“Are you... OK?” Eddie worriedly stares back at him, his own expression neutral. Though, it’s his silence that makes her nervous – downright dreaded – again.
Venom snaps out of his stupor when he feels Eddie’s uncertainty. “This is why he’s really coming...” He mumbles to himself, sees Eddie now looking confused, then, tells her, “This is why Knull is coming here...” Both his expression and tone are soft as he adds, “For our... son.”
Eddie nods, though, shoots him a curious look. “You don’t think Knull would have eventually come for revenge and to tie up loose ends?”
Venom scoffs. “Knull severed his link to me, so I wouldn’t be able to find him and finished what I started. It’s why Toxin is still able to see him now.” He growls loudly in anger, his voice rising slightly with that anger. “And now, Knull thinks he can come to destroy MY family!”
“That’s not gonna happen, V.” Eddie doesn’t know how she knows that, she just does, no matter what. “Besides, a lot of it could still be just me havin’ nightmares.”
Venom seems to misunderstand her words, because his expression dims some. He slowly floats closer to her, voice low and somehow small as he tentatively asks, “You... hope... it doesn’t happen...?”
And now, Eddie is just confused. “What? Knull? Of course I don’t. Guy scares the piss outta me.”
Venom swallows a huff over her adorably absent clue – so dim sometimes, for someone so very clever – over her making him say it out loud, when it’s all that he dreads right in this moment. “Not Knull. Our... son...”
“Oh...”
“Oh...?” Venom’s nervousness matches her own now. Though, the small smile that tugs at her lips at least makes him feel better.
“Until now, I never really thought about havin’ kids. Mainly ‘cause I was always kinda scared I’d fuck up their lives. I mean, not the spectacular way my father fucked me up, but...” Eddie shrugs, lets out a sigh as she walks over to plop herself down onto the couch.
Venom slowly floats after her. “And now?”
Eddie chuckles, can’t help teasing him, because it’s just the natural balance between them. “You want me to be your baby mama, V? Is that what all this is about? You wanna be a daddy again?”
Venom scowls at her, falls into her trap, like the idiot that he is, like he always does with her. “That abomination was no son of mine.” He retorts all too snootily. He huffs, then with defeat, adds, “But I suppose I can thank him for leaving Toxin behind.”
Eddie stares thoughtfully at him for a few moments, small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “If it wasn’t for that, you’d never have gotten your memories back.”
To her surprise, Venom throws out those tiny arms just to give her a casual little shrug. “Nothing I missed.”
Eddie scoffs, shoots him a look of disbelief. “You were given back literally half a billion year’s worth of your memories, and there’s not one little thing you missed?” She scoffs again, louder. “I call bullshit.”
Venom has no other response to that, but the absolute truth, his eyes gazing into hers as he says, “Nothing is you, but you, Eddie. Why would I miss anything else, when everything I love most is right here with me now?”
He asks so plainly, so simply, states more than asks her, yet, Eddie still feels her throat tighten along with her chest at those pretty words – she really does doubt the whole “no literature on my home planet” thing sometimes.
Venom seems to be listening to her thoughts, because he grins rather gleefully and says, “Good teacher. Fast learner.” He chuckles when she only smirks and rolls her eyes at him. Then, he’s back to shooting her that grave look again, his tone more serious as he says, “Knull is only coming for me... maybe if I –“
“If you, what?!” Eddie snaps before he can finish, heart racing hard and painfully, trying not to goddamn break in half, because she knows exactly what he’s thinking.
Venom ignores the pain fizzling all over him, already hears the hurt in her voice, feels it in her heart. Still, he somehow levels his composure as he speaks. “I could find him first. Get to him before he can –“
Eddie is quickly on her feet, glaring right back at him. “Oh, my God! Are you fuckin’ serious right now?! You’re gonna go sailin’ halfway across the universe, huh? On your own, I presume? Good luck with that! You know, the last time you ALMOST managed to kill him was when you were bonded to a fuckin’ Celestial! NOT little old loser human Eddie Brock!”
“Eddie –“
“No! Fuck you! You wanna leave so bad? Fine! Then, go now, and let’s not waste anymore of each other’s time!” Eddie is trembling all over, tears bunching up, she turns away from him before that can happen, feels them roll down her face as she storms into the bedroom and slams the doors shut.
Venom stares after her with wide eyes, because what the fuck just happened?
OK, totally his fault, but fuck, it was just a suggestion!
Still doesn’t make him feel like any less of a dick though. A big, fat guilty dick.
In her room, Eddie is halfway through slipping out of her jacket and angrily throwing it onto the floor when she feels it... feels him leave her...
It feels like a punch to her gut. A tear in her heart. An unpleasant itch under her skin. A loneliness in her head...
Eddie doesn’t bother checking the rest of the apartment for him, she knows he’s gone. Instead, she, rather numbly, shuffles over to her bed before face-planting it... and hopefully suffocating herself...
●●●
Anne chuckles, more amused than aroused by the rather cheesy line Dan gives her.
“What?” Dan winces as he notices her expression. “Was that too much?”
“No.” Anne laughs. “Just not...”
“Sexy. Got it.” Dan nods.
Anne wonders just how she got so lucky to have a man so ridiculously perfect all to herself. “Don’t worry, babe, you’ve still got them magic fingers–OH, GOD, WHAT IS THAT?!” She squeals, almost spilling their wine glasses as she hurries to stand from her chair.
“What?!” Dan is slightly panicked as he rises from his seat, too, somehow manages to keep the glasses from tipping as he does.
“I felt something crawling on me! It felt like a spider!” Anne yelps, glancing cautiously under their breakfast table.
Dan takes a look for her, checks under both their seats. “Nothing there now, sweetheart.” He rubs her shoulders when she tries to shake away the shivers, presses a small kiss to her forehead. “Wanna take this to the bedroom? We can bring the wine.”
Anne chuckles, nods. “Yeah. Sounds like a good plan.”
“Oh...” Dan’s face suddenly drops slightly with clear disappointment.
“What?” Anne asks, follows his gaze over her shoulder before sighing out, “Oh.”
“Not a spider, after all.” Dan shoots her a small teasing smile when she shoots him a withering look. “I’ll clean up here. You go deal with... whatever this is now.”
“You’re the best.” Anne smiles brightly up at him, presses a quick kiss to his lips before turning to face her little visitor, who is currently Eddie-less and half poured over her microwave. Though, she can’t help chuckling at the adorable little tendril that shoots out to wave at her. “I’m guessing you wanna talk.”
Venom’s tendril sprouts a little thumb up at her.
Anne huffs quietly. “Fine. Hop on, I guess.” She holds her hand out to his black formless mass, shivers when he reaches out and touches her, feels the initial thrill of it all again. “Oh, God... I forgot how disturbingly fun this is!”
Dan has to pause his cleaning efforts as he stares at her with clear amusement.
Venom sprouts forth from her left shoulder immediately, grins gratefully at her. “Thank you! Annie! I need your help! I’m sorry if this is too much for you, but I don’t have time to explain!”
“What are you talking – whoa...” Anne’s eyes widen in both horror and amazement. “Oh, my God, you guys are having a baby?”
“What? Oh, wow.” Dan is, as most doctors probably would, morbidly fascinated.
“Really, Annie? That is the first thing you ask?” Venom shoots her a withering look.
Anne ignores Venom, smirks smugly as she tells Dan, “They’re not having it now. It’s a future baby.”
“A... a future baby? ...OK.. Sure. Why not?” Dan doesn’t know what’s more concerning, this whole situation, or the fact that his fiancé seems pretty calm about it all.
Like it happens all the time.
Which, it’s Eddie and Venom, so it does happen all the time...
“Annie! You can ask me anything you want another time! Eddie and I had a fight –“
Anne sighs, feels his distress. “Play it back to me.”
Venom does just that, lets her see the fight as if she were there herself.
Anne shoots him a withering look. “You’re an idiot. How do you get to have billions of years worth of knowledge in that symbiote brain of yours and still get to be this much of an idiot?”
“What did I do?!”
“You were suggesting you abandon her!”
“I wasn’t being totally serious!”
“She doesn’t see it that way! Her mother abandoned her! You know that!”
“But she should know what I meant... she should feel it...” Venom’s voice is less panicked, now, just gloomy instead.
Anne sighs, hops up onto the counter so that she’s eye level with his adorable, yet, still slightly terrifying noodle-head.
She knows what he means, because even if she’s not his perfect host, she’s strong enough, at least, to host him, so she feels like she, at least, knows a fraction of what their special bond must feel like.
“It’s Eddie, VV.” She shoots him a fond smile. “She’s tough on the outside, but she’s still just like everybody else in this universe... sad and lonely.” She grins sweetly over at Dan. “That’s why we cling so tightly to the ones we loves.”
Venom scowls, voice almost sulky as he states, “But I could never leave Eddie. We are like magnets. No matter how far apart you pull us, we always find one another again... I... I would have come back to her... always...”
Dan stares between the two, at first he found their exchanges funny, but now, it’s just kind of sad. He feels for Venom, he really does. Hopes he and Eddie can work things out, like they always do, in the end. Still, he can’t help sniffling slightly, because what Venom just said was actually kind of beautiful. This is pretty much the first time he’s hearing this side of the symbiote for himself – instead having to go by the many stories Anne tells him.
“Well, that’s up to you two to figure out.” Anne tells him, shoots him an encouraging smile.
Venom nods, knows she right, no matter how madly nervous he feels again now.
“Wait, so, you and Eddie had an argument about her abandonment issues, and you just up and left her before coming over here to ask Anne what you should do? Or, I’m presuming you told Eddie where you were going first?” Dan pipes up, no teasing or smugness in his tone, he’s just trying to help.
Venom’s silence and slight wince are enough to have Anne throwing her hands up at him as she hops down from the counter. “Are you serious?! I knew you were skipping out on me! Venom, you show me the end of that argument, right now!”
Venom huffs but does as he’s told, and can’t even bring himself to glare at Dan’s annoying little smile of amusement.