Eddie Brock is not a baby; he does not need to be treated as one. He is a grown man that can get out of the messes that he has caused for himself.
If he punches a man, he can handle the jail time that comes after, even if he complains about it the whole time.
But he cannot deny the fact that he lets Venom take care of him. He’ll let Venom cook and clean and whatever, because Venom is not babying him, he does not see it that way. No matter how much Eddie whines about being babied, Venom will patch up his wounds and hold him until he falls asleep because that is not what he is doing. He is caring for his other, for his love, and he will force Eddie to believe he is worthy of that treatment.
And no matter how much Eddie whines about being babied, he won’t ever stop Venom from patching his wounds or holding him until he falls asleep because he does not feel lesser for being taken care of, Venom does not make him feel that way. Because he’s not being babied, he’s not being treated as fragile, he’s being treated as someone worthy of love.
Eddie laid in his bed, he probably smelt like death, he hadn’t moved in at least a day. Venom had tried to encourage him to get up, but Eddie just snapped at him, then sat in his own guilt about doing it. The only times he got up were to go to the bathroom, and those were getting rarer since he wasn’t eating or drinking anything. Venom knew that sometimes Eddie fell into these slumps. He didn’t know how to help. Eddie had said he didn’t like being “babied”. And so, Venom watched as he just... Lay there. He wasn’t thinking about much, but the times he did he just... cried. Venom was sad just by watching it. Not only was Eddie starving himself, but he was also starving Venom too.
Eventually, he got fed up. This was stupid. His host's strength was his strength, and he was rapidly losing that. He smelt horrible; he didn’t like it. He felt weak, and pathetic. So, he took over his host. Without permission. He hated doing that, but what else was he to do? He didn’t hunt immediately, and Eddie yelled at him through his head about “What the hell are you doing?” Instead of listening, he pulled Eddie to the bathroom, he wasn’t used to these small limbs, he was incredibly clumsy, sometimes he tripped, but at least his legs weren’t numb anymore.
He clumsily removed his clothes, the buttons messed him up for a while, but eventually he got it. He turned on the shower and sat his wonderfully-no-longer-screaming host down near the bathtub while he waited for the water to warm up. Eddie covered his unmentionables but didn’t fight further. He blinked lazily as he watched what Venom was doing. When the water was warm enough, he piloted Eddie into the tub, he sat still as the alien did all the work. He washed Eddie off, rinsing him off after a thorough cleaning. Eddie mumbled something that Venom couldn’t quite hear.
“Louder.” The alien demanded.
“Why couldn’t you find someone better?”
“You are the best for me.”
“The universe is wide. You could have found someone else.”
“I could have. But I like you.”
“Why?”
“I like you. No matter what you believe about yourself, my other.” Eddie sighed loudly, Venom pulled him out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. Eddie started walking back over to the bedroom, Venom quickly pulled him past the bed, to the closet.
“Pick.” Venom commanded.
Eddie picked oversized hoodie and sweatpants. He dressed Eddie, while Eddie just closed his eyes and let it happen.
Venom piloted Eddie outside and went straight to Mrs. Chens. “Haven’t seen you around in a while.” She looked at him up and down.
“He has not been feeling good.” Venom quickly supplied. Eddie simply shrugged. Venom went through the shop and grabbed everything that would be useful, mostly food for Eddie. Venom placed the bag and a bunch of money on the counter.
Mrs. Chen gave him his change and offered a smile. “I hope he feels better.”
“Me too.” They walked out, Eddie didn’t exactly say much, but he was glad to know someone was worried. Venom went off their usual route and just walked. Nowhere in particular in mind, just walking.
The sounds of the city didn’t usually sound like anything special to Eddie, but to Venom it reminded him of how industrious this species is. He reminded Eddie how this felt to him. How foreign the idea of a society filled with love was to Venom. Beautiful, is how he saw it. Everyone here was part of an unimaginably large planet. That even if in the grand scheme of things, Eddie, or even earth, was not that important, even if he was JUST a cog in the machine, a machine would still suffer without that one missing piece.
They sat on the edge of a dock; Eddie had his arms wrapped around his knees; head laid on top of them.
“I’m not trying to be unappreciative.” Eddie let out a sob.
“I know, my other. I am not trying to say you’re not.”
“I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“So have I. But you taught me not to define one by mistakes.”
Eddie breathed in shakily, leaning over the water, he looked at himself. “Everything is so overwhelming.”
“Yes. But can you see the beauty in it?” Venom forced him to kick his foot forward, making the image of Eddie’s face look distorted from the small waves. It didn’t look pretty. Venom forced him to look up, at the same thing happening to the moon, in the larger waves. The shine hitting the top of the waves as it shook slightly, the constant movement made not something stressful, but something... pretty.
“I can. So why does it still stress me out?”
“Because you are a cog. A strong cog will still feel the pressure from the others, no matter how much it can withstand, and sometimes strong cogs still need repairs.”
“Too many metaphors.” Eddie said simply, Venom sighed over-dramatically.
“Everyone needs a break eventually. No matter how strong or perfect they are. You are perfect in my eyes, but not in your own.” Eddie looked down at himself, Venom pulled his hands up and moved his fingers individually. “You believe because you need a break, you are weak. You are not. For nobody is truly weak, as long as they are still alive. And even then, death does not define strength in life.” Venom curled his hands into fists, digging his fingernails into the palm, it took a while and more pressure, but eventually it bled. “Things need time to heal, no matter how much they can withstand.” Eddie nodded.
“Can you show me more? More places?”
“You just want to be taken out of your mind. Your thoughts.”
“Yea.” Eddie spoke quietly.
“It’s better than being inside?”
“Yes.” Eddie spoke quieter, he didn’t like admitting it, Venom was right.
Venom piloted Eddie around more, he didn’t give Eddie’s mind a chance to do that whole “Panicking thing”. He had a job to do, and he would do it. Eventually they went home, after a lot of walking. Eddie’s legs hurt, but he felt more alive. Venom took him inside, they made food, and they watched the tv. Venom taught Eddie how to do the yoga from that tape Mrs. Chen gave him while the sheets were in the washing machine. And after the sheets were clean, they laid back down in bed.
“Tomorrow, we will do it again.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight, Eddie.” Eddie rolled over on his side and felt the familiar feeling of Venom wrapping around him. And it didn't fix everything immediately, but he felt like it’d maybe be okay.