Aptitude test

Maverick was getting more and more accustomed to living in Ashen every single day. What had started out as a daunting notion of upending his entire lifestyle in favor of building a new stable life with his girlfriend had become a comfortable sort of normal he looked forward to waking up to every single day. But until recently, he felt like he hadn't done much to carry his own weight within the pack. Sure, the argument could be made that he was still getting his feet underneath him after a total life change, but more than anything, Maverick wanted to feel like he was worthy of Venom. The stories of her formidable ex-husband and actually seeing him in person at the pack challenge did leave the outwardly confident renegade a little shaken up and feeling a smidge inadequate by comparison. Well, that stopped today! Starting from now, Mav was focused on making himself into the best version of himself—not just for Venom to have a partner who could stand up against the world with her, but for his own self-esteem as well.

Deciding that sharpening his fighting skills seemed like the best place to begin if he was to help defend the Empire for his queen, Maverick headed down from the palace to the training areas that he had been shown during his initial tour of the pack with his beloved Empress. He had asked Venom to meet him here at midday, though he hadn't told her why yet. He cleared out one of the rings of any debris and, once satisfied with the state of the arena, sat and waited for Venom to come meet him. Hopefully she wouldn't be too busy that he could steal some of her time for a quick spar, just a little assessment to gauge where his skills were—and also to get a chance to see his lady in action too. A little devilish smirk touched his lips as he considered that last point. Yeeeah, getting to see Venom in the heat of battle sounded pretty hot.

"Venom & Maverick"