[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

Time passed sluggishly for Crow as he waited with Zenith for the others to return. He dozed in and out of sleep for a while, but even that didn’t help stave off his boredom very much. Zenith spoke with him on occasion during his waking hours, but she was only interested in hearing more about his relationship with Penelope, so he tried not to devote much time to their conversations. It was hard to do, since he was proud that the knight was with him and wanted to boast about her, but he knew he couldn’t let himself be so careless about the information he chose to divulge.

So, as tempting as it was to tell Silas’s wife about the woman he was in love with, he treaded carefully around the subject, wary of letting his tongue slip. It would be risky if Zenith found out Penelope was a knight, since he didn’t want word to get out that ‘the most infamous thief in Brerra’ was with a member of the king’s army. There weren’t very many female knights to begin with, so he doubted it would take much work for the barons to narrow down who the rumors were about. Zenith was a known gossip in Aramoor too. If she found out the truth, it wouldn’t be long before word spread throughout the outer villages. He shuddered at the thought.

Eager to keep her away from the topic, he diverted her attention by asking her to teach him how to knit. She found his interest amusing, since she had never known another man who had wanted to learn how before, and readily complied with the request. So, with her focus finally off of digging up information on Penelope, the thief was able to relax. He picked up one of the unfinished blankets that her daughters had left behind and followed her instructions as she walked him through the steps.

Some time passed before Zenith spoke again, looking over the fabric that Crow was working on. “You’re oddly good at this,” she cracked an amused smile as she looked up at him. “Perhaps you were a maiden in a past life.”

Crow rolled his eyes at her comment. “I have to be good at doing detailed work with my hands,” he explained simply. “It’s part of my job. Honestly, this sort of reminds me of lock picking, in its own way.”

“Really?” Zenith raised a brow. “How so?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, pausing to think. “Both require a lot of small motions and precision. The exact movements obviously aren’t the same, but they’re still quite similar in style.”

“Hmm,” Zenith smiled. “I’ve always been good a knitting. Maybe I should learn to be a thief.” She nudged him teasingly. “Or maybe you should learn to be a housewife.”

“Please,” Crow snorted, grinning back at her. “There’s a lot more to thievery than just lock picking.”

“And there’s a lot more to being a wife than just knitting,” Zenith pointed out.

“Touché,” he laughed. “I think it would be best if we both just stick with what we know.”

“Perhaps so,” Zenith chuckled. She leaned in to add one last quip: “Still, I think you’re going to some lucky man very happy someday.”

“Gods,” Crow groaned, meeting her gaze with a shake of his head and biting back a smirk. “You know; I’m only doing this to help you. I can always stop if you’re going to keep being such a bother.”

“Fine, fine,” Zenith burst out in a laugh and returned to her own knitting.

Crow was just about to do the same, when the door rattled again and Letha and Alice came running inside. He set aside the blanket he was working on and looked up as they charged across the room. I wish I still had that much energy, he thought offhandedly. “What did you find out this time?” he asked once they had slowed to a stop.

“Not much,” Alice frowned. “Just that the group they kept asking about was traveling at night.”

“Huh,” Crow said absently. If they were traveling during the night, they could have been Jaxon’s men. Many of the thieves in his band were known to some degree or another around various parts of Brerra, so they were apt to keep their heads down when they could. He suddenly found himself wishing that he could have tagged along to question the villagers, himself.

“Money, please!” Letha held out her hand.

“Letha, manners,” Zenith pressed a hand to her face in embarrassment.

“I suppose you’ve earned two more coins for that,” Crow shrugged, waving a hand at Zenith nonchalantly. He handed the girls each one more copper coin and then leaned back against the wall. “Think you can learn anything else for me?”

“We would,” Alice said. “But they said they’re coming back here now.”

“Right now?” Crow’s eyes widened slightly. He got up from the floor and headed over to the wooden beam, where Gavin’s chain laid slack on the ground. Settling down again, he reached for the metal restraint and fastened it back onto his right wrist, then turned back to the others with a sly wink, “If anyone asks, I’ve been here the whole time. Got it?”

“Won’t they know if we’re lying?” Letha asked confusedly.

“No,” Crow tapped his forehead knowingly. “Only I can tell.” With that, he laid down on his back, resting his free, left arm behind his head and closing his eyes as he waited for the knights to return to the house.

[BuzzingBee]

The three knights walked back to the home at a brisk pace set by Gavin. The male knight was quickly put in a foul mood after discovering that the children had been tailing them for most of the day, already guessing that Crow was responsible for it. Penelope picked up her pace slightly to fall in step besides him and let out a small sigh.

"You can't be so certain yet. The girls might have just been curious and followed us on their own you know." she told him with a small frown. She didn't believe her own words, especially after knowing Crow had been planning something, but the female knight was at least hoping to calm Gavin down slightly before they reached the home. After seeing him go so far as to even chain Crow up, she wanted to keep his distrust of the thief from getting any worse if she could or at least prevent him from doing anything brash. "Besides even if he did send them to follow us, what could they have possibly done apart from listening in?" she pointed out.

Gavin shifted his gaze away from her. "I don't know. But he could be trying to figure out a way to get a step ahead of us with it again.. If it was just to get the same information we were, then why couldn't he just wait until we returned?" he questioned, narrowing his gaze on the small home ahead of them.

"Probably in case he needed to get involved.." Penelope muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Regardless, we might have a lead so let's just focus on that." She advised as they neared the home. Gavin gave a curt nod before stepping into the home. Penelope followed after him and slipped past the male knight to head over to Crow, who appeared to have not moved the entire time they were gone.

"We're back." she announced to him with a small smile. "I'm not sure if I'd say we were successful or not yet though.."

"I'm sure he already knows as much as we do at this point." Gavin grumbled with an accusing look. "Right?"

[Rogue Sloth]

It wasn’t long before the door opened again, and the knights stepped back inside the house. Crow looked up at them lazily without lifting more than his head from the ground. He wanted them to believe he had just woken up from a nap, after all. Stretching tiredly—he didn’t have to fake that much, since sitting around all day had left him feeling lethargic—he sat up to greet Penelope when she walked over to him. “That’s a shame,” he sighed as she told him she wasn’t sure whether or not they had been successful. “I wonder whose fault that was.” He shot an accusative look at Gavin to make it clear who he was speaking about.

“I’m sure he already knows as much as we do at this point,” the knight returned a suspicious look of his own. “Right?”

Crow stared at him blankly. He was a bit surprised that Gavin seemed to know he had been up to something, but it was hard to tell if he was aware of what he had done or if he was just trying to draw a reaction out of him. So, he elected to take on an innocent expression as he went on. “I’ve been here the whole time,” he waggled his chained hand to emphasize the point. “How would I know what you found out?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Gavin crossed his arms. “We caught your little spies following us through the village.”

Crow blinked. So he does know. “Oh,” he turned towards Alice and Letha with a grin. “So that’s where you two ran off to, is it?” The girls giggled in response, clearly finding everything about the situation entertaining. Fortunately for the thief, their excitement wouldn’t be enough on its own to give him away. He turned back to Gavin with an amused smirk, “You can’t seriously be threatened by a couple of young girls, can you? I’m sorry, but that’s pathetic.”

Gavin flushed, seeming unsure what to do with the scene before him. “I know you’re lying,” he pressed, determined to draw the truth out of him. “Just admit it. You sent them to follow us, since you were stuck here.”

“And just why would I do that?” Crow rolled his eyes, laying back down again in an apathetic manner. He knew quite well the reason why he had done it. It had been a precaution in case Gavin had refused to keep him in the loop or tried to throw him off course with a false lead since he didn’t trust him. With Zenith’s daughters spying for him, he was on the same page as everyone else whether the knight liked it or not. Plus, if anything had gone wrong, he would have been able to reach Penelope more quickly. It had been a win win.

“Who knows why you thieves do anything?” Gavin muttered, although the conviction in his expression wavered slightly.

“It is a mystery, isn’t it?” Crow smirked. He raised his bound arm from where he laid, causing the chain to rattle in response to the motion. “Now can someone please take this annoying thing off of me and fill me in on what I missed?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope listened as Gavin tried to accuse Crow but ultimately failed and found himself more unsure. Glad that Gavin was second guessing himself, she quickly turned her focus back over to Crow and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we need to figure out what to do next and I think he's been chained up long enough." she said and looked over at Gavin expectantly. The male knight gave a reluctant look before pulling out the key to the chains from his pocket. Begrudgingly, he stepped over and unlocked the chain from around Crow's wrist.

"I'm not sure if we found much that's very useful but some villagers say that a group of about seven passed through here around a week and a half ago." Penelope informed him. "They traveled late at night and without stopping.. One man even said they were heading off in the direction of Wheldrake from what he could tell." The female knight crossed her arms and frowned slightly. "It's a lead I suppose but certainly not enough to go by."

"It's not." Gavin frowned as well as he looked over at her. "We found out all we could here so I think it's time we start to head back to camp."

"Maybe... But there's still a chance it could be them.." Penelope pointed out. She folded her arms over her chest and looked over at Crow. "I'm not sure.. You know more about them then any of us, do you think it could be them still?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow stifled a smirk as Gavin stepped over to unlock the chain cuff on his wrist. It was almost too easy to make him do what he wanted. He could tell that the knight was reluctant to let him go so quickly, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. No matter what their next step would be, Gavin couldn’t just leave him tied up—even though he could get out on his own without any trouble. Penelope would never stand to let her former suitor leave him behind like that. He found it entertaining to watch the knight squirm as he was forced to release the criminal he despised so much.

Once the metal fastening had been removed, Crow rubbed his wrist as if it was sore and climbed to his feet. He turned to Penelope next, listening as she explained the information they had learned. Even though he had already heard it for himself from Zenith’s daughters, he didn’t want to make it obvious that he had been spying, so he nodded when she finished speaking, folding his arms over his chest in a thoughtful gesture. At her question, he shrugged. “It is hard to say,” he admitted, meeting her gaze with a frown. “Unless we could get a description of the people in the group, I can’t tell you with any certainty whether it was them or not. But I’m also reluctant to pry for that information, since we don’t want them to find out we’ve been looking for them specifically.”

“With all this vagueness, we’re never going to get anything done,” Gavin exhaled in frustration. “If we just approached this mission like any other manhunt, we’d already have the bandits in chains.”

“If you approached them your way, you would be dead,” Crow shot him a glare. “If even the slightest wind gets back to Jaxon that we’ve found his trail, he’ll turn right back around and hunt us down first. This vagueness is for our own safety.”

“Or this is all a complete waste of time,” Gavin shook his head. “We should head back to our camp and report back to the barons. They’re expecting us anyway.”

“Or we could cut past Wheldrake and see where this lead takes us,” Crow suggested. “The village isn’t that far out of the way from the route back to your camp. It won’t take us more than an extra day and a half at the most, and that’s only if we stay long.”

“No,” Gavin said with an edge of irritation in his low voice. “We’ve lost enough time already taking your advice. We’re not going to follow another flimsy lead when the real thieves could be getting away.”

“A flimsy lead is better than no lead at all,” Crow pointed out.

“I don’t care,” Gavin narrowed his eyes warningly. “I’m done chasing shadows.”

“It was a week and a half ago that the group was even seen…” Olivia spoke up suddenly from where she leaned in the doorframe. She gave a one-shouldered shrug when the two men turned towards her in surprise. “What?” she frowned defensively. “We’ve been at this for four days including our trip to Whitebridge. I want to take a break.”

Gavin blinked, seeming shocked that Olivia had sided with him for once, before turning back to Crow with a pleased expression. “Seems like we’re going back to camp.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope pursed her lips at Crow's response. As she had guessed, the information wasn't as helpful as she had hoped it would be. However, she didn't believe it was completely useless either. Glancing over at Gavin, she let out a quiet sigh as he argued that they should return to camp rather than waste the extra time passing through Wheldrake. While part of her did agree, she also didn't want to leave any loose ends. If they had traveled through Wheldrake, she wanted to know as well.

What caught the knight off guard was when Olivia voiced her opinion and sided with Gavin. Penelope blinked and looked over at her friend before shifting her gaze back to Gavin. The female knight still felt rather unsure about the decision to return back to camp but with even Olivia agreeing with him, she supposed it would make more sense for them to head back rather than chase after a lead that could easily be another dead end.

"Yeah, ok we'll go back." Penelope agreed with a reluctant nod. She met Gavin's gaze stubbornly. "But we're not going to completely dismiss this either. When we get back to camp we should see if any of the other patrols have heard or seen anything. If we're lucky maybe something will help point us in the right direction."

"That's fine with me." Gavin agreed.

"But-" Penelope added sharply. "if there is still nothing to go by and no solid plans that will capture these thieves, then we're going to travel to have to travel to Wheldrake."

"Another trip?" Olivia groaned.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Yes. Crow is right. A flimsy lead is better than nothing so if there's nothing to help us at our camp then we're going after this flimsy lead. It'll certainly be better than just aimlessly searching through the forest." she said then flickered her gaze over to Gavin.

"Fair enough." the male knight said with a firm nod. He seemed confident in his decision to return to camp so she doubted that he took her words very seriously. However, he seemed to forget just how easily their comrades were able to lose track of Crow and his band of thieves. She didn't doubt that they'd end up having to travel again and wished they would just agree to taking the extra time to cut through Wheldrake instead of having to take another trip.

She gave a small nod to him and then turned to look at Crow with a half-hearted smile. "It's not the best compromise but hopefully it'll work." she mumbled to him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow let out his breath in a defeated sigh when all of the knights came to the unanimous decision to go back to their camp. In his opinion, it made more sense to keep following whatever leads they got until they reached a true dead end. However, between Gavin’s urge to report to his barons and Olivia’s exhaustion from the entirety of their travels, he doubted they were going to listen to reason. It seemed like they were going to be giving up on the tip they had found after all.

He uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning against the wooden support beam as the others continued to discuss their next step. He was just beginning to wonder if it would be worth it to risk exploring Wheldrake alone, when Penelope brought up the idea to take a trip there if they didn’t hear anything more from the other knights. He eyed her curiously with a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. It seemed like she wasn’t quite as eager as her comrades to give up so soon.

When she turned to him, he shrugged and wrapped one arm around her waist. “It’s better than nothing,” he murmured in return, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks.”

“Are you all staying another night?” Zenith spoke up, climbing somewhat awkwardly to her feet from where she had been sitting with her daughters.

“Seems that way,” Crow turned to her with a sheepish smile. “We haven’t overstayed our welcome, have we?”

“Far from it,” Zenith chuckled. “I enjoy the company. I was only asking because I was wondering how many mouths I’ll have to feed for supper tonight.”

Crow shifted his weight, “You don’t have to do that. We’ve got our own food.”

“Nonsense,” she waved a dismissive hand. “I’d like to return the favor for everything you’ve given to us. Besides, Silas will be home soon, so I was going to get started on the cooking anyway.”

Crow hesitated for a moment longer before giving a nod. “Thank you for your hospitality,” he dipped his head to her courteously. He knew there was no point in trying to argue with her on the matter. The people of Aramoor were known for taking care of travelers. They considered it to be a point of pride to be a good host. It would have been more dishonoring to her if he had turned down the offer.

“You four just relax, and I’ll let you know when supper is ready,” Zenith smiled before turning to head into the small kitchen area.

“Alright,” Crow nodded once more and then turned to Penelope with a grin, “Looks like I finally get some time with you today, after all.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled as he kissed her cheek. She was glad that he seemed to accept her plan as well. Since it was unlikely that she'd be able to convince the other two knights to travel through Wheldrake now she had been a bit worried that the thief wouldn't be able to agree to going with them later, especially since it would mean that he'd have to take more time away from the other thieves. While she normally wouldn't mind traveling without him, she didn't want to break her promise to him about searching for the thieves with him.

She looked over at Zenith as she spoke up and shifted a bit as the woman offered to cook for them as well. The knight felt a bit bad about taking some of their food, especially when the group had food of their own to prepare, but as Crow reluctantly agreed, she guessed there was no sense in declining. She gave the woman and appreciative nod before her gaze flickered back over to Crow.

"Good." she chuckled and leaned up to press a kiss to his lip. Pulling back, she glanced towards the other knights. Gavin seemed a bit uncomfortable with accepting the food and walked into the kitchen to offer Zenith some help in preparing it. Olivia, likely tired, moved off to lay down on one of the blankets. Penelope smiled and looked up at him. "You know, they were a lot easier to work with today without you around. Although it was a bit lonely so I think I prefer the chaos."

Penelope was about to lean up to kiss him again but felt two pairs of eyes watching them from across the room. She blinked and turned her head to see the two girls looking over at them and giggling. Feeling much more bashful with two pairs of innocent eyes on them, she blushed and took a small step back from him instead. "Didn't realize we had an audience." she laughed softly.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow smiled against Penelope’s lips as she leaned up to kiss him. When they parted, he glanced at the other knights as they moved off to do other things and left him alone with her. He was glad that they had some time to themselves after spending most of the day apart. After they’d had the last two days to spend every moment with each other, he felt a bit spoiled and found that he longed to have her by his side when she was gone. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before they got back to the knights’ camp, and they would have to say goodbye for at least a day or two, if not longer, depending on when he could manage to get away from the other thieves again.

As Penelope went on to tell him about how her day with her comrades had gone better, he nodded. “I was hoping that would happen,” he said with a smirk and then lowered his voice. “The only reason I agreed to stay behind was so that ex suitor of yours would realize I’m not meddling in your search. Hopefully he’ll be a little more agreeable now.”

He noticed her eyes drift down to his mouth, so he began to lean in to meet her in another kiss. However, he before their lips met, he noticed her waver and look off to the side. Curious to see what had caught her attention, he followed her gaze to see Alice and Letha watching them from behind the dining table. He rolled his eyes and muttered, “They’re just as nosy as their mother.”

Shooting the two girls a warning look, he tipped his head slightly in a gesture for them to leave, “Go on, get out of here.”

To his annoyance, his response to their presence only seemed to encourage them more. “Thief’s got a wife!” Letha giggled, inching slightly closer.

Crow felt warmth creep into his cheeks at the child’s words. His eyes flicked toward Penelope for a brief moment before he shook his head, “We’re not married.”

“Oh yeah?” Alice snickered. “Then why were you kissing her?”

The thief groaned inwardly. It had been hard enough for him to explain his situation with Penelope to their mother. He couldn’t even imagine what he would say to make them understand. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” he said, hoping to brush off the subject. “You’ll get it when you’re older.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t give up so easily. Letha stepped closer, looking between them for a moment before her gaze landed on Crow. “She’s pretty,” the girl said innocently. “You should marry her.” Her eyes wandered to Penelope again. “Then you can have kids that can play with us, just like my mother!”

“Okay, I think that’s enough out of you,” Crow cut in quickly, resting a hand on her head. The blush on his cheeks had deepened considerably. He spun the girl around and gave her a gentle push back towards Alice. “Go on and play with your sister.”

To his relief, Letha complied this time and ran off to chase Alice around the parlor. He silently thanked the gods for the girls’ short attention spans and turned back to Penelope again. “We should find somewhere to sit on the other side of the house,” he said softly in an attempt to recover from the discomfort of what had just happened. Reaching to take her hand, he laced his fingers with hers and gave her a tug as he headed over to a blanket that was farther from the parlor.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope felt her cheeks grow warmer at Letha's comment and glanced over at Crow as he tried to dismiss the topic. However, it wasn't enough to make the children drop the topic. As Letha inched closer and eyed them, the knight blinked as the young girl complimented her then proceed to suggest not only marriage but children as well. Feeling a wave of discomfort and bashfulness about the topic, she averted her gaze.

Luckily Crow was able to put an end to their pestering on that subject. As he turned back to her, the knight snuck a quick glance up at him as he suggested they sit. She noticed the blush on his face rather easily and smiled softly. Though she was no better, she found his expression rather endearing. It wasn't often that the thief got so flustered and knowing it was because of the topic of their future made her heart flutter rather happily. It was still far off, as she doubted the war would be ending anytime soon, but the reminders of what would come after left the knight with a pang of longing for the future.

She followed him over to the blanket on the other side and sat down besides him. "Well, at least we have someone that approves of us getting married." she joked quietly. She blinked, realizing her own words and shifted her gaze away. "I-I mean.. Uh if and when.." Though they had never explicitly talked about it, she knew marriage lied in their future but saying it outloud did leave the knight a little embarrassed.

Deciding there was no easy way to recover from her words, she let out a sigh of defeat and leaned her head against Crow's shoulder. "You know what I mean..Anyways, how was your day? Being stuck here and all?" she asked, in a poor attempt to switch the subject.

[Rogue Sloth]

As he sat down next to Penelope on the other side of the room, Crow groaned inwardly. He wasn’t sure if he had ever felt so flustered in his life. Ever since they had arrived at Silas’s house it had been one thing after another, from their discussion of household roles, to Zenith’s prodding about his relationship to the knight, and finally to Letha’s comments about them as well. He liked his friends from Aramoor and appreciated their hospitality, but he couldn’t wait to get back on the road again and leave behind all of the reminders of the things he didn’t want to focus on yet. While he was excited for their future together, it was still quite far away. He preferred to think about the aspects of his life that he had some control over and could do something about. A life with Penelope after the war was not yet one of those aspects.

“Well, at least we have someone that approves of us getting married.”

Crow glanced up at Penelope with wide eyes, surprised to hear her comment about marriage so flippantly. He was just beginning to wonder if the thought of it didn’t make her as uncomfortable as it did him, when her expression changed and she began to stammer in a weak attempt to recover from the remark. Somehow, the sight brought a faint smile to his lips and he felt himself relaxing in spite of the current topic of conversation. Perhaps they were being ridiculous to keep getting so worked up over the future. They had already talked about it, and it was something they knew they both wanted. Instead of shying away from it like it was something forbidden, he pondered if they should stop fighting it and lean in instead.

So, when Penelope tried to change the subject, he moved in suddenly to meet her in a deep kiss. Closing his eyes, he reached up to trace one hand along the edge of her jaw, no longer caring who saw them. All he cared about in that moment was showing the knight his affection for her. He sank into her soft lips a little more.

After a bit, he pulled back again and met her gaze with a grin. “When we marry,” he emphasized the word despite the pounding of his heart. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I love you, Penelope, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you no matter what anyone—noble or peasant—has to say about it.” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pressed another kiss to her cheek before shifting slightly to rest his head on top of hers.

“Now, to answer your question, my day was actually nice,” he said, gently rubbing his hand down and up her arm as he held her close to his side. “I spent most of it napping and helping Zenith with those blankets she was knitting. That chain Gavin used to tie me up was pretty shoddy work.” He chuckled softly and then glanced down at her with a mischievous smirk. “Also, I suppose I can bother to tell you that I did send those two kids after you when you left. With Gavin acting so hostilely towards me all the time, I didn’t want to risk him keeping out of the loop when you all got back.” He shrugged and casted her a sly wink. “I’m sure I can trust you to keep that our little secret though.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blinked in surprise as Crow leaned in and kissed her instead of letting her switch the subject. Getting over the initial surprise, she closed her eyes and kissed him back. She leaned more into the kiss and moved to rest one hand against his cheek. As he pulled back, the knight blushed and smiled at his words. "I love you too and I know.. The same goes for me too, you know." she assured him.

She knew the opinions of others about their relationship wouldn't be able to sway either of their feelings nor their intent to be together but it was still nice to hear him say it. Along with that, him reaffirming they would getting married one day made her heart race slightly. The knight didn't want to get too wrapped up in a future that was still far away but since they had been talking about it more as of recent, she was beginning to get a clearer picture of what their lives would look like after the war. It warmed the knight to know they were on the same page.

She smiled and leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Though she looked forward to the future, she was glad that he finally switched the subject. Penelope gave a small laugh at his words and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Of course." she mused. "I figured his hunch had been right... He didn't even notice they were following us until the end of the day when Olivia decided to tease him about it." She decided not to directly mention she also hadn't noticed the two children following them, mainly because it didn't seem necessary.

"I'm just hoping he'll at least stop accusing you so much once we have more of a solid lead on the other thieves." she sighed softly. "A simple grudging tolerance is all I ask for."

[Rogue Sloth]

“Really?” Crow mused with a soft laugh when Penelope told him that Gavin hadn’t noticed the girls following them. “That’s funny. I wouldn’t have guessed Olivia would be the one to see them. She’s more observant than I thought.” Of course, he didn’t believe Alice and Letha would have done the best job at hiding from the knights—they were just children, after all—but he was surprised that Gavin hadn’t seen them before Olivia. As annoying as he was, the man struck him as at least somewhat observant of his surroundings.

Then again, he’s kind of gullible, he thought with a smirk. During the course of their travels together, it had been rather easy for him to fool and manipulate the knight. Perhaps he had overestimated his alertness to some extent.

As Penelope went on to say that she hoped her former suitor would stop accusing him so much, he nodded in agreement. “Honestly, that’s the most I would ever expect out of him,” he grunted with a subtle shake of his head. “I don’t know if it’s just because he’s jealous that we’re together or because of his prejudice against criminals, but he can’t seem to accept the idea that I’m on the same side as the rest of you.” His eyes wandered to the knight, who was working on their supper with Zenith. “If he could only get it through his thick skull that not every word out of my mouth is a lie, then this mission would go much more smoothly.”

Crow sighed and closed his eyes, leaning into Penelope a little more as he relaxed. Still feeling tired from sitting around all day, he was nearly tempted to fall asleep at her side again. However, knowing that they would soon be parting ways again, he wanted to savor every remaining moment with her until they got back to the knights’ camp. So, fighting off his exhaustion, he stretched his legs and opened his eyes again to glance down at her, “What do you think your barons are going to say when you return with no real news of the thieves who raided your camp?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head in agreement as he mentioned how much smoother the mission would go if Gavin trusted just a little. His suspicion of Crow certainly got in the way of focusing on the tracking down the real thieves. It was difficult to say if it was because of his views on thieves or because of jealousy. In her opinion, it was a bit of both. Knowing Gavin, he was rather strict when it came to rules. He understood reasonings to break them on occasion but those who lived constantly outside of the law likely didn't sit well with the male knight.

Feeling Crow lean into her, she wrapped an arm around him. The knight hazily recalled him falling asleep on her the night before and wanted to be prepared if he did again. However, it appeared he wasn't going to let himself fall asleep as easily as before as he stretched and spoke up again. Penelope looked up at him and gave an uncertain gaze. "I'm honestly not sure.." she sighed.

"I imagine they won't be too thrilled.. My uncle will likely deem the trip as a waste of time. But I doubt they've had much success tracking them either since they're all looking for you and your companions." The knight frowned slightly and shook her head. Dealing with the barons when she returned would be tricky. She couldn't claim her mission was a complete failure, otherwise it would be difficult to request to leave on another trip for Wheldrake, which she already suspected they would have to do. However, she also wanted to make sure they didn't encourage the barons too much about the small lead they had as she worried they'd send out more than just her patrol.

"I'll just have to be careful with what I tell them." she told him with a shrug. "I have a lead. Regardless of how solid it is, it should be enough for my baroness to at least consider letting me pursue it."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded thoughtfully as Penelope explained that she wasn’t sure how her barons were going to react to the less than encouraging news. At her mention of the other patrols searching for him and his thieves, he frowned slightly, wondering how the other four had been faring without him. Fortunately, he’d had enough notice to warn them of the knights’ efforts to track them down, so as long as them didn’t pull any risky stunts, they would probably be alright. Besides, he doubted the knights would be able to find them. Their hideout behind the waterfall was well-hidden. Even he had never known about it before the others had pointed it out to him, and he’d been living in the outer villages his whole life.

When Penelope finished speaking, he paused for a moment before replying. “I hope she will,” he said after taking some time to think. “I might not have an easy time getting away from the other thieves though. I got lucky with this trip, since they believe I’m in Wheldrake, but I haven’t come up with a good excuse to leave again, especially since we usually stick together when patrols are out looking for us.” He shifted his weight slightly. “No matter what I say, it’s probably going to sound at least somewhat suspicious to them. I just hope it won’t be suspicious enough for them to start asking questions.”

Crow drew Penelope a little closer to his side. He didn’t want his companions to get involved in the mission. If he could have kept her out of it too, he would have. It was already stressful enough thinking about something happening to Penelope. He didn’t want to have to worry about the other thieves’ safety on top of that. Plus, he knew they would be reckless if they found out Jaxon had been behind the raid. At least the knights could be level-headed about the mission. Simon, Alistair, and Rikki would never be so calm against the man they all loathed so much.

He let out a sigh and murmured quietly, “No matter what happens at either of our camps, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up at Crow as he replied. It seemed returning back to both of their camps would be rocky. She didn't question Crow's decision to leave the other thieves out of it. While perhaps it might have been better to have the additional numbers and knowledge of dealing with Jaxon, she doubted the thieves and knights would mix very well. Gavin was already paranoid enough with Crow alone and she personally didn't want to be around Rikki after knowing how she had tried to manipulate Crow. The female knight was more than willing to leave the other thieves out of the mix and found herself hoping that Crow would be able to trick them like before.

"Hopefully." she mused with a small nod. Penelope looked up at him and gave a small, reassuring smile. "We've still got the trip back to think more on it. I'm sure by the time we actually reach our camps, we'll be ready to deal with whatever happens." Resting her head against him for moment, the knight gave her words a bit of thought.

Returning to her camp wouldn't just mean dealing with figuring out how to deal with hunting the thieves that raided their camp. There was still the threat of Younis and another battle. The knight shifted uncomfortably at the thought. If the Younisian forces picked up on their current state of weakness, it likely wouldn't be long before they'd strike. Hopefully we'll have caught the thieves by then... She thought before flickering her gaze over to Gavin as he entered the room.

"Dinner's ready." he announced to them with a small nod towards where Zenith was setting up the table. He let out a quiet sigh before moving to wake up Olivia from where she was resting.

Penelope climbed up to her feet and stretched out her back before turning to offer her hand to Crow. The smell of the freshly cooked food became more noticeable to her and she felt her stomach let out a quiet growl. She flushed faintly and looked over at him with a small smile. "Well, I guess it's better if we think about it more after we've got full stomachs." she said with a soft laugh.

[Rogue Sloth]

“That’s true,” Crow said in agreement when Penelope mentioned that they still had the rest of the trip to think of ways to get out of their camps for the second trip. With so much time left, he was sure he would be able to come up with a story to sate the other thieves’ curiosity. Lying was one of the things he did best. Granted, he would have to think of a way to trick a group of people who were also skilled liars, but he felt sure that he could do it. He was the most infamous thief amongst them for a reason, after all. His skills as a thief rivaled theirs at the very least, if not exceeded them. If he tried hard enough, he knew he could slip away from them without raising too many questions.

He shifted slightly to find a more comfortable position against Penelope’s side and then rested his head on top of hers when she leaned into his shoulder, closing his eyes calmly. Setting aside his thoughts about what to do when he got back to his camp—there was more than enough time to mull over that during their trip back—he decided to simply enjoy her company instead. He let out his breath in a quiet sigh, smiling faintly to himself, as a comfortable silence fell over them.

No matter how long he was with her, he continued to feel like the luckiest man alive to have earned her affections. In fact, he hadn’t ‘earned’ anything from her at all. She was just a selfless woman who was willing to give up everything to be with him, a man who could never return the favor. It made him want to shake his head in disbelief every time he thought about what she was doing for him. Suddenly feeling his heart swell with affection for the knight, he turned his head slightly to plant a soft kiss to her temple. He loved her so much, it hurt.

Unfortunately, their time relaxing was cut short when Gavin announced that dinner was ready. The thief lazily opened one eye and looked up at the knight just as he turned away with his usual air of discomfort to go and wake Olivia. In the next moment, he felt Penelope move against his side, so he leaned away from her to give her space to stand up. He yawned tiredly as he took her outstretched hand and stretched to shake off his weariness from laying around all day once he was on his feet.

At the sound of her growling stomach, Crow laughed. “This might be the first time you’re hungrier than I am,” he teased, poking her lightly in the stomach and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Of course, almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, his own stomach chose to let out a low rumble, and he reddened slightly. “Okay, never mind,” he said with a hapless shrug, resting a hand on his middle. “Apparently my stomach refuses to be outdone. Let’s get something to eat.”

He took her hand in his as he stepped over to the table, where Zenith had set up the dishes. Taking a plate for himself, the thief filled it up with a sizeable portion and then took a step back as he glanced over the room for a place to sit.

Zenith caught his wandering eyes and spoke up to get his attention, “You and your friends should sit at the table. My family and I will take the floor.”

Turning back to her, Crow shook his head. “You’re too generous for your own good, love,” he said with a smirk. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not going to make a pregnant woman eat her supper on the ground. You and your family have done more than enough for us already. You take the table.”

Zenith opened her mouth to protest, but before she had a chance, Silas walked up to join the conversation. “I think he’s right, dear,” he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “You need to take care of yourself.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head faintly in exasperation, but said nothing more on it now that she was outnumbered. “Alright, fine,” she met Crow’s gaze again with an upturned lip. “You win. I’ll let you sit on the floor just this once.”

“Thank you,” Crow grinned back at her and turned to Penelope. “Looks like we lucked out. Come on, we can sit on those blankets over in the corner.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope rolled her eyes playfully at him as he teased her. As his stomach rumbled almost immediately after, the knight gave a small laugh at his words. "Sounds like your stomach will continue to be undefeated then." she said with an amused smile. She nodded her head and laced her fingers with his as he took her hand. Following him, she headed over to where the food was prepared and grabbed a plate as well. The knight grabbed herself a small portion, still feeling a bit bad for taking the family's food rather than eating their own, and then turned back to Crow as she noticed him trying to figure out where to sit.

Her gaze flickered over to Zenith as she tried to offer them a seat at the table. The knight quickly shook her head as well and was glad that Zenith didn't argue further as both Crow and Silas insisted she sit at the table. Looking back to Crow, she smiled and nodded her head. Penelope walked over to the blankets with him and sat down. It wasn't long before Olivia walked over with her own plate and plopped down next to Penelope. Gavin moved to sit nearby, still maintaining a distance from them as he settled down for supper. Shifting a bit to get more comfortable, the knight leaned her back against the wall as she began to eat her food. A comfortable silence fell over the group for a moment as they began to eat.

"Soooo.." Olivia finally sighed glancing between Gavin and Penelope. Both of the other knights noticeably tensened as she spoke up, clearly preparing for whatever trouble she was going to make. It made Olivia smirk and let out a small laugh. "Oh calm down. I was just going to ask about what the plan is for when we get back to camp."

"We're just go to inform the barons about the trip.. Even if it wasn't successful." Gavin frowned slightly and glanced over to Penelope. "I can help you speak with them if you want... Mia might not be too bad but I'm guessing your uncle and Layth won't let you off easy."

Penelope shook her head. "It's fine. I'll figure out how to deal with them.. Besides, I don't plan to make the trip sound completely unsuccessful." she added, shifting a bit under Gavin's questioning gaze. She was hoping to leave him out of her plans for talking to the barons but knowing the male knight, it was probably best to make sure they were on at least similar pages. "We did technically get a lead to Wheldrake after all. If there's no new and useful information for us at camp, that's where will be heading but I need to make sure Mia will approve of it."

"So you're going to lie?" he sighed softly.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Sorta.. I think of it as just exaggerating a little more so than lying. I mean we do have a lead, it just needs to sound a little more solid if she's going to let us go to Wheldrake."

"I sure hope they've figured out something then." Olivia groaned. "These trips are boring."

"I'm sure they will have." Gavin said confidently and casted a quick glance at Crow. "The Wheldrake trip likely won't even be necessary."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow settled down next to Penelope with a sigh when they reached the spot in the corner of the room that he had indicated to her. Leaning back against the wall, he sat with his legs crossed and his plate resting on his lap. It wasn’t long before the other knights joined them, and he lowered his gaze slightly to avoid making eye contact with Gavin. Even though it seemed like he had fooled the knight for now, he didn’t want to say or do anything that would set him off and ruin all the hard work he had put into gaining at least some of his trust.

So, when the knights began discussing what their plan would be when they got back to their camp, he stayed quiet. There wasn’t much for him to say, anyway. Not being a knight nor a noble of any sort, he had no input on how they should approach their barons with the news of their trip to Aramoor. The way he would have handled it would have been through lying, but he knew Gavin would never approve of that, let alone humor it as an option. Instead, he sat back and ate his dinner in silence, listening to them discuss the problem on their own.

However, he did look up when he heard Penelope admit to her former suitor that she planned to exaggerate their lead to Wheldrake. Curious to see Gavin’s reaction to her plan, his eyes wandered to the knight so he could study his face. The man looked like he disapproved of her idea, but he seemed more resigned to it than usual. Crow bit his tongue to keep from smirking. After being dragged along in their deceptive schemes throughout the whole mission, it seemed that Gavin was finally coming to terms with their methods of doing things.

As the knight stated confidently that they probably wouldn’t need to go to Wheldrake, Crow shrugged. “Perhaps not,” he said, meeting Gavin’s gaze. He had caught the man’s subtle glance towards him, and decided it was worthwhile to speak up now. “Who knows? Maybe another patrol really did manage to find their trail.” He popped another bite of food into his mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed before adding. “But I wouldn’t put any money on it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gavin narrowed his eyes.

“Jaxon’s group is slippery,” the thief explained simply. “They’re good at covering their tracks, and they kill anyone whom they believe will sell out their location. There’s never a clear trail to follow, and with no living people to give away exactly where they are, I doubt any of the other knights in your camp would have caught even a trace of them.”

“Our comrades are not incompetent,” Gavin growled, clearly displeased with the thief’s response. “We’ve all caught criminals before. Besides, I’m certain you’ve learned from experience that it’s only a matter of time before you thieves make a mistake. When that happens, we’ll have the real culprits in chains.”

“I’ll admit, I did make a mistake once,” Crow rolled his eyes, ignoring the knight’s obvious undertone that he was the one behind the raid. “But that’s not something you can count on.” He set his now-empty plate aside and folded his arms over his chest, shooting the other man a cocky grin. “I’ve been stealing for almost twenty years, and in all that time, I’ve only been arrested once. Slip ups do happen, I won’t deny that, but any skilled thief—of which Jaxon is one—can recover from almost anything before it causes any real trouble. If you wait around for him to make a mistake or for your comrades to stumble upon his camp accidentally, you might as well kiss the rest of your supplies goodbye.”

“The thieves aren’t going to get anything else from us,” Gavin argued confidently. “Now that everyone is on high alert, they’ll be caught the moment they set foot in our camp.”

“Right,” Crow drawled. “Because alertness is enough to stop a group of merciless killers from getting what they want. Be sure to tell me how that goes the next time they bleed your camp dry.”

Gavin clenched his jaw, seething from the thief’s pessimistic words. However, he couldn’t seem to think of anything else to add, so instead, he averted his gaze, muttering, “It won’t happen again.”

Crow exhaled softly. He hoped the knight would at least consider what he had said. Even though he despised the knights in their battalion, he didn’t want to see them get trampled by Younis because of Jaxon’s raids. For the sake of Penelope’s safety, they needed to put a stop to the band of thieves before their attacks started to impact Brerra’s performance in the war.

Having finished his argument with Gavin for now, he turned to look at Penelope. “If you need an excuse to convince your barons to let you go to Wheldrake, you can always use me as a scapegoat,” he offered her a smile. “They think they’re looking for me anyway, so you could tell them that you saw me heading towards that village or something like that.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope glanced over at Crow as he spoke up and argued with Gavin. She certainly didn't share the male knight's confidence in their comrades being able to track down the thieves. For one, they were looking for the wrong thieves to begin with and the way they were approaching it was likely not subtle. The knight could already picture Layth's obvious patrol storming through the villages and forests in search of the criminals. If Jaxon was as slippery as Crow claimed, she doubted the other patrols would even be able to catch a small trace of him.

She hoped that Gavin would listen to Crow at least a small bit. In her opinion, Gavin was a good knight, even if he was letting himself get a bit blinded by his distrust of Crow, and having him working with them would be beneficial if they could just get him to listen. As the argument died, she let out a soft sigh and looked over at Crow as he turned to address her. She gave him a small smile in return.

"I might have to take you up on that offer." she admitted with an appreciative nod. As the conversation died down, Penelope welcomed the silence and finished up her meal alongside the others. Once they were done, the other two knights moved to fix their beds for the night, preparing to lay down as they had a long day of traveling ahead them. Penelope stretched out her limbs and turned to Crow, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

"Well, ready to lay down? It's going to be a long journey back." she asked as she looked up at him with a small smile. The day had been relatively easy, since most of it was just talking to the villagers in the small town, so she wasn't as tired as she usually was. However, knowing that Gavin would likely be waking them up early to get a headstart on their trip back to camp, she figured it would likely be best if they got as much rest as they could.