Work Text:
Venom has taken up knitting. It all started on their brunch date with Anne and Dan. Anne was wearing an oversized, brightly coloured knitted sweater.
Tell Anne we like her sweater, Eddie. It is very pretty and looks very soft.
Eddie relayed the message.
Anne lit up with a smile so wide Eddie thought it might split her face in two. “Thank you, Venom! I made it myself! I’ve taken up knitting!”
What is knitting, Eddie?
Eddie tries his best to explain something he has very little knowledge of. “Uh, well, you start with wool and two long needles…”
NEEDLES?!
They sound both horrified and very confused, and Eddie immediately tries to explain. “Not those kind of needles-“
Anne cuts him off. “I can show you how to do it sometime, if you’d like, Venom.”
I’d like that very much.
They settle on going to Anne’s for their first lesson the following Saturday, and Venom spends the next five days watching hours of knitting tutorials on YouTube, determined to be prepared.
After the first lesson, the sound of knitting needles clicking against each other becomes a constant in Eddie’s life. When he wakes up in the morning, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, while he’s working on stories and interviews at his desk, or they’re watching TV before bed, Venom’s working away on their own projects at Eddie’s side.
Anne started them on a scarf, something relatively easy and repetitive, and after they complete that and a pair of mitts within a month, she declares them ready to get their hand, er, tentacles, at a sweater, something they’ve been wanting to try since the day they first saw the one Anne made.
They insist that Eddie take them to the fancy craft store for nicer wool for the sweater, no longer satisfied with castoffs from Anne’s scrap yarn bin, or the cheap stuff they sell in the craft section at Walmart.
They spend close to an hour in the store, Venom making Eddie pick up every different kind of wool, testing how soft and weighty it is, having him hold up the labels so they can read them.
They finally settle on a heavy, chunky wool in a medium shade of blue, and Eddie only grumbles a little bit about the cost, happy to see Venom have a hobby they’re so passionate about.
It turns out that a sweater isn’t quite as easy as a scarf or mittens, and Venom spends the next few weeks stumbling through the creation of it, consulting Anne for assistance, and their trusty YouTube tutorials when she’s not available.
“Why do you need a sweater of all things, anyway?” It finally occurs to Eddie to ask as Venom grouses loudly about another hole that’s appeared in one of the arms. It doesn’t even look like it’s going to fit you, and it’s not like you’re ever cold. Why are you stressing yourself out over this?”
“It is not for myself, Eddie. It is for you. You look very nice in blue.”
Oh.
“I know that to humans, gift giving is a way to show affection, and that making the gift by hand shows even greater affection.”
Double oh. Eddie definitely doesn’t feel like his heart is in a vice grip at Venom’s words and he definitely isn’t almost tearing up. Nope.
“Thank you, Venom. That’s really kind of you.” He manages to choke out without sounding too much like he’s about to cry.
He returns to the video game he was playing as Venom consults a YouTube video again, since it’s too late to call Anne.
When Venom finally finishes the sweater and presents it to Eddie, the look of pride on the symbiote’s face will be burned into Eddie’s memory forever.
He wears the sweater with pride, holes and loose threads be damned, feeling like he’s wrapped in a big, warm hug every time he slips it on.