Dispute
“I can’t believe you would do that!”
“You are overreacting.”
“They could’ve been seen! They could’ve gone too far!”
“Neither of which happened.”
“Oh, well in that case why don’t you take the others? Hell, take Sleeper too! Why not?!”
“Eddie, you are being unfair.”
“I’m being unfair? You clearly thought you were doing something wrong when you chose not to tell me anything!”
Venom had taken Carnage out late last night while Eddie and everyone else was asleep. Took them out to go hunting.
They had only discussed this a few times but they seemed to be in agreement- the children were too young to go out hunting. Or at least Eddie had thought they were in agreement until this morning when he woke up to Carnage sleeping in their bed. Carnage crawling into bed with them was unusual to say the least.
“Ya have a nightmare, Car?” Eddie mumbled barely awake at their oldest buried in the blankets.
“They did so well, Eddie. They’re a natural.”
“Hm? Natural at what?” Eddie went to stretch and noticed Venom’s hand had overtaken one of his own and Carnage was holding it in their sleep.
“Took them out last night. Pinned a drive-by shooter who racked up carjacking and assault. Eddie they were magnificent!”
“You what…?” Eddie sat up further.
“I mean, I know Camden is a shithole but-”
“You what?”
"We could not have gotten luckier-”
“You. Did. What?!”
They were now thirty minutes into this argument and neither of them was keen on letting up. It was just barely sunrise so the children were still asleep and they each wanted to keep it that way so they were fighting in the backyard.
“You took Carnage to Jersey in the middle of the night to go hunting without telling me!” Eddie hissed.
“Eddie, I did tell you. I wanted you to know.”
“Only after you’d already done it! We agreed they’re too young to go out hunting! How can I know you haven’t done this before?”
“You are being unreasonable.” Something in their tone shot a chill down his spine but he still didn’t budge.
“Let me explain what happened.”
They were insistent so Eddie just crossed his arms, still fuming.
“I left here alone. Of course it was not long before I noticed I was being followed. Carnage’s camouflage abilities are still far from perfected, they did not realize I knew.”
“Carnage…snuck out and followed you?” Eddie’s own tone softened at that.
“Yes. They have always been…rebellious.” Venom seemed to be searching for the right word.
“I confronted them rather quickly. It is important for them to know they cannot yet outsmart me. Especially while breaking our rules. They became very upset at being caught and even more upset at the prospect of returning home. You know how Carange can be.”
Eddie exhaled slowly because yeah…he definitely knew how Carange can be.
“I felt that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for Carnage to tag along. They understand what you and I do and I said they could come with me under my own conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“They were required to stay behind me at all times. Make no noise. Draw no attention to themselves. Only stand and watch from far enough away.”
Eddie was starting to lose some of his steam.
“But they are still young. I was not sure if they would be able to stay out of sight. I could not risk them being seen anywhere they may have been recognized.”
“So you decided New Jersey was best?”
“I may have gotten a bit…”
“Too excited?”
“Correct. I will not deny that I was pleased to be showing my child the ropes. So we ventured rather far from home.”
“Really far from home, V. Another fuckin’ state.”
“When I realized just how far out we had gone I knew I needed to find a target quickly and get Carnage home. They still need their sleep after all. I’ll admit the target more or less fell into my lap.”
“The carjacking drive-by shooter.”
“To be fair he was more skittish than ruthless. But he still did gun down another young man in cold blood and beat the owner of the stolen car half to death with a tire iron from the backseat. I felt it was the best opportunity I would get in such a rush.”
“Please. Just please tell me Carnage didn’t…” Eddie couldn’t even finish the thought.
“Of course not, beloved. They do not even know the taste. I did not share any part of it, they watched from a brick wall several stories up. I told them it was more important to work on their camouflage and wall crawling because if I caught them then any human would be able to spot them as human’s are even more attuned to their surroundings than Klyntar…I would also appreciate it if you corroborated that lie.”
“So that’s it? They just…watched you?” Eddie was feeling the weight of the whole goddamned world coming off his shoulders.
“They have seen worse of me on the news.”
Eddie suddenly had a lump in his throat to replace the heat. They’ve been together for so long, they shared everything always. He should’ve trusted them. He shouldn’t have assumed the worst.
“It is alright Eddie. I know you are protective of the children…and why. I also know you do not like being left in the dark. I should have brought them home. I should have woken you.”
“No V...It’s not alright. I know I can always, always trust you with our kids…I just-” The lump in his throat suddenly choked off his words.
“Dad! Dad!! Dadadadadadadad!!!”
Before Eddie can find his voice again he’s being loudly accosted by their oldest running out of the house towards them. He’s only barely able to catch them as they slip on the grass, still wet from the morning dew.
“Dad! You should have seen it! Dad is SO COOL! We were SO stealth!” Carnage is yelling at him, exploding with excitement.
“I have a hard time believing you could stay quiet that long.” Eddie smiles at them.
“I KNOW! I WAS AMAZING!”
“They were.”
Between Venom’s blinding pride that he can feel bursting through their shared connection and Carnage’s one-hundred-mile-a-second retelling, Eddie can’t believe he was upset about this for even an instant.