not maybe, definitely

From a very early age Venom had seen where she could go and what she could become. Her position as firstborn made it her divine right to rule Ashen and the Empire. Not only her birthright but Venom had worked tirelessly to prove herself the best of her siblings and she had taken exactly what she wanted. That was the deepest desire she had, and it was attained. Venom had fallen into a state of maintenance; her desire to be the most powerful ruler brought her to a place where her heart no longer mattered, only the Empire. Maverick could see right through that wall, he could almost peer inside and see the part of her that had been chained and suppressed her whole life.

The thoughts were uncomfortable compared to the light euphoria of the drug she consumed. Maverick saw the chink in her armor and he pressed her further. According to him it was not acceptable to to only enjoy one item in his chosen trifecta, and as he stood up Venom realized that he had fully intended to offer her every one of them. She didn’t think he saw her reaction as he stuffed his nose into his bag. There was a sudden nervousness in her belly, but she pressed it down just like everything else as Maverick turned back towards her with his intended goods.

A bottle, something Venom recognized right away. The dire man lowered himself next to her this time, a not so subtle hint of the last vice to be indulged in. Venom ignored the biological signals of her body, she took what herbs she could to subdue her heat. A lifetime of discipline made its effects minimal, but she hadn’t thought about the loosening of inhibitions.

Maverick indulged without hesitation, the smell of liquor affirming her earlier assumption. He gave her just another moment with her thoughts as he downed a swig of the warming liquid. The turquoise gems that were his eyes lowered to her own. His voice took on a much different tone, and it was deeper and softer than before. His gaze sliced through the defenses that were built around her. Their intensity made her feel like the young girl she had once been. Full of fire, passion, and determination. That hadn’t yet succumbed to the assault of reality.

Despite the turmoil within his sweetened voice and piercing gaze dissipated the fog of it. Just one night, be Venom, not an Empress. He seemed to lean in, and he offered her the bottle of rum once more. Encouraging her to drink but it was more than that. Even before she could take a swig of the rum, Mav created a deep warmth in her belly. He was subtle, wanting her to be the one who took the opportunity of her own volition. There was a chance to let go right at her toe tips.

Venom was reminded of the day they met on Ashen’s border, how it had felt the moment she reached the peak of the rope swing. The sense of weightlessness and the freedom of being in the air. Maverick was offering that again. She held his gaze for a long moment as her morals and virtues struggled inside. She closed her eyes then, she felt the cool bottle against her arm, and Maverick’s warmth at her side. The easing of her tense form and the intoxicating fog in her mind.

Hesitantly her sunset gaze blinked open and her paws found the bottle offered her. As she tipped her head back and let the liquor coat her mouth and throat her body shifted slightly. Just enough that she closed the distance between her thin frame and Maverick’s strong form. A subtle acceptance of all that he had to offer her.

"Venom"