The next few days were calm, which was good. The days consisted of (M/N) and Tony hanging out whether it was in the living room or the lab. Tony finally got Venom to let him do a little test to see what he was made of, (M/N) was checked over by a pediatrician, and a few walls were knocked, built, and (M/N)'s room was put together.
It all had been simple really, and Tony was thankful. He and (M/N) got along great, and the kid was starting to call him Dad every once and while. Every time it happened his heart felt as if it had stopped, but it wasn't fear to jab at him, it was happiness.
Pepper, who had noticed that he was increasingly happy around (M/N), started to put together little things they could do together, like little walks around the central park, a couple of educational things, but overall it was fun.
(M/N) was bright, extremely intelligent and ready to learn anything, but he seemed to have a special place in his heart for anything about the ocean. For hours the two of them would binge Animal Planet and shows about animals, Venom coming out to question if he could eat some of the things on TV, Tony also wondering if he could. But this is how things slowly cracked a bit before it restored itself stronger than ever.
It had been a cold morning, or at least it was cold to Tony. (M/N) was gone, probably in the bathroom, but Tony'd become used to the mass amount of heat the young boy put off now that he was eating normally. With blurry eyes Tony looked over to the clock, finding that it was around 7 AM, far earlier than (M/N) normally got up even for the bathroom.
Confused, and a tad bit tense, Tony pulled himself from the bed, pulling a hoodie over his cold frame. The floor was still dark, quiet, all things you would expect from a horror movie around a jump scare. Peeking out of the room Tony found that the hallway was also dark, the only light coming from the living room, which looked to be the light from the TV.
Him and (M/N) had already had this talk, about how he couldn't just watch TV all day, but he'd never really seemed to want to watch it by himself. Shuffling along the cold floor Tony walked into the living room, finding that (M/N) was actually asleep, cocooned in a mass of blankets and Venom. Said alien was the one watching the TV.
It was still Animal planet, this episode about lions or something of the like, big cats Tony guessed. Moving to stand next to Venom and (M/N) he watched as the black mass rippled around, like water, Venom's head right next to (M/N)'s. It was sort of cute if you can call a mass of black goop and sharp teeth cute.
"What are you doing up so early?" Tony asked, moving to sit next to his son and alien. Venom rippled a bit more before a bit of him slipped off, moving to wrap around one of Tony's hands. This was normal now, the Symbiote liked to hold hands, and Tony thought it was sweet so he let the alien.
"I was hungry," Venom growled out, but he sounded almost apologetic... Looking away from the TV Tony found that Venom was looking at the ground as if he was apologetic. "The chocolate isn't enough, I need more phenethylamine," Venom continued, and Tony could practically see that he didn't really want to talk about this.
"What do you mean," Tony asked softly, "how much more do you need?" He watched the black mass ripple as if it was shrugging. "A lot more," Venom said, and it was soft, soft in a way you would speak as if expecting rejection.
"Chocolate is not a good source of phenethylamine," the alien continued, "but people are." The world around them seemed to freeze at those words, but Venom just kept on pushing forward. "I only eat bad people, (M/N) would get mad if I ate people that didn't deserve it, and I make sure they deserve it."
Confused, Tony rubbed at his forehead, he'd only been up for about 20 minutes and this was already a train wreck. He knew Venom was afraid he'd freak out, considering one of their very first true conversations were about the fact that (M/N) was happy here and he didn't want to fuck it up for the young boy.
"I ate a rapist today," the alien said softly, "it will hold me over for around 2 weeks, but as (M/N) grows I will need to eat more." Tony glanced at him from the corner of his eye, it was way too early to deal with this...
"Venom," he said softly, rubbing at his goatee and the stubble around it, "it's too early for this, but just keep him healthy and happy..." At that he got up, shuffling back to his room. He'd deal with this later.
--------------------
In the morning, it was only around 9 or so, Tony woke up again. This time it wasn't cold, (M/N) curled up in bed next to him but instead of curling close as he usually did (M/N) was as far away from him as possible. Venom was curled around his hands as if he was comforting the young boy, which they were in a way.
Tony remembered getting up earlier, he remembered finding Venom curled around (M/N) as he watched animal planet, and he remembered getting told that his kid and alien had eaten a rapist. With a deep sigh, he looked up at the ceiling, he could tell this was going to be a fiasco already.
Slipping out of bed he made his way to the kitchen, knowing it would be a few before (M/N) got up, and that coffee would help greatly. It took a few minutes for the coffee machine to do its job, and then it took him a few minutes to finish the first cup. Somewhere around the middle of his second cup, he heard (M/N)'s feet patter down the hallway, but it wasn't until he'd finished it that the young boy actually came out from the hallway.
He came over, pulling himself onto one of the stools at the island. He was quiet, but you could tell he was nervous. They two of them sat there in silence, and Tony hated it, (M/N) was panicking and he couldn't even think of what to do.
"I'll leave," (M/N) finally got out, but he said it at the same time Tony said, "I'll make it for you." The two of them blinked a few times before the words of the other finally registered to them. Tony's world fell apart, he thought he'd finally got (M/N) to trust him enough to know that it didn't matter what the kid did, he'd always be in his corner...
"(M/N)," he said softly, pure anguish in his voice, "you don't have to, don't need to..." He was panicking, even more, he could feel his heart picking up its pace, but he needed to get this through to his boy. "I'll figure something out," he said as he moved over to pull (M/N) into his arms, "I'll figure something out."
(M/N) had nodded against Tony's chest, gripping tightly at his shirt. Tony knew it would take a normal scientist a few months to figure out how to make a perfect dose of phenethylamine for a kid, but (M/N) wasn't normal, and neither was Tony.
After a bit of a binge of Blue Planet on Netflix Tony went down to his lab, after (M/N) had balled his eyes out and fallen asleep that is. It would take a little while, maybe a few weeks, but he wouldn't quit, this was something (M/N) needed, and Tony needed (M/N).
--------------------
After a few initial misfires, one exploded beaker, and an awkward call to Bruce, Tony finally had it, or what he thought was going to be it. It was a little bit sad, just a single meltable tablet that (M/N) had to put in water, but he thought it would work, and dear lord he hoped it did.
Currently (M/N) was up with Bruce, who had decided to stay the few days it took for Tony to figure this out. It was nice, seeing his science bro with his kid, and the fact that Bruce hadn't been all that concerned about Venom was an added bonus.
(M/N) had taken an immediate liking to Bruce, dragging the man into the living room to make him watch Animal Planet, play a bit of Mario Kart, and then some excessive questioning, but Bruce didn't seem to mind at least.
When Tony came up to his floor his nose was met with the sweet smell of chocolate, which meant that Bruce was in the kitchen teaching (M/N) how to bake with his far superior skills in that area. It wouldn't matter if Tony had the worlds best baker teach him, nothing could surpass Bruce Banner in a kitchen.
(M/N) had the little step stool he always used in the bathroom for when he had to brush his teeth out. It was just plain wood, but the sides were decorated in Iron Man stickers, but now there were little green Hulks along with it too. It clashed horribly, but it was cute and it was (M/N)'s.
He was in a baggy shirt of Tony's again, but this time he had his own gym shorts on underneath, and Bruce wasn't looking much better. Bruce was 54, only a year older than Tony himself, but he was doing good, probably the other guy's doing, but Bruce looked a bit weird in comfortable clothing.
Normally he would be wearing jeans, dress slacks, a button up, some relatively nice clothing, but here he was, standing in the kitchen wearing a threadbare t-shirt that's seen better days, and some of the ugliest pajama pants Tony's ever seen. They were old, with a few holes here and there, but damn they were ugly.
Lightly clearing his throat Tony wanted to get the two dorks attention, but what he got instead was a sharp curse from Bruce who almost dropped the mixing spoon in his hand and a loud yelp from (M/N) as he tried to keep his balance on his step stool. Raising an eyebrow at them he watched as a sharp blush raised to (M/N)'s cheeks and Bruce looking anywhere than at him.
They were dorks, but good dorks. Chuckling, Tony came into the kitchen, shaking the little ziplock bag he'd put the tablet in when he left the lab. It was a light blue, about the size of a dime, and had enough Phenethylamine in it to be registered as harmful, it was perfect.
(M/N) got off of his stool to walk closer to him, looking at the tablet in curiosity as Venom seeped out of his shoulder to also look. "What is this," the alien questioned, to which Tony crouched down to his and (M/N)'s height, taking the tablet out of the bag.
"This," he said softly, holding it out for (M/N) to see, "is a tablet of Phenethylamine, vitamin D, and some calcium, but we're gonna see if this can be an alternative." He could see the stars in (M/N)'s eyes, or you know, tears.
He was crying, big fat tears falling from (E/C) eyes, and so was Tony. (M/N) fell into his chest, knocking Tony all the way to the ground, but he didn't care that his shirt was getting tear-stained, or that his poor old man joints were going to complain about this later, or that Bruce had awkwardly left the kitchen already.
Someone clearing their throat broke the two of them apart, and that someone was looking none too impressed, and that someone happened to Venom. The alien wrapped himself around one of (M/N)'s hands as well as one of Tony's, giving a light squeeze before seeping back to (M/N).
"How do we test if it works," Venom said, his head floating next to (M/N), and Tony let out a deep breath. Forcing himself to his feet Tony helped (M/N) up before moving to the cupboards, grabbing one of the plastic cups he'd gotten for (M/N) in case he dropped it.
"It's a tablet," he said softly, clearing his throat to get rid of the rasp he tended to get after crying, "you just put it into a cup of water and wait for it to dissolve then drink it." Filling the cup with water he dropped the tablet into it, him, (M/N), and Venom watching it bubble as the tablet dissolved.
"Why is it blue," (M/N) said softly, looking from the cup to Tony. "It's supposed to taste like blueberries," Tony said while grabbing a spoon, mixing the water with it a bit to make sure the tablet was gone.
"Alright," he said softly, handing the cup to (M/N), "moment of truth." (M/N) nodded once before he lifted the drink to his lips, taking large drags of it like every child did when they were drinking something.
When it was all gone he grimaced, and Venom formed on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" Tony asked, concerned that it'd gone wrong. "It doesn't taste like blueberries," (M/N) complained lightly, but that was it, the only thing that he complained about.
"It's good," Venom then said, "it has enough Phenethylamine in it for a few weeks." Tony let out a relieved laugh, nodding as he did so. "I'm glad," he said softly, "I'm really glad." It was only a solution for a few weeks, and the dose would need to go up every few years, but that's alright, he'd figure it out when the time came to it.
Now all he had to do was win a court case and (M/N) would no longer be (M/N) Grahm, it would be (M/N) Stark, and that had a good ring to it. Though he would have to do something with Bruce now, but that was another problem for another time.
--------------------
Hi hi, so I currently am not home, I am actually around 2,000 miles away from home, and I won't be back for around 10 or so days from now, which will sadly mean that I won't be updating next week.
Sad day, I know, but I won't have that time to make a chapter for next week, but I will be back on schedule the week after.
I'm really sorry, but thank you guys so much for the support!
Have a good day!
Toodles!