letting his eyes wander over the people around them. “The Creeping Death isn’t the only sickness to plague these villages, and the peasants here have no way to seek remedies outside of the charity of herbalists like Hazel.” He looked back at Penelope with a frown. “The physicians at the castle seem much more capable. If they would just lay their pride down enough to treat people of a lower class, they could prevent many of the deaths that happen in our kingdom every day… I just can’t imagine how I could get them to do it for free, since no one here can afford to see a healer.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is too cx
He's back in storytelling mode

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

For the rest of the walk to Myrefall, Crow remained quiet. His eyes wandered over the forest around them as he reminisced about his life in the outer villages. Various memories came back to him—mostly pleasant, since one always seemed to grow fondest of a place right before he left it—and he smiled faintly, finding them especially bittersweet as they headed to the castle. He found himself feeling glad once again that his father had been willing to let him come back one more time before his training would begin.

When they eventually reached Myrefall, Crow shifted to walk a little closer to Penelope. His eyes swept over the dilapidated old buildings and fields full of farmers, and he felt a pang of nostalgia. Of all the villages in the northern part of Brerra, this one held the most significance to him. It was the place where he’d been born as well as where he’d lived nearly half of his life. Though most of the people he’d known during his childhood were dead by now—nearly all of them had caught and succumbed to the same illness as his mother—he still caught occasional glimpses of familiar faces as they walked. He wondered how many of them recognized him anymore.

At the knight’s question, he turned toward her with a shrug. “I’m not really sure how to answer that,” he admitted honestly. “But I think I’m faring alright.” He glanced off to his right, where a group of farmers were reclining in the shade to escape the afternoon sun. Nudging Penelope’s side, he gestured in their direction. “See that boy over there—the one with the light hair? His name is Dwight. Back when my mother passed, his parents were some of the people who helped me out.”

He turned back to her with a smile as he recalled the family’s generosity. “Since it wasn’t safe for me to stay in my mother’s home alone, they took me in on occasion and gave me food and shelter. A lot of the families here did, actually… I was passed around quite a bit.” He chuckled at the memory. “Since so many people die young here, it isn’t uncommon for children to be orphaned. I think the villagers see it as a communal job to care for any that wind up on their doorsteps. They certainly never turned me away, even though many of them knew I was a thief. They’re honestly the reason I survived past my adolescence.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's finally letting himself go through the mourning process now ^^;

I could see that, haha. I think their relationship would really depend on what happens with Crow's courtship to the princess (like if it ends really badly or if the terms are something Albin supports)

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow adjusted the bag on his shoulders and gave a curt nod of farewell to Gavin and Olivia as he got ready to head out from the knights’ camp. With all parting words having been said, he turned and trailed closely at Penelope’s heels when she led the way back to the road that would carry them to the inner kingdom. He refrained from falling in step beside her until after they passed out of sight from the camp, since he still didn’t want to give away their closeness to any of her comrades who might see them. However, as soon as the tents disappeared in the trees, he was quick to hasten his pace and walk at her side. Her presence always comforted him, and right now he needed a little bit of that.

It had taken until the final walk back to the castle, but he was finally starting to feel the weight of leaving his home behind for good. His eyes swept over his surroundings with a hint of melancholy. Though he knew he could always come back to visit once he was done with his training, he knew it wasn’t going to be the same. He was going to be moving on to a different world, and the people of the outer villages would carry on without him. He wondered what it was going to be like when he did stop by in the future. Would the villagers be happy to see him? Would they view him as just another heartless noble? Would they even recognize him? His heart sank slightly as he imagined being greeted by blank stares and leery questions when he finally returned.

He also worried that even though he and his companions had sworn up and down that they would keep in touch, that they would eventually drift apart as their lives changed. Perhaps they would be able to keep up with each other for a time, but he couldn’t imagine they would be able to go out of their way to see each other forever. If they came to the inner kingdom, they would have to risk getting caught by the skilled knights in the area; and if he went to the outer villages, he would risk being spotted by a local guard and tarnishing his reputation. Such things had never mattered to him before, and they certainly didn’t now, but what about later on? If he was arrested or stripped of his title after he and Penelope were married, he would drag her right down with him. He cringed as he thought about what might happen if he was caught after they had a family of their own. For her sake, he needed to tread carefully.

Caught up in his disheartened thoughts, Crow didn’t realize just how quiet he had been on the walk back to Wellspring. The sound of Penelope’s voice jolted him slightly when she suddenly broke the silence that had fallen between them, and he turned to her with a dazed look. He didn’t answer her right away, as he was torn between his desire to linger in the outer villages for as long as he could and his eagerness to get the trip over with as quickly as possible.

However, after some time passed, he came to a conclusion. Though he wanted to get back to the castle, there was no reason for him to rush through his mourning. “I’d like that,” he sighed, offering her an appreciative smile. “It’ll be good to visit one more time, since I have no idea how long it will be before I can come back.” He reached out to catch her hand and gave it a brief squeeze. “Thanks, love.”