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

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow lowered his gaze to the ground as the silence dragged on between them. He couldn’t tell what was going on in Penelope’s mind as she hesitated to answer him. Perhaps she didn’t believe that he had kissed Rikki on accident and that he was just lying to save face. He winced at the thought. He also hated the fact that this wasn’t the first time his independent habits had landed him in trouble. It seemed like every time he tried to withhold information to handle a situation on his own, someone got hurt—Simon had even gotten killed. His heart wrenched as he the pain of his companion’s death resurfaced. Despite the other thieves’ reassurance, he knew it had been his selfishness that had caused the tragedy. As much as he wanted to believe he could manage things on his own, the pattern of destruction that followed his decisions to work alone were beginning to make him rethink his conviction to keep others out of his problems.

When Penelope finally spoke, he remained quiet, weighed down by his regrets. Everything she said was right. If the situation had been reversed and he had found out she had kissed Gavin from him instead of her, he would have been just as upset. It wasn’t difficult to see how he had broken her trust by keeping the incident a secret from her. Even though she believed that he hadn’t betrayed her intentionally, he still felt terrible for having hurt her with his unwillingness to confess to it on his own.

At her final question, he felt like she had punched him in the stomach. To hear the quiver in her voice—to know that she didn’t feel like she could trust him—was devastating to the thief. He could tell that he had really let her down this time. He had promised her that he wanted nothing but the best for her, yet he hadn’t done a very good job of following through with his word. The very fact that she felt the need to ask if he had kissed anyone else while they were together was proof enough of that.

“It was,” he said softly without looking up from the ground. “And I regret that it ever happened.” He shook his head. “You have to believe me: I would never do anything like that to hurt you. I know I don’t really have a great reputation when it comes to this sort of thing, and I know I probably don’t come off looking very trustworthy after this, but… I promise, I’m taking our relationship seriously.” Taking a steeling breath, he finally looked up to meet her gaze. “I love you, Penelope, and you’re the only one I want to be with. I messed up once, but it was a long time ago, and I’ve been careful to stay faithful to you ever since.”

His expression turned wistful as he searched her eyes. “You... you do believe me… right?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope felt herself let out the breath she had been holding in as Crow assured her that it was only the one time. As he met her gaze, her hurt and frustration died down slightly. Perhaps she was being quick to forgive and trust his words but she did believe him. She knew the thief loved her after all, it was just her worry that perhaps that she wouldn't be enough physically when compared to someone like Rikki that had driven her to questioning him further about his faithfulness to her. Now knowing it had been a one time thing and that it had been a mere accident on top of it, Penelope relaxed a little.

As he searched her gaze, she paused and rested her hand on his arm. "I believe you." she assured him in a quiet voice. The knight glanced ahead towards the others, hesitating for a small moment before she gave his arm a small tug to pull him to a stop with her. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his middle in an embrace, still finding comfort in his touch. The knight leaned her head head against his chest. "And I trust you.." she mumbled. "It's just...It's a bit confusing and frustrating when you keep hiding stuff.. And with Rikki, I know you said she had almost got to you before so.."

The knight shifted her gaze away from him and then shook her head, realizing she was beginning to ramble. "Point is, I forgive you." she assured softly and then stepped back from him so they could continue on with the others. Looking ahead, she let out a soft sigh and gave a half-hearted smile. "I have a sinking feeling this trip is going to be a difficult one, huh?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow felt a wave of relief when Penelope said that she believed him. After worrying that his slip up with Rikki had driven them apart, the words made him feel much better. However, even though things seemed to have been patched between them, he couldn’t shake the lingering shame he felt in the back of his mind. He needed to be more honest with her, even when it was painful. He shuddered to think what might happen if he betrayed her trust again.

As she gave his arm a tug, he blinked and turned to her again in confusion, wondering why she had indicated for them to stop walking. He didn’t have time to ponder over it for long before he felt her wrap her arms around him in an embrace. After a brief moment of hesitation, he mirrored the gesture and slipped his arms around the small of her back, holding her close as she leaned her head against his chest. It warmed him to hear that he hadn’t lost her trust, but her following words made him frown. He was slightly surprised to hear her bring up the more recent incident with Rikki and began to realize that he might have hurt her more than he had thought when he had confessed that the thief’s advances had tempted him.

He glanced down at her, hoping that she didn’t think his moment of weakness had anything to do with her, but also knowing her too well to discount the possibility that she had taken it personally. When she pulled back from him to say that she had forgiven him, he met her gaze and smiling halfheartedly. Even though he had let her down so many times, she was still merciful to him. I don’t deserve her, he thought with a faint shake of his head.

“I have a sinking feeling this trip is going to be a difficult one, huh?”

Crow nodded, shifting his weight uncomfortably. You have no idea, he thought silently, once again reminded of his assignment from Jaxon. He felt another burst of guilt and forced himself to push the thought aside. Despite how terrible it felt to keep yet another secret from her, he couldn’t let himself dwell on it. After all, she was the reason why he was working for the other thief in the first place. He studied her wordlessly for a moment before reaching out to catch her by the wrist before she could turn to keep walking. While there was nothing he could do about Jaxon, he still wanted to reassure her about the things that were within his control.

“Wait,” he said, averting his gaze for a moment before looking up at her again. “I know I’ve kept a lot from you—more than I ever should have. I’ve spent most of my life working and living alone, so I’ve still got quite a few old habits to break and relying on myself is one of them. However, I want you to know that I’m going to do better.” He held her gaze with a determined expression. “I meant it before when I said we’re a team, so I’m going to start acting like it.”

He wavered, his resolution fading slightly as he went on, “As for what happened with Rikki, I’m sorry if I hurt you. I swear, it had nothing to do with you.” He took on a more contemplative look. “It’s sort of hard to explain to a woman, but I was… detached, I suppose you could say. In the moment, I wasn’t thinking about whether or not you’re enough for me. It was just a physical drive, sort of like if you don’t eat for a few days and someone puts a plate of your favorite food in front of you. It doesn’t matter who put it there or where it came from. You just want to fill your stomach.” He shrugged sheepishly.

“It was wrong of me to even consider her offer, but I wasn’t thinking about it in terms of preferring her over you. If I had been, I would have said no without a second thought,” he smiled at her softly. “Stupid primal urges aside, I don’t want to be with anyone else. You’re the only woman I need, and you’re more than enough for me.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. “Don’t ever forget that, okay?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blinked as she felt him grab her wrist before she was able to continue walk. The knight looked over at him as he spoke up again. She smiled faintly at the determination in his expression and was glad that he intended to work with her more. It came as a bit of a relief, hoping that it meant she wouldn't remain in dark about issues as well as that she wouldn't have to pry to find them out.

As he went on, the knight averted her gaze with a hint of embarrassment as he seemed to have picked up on her lingering insecurity over the situation with Rikki. She didn't think of it as him hurting her, after all he had told her about what had happened and had refused the female thief anyways, it was just something that silently bothered the knight and more so caused by her own lack of confidence in herself. Penelope looked over at him as he tried to explain himself to her. Granted she didn't completely understand what he meant, she did feel like a small weight had been lift off of her shoulders as he assured her that she was enough for him.

She leaned in to meet his lips as he kissed her and gave a small smile as she looked up at him. "Alright." she said with a nod. Penelope reached to take his hand in hers and gave a soft chuckle. "You know just the right things to say." she said with a hint of amusement as she turned to continue walking again. She shifted closer to the thief, feeling better after both forgiving him and being reassured by him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow relaxed when Penelope seemed to have been reassured by what he had said to her. He was glad that his efforts had paid off. When she reached to take his hand, he gladly intertwined his fingers with hers, following her lead as she began walking to catch up with the others again. Absently, he thought about how relieved he was that they had been able to resolve the dispute so quickly. Looking back on it, their fights always seemed to end peacefully as long as whoever had been feeling put off—usually Penelope, he noticed, since he was still figuring out how to behave properly in a relationship and still often offended her—addressed the issue. He was happy that they were able to communicate so well.

As she said that he always knew the right things to say, he laughed softly. “So I’ve been told,” he mused, thinking about the many other people whom had said the same thing. Whether it was good or bad, he had learned that he had a knack for reading people and fine tuning his words to get what he wanted from them. It was why Hazel had been so wary to trust him and often called him a “silver tongued snake.” He was proud of his talent, but he also felt a little guilty since he often used his ability to manipulate others. He glanced down at Penelope. This case was different though, because he had only been trying to get her to understand the nature of his feelings towards both her and Rikki.

“I’m glad it helped,” he said, giving her hand a fond squeeze.

When they caught back up with the others, Crow was quick to locate Rikki amongst the group. He spotted her lingering a small distance away from the rest, eyeing him and Penelope as if she was toying with the idea of approaching them again. However, he shot her a warning look, and she turned away again, seeming to get the message.

Feeling satisfied that the rest of their walk to Wheldrake would go more smoothly now, he let out a sigh of relief and casted a glance up at the sky. The sun was already beginning its long descent, and they were only about halfway to the village. He bit his tongue to keep from smiling. At this rate, they wouldn’t arrive until well after nightfall, which meant it would be easy to convince the knights to hold off on their interrogation until the morning. Now, if he could just figure out a way to slip away from the group during the night, he could set his plan into motion.

[BuzzingBee]

The rest of the trip was relatively peaceful. After being reassured by Crow, Penelope felt a bit better and was a little more prepared to face Rikki's attempts to get between them. Luckily it seemed the female thief was done with her attempts for the time being though and kept a bit of distance from them now, which the knight was grateful for. She didn't particularly want to face Rikki again after losing her cool for that brief moment. Penelope didn't regret the insult but she was still a little embarrassed about getting so worked up.

The only thing that troubled the knight was that it seemed Gavin had picked up on the dispute between the three. As they traveled, she caught him occasionally glancing over his shoulder at them. Penelope worried about how much the male knight had overheard. He already didn't trust Crow and she was rather sure that him thinking the thief was involved with Rikki as well wouldn't help. However, he made no effort to get between them or speak with her about it for the time being so she could only hope that meant the knight was still in the dark.

By the time they arrived to Wheldrake, it was well into the night. She glanced up at the dark sky before looking ahead towards Gavin as he slowed to a stop. He eyed the town for a moment before turning back to the group. His gaze flickered over the thieves distrustfully before looking over at Penelope.

"I was thinking we should split up before we get to the tavern." he suggested, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're a bigger group now so it might be better to break off before the villagers get suspicious of us instead."

"Not a bad idea." Penelope mused with a small nod before looking up at Crow. "You said we need to keep a low profile so he doesn't figure out we're looking for him right?"

[Rogue Sloth]

For Crow, the rest of the trip to Wheldrake was spent in silence as he worked on trying to come up with a way to convince Gavin to leave the interrogation for the next morning. It wouldn’t be difficult to persuade the rest of the group, since Olivia and Alistair were more interested in each other than the mission, Rikki would be quick to side with him on any decisions he made, and Penelope still trusted that he knew what he was doing. He just hoped that having the majority on his side would also be enough to make Gavin back down, since there wasn’t much else he could say to sway the stubborn knight. It wasn’t much, but it was the best chance he had to buy himself enough time to fulfill his deal with Jaxon. He had to try.

When they finally arrived in the village, Gavin promptly began to make plans for how they would conduct the interrogation this time, saying that he wanted them to split up. Crow stood aside with his arms folded loosely over his chest, listening to the exchange with a patient expression. He just had to bide his time until the knight stopped running his mouth, so he could make his suggestion to postpone the whole thing. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for very long.

As Penelope turned to ask his opinion of Gavin’s idea, he nodded. “It is a good idea,” he admitted, indiscreetly glancing up at the black sky before meeting her gaze with a frown. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to matter tonight.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gavin growled.

“Well,” Crow sighed. “It’s so late now that anyone who’s even still in the tavern here will be too drunk to trust. We missed our window, so we might as well start our questioning tomorrow, when there will be more reliable voices to listen to.”

“So, you just want us to waste more time?” Gavin shook his head. “No way. I want to get this mission over with as soon as possible. We’re going to conduct the interrogation tonight and leave in the morning.”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t think we’ll find anything either way,” Crow rolled his eyes. “If we only question the village drunks, sure, we won’t hear anything useful. However, if we wait to ask around in the morning, there might be something worth waiting for.” He glanced at the others. “Let’s get some other opinions. What do you all think?”

As expected, a cascade of approval followed his question as Rikki, Alistair, and Olivia pitched their agreement with his plan to hold off on the interrogation. Lastly, Crow turned to Penelope with a smile, “What say you, darling?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope followed Crow's glance up to the sky and let out a small sigh as he made his point against speaking to the villagers at night. Despite Gavin's desire to conduct the questioning and get the mission over with, she couldn't help but agree with the thief. It wouldn't make sense to interrogate villagers that weren't even sober enough to trust. As Crow turned to her, she gave a small smile in return and nodded her head.

"We should wait for tomorrow." she said and then shifted her gaze back over to Gavin, who frowned at her response. She let out a small sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Last time we got our lead to go here because we went back out in the morning to speak with the villagers. Crow's probably right in assuming we should do the same thing here." she pointed out to the male knight.

"Plus we've been walking all day." Olivia groaned and let out a small yawn. "Don't you ever get tired?"

Gavin rolled his eyes at the other knight before giving a frustrated look. "Alright fine we'll stop for the night.. but we're going first thing in the morning. The less time we waste, the better."

"Of course." Penelope mused with a small roll of her eyes that the male knight didn't catch. It seemed Gavin was determined to rush them through Wheldrake as much as he could. She guessed that he still had little faith in the lead they had. The knight could only hope that his dismissal of it wouldn't get in the way of their search. It was the only lead that they had after all and Penelope remained hopeful that they were getting closer to Jaxon.

"Let's find a place to rest for the night." Gavin announced as he turned his focus on their new plan to wait until the morning.

[Rogue Sloth]

With the situation turning to his favor, Crow had to bite the inside of his lip to stifle the victorious smile that threatened to take over his lips. Even though he still felt guilty for operating against his companions, he couldn’t help the swell of pride that came with successfully putting his plan into motion. As long as everything else went just as smoothly that night, he would be well on his way to hindering their mission and keeping Penelope safe from harm.

“Unfortunately, Wheldrake doesn’t have an inn,” Crow said, feigning a thoughtful expression as he gave his input on where they could spend the night. “We also haven’t visited this village quite as much as some of the others, so I don’t know of anyone we could spend the night with. How about you two?” He turned to the other thieves expectantly, although he already knew they wouldn’t have any better suggestions. The only time any of them ever came to this village was when they needed to sell or trade goods in the local marketplace.

“I can’t think of anywhere to stay,” Rikki said.

“Me either,” Alistair shook his head and gave a sheepish grin. “At least, I can’t think of anyone who likes me enough to let me stay the night at their house here.”

“That’s fine,” Gavin spoke up again quickly, as if he wanted to make the decision before the thieves tried to come up with another idea he wouldn’t be fond of. “We can just camp at the town edge. I’m sure no one has a problem with that?” His eyes swept over them tensely, seeming like he was preparing himself for opposition.

“No complaints here,” Crow shrugged. He uncrossed his arms to reach for Penelope’s hand again, shooting Gavin a wry smirk. “Lead the way, captain.”

The knight rolled his eyes at the thief’s sobriquet but said nothing as he turned to head the group back into the surrounding forest. It wasn’t long before they found a clearing on the outskirts of Wheldrake, where Gavin announced that they would be setting up camp. Crow dropped his bag on the ground and yawned tiredly as he took some time to look over the area.

Off to one side, he spotted Alistair and Olivia grinning and speaking in hushed voices before they slipped off into the woods. Crow snorted and leaned closer to Penelope, gesturing discreetly towards the couple as they escaped together, “They certainly didn’t waste any time, huh?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope followed besides Crow as Gavin lead them to the clearing at the town's edge. As they stopped for the night, she followed Crow's lead and dropped her bag onto the ground. She stretched out her arms and subtly glanced towards Gavin, finding herself a bit eager for the male knight to begin preparing supper. Since they had taken only one break and had it rather early, the knight was a bit hungry after the long day.

Her attention quickly shifted over to Crow as he leaned over and commented on Olivia and Alistair. She followed his gesture over to the couple as they hurried off together into the forest. "Not at all." she agreed with a small chuckle. "Not that I'm surprised. Actually, knowing Olivia, I'm surprised they managed to actually wait until we stopped for the night." Penelope shook her head.

She was about to move to sit down in a grassy spot nearby but paused as her gaze fell on Gavin as he put together a small fire. Penelope shifted a bit, feeling a bit bad to leave him alone with the duties of preparing the dinner. Plus she still intended to try and learn a bit from the male knight before the end of the war came. Now was likely a good a time to start as any. She let out a small sigh and then turned back to Crow, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm going to go help Gavin with dinner." she told him. Meeting his gaze, she gave him a soft smile.

"I'd feel a bit guilty leaving him to cook alone. And I've got to start learning at some point." she lowered her voice slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "I know you said I don't have to," she shifted her gaze away a bit embarrassedly as she brought up their prior conversation. "but if we're going to tackle it together, I should at least be a little prepared too." Penelope didn't want either of them to be forced to deal with chores alone. Crow said they were a team and the knight believed that as well as wanted to live up to it.

"Plus there's no telling if he'd make enough for everyone." she added the last part as she casted a subtle glance towards Rikki, who was taking the time to set up her bed for the night. The knights had brought extra supplies, per her request, but Penelope guessed he would be reluctant to share with the thieves, especially since there was more than just one now.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded when Penelope said she was surprised Olivia and Alistair had even waited until they had stopped for the night to wander off together. He supposed he couldn’t blame them though. From what he knew, the two didn’t even meet up as often as he and Penelope did. They were probably ecstatic to have a few days together without parting.

I have a feeling we won’t be seeing much of them during the upcoming nights, he thought with a faint smirk as he followed Penelope over to a grassy spot. However, just as he was about to sit down, he turned to her in mild surprise when she kissed him on the cheek and announced that she wanted to help Gavin with the preparations for supper. He glanced at the other knight with a frown, disliking the idea of leaving her alone with him, but also understanding her desire to do her part to learn a new skill.

After a moment, he turned back to her and smiled softly, “Alright. If it means that much to you, then go ahead.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. Even though he wasn’t fond of the idea of her spending time with her former suitor, he trusted her not to let anything happen between them. Plus, he had another reason why her involvement in the cooking would be a good thing.

Taking a step back from her, Crow glanced out at the trees. “While you do that, I’m going to look for a place to refill my flask.” He glanced back at her with a sheepish shrug. “I finished most of my water on the way here, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find a well nearby to fill it back up.” He touched one more kiss to her lips and then crouched down to retrieve an empty flask from his bag. “I’ll be back soon. I can’t wait to try your cooking, love.” He casted her a wink and then turned to head into the surrounding woods.

He walked for a while until he felt confident that he was out of sight of the camp before he peered back over his shoulder and slowed to a stop. Casting a quick look around to make sure he was alone, he began pacing slowly around another small clearing, keeping his gaze fixed on the foliage at his feet. Come on, he thought intently, chewing on the inside of his lip. I know Hazel said it grows around here… It has to be here somewhere—There! He knelt beside a small plant that was growing near the center of the clearing. It was short with twig-like stalks that were topped with clusters of white flowers: Valerian.

Another pang of guilt struck him as he began to carefully dig the plant up by its roots. He didn’t want to drug the knights, but with Gavin intent on leaving to start the interrogation so early, he didn’t have any other choice. If he slipped enough of the valerian root into their supper, they would sleep through the morning and give his plan enough time to pay off. All he had to do now was disrupt their guard shifts during the night, and he already had an idea about how he would do that, assuming Gavin would take the first watch like he always seemed to do.

Once he had managed to meticulously pull up most of the plant’s roots, the thief stood up again and dusted himself off, shoving the valerian into his trouser pocket. He headed out of the clearing, making his way back to the outskirts of Wheldrake, where he remembered a well was located. It didn’t take long for him to fill up the flask he had brought, and when that was done, he finally turned to walk back to join the others in the camp, his heart racing with anticipation for what he was about to do upon his return.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head as Crow said he planned to go fill up his empty flask. She leaned in to met his lips and smiled at his words. "Alright. Hopefully it won't disappoint." she said with a soft chuckle. As he headed off into the woods, she turned and walked over to Gavin, moving to squat down besides the male knight. He seemed a little surprised by her sudden company, likely since it was rare for her to leave Crow's side and the fact that she hadn't been spending much time with him. She felt a small prick of guilt for distancing herself so much from him but with Crow around combined with how Gavin had been acting towards him, it seemed only reasonable.

"Figured you could use some help with dinner." she told him with a shrug.

Gavin blinked in unbridled surprise at her offer. "I can handle it, but if you want to help, I don't mind." he said with an appreciative nod.

Penelope smiled and then looked down at his bag of supplies. "Well just tell me what to do." she said.

"Well, I was making some chicken and cooked vegetables tonight. Tomas was nice enough to give us the meat so I figured we'd better use it." Gavin explained as he dug into his bag to pull out the ingredients. Grabbing a small knife and an small array of vegetables, he set up a small space for Penelope. "You can chop these up while I get the chicken prepared."

"Alright." Penelope nodded and took the knife in her hand. She grabbed ahold of a carrot and began to carefully cut it up. It was her first time actually helping prepare a meal so the knight admittedly felt a hint of excitement, even if the task she was doing was rather simple. She had seen other people chop up vegetables before so going off her memory, she attempted to do it in the same fashion. She fell silent for a brief moment as her gaze shifted over the small portion of food. It seemed that her assumption that he wasn't including the thieves in their dinner plans had been correct.

"Gavin, is this going to be enough for everyone?" Penelope asked him, narrowing her eyes slightly.

The male knight hesitated and shifted a bit. "It'll be enough for us." he mumbled then frowned. "Our camp is running low on supplies taken by thieves.. Can we really afford to be sharing?"

"It's only three and we have enough... If you really need more of something, they probably have some supplies they can share." Penelope said sternly.

Gavin lifted his gaze up from his work to look over at her. "I'm surprised you even want to share with them after what happened earlier.." he looked past her towards Rikki, making the female knight stiffen slightly. He met Penelope's gaze again and shifted a bit closer to her in a protective manner. "I don't know what's going on there but Penelope, it seems to me that he's not as faithful as he acts.."

She leaned away from him as he got closer to her and she flinched slightly at his words. It seemed that he had caught on a bit to what was going on between the three, much to her dismay. "He is and you have no business saying that he isn't." she replied with a roll of her eyes. The male knight frowned and gave her a concerned expression. Realizing he was about to keep arguing about it, she put the knife down and let out a small huff.

"Look, I'm not going to argue with you about this so please just drop it." she mumbled. After having Rikki trying to get between them and learning that Crow had kissed her accidentally, the knight didn't really want Gavin trying to convince her the thief was manipulating or lying to her. The last thing she wanted was for him to potentially get in her head.

"I just don't want you to get hurt or do something you'll regret." Gavin sighed.

"I won't." Penelope muttered stubbornly. "Now give me more vegetables so that we'll have enough for everyone." Gavin studied her for a moment before complying and dropping the subject with it. She was glad he didn't put up too much of a fight on the topic. It allowed her to focus back on her work as she picked up the knife again and chopped up what he had given her. A silence lingered over the two for a moment longer until Gavin broke it by starting up idle chatter, which was welcomed by the knight as he wasn't pressing any distrust of Crow onto her with it.

[Rogue Sloth]

When Crow got back to the camp, he paused by the edge of the clearing to see what was going on since he had left. From what he could tell, not much had changed. Alistair and Olivia had yet to return from their little getaway, Rikki was lying on her bedroll flat on her back as she gazed dully up at the stars, and Penelope was by the firepit with Gavin, helping to prepare their dinner for the night. He hesitated for a brief moment longer before he began to make his way over to her, hooking his thumbs into his trouser pockets to keep himself from subconsciously fidgeting with the valerian he had hidden away. Though he doubted the knights would be able to tell what he was up to by restlessness alone, he didn’t want them to catch on that something was off.

He knelt down beside Penelope when he reached her at the fire pit, wrapping his arms around her in an affectionate embrace. Off to the side, he caught a glimpse of Gavin, who was casting him a disgusted look from where he was seasoning the chicken. Somehow, there almost seemed to be more hostility in his gaze than usual, although Crow couldn’t think of a reason why. Perhaps the knight was mad at him for undermining his authority more than usual during this trip? Whatever it was, it wasn’t important enough to dwell on now. He turned his attention back to Penelope.

“So, he’s got you working on the vegetables, huh?” Crow mused, casting her a fond grin. While his expression was friendly, his mind was already working on a way to slip the valerian root into their supper without alerting either of the two knights. His eyes darted briefly to the pot Gavin had set out to cook the vegetables. It was already filled with water. He bit back a smirk. In the darkness, no one would notice if he added one more plant of his own before the food was poured in.

Switching his focus back to Penelope, he pressed a kiss to her cheek, ignoring the way Gavin wrinkled his nose nearby. “I’m excited to see how this turns out,” he said, pushing back against a sudden wave of guilt he felt knowing that he was going to be tampering with her very first cooked meal. Reminding himself that it was worth it to keep her safe, he leaned in a little closer to her, holding her gaze with an alluring expression as he tried to keep her attention fixed on him. Again, he noticed Gavin watching them from the corner of his eye, and he fought the urge to shoot the knight a glare. He needed to make the other man stop looking at them, or else he wouldn’t be able to slip the valerian into the pot.

I know just how to make him do that, he thought as he recalled something that always seemed to make Gavin avert his eyes. Continuing to hold Penelope’s gaze, he reached up with one hand to gently caress her cheek. “You’re going to be an amazing wife,” he murmured with a soft smile. In the next instant, he leaned in even closer to close the distance between them with a passionate kiss. As he kissed her, he cracked one eye open to see that Gavin, as expected, was now looking elsewhere. Perfect.

Crow pressed deeper into Penelope’s lips, trailing one hand down the length of her back as he carefully reached into his pocket with the other. Locating the valerian, he gave the thin stem a quick twist between two fingers, separating the flower from the root, and then smoothly withdrew the root and dropped it into the pot of water.

Having finished what he had come to do, he finally pulled back from the kiss with a grin, as if he was lightheaded. “I never get tired of that,” he chuckled breathlessly, running his fingers through her hair.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope let her conversation with Gavin die off as she noticed Crow walking back over to her. She smiled as he moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, it's a simple job." she told him with a small shrug. The knight shifted closer to him as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Hopefully it'll be good." Penelope was rather sure it would, mainly because she didn't have much to do with how it would taste. Gavin was still the one in control of that and given his history, she trusted the meal would turn out well.

As he held her gaze and leaned in closer, the knight blushed at his words and felt her heart flutter in her chest at the thought of being his wife. She closed her eyes quickly and met his lips as he kissed her, eager to distract herself from the bit of awkwardness she felt from thinking about their seemingly distant future together.

The knight was a bit surprised at how passionately he kissed her, especially since he had previously mentioned wanting to be more subtle with the other thieves around. She supposed it must have been due to Alistair's current absence and the fact that it seemed he had gotten Rikki to give them more distance. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to argue as she pressed back against him with equal passion. When he eventually pulled back, she let out a breathless chuckle. "Me neither."

Before she could say anymore, Gavin cleared his throat awkwardly and forced his gaze back over to Penelope. "You can put the vegetables in now. The water is ready." he said.

"Alright." Penelope nodded with a hint of embarrassment for kissing Crow like that so close to the male knight. Deciding not to dwell on it, she quickly focused back on the task at hand and carefully dropped in the chopped up vegetables as Gavin instructed. She glanced down at the pot before looking over at Crow with a small smile. "It'll probably still be a little while before it's ready if you want to go rest a bit." she offered.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow glanced up at Gavin as the knight interrupted his moment with Penelope. Usually, he would have felt a pang of annoyance at the other man’s intent to separate them, but since he had just been kissing her to keep her distracted from his plan, he didn’t mind it this time. The valerian root had made it into the boiling water, and it wouldn’t be much longer before the plant did its job. He had only added about half of the root, so the potent sedative wouldn’t knock them unconscious right when it was consumed, but it should have still been enough to make them sleep deeply during the night. It was only a matter of time now before he found out if it worked.

As Penelope told him that it would be a while before supper was ready and that he could rest if he wanted to, Crow nodded. “That sounds good to me,” he said, stretching lethargically and rising to his feet. He reached down to ruffle her hair in a playful manner and casted her a grin, “Let me know when it’s ready, okay, love?” With that, he ambled over to his bag and dug out his bedroll, locating a comfortably flat spot on the ground where he could lay it out for the night.

Almost as soon as he sat down to rest, he heard the sound of laughter coming from just beyond the tree line. In the next moment, Alistair and Olivia stepped into view, having finally returned to the camp. Both were grinning from ear to ear and had flushed faces, still just as oblivious of the other members of the group as they had been before. Crow rolled his eyes as he watched them settle down a bit farther away from the group, engrossed in whatever conversation they were having at the moment.

“I haven’t seen him this obsessed with a woman in a long time,” Rikki spoke up suddenly, eyeing the couple with distaste. “It’s almost too much, don’t you think?”

Crow casted her a sideways glance. “I think he’s just smitten,” he said with a shrug. “It’s a little excessive, but can you really blame him?”

“Maybe not if he was with a peasant girl,” Rikki shook her head. “But she’s a knight. He’s just setting himself up to get hurt again.” She turned towards Crow with a frown. “You can’t seriously expect that to work out, can you?”

“It doesn’t matter what they are,” Crow rolled his eyes. “If they want to make it work, they will. I’m certainly not going to judge him for it.”

“That’s because you’re doing the same thing,” Rikki pointed out blandly. “You’re both so blinded by your infatuation for beautiful women that you can’t see what a terrible decision you’re making. It’s heartbreaking, really.”

“I would tell you you’re wrong, but I already know you’re not going to listen to me,” Crow scoffed, leaning back on the palms of his hands.

“You’ll see,” Rikki shrugged carelessly. “This is all going to come back to bite you eventually. It’s only a matter of time before something goes wrong and those two realize that your worlds just don’t mix.”

Crow snorted, “You’re just full of encouraging words today, aren’t you?” She just shrugged again in response, and he laid down on his side, facing away from her to indicate that he was done with their conversation as he closed his eyes to rest until dinner.

[BuzzingBee]

"I will." Penelope nodded with an amused smile as she smoothed down her hair again. As he walked off to rest, she turned her attention back to the food they were cooking. Her focus didn't stay on it long as the sound of laughter and approaching footsteps caught her attention. She lifted her gaze to see Olivia and Alistair returning to camp. It was a bit amusing to see her friend so enamored with a man. Usually Olivia was only interested in one thing, which was a good time, so for her to be so wrapped up in her conversations with the male thief as well was certainly a bit different.

"Are you so sure Olivia is just sleeping with him?" Gavin suddenly grumbled to her.

Penelope blinked and looked over at him. "Yeah.. Well, that's what she claims at least." she told him with a shrug. "It's Olivia so what do you expect."

"I guess.." Gavin narrowed his gaze at Alistair before looking back at the fire in front of them. "But I've been around her enough to know she doesn't act that way with every pretty face she comes across though. And of all men, it's a thief from the same group."

The female knight caught the distrust in his gaze as he then glanced over at Crow. Penelope snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "And what's that supposed to mean, Gavin?"

He looked over at her and shifted a bit uneasily as he took a moment to think of how to answer her. "Well.. I just mean it's a little suspicious that the one man who seems to have captivated her is not only another thief but a thief that works under the one you're with." he replied slowly, clearly knowing his suspicion wouldn't go over well with her. "It's like they're trying to infiltrate us even further than just you."

"Well if that's the case, it won't be long before you're fully smitten with Raven. After all, she must be here to get to you if Alistair and Crow are using Olivia and I." Penelope said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and leaned back on the palms of her hands, letting out a sigh. "No one's trying to use anyone. They're criminals but that doesn't mean everything they say and do is to manipulate. Besides I think he looks just as captivated as she does, don't you think?"

"Maybe." Gavin said with a frown.

Penelope let out a sigh and focused back on the food. "How much longer?" she asked him, changing the subject. The two continued to watch over it as the vegetables and chicken cook, which allowed the knight to learn a bit about being able to tell how long they needed to cook for as well as how to tell when it was finished. Once it was done, she got up to her feet and walked over to Crow while Gavin got a bowl for himself.

"Hey, supper's ready." she told him as she leaned over him with a small, proud smile.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow spent the rest of his time before supper taking a light nap. Knowing that he was going to be shortchanged on sleep during the later part of the night, he wanted to make up for the loss as much as he could now. After all, with Gavin watching him so closely, he didn’t want to appear completely exhausted when they explored Wheldrake the next day. He hoped that by sleeping now, the lack of rest later wouldn’t be quite as detrimental to his performance.

So, when Penelope came over to tell him that supper was ready, he blinked slowly as he woke up. Letting out a yawn, he sat up and stretched his legs, looking up to meet her gaze with a weary smile, “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be over in a minute.” Before he followed after her, he took a moment to stay behind and shake off the rest of his lingering grogginess. As he did, he glanced furtively at the others, who were already filling their plates with the contaminated food. It seemed like no one had noticed the valerian root he had tossed in with the rest of it. Good. All that was left now was to wait for the sedative to take effect.

Rising to his feet, Crow headed over to join the rest of the group by the firepit. He studied the pot of cooked food contemplatively, wondering if it would be a good idea for him to eat any of it at all. With so much to do that night, he needed to be clearheaded, and the valerian would just make him drowsy. A small bite can’t hurt, he thought, peeking at Penelope from the corner of his eye. Since she would probably be awaiting his reaction to the food she had prepared, it would be too obvious for him to refuse to eat any of it. As long as I don’t have too much, it shouldn’t be enough to affect me.

Having made up his mind, he filled up a plate with food for himself and sat down next to the knight. He had helped himself to a portion that was of comparable size to the amount he usually ate for dinner, but he only intended to consume a small amount of it. He would just have to find a way to dispose of the leftovers when she wasn’t looking.

Crow lifted a bite of mixed vegetables and chicken to his mouth, and then turned to Penelope with a smile, “You did a good job.” He pressed a swift kiss to her cheek, hoping that since he had given her a reaction early, she wouldn’t watch him as closely as he slowly worked on the rest of his plate.

“This is good,” Alistair spoke up, staring down at his food with wide eyes. He looked up at Crow and Rikki with a frown. “We steal their ingredients all the time. How come our meals never taste like this?”

Rikki glanced over at him curiously before lifting a bite of chicken to her mouth. She said nothing about it, but there was a flicker of astonishment in her gaze that gave away the fact that she was just as impressed with the food as Alistair was.

Crow watched them both with an amused smirk. “You can thank them,” he said, gesturing to Gavin and Penelope. “They did all the work.”

Alistair stared at the two knights for a moment before turning to Olivia, “Do you know how to cook like this too?”

At his question, the knight choked on her food.

Crow snorted and leaned in a bit closer to Penelope, “I bet she regrets making that big speech about how cooking is a waste of time now.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded and walked over to fill up a plate for herself as the thief hung back for a moment. Once she had it, she glanced around at the others before moving to sit down at an empty spot near the fire. The knight looked over at Crow as he moved to join her with his dinner and watched him a bit closely out of the corner of her eye as she await to see his response to the meal. At his praise, she smiled happily. "I'm glad you think so." she said before beginning to eat her portion.

Her gaze shifted over to the other thieves as they commented on the food as well. Though Gavin deserved pretty much all of the credit, Penelope was still a bit proud that the first meal she had helped in making had been a success. She glanced over at Gavin, whom didn't seem as appreciative of the praise. The male knight eyed the thieves for only a brief moment before continuing to eat his dinner.

Penelope bit back a smirk at Olivia's reaction to Alistair's question. "Yeah you're probably right about that." she said with a soft chuckle at Crow's words.

"I.. can't...yet." Olivia admitted to him slowly. She shifted a bit and let out a small huff as she tried to recover from the question. "But most knights can't. Penelope can't either."

"That's true." Penelope mused with a shrug. "Gavin did most of the work. He's the only one of us that actually knows how to cook, I'm just learning."

"He's the one with the heart of a true maiden." Olivia snickered, quick to try and get the focus off of her lack of abilities.

Gavin lifted his gaze from his meal to give her an annoyed look. "I'm not going to teach you if you act like that, Olivia."

The female knight flushed at his words and clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I didn't ask you to anyways." she said before quickly shifting her attention back to her food.

"Not yet." Gavin grumbled with a distrustful glance at Alistair before it shifted over to Crow. Penelope noticed and rolled her eyes at him before turning her focus on her food. The knight ate quietly now as the conversation died down. Olivia quickly started up a different topic of discussion with Alistair as they ate their meal. Gavin remained tense as usual but fell quiet and Rikki seemed to continue to keep to herself. Penelope let out a satisfied sigh as she finished her food and looked over at Crow.

"Well I'm glad it tasted good." she told him with a small smile. "Even if I didn't really do much."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow shook his head as the knights began bickering amongst themselves. He raised one more bite of food to his mouth and chewed slowly, deciding to hold back from eating anything more of the poisoned meal. It tasted great, and his empty stomach tempted him to finish off the plate, but he didn’t want to risk consuming too much valerian root and sleeping through the night. He needed to be alert enough to finish everything he had planned to do before sunrise.

As Penelope spoke up, he turned to her with a smile, focusing on the present moment rather than what was to come. “You still did good,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to hug her against his side. After a moment, he pulled back again and shifted to rise to his feet. “I have something to take care of,” he announced, looking down at the knight and resting a hand briefly on her head as he stood over her. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Gavin asked coldly.

“Relax,” the thief rolled his eyes. He reached for the sleeve that covered his right arm and pulled it back, revealing the bandages he had wrapped around his forearm from Jaxon’s cut. “I just need to change these out quickly. It won’t take long.”

“When did that happen?” Rikki asked with a frown as she studied his arm.

“A few nights ago,” he shrugged, letting his sleeve fall over the bandages to hide them from view again. “A bounty hunter found me while I was sleeping. Fortunately, he was young and inexperienced, so this was the worst he managed to do.”

“Too bad,” Gavin muttered.

Crow ignored the knight’s bitter comment, “Anyway, I just need to take care of this before I forget tonight.” He leaned down to press a quick kiss to Penelope’s forehead, casting her a playful wink as he picked up his plate of food. “I’ll be sure to finish this off while it’s still warm.”

Feeling satisfied that he had convinced the others of his story about a bounty hunter attack, he turned and walked over to his bag, where he had packed away the spare bandages. On the way there, he could feel Gavin’s suspicious gaze on his back, but after a while, the knight seemed content that the thief hadn’t left his range of sight, so he looked away to continue eating in silence. Crow smirked to himself as he sat down facing away from the group and dug through his things to retrieve the fabric wrapping. He really did need to change out the dressing on hi injury, but that wasn’t the only reason why he had chosen this particular moment to do so.

Casting a furtive glance over his shoulder, he made sure that no one was looking in his direction and then swiftly poured out the rest of his dinner beneath a nearby bush. Between the cover of the foliage and the darkness of the night, no one would be able to find it unless they were looking. He sighed softly, Sorry, Penelope. I’ll be sure to enjoy your cooking next time.

With that done, he made quick work of replacing the bandages on his arm and got up to rejoin the others at the firepit.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled and leaned into his side as he hugged her against him. As he stood up, she leaned her head back to look up at him with a hint of questioning in her gaze. When he responded to Gavin and revealed the bandaging on his arm, a look of worry that crossed the knight's expression before she relaxed again. She was glad that the bounty hunter hadn't done any more harm than just a wound on his arm and hoped that him even finding Crow had just been a stroke of luck.

"Alright." she said with an amused smile at his words. As he walked off, she turned her gaze back to the firepit and leaned back on the palms of her hands as she waited for Crow. Having finished her food, the knight began to feel a little tired. She let out a small yawn, the long day of walking seeming to finally start catching up with her.

"Gavin, are you taking first watch again?" she asked the male knight, wondering if she should be trying to fight off her weariness.

He looked over at her and nodded his head. "Yeah. Unless you want to?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine with taking the second one." Penelope said shaking her head. Her attention shifted back over to Crow as the thief moved to join them again. She stretched out her back for a moment and glanced subtly towards the other two thieves before looking back to Crow. "Hey..are we still sharing a bed tonight?" she asked him, lowering her voice slightly. She didn't see it as being much of a problem-Alistair was likely too wrapped up in being around Olivia and Rikki had already known about them for a while now so the knight didn't think they needed to be overly concerned about her reaction-but she wanted to double check with him.