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“Eddie?”
Anne looked so pretty with her hair up and out of her face. It made her face look a little sharper, a little more stern, and Eddie loved it.
Interesting.
“What?”
“I asked what you wanted to order Eddie,” Anne continued looking at him with concern. That seemed to be the main way she looked at him these days. She had after all seen him climb into a tank of live lobsters and bite into one raw. That would be hard to get past.
She does not want us Eddie.
“Yeah, yeah, um I’ll get the uh,”
Brains.
“No.”
Brains Eddie.
“They don’t have those here.”
“Eddie?” Anne leaned in, her stern face twisting as she leaned in and lowered her voice. “Venom? Maybe we can pick up what you want after me and Eddie eat, okay?”
Her big white teeth shone when she smiled but Eddie couldn’t help but feel conflicted over that.
“Yes, Anne.” Venom spoke through Eddie’s mouth, and then promptly retreated.
Through the rest of dinner Venom was quiet, and Eddie was able to talk to Anne in peace. She was a powerhouse, explaining to him all about how she was turning around the public law offices through her hard work and no-nonsense attitude.
Through it all her big diamond ring glittered in the lights as she gestured, during her story about how some such lawyer and…. yeah. That would be hard to get past too.
They finished up and Eddie got the rest of his food to go.
“So… were we going to get something for Venom?” Anne asked as they headed out of the restaurant.
We can go without her tonight.
“Oh yeah, I think me and Venom will just get something from Mrs. Chen’s on the way home. Thanks for dinner Anne.” He smiled and she smiled back, softly, gently, like she didn’t want to break him with her joy.
“Okay. See you soon then.” She headed to her car and Eddie stood and waved at her until she drove off.
“You wanted to spend some time alone with me or something?” Eddie teased.
Yes.
“Oh.” Eddie was a little surprised at Venom’s direct answer. Venom had no tact, which could be confused for directness, but he had a tendency to be cagey about anything that wasn’t food related. He usually didn’t want to admit when he wanted to spend time with Eddie.
Things had been a bit different since Carnage though. They had a lot to work on together, maybe Venom was trying to take the first step.
Let’s get a snack.
Venom overtook Eddie in an instant, covering him with his form. It was the strangest sensation, especially when Venom wasn’t doing it out of necessity in an adrenaline-fueled situation. It was such a powerful feeling and Eddie associated it so strongly with fear that his whole body flushed hot with adrenaline.
Venom crouched then leapt four stories onto the roof of the nearest building. The sheer power coiled around Eddie made his heart leap, as did the feeling of flying when Venom took off at such high speeds. It took him a moment to notice they were not headed in the direction of Mrs Chen’s shop.
“Woah woah, were we going buddy?”
To get a snack.
“Right, but I thought we were headed to Mrs Chen’s,” Eddie attempted to cajole Venom. “Then we can go home, cuddle with Sonny and Cher, watch a movie?”
Venom paused, freezing at the edge of a rooftop, his massive body poised and rippling with tension.
Eddie thought for a moment that Venom was going to agree, that they could spend a quiet night in together and Eddie wouldn’t spend half of it gagging over having swallowed a human head. Then he realized why Venom had stopped.
“Help,” a voice whimpered in the alley below them, and Eddie felt anger and trepidation sweep coldly up his spine. He was accustomed to grim scenarios, had become so even before an alien took him for a cannibalistic joyride. And his curiosity was so strong that it had seriously hurt him more than once. That curiosity, that need to know what was happening no matter how awful he would feel once he knew, hadn’t subsided even after many horrible consequences. It was what had made him a formidable journalist, and a terrible boyfriend. But still, he had to know.
He nodded and Venom slid, smooth and silent as honey dripping off a spoon, off the edge of the roof.
A man held a knife against a woman’s cheek in the alley, while he fumbled, trying to get his belt open. Venom’s vision allowed them to pick out every greasy detail of the rapist, from the sweat beading at the back of his neck to the make of his shoes.
Venom slid up behind him and between the woman’s eyes widening and her mouth opening to scream, the rapists’ head was gone.
The headless body slumped to the ground, the knife clattered to the sidewalk and the woman let out her scream. It was a comically short burst, cut off when Venom crouched again. The woman watched, wide eyed with fear while Venom picked up the body and leaped straight into the air.
They landed on the same rooftop they had slid down from and dumped the body unceremoniously. Then they crouched and waited, watching the woman to see what she would do. She leaned against the alley wall shaking for a few minutes, then, with jerky halting movements she hightailed it back towards the street. Venom reached back and grabbed the body, crumpling it into a horrible misshapen ball and throwing it so it landed with a massive crash in an open dumpster.
Home now?
Eddie nodded.
Venom stood and took a running leap, and Eddie was flying.
---
Eddie sat on the couch, Venom’s head floating beside him and ripping into the shitty action movie they were watching. The fight sequences were so ludicrous now that Eddie had actually experienced fighting for his life, and Venom’s clever quips about the fragility and foolishness of humans made Eddie smile.
Eddie?
Eddie had been zoning out, enjoying the moment, and honestly the hot chocolate he had made for them when they got home was making him a little sleepy. He turned his head to face Venom’s, trying to rouse his drowsy brain to full alertness.
“Hmm?” Eddie responded.
You are tired Eddie. Do you want to finish the movie? Venom said gently, cutting off the slight worry growing in Eddie’s chest that Venom would be irritated by his inattention. His previous partners had been, it was always oh so you can pay attention to the Brock Report, but we can’t even spend an evening together without you wandering off? But his other half understood him on a deeper level than any other human ever could. He was still getting used to that.
Venom was being so sweet, asking Eddie his opinions on things, adding mini marshmallows to his hot chocolate because he knew Eddie liked the extra sweetness even though it wasn’t chocolate and didn’t do anything for Venom, letting Eddie choose the movie. It made a giddy feeling rise in Eddie’s chest and he smiled.
“Yeah, I’d like to finish it.” Eddie laid an arm across the back of the couch on the side that Venom’s head was. A sort of approximation of the classic arm across the shoulder move.
Venom snuggled against Eddie’s outstretched arm and Eddie gently began stroking the side of Venom’s face. Eddie was out like a light before the end of the next scene. Held by his love in their apartment, he really couldn’t wish for anything more.