Everyone's So Boring
Eddie was obnoxiously clicking his pen, he was sat in his office, staring blankly at his screen, waiting for something it hit him. It wasn't his work, he just needed to proof read it and then send it off on his deadline, for once he was ahead when it came to his work. Nah, he was trying to think of what him and Steven could do for their date, he was lost on what he could do, they spent enough time eating in the other's flat and watching either, really shitty films, or really good ones. But so far, he thought maybe something different could be good for the both of them. He wanted to take him to a local restaurant, despite him looking online, he was still lost ten ways to Sunday.
And that's when it hit him, not the inspiration, but one of Kayla's pens, right on his forehead. He shoot his attention from starting into nothing, onto Kayla, who was sat across from him looking annoyed, "If you keep clicking that bloody pen, I'm ramming it up your arse," she hissed, but instead of turning back to her own work, "What's with you today anyways? You seem, lost in the multiverse or some shit like that,"
"Technically I was," Venom said, they had been reasonably quiet today, still happy from the date Eddie went on with Steven.
"What?!" Eddie half yelled, he wasn't expecting to hear that, Venom had always been secretive when it came to before they met Eddie, but he didn't push it, Venom would tell him when they wanted to, or if they wanted to.
"Alright," Kayla commented defensively, "Don't get so offended, it was just me-"
The penny finally dropped for Eddie, he sometimes forgets that not everyone can hear Venom, so when someone so out of pocket happens and his reaction is external, it can end up with nothing but confusion and a bit of an argument, "Oh shit, sorry that came out wrong," Kayla stopped talking, tilted her head, and just looked blankly at Eddie, "I'm just, I was just, y'know, thinking," he managed out, it was difficult, he had about two hundred questions running around his mind and not enough of anything to calm down.
"Thinking about what?" Kayla seemed to drop it, she sat up straighter and placed both her arms of the desk and resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
"Where me and Stevens should go for out date," Eddie admitted in a small voice.
"Wow, mate, shit's getting serious, ent they?" she teased, Eddie couldn't bite back a blush, Kayla laughed, this wasn't the first time she had teased him about Steven and it won't be the last.
"Yeah, they kinda are, I mean, we've both got stuff we need to tell each other. But so far, no deal breakers," he nodded.
"What about red flags?" Kayla questioned.
Eddie knew that they had been a fair few, on both their parts, Steven disappearing for days without word would be classed as a little bit of a red flag, or a lot a bit of a red flag. Eddie was still very vague about why he had left San Francisco, avoiding over any details that might get him caught up in an uncomfortable situation, he made jokes about himself that could be passed off as self-deprecating, but they were really just him trying to find a way to deal with his self-destructive tendencies. So, it was possibly for them both to have some red flags, but they didn't have any that would then turn into deal breakers.
"Just, one or two, mainly from me though," Eddie shrugged off, because to be wholly honest, it would be unrealistic to say that there weren't any, within every relationship one or two (very mild) red flags would come up, like being self-destructive, or vague about previous life events, it's the bringing them up and taking the time to talk about things properly, that's when things start becoming deal breakers.
"Let me guess, it's the fact that you're from the States," she joked.
"Ha, ha, ha," Eddie replied dryly, "very funny,"
"When's the date then, maybe I could give you a hand with where to go?" Kayla asked
"Tomorrow," Eddie said, panic showing in his voice.
Kayla shook her head, he knew it was a lost cause trying to place something together, Eddie had been trying yet at the same time overthinking it all, "Can't happen," Eddie's face fell, "Sorry, did you forget about the Christmas Work Do?"
"Oh fuck," Eddie sighed, sliding his arms off the desk and putting his head on the cold surface, with Venom laughing at him in the back of his mind, he officially gave up any attempts.
"Well done, Brock," Kayla commented sarcastically, turning back to her work as Eddie wallowed in his idiocy for a moment. And that's when an idea he's sure that he'll regret later came to his mind.
Eddie (14:27):
so i mightve fucked up a little...
my christmas work thingy is tomorrow and thats when out date is. now i know im gonna regret this
but do you wanna come with me for a couple hours???
Steven (14:29):
Mate, when you said you 'fucked up' my heart stopped for a moment, I won't lie. But, yes, I'm sure it will be fine.
Eddie (14:31):
im taking that as a "i didnt listen to a work you said when you spoke about work"
Steven (14:31):
How could I not listen to you, love?
Eddie felt himself blush, it was over the most silliest thing, but all the same whenever Steven called him a nickname. Venom has, on a few occasions, told Eddie to get a grip, because even they were getting second hand embarrassment from his easy reaction. Eddie put his phone away and stared mindlessly at his computer, he paced around the kitchen over the next day, at is got closer and closer to the Christmas Work Do, he got this encroaching anxiety about Steven meeting the people in his office. He worked with nice people, he had met everyone by now, most were fairly nice, just went on with their days and didn't get in Eddie or Venom's nerves all that much. But then there were the likes of Josh, the people in the office that peaked in secondary and never grew up. Or even if they did, it wasn't that much.
Meaning, as Eddie and Steven were walking up to the pub, Eddie gently pulled on Steven's arm and said, "If you wanna leave, at any point in the night, just tell me, and were are out of there,"
Steven smiled reassuringly, placing the palm of his hand on Eddie's cheek and pulling him in for a quick kiss, as they pulled away, Steven muttered, "I'm sure it'll be fine,"
Eddie's stomach knotted painfully, for someone who has been up against killer aliens, twice, in his life, this does seem to make him feel more uneasy. The come down, and living a semi-low life now, made him settle back into his skin, his tolerances to high stress situations may have shifted since moving, but maybe that was healthier. Someone can only get stuck in so many high stress, life or death, situation before it becomes a little too much and the comedowns from adrenaline are so bad. As much as he wanted to revel in his newfound stability, he had more pressing matters hitting the forefront of his mind. And that was seeing if him and Steven will end up making a quick escape if things get too... awkward.
Eddie opened the door, ushering Steven through first, he ended up following quickly behind. The pub was filled with people from his office, who most had already started drinking and some were already pissed. Some Christmas song was playing in the background, not too loud, just enough for everyone to hear over the loud chattering from crowds within the establishment. Moving past groups clustering together at the bar was painful, once finally pushing past the lot of them, Eddie braced himself on the bar as Steven stood by his side, he looked overwhelmed at the large amount of people. So was Eddie, he wasn't sure how he used to do this, back when he was in college, parties and crowds, because as of right now he was regretting agreeing to come.
Ordering two beers from themselves, it was just Eddie and Steve for the time being, some people in the office had talked to Eddie for the span of two minutes, nothing new. But it wasn't long before Kayla partially jumped on Eddie, she was fairly drunk but still coherent, it was the phase of drunk where she was hyper and ready to sing Mariah Carey on the bar despite hating the singer.
"Brock!" she half squealed, placing her hands on his shoulders from behind and scaring Eddie, he didn't miss the little giggle that Steven let out, "I thought you weren't gonna show. But you did, and thank fuck for that because Josh is about to buy shots and I'm not putting him in a taxi this year," she was about to start talking about something else when she noticed Steven standing, pint in hand, "Oh my days, you must be the Steven he doesn't stop talking about," Kayla let go of Eddie's shoulders, placing her hand out for Steven to shake it, "I'm Kayla," she smiled sweetly.
Steven shook Kayla's hand, a blush creeping up on his face, "Oh, he talks about me,"
Nodding, "All the bloody time," Kayla smirked, she knew how much she could embarrass Eddie tonight, it wouldn't be too difficult.
"Nah, that weren't true, I didn't do that," Kayla shook her head, her and Eddie had been bickering about this for the past half an hour, it was mainly out of Eddie trying to embarrass Kayla, nevertheless it turned out to be more difficult that he thought considering she doesn't embarrass easily, "Anyways, why you coming at me for that, your the one who spends half his time at work texting his S/O, not me," Kayla stood up from the table, leaving the two next to each other, excusing herself to go to the toilet.
Eddie and Steven just fell into a conversation, they got lost in it for a while and broke out of it when some people clocked how close the two were together. Eddie played with is bracelets, he could feel their stare encroaching on him and Steven just wanting to have a nice time, and night out, something that other people in the office have done, bringing their partners or S/Os. But once Eddie brought Steven, it seemed to be weird, he kept convincing himself that it was based off that fact no one in the offices, with the exception of Kayla, knew much about Eddie's personal life. Eddie knew it wasn't the most truth, but it had to be apart of some of it, not all, but some.
"What's wrong?" Steven asked, he noticed that Eddie had gone quiet and was a little distracted. When Eddie didn't answer, Steven followed his eye line to the blokes at the bar, looking at them and muttering between them. His stomach fell, he wasn't used to people paying much, or any attention, to him, so this put him in a new lane of uncomfortable.
Steven excused himself, he claimed he just needed some air, Eddie went along with it and just sat by himself nursing the pint. Steven paced through the pub, towards a back exit, he wasn’t entirely sure on where he was going but he wound up behind the pub alone, not on the verge of a panic attack just trying to wrap him head around the attention he was getting. Marc was just about to help calm him down when he heard a concerned voice from behind him.
"Alright there mate?" Kalya asked, pushing herself off the wall and slowly approaching Steven. Marc stayed close, he didn't know Kayla and wasn't ready to trust her... he was working on his trust issues... in so many words.
Nodding awkwardly, Steven managed out a couple words, "Yeah, no, I'm all find, just not used to y'know," he said pointing behind him.
"Big crowds?" it was less of a question and more of a statement, "Me either, hate them," that's when Steven noticed that she wasn't in the toilets, she was behind the pub, smoking. She held a half smoked cigarette between her fingers and took a drag, blowing out the smoke away from Steven, up towards the night sky, "Normally don't do this shit, that's why I drink during Work Dos and birthdays and in my case, Yom Kippur with my sister," Steven couldn't take his eyes off the cigarette she was smoking. Kayla noticed and laughed a little to herself, stepping backwards, returning back to her place on the wall, "And smoke, it's a massive stress relief for me, it's self-destructive smoking, mind you, but it's a little better than my older habits,"
"Yeah, I get that, the self-destructiveness, not the smoking a fag thing," Steven added, walking up beside Kayla and leaning against the wall glancing up at the night sky. It was littered with start for the first time in weeks.
"Shitty childhood life too?" Kayla asked, putting the cigarette out on the wall and flicking it into the darkness in front of them.
"You could say that," Steven answered.
"Ha," she laughed bitterly, "This year, was my first year spending Yom Kippur with my family, normally just do it myself, but with the lockdowns and shit, my family wanted to see me for some fucking reason," Kayla explained, "Anyways, it was about the first time I'd seen them since I was seventeen, and it ended, well, like it always did. Mum's angry with me, Dad telling me to apologise, my sister crying and me leaving," Kayla pulled out a packet of cigarettes from her coat picked, placing another in her mouth and lighting it. Taking a long drag before speaking again, "What about you, where abouts is your family?"
Steven froze, he hadn't know a huge about about his and Marc's family, and from what he found out through the months Marc was going to be seeing any of them anytime in the near future, "Oh, I think they are all back in Chicago, don't talk to them a huge amount either,"
"Fucking hell, USA?" Kayla gawked, not meaning to come across rude, "Ah, the world works in mysterious ways," she joked. Offering the cigarette to Steven who turned it down without hesitation. They talked back and forth a little while longer, once Kayla put out the cigarette they both returned back into the warmth to find Eddie in a heated conversation with someone from their office.
Walking past the numerous lamps, Kayla had said ‘goodnight’ as they both went their separate ways for the night. Steven and Eddie walked down the street hand in hand, it felt weirdly normal, like they had been doing it all this time. Spending evenings together, not caring about the rest of the world for a few moments. Steven and Eddie spent the night in their own flats, as much as they didn’t want to, they both had work in the morning and maybe shouldn’t stay up and later knowing they would be hungover in the morning (well, that was more of the excuse they gave one another).
The next couple weeks went by in a hurry, Christmas came and went for them, they three ended up having a takeaway, drinking and spending the whole day being with each other. It was less of them spending a holiday together and just them having a reason to get pissed and eat food, because isn’t that what the holidays were truly about, getting wankered and eating food with the people you care about?
Days started going passed and time became normal, no weird vigilante shit to run away from, Eddie still let Venom pace around the city every couple of days, Marc still took a job every once in a while that would help cover the rise in cost of living. Eddie and Steven began to get more used to dating one another, Kayla became a small constant in both of their lives, she would join them every couple weeks for a meal, or out for drinks in a quiet corner of the pub. Maybe getting comfortable with normality is what causes a painful down fall, but for now, the both of them were enjoying it.
Of course somethings reminded unmentioned, sure Eddie had told Steven about him being trans, but not about the space-alien-thing living in his body. And sure, Steven had mentioned he had some mental health issues, but the other didn’t pry too much, leaving them to fill in the gaps when ever they wanted. But nothing would ever be that simple, because life isn’t a movie, endings don’t really exist.
Walking down the hallway, Eddie noticed his front door was left open, which was strange because he remember closing the door and locking it, mainly due to the argument he was having with Venom at the time, they were nagging him to hurry up but Eddie could only move so fast. His footsteps were awkward as he made his way closer to the door, he could feel his chest tighten as Venom threatened to come out. His hand reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, he wasn't sure if calling the police would be his tactic, it was most likely a reflex.
Getting closer to the door, keeping close to the wall, inhaling deeply before entering the flat, dreading the damage that is about to be done to all his hard work. Eddie noticed the bloodied handprint on both the door frame and door itself, both were smeared, who ever entered his flat must have taken a right hit. He couldn't see any damage to the door frame or lock in general, so who had unlocked the door didn't break it down at it was still on it's hinges, the only other person who would have the spare key to his flat would be Steven and by now he would undoubtedly be asleep by now, after working a double shift and the book shop.
Swinging the door open and stepping through the threshold into his home, Eddie's heart stopped at the sight he was greeted with. Steven was stood in the kitchen, his hand gripping his lower, left side of his body, just above his hip and below his ribs. His face was bruised, a cut somewhere in his hair and definitely more injuries under his shirt. Eddie found himself by Steven's side before he could say a single word, holding him up and guiding Steven to the sofa, he didn't mind the blood, Eddie could just turn over the cushions.
"Steven?" Eddie finally spoke, "What happened?" he was about two seconds away from going full Mum-Mode on Steven.
"Sorry, but," Eddie noticed Steven's demeanour was off, he just placed it on Steven just being injured, but Eddie highly doubts when someone gets hurt they suddenly change accents, "Steven's not around right now,"
"OK, OK, OK," Eddie nodded slowly, trying to play off the panic that was inevitably bubbling up in his chest. He wasn't sure on how to react, whoever this was, was currently bleeding in his flat, and Eddie didn't quite fancy having to deal with a dead body, "You're still gonna have to tell me what happened, and where it hurts so I can patch you up," he managed out.
"I'll tell you where it hurts," he hissed in pain, "just not what happened,"
"Why not?" Eddie pressed.
"Because," he took a moment, "it's not important," he looked away from Eddie, he couldn't look at Eddie to save his life. Eddie couldn't help but think what whoever this was must feel embarrassed, if not ashamed, of what had happened to him, "Mind getting something to patch me up?" he asked, snapping Eddie out of his thoughts and pulling him back into reality.
Nodding before standing up and finding the First Aid Kit he kept hidden in the flat and returning back to the sofa to the wounded bloke, "Mind telling me how you got in?" he snarked.
"You gave us a spare key, more like Steven a spare key," he replied.
Eddie started pulling out the disinfectant wipes, starting with the cuts in the bloke's face, "This is gonna hurt, just heads up that's all," Eddie warned him before placing the wipe on the small cut on his lip that was bleeding down his chin, "Wanna at least tell me your name?" Eddie asked, placing the wipe to one side once he had used it, it was practically a different colour by the time he finished cleaning up the cut.
"Marc, Marc Spector," the man responded, putting his hand out weakly.