Crow was relieved to see Penelope relax after Olivia had gone. It made him feel a bit calmer as well, now that he didn’t have to be quite so on-guard around her. He looked down at his arms when the knight asked how he was healing. “I think they’re getting better,” he replied thoughtfully. “They don’t hurt much anymore, and I forget they’re there when I’m busy with other things.” He honestly wasn’t sure how he was healing, since he had never been burned by a fire before. Cuts and bruises? He’d had countless. Arrow wounds? Sure. Broken bones? Absolutely. But burns? Those were a new experience for him.

“It might still be good to pick up some more medicine though,” the thief said, looking up at Penelope from where he crouched by the pit. “I used up a lot of the ointment from the stock on the wagon.” He toyed absently with the wood in the pit, tearing off some of the thin bark on the outside of the pieces to make a tinder nest underneath the cone-shaped arrangement he had placed the sticks in. Once it looked good and ready, he grabbed the two flint stones William had left nearby and struck them together, creating sparks, until the tinder nest started smoking. He leaned forward, propping himself up on his elbows, and blew gently on the tiny flame until it grew big enough to catch the surrounding wood.

When the fire was of self-sustaining proportions, he got back up and dusted himself off, smirking at Penelope, “Sorry, darling. I know you wanted to do this job, but I just couldn’t help myself.” He turned back to look at the pit, the reflective light from the flames dancing off his face. Fire was a comforting sight to him. Back in his days before prison, he only ever lit them when he was certain he was well hidden from bounty hunters. Because of that, they had grown to become something of a signal of safety, a signal that it was okay to relax. The thief needed that every once in a while.

“So, how’s your shoulder?” Crow asked in return to Penelope’s question. He sat down next to the pit and motioned for her to join him. “Are [i]you[/i] healing?”