thorn in my side

Venom shook herself out as the last of them filed off, the whole time she’d been plagued by the bent quill she had yet to remove. It just continued to irritate her skin, but it was her own fault at this point for not having it looked after. She huffed lightly and stood up, finally noticing that there was one last wolf still in attendance. Her lilac rose gaze found him, and her expression shifted into a playful smirk that had once been so easy. Then she remembered how much hesitation he’d given her, how rejected she’d felt and the anger he’d shown.

The Empress hesitated, her expression falling as she paused her approach. Nothing felt right between them, and already she could feel the tension rise within her. She took a steadying breath and continued, if they were to fix anything… and she hoped they could… this was the moment.

”Azure,” she said softly, a tenderness not present while she addressed the Empire as Empress for the first time. ”Thank you, for being here.” Venom continued as she came to a halt a comfortable distance away. Her irritation from the best quill even more obvious as her heckled started to twitch. She shook herself again, having barely moved during the meeting. Before he could ask as she reached over her back to itch her poor skin she explained herself. ”Naiche’s pangolin fell on me yesterday. It bent one of my quills and it’s bothered me since.”