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eddie wasn't sure how to go on with life after losing venom. he'd been a bit disoriented from the events of area 51, and on the nights when the cold crept in a bit too close and the blankets didn't protect him, he thought of the person he'd killed. the person that didn't deserve to die.
i fired the gun. i pulled the trigger.
on those nights, it almost got too much for him. there was no voice in his head to comfort him, no alien telling him that he was overreacting, that it was to save his friend--friend? or lover?--and that they would be okay as long as they had each other.
on those nights, he wanted to jump off the building. without venom.
sometimes he tried to will the symbiote into existence. sometimes he tried to hear voices, to go crazy, to hallucinate, and maybe, maybe then he would hear the creature he'd come to love. maybe the world would be right then.
he dreamed of the statue of liberty burning, burning, soaking in that acid rain, a small sliver of venom left to survive. at times his mind replaced venom with other symbiotes, carnage, riot. he would throw himself into that green hellfire of death if it meant bringing him back.
normal life was tedious. normal life was strenuous. no longer did he search the back alleyways for bad guys, no longer did he save ms. chen from pathetic robbers who thought they had a place in the world. he searched for that voice every day, every time he walked down the street and couldn't feel the tendrils at his back, venom's head no longer popping around his shoulder.
he searched for that voice every day.
every.
damn.
day.
he trudged around his apartment one morning, the sounds from the 24-inch tv drowning out in the background. he almost wished venom were destroying it, just so he could see him. just so he could feel some emotion.
a roach crawled across the floor, skittering towards the kitchen. he had no energy to go kill it. at least it was living.
he plopped himself down on the couch, letting out a sigh as he cradled his cheek in his palm. the news was rambling on about some fbi thing, about the aliens at area 51, letting loose very little information, but he didn't care. he grabbed the remote and flipped the channel in a huff of frustration, looking for something interesting.
the roach crawled up the couch, encroaching on his arm. he only noticed it when the hairs on his arm rose, and it dared to jump on his skin.
"what the shit!" he exclaimed, slapping it hard.
he lifted his hand, expecting gross roach guts and insides. instead, there was nothing there.
his heart speed up and up, racing across the lakes of his mind, into the deepest oceans of dread, hope, something. he couldn't breath, he couldn't feel his body, he was floating and the world was gone and he was--
"hello, eddie."
he was hearing things. he wasn't here. he knew he should've gone to that therapist. there were tears in his eyes and he was crying because venom was here--
a black tendril reached out from his shoulder and wiped his tears away, the gravelly voice echoing again in his mind, "we saw it together."
eddie sniffed. god, he had been there, he had seen the statue with him. "bye, for now," it had really been true.
"i thought i would never see you again," eddie admitted, reaching out to touch venom's amorphous head, just to make sure it was real.
"we are here, eddie," venom purred. "do not worry. we will not leave."
"good," eddie pulled him forward to kiss the viscous skin between his eyes, venom letting out a soft sound in response. "i thought i lost you forever."
venom's shiny teeth curled into an even wider smile. the goo wrapped around eddie's skin till he was encased in him, every inch and molecule of him venom.
"i will always come back," venom said, moving toward the kitchen. he picked up a bag of frozen tater tots, ripping it open to pour them into his mouth. eddie sighed internally.
they were back to their normal selves, and that made him smile.
a claw slid down eddie's side, making him shiver. venom finished the tots and moved on in the direction of the couch. "i will repay it to you. we have many moments to make up."
it was eddie's turn to grin. "we do. and much time to have them."
venom spread out the pillows to make them comfortable, sirens wailing in the streets, distant shouting somewhere far off. someday, they would have to face the world. someday, they would have to deal with the places that got them here.
but for now, they were just going to love each other.