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They were exhausted.
All of them.
It was difficult to put into words how weary their bones were and it seemed to the trio that the host and its alien parasite felt the same. So much so that they couldn't be bothered to go their separate ways, resigning to a taxi trip back to Eddie’s apartment. It was closer and Marc knew he couldn't handle another half hour (or longer) spent in traffic trying to get back to his place nor could he fathom walking to try and cover the distance quicker.
He just wanted to sleep.
Eddie had already gotten a head start. Arms crossed against his chest, leaning back against the headrest, eyes closed; even the lively conversation their driver was having with someone on his phone wasn't enough to keep him awake. Marc was almost jealous, but, still, every once and a while he found himself jerking their head back up as their body tried to take the opportunity to follow suit.
Resisting the urge to rest against the window, Marc blearily watched as they inched down the street. They were close now and that was making the exhaustion worse. He yawned and rubbed away the tears that pressed into his eyes from the effort. He wasn't even sure he would make it to the couch when they arrived. The floor would work just as well.
He felt himself swaying in his seat and placed one hand on the console between them to keep himself steady. Someone had to be awake to let them know they were about to reach home and—
He balked at himself then.
Eddie’s place wasn't their home. Marc had a home. They had multiple homes, but the host’s wasn't one of them. It was a safehouse at most. If they needed to lie low, they could depend on the host to give them the few days they needed to recuperate before heading out again. They knew they could crash longer, sure, but he hated to overstay a welcome in any sense.
Especially considering things were…odd between them.
Personal in a way he almost forgot could exist between two people.
He tried not to think about it and kept their visits as brief as possible to keep any emotions he thought he had at bay. He didn't give them names; didn't try to define them in hopes that they wouldn't get worse. Steven and Jake kept surprisingly quiet about it, which only made it far more suspicious when every time the two bodies worked together, the feelings seemed stronger.
He shook their head. He was lingering on it too long already.
Yet…at the same time he went to push it out of his mind, the universe had plans to shove it back in.
A cold, wet sensation wrapped itself around their pinky finger. It was a gentle touch, a cautious one. Like it didn't want to startle him. Every nerve in their arm wanted to pull away regardless, but those exact emotions he was reflecting on kept him in place as he turned to look at their hand.
A small, black tendril stretched itself from somewhere up Eddie’s sleeve to stealthily hold on to Marc. Once it realized it had gotten his attention, it softly squeezed and he swore he could feel its toothy smile.
Marc felt as their heart began to pound against their sternum. The blood rushed in their ears and brought a crimson glow to their neck. A small voice in their head told him to squeeze back and he quickly batted it away when he realized it was his own. He glanced up at the driver, but the man was far too busy focusing on both the road and his conversation to care about what was happening between his patrons. Part of him wished he would look in the rearview mirror, forcing the symbiote to retreat back to its host, but the louder half was thankful he was preoccupied.
Marc didn't know what to think about that.
The tendril reached over to grab their ring finger. It was testing the waters now, seeing how much of their hand it could hold before Marc finally buried his feelings. However, whether he was stunlocked by them or was equally curious how far he would let it go, he found himself watching as Venom continued its treks across their skin. Once all four fingers were webbed between strains of biomass, Marc flipped their hand over and, after a moment of hesitation, rubbed their thumb across. It pleased the symbiote to have its affection returned and he could feel it bury into their flesh with an icy—
“Hey!”
The tendril quickly disappeared. Marc snapped their head forward as the driver turned at the waist to look back at them.
“You can wake up your friend. We're here.”
He swallowed the lump he hadn't realized formed in their throat and mumbled acknowledgement before reaching over with the same hand Venom was holding to shake Eddie awake.
The host grumbled and furrowed his brow before his eyes cracked open.
“Home?” He murmured, yawning shortly after. Marc nodded.
“Yeah.”
…
“We're home.”