Separation Anxiety
Carnage and Phage were with Flash today and Scream and Agony were at sleepover so that left just Sleeper and Lasher at home with them. Considering that keeping track of one six year old and one three and a half month old was much easier than keeping track of their usual pack of six, it was especially embarrassing that they had completely lost both of them. On one hand Eddie and Venom were fairly confident that their two sons were still in the house somewhere but on the other hand they could have gone into their symbiote forms and slipped into the sink drain or some other equally terrifying scenario.
They weren’t even sure how this unfolded. One minute they were playing with Sleeper while listening to Lasher go on (and on and on) about his day at school, then he put the baby in his bouncer to take a three minute call in the other room and when they came back both kids were gone.
“Lash?...Lasher?....Buddy?” Eddie called out to no avail.
“I told you we should have had them all chipped.”
“I thought that’s what you were for, can’t you sense where they are?”
“Not since Sleeper was born, his chemokinesis inhibits my ability to detect him or the others if they’re with him.”
“And you’re just telling me this now, V?”
“It hasn’t come up until now.” Venom was being rather flippant about this, obviously not inclined to jumping to extreme conclusions like Eddie with his drain theory.
“The Snugapuppy bouncy is is still turned on.”
“Bouncer Eddie, it’s a bouncer. And I refuse to even acknowledge the word Snugapuppy. Why do humans insist on using the most ridiculous, vapid words when it comes to their young? You should be against them as a writer.”
“I can’t really explain the global human concepts of infantilization, baby talk and the emphasis of innocence in our young right this moment but I promise we’ll get into it later.”
“I would like the children to maintain their innocence....But the words are still dumb.”
The started at the epicenter of the mystery, checking behind the TV stand, behind the couch and in the toy bin. Next they checked the front porch and yard followed by the hall closet. The. Then backyard and kitchen. Under the kitchen table and in all the lower cupboards. Even the fridge and dishwasher...and of course the sink drain (thankfully clear of any baby symbiotes).
The downstairs bathroom and upstairs bathroom were empty too.
“Wait, wait, wait. Back up.” Venom halted him.
He walked backwards to retrace his steps until he was standing in the doorway of their bedroom. All unremarkable except for a suspicious little lump under the covers in the middle of the bed. Venom snaked over his shoulder to give him their version of a fond smirk at their solving of the great mystery. They quietly approached the bed and peeled off the covers to find Sleeper and Lasher cuddled together and asleep.
Lasher blinked and squinted his opalescent eyes up at them.
“You’re gonna wake him up.” Lasher mumbled referring to Sleeper.
“Sorry kiddo, he can’t sleep under the covers.” Eddie have him a sorry smile at disturbing them.
Eddie slid his hands under Sleeper to pick him up and the second he barely lifted him he started to cry and sound decidedly upset. Eddie removed his hands and the crying stopped. He waited a moment before sliding his hands back under him and he sobbed again. Then Venom tried with the same results. Either of them touched him and he’d sniffle and whine.
“Aw, Eddie let him stay.”
Venom was even worse with spoiling the kids than he was and Sleeper has been the most spoiled since he was born- being the new baby of the family and all. A habit they had to phase out at the risk of spoiling him into a brat.
He sighed and stopped trying to move their youngest. As Lasher and Sleeper cuddled a little closer together they supposed that not separating them wasn’t a terrible thing to indulge.