I'm not stalking you or anything

Venom's kind and flirtatious remark that she thought he was worth chasing after didn't go unheard, and the bashful smirk that touched Maverick's lips betrayed his keen ears. A warmth touched his cheeks and made his heard accelerate, though he just chalked that up to the alcohol beginning to do its thing. With eyes still keen and not yet totally inhibited by inebriation, Mav saw the shift in Venom's neutral expression when he turned the question of fathers back to her. Something had twinged on that angelic monochrome face, but it wasn't anger or bitterness. There was no negativity behind it. Maybe... regret? Disappointment? He couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was, it hadn't been right for his guess.

Maverick listened intently while Venom explained how her father had been loving to all his children, painting him in the light of a nurturing father that would have done anything for his brood. Then she told him how his time had been cut short with them, and how she'd spent her life preserving his memory. "Well, fuck... Guess I was wrong then. Here's to you, Mister Venom's Dad," he remarked, taking his owed drink with graceful defeat and emptying his cup. A pause to refill it with the mead he'd pilfered and he was back in the game again. Venom had noticeably not taken another turn after his, so Mav pounced on his opportunity to learn more about the enigmatic Empress.

"You said you've preserved your father's memory too strictly..." he noted, studying Venom's expression with cool yet intrigued eyes. "That makes me think something in your father's legacy has caused you a great deal of harm." He rephrased it into a more poignant statement for the purposes of their game. "You've sacrificed something significant to you because of something in your father's legacy."

"Maverick"