Chapter Text
Adjusting to life with another person was always hard. You had to think about their needs and interests and routines. Compromises had to be made. Sometimes you just had to learn to love their flaws, otherwise they'd drive you up a wall. Other times, you had to be willing to change a little bit.
Stop that.
Eddie froze, not even sure what he'd been doing exactly. He was sitting at his writing desk, holding a pen to his mouth, staring at his laptop where he'd left off mid sentence.
"Sometimes we become so focused on a distant goal of personal happiness that never seems to come closer than the horizon, we fail to look around us and realize that we have already arrived where we desired to be."
At least, that's what he wanted to write, but his sentence broke off at "realize" and he couldn't muster up the motivation to type the rest.
"Stop what?" Eddie questioned.
You were tapping your pen against your teeth.
"Oh. Yeah, sorry… Venom," Eddie said, hesitating over the name. It felt right, especially when they were together in the same form. Powerful, somehow. But calling the symbiote that when they were alone just felt… strange. Almost too formal.
You're doing it again.
Eddie dropped the pen onto the desk and stretched back in his chair.
"I gotta get up. I gotta do something else, my brain is rotting in my head."
Not rotting, Eddie. Perfectly good brain.
Eddie grinned at that, ruffling a hand through his hair. "What do you want to do, buddy?"
Hungry, the symbiote complained. It usually was.
"Let's go find something, then," Eddie decided. He got up and went to grab his coat, but before he could even put his hand on it, Venom settled across his shoulders and formed itself into a black jacket. Heavy and thick, like leather.
Surprised and slightly suspicious, Eddie went to check himself in the mirror. The jacket actually had a decent cut, and it looked so real. He wasn't sure where Venom had picked up the detail necessary to replicate an item like this, but he wasn't about to complain. He looked good.
*We* look good, Venom corrected, sounding almost smug. Those words made Eddie feel some type of way. Not just for the compliment, but the possessive 'we' and the edge of vanity.
Eddie had never really been the type of guy who believed anyone could 'belong' to someone else. He and Anne were always their own people back when they were together. Anne didn't belong to him, she had chosen to be with him. And Eddie didn't belong to Venom.
But the idea still gave him feelings that he didn't particularly want to think about.
"You're right. We look good," Eddie repeated, and felt his symbiotic other's pleasure like a purring cat in his veins. "Let's go."
-
Eddie's diet was different these days. Changing.
They experimented with different foods that Venom might like. Celery and guava and yogurt and bacon and fresh pineapple and ice cream and quinoa and salmon and pizza and raspberries and even whole jalapeno peppers.
They didn't try them all at once, of course. Eddie tried something different whenever they could afford it. But for the most part, Eddie ate whatever was cheapest, like ramen or frozen dinners. If he felt like cooking, sometimes he'd make simple stir frys padded out with way too much rice.
Anything besides brains.
But Venom needed a certain type of nourishment, one that Eddie hadn't figured out an alternative to just yet.
It was willing to compromise, for him.
They ate criminals. Not just purse snatchers or scared young kids trying to be thugs -- (although they both very much enjoyed pretending they would eat their brains, to scare some sense into them) -- but really bad guys. Killers. Predators. Serial offenders. People they investigated long enough to know that they were guilty.
But even eating the worst of the worst drew a bad type of attention. Venom only fed a couple times a week at first, but that was still too much. Decapitation made an obvious pattern. They covered their tracks, of course, but it wasn't long before the news was covering a possible serial killer.
Sorry, Eddie, Venom said as Eddie stared at the TV in a bar, reading the captions. Need brains. Need the chemicals in them.
"It's okay, Ve-- it's okay, love," Eddie reassured, catching himself. Talking to himself in public was one thing, but talking to an entity named Venom was something else. "We're still figuring it out."
Love, Venom repeated.
Eddie was still trying to read the captions on the news, to see how much of a clue the police might have.
"Hmm?"
Called me 'love', Venom said, sounding unsure of what to make of this development.
"Ah. Sorry," Eddie mumbled, lifting his drink to his lips so the other bar patrons near him wouldn't overhear, but it was loud enough that nobody was really paying attention to him. "It's just a pet name. I won't do it again." He took a sip of his beer.
Venom was silent for a long while.
Hungry, Eddie, it reminded him at last.
Eddie smiled, digging into their basket of fish and chips, and took another bite.
-
When they got home, Eddie reflexively tried to pull off his jacket before he remembered that the material he was grabbing onto was Venom.
"Oh, sor--" the apology dried up on his tongue as Venom shifted form again, melting off of him and sinking back into his skin.
Don't be sorry, Eddie. Like when you grab me like that, Venom teased. The edge of innuendo was new, and something that Eddie really regretted the symbiote learning about. He could already feel his face and neck going hot, and the symbiote's delight at managing to provoke a reaction from him. Emotions were thrilling to a being that thrived on chemicals, and Eddie had always worn his heart on his sleeve.
"Yeah, you got me," Eddie mumbled, half expecting a continued barrage, like when Venom had learned how to make puns. Instead, he could almost feel the symbiote curl up contentedly in his head. He must've fed them enough for now.
Eddie sat down at his desk again and opened his laptop, dismayed to see that he had never finished that sentence and now he couldn't remember what he'd had in mind.
"Where was I going with this?" Eddie wondered aloud, trying to jostle the memory.
'Already arrived where we desired', Venom prompted, and the thought clicked back into place.
"Desired! Right," Eddie leaned forward to type it out before the thought slipped away again. "Thanks, buddy."
-
Venom managed to hold off on eating anyone for an entire week.
Eddie recognized the accomplishment and celebrated by buying a nice steak for his other, and some fudge swirled ice cream for himself. His other had been so excited, it manifested outside of Eddie's body just so it could demand to be fed, and Eddie had obliged.
Venom was usually smaller these days, taking on a sleek, almost snakelike form. At first, Eddie had been concerned that the symbiote was weaker, but Venom reassured him that a smaller form expended less energy. Besides, it had the added benefit of being, in Eddie's opinion, adorable. And when Venom was adorable, Eddie was far more inclined to hand feed it pieces of food, and let the symbiote lick his fingers and nuzzle against his skin.
Eddie picked up another piece of meat, more than amused to watch Venom's little mouth pop open like a baby bird and then clamp down onto the meat with a little chomp.
"Pff. Nom," Eddie said, watching the symbiote munch away. He suspected that being smaller also made Venom feel like it had more to eat. But he didn't like to think about that too much. Didn't like the possibility that sometimes he might not have enough to feed Venom, to keep his other satisfied.
After, when Eddie sat down with a bowl of ice cream, Venom kept pushing at his hand, and then finally clamped its mouth around the entire spoon and stole a bite.
"Hey. You had your treat, this is mine," Eddie objected, gently shaking Venom off until it let go.
He briefly considered getting up to go wash the drool off of his spoon, but it felt like such a hassle. Instead, he just wiped it off on his sleeve and then dug back into the bowl for another scoop of ice cream.
Like this stuff, Eddie, Venom insisted, trying to dart after Eddie's spoon again, but this time the man managed to get it into his mouth before the symbiote could swipe it. Venom paused for a moment and then went straight to the bowl and started licking.
"Hey," Eddie objected. He thought about pushing the greedy symbiote away, but then ultimately decided against it. Venom seemed happy, and the tiny version of its tongue lapping up ice cream like a kitten was pretty cute.
Not cute, Venom denied. Scary, Eddie. We eat brains and we can make such a scary face.
"I know you can, cutie," Eddie said, carefully taking another spoonful from the opposite side of the bowl.
Do not call us cute, Eddie!
"Okay, Ven," Eddie agreed, and then reconsidered. "Or maybe I should call you Nom."
Names are inconsequential. My name could be whatever you please. *We* are Venom.
"I'm not renaming you. It's just a pet name," Eddie explained. "It's the sound you make when you eat. Nom. Adorable."
Not adorable, Eddie! Pick a different pet name. Something scary.
"But you aren't scary," Eddie said, stroking his hand over the Venom's head. Venom nuzzled into the touch and then seemed to catch itself and instead made itself bigger, its tiny mouth widening with rows of sharp teeth, drool sliding from a wicked tongue.
Call us… Devourer. The Hunger.
Eddie pinched his lips together, but couldn't hold back an affectionate chuckle. "That isn't how pet names work, Nomnom."
Not a pet, Eddie, Venom whined, pushing unhappily against his hand. Not a cat meme.
The symbiote was still, unfortunately, as adorable as ever, but Eddie could sense its growing frustration, bordering on the edge of feeling genuinely hurt.
"That isn't what pet name means," Eddie said, trying to dispel the misunderstanding before Venom took genuine offense. He couldn't imagine himself actually treating Venom like an animal. Pets held a special place in his heart, but Venom was something else altogether.
Explain.
"I… I don't know how to explain it," Eddie said, shrugging dismissively. "It just isn't the same."
The frustration was obvious now. Don't understand, Eddie. Your thoughts are not always so clear. You say one thing, but in your mind is another.
"I… that's how humans are," Eddie mumbled.
Apparently, Venom agreed, unhappily. Want to understand you, Eddie, but it is hard when you don't explain things clearly. It makes us feel stupid.
"You're not stupid," Eddie asserted, sitting up straighter. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to think of how to put a concept that felt so big and nuanced into words, to stop this misunderstanding. He worried that the truth would only make his other angrier with him, but if Venom asked him to stop, he'd stop.
"A pet name is a nickname you give to someone else," Eddie said. "Someone that you like. It's affectionate."
Like parasite, Venom muttered darkly in his head.
"No, no, not like that," Eddie winced. "That one was… that was before we knew each other better. You called me a pussy, I called you a parasite. We didn't really like each other back then."
He could feel Venom softly touching his mind.
Never disliked you, Eddie.
"Yeah, but... we like each other more, now," Eddie added hesitantly, scraping his spoon through his melting ice cream. His stomach felt weird.
So now you call us other names. 'Cutie.' 'Love.' Think we understand now.
Eddie's appetite disappeared. "I'll stop doing that," he promised once again, feeling his face go warm.
Eddie… Venom trailed off, but Eddie could sense any number of half formed questions.
"Want the rest of this?" Eddie asked instead, offering the rest of his ice cream.
Venom made a surprised, happy little noise and pushed its face into the bowl, eager and messy and overly excited.
When the bowl was empty, Venom went back to Eddie and nuzzled against him. More? More?
"No, you're had enough," Eddie laughed.
-
Establishing boundaries was necessary when living with someone else. Sometimes those boundaries blurred too easily when your roommate lived inside of your head. But Venom was careful not to poke around in Eddie's dreams. If it still saw them anyway, Eddie wasn't sure. They didn't talk about that stuff. Didn't talk about what happened at night, once the lights were off. That was the deal.
Eddie tried to avoid the topic as long as possible, but that didn't last more than a couple days. He still dreamed. He still woke up hard and desperate for relief. And Venom was privy to everything about Eddie, whether he liked it or not. There was no room for secrets.
It had only asked him about it once.
"You have your needs, and I have mine," Eddie had told it, too frustrated from holding off to be embarrassed anymore. Then he had demanded silence. Privacy -- or at least the illusion of it.
He'd come all too quickly, spilling into his fist, heels digging into the mattress, one arm pressed over his eyes, trying to block out the feeling of being watched.
Venom hadn't said anything while Eddie caught his breath, while the post-orgasmic feeling washed over both of them and slowly ebbed away.
The symbiote didn't ask anymore questions that night, or the next time, and Eddie was grateful for that. He didn't want to explain himself, or his biology, or have to examine what happened at night in the harsh light of day.
After all, Venom didn't have to justify why it had to eat humans. That's just how things were. What it needed.
And this was what Eddie needed. He tried to hold off, tried to make compromises. Tried to ignore the urge as much as possible. Like Venom did for him. That was only fair. But sometimes he still needed it.
It felt like Venom knew in advance when it was going to happen again. It must have known, living in Eddie's head, but there was a sort of shared understanding long before Eddie put the lights out and slid into bed. It stayed silent, unwilling to risk making Eddie feel intruded on or self conscious. Just waited patiently, curiously, while Eddie touched himself, made himself feel good. Made them both feel good.
Afterward, if Venom would seep up out of his skin and slowly trace patterns over Eddie's arms and legs and back, neither one of them mentioned it.
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