Meet and Greet

If Maverick's response to Sirius had been unwise, the Warlord's retort was straight idiotic. The growl that pervaded through his words was an immediate red flag, and when uttered around his newborn puppies it immediately had the father's lips peeling back from pearly fangs as he perceived the threat Sirius made himself to be. He didn't care who Sirius was to Venom or who he thought he was, a stranger in his home showing aggression around his children would be met with aggression. It was a stupid mistake that showed lack of control at best, and flagrant disrespect at worst. One of the pups, Rogue, stirred a little in his sleep as the conversation grew heated, tiny puppy mewls breaking the tension for a moment as Maverick turned his attention down to the sleeping nuggets, craning his neck over Venom to gingerly nuzzle the boy back to sleep. When his son settled down, he joined Venom in turning a sharp gaze to Sirius. Venom had interjected before anything could escalate, but the tone had been set. Sirius had come close to making himself an enemy today.

Venom did her best to soothe the Warlord while he offered an explanation for his aggression. Maverick simply stared back at Sirius, unimpressed by the man's attempt to explain away what appeared to either be an obsessive protective disorder or unchecked anger issues. Either option made him unreliable and subject to scrutiny in Mav's eyes, and he was beginning to suspect he knew why Venom hadn't introduced them earlier. Sirius offered another wolf from his pack for protection, which Venom accepted to appease the man, but reminded Sirius to put stock in Ashen and her firstborn litter to defend the Empire. She might not have seen the desperation in Sirius' eyes, but Mav did. Ah, so it was obsessive protective disorder then... When Venom mentioned himself, Maverick sat up straighter at her side, keeping a wary gaze held on Sirius all the while. He knew he wasn't the most honed fighter, but he'd be damned if he didn't go down swinging to protect his soon-to-be wife and their children. He said nothing through the exchange though; Venom had said all that needed to be said, and he couldn't trust himself to not say something everyone would end up regretting if he opened his mouth around this guy again.

"Maverick & Venom"