we need to have words

Venom's words crafted a story he'd heard many times before, and he grimaced against the reminder of their packs' most recent struggles where inevitably Deathbelle lost her empire to her lust. Though to Az it seemed to be just that; the Empress lusted for many, and loved only one. Perhaps a second, though Azure had not the chance to meet Archon to speak on whether his Empress truly felt for him as she felt for Sirius. Her lust created incestuous children that now were unruly and scattered throughout the land, though she still loved Sirius even without ever reaching such intimate levels with him as to procreate. Azure was wildly out of his area of expertise, though he tried his hardest to convince himself that he was nothing like the ex-Empress.

"Your mother yearned to be loved, and not just by those she shared her bed with but by her pack as well." He started carefully, forcing himself to back his muzzle away from Venom so that he might meet her gaze. Az had to tread lightly with the subject, to not risk the ire of a misspoken word against his Empress' mother. "It makes sense that after all that effort, what she got back was love."

Venom's words have been cautious, though he'd not missed how in answering his question she had spoke of only the masses who loved Deathbelle and not how many of those feelings might have been reciprocated. Azure mirrored that caution, carefully crafting his reply around her message. "I hope you know by now that I'd never let you lose your Empire. Not for love or for lust, not for me or for.." He swallowed, his jaw clenching as he stumbled around the other man's name and ultimately replaced it. ".. anyone else." If Venom did not understand his motivations by now then she was blind. There was little Azure wouldn't do in the name of power, and as her Warlord his power relied on her own. His own warped sense of ethics did not place romance high enough to risk such destruction, no matter how strong the feelings may be.

He circled back to her question, his muzzle dropping to stare absently down at her bandaged limb as he spoke. A part of his relationship with her was founded on mutual trust and honesty, and no matter how much it might hurt her he had to explain. "I'm not with anyone else. It's a really long story." He managed, his lips tugging into a pained grimace. "She doesn't even know the real me. I was - I was practicing. Mortis was winning the social side of the heir race, I made no effort to keep my distain from the other Armada members. He suggested I fake it, to wear a mask. That's when I met her." Azure's skull began to pound, it took too much thought and effort to keep the explanation honest but as painless as possible for his Empress to hear. "She's everything I'm not, soft and innocent and lowborn, I suppose that is why I gravitate to her but.. she loves the mask. She could never love me. Not like - not like you could." When Hana was nearly raped and he had to punish the assailant, he could feel her disgust behind the appreciation she showed. He couldn't bear to show her any more and risk her repulsion towards him. "Around her I feel like I'm a monster that needs to be chained. With you, I don't feel like a monster at all."

Azure finally dared to look back up to find her gaze, searching for the answers he desperately needed. While his chest rose and fell steadily, he felt as if he was suffocating and Venom held with her all of the air.