Chapter 4
Eddie woke up to his early alarm. He had been awake pretty late last night, he and Venom had found a chessboard in the park and ended up playing until 1 am. Plus all the other jobs he had started at later times but now he had to wake up at six just to be there at seven.
"We have to look nice Eddie! They're lawyers!" Venom insisted.
"Venom, the nicest clothes we have are the ones we stole from that bar and those are too small," Eddie sighed. He took a pair of second-hand jeans with a button-up shirt where he pretended he couldn't see the small stain and just tucked the shirt into his pants.
Eddie ran down the stairs and was about to run out the door before he got stopped by his landlord.
"Hey, Brock wait," he called out, putting his arm in front of Eddie.
"O-oh hey," he stuttered in surprise.
"Where's my rent?" He confronted. Eddie swallowed.
"Uhm... could I get some more time?" Eddie asked.
"No! You're so problematic! You get arrested, you barely exist! You talk to yourself! I want you out of that apartment by tomorrow if you can't pay that damn rent!" The landlord yelled before storming off.
'I say we eat him,' Venom chimed inside his head.
"You know we can't do that," Eddie sighed before turning to the door again.
"Get out of my apartment! Tonight!" The landlord yelled.
"Fuckin' crackhead!" He yelled before Eddie closed the door behind him.
Eddie ran towards the office with Venom cursing about the landlord the whole way there. He stopped outside an apartment building under the address he had gotten. He looked at the sign saying 'Nelson, Murdock & Page - Attorneys at law'. It was a fancy sign, though Eddie was fairly sure Ms Page wasn't a lawyer but who was he to judge.
He walked inside the building and quickly climbed the stairs. He walked up to the door and heard casual chit-chat on the other side. He knocked twice before opening and peeking through.
"Ah! Mr Brock welcome," Mr Nelson greeted.
"Hi," he said and did a little wave. He didn't understand why he was nervous. He usually wasn't a nervous person, the whole reporter thing had kind of helped with that. Maybe being in a new universe where nobody knows him had something to do with it. He knew nobody and nobody knew him.
"Welcome Mr Brock, Karen can show you what you have to do, you will be mostly helping her around." Mr Murdock said with a smile.
"Uhm, please call me Eddie," he said with a small smile back.
"Alright Eddie, follow me," Ms Page said with a nice smile. Though she seemed nervous. Eddie glanced at the two men. Mr Nelson was also anxious but Mr Murdock just had a nice smile.
'What's up with them?' Venom asked. Eddie just hummed in acknowledgement of what Venom had said before turning his attention back to Karen who was showing him where everything was.
The four of them stood at the entrance of the pretty small office drinking coffee.
"So how come you don't exist anywhere, Eddie? There's no record of you anywhere," Matt asked. All of them had insisted on him calling them by their first names which Eddie was honestly quite relieved about, saying their last names got old real fast. Eddie choked on his coffee for a second.
"O-oh, I have no idea?" He tried. He got sceptical looks from Karen and Foggy while Matt just pressed his lips into a thin line.
"How about the truth, you sound hesitant," Matt said. Eddie sighed.
"Ok, this might sound weird. But apparently, I am from a different universe, I came here randomly and I have no idea how to get back. In my universe, there are no Avengers or superheroes in general," Eddie explained Foggy and Karen looked at him weird while Matt hummed in acknowledgement.
"Honestly weirder things have happened," Matt said and shrugged.
"So you believe me?" Eddie asked sceptically.
"You sound genuine," Matt said before walking to the small kitchen area to fill up his mug.
"So you got anywhere to stay Mr Dimension hopper?" Foggy asked.
"Ye-" Eddie started but realised he didn't.
"No... I got kicked out," he explained rubbing the back of his neck.
"You could stay with me for a while, until you get back on your feet, or go back to your universe, whichever happens first," Matt offered.
"Oh-... I can't do that," Eddie said.
"I mean you can, I just offered," Matt said with a smirk.
"I insist until you get into balance."
'Eddie I don't want to live on the streets,' Venom complained.
"I don't want to be a bother-" Eddie started but got cut off.
"Don't even try that with me," Matt said.
"Fine, thank you," he finally said. Matt smiled while Karen and Foggy were giving each other concerned glances.
They finished work and parted ways eventually. Matt stayed at the office and Eddie did too. Karen and Foggy had left early, some files between each other to read at home.
"Wanna go out and drink? As an introduction?" Matt asked as he put away his things.
"Oh, sure," Eddie smiled.
'Eddie I don't trust him. If we get drunk we will be vulnerable by the intoxication!' Venom roared. Eddie left Matt's office and grabbed his jacket.
"Venom he's a blind lawyer! What would he do?" Eddie hissed under his breath. Venom scoffed.
'If we die it's your fault!' He roared.
"You ready to go?" Matt asked as he walked out of his office putting his jacket on as he was walking.
"Yeah let's go," he said and opened the door.
'We're going to die,' Venom muttered.
They got to the little bar. It wasn't that shitty. Pretty run down, probably low budget. Not somewhere Eddie would have gone but who was he to judge. He was quite literally poor at the moment.
"This is Josie's," Matt introduced as they walked inside. They walked towards the counter and sat down.
"This is Josie, hi Josie," Matt did a little wave in the wrong direction as the two sat down.
"Hey Murdock, where's Nelson? Did you dump him? I don't want to listen to another one of your breakups. And who's this? Your new boyfriend?" She asks taking out a glass to Matt.
'How dare she assume you're his boyfriend?!' Venom roared.
"No Josie, one, me and Foggy aren't breaking up we aren't even together-" Matt started but got cut off.
"Keep telling yourself that," she mumbled.
"And this is my new employee, he's in debt too," Matt said pointing a hand in Eddie's direction. Josie scoffed and poured Matt a drink.
"Aight Mr Murdock 3.0, what do you want?" Josie asked.
"Uhm, I don't know? A beer? 3.0?" Eddie asked.
'SHE THINKS YOU'RE MARRIED?! I MUST FREE HER OF HER HEAD!' Venom roared as he tried to come out.
"Nope," Eddie whispered under his breath as he tried to hold Venom inside.
"Yeah Nelson is number two, here ya go," she gave him a beer and walked away. Matt took a sip of whatever he was drinking.
"You alright?" Matt asked as he cocked his head.
"Y-yeah I'm fine," he stuttered.
"Actually I gotta go to the bathroom," he said before running towards the bathroom. It was absolutely disgusting. Venom came out of his shoulder.
"Why didn't you let me eat her! She implied you were his husband! You belong to me... Anne isn't too bad either though," Venom roared.
"One, what did we say about eating good people-" he got cut off.
"She's not good!" Venom roared.
"TWO! She was joking!" Eddie hissed through barred teeth.
"She implied it! It's not ok!" Venom snarled.
"THREE! I don't belong to anyone! Now get back inside so I can go have a nice time, with a nice guy!" Eddie hissed.
"Fine!" Venom yelled before going back inside.
Eddie walked out of the bathroom and sat down next to Matt. He just stared straight forward.
"I'm back," he said to get the other's attention.
"Oh hi," he said turning towards him.
They talked and drank for a while. They ordered a bottle of whiskey after a while but didn't drink it all and not that fast. They both seemed to hold their liquor decently though it was obvious Matt was handling it better.
"So you got any family from your universe? Loved ones?" Matt asked before finishing his third glass.
"Oh, umm I have friends, my old fiancé, to be more specific, umm no parents," Eddie slurred slightly.
"Oh I'm sorry, for the parents and the fiancé," Matt said and frowned slightly.
"Ah it's fine, it was my fault anyway," he sighed.
"What do you mean it was your fault?" Matt asked tilting his head and looking sympathetic, well as sympathetic as he could with red sunglasses covering his eyes.
"My fiance left me because I was an idiot, I did something against her permission and she got fired because of me, I was stupid enough to get her fired," Eddie revealed in his drunkness.
"Everyone makes mistakes Eddie," Matt says, putting a hand on his shoulder. Eddie just hummed in response.
"Hey let's get home, it's getting late. We can pick up the stuff at your place and then we can go to mine," Matt said as he stood up. Eddie followed and led the way to his apartment.
It was a mostly quiet walk with some chitchat in between. But of course, it never stayed too quiet for Eddie as Venom always had to butt in when he thought it got awkward.
"Why did you become a lawyer?" Eddie asked in the quiet. Venom had been trying to come up with questions for a while but he only gave weird ones like 'how's your sex life' or 'what's your preference in partners'. He didn't understand why Venom had decided to be so obsessed with all this. Who had taught him this?
"My dad was a boxer," he started.
"Oh? Was he any good?" Eddie asked.
"He lost more than he won, but yeah, he was good," Matt answered before continuing.
"He didn't want me to fight. Even before I was blind. He wanted me to study, to get a good life. And... he passed away when I was ten. So I wanted to live up to what he had told me, I wanted to make him proud," he finished.
"I bet he's proud," Eddie said reassuringly.
"I sure hope so," Matt said with a small grin appearing on his face as they walked inside the apartment complex. He led Matt up the stairs and towards his door. He fished his key out of his pocket and walked up to his door. He then looked up and saw a small piece of paper taped to his door.
"Evicted," he read out loud before grabbing his forehead and groaning.
"Oh?" Matt simply said as he cocked his head.
"I believe we have to wait 'til eight am to get your stuff then," he simply stated.
'Your landlord is a dick Eddie,' Venom commented. Eddie simply hummed bitterly to answer them both.
"Let's go to my apartment, you can borrow my clothes. I have no idea how tall you are or anything so I hope it will fit," Matt offered with a kind smile.
"You're an angel, Matt, honestly," Eddie said instead of thanks.
'Maybe he isn't so bad,' Venom mused as they walked back down the stairs.
When they got out of the apartment complex Matt instantly noted how much colder and quieter it was. It wasn't completely quiet, of course, it never was. But even for a normal person, it wasn't quiet. The occasional car passed by, as well as people, mostly drunk people, some screaming with laughter.
If Matt wasn't always completely aware of his surroundings he would have found it eerie. But there didn't seem to be anyone who wanted to harm them, and Matt was sure that whatever 'Venom' was it would try and protect Eddie, Matt however knew how to protect himself.
They were about two blocks away from his apartment when he heard a few tense people in an alleyway. They were expecting something. Matt tugged lightly at Eddie's sleeve.
"Let's walk faster," he urged under his breath.
"Ok," Eddie simply whispered back and they started walking quicker. Matt's cane swished from side to side quicker to the point where he was in between running and walking.
Tap, tap, tap, tap. It sounded. It was pretty comforting at times. A distraction of sorts. It also kept most people out of his way which was also convenient.
"I see him," a man whispered on the rooftop in front of them. The sound echoed as four other people on rooftops and five received the message through a comm.
"He has someone else with him. A lawyer? Blind one at that. I've seen him before, think he represented the Punisher." Another man noted. They wanted Eddie. Why? Did they want the parasite, alien thing?
"It doesn't matter, we need the symbiote. Take the lawyer too, knock him out." The man instructed roughly. Matt gripped Eddie's elbow harder. The men then appeared from the alleyway and tried to hit Eddie in the head. Matt quickly reacted and pulled Eddie away from the man. Eddie let out a silent gasp of surprise.
"Get them!" A man yelled from the alleyway. More men came around to crowd them. Most of them were holding bats or batons but most of them had guns strapped to their hips. Eddie's body quickly got surrounded by the alien and it roared.
The men's heartbeats all sped up at the sight of the tall alien. All the attention quickly went onto him as he started knocking the men left and right.
"We need the sound!" A man yelled. Before Matt could even think about what that meant, a horrible squeaking sound got released from a speaker. Matt covered his ears but that didn't seem to help at all. He shut his eyes hard to try and block all the sound out but all he could hear was the squeaking mixed with the now present ringing. It felt like his head was going to split as he doubled over and fell to his knees covering his ears. He felt the swish of air close to him along with the smell of Eddie falling to the ground. Did it affect him too in some way? But before he could get too in-depth about it he passed out.
(dgshgd I hate long paragraphs but I had no idea where to end it).