Jesus Fucking Christ, Venom.
You're not going to say that Dave goes from zero to one hundred in under a second, but that's only because you haven't actually seen him at zero yet. The kid's always at some level of worry, like he doesn't quite know how to dial it down from about ten percent combat readiness; even when he's asleep he's not really fully relaxed.
But yeah, this escalates really fucking fast. Like one second Dave's a little bit freaked out, just enough that you reach over to touch his shoulder and Eddie says, "That's normal—" and starts to say something else, and literally before you finish processing his sentence Dave just fucking falls apart.
Okay, maybe falling apart is the wrong word. He stiffens under your hand, is what happens, goes perfectly still for an instant that's so brief you can't measure it. Then he's moving, fast enough that you immediately confirm that yeah, he's inherited the same mutation that the asshole you killed had—which is going to be a whole can of worms later probably—shrugging your hand off and ducking past you to get to the door.
Before he can get it open (or you can grab him and keep him from ending up outside, since it's cold as shit and you really don't feel like chasing him down) Dave stops again, shakes his head frantically and too fucking fast, and makes a wet choking sound. If you didn't know he had a symbiote in him, that'd be cause for concern. As it is, it's kind of a relief.
Dave gags, and the fist-sized ball of goo drips out of his mouth and hits the floor with a soft splat. The kid goes to stomp on it, you haul him off his feet even though it's already moving fast enough to avoid him, and he instantly snaps his head back to slam his head into your face.
Holy fuck does that hurt; something definitely just broke. Again. The pain, plus being immediately blinded from the impact, plus the way that Dave twists in your arms— that all adds up to you swearing, spitting out blood and letting go of him.
The decision to step in between Eddie and Dave when you're mildly incapacitated isn't really one of your better ones. But hey, the fact that you need to be able to see what the fuck's going on means that you have motivation to shake off the possible concussion faster!
Unfortunately, you're just fast enough that you get to see the symbiote flow up Eddie's fuzzy pants like oil, except faster and going the wrong way. It makes it to bare skin, thins itself out enough to soak into him, and—
Shit.
He changes. They change; you've had it pounded into your head on more than one occasion that Venom will absolutely kick your ass if you try to assume they're just Eddie, or just the symbiote.
They're both. They're also big, furious, and okay no you're not going to say hot. No.
(You still think it.)
You do not think that. Mostly because you don't have time to think anything, before Venom snarls out a hissing screech and swings one big arm in an arc that intersects neatly with your chest. Which sends you flying a good five feet back into the wall.
Now, you're not sure which impact it is that snaps your rib. Maybe it's when they smack you, maybe it's when you hit the wall—hey, it could even be when you hit the floor. Bones are weird on when they decide to break, okay? And at least two, maybe three of yours just did. For this being kind of a off week from work, this is turning out to be rougher than it really needs to be.
Okay, Wade, whine later, get the fuck up now. Preferably before Venom makes Dave lose his shit even more than he is already.
Too late for that, by the time you push yourself up off the floor. But not in the way you kind of expected.
"Dave." Eddie's already back to being just Eddie again, kneeling on the floor a few feet from Dave. "We're sorry, alright? We didn't know."
The kid doesn't seem to realize that Eddie's serious about that. Actually, you're not sure he's really hearing any of this; he's making a decent attempt to shove himself right through the wall, as far away from Eddie as he can, breathing fast enough that you honestly have no idea how he's not passed out from hyperventilation yet.
...okay, time for you to step in and put this shit to a stop. Hopefully you're healed enough to wrestle an alien if you need to.
Eddie hisses out another snarl when you grab his arm and drag him back from Dave, but he doesn't change again. He does try to bite at your hand, but hey, human teeth. Wouldn't even leave a mark through leather.
"Fuck!" You're not wearing leather right now, because you are an idiot. "Okay, you kinky fucker, give him some space. Dave, you okay?"
"No—fuck no, that thing—" Dave runs across the downside of how fast he's been breathing: not enough air in his lungs to finish a sentence. He gasps, coughs, and buries his face in his hands.
One hand comes down when Neet hops over next to him, though, automatically stroking her back, and you make the executive decision that she can handle this a hell of a lot better than you can. The fact that Eddie doesn't even kind of resist when you drag him towards the closest door is a nice surprise.
It's the door into the kitchen instead of, say, outside, which is also nice. As soon as you turn him loose to shut the door behind you, Eddie growls and smacks you upside the head.
There's some of Venom's strength in it. It actually hurts.
"Hey? Ow?"
"Why the fuck would you not tell us he's that afraid of people getting in his head?" He emphasizes that with another smack. Still hurts. "We were in his head, he trusts you, how the hell could you not know—"
On the fifth smack you decide you've had enough, and grab his wrist before the blow actually lands. Again, this is a mistake. Or maybe not, because hey, you've never been this up close and personal to him when he let the symbiote alter his body before. It's actually kind of cool to see his skin change as black flows over it, and you finally get to confirm that yes, the texture is just as slimy as it looks.
Then Venom twists their wrist out of your grip and slams you against the door hard enough to make both the frame and your teeth rattle, and it becomes uncool again. Again, the impact knocks all of the air out of your lungs, and it takes you a second to get any in with them still pinning you like this.
"Now normally I'd be very, very into this, but right now I have things to do, cutie." What? You're a little bit high on whatever the fuck it is that the brain releases to cope with injury. Of course you're going to flirt. "Also places to be. Can I get a raincheck on—"
"Ssshut up." Technically, you probably shouldn't be able to read much emotion into Venom's almost completely inhuman voice. However, frustration pretty much transcends language. "We're not doing that, dumbassss."
"No? I feel snubbed." You grin at them, and they hiss at you, showing that ridiculous xeno nightmare of a mouth. So many teeth. Long tongue. Slimy....
No, really, stop. Now is most definitely not the fucking time.
Venom drops you when you're still mentally arguing with yourself over whether or not now is, in fact, the time. You realize that they actually had you off the ground when your feet hit it again.
Ow. But it's a small ow. The kind that you bounce right back up off the floor from, quick enough to catch the symbiote receding back into Eddie.
There's multiple downsides here, but the one you're going to focus on is the look of frustrated fury on his face. Maybe you should defuse this before you get torn apart and end up having to explain that to Dave.
Fun. Diplomacy.
Eddie points at you as you open your mouth, bopping your nose with that one outstretched finger. "No," he says firmly.
It's the kind of tone that's meant to convince you not to argue. So what do you do? You argue. "No?"
"No. Nope. Shut the fuck up."
"I don't do that—"
"—unless we break your jaw. Trust us, we know." He lets out a growling sigh, the symbiote twined around and showing through even that small noise, and leans back against the wall, closing his eyes for a second. "That was upsetting."
"I can actually tell." Mildly worrying was what it was, and if you're worried then shit must be extremely fucked. "Did you get what I wanted in there, or did other shit get in the way? Because I think this was kind of a 'one shot' kind of thing."
Eddie shrugs, opening one eye and almost focusing on you. "Healing factor. Weaker than yours."
"And he's a speedster." You don't make it a question, but he shakes his head anyway. "Oh come on, did you not see—"
"He bends time, Wade. Changes how he moves through it, makes everything seem slow...or something."
"Or something. Very scientific."
Eddie opens both eyes for the specific purpose of rolling them at you. "Do we look like a scientist?"
"You look like a hobo who stole someone else's PJ's, if I have to be honest with you."
He considers that for a second. Then he flips you off.
"Awww, thank you. That means a lot coming from you." You smile like you're trying out for a beauty pageant and blow him a kiss. Then you flip him off, because he fucking deserves it. "I'm going to go check on the kid."
"Good plan."