Eddie sloshed the last dregs of beer in his mug (chipped coffee mug, faded paint, the usual standard for his silverware and cups) and glanced at the clock. It was hardly seven in the afternoon on a Wednesday, and Eddie was drunk. Well, as drunk as Venom would let him be.
"It makes us feel like shit,” Venom had complained, sending something akin to a shudder through both of them when Eddie had reached for the 12-pack he had bought.
“Yeah, but sometimes people need to get drunk,” Eddie explained, unsure of how to relate to them how being drunk wasn’t just throwing up in restaurant toilets.
“Fine,” Venom relented. They were getting better at that, Eddie realized, leaning back into the couch before complimenting them.
“You’ve been getting better at compromising.” Eddie observed, directing his mug in the general area of where Venom had manifested, who was flicking through the channels on Eddie’s television.
If Eddie had used the word “compromise” some time earlier, Venom would’ve asked for the meaning. But, since Venom has been watching nothing but movies of the romantic persuasion for the past few weeks, their vocabulary has improved. It was not Eddie’s taste in the slightest, with storylines that would make those cheesy meant-for-airplane-ride romantic novels seem palatable. No matter how much it made him inwardly cringe, Venom was willing to compromise, so Eddie would as well.
So, now Eddie was buzzed, not as much as he would prefer, but enough. Enough for a Wednesday, at least. The week’s work had piled up on him quickly, with the piece he was working on for a half reputable news site taking up most of his mind. It was a grisly one, focusing on a slew of murders, mainly targeting homeless residents, and it was taking its toll on Eddie. But, the harder pieces paid better, so this one couldn’t be passed up.
“Ah, this is a good one, ” Venom said with a toothy grin, settling on Titanic.
Eddie saw the movie’s length and opened his mouth to groan, but then remembered the mug of beer in his hand, and settled further into the leather of the couch in acceptance.
Despite Venom’s face being mostly teeth, Eddie had learned how to distinguish their smiles. The one donning their face right now was what Eddie would classify as giddy. Their face could range from thoughtful to malicious, and Eddie was finally understanding their facial quirks.
“Why do you like romantic movies so much?” Eddie asked, more curious than sarcastic.
Venom fiddled with the remote in their tendrils before placing it down and replying.
“...There were never any love stories on my planet. Or love at all, really.” Venom replied, their words coming out in a slow, hesitant string.
Eddie could tell that wasn’t the whole truth, but considering how sensitive the topic of Klyntar was, Eddie decided not to push. He instead focused his gaze on the half-finished pizza they had ordered earlier.
He could count on one hand the amount of times Venom had mentioned their life before Earth, and Eddie took those times as a cue to be quiet and listen.
Eddie nodded, his fuzzy mind thinking of another topic to turn to. His eyes flitted to the screen, with Leonardo DiCaprio skillfully dangling a cigarette from his lips before taking in a huff of smoke.
Venom let out a sound of consideration, and Eddie felt the familiar trickle of Venom rifling through his memories.
“You used to smoke,” Venom observed, their voice wavering between a statement and a question.
“I did,” Eddie agreed, cigarette boxes and bongs from college resurfacing in his mind, “but I stopped after I graduated. Every complex I lived in had a policy against smoking on the property, so I eventually stopped.”
Venom made a noise of understanding before their white irises turned back to the screen.
“Hmm,” Venom replied, sounding disappointed.
Eddie was always a little more mischievous when he was drunk; his inhibitions and anxiety still lingered, but the volume on them was turned down to a point. It made his mind feel more like a wave pool, rather than a sputtering ocean. Eddie was also nosier when drunk, something that Anne always used to say out of fond annoyance.
“You sound bummed about it,” Eddie began, his voice flecked with teasing.
“Well, some people just look good while doing it.” Venom explained quickly, their manifested head sinking a few inches from Eddie’s view.
“Some people?” Eddie toyed with the phrase, turning his head to give the symbiote an easy quirk of his brow.
Venom hated being interrogated, or questioned, or scrutinized, but something in the back of Eddie’s head liked this. Whatever Venom was suggesting. Venom’s thin lips curled over their teeth, looking as if they weren’t going to say anything. Eddie half-wished he had a more distinct sense of Venom’s thoughts and emotions. Venom was able to rifle through Eddie’s head, while Eddie only got inklings and dregs of Venom’s own impulses. Whether that was due to some deflection on the symbiote’s end, Eddie wasn’t sure.
At that moment, Eddie felt a wave of heat flush in him, spreading throughout his chest. That was certainly more than a dreg.
"You look good doing it.” Venom clarified, nearly spitting out the sentence in a flustered haste.
Eddie felt a smile on his face now.
“Are you saying that you want me to start smoking again? Wouldn’t that hurt our body somehow?”
Venom, who normally flowed about in the air when manifesting, was now rigid, periodically squirming in Eddie’s line of vision.
“I would be able to clear the smoke out. I’m not saying you should start smoking again.I’m just saying.”
Eddie let out a low chuckle, and he felt Venom’s cool tendril give him a flick on the side of his ear, making him chuckle more.
Eddie felt the symbiote’s head pass over something behind them.
“We have to take out the trash,” Venom said curtly to Eddie’s back. Normally Eddie would comment on the rapid change of subject, but with a glance at the overflowing trash, he couldn’t protest.
“Alright, you win,” Eddie huffed as he stood, dropping the mug onto the stained coffee table and sweeping up the trash bag.
Venom clicked the door locked behind him as they headed downstairs to the dumpster outside of the apartment. The alley skirting alongside his apartment was repulsive in every sense of the word, and Eddie did everything he could to avoid it. Eddie also used to gripe about the distance between his apartment and the dumpster, but now it had become a routine between him and Venom. A domestic chore, almost. And, he didn’t have to worry about people trying to mug him anymore.
Eddie heaved the trash bag into the green dumpster, and began to turn back before Venom flicked their body in the direction of the busy street outside of the alley.
“Look,” Venom urged, Eddie’s drunken state making his reaction time a little slower.
Eddie squinted and saw a man fumbling with a bike rack for the surrounding buildings. There was a red bike hooked to it, but the man somehow managed to detach it, and slid onto the stolen bike and began to tear off into the opposite direction.
“Well, that’s a dick move,” Eddie commented, looking with disdain before beginning to turn.
Eddie let out a yelp as their body snapped back into its rigid standing position, feeling Venom’s inky black self cover his own, now being pushed into the back seat of control as Venom plunged them forward. Before Eddie could even register what was going on, Venom propelled their body towards the biker, who hadn’t gotten very far, and plucked them off of the bike with their black tendrils. In a clean sweep, Venom snapped their jaws onto the yelling person’s neck, gulping down their head and placing the bike back into its rack in an eerily fluid motion. With another bite, the person was gone completely.
Venom placed Eddie back down to his normal height on the concrete, and Eddie felt all of his nerves back on edge, the calming quality of his alcohol disrupted. Venom returned to Eddie’s body, seeping back in before taking their place in a pool near Eddie’s stomach.
“ What the fuck, Venom !” Eddie screeched, his voice so tight and high-pitched that it seemed to scrape the back of his throat.
Eddie felt a flicker of confusion from Venom, and his mouth fell open, aghast, as the symbiote rumbled, “What?” back at him.
Eddie jerked his head around in the dim alley, confirming that no one was there, before barrelling back to his apartment in a nervous haste. Thank fuck there weren’t any security cameras , Eddie thought, panic detaching him from his body as he sprinted up the stairs. Before Eddie could even click his door closed behind him, Venom manifested and fixed him with a head tilt, something they did when they were trying to understand something. Eddie wasn’t sure if he was angry or just baffled, but he rubbed his face with his hands before trying to process what had just happened.
“What do you mean, what? You just ate that guy for no reason!” Eddie began, his voice returning to a high-pitched tone, being muffled by his hands as he began to mutter nervous curses into them.
“You said that was a dick move! And stealing people’s bikes is wrong.” Venom argued, their voice reaching a higher pitch out of defensiveness, their manifested head bobbing about.
“It is wrong, but there’s a difference between doing something shitty and doing something that warrants getting their head bitten off!” Eddie reasoned, too on edge to sink back into the couch.
“Well, I thought it was wrong. And you haven’t let me do anything out there for months.” Venom shot back quickly, and Eddie felt his anxiety ebb into a pause as the argument grew more broad.
“Okay, you’re right, but can you see why I haven’t? You just bit some innocent dude’s head off-”
“Innocent?”
“Fuck, innocent enough that they didn’t have to get eaten, how about that? And you didn’t even ask, you just went on ahead and ate him!”
“Well, now you get how it feels to be in the back seat, ” Venom huffed. “We were alone in the alley. I checked.” Venom added, their tone sounding justified.
Eddie opened his mouth, and then closed it again. This was so not the point of why he was mad, or of the whole damn argument, but at least there wasn’t anyone around to see.
“That’s not the point,” Eddie moaned, turning to the kitchen so he could calm his peaking anxiety with something, anything. Eddie’s drunken eyes fell onto an abandoned pizza box, and an uncapped Sharpie on the counter. Eddie scribbled on the greased cardboard and hastily stuck the flattened box onto the brick wall with tape.
“See that?” Eddie called, the manifested head behind his back squinting at the box in unmasked annoyance. “Rules: no eating people. Got that?” Eddie accentuated his point by tapping on the sloppily drawn lines he wrote under the rule. Eddie really wished he was exceedingly drunk right now, but he was also relieved that he still had enough function to pull Venom out of the alley before they ate anyone else.
“That’s not going to change much, considering you don’t let me be out there at all.” Venom mumbled, their bridling anger bubbling down to dejected annoyance.
Eddie knew that tone; it was how Venom sounded before they stopped talking, becoming a recluse in Eddie’s gut until one of them apologized.
Eddie opened his mouth in an attempt of reconciliation, but Venom sharply added, “You’re ashamed of us.”
Eddie let out a sigh at that. Venom was saying things of a similar nature for a while now, and Eddie had hoped that it was just a passing comment, but now he could tell that it was something bigger than that. They were right, Eddie did hide them a lot.
“Venom, you know that’s not true,” Eddie said, leaning against the fridge.
Venom said nothing. If there was one thing that Venom could do to turn an argument around, it was the silent treatment. Eddie sighed now, looking at the abandoned film on the television screen as he tried to put his feelings into words. Venom just didn’t have the same level of fear as Eddie; they were way more reckless.
“I like to keep you hidden because of how dangerous it is out there. The investigation about Riot and everything is still ongoing, and…” Eddie stopped, knowing that was a lame and overused excuse of his. The investigation was still labeled as ongoing, but with some snooping Eddie had found that the police had given up on the case, too baffled by it and the astounding lack of sound evidence.
“I don’t know how to protect us yet, so...I just keep you hidden until I have something safer figured out.” Eddie finally said, feeling deflated.
Again, silence. Eddie sighed again, making his way back to the couch, now wanting nothing more than to sleep as he cleared away the remaining pizza and beer. Eddie flicked off the television and headed to his creaky bed, kicking off his worn slippers and falling into bed with a grunt.
Eddie lay on his side, not tired but not wanting to be awake. His anxiety and their argument made him feel exhausted.
“Idiot,” Venom finally piped in, the symbiote’s voice rumbling through Eddie’s mind. Eddie felt a bit relieved at that.
“You don’t have to worry about protecting us. We protect each other. We also need to trust each other with that.” Venom clarified, their tone less hurt than it was earlier.
Eddie felt comforted by the return of “we” in the conversation.
“Alright,” Eddie relented, burrowing down into the blankets more. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll let you out more, at reasonable moments .” Eddie said pointedly.
“We can talk about it if it's reasonable. But still, for the most part, no eating people, at least until things calm down.” Eddie reiterated, materializing the pizza box in both of their minds.
Venom grumbled in slight protest, but Eddie felt the anger and annoyance from the symbiote dwindle, and he felt his own dribbling away as well.
“You know I’m not ashamed of you, though, right?” Eddie asked in the dark, feeling warmth accumulating on his shoulder as Venom pooled themself there.
Venom mumbled something incoherent, not agreeing or disagreeing.
Eddie felt the need to get that point across to them, but he certainly knew that words wouldn’t help.
Eddie prodded at Venom with his finger, teasing them again until they manifested fully.
“Come on,” Eddie implored, his voice sweet as he felt Venom’s warmth spreading through him. They were trying to be pouty and mad still, but he could feel Venom’s anticipation and pleasure at the attention.
Venom let out a sound like a purr, a low sound that Eddie once found frightening, but slowly came to find endearing. Venom slowly manifested in front of Eddie, their black tendrils still lingering on Eddie’s shoulders.
Normally when Eddie and Venom would get into a tiff, they would give each other their apologies and that would be that. But with this, it seemed like physical affirmation was needed. Maybe it was because Eddie was still a little drunk.
“Okay,” Venom rumbled, finally accepting Eddie’s apology. Eddie knew that Venom was a lot less inclined to apologize, but Eddie could feel Venom’s regret, and that was enough.
Venom inched closer to Eddie’s face, waiting for something. Venom was normally headstrong, barrelling into things and thinking about the consequences after, but with Eddie they were always hesitant.
Eddie smiled. “C’mere,” he muttered, Venom moving forward into a kiss.
They hadn’t done anything slightly romantic since the woods, but here they were. The kiss was soft, a lot less desperate than their past one. Eddie opened his mouth, letting the symbiote’s tongue slide in, letting out a sigh as Venom manifested more, slowly pushing Eddie further into the mattress.
Eddie thought it would stop there, but Venom moved from his mouth, their tongue carding along Eddie’s jaw, a shiver passing through Eddie’s spine. Eddie placed his hand on Venom’s skin, the cool, liquidy texture running between his fingers.
They were both falling into this easily. Maybe they should’ve done this a while ago.
“Eddie,” Venom muttered, the single word flowing through Eddie with feeling, the symbiote’s affection washing over him. That had almost as powerful an effect as the alcohol, which was still making him feel loose.
Eddie and Venom were always a bit clumsy with words, so sometimes it was good to fill in the gaps with actions instead.
Venom’s tendrils fiddled with Eddie’s clothes, making Eddie laugh into Venom’s mouth. Venom let out a soft sound of frustration.
“They’re annoying,” Venom explained, their tone dripped in humor.
Eddie liked how close they were, the contact of skin filling his touch-starved self with pleasure. They both seemed unaware of how much they needed this, just simple closeness. Kissing was nice, too.
Venom tugged at Eddie's shirt a few more times, their way of asking for permission, and Eddie nodded, feeling his own tongue slide against Venom’s.
Venom moved away from Eddie’s lips again, inky white irises nearly glowing in the black dark as they looked at Eddie. Venom had obviously seen Eddie unclothed already, since they couldn’t unbond when Eddie showered, but Venom was normally quiet during those moments.
Venom’s eyes grazed Eddie’s arms, his chest, and a tendril reached out to touch Eddie’s tattoos.
“I like these,” Venom muttered, their cool touch dancing on the ink marks.
The tenderness of the moment was filling Eddie with...something. He hadn’t gotten this in a while, and he felt his face heat up, thankful for the dark. Venom could still see it, though, and obviously feel it.
Eddie grasped at Venom’s back now, their skin solidifying as Eddie touched them there, steadying.
The process continued, tendrils sliding off clothes and tangling blankets, until the two were a mass. Together. Eddie didn’t let an inch of space exist between them, losing himself in whatever void of touch they were creating. Venom didn’t either.
Later, after they were both clean, both warm and sleepy, Venom remained on Eddie’s chest, with one holding the other.
“Do you get how I feel now?” Eddie asked later.
“Yes.”
“Maybe I’ll smoke next time,” Eddie added with a laugh.
The symbiote lifted a tendril from his chest and lightly bumped his cheek.