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When Eddie sees it first, he wants to scream. He's watching TV, Venom half materialised by his side so it can emote it's commentary, and suddenly it goes quiet. He turns, wondering what could stop his symbiote's train of thought entirely, and is met by the almost hostile widening of it's jaw, slow, deliberate and slightly jerky. And he almost does scream, definitely would've in two more seconds, but then Venom lets out a loud sound, it's jaws snapping shut so hard the rows of teeth clack together and it genuinely is terrifying until it's accompanied by the mental image of a sneeze.
That was a sneeze.
All the symptoms are there, and they begin to make themselves known in albeit strange ways, a heavy pressing feeling in Eddie's chest and stomach and multiple occasions of the back of his throat feeling like it's being squeezed. Venom stops talking in the middle of sentences more, occasionally it even gasps, followed by sounds Eddie takes to mean a struggle for breath he didn't even know the symbiote needed.
But everyone catches colds, Eddie feels a little ridiculous for assuming Venom wouldn't, and he's proud enough of his chicken soup that maybe it'll help. Venom's voice isn't stuffy, but it sounds exhausted when it tells Eddie the soup isn't working, isn't goddamn working, and there's so many pathogens, so...so tired, a protective instinct sparks up in Eddie's chest.
"Then sleep, love."
"I can't, Eddie, there are too many-"
"It'll heal. Bodies do that."
"You mean recover"
"So I do, darling, so I do." The fact that Venom still has the ability to quip back at him is a good sign. It's not too sick then.
Eddie begins to try out cures then, unsure of what would help Venom but willing to eat basically anything if it'd help. Obviously human medicines wouldn't work, so he tries seafood, chocolate, hot ginger tea, warm brandy, red meat steaks, the last one in imitation of what Venom enjoys while eating...well, people, the one thing Eddie can't do.
Apparently the only conclusive thing there is that Venom likes what tea tastes like, and Eddie is still no closer to find out how to help an alien's very-cold-like-illness. The absentminded wondering he does throughout the day about how he could possibly help makes him a little bit careless, just a little, just enough that he accidentally nicks himself while shaving, slips once while cutting vegetables, and unexpectedly that makes Venom feel even worse.
The miserably unwell emotions Eddie feels through their bond mixes with frustration, with "What good am I if I can't even heal my host, if I can't even take care of you, Eddie-”
“Stop that right now, V. You’re sick. I just haven’t figured out how to help you yet.”
“But your hand-”
“I got an immune system of my own, don’t you worry.” His words placate Venom, but perhaps a large part of that is that Venom is much too tired to protest, only shove his general feeling of gratitude through their bond.
Between trying every food Venom has mentioned it liked and reading through cures for colds among every creature he can think of that could be similar to Venom, he’s neglected to check his phone enough to realise he has several missed calls from Anne.
Which of course leads to her knocking on his door at four in the afternoon as he’s eating curry. “Be right there!”
Anne stands in his doorway, worry apparent in her face as she enquires, “Eddie? Are you alright?”
“Huh? What’dya mean Annie? I’m perfectly fine.”
“You haven’t been answering your phone.”
“Oh. Well,” he runs a hand through his hair, wondering how best to explain and deciding on, “Venom has the alien-symbiote-equivalent of a cold and I’m trying to help him.”
That makes Anne stare for a solid ten seconds, but to her credit she doesn’t even flinch, just pulls out her phone and dials Dan, ushering Eddie into the house so she can close the door just as Dan picks up. “Hi, Dan, I’m putting you on speaker, Eddie needs some help.”
“Thanks Annie,” he half smiles, speaking up as Dan asks, “Yeah? What’s wrong Eddie?”
“Hey, Dan, sorry to bother you but my symbiote here’s got a cold and I don’t really know what to do.”
Dan hums, just as Venom protests weakly, “Don’t want to bother. Can fix on our own.”
“Naw, Dan’s gonna help us. Because I don’t know how.”
Venom grumbles still, but quiets down so Eddie can hear Dan, “Well why not let it just sleep? You two are connected right? What if it lets your immune system clear out the pathogens?”
“Well wouldn’t it have already?”
“Not if Venom is keeping the pathogens isolated so they can’t come in contact with any of your cells.” Eddie balks at that, about to say no it wouldn’t, but Venom’s confirmation disproves him almost immediately so all he gets out is an incredulous, “Really? God, V, let me help you, you’re my partner.”
“If that doesn’t work would you call me back? I’ve gotta run now,” Dan says, sounding slightly distracted, and Anne thanks him quickly, closing her phone and striding across the living room to Eddie’s dead cell as he converses wordlessly with Venom through their bond.
Venom is upset, he can tell that much, but he does convince it to let them try this just as Anne takes his hand, puts the phone in it.
“Call. If I don’t hear from you in two days I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“I owe you, Annie. I will call,” he promises, returning the smile she offers. “Can I get you something? Soup? Medicine?”
“I think we got this,” his reassurance is punctuated by Venom’s hum.
When Anne leaves, the symbiote continues, “Can do this alone Eddie. Take care of you.”
“Right now we’re taking care of you, love.”
“Sure?”
“Yes I’m sure. Sleep, V, I’ll be right here.” At last Venom’s halfhearted objections die down with it’s exhaustion, and Eddie feels how really genuinely tired it is as it falls asleep, a welcome weight settling in his ribs somewhere.
Eddie feels whatever it is in a few minutes, but to him it doesn’t feel like an illness, just a vague warmth in his throat and a chill he cures with an extra sweater and some blankets.
And when Venom wakes, happy and nudging Eddie as it materialises out of his shoulder, he has hot chocolate at the ready.