Eddie was confused. Even worse than that, he was confused and alone. Well, not entirely alone. He had him. He had Venom. The symbiote, however, was the source of that confusion. The parasite (no, not a parasite) that lived inside him, inside his brain, inside his body, bonded to his every cell. But he couldn’t say that. Sure, Venom may be able to sense it, sense that something is wrong, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
But maybe it was worse to keep secrets. After all, their bond was sort of like a marriage, and if Eddie knew anything about relationships, it was that they needed communication. So should he tell this to the voice, the being inside his head? Should he tell him that he was feeling things that he hadn’t felt in a while, or even ever? There was a chance he already knew, of course, or knew that Eddie was trying to hide something from him. There were so many things about this relationship that Eddie had yet to discover, including whether or not Venom could feel everything he felt or know everything he knew. They were separate entities, sure, but they were connected in an utterly unique way.
And that’s why Eddie was alone. It’s not like there was a support group for people with aliens living inside them. At least, not that he knew of. Anything he was feeling was both new to him and probably new to the world. There’s no one he could talk to (or, at least no one he could talk to that would understand) about what he was starting to think about the strange being.
It was weird even thinking those thoughts. It was weird entertaining the notion that he may be feeling anything other than disgust or mild tolerance for the thing. But he was. He didn’t want to acknowledge that, let alone dwell on it but unfortunately, it was what his mind kept drifting to as he struggled to fall asleep. Venom had been quiet for a surprisingly long time but that still wasn’t enough for Eddie to let sleep claim him.
Maybe it was the silence itself that was so unnerving at this hour. He had gotten used to the symbiote’s persistent comments. Still, it wasn’t as bad as the brief period during which he thought Venom was dead. That had been pure torture. It was strange how they could form such a deep bond in such a short amount of time, Eddie thought, but he, of course, didn’t and couldn’t know if that was typical for the symbiote/host type of relationship. He had heard that that’s what meeting your soulmate felt like, so was that the case? His mind continued to race until the increasingly familiar voice spoke up.
“You think too much, Eddie,” it said, pulling the man out of his spiral. He laughed quietly.
“Heh, maybe I do, love. Maybe I do.”
“Interesting.”
“What now?” Eddie said, annoyed yet still slightly amused.
“Your new nickname for me.” He thought for a moment. Shit, he realized. It had just slipped out. He had been deep in thought and it was the first thing that had come to his mind. And that… that was a problem. Right? It took a while for him to say anything back, at least out loud. There was a large chance that Venom was following his frantic thought process and stocking up on embarrassing ammunition to throw back at him later, but speaking those thoughts was so much more intimate; that’s why he was afraid to do it.
“I’m sorry,” he finally replied, settling on a response that could theoretically end the conversation. But of course, that’s not what Venom wanted. It wasn’t even what Eddie himself really wanted.
“Don’t apologize, darling,” said Venom. Eddie could almost hear the smug smile in his disembodied voice. With that, his mind was sent reeling once more. Was the nickname an indication of some type of reciprocation? What even would he be reciprocating? Was that even possible, or was it just some joke? Yeah, it was probably a joke. “See what I mean? You think too much.”
Okay, so he definitely knew. Eddie tried his best to clear his mind of any thoughts that would give the symbiote any more of a reason to tease him. Those attempts, of course, only did the opposite. And maybe some of the things that flashed through Eddie’s mind were Venom’s doing, a message he was sending. He took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay.”
“Did you mean it?” The way he asked the question seemed almost innocent, and definitely genuine. So maybe it wasn’t a joke, or a game. Maybe they (he? it?) weren’t teasing. But had Eddie meant it?
“I think I might have, yeah. I think I might have. Unless you’re weirded out by that. If that’s the case, then I didn’t. And we can move on.” Eddie wisely cut himself off before his rambling thoughts turned into rambling words. He still wasn’t sure if that would make a difference, since Venom was already in his mind and all that, but again, words were intimate. Speaking was intimate.
“Does it, as you put it, weird you out?” Eddie laughed a little more. He really should have been prepared for that question.
“It should.” And that was the blunt truth. It really, really should. “But I don’t think it does.” He was still hesitant, of course. This, all of this was new, and yes, it was weird, but not in a way that disgusted Eddie. Not in a way that was going to prevent him from doing anything about it, he decided. It was refreshing to come to a conclusion, even if that conclusion scared the absolute shit out of him.
“Good,” said Venom. He still sounded surprisingly genuine. After a few more moments of silence, Eddie felt a familiar feeling on his shoulder as the symbiote began to take a tangible form, eventually morphing into a face that hovered above Eddie’s. And suddenly the whole conversation seemed more personal, more close in every sense of the word.
His (their) mind flashed back to that moment in the woods. He had been so sure that that kiss was really Anne’s doing. Now, however, he suspected different. Or, actually, he knew different. He knew that it was Venom who did it and that he might be about to do it again and that it scared and excited him and that that was a combination he was starting to enjoy more and more often.
He wasn’t sure how long they were staring at each other in silence but that was over soon enough. Venom had presumably grown tired of waiting, or maybe it was Eddie who moved; he didn’t know. Unlike what happened in the woods, things here were unrushed. Part of Eddie still expected it to be toothy and slimy and gross but it wasn’t. Not really. Sure, it was different. Insanely different, even. But that wasn’t a bad thing, and that’s what scared him most.