Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Unfortunately for Crow, Elizabeth was persistent as well as stubborn. She struck up a conversation about what she had been doing in Colchester for the last few years, which wasn’t bothersome by itself, but continued to make casual passes at him throughout the discussion. As she talked, she occasionally rested her hand on his arm or let her leg brush against his beneath the table. She also made sure to learn forward against the table continually, making it difficult for him to avoid catching a glimpse of her bosom whenever he glanced in her direction. Overall, the exchange was more than uncomfortable for the viceroy, and he hurriedly shoveled food into his mouth to end it more quickly after Preston had brought out his breakfast.

Throughout the meal, Liz didn’t seem to notice his discomfort—or at least, if she did, she didn’t care—and eventually went on to ask him about what he had been doing since they had last seen each other seven years ago. He shifted his weight stiffly, disliking both the idea of telling her anything about his life and the fact that he could feel her tracing her foot up the inside of his right leg underneath the table as she waited for his response. However, before he had a chance to react to either thing, he blanched when a familiar voice spoke up from behind him. It seemed Penelope hadn’t slept in after all.

As the knight sat down next to him, he dropped his gaze to his lap, fidgeting nervously with the hem of his tunic. After what had happened the last time the three of them had shared a meal together, he wasn’t excited about the prospect of doing so again. He just hoped the noblewoman wouldn’t make any more sultry comments about their past to set Penelope off.

“It’s alright,” Crow shrugged noncommittally when the knight asked about his morning. Truth be told, it was going terribly so far, but he didn’t want to say so in front of Liz and cause her to get upset. There was no telling what the woman would do if she thought she needed to try even harder to win him over.

“I’m sure things will get better later,” Liz offered brightly, reaching out to lay her hand on his arm again in what he took to be a mildly possessive manner.

“We’ll see,” Crow muttered. Even more uncomfortable with the gesture now that Penelope was here, he lifted another bite of food to his lips to force her to retract her hand. “I’ve just got another lesson today, so it’ll probably be boring.”

“There’s that pessimistic attitude again,” Liz sighed melodramatically. “See? This is why we need to spend more time together, Collin. I’ll help you see how much happier you can be with the right partner by your side.” She flashed him a smile as she leaned forward against the table again.

Crow blushed and averted his gaze. It seemed that even with another woman around, Elizabeth wasn’t deterred from using any method she wanted to win him over. “I think I’m doing just fine on my own,” he said quietly, poking at the small amount of food that was left on his plate.

Elizabeth pursed her lips, falling silent for a moment before her blue eyes danced toward Penelope. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” she said, a mischievous look crossing her features. “Where did you get that awful scar?” She pointed at her own face, mirroring the location of the blemish on the knight’s. “I must say, it’s such a shame that your beauty was stolen from you at such a young age.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow forgot about her too ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow stretched his arms as he headed back to his bedchamber for the night, trying to wake up a little more after the long nap he’d just taken. Inside the room, he made his way by memory over to the table by the window to light a lantern. Knowing that he might fall asleep if he laid down in the dark, the flickering glow brought him some comfort and helped him to relax.

He sat down at the table, idly drumming his fingers against the wooden surface as he decided what to do to entertain himself while he stayed up. After a moment, his eyes drifted to the book Udolf had given him during their last lesson together. It laid on the opposite side of the table, unopened since the day his tutor had introduced him to it. He supposed he should have put more time into reading it, but with everything else that had been going on, he’d completely forgotten about the assignment.

Deciding that now was as good a time as ever to catch up, he picked up the book and leafed through the pages to figure out where he’d left off last time.

--

Crow wasn’t sure how much time passed between the moment he started reading and the time Preston arrived in his bedchamber. All he knew was that the sun had come up sometime during the middle, and the energy he’d gained from his earlier nap had faded significantly. Towards the end of it, he was nearly tempted to go back to sleep and probably would have if he didn’t have to worry about dealing with his nightmare again. But, such as it was, he forced himself to stay awake to avoid having another panic attack that morning.

When Preston stepped into his room, the attendant froze by the door, clearly surprised to see the viceroy awake and reading a book. “You’re up,” he commented obviously, hesitating for a moment before he asked, “Did your nightmare happen earlier today?”

“No,” Crow shook his head, standing up and arching his back to get his blood flowing after sitting for so long. “I’ve been up for most of the night.”

“Why?” Preston frowned. He walked over to the viceroy and handed off the water he’d brought for him.

“Unplanned circumstances,” Crow answered vaguely, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture as he downed a large portion of the drink.

The servant eyed him for a moment longer before he spoke again, “Did you have Penelope over?”

Crow nearly choked, unprepared for the boy’s question. “No, I did not have Penelope over,” he scoffed. Finishing off the rest of his water, he set the empty glass down on the table and brushed past the attendant to put his boots on. Since he hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes he’d worn the day before, he decided to save himself some effort and just wear the tunic and trouser he already had on instead of finding a new outfit in the wardrobe.

“Oh,” Preston trailed after him, still interested in finding out what had happened. “Why else would you have stayed up?”

“Sometimes you’re too nosy for your own good, kid,” Crow rolled his eyes without answering the question. He straightened his posture once he finished putting his shoes on and headed for the door. “Come on. I may not have met with Penelope last night, but I did tell her I’d meet her for breakfast this morning. I’d rather not keep her waiting.”

“Alright,” Preston relented, seeming disappointed that the viceroy wouldn’t tell him anything else. However, he didn’t press the matter and followed along compliantly as his master led the way to the Great Hall.

--

When they arrived, Crow performed his usual sweep of the room to look for Penelope. It seemed that he was the first to arrive though because the knight was nowhere to be seen. Assuming he had just beaten her there that morning, he sat down at the closest empty table to wait for her, reclining tiredly on the bench while Preston hurried off to get him a plate for breakfast.

Once he was alone, the viceroy leaned forward to rest his arms on the table and yawned broadly. It was starting to appear that even though the nap he’d taken in Naida’s bedchamber had helped him stay awake long enough to avoid another nightmare, it hadn’t been enough to give him the energy he needed to get through the day. He hoped his lesson that afternoon wouldn’t be too difficult, since he wasn’t sure how much he could take in after staying awake most of the night.

“Good morning, Collin.”

Crow startled faintly at the sound of a voice, having come close to drifting off while his thoughts had been wandering. He turned around in his seat, expecting that Penelope had caught up with him, only to stiffen in surprise as his gaze landed on the last person he wanted to see.

“How was your meeting with the princess last night?” Liz grinned, smoothly circling around the table to sit across from him. Like the last time, she was wearing a provocative dress in the color red.

“Um,” Crow’s mind went blank as he took a moment to process what was going on. “It was fine. I think we got done with everything we needed to.”

“That’s good to hear,” Elizabeth leaned forward to lace her slender fingers together on the table. The angle at which she was sitting offered a direct view down the front of her dress, which Crow felt quite certain she had arranged on purpose.

He reddened slightly and averted his gaze, pretending to look around the Great Hall as if the rest of the nobles were suddenly interesting. “Did you need something?” he asked with forced nonchalance, hoping to send her away before Penelope arrived, since he knew the noblewoman bothered the knight.

“Not particularly,” Liz shrugged. “Like I told you before, I just want to catch up.” She tilted her head, frowning with a hint of disappointment as he avoided looking at her. “Are you searching for someone?”

“Just my attendant,” the viceroy lied in a low voice. “He’s been gone for a while and has yet to return with my breakfast.”

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Liz assured him, reaching across the table to rest her hand on his arm. “Besides, the longer he’s gone, the more time we’ll have to talk.”

Crow fought the urge to groan in frustration. It seemed that no matter what he said or did, Liz wasn’t going anywhere. He found himself hoping that Penelope would just sleep in that morning, so she wouldn’t see them together again, since he couldn’t shake the stubborn noblewoman off.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He still appreciated the effort cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

When Penelope began to speak about his nightmares, Crow blinked, realizing she thought he was upset because of the risky situation Naida had almost put them in. While it was part of the reason why he’d snapped at his sister, he was far more concerned about the way she’d gotten him to stay in her bedchamber in the first place. Since he had gotten close to her, he’d let his guard down around the princess quite a bit. He hadn’t thought she would lie to him so blatantly. It was distressing to know that he couldn’t trust her as he’d previously thought.

But that’s not true, he clenched his jaw. All she’d done was play a joke on him and Penelope. It wasn’t like she had intentionally tried to put them in a position where they could get caught by the royal guards. He knew he shouldn’t hold it against her when she was clueless about what she’d done. But she also shouldn’t have lied to me in the first place, the part of him that was still bitter argued. He let out his breath in a conflicted sigh, hoping the remnants of his frustration would fade away by the morning.

“I know, and I will,” Crow promised, turning back to the knight again as they walked. Even though he was upset, he knew Naida didn’t deserve to be snapped at. He didn’t want his sister to think she had ruined their relationship over one stupid prank. The only way to make things right between them was to apologize for being so quick to snarl and hope she wasn’t mad at him for treating her unfairly at the time.

As Penelope nudged his side, Crow offered her a halfhearted smile. He could tell she was trying to cheer him up, and he appreciated her effort, but he still needed some time to process before he could let go of what had happened. “I guess we will,” he agreed, looking ahead again as his room came into sight up ahead.

“Yeah,” he nodded reluctantly, wishing they didn’t have to part ways. Since he’d gotten decent sleep for the first time in a while, he had no intention of trying to go back to sleep that night only to wake up again in a panic. For a moment, he was tempted to invite her to stay up with him but, knowing she was going on a long trip tomorrow, he held back from proposing the idea. “I’m going to stay up, so I’ll be at breakfast early,” he told her with a more genuine smile. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other before you leave.”

His expression softened as he held her gaze, and he went on in a soft tone so the guards in the corridor wouldn’t overhear him: “I love you, Penelope. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That makes sense xD

Crow is starting to feel bad

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Crow made his way back down the hall that led toward his room, he let out a long sigh to cool his head. Now that he had left the room, his temper had simmered back down enough that he could think clearly, and he began to feel a bit guilty for being so harsh with his sister. While he didn’t regret confronting her about what she’d done—he still believed she had been wrong for tricking him for her own gain—he knew she hadn’t meant any harm by it. She had never tried to lie to him in the past, and there was no way she could have known that the “innocent” joke she had pulled could have such serious consequences.

Still, it stung that she had fooled him when he had trusted her to follow through on her promise.

Rounding a corner in the hallway, his mind wandered back to Rikki, another person who had manipulated him before, and he winced. Part of him knew he was being unfair in comparing Naida to the thief, since his former companion’s intentions hadn’t been nearly as harmless as his sister’s, but it was difficult not to when the frustration was still so fresh. He wondered if there was anyone he’d allowed into his life that he could trust beside Penelope.

Stop it, Crow closed his eyes as his old bent to isolate himself began to creep back up on him. She was just fooling around. I’m overreacting. Despite the knowledge in his head, it was difficult not to be swayed by memories of past hurts that told him he couldn’t trust anyone.

Suddenly, the viceroy was pulled from his spiraling thoughts when Penelope caught up to him and asked if he was alright. He opened his eyes and turned to her briefly before looking away again, unsure what to say. The thought of telling her what was going on in his head made him cringe. He knew he was blowing the situation out of proportion, but he didn’t want to tell her that. He just needed some time to calm down on his own, so he could move on from what had happened… He hoped.

“I know, I know,” Crow admitted quietly after a pause, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to be. She just…” He trailed off, changing his mind about speaking even vaguely about what had bothered him. “I’ll be fine,” he finished instead with a low exhale.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I feel a little bad for Naida ^^;

Crow's really bad at handling his emotions when he feels hurt
He's sensitive to feeling like his trust was misused, since he already has a hard time getting close to people

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

To Crow’s displeasure, it seemed his collision with the table had been enough to wake Naida up after all. He took a small step away from the furniture when his sister began to stir, as if the distance would be enough to hide the fact that he was the one who had stumbled into it. Now more than ever, he just wanted to go back to his own room and move on from what had just happened. He was frustrated with the princess for nearly getting him and Penelope caught, he was embarrassed that he had run into something when he knew better than to move without looking where he was going, and he was irritable because his left thigh had begun to hurt where he’d struck it on the corner of the table. Overall, he was in no mood to stick around and chat with anyone.

As Naida and Penelope began to speak, Crow averted his gaze, toying with the idea of stepping out before either of them roped him into the conversation. However, he didn’t even get a chance to set a foot toward the door before his sister made a comment that made him flinch. Even though he had put some distance between himself and Penelope when he’d passed out, they must have shifted on the bed before the princess had fallen asleep. He was disturbed to know that she had caught them lying in each other’s arms, but even more so, he was annoyed that she had decided to use it as an excuse to lie to him.

“You told me you were going to wake me up when you were done writing your letters,” Crow snarled, turning on her with narrowed eyes. “I don’t appreciate being lied to.” Privately, he knew he was probably being a bit harsh on her, since she couldn’t have known what she had been risking by letting them nap together; but at the moment, he was still too angry with her to be rational.

Naida frowned, seeming taken aback by his hostility. She held up her hands, “I didn’t lie though. I said I’d wake you when the letters were done, and I just decided not to finish them tonight.”

“You still knew I didn’t want to stay here long,” the viceroy objected. “I told you that.”

“I know…” Naida admitted a bit meekly. “I just thought you’d like to stay longer since you two looked so comfortable on my bed.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make,” Crow said sternly, making the princess shrink slightly in her chair. He opened his mouth to go on and then closed it again, turning toward the door as he thought better of what he was going to say. “I’m going back to my room,” he muttered instead, making his way out of the bedchamber without waiting for a reply.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was definitely too mad to do the same xD
He also may have woken Naida up