Eddie looked at the paper taped to the door, squinting to read the words.
"Lab partners?" he said to himself. "We have a lab today?"
"Oh, yes, we do," the familiar voice said from behind him. "Fun, isn't it?" He didn't even turn around.
"Well, only if you know what you're doing," Eddie replied. He didn't even know why he was speaking with the symbiote. Everyone seemed to hate him.
"Hmm. It seems as if we are partners for the semester," Carnage mused, coming up beside him.
"What?" Eddie sounded surprised. "When?"
"Our science professor said so. Look." Carnage pointed to the paper. Sure enough, Eddie saw he was paired with Carnage for the first semester.
"Oh."
"You don't sound too happy about it," Carnage said, faking disappointment.
"Well, it's just.... I can't be around you," Eddie said.
"Oh? Who said so?"
"Venom."
Carnage chuckled.
"Listen, he finds me in the bathroom with you one time and he thinks I was going to have fucking sex with you," he said. "I told you before that he and I aren't exactly friends."
"I've noticed. He told me not to trust you, though."
"He's just being overly protective, that's all," the red alien said. "But trust me, did I seem intimidating at homecoming?"
"Um..."
"Everyone naturally assumes since my name is Carnage, I'm a bad person," Carnage grumbled. "But I'm not. I told you, we symbiotes don't choose our names."
"I remember," Eddie said with a nod.
"If anything, I just want to be friends with you," Carnage went on. "I don't have many friends and you seem like a nice guy."
"I hope I am," Eddie said, looking at the paper again. "But just letting you know, I'm going to have to earn your trust, alright?"
"Of course, of course," Carnage said. "That's how friends begin, right? And we've already started getting to know each other at the homecoming event, so it's even better. And now we're lab partners."
The bell rang once, signaling that they had one minute left to get to class.
"Well, I'm going to head to the lab. Do you want to come with me?" Carnage asked.
Eddie paused for a moment. Carnage stood waiting for him patiently.
"This isn't a trick, right? You're not gonna lead me into a scheme of yours, right?"
Carnage laughed.
"Of course not! We're going to class, you dork," he chuckled. "You're funny, Eddie. I like you."
"Well....I guess it couldn't hurt if we walked to class together," Eddie said. Carnage smiled, teeth gleaming.
"Thank you."
"Oh, my god, I'm so tired," Eddie groaned as he threw his sweaty shirt into the washer inside the men's locker room after their running session that day for class.
"Same, I think I popped an artery," Dan joked but he was smiling.
"Well, at least you're gonna be a doctor and can fix that problem," Eddie returned, still panting a little from the run. He glanced at Venom who was waiting for his turn in the shower. "Unlike you symbiotes who never seem to be physically tired or sweaty at all."
Venom smiled.
"We're special," he replied simply.
Carlton came out of the bathroom to wash his hands.
"You guys did good today. Ran three miles," Venom said. "That's good seeing as you didn't have much practice over the summer."
"True," Carlton said as he wiped his hands on the towel Venom handed him. "Coach is okay, though. He can be rough sometimes, but still, he's just doing what he feels is right."
"Hey, are you guys coming to the event tonight?" Dan asked as he put on some deodorant.
"What event?" Eddie wondered curiously.
From the shower, he could hear Riot laughing.
"Buddy, the event that we've been talking about all week!" he called over the spray.
"Oh, that one," Eddie said. "Nah, I'm not."
"Why not?" Dan asked. Eddie shrugged.
"Just not into bands and stuff, I guess," he replied as Riot stepped out of the shower wearing only his boxers.
Carlton immediately choked on his water that he was guzzling from his bottle and coughed.
"You good?" Dan wondered, concerned.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Carlton gasped, pounding his chest with a first.
Riot smirked at him curiously, liking how his roommate's eyes widened as he took the symbiote in. Carlton was captivated by that bare, broad chest and the massive muscles bulging and rippling as Riot moved. Riot knew that Carlton liked him but was a little confused by his reaction. Did Carlton think he was attractive?
"You sure you're good?" Dan asked again.
"Yeah," Carlton nodded as Riot walked over to grab his stuff. They made eye contact and Riot made sure to put on his most smug smile as he did so.
"Hey," he said, trying to sound casual.
"H-hey," Carlton croaked. He feigned a cough. "Sorry, still got water down the wrong pipe."
Riot's grin widened as he leaned forwards a little.
"Sure," he whispered, opalescent eyes narrowing into humored slits.
"Well, I got some bad news. I'm not going to be here next week," Venom stated.
That brought Eddie's attention back quickly.
"What? Why?" he asked almost too quickly.
"I have to go with the group in my class to learn first hand how police work," Venom explained, stepping in the shower next. "We're going to stay there the whole week, learning about what they do and stuff."
"Yeah, but why a whole week?" Eddie asked.
Venom shrugged as he turned on the faucet.
"College wanted us to for some reason," he replied. But then he smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be back. You can text me and stuff, too."
Riot grabbed a shirt without looking and began to put it on.
"Wow, did my shirt shrink?" he asked Carlton.
"Oh. That's mine," Carlton said with a grin. "This one's yours."
"Oh." Riot chuckled and slid the small shirt over his head and handed it to Carlton, taking his actual shirt now and putting it on. "No wonder it felt so tight."
"Bruh, the shirts you wear are tight, even for you," Carlton replied.
"Maybe it's because I like showing off," Riot joked with a charming smirk. Carlton laughed.
"You do seem to do that a lot," he agreed.
Riot tilted his head, curious. There it was again. Did Carlton think he was attractive?
"Oh, I almost forgot. Riot?" Venom called over the noise of the shower. Riot looked towards the voice, forgetting Carlton for a moment.
"Yeah?"
"You're in charge of making sure Eddie's safe when I'm gone."
"Will do," Riot replied with a nod.
"I just don't want anything to happen to him."
Eddie just flushed a little and tried to look busy but stuffing his bag into the locker.
"Speaking of the devil...." Carlton muttered as the door squeaked opened on rusty hinges and the red symbiote sauntered through.
"Hey, calm down," Carnage said in an almost civil manner. "Just coming in for something."
At the sound of the menace's voice, the shower instantly turned off and Venom stalked out.
"What do you want?" he growled, not liking how Carnage was in the men's locker room. "You're not supposed to be in here right now."
"Relax, just coming to get something from my locker," Carnage sneered.
Eddie backed off a little as he saw the red symbiote coming close to his locker. Unfortunately, Carnage's locker was next to Eddie's.
Carnage smirked and made direct eye contact with Eddie as he opened his locker. Eddie just stood there quietly, trying not to engage in conversation with him.
"So, I heard you're leaving for a week?" Carnage asked Venom as he took out a shirt from his locker.
"I am," Venom answered stiffly.
"Aww, so sad. What's poor little Eddie gonna do without you?" Carnage jeered.
"Riot's watching out for him while I'm gone," he added, making sure to inform the symbiote that he wasn't going to get to his friend so easily.
"Hmm. How nice. Didn't know your roommate needed babysat while you were gone," Carnage said with a laugh. "I almost feel sorry for him."
"Why?" Eddie asked.
Carnage turned his gaze to Eddie now and grinned.
"You're an adult in college. You don't need people to look after you. Of course, they have good intentions. But seriously, Venom, don't you think that's a little over the line?"
"Well, seeing what you tried to do to him at the homecoming event two weeks ago when I wasn't there was enough," Venom growled, taking a few steps forward.
"Still on that, hmm? Wow, you hold grudges so easily," Carnage tutted. "Exactly, what did I do to make you feel this way?"
"You used him," Venom replied angrily.
"Do you have any proof of this?"
"He was confused afterwards because you drugged him."
"Oh, and what did I drug him with exactly?"
"I don't know but—"
"So tell me something, Eddie, do you remember what happened that night?" Carnage said, suddenly putting his attention on Eddie.
"Uh....well, we sat at a booth, got some food, and then went to the bathroom because I had a headache. You said there were headache pills in there."
"Yes, and then do you remember what happened after that?" Carnage pressed.
"No. All I remember is Venom coming in while you were washing your hands and then saying you were doing something wrong with me," Eddie replied honestly.
"And I wasn't. Remember what I told you before? I respect you humans." He turned to Venom. "See? He doesn't remember. There's no proof that I drugged him. And even if I did, he would have been out for longer than that," Carnage sneered towards Venom.
"Listen, Carnage—"
"Oh, look at the time, I must be off," Carnage said. "I have to study for a test tomorrow. I'll be seeing all of you later." He looked at Eddie with a certain glint in his eyes. "Especially you. We have some labs together that we need to finish, remember?"
"What?!" Venom snarled. Instantly, he seized Carnage and slammed him up against the lockers, eyes furious.
"You listen to me, you filthy, little bloodsucker," he hissed. "Stay away from him."
"Oh, but the professor specifically stated that he and I be partners for this semester for lab days," Carnage replied with a sneer.
Venom looked at Eddie for support and Eddie nodded.
"That's true, he did say that," he agreed quietly.
Venom turned back to Carnage who was calmly taking the brutal treatment.
"Now you listen to me, you even think about touching him when I'm gone..." he began but then the door opened. Venom, not wanting to be in trouble for being rough with Carnage, let him go.
The coach walked in. Seeing Carnage here, he furrowed his brows.
"Why are you in here?" he asked. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"It's the last class of the day, I skip it all the time," Carnage replied silkily. "Besides, I needed to get something from my locker," he held up the shirt as proof.
"Well, hurry up, I don't want to get in trouble if you're seen in here when you're not supposed to be," the coach said, jerking his thumb towards the door.
"Sure, sure," Carnage replied with a nod. "I'm going." He turned back to Eddie, giving him a friendly little nudge. "I'll see you whenever, Eddie. Remember, you can always text me...."
Then he was gone, Venom glared daggers into the empty space where he had occupied a moment before.
"What did you need, Coach?" Dan asked after the door had shut.
"Just wanted to say good job with the run today, I know it was your first big run, at least for you three," he said to the three humans. "Just wanted to inform you guys that next week we will be working together on the workout room on the machines and stuff. I'll give you a catelog so you can track yourself. It'll be part of a project we're going to be working on. Sound good?"
"Yup," came the replies.
"Venom already told me he's going to be gone so he has an excuse." Coach smiled. "Well, that's all I had to say. Again, good job, and thanks for your hard work."
Then he was gone, door closing behind him.
"Eddie."
Eddie looked up at Venom.
"Yeah?"
"Delete and block Carnage's phone number."
"Already did."
Venom seemed to relax and smiled.
"Good boy."
Eddie did his best to contain his shiver of delight as he continued to clean up his area. Venom chuckled softly at that.
The rest of the group had gone out except for Riot and Carlton. Riot had finished packing his stuff and was waiting patiently for his friend. He had placed Carlton's phone on top of the lockers when he wasn't looking, wanting to see how long it would take him to recognize it was gone. Plus, if his plan went right, he would get to touch him on purpose.
"Hey, where's my phone?" he asked, looking around.
"Did you loose it?" Riot wondered, smirking a little as he knew exactly where it was.
"It was right here," Carlton said, walking around the room. "Did someone take it?"
"Hopefully not."
"I can't understand where—oh, there it is." He walked over to the lockers and tried to reach the top to be able to grab his device, but realized he was too short. "Guess I'll be able to use this, then," he said and stood on the bench.
"Do you want help? I could just reach.." Riot began, hoping the other would say no, which he did nicely.
"Alright. Just be careful, they're kind of shaky," Riot cautioned, watching as the young adult stood on his tiptoes and tried to reach for his device again.
"Yeah, I know—" Carlton began, but suddenly the bench began to tip. Shouting out a little, he failed his arms, and felt himself pitching backwards.
He instantly felt those large, strong muscled arms catch him easily and gasped.
"Relax, I got you," Riot replied with a soft chuckle, shifting him to a more comfortable position, enjoying the moment he had so brilliantly created. "Here." The gray symbiote lifted him up by the waist up towards his phone.
"Th-thanks," Carlton replied, hating how his whole body tingled as he felt those massive hands around him, easily lifting him up like he weighed nothing.
"Hmm. You're welcome," Riot purred and then set him down once he retrieved his phone. "Shall we go now?"
Carlton blushed.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Even when they were back in their dorm, he could still feel those warm, strong hands around him, the ghost of their touches still lingering. He shivered as he remembered.
He wouldn't mind if Riot would hold and touch him again....and it had felt nice when Riot had so perfectly spooned him during the game of Truth or Dare....the feeling of his broad chest against Carlton's small back...
Carlton blushed harder.
God, he was such a sucker.