Eddie! Wake up, lazy!
The lazy man in question does nothing more than groan and roll over, burying his head further into his pillow. He flinches when something cold presses against his bare neck, but instead of budging, he just slaps at the inky tendril.
Eddie, it’s snowing, get up, get up! Wanna see snow!
With a huff, Eddie flops his head to the side, cracking open one eye to peek out through his window. He’s met with a snippet of skyline, hazy in the bright wintry glow of the day. Gentle flurries of snowflakes dance around in the breeze and stick to the tops of buildings in powdery clumps.
“Mhmm, well, ’s winter in New York, bud,” he mumbles out, still half asleep.
Eddie! We made a promise, wanna see snow!
That they did.
Eddie’s in New York for the long weekend as part of a work-and-play trip. Seeing as the city was positively crawling with superheroes and other weirdos who just really “hate fun”, as Venom had so eloquently put it, Eddie made them promise to be on their best behavior. Also known as no head eating or creep beating. Also known as timeout, in Venom’s mind. (Despite their insistence that timeout was for children, they seemed to throw quite the childish tantrum over it, pouting included).
In exchange for Venom’s patience and cooperation while Eddie worked on his story, he in turn had to promise to take his other on a tour of the city. The symbiote had been absolutely ecstatic, especially after flipping through the scrapbook of memories stored in the back of Eddie’s mind. Venom pulled out snapshots from Eddie’s younger years, pointing out all of the things they wanted to do.
One memory in particular had caught Venom’s attention, making them swirl around in awe and curiosity. It had been the time that Eddie and his college roommate had gotten drunk and stumbled around central park, flailing around in the snow drifts and trying to catch as many snowflakes as possible on their tongues.
What is that…? Venom had asked, rumbly voice surprisingly soft with wonder. Eddie had gone on to explain what snow was, and how it was “basically just really, really cold rain”. Living in San Francisco didn’t exactly provide the best opportunities for him to introduce his symbiote to all of the amusing little things about earth.
Immediately after feeling their giddiness at the thought, Eddie promised them that if it snowed whilst they were in New York, he’d take them to that very park. The excitement that had bubbled beneath his skin when he checked the weather forecast made his heart soar.
Eddie whines loudly as Venom replays the memory in his head, obviously pulling their guilt trip bullshit again. He doesn’t even bother opening his eyes when he replies.
“V, I promise we’ll go later, just lemme sleep some more.”
What if it goes away?
The meekness in his other’s voice gives Eddie pause. He does his best to fight off the pang in his chest but then a pulse of disappointment inches through their bond and Eddie can’t hold back the sympathetic grunt he lets out.
“Fine, fine, lemme get dressed okay? Also, breakfast,” he adds, throwing back the heavy blanket and blinking slowly against the bright daylight. Sitting up and rubbing his knuckles across his eyes, he groans. “A big breakfast.”
Venom hums in agreement.
Eddie quickly shimmies on the first pair of pants that he sees, snatches up his hoodie off the back of the desk chair, and throws on his leather jacket. Hopping, he tries to balance on one foot while pulling on a boot, losing his balance when Venom begins to impatiently tug at him. After nearly face planting into the bed, Eddie huffs, agitated.
“Not cool, V,” he fusses, shoving his foot the rest of the way into his shoe and straightening up.
Hurry, Eddie. Wanna see snow!
His frown immediately melts away, replaced by an affectionate smile. Chuckling at his other’s eagerness, Eddie grabs up his keys and wallet, tucking his phone into his back pocket with a playful sigh.
“You got it, bud.”
After a quick stop at the complimentary hot buffet in the hotel lobby–eggs, pancakes, and a metric fuckton of bacon–the two make their way out onto the bustling streets of New York. The walk is pretty peaceful, and Eddie spends most of the time explaining things to Venom and answering their questions. It’s only about twenty minutes before they make it to their destination.
Despite how cold it is, Eddie takes the long way round Central Park, dipping through the less crowded and more isolated trails whenever he gets the chance. It gives him the opportunity to talk to Venom out in the open without getting weird looks.
Once alone, Venom pops their tiny head out from under Eddie’s collar and floats around, opalescent eyes wide as they take in everything around them. Big cities definitely aren’t new to them, but apparently seeing one covered in snow is just a completely different world to them.
At one point, V sticks out their tongue to try and catch snowflakes. They aren’t all that good at it, but Eddie would be lying if he said he doesn’t giggle like a middle schooler when they finally do manage to get one. Their eyes immediately narrow into pleased slits and they get a goofy little grin on their face. Shoving their tongue towards Eddie, they purr, proudly showing off their achievement.
Eddie, look! We caught some!
“Good job, love,” Eddie murmurs with a silly smile on his own face. He nudges Venom’s head with his reddened nose, brushing the backs of his knuckles beneath their chin. V leans into him, literally vibrating with contentment.
Suddenly, Venom’s head snaps around, tilting up as they take a deep whiff of the air around them. This instantly puts Eddie on edge and he tenses, preparing for a fight.
“What’s wrong, V?”
They’re silent for a moment before they turn back towards Eddie, that stupid grin on their face and their tongue lolling out of the side of their mouth like a goddamned puppy.
We smell hot chocolate.
As realization sinks in, Eddie relaxes and watches as Venom’s smile grows even wider. The unspoken question hangs in the air, as well as the implication that they would be getting some regardless of Eddie’s answer. He doesn’t even bother holding back the long suffering sigh he lets out.
“You’re ridiculous.”
A ripple of smugness flows through their connection.
We know.