Helpful
“Why are you so mad today, little guy?” Eddie questioned their youngest, holding him up in front of them and bouncing him a little in a futile attempt to cheer him up.
Sleeper narrowed his eyes and hissed back at him.
He was, for an unknown reason, very angry today.
“He is has not had enough phenethylamine lately, it is making him grumpy.”
“What? What do you mean not getting enough? You’re supposed to be taking care of that!”
“I am taking care of it, I am running out of saved up phenethylamine for you to feed him and it is stretching thin. You’re not intaking enough for both me and the little one so you are the one dropping the ball.”
“Well when will we run out?”
“In a day or two. We need to consume some more as soon as possible. As you can see it is starting to affect him.”
“Why isn’t affecting you? You’re usually sensitive to it too.”
“He is a small, developing, half-Klyntar infant who is only a few months old so he needs significantly more of the chemical than I do and significantly more than the other children do. We can go longer periods than he can. There is a reason he has to eat so many times a day.”
“All babies eat a lot of times a day. Does he eat that much more?”
“Yes, Eddie. All the children eat more than human ones with Sleeper eating the most. Way to pay attention to their needs.”
“Hey, this is your arena. Will chocolate work?”
“It would take a lot of chocolate. Flesh would be better to start with. The other children should have some too while we’re at it.”
“Would it really be better or is it just what you want?” Eddie smirked.
“We will compromise. Chocolate for the older children. Flesh for me.” Eddie could feel their grin.
“Fine, don’t say I never do anything for you. We’ll get a sitter and go out tonight.”
“Good, it's been awhile since our last date night.” They agreed.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Lasher had only overheard the first half of the conversation before he was overcome with the need to help. So the little boy grabbed his backpack and his dad’s wallet, unlocked the front door and set off into the world to solve this problem for his parents and Sleeper.
Lasher didn’t exactly know which direction the store was so he picked a direction at random and felt confident he’d find what he was looking for eventually. He wasn’t sure how long he walked for but he did come across a grocery store after a while so he excitedly ran inside- proud of himself for successfully completing his first task.
Eddie reached up to the top shelf of their closet which was far out of sight from little symbiotes and pulled down a top secret box. He lifted the lid and pulled out six king sized chocolate bars that none of their kids knew were in the house.
“This is enough until tonight, right?”
“Yes, Sleeper will feel much better.”
“Okay, good. I feel terrible he’s been so fussy today because of us.”
“Its alright Eddie, he experienced a mild inconvenience for one morning. I’m pretty sure he will be okay.”
Eddie laughed out loud, his other really was the more rational one.
They found the kids in the living room and they were extremely delighted to be getting candy bars for seemingly no reason.
“Phage’s is bigger than mine.” Scream frowned.
“They are all the same size, darling. We promise.”
She seemed skeptical about that undeniable fact but unwrapped the chocolate anyways.
“Where’s Lasher?” Eddie asked holding the last candy bar in his hand.
The kids looked around sheepishly like they didn’t notice their brother wasn’t there but to be fair Lasher was so soft spoken he could easily slip under the radar. There were times he’d scare the hell out of Eddie and Venom just by silently standing behind them with his presence completely unknown until they turned around and would be startled to find him there just quietly hanging out. They looked all over before noticing the front door was unlocked and his wallet was missing.
“Oh no.”
“Oh no.”
The two of them realized in unison why they couldn’t find him anywhere in the house. He wasn’t in it anymore.
Lasher wandered up and down the many aisles of the store before the teenage clerk came up to him.
“Hey cutie, looking for something?” She asked him.
“Peanut-thigh-lemon.” He told her, hoping she might be able to help him so he could get home and give it to his dads as soon as possible.
“I don’t think I know that is, sweetie. Are you sure that’s what you’re looking for? Where’s your mom?”
“I don’t have a mom, I just have dads. They said there’s peanut-thigh-lemon in chocolate.” He explained to her.
“Oh! Well that we have. Let’s get you some and then we can find your dads.” She held out her hand to him and he eagerly took it, glad to have help.
“Where could he have gone? This isn’t like him at all. Do you think he was upset and ran away? Why wouldn’t he tell us anything?” Eddie was panicking.
“Calm down, darling. He can’t have gone far.”
Flash was quick to come over and keep an eye on the other kids so they could look for Lasher, he was unshakably worried too but was confident in Venom’s inherent detection ability since Sleeper’s presence wouldn’t be interfering with the search.
“He went this way not too long ago. His detectable chemical signature is still fairly fresh.”
“Okay, okay, you’re probably right he has to be nearby. Except he’s fast as hell, oh my God.” Eddie tried to take a deep breath as he turned the car in the direction Venom was leading them in.
Lasher clutched the several chocolate bars and candies to his front as he trailed behind the nice clerk lady who was taking him up to the register. This important mission was going very well in his opinion.
“Okay kiddo, I’ll tell your dads where you are on the PA system. What’s your name?”
“Lasher! And they aren’t here, I came by myself.” He announced holding his dad’s wallet up to her.
“Hmm, does you dad know you have his wallet?” She asked, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged innocently.
“Okay, do you know his phone number?”
Lasher nodded and held out his hand for the phone which she gave to him and he dialed the number he worked so hard to memorize, handing the phone back to her she waited as it rang.
“Hello?” A man answered sounding predictably panicked.
“Hello, this is Katie. I’m a cashier at the grocery store on Pine ave and 5th street. I just wanted to call and let you know that your son Lasher is here with me. He’s perfectly safe but I’m assuming you’re probably looking for him.” She told him.
“Oh my God! Thank you so much! V, he’s at the store down the street. She said he’s okay.” The man was talking to someone with him, probably Lasher’s other dad whose name apparently started with the letter V. Victor maybe?
Lasher sat on the counter with her, swinging his legs and holding his candy close to him. After a short while a man looking exceptionally distressed rushed in and looked around, once he spotted Lasher complete relief washed over his face.
“Lasher! What on Earth were you thinking? You can’t just leave like that by yourself!” The man grabbed the boy’s shoulders before pulling him into a tight hug. Yep, this guy was definitely the kid’s dad despite the surprising lack of resemblance.
“You said Sleeper needed chocolate, so got him some chocolate!” Lasher held up the many bars up to Eddie in explanation.
“Only Lasher.” Venom sighed, also relieved.
“Yeah.” Eddie chuckled.
“Lash, you’re too sweet. But next time tell us first. We’re more prepared for these kinds of things than you think.”
“Oh, okay.” He said obviously relieved as well but for the reason that Sleeper was well taken care of.
“Can we still keep the chocolate?” He asked hopefully.
“Sure, Lash. I already paid for it anyway didn't I?” Eddie grinned.