A silence fell between Mai and Zed after Mai's small confession. Zed still had that smirk on his face, just couldn't seem to get rid of it. He was walking a little ways behind her, glancing at her every now and then as they looked for something to eat.

In their search so far, they saw a few common animals. Such as foxes, squirrels, and there was a lost swan that had wandered far from it's lake.., but still no edible food.

Mai stopped suddenly, pointing to a large tree. Zed looked up towards it's long dangling branches. Seems she had found the most commonly known fruit. They were red and round. He raised a brow. "Apples?" He hadn't noticed them in this area of the forest before.

She nodded before trying to reach for one, finding that her short stature was again against her. "Well, they don't look poisoned at least." She sighed, putting her hand on her hip, glaring up at the fruit. It was it's fault after all. Zed withheld a chuckle before walking over and picking the apple with ease and handing it out for her to take.

She glanced up at him warily before accepting it. He smiled down at her, making her a bit flustered as she quickly avoided his gaze. "L-Let's get enough for all of us..." He nodded, picking more and handing them to her as he did so.

Not much of a conversation was held between the two as they gathered enough apples. They seemed comfortable with the silence. Soon, enough apples were gathered and both seemed to have their hands full. So they started to walk back.

Their comfortable silence however, was becoming a bit more suffocating with every step. They started glancing to each other when the other wasn't looking, wondering how to bring up a conversation without it seeming obvious that they wanted to talk.

"So..." They stopped and looked at each other, blinking in surprise that they had spoken at the same time. After a few awkward seconds of eye contact, they started to laugh, understanding that they felt the same.

Mai was the first to stop laughing. "Well aren't we awkward..." 

He shrugged his shoulders, a slight smirk twitching the corner of his mouth. "It's a gift."

She raised a brow, curiosity lacing her tone. "Like theft?" 

He looked down at her with an unreadable expression. She waited for him to answer, as he seemed to be organizing his thoughts. "In a way, I guess." She raised her brow again, not really knowing what he meant. 

A bit of silence came after that as the two started walking again. Mai thought about what he had said, looking up at him. Not really knowing why, she wanted to know more about him. He was clouded in mystery, and in a way, that scared her. Truthfully, after some investigating, she knew that when he stole something, he would return it if she didn't catch him. She wanted to know why.

"Hey..." After hearing her voice, he looked down at her. She was looking forward with an expression of mixed feelings. He couldn't tell which ones though. She stopped then, turning to look up at him fully. "Why do you steal? I know you said it was a game, but I don't get it, there has to be a different reason other than entertainment... What is it?" 

He had stopped when she did, turning to look down at her. He blinked at the question, not really expecting it. Then his eyes softened. A few seconds passed before he finally answered, causing Mai to become a bit anxious. "There is...something I want." 

She blinked. "So you steal as if it were practice to get what you really want?"

He chuckled. "In a way." He looked at her confused expression, glad that she didn't understand what he was after. "I still don't get it, isn't there an easier way to get what you want? Why do you use so much force?"

He smiled and started walking again, slowly so she could easily catch up. "What I want is dense."

She raised a bow as she followed behind him. "Really? Like a really thick jar or something?" She was obviously thinking that what he was after was an object. He laughed, though she only became more confused.

Soon the two ended up back at their resting place. As they approached, Lucas was laughing at something Elizabeth had said. The air around them was very light and almost sweet. Mai and Zed glanced to one another with amused faces.

Mai set her apples down and cleared her throat, as to get the others attention. They both looked to her and blinked. Elizabeth smiled. "Welcome back! Did you find something?" That's when she noticed the fruit in front of them. She looked up to Mai. "Apples?" 

Mai nodded before sitting on the soft grass. "This should hold us until we get into town."

Zed set the apples he had next to the ones Mai put on the ground before sitting down next to her. As they ate, Elizabeth examined her Best Friend and Crown Thief, sensing a slight difference than before between the two. A...lighter difference. She gazed to Lucas, who caught it and nodded, silently agreeing with her. They both chuckled at their clueless friends, who only raised a brow at them as they ate their apples.

When finished, they all stood and were on their way again. Mai looked forward, thinking about how far the kingdom's main town would be. "Okay, from here, we should get into town by mid afternoon."

Elizabeth smiled, thinking about the town she use to run around in as a child. She hoped that it was as lively as it was when she was little. Thinking it over, she subconsciously tucked her hair back behind her ear. Mai noticed from the corner of her eye and didn't really think about it, but it did lead to a different thought. "Say Lizzy, why is your hair so long?"

Elizabeth blinked, looking down at the end of her hair, that only missed the ground by a few inches, if that. The boys also noted this, somehow not even thinking about it before now. She giggled. "It's a silly reason really, but I thought that I'd try the whole Rapunzel thing. But this is how long it got after a year of growing it out. Guess it wouldn't have worked anyway."

Mai smiled, not finding that information so hard to believe. Rapunzel was her favorite story to read when they were little. That smile faulted slightly when she thought about how similar their situation was. Elizabeth always said she wanted to be Rapunzel and get saved by a prince in shining armor. The thought made her chuckle ruefully to herself.

After a ways of walking, Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder to find the boys a little ways behind them. She smiled and turned to Mai. "So how did it go?" 

Mai raised a brow. "How did what go?"

The Princess rolled her eyes. "What did you find out about your not-so-little crush?" Mai almost tripped in her embarrassment. "L-Lizzy!" She hissed, but there wasn't much venom in her words. Elizabeth only waited for a real answer. Mai glanced back, making sure the boys were out of earshot. They seemed to be in their own conversation, and Mai couldn't hear them, so it must be the same the other way around.

Mai sighed in defeat. "Well...He told me that there's something he wants. A-And that it was the reason he steals." 

Elizabeth smiled in excitement, inwardly knowing what -or rather- who it was. "And~?"

Mai raised a brow at her friend. "That's it." 

Elizabeth's smile faltered into an expression of disbelief. "That's it..?" 

Mai thought a moment. "Oh!" Elizabeth looked up at her with new found hope. Mai turned her head to her. "He said that what he was looking for was dense." The Princess sent a not-so-little glare in Zed's direction. One: Because he didn't tell her his true intentions. And Two: Because he had insulted her friend. Even though it was true, he didn't have to go that far, especially when the woman in denial didn't know of the situation herself.

Elizabeth looked back to her friend, thinking it over. She was going to need another plan...

   ~ ✿ ♥ ✿ ~

Lucas glanced over at his leader, following his gaze to the two women in front of them as they walked behind them. Seems they had started a conversation. Though he couldn't hear them, he had a pretty good idea on what it was about.

The chestnut haired young man didn't even look at his companion as he spoke. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

Zed glanced in the other direction. "I...told her what she wanted to know."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I'll take that as a 'no, I'm useless when it comes to stating my feelings, Lucas.' then." He sighed. "And after all that work the Princess went to in order to get you two alone..." 

Zed narrowed his eyes at him. "She knows about this?"

Lucas gave him the you-really-are-stupid face. "She found out on her own. You guys aren't very hard books to read." The thief avoided his gaze again with slight annoyance.

That's about the time the two noticed Elizabeth's glare in Zed's direction. Lucas held back a laugh as Zed blinked back at her. "Seems she heard the story already, and she's quite angry about it. Good luck with that. Women can be scary."

Zed could only gulp as the Lost Princess returned her attention to her Captain. Lucas was right, women were pretty scary, especially when they were the Princess of the country you live in and could behead you for your past crimes...

Soon enough, the Great Thief's gaze unknowingly landed back onto the shorter woman. Lucas sighed again, this time with a hint of amusement. Seems that something was stolen from right under the Thief's nose. "Well, the heart can be an easy thing to lose if you don't watch it carefully." Lucas thought as his own gaze fell onto the lost-but-found Princess.

The black and white haired man looked next to him, following Lucas's gaze, and smirking slightly. "Guess I'm not the only one, am I?" 

Lucas calmly narrowed his eyes to his friend, though his cheeks were a bit pink. "I won't deny it, and I plan to tell her... Unlike some individuals." The last part he muttered, knowing that it was still high enough that Zed would be able to hear it. 

When met with silence, Lucas decided to go further, a smirk on his face. "You could just skip to the point and ask her to marry you."

In response, Zed whacked the back of his comrade's head, his eye twitching and his face rivaling the red of the apples they had snacked on. Lucas rubbed the slightly aching spot, but still laughed at his leader's reaction. So worth it.