Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Looks like I’ll have to rescue you from that dismal fate,” Crow returned Penelope’s smirk when she spoke about dancing with strange men. Though he still disliked the thought of any other noblemen approaching her with the intent to win her attention at the party, hearing her remind him that she was only interested in him took the edge off his jealousy. Besides, it was just one night. If any of the others were so bold as to ask her to let them court her, she could just turn them down. There really wasn’t any reason for him to be concerned about it. As soon as she gathered the support she needed and convinced the king, their long wait would be over.

As they continued to walk back to the bridge that would carry them toward the castle, Crow found the silence to be both peaceful and tiring. He’d managed to forget about how exhausted he was for most of the day, but now that the sun was hanging lower in the sky, he was starting to feel the effects of his consistently poor sleep. He stifled a yawn and tucked his chin slightly as they walked past a small group of people headed in the opposite direction, hoping they wouldn’t recognize his face beneath his hood. Luckily, they didn’t even spare him a passing glance, and he and the knight went on their way uninterrupted.

He followed along at Penelope’s side as she guided them back toward the clearing where they had first met up. “I think you should,” he mused in response to her question, letting his eyes wander absently over the surrounding trees. “You said you need to meet with that couple, right? The Lenz’s? If you go back first, you’ll have more time to get done with whatever you still need to do.” He shrugged, bringing a hand to his mouth as he let out the yawn he’d been holding back before. “When I get back, I’m just going to nap until supper.”

Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, he checked to make sure they were far enough away from the main road not to be spotted and then reached to take her hand again. “I’m glad we had so much time together today,” he smiled at her affectionately. “I had fun visiting your hometown. The market was interesting, the house was nice, and I enjoyed hearing all those stories about you as a kid.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for sharing this part of your life with me, love.”

~Bonsoir~

“I think you tried to,” Vail chuckled when Victoria spoke of sucking his blood. Really, he found it flattering that she had been so overwhelmed by him that she had felt the need to bite his neck. He could also feel scratches in the skin along his back where her nails had dug into his flesh. His eyes wandered to the spot above her collarbone where he had cut her as well, and he smiled amusedly to himself. They had both been quite rough with each other, but the sting of fingers and teeth breaking the skin in uncontrollable pleasure had just made the experience all the more thrilling. The smell of blood in the air certainly helped too—his own mixed faintly with hers from a particular scratch that had been just deep enough to trickle. He couldn’t think of another time when his senses had been so flooded with euphoria.

When Victoria trailed his fingers lightly over his chest, Vail reached up to rest his hand over hers, holding it down as he decided he liked it there. Her following words stroked his ego, and a toothy grin brightened his features. He had already known that she had enjoyed herself—the moans and screams that escaped her lips had been proof enough of that—but hearing her confirm it out loud made him puff up just a little more. It had been over a century since the last time he’d slept with a woman of his own kind, and he’d never been with a human before, so it pleased him to know that she thought he had been truly amazing. High praise indeed.

As she asked if he could stay longer, he considered her request. He had no place to be at the moment, since the rest of his family was operating on a daylight schedule, and it was unlikely they would notice he was still gone. He wasn’t concerned about shortchanging himself on sleep either, since he had reverted to waking at night recently. Even though he was tired from the haze of his lingering bliss, he just wanted a nap rather than full hours of rest. Plus, Lady Crest’s wide, endearing eyes were tempting all by themselves. As long as he returned before dawn, he could go on at the manor as if nothing had happened.

“I don’t,” he answered, absently running his hand down the curve of her side. He wanted to pull her closer to himself again, but now that the heat had died down, it was harder for him to work up the nerve. He found it strange how easily he had leapt to ravage her body in the most intimate way a man could have a woman, yet simple gestures were still difficult for him to initiate. Perhaps it was due to the motivation. When he had taken control to have his way with her, he’d been driven by primal, thoughtless urges and a need for physical satisfaction. On the contrary, the act of an embrace was much more tender and, in a way, vulnerable. To do so would be to admit to both himself and Victoria that he was developing feelings for her. The thought made him swallow nervously.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that she was what he wanted. So, forcing down his hesitation, he draped his arm across her middle, his hazel eyes dancing up from her body to meet her crystalline blue gaze. “I’m fine to stay, but what about you?” he queried. “It seems to me like you’re not going to get any sleep tonight if you don’t go home soon.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's comparison of dancing to sparring but less violent made me laugh xD

And yeah, Crow and Penelope are both going to be caught so off guard when Albin sets that up ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow shrugged when Penelope commented on his ability to pick up new skills in a short amount of time, though a small smile tugged at his lip. He was still a bit nervous that he wouldn’t learn everything he needed to know fast enough to perform in front of an audience, but her flattery did help his confidence. If she thought he could master dancing in just a week’s time, then he probably could. Or at least, he could try to figure out how to make it look like he knew more than he actually did. It was the same trick he pulled with sword fighting.

Since he’d never learned the proper techniques, he made up for it by mimicking the knights he’d watched and trying to get close enough to their moves that it would be hard for an enemy to realize he had very little insight into the complexities of fighting. Maybe he could do the same thing at the party. From what he’d learned so far, the men were supposed to lead, so as long as he managed to get his partner to follow him, he would be fine… He hoped.

As Penelope went on to remind him that there would be people expecting him to fail at this too, he wrinkled his nose. He was getting sick of being the center of attention all the time. He wished the other nobles would just mind their own business and let him adjust to castle life in peace. Of course, there was no way they would let him get away without meeting their standards at the party though. Until his name faded from the forefront of their minds, he was going to have to keep putting up with their whispering gossip.

He glanced ahead as he felt the knight pull away from his side. They were almost back to the open road. Reluctantly, he shifted to walk a bit further away from her so no one could accuse them of being close. “I know I have to dance with the other women for appearances, but I wish I could save them all for you,” he said with a smile, turning back to her again. More so than that, he wished she was able to save all her dances for him. He understood that in noble culture it was normal for all the eligible men and women to dance with each other, but it was going to be difficult for him to watch the other noblemen vie for her attention. It was going to feel good when they could finally come forward and let everyone know they were together.

“Maybe next time, I can,” he mused, letting his thoughts roam to what would come once the party was over and the knight accomplished her goal.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It worked, haha.
Crow isn't emotionally prepared for everything that's about to go down with Felicia

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow could tell that Penelope was trying to reassure him when she said the only obstacle left after the party would be her father, but her words only made him wince. He still had no clue where he stood with John, especially after the misunderstanding with Elizabeth. The older knight was always so stoic; it was hard to tell if he had believed him when he’d tried to explain that the rumors about them weren’t true. If John was convinced that he’d been unfaithful to Penelope, it was going to be difficult to persuade him otherwise.

He sighed. It was starting to seem like he would never be able to earn a blessing. All the hard work he’d put in to get John to like him may have just been undone overnight.

When Penelope squeezed his hand, Crow turned back to her and nodded. She was right. Even though it was hard, they were almost to the finish line. They had kept their relationship a secret for months in the outer villages and had even managed to prevent anyone from figuring them out in the castle for two weeks—well, aside from Preston, but the boy was too nosy for his own good. What was a few more days? Once the party was over and John gave his blessing—gods willing—they could finally be together without any more tiptoeing around. The thought helped strengthen his resolve.

“I like the way you think,” he grinned at her when she said they would have to figure out a way to rub it in the others’ faces. After being forced to play by everyone else’s rules for so long, he couldn’t wait to do something to push back. He wanted William and Elizabeth and Layth and all the rest of the people who had wronged him to find out about them in the most satisfying way possible. Maybe that was what he could work on to keep his mind occupied before the upcoming party.

As Penelope wrapped her arm around his waist, Crow smiled fondly and slipped his arm around her shoulders. Everything else aside, he was glad that he was going to have her when it was all over. The waiting would be worth it as long as she would be his wife when they reached the end. His heart fluttered excitedly at the thought, and he held her a bit tighter.

“Right,” he rolled his eyes when she brought up the dance lessons Naida was putting them through. “I almost forgot about that.” He casted her a half smile. “Are you sure I can’t just stand off to the side while everyone else dances? A week isn’t very long for me to learn everything I need to know.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow got a little more serious
He really doesn't want to go back to the castle now ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Did I?” Crow mused, pretending to think it over even though he knew quite well that the competition had been his idea. He shrugged, casting her a playful smile. “Well, it’s your word against mine, darling. Looks like we’ll never know.”

His eyes drifted down to her lips, and he met her eagerly as she leaned up to kiss him. Now that they didn’t get to be physical very often, her touch felt amplified to him, and he didn’t want her to pull away. Luckily, she seemed to have the same thought. He smiled against her lips as he felt her press into him, wrapping his arms around her in an affectionate embrace. All urgency to get back to the castle was temporarily forgotten as he lost himself in the moment. The only thing he could think about was the woman in front of him.

When she eventually pulled back from him, he chuckled breathily at her joke. “Maybe I should start blaming you for things more often,” he teased, intertwining his fingers with hers when he felt her take his hand. All joking aside, he found her sudden spontaneity exciting. He glanced up at the sky, wishing they had more time together. As soon as they passed back into the citadel, they were going to have to return to pretending they barely knew each other. The thought was especially disheartening after the luxury of having her company all to himself for most of the day.

“Alright,” Crow nodded when Penelope said they were close to the river. He followed her lead as they made their way out of the narrow street, his eyes wandering absently over the surrounding buildings. From the river, it was a pretty clear shot back to the castle. They wouldn’t have much more time to be alone.

“It won’t be much longer, right?” he asked quietly, half speaking to himself. He turned to the knight with a frown. “It’s been hard… telling everyone we’re not together. I’m proud to be with you, and I want them all to know it.” He sighed, letting his gaze settle on the path ahead. “Honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can go without letting it slip that I’ve already have a partner I love to one of the other women who’ve been approaching me lately.”

Bravely Into the Night

Skye didn’t want to get up.

The newest shuttle bringing in the latest additions to the battalion had just arrived at the base last night. Apparently a battle had just happened the same day they’d made it to the ship—not the most convenient coincidence of all time—so all the new troops were given was a brief overview of where their bunks were and instructions to wait for further orders to find out which squads they would be divided up into. After that, everyone had pretty much conked out, exhausted from the hellishly long flight they’d been forced to endure on their way to join the fleet. It wasn’t the warmest welcome, but hey, that was military life.

Now, it was the next morning. Or at least, Skye was pretty sure it was the morning. It was hard to tell when all he had to gauge the passage of time was a boxy digital alarm clock and his own circadian rhythm, which was, by now, a complete train wreck. Living in a manmade ship with no changes in light level really did a number on one’s sanity. He’d tried to keep track of how many days had gone by on that godforsaken shuttle for a while, but after a few months, the activity was just depressing. It was easier for him to join the other soldiers and slowly lose touch with his sense of time. Why bother paying attention to day and night when nothing ever changed anyway?

Skye threw his pillow over his face with an irritable groan, wishing silent curses upon the other guys in the room who thought that now was a great time to have a burping contest. Maybe he could get rid of his stupid alarm clock. No need for that when he had this troupe of refined geniuses to wake him up bright and early every morning. He wondered if they even cared that he and the rest of the new soldiers had only gotten a max of four hours of sleep. Probably not. This was military life, after all.

A few minutes passed before the aforementioned clock joined the barrage of noise, and he begrudgingly accepted his fate.

Rolling over on his mat of a mattress, Skye slapped the snooze button and sat up with a broad yawn. Sinewy muscles flexed as he stretched his arms and torso, the result of years of intensive physical training on Earth and in the carrier that had brought him to the base. He wasn’t the biggest, baddest soldier in the battalion, but he still had a physique to be proud of. And he was. For better or for worse, he had an ego the size of a small house, and he wasn’t afraid to make it known. In fact, everyone at his old base in Fort Lewis used to warn him that he needed to be careful in battle because “it would be easy for an enemy to shoot someone with such a big head.”

He didn’t care what they thought though. He knew he was the shit, and that’s all that mattered.

Sliding down from his bunk, Skye ambled past the belching idiots to the adjoining communal bathroom. He took a quick, cold shower and completed the rest of his ritual morning hygiene before he got dressed in a pair of khaki cargo pants and a wrinkled, dark red t-shirt he’d grabbed from the top of his still-packed bag. He hadn’t had time to put any of his belongings away since he’d gotten in so late last night. It was on his to-do list for later that day… whenever he had a chance to get around to it.

Still half asleep and praying there was some sort of caffeine source in this flying hunk of metal, he followed a group of soldiers to what he could only hope was the mess hall.

His gamble paid off when he rounded the edge of a steel doorway and found a big cafeteria-looking room full of the classic, uncomfortable tables and slow-moving buffet line. It was just like high school all over again. He could even see cliques and the loners, loud and quiet, in-crowd and outcasts. Involuntarily, he let out a tired exhale. Every time he was transferred to a new base, it meant he had to reestablish himself all over again. It was eat or be eaten, and he wasn’t about to be anyone’s bitch.

His green eyes wandered to the buffet line.

But first, food.

Weaving through the sea of tables, chairs and people, Skye took his place in the row of guys and gals waiting to get their portion of gourmet astronaut slop. He was always astounded when he saw the crap they were supposed to call food. So much for being respected for serving the country—scratch that. The world, now. He kept having to remind himself that these alien bastards weren’t just a threat to the United States. Now that he was part of this particular battalion, it was his duty to protect the billions of people on his entire home planet.

No pressure or anything.

With a tray full of the best, barely edible shit a man could eat, he turned back around to scan the mess hall a little more thoroughly as he searched for a place to sit. Even though it was early, plenty of the tables were already full. He clicked his tongue, running his right hand over his still-damp, blonde hair. The comfortable option would have been to join a couple of the guys he’d spotted who had been on the shuttle with him before he’d arrived, but he didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to start assimilating into the rest of the fleet. If he was going to be here for a while, he needed to get to know some of the other faces he was going to be working with.

Having come to a decision, he dove back into the crowd and made his way over to a table where two other soldiers he’d never met were sitting. There were still a couple chairs open. It looked like the perfect spot to meet some new people over breakfast.

He just hoped they could tell him where to find a hot cup of coffee.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He's untouchable right now xD