BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The following days went by fast enough for the knight. Most of her time now consisted of assigning scouts and overseeing sparring sessions with other lieutenants. It was easy for the most part. The only challenge she usually faced were a few lower ranking knights that had clearly lost respect for her and of course, Layth. With the other knights knowing better than to challenge the higher ranking lieutenant, Layth was easily the most difficult one to deal with. While Penelope tried to avoid working with him, their jobs unfortunately pushed them together more often than either sibling would have liked. Over the course of the two days, the siblings were usually at each other's throats whenever working together.

Luckily Penelope got a break on the third day when she volunteered to accompany Olivia on a scouting mission. The two friends walked through the forest near the bordering chatting idly to pass time. The weather was rather cold that day so both had adorn themselves with heavier cloaks to fight off the winter breeze. Olivia hugged her arms to herself as they walked, narrowing her gaze slightly as a cold wind blew through.

"Gods I hope this wind doesn't mean it's going to snow again soon... You weren't here when it did a couple weeks ago but it made things miserable." Olivia complained with a frown.

"Hopefully it won't. I can't imagine what it must have been like. Especially when we only have the tents for shelter... Still, at least we're set in supplies for such weather. I noticed they supplies everyone with heavier blankets." Penelope said with a soft sigh.

"I suppose. More so than that I just hope Younis doesn't decide to attack right before such weather. I'm all for your plans Penelope but that'll be a rough time regardless if we're just defending." Olivia complained as she glanced over at Penelope. She shot her a small, teasing smirk. "You've been at the castle for so long you'll probably be the least prepared for it."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "I'll be prepared enough... Anyways, I'm sure we'll be safe from Younis for a while. After all, it seems like they had a lot to recover from what I heard and since they aren't aware of our plans to only act defensively, I doubt they'll be quick to attack us right now."

"True en—" Olivia began to say until a distinct footstep caught both of their attentions. Olivia exchanged an glance with Penelope before both of them drew their swords. Penelope eyed the direction the noise had come in before moving towards it with her sword at the ready. Almost as soon as she stepped closer towards the cluster of nearby trees, a figure jumped out of hiding and bolted away. Her eyes widened as she recognized it to be a knight with the colors of Younis. "A Younisian scout!" she shouted in alarm before taking off after him. With how close he had been to them, the lieutenant knew there was a chance the knight had overheard their conversation and might report back to his baron about the Brerratic battalion's new battle plans. While it was inevitable for Younis to realize that Brerra was only behaving defensively, Penelope wanted to make sure they wouldn't realize it for at least a couple battles. If they put it together too quickly, there was a high chance they would figure out a way to use it to their advantage even faster.

With that in mind, Penelope hurried after the knight, weaving through the trees of the forest. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Olivia closely following on her right. As the Younisian knight took a sharp turn to try and lose the pair, the lieutenant did the same, keeping him in her sights. The enemy scout clearly lacked the skill of running from an enemy as the pair gained ground on him. After being around Crow and picking up a thing or two, even Penelope could tell that much by the way the knight barely changed directions to escape or look for cover. Gaining ground on him, she gave a quick signal to Olivia to flank his right while she rounded out towards the left.

The scout noticed Olivia's movement first and quickly veered left to avoid her, which allowed Penelope to cut him off. As the lieutenant reached the scout, she glared at him and raised her sword, expecting a fight. However, the scout didn't even bother to draw his own weapon, instead raising his hands in surrender with a fearful look in his eyes. "S-Sorry! Please don't kill me! I-I didn't mean... Well I guess I did but I wasn't planning on spying! I was just patrolling! Honest!" he rambled taking a step back from the lieutenant.

As he spoke, Penelope lowered her sword slightly but still kept it drawn on him. Now that she wasn't in the heat of the chase, she realized how small this particular knight was. He was shorter than her with a rather round and childish face, likely a couple years younger then herself. And clearly inexperienced... She thought with a small sigh. Just as she finally got a clear look of him, the scout seemed to just register what his pursuer looked like as well.

"Woah wait.. You're a lieutenant aren't you? And you're a woman? That's so—" He began but paused cutting himself off, awkwardly clearing his throat. "Ah.. never mind.. look I promise I won't cause you any trouble if you just let me go."

"Man, Younisians are weird." Olivia suddenly piped in, eying the boy with interest as she stepped up behind him with her sword drawn. A small frown crossed the female knight's face before she glanced towards Penelope. "Soooo... What's the plan here?"

Penelope frowned and eyed the Younisian before taking a small step towards him. "Unfortunately we can't just let you go. I know what you heard and we can't let that get back to your battalion just yet." she said with a shake of her head. "But I won't kill you either. We'll just have to take you prisoner for now."

"What?" he frowned.

Penelope raised her blade to the scout's throat, making him flinch. Though the knight wouldn't kill him in cold blood—regardless if he was from the enemy kingdom it seemed cruel and he had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time—she didn't want to let her guard down around him just yet. After all, he still had his weapons on him. Taking him prisoner wasn't ideal either but it seemed to be the safest option they had. Killing him was cruel but letting him go could potentially put her whole battalion at risk, taking him prisoner seemed to be decent middle ground. She just hoped that the barons would feel the same. "Olivia, take his weapons and pat him down." she instructed to her friend.

Olivia nodded and stepped forward to remove the scout's sword as she sheathed her own. The female knight then patted him down as well, giving a strange pause and glancing towards Penelope, before she finished by taking away a dagger that he had in his boot. Olivia stepped back and turned to Penelope. "Looks like that's it." she assured her friend.

"Good. Let's get moving then. Put your arms behind your back and keep them there." Penelope instructed the scout who gave a timid nod before doing so. The female lieutenant lowered her sword and moved to take up the left side of the Younisian, pressing a firm hand to his back to guide him forward. Olivia fell in behind the pair as they began to make their way back to the rest of the battalion, carrying the weapons that she had confiscated from him.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

My next ones will probably be a little shorter since it'll be a few days before things pick up on Penelope's front cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The rest of the meeting was interesting to say the least. With her uncle suddenly offering unwavering support, Penelope found convincing the other two barons much easier. Mia eventually came to agree with her, while Bennet seemed to blindly follow the lead of the older barons. All in all, things seemed to be going in her favor now that Edward saw value in her. Off-handedly, it made her wonder how far his loosely founded and power hungry loyalty would go. After all, her uncle had been her strongest opposition in the past when suggesting plans and ideas to the barons. The lieutenant could only hope that this new development would mean her remaining time on the war front would go smoothly.

"Alright, it's settled then. We'll only act defensively until further notice." Mia announced once the barons had all come to agreement.

"This is absurd.." Layth growled under his breath. One glance at the lieutenant and could easily tell he was fuming over the decision as his face was scrunched into an furious expression and his gaze was ice cold. Still, with so many voices against himself, he didn't protest any further.

"For now, you four will be tasked with organizing scouts and making sure our battalion remains on alert. We may be playing defensive but that's no excuse to get sloppy or let our guard down." Edward grunted.

"Of course. Consider it taken care of." Tomas said with a firm nod.

As the meeting was dismissed, the lieutenants gathered outside the tent to discuss the tasks at hand. In the end, Tomas and Gavin went on to take over organizing the scouts and left the two siblings to make sure the battalion remained battle ready. Penelope crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Tomas and Gavin walk off before slowly turning her head to face her brother. The female knight let out a sigh, far from thrilled to be stuck working with her irritable brother.

"So... I'm thinking we could start by taking note of our weapon and armor inventory. Playing defense is going to rough on the metal since Younis will likely be encouraged to strike more often." Penelope suggested.

"No. We'll start with gathering some of our knights for a sparring session. Thanks to your oh so wonderful idea, they're going to need to be kept sharp and battle ready at all times." Layth growled, his tone making it clear that he didn't want any arguments.

Penelope narrowed her eyes at her brother but didn't fight against his decision and merely gave a curt nod. Though making their comrades go through sparring more regularly wasn't at the top of her list, his idea wasn't completely terrible and it wasn't something worth fighting him about. "Fine by me." she muttered. Layth didn't say anything and just gave a faint nod before stiffly turning to lead the way off to the camp's sparring grounds. Letting him have his way, the female lieutenant fell in behind her brother.

---

The rest of the day went by relatively smoothly. Despite having to work with a bitter half brother, the two lieutenants managed to keep their focus on overseeing the sparring sessions. For the most part at least. Layth occasionally belittled her whenever the opportunity presented itself and Penelope found it difficult to always keep her tongue restrained so she did lash out to defend herself a couple times. Once the sparring session ended, Penelope wasted no time in separating from her brother, both due to his foul attitude as well as her own hunger that had built up over the course of the day.

Penelope grabbed a plate of food and sat down near one of the fires, letting out a breath of relief as she was finally able to relax after the long day. Uncommitedly, she glanced around to see if she could spot Olivia or Gavin before ultimately giving up. It seemed that she would be enjoy supper alone that evening. The lieutenant let her thoughts wander as she thought over what actions to take next now that the barons had approved her idea. Though she wanted to make sure the war ended peacefully, she still had to make sure her battalion remained prepared for the attacks from Younis. As she sat in thought, she ate her meal, letting her mind roam over possible strategies as well as what she could work on in the coming days.

Eventually, the knight finished her meal and decided it was time to retire to her bed. Stepping into her tent, she took off her armour and settled in for the night. It was long after she laid down that she fell into a rather deep sleep.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Nice! I can't wait haha

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Her choice didn’t make much sense to him. Daniel raised an eyebrow at Alex as she said that a walk sounded nice. It made him wonder if he had miscalculated her interest in him as she seemed a bit unwilling to consider the cab option. A cab would have given him a decent excuse to get a little closer to her during the short ride and it would have been more comfortable than walking out in the cold. The decision threw him off momentarily but Daniel was quick to recover. Biting back a small sting of disappointment over the decision she made, he smiled at her and nodded his head. "Alright." he said as he moved to fall in step besides her.

As she went on to ask him about his work, he smirked a little. "I'm a field director for a campaign firm.. Basically, I'm the guy who oversees events, canvassing, and managing the people who call to pester you about voting for their candidate." he explained with an amused glint in his expression. Daniel gave his shoulders a small shrug as he thought about his job. "We mainly run small local elections.. Anyways, my work's really not that thrilling but it pays good so I can't complain. But I can promise you that's the most boring thing about me." he added with a flirtatious wink. He kept the fact that his job was just a mere stepping stone to himself. Largely because he wasn't sure what her opinions on politics, or more specifically politicians were. A good amount of people didn't find them very trustworthy and that wasn't quite the label he was looking to have at the moment.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants as the cold night air began to make them grow a little cold. Daniel snuck a glance towards Alex, wondering how she was faring. Surely she had to be at least chilly. Off handedly, he wished he had a jacket to offer her but since he hadn't planned on being outside on this late adventure, he hadn't bothered to bring one. Still wishing to offer some form of warmth, he shifted to walk a little closer to her. It obviously wouldn't help much but Daniel still hoped the close would bring her a little warmth.

"What do you do for work?" he asked, throwing the question back at her. While he doubted his career goals would come up if he kept speaking about his work—it was a fairly easy subject to avoid in his opinion—Daniel truly didn't find the contents of his career thrilling enough to discuss or dive into further. "Assuming that you aren't just a revered food critic, of course." Daniel joked with a small chuckle.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice cx

Meanwhile Penelope's going through the process of receiving all sorts of different reactions to their courtship xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It was surprising how easy it was to fall into old routines. Despite it only being her second day back with her battalion, Penelope found herself quickly adjusting back into her life on the battlefront. Waking up that morning it almost felt like she had never even left. The only thing that told of change was a small sense of loneliness. She was already missing the luxury of being able to see Crow nearly every day, even if it wasn’t for longer than one meal. Luckily the lieutenant had plenty of work to keep herself busy.

After getting ready to face the day, she headed out and grabbed a bite of breakfast alone. She hadn’t spotted either Gavin nor Olivia so she decided to sit by herself. As she sat quietly munching on her bread, she became more aware of the glares aimed at her from a few of her nearby comrades. It wasn’t difficult to guess why. Penelope raised her head to narrow her eyes on a specific group of three that kept shooting distasteful looks her way, only turning away to whisper amongst themselves. Gossip spread through the camp like wildfire and Penelope had no doubt that word about her new courtship had gotten out based upon the looks she was receiving.

The knight rolled her eyes and focused back on her meal, attempting to ignore the looks. Their glares were harsher than the ones she had received at the castle but she supposed part of her could understand why. The battalion had been hit multiple times by the thieves and even if it wasn’t to the same scale as the raid Jaxon had pulled, it was clearly enough to leave long lasting grudges. Not to mention that being so far from the castle lessened the influence that the king’s decision carried. It would take much more time for them to fully accept the new viceroy as well as their lieutenant who—in their eyes—had turned traitor.

“I hope you’re ignoring them.” came a calm voice that was clearly sympathetic.

Penelope blinked and turned her head to see Tomas stepping over to her with a half smile. “I’m sure they’ll get over it eventually. All that’s happening is just shocking.” he said with a small shrug.

The female knight hesitated before letting out a long sigh. “I know. It’s just going to be a real pain until they do.” she responded. Penelope paused and eyed Tomas, suddenly finding herself curious about his opinion on the matter of her courtship. Mia had been too difficult to read but her values often aligned with those of her older lieutenant’s. “And what are your thoughts on my courtship?”

Tomas blinked and then gave an amused smile. “My thoughts are that it is none of my business.”

Penelope smirked a little, finding that she appreciated that mentality. “Alright, I can respect that.” she chuckled then paused with a small frown as she thought about her baroness. While she cared little about what the general public may have thought about her, she did care about her higher up’s opinion. Mia’s hesitancy to side with her at the meeting the day prior quickly popped up into her mind. Perhaps that had stemmed from newly founded distrust. “I just hope Mia feels similarly.”

“I’m sure she does. Mia’s a fair person and you haven’t committed treason, despite what some others may think.” Tomas mused with a pointed glance towards the gossiping knights. He shook his head in disapproval before turning back to her. “Speaking of her, we should probably head to the tent. It’s almost time for the meeting.”

Penelope supposed the older lieutenant was right. Besides, Mia had never been outwardly upset about her relationship with the new viceroy so the knight could only hope that meant she either accepting of it or at the very least, ignoring it. She nodded her head with an appreciative smile and got up to join Tomas as they made their way towards the large tent at the middle of camp.

The two lieutenants had lapsed into a short silence until Tomas awkwardly cleared his throat. “By the way Penelope…. if it’s not too much to ask, I’d highly appreciate it if you’d not let your new suitor find out it was me who suggested cutting off his hands back when he was our prisoner.” he said with a small cringe. “Or if he already knows, send him my apologies.”

Penelope blinked in surprise. With all that had gone on, she had nearly forgotten about how close Crow had come to losing his hands and that the idea had stemmed from Tomas of all people. She might have held a grudge towards the lieutenant if he hadn’t ultimately turned on his own suggestion to support Mia with working with the thieves instead. With no harm done, she smirked amusedly at his words and nodded her head. “I’ll be sure to keep your secret.” she assured with a small chuckle.

Tomas let out a subtle breath of relief and nodded his head before leading the two into the tent. Inside, the three barons and Gavin had already gathered. Penelope moved to take up a seat besides Gavin and turned her head as the tent flap shifted again as Layth pushed through. Her brother shot her a cold glare as he moved to sit on her other side. Expecting nothing less from her brother after their conversation the other day, Penelope turned her head away from him to focus on Mia as the baroness spoke up.

“Now that everyone’s hear, let’s pick up where we left off.” Mia spoke clearly, her gaze shifting onto Penelope. “I have taken your suggestion into further consideration, Penelope, and I think it would be worth it to act defensively for the sake of ending this war peacefully. But I worry the toll it will have on our people. To act only defensively will be taxing. It will allow Younis to hit us much like they would a training dummy. I’m still not certain I can sign off on this idea.”

Penelope frowned slightly and shifted in her seat. She opened her mouth to argue but wasn’t able to say her piece before Edward spoke up.

“Our troops are strong and we must act to support the king’s decision.” Edward grunted. Despite speaking in favor of the idea, the look on his face was bitter. He glanced towards her before looking back to Mia. “We can handle it.”

“Why should we? The king never said we had to stop attacking. This peace isn’t even guaranteed! Especially with our current ‘viceroy’.” Layth jumped in with a narrowed gaze.

Edward turned on his lieutenant with a warning glare. “His lacking experience is why we must show support at the warfront. The king may not have ordered it but surely he would approve of it.”

Penelope glanced between the two Vermillion’s with a flabbergasted gaze. She pulled her eyes away from them to exchange a glance with Gavin who looked equally surprised by her uncle’s words against Layth. It was a stark change from the man who had been so rigidly against her proposal only a day prior. The meeting had only begun but it was already proving to be far more interesting than she could have planned as Edward suddenly shifted to side with her.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Eh, in the long run, he deserves it xD

And same! I'm really excited to see them start trying to manipulate each other lol It's going to be interesting xD

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

It seemed it was his lucky night as he watched Alex’s smile stretch into a grin at his suggestion. Her reaction earned a more genuine smile from Daniel, finding himself a bit charmed by her reaction as well as how smoothly things seemed to be going. As she reminded him to close his tab, he chuckled and gave a small nod. “Right. Just give me a moment.” he told her with a small smirk of amusement at her words before turning to flag down the bartender. Turning away from Alex, he leaned casually against the counter as he waited for the other man to step over to him.

Luckily it didn’t take long and the other man stepped over to him. “I just wanted to close out my tab. For Daniel Shen.” he informed the bartender who gave a brief nod before setting out on the task. He soon returned with the card as well as a receipt for him to sign. Finishing up the process, he stuck the card and his receipt into his wallet before tucking that away into his back pocket. With his business at the bar taken care of, he turned back to Alex. Interesting flickered into his gaze as he noticed her shaking her head amusedly.

His eyebrow quirked upward in question but he didn’t get the chance to ask before she spoke and brought his attention over to Eric and the ginger. Daniel smirked at the sight. It was rather typical of Eric to speed things along with any woman who was willing—which was very different than Daniel who preferred to at least hold some type of conversation before rushing into anything—but somehow the former frat boy managed to be even more shameless that usual. “Yeah, I’d rather not stick around for that either.” he mused wrinkling his nose at the thought. He turned his head to look down at Alex, shooting her a smile. “Come on, let’s go.” Daniel placed a hand on her back to help guide her with him through the crowd at the bar.

As they stepped towards the door, his gaze wandered over towards where the rest of his friends were. It was easy to catch a glimpse of their familiar faces despite the many unknown that passed him by on their way out. As suspected, his and Eric’s absence seemingly went rather unnoticed. Well, perhaps not unnoticed, but at the very least, it didn’t seem to hinder any merriment amongst the group as he caught sight of intoxicated grins and mouths opened with laughter. I’ll still text Trevor once I’m home… Last thing I need is for them to think I completely disappeared… he thought to himself as he turned his attention away.

Ever true to acting chivalrous, Daniel was quick to step forward to hold open the door for Alex once they reached the exit. Allowing her to step out first, he followed her out into the crisp night air. The enclosed and fairly packed bar had made him forget the slight chill outside. He looked down at Alex and smiled. “So, I was thinking, we could either having a sobering trek there since it’s not too far or we could hail a taxi. What do you want to do?” he asked.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Left Boy - Dangerous : Makes me think of Matt with Alex


Weezer - Hero : I feel like this will fit Daniel when he realizes how he kinda ended up as the villian when he decided to help Matt.


All Time Low - Some Kind of Disaster : I picture this also fitting Daniel (and kinda Alex) when they start falling for each other despite both of them lying and trying to use the other lol


Jeremy Zucker - somebody loves you : This one I think will fit Daniel almost perfectly when he realizes that his sister likes Alex too and is struggling with both his feelings and the whole mob thing xD


FINNEAS - Let's Fall in Love for the Night : I feel like this one just fits them lol Mainly coming from Daniel's POV, especially with how they first met haha