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“No, for the last time, I’m not going to get you the food out of the trash. It stays in the trash.”
“ Eddie. ”
Eddie scrubbed his face roughly and sighed. “I’m putting my foot down,” and slammed his foot onto the floor for emphasis.
Venom seemed to chuckle and then black tendrils crawled up Eddie’s ankle and defiantly lifted his foot off the floor.
“ Your foot isn’t down. Does that mean I can eat the chicken now? ”
“ No! If you want chicken that bad I’ll just get some more from the shop. Nasty parasite.”
Venom felt like he slinked back, akin to a naughty dog being scolded. He really didn’t seem to like being called that, but Eddie tried to convey it with less...well, venom in his voice.
“ You can be so hurtful yet you sit around on this couch as a parasite on society .”
“Wow. You are definitely the worst roommate I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some bad ones,” Eddie grimaced as he set his drink can on the table.
Grumbling, Venom shifted around inside him restlessly. “ I can see into your mind, Eddie. I know you will cave in and get me food; you do not like me biting people’s heads off. ”
“Of course I don’t! It’s...illegal,” Eddie stammered. He neglected to add that he had done many an illegal thing in his time and biting off someone’s head as a hybrid slime monster-person wasn’t right at the top of the list of most illegal.
Black shifting shapes slid out of his shoulder and formed into Venom’s head, moving around like slightly disturbed water.
“ Eddie. ”
It was hard to get used to another body coming out of his own - he didn’t think he ever could. The sensation was unlike any other that he had felt before; cold and slippery, but simultaneously warm and smooth, like he had been holding in a breath for too long and finally let it out. Now that he knew Venom wasn’t going to instantly kill him (a lie, he had always felt somewhat safe even at the start) his presence was surprisingly relaxing. Never gone, always there by his side. Smirking, he lifted his hand up to trace it around the ever-changing form of Venom’s head. “What, you want pets now? I could walk you like a dog.”
“ I would like to eat a dog, yes. ”
“But we talked about that,” Eddie admonished.
“. ..Yes. ”
He danced his fingers around the air, Venom becoming fluid and solid all at once and wrapping himself around Eddie’s hand. It was such an odd sensation, to feel constantly cornered like prey but simultaneously at home, the most home he’d ever felt. He was scared but it’s not like he had never been an overwhelmingly anxious person. At least something (someone? himself?) had his back and really, truly wouldn’t just ditch him like his partners had before.
“I thought you would feel warm, y’know. Like a pet.”
“ But I am not a pet. ”
“I-I know, I just expected this to feel very different.” He was always worried he’d say the wrong thing and Venom would turn on him but being able to have his mind read was helpful in that respect, at least.
“ You expected this to happen? ”
Eddie frowned and withdrew his hand, groaning in frustration. “No- I can’t get what I mean out properly.”
A hand materialised in front of his face, swirling around and it just flicked him straight in the nose.
“Ow! What the fuck, dude?”
“I do not understand your anguish over a simple sensation. Do you not miss touch from others? ”
“W-what?!” Eddie stammered. He averted his eyes, feeling his cheeks heat slightly. “That’s personal, man.” The floating face twisted round, bright sharp eyes boring into his face.
“ It is our personal space now, Eddie. ”
He sighed and flung his arm out onto the back of the couch. “I know! That’s what’s so frustrating - I can’t hide how I think or feel. You’ve probably seen how my relationships turned out, right?”
“ Yes. ”
“I like my own space!”
“ But you like this more. You are lonely, I can feel it. ”
A warmth rushed over the back of his neck, skittering around to the front of his chest. It felt like a small weight had settled on his sternum (albeit a pleasant one).
Eddie glanced at the window and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the rest of his incredibly empty, unkempt lounge. Piles of washing to-do littered the chairs that were meant to be sat on instead, old worn plaid shirts hanging by a thread dangling off the edge. There were a couple trash bags he’d meant to take out earlier in the week but just forgotten to, garbage piling up in the corner of his room.
“Shit.”
He felt Venom’s smugness before he heard it, an overwhelming feeling of ‘I told you so’ being projected in his brain.
“ Of course I am right. I am a part of you. ”
Eddie wasn’t sure how much of his mind he knew but he would assume Venom could read his thoughts, feelings and memories. It came closer than any kind of intimacy he had ever known before, being just splayed open unable to hide. A word floated around their brain, on the tip of their tongues.
“I didn’t even know aliens could be so smug.”
“ I did not even know humans could be so smelly. ”
He reached over and lightly smacked Venom on the head, giving him a glare that lacked any real heat. “So rude. It’s almost like you don’t want pets.”
Grumbling, Venom twisted his head around to fit under Eddie’s large, calloused hand and slid forward to touch their foreheads together, the slime undulating under his hand.
“ No longer lonely. ”
Eddie closed his eyes and sighed. “No, I guess not.”
The gentle touch was surprisingly relaxing, hearing his own (their?) soft breathing sounds with the quiet white noise of the road from outside through the shut window. Of course, he liked his own space, but he was definitely a person that needed sound, light and touch to prosper. He used a fan to get to sleep on his own because he liked the white noise - Annie always hated it and made him turn it off.
Venom huffed out a breath (did he even breath?) and partially melted back into his head, pressure still on his skin. It was...slightly similar to a cuddle, actually. His muscles felt like the tension just melted away, bleeding out into the sofa.
“ Love? ”
He’d never thought of it that way. But it made sense; it felt like the two of them were made for each other.
Eddie smiled.
“Love.”