Feeling a lil nostalgic

Azure's body tensed as Hanako mentioned Recluse's death and the lackluster response from the Empire that had followed. His muscles coiled tightly, the news igniting within him a fierce indignation. "Recluse, dead? And they did nothing?" He growled. "An empire that does not protect its own is no empire at all. It's a farce, a gathering of sheep masquerading as wolves." His head shook, exasperation and disgust bringing the skin upon his snout to wrinkle.

Shifting his weight slightly, he eased off her without breaking the close contact - a subtle readjustment to allow them both a bit more space while he stewed. "Perhaps it's a good thing I'm not there." The brute mused, anger giving way to a cold, hard resolve. "Being surrounded by such complacency would only piss me off even more. Better to be apart from it, to remember the Armada as it was, not as it has become."

His eyes slid shut, a frustrated sigh bringing his chest to rise and fall heavily. "But then where do we go from here?" It was not easy, giving up the legacy he had been born into as a member of the Ashen Empire. But what other choice did he have?

As she spoke of Valta, Azure's gaze drifted, reflective. "Ah, Valta... my brother's realm." Pausing, he turned over the current political landscape in his mind. He'd nearly forgotten Kotori's pack had existed at all. The thought he gave to it was brief, the consideration mostly given out of respect for Asla and Indigo, his littermates who had made a home there. "Joining them isn't an option. Nor is Ashen. I can't stand under the rule of my little brother, nor under the shadow of what could have been." If Az had been made Venom's Emperor, he sure as hell would have ensured that a leader's death had consequences.

Azure's gaze softened as he turned to regard his mate once more, offering a rare opportunity for her input. "What do you want, Hana? Where do you see yourself... see us?" It was uncharacteristic of him to solicit her desires so directly, but in this moment, her thoughts, her needs, mattered deeply. Especially when Az considered the sacrifices she had made... and the immoral gift she had offered him.


"Speech"