don't go breaking my heart

The walk back to Ashen had felt like wandering in a dream, the ethereal state of mind Maverick was lost in attributed solely to the lithe woman walking at his side every step of the way to his new home. Much like her, his heart was thumping strong and quick in his chest, nervous excitement stirring up butterflies in his belly, very uncharacteristic of the suave and cocky bastard he usually was. This was a whole shift of his life though, it would be more surprising for him to not be nervous. He hadn't lived in a pack for any extended time since his youth. But any nerves he felt were easily dispelled whenever he glanced over to Venom, the smile on her lips infectious as it spread across his own face. Playful teases and bumps of their shoulders were shared along their trek that had become very familiar to him over the past two seasons, and when their tails curled and entwined together during their walk, Maverick's pulse went erratic with his beating heart. Venom invoked feelings in him that he'd long-thought had been killed and buried. The Empress resurrected those sensations of floating on cloud nine, feeling like he was an adolescent just beginning to mature into adult romances as opposed to the rakish Casanova he had become. She thrilled him, made him look eagerly to the future with her. His Empress.

Together the couple trudged through the snow until they reached the western edges of Ashen, borders he had become familiar with in his time in Boreas. They paused at the edge of the pack lands just as the night began to give way to the dawn, golden rays of sunlight spilling over the eastern horizon to welcome in a new day—literally and metaphorically. Maverick stood, his toes playfully placed right at the edge of the scent markers while he gazed out over the snow-covered lands that belonged to Venom and her family. This would be his first real time setting foot into Ashen territory. Sure, he had trespassed in jest during their first meeting, but he'd never actually roamed into the lands of his own will before now. There was a strange sense of absolution to the notion, like he would be walking through an actual door into a new life and leaving his old ways behind him. No longer a rambler, but a prince consort to the most powerful wolf in the lands. Maverick took a deep breath, steadying jittery nerves with a swallow. Though he was anxious, there was no doubt in his mind that this was what he wanted. Considering the alternative—considering leaving Venom—it tore at something in his soul and made him feel hollow. For better or for worse, he was all in on them.

The navy and white brute fixed Venom with a smile and a nod, then took that first step past the border and into the Ashen Empire as a welcome addition instead of a sketchy trespasser. With Venom at his side, Maverick walked the lands with her, taking in the array of sights she led him past on their brief tour as she led him toward the palace. Mav was secretly glad that, while being introduced to some new parts of the empire, she had opted to getting him home and in private before giving him a grand tour and introducing him to everyone. He would have the chance to settle in, get accustomed to his new life, take things at his own pace. Maverick matched pace with Venom all the way across the land bridge to her palace on Inu Island. He was awed by the mountain, slipping silently into the caves at the Empress' heels as she led the way to her private quarters and gestured him inside with his first official welcome home, one he expected would be very warm indeed.

The smile that stretched across the once-vagabond's lips was wide enough to make his cheeks ache as he drank in the sights of the Empress' sanctum, a happy hum rumbling in his throat when her lips graced his cheek with a sweet kiss. "Home..." Maverick repeated with a dopey smile, the glee apparent in his shining eyes as he really absorbed everything around him and his brain came to realize that this was theirs now. He was hers, and she was his. Maverick turned his shining eyes down to the beautiful fae at his side, leaning down to catch her lips in a tender kiss before she could fully pull back. "You make this home for me, Ven." Unable to help himself despite the sweetness the two of them shared, Mav gave a teasing swat of his tail to the monochrome woman's shapely rump once more before sauntering into her bedchambers, glancing around at the space as he accustomed himself to what would be their bedroom from now and forever. "Do, uh... we need to worry about anyone coming for a royal wakeup call?" he asked, half joking, half wondering how much privacy the two of them would have with dawn coming over Boreas. If he had his way, he and Venom would spend all morning tangled up in one another celebrating their new relationship and christening their bed together. The other wolves of Ashen... they might have other plans for the busy Empress however.

"Maverick"