Chapter Text
Humans aren't predators at all.
It feels like it shouldn't be such a dramatic revelation, as their Eddie heaves, struggling to throw up their meal despite the fact that they've completely stopped the relevant muscles.
This isn't the first time that his body has tried to reject their meals.
“EDDIE,” they say, and he startles like prey.
His body is soft, fragile, and yet, he not only survived the fall into the bay, but he protected that last little seed of their essence, shielding them as they grew back into the spaces between his organs. “Jesus Christ - what, V, what - ” He pressed his hand to his mouth, swallowing down his nausea, and they knew he was trying. For them.
“Eddie,” they try again, using a slightly quieter tone. This yields better results. “Are humans not the dominant life form on your planet?”
Stunned silence dominates the bathroom. Distracting him works wonders; already, Eddie's mind has begun to churn into action, and his body is subsequently ignored.
“I mean, we're pretty solidly on top, yeah?” He sounds puzzled, by this. “Why d'you ask?”
They roll thin tendrils through his hair, absently. “You are soft. Your claws are a mockery, your fangs are few in number, crowded out by blunt molars. You are only so fast, only so strong.”
“I mean, none of that changes the fact we made this world our bitch, V.” He sits back against the door, still not really trusting his stomach. “Like, sure, we aren't some big fuck-off murder beasts, but - it's like, remember with the rocket, remember Annie? She told you she could fight ugly, and then she showed you, right? Used the right tools for the job.”
He reaches up to caress their exposed tendrils, and they allow it. Humans are social creatures, and touch is an integral part of their bonding process. V has grown accustomed to these touches, though they do not yet fully understand them. “Explain.”
“Like - that's human history in a nutshell, dude. We’re not the biggest, not the strongest, but we figured shit out, right?” Eddie knows a bit about not being the largest or strongest in a given fight, but he is talking about a time he was not alive to witness. It is an odd concept, but they listen with fascination. “So, we don't have claws, but a knife works well enough. A spear's even better, right, and so pretty early on, we've got weapons to fuck up the bigger animals, yeah?”
They consider this. Riot forms - formed - weapons out of their own essence, which gives them an advantage over combatants with no such tools. Their victory came when, instead of fighting Riot directly, they merely used the tools at hand. Exploding the rocket had been Eddie's idea, and it had worked .
“And like, it's not just that, like, we've got some good points, too. We're like, crazy durable, you know? Not like you, but still - ” He wipes his hand across his mouth, closing his eyes. “We do all right. Plus, we can go a hell of a lot longer without eating anything.”
Durable. The idea was ludicrous, and yet …
“Explain,” they demand again.
He raises an eyebrow at them. “Can't you just poke around in my head, find out that way?”
“We can.” They paused. “Like to hear your voice. Like you .”
A soft laugh escapes their host, and they feel every part of their essence flutter with wonder. “All right, all right. So like, the squishy bits, right, that's fat. Stored up energy, so if things get rough, like - back in the day, it was so if hunting or gathering or whatever went to shit, we'd have a reserve.”
“We have heard of fat. Humans believe it makes them unattractive. Is it not better to be equipped for survival?”
Eddie shrugs vaguely, smiling in his lopsided fashion. “I dunno, V. I guess it is, but humans are kinda dumb like that. The point is, like, we can survive a lot. Like a lot - there's like - not too many parts that have to be one hundred percent intact - like, you were literally chewing on my organs, for a bit, right? ‘s all said and done, now, right, but I mean - Dan made it sound kind of like I was falling apart at the seams because of you, and I still did okay.”
That is … fair. They roll this thought over within their essence. “I apologize,” they repeat, because that's the human thing to do, and they want Eddie to like them.
“Water under the bridge, babe. You see what I mean, though? Instead of thick hide, we just kinda - heal up. Plus, we come back stronger.” He grinned, at that.
They nuzzle against him, hesitantly, and he resumes the gentle touching. They've come to enjoy this. “Stronger?” they prompt.
“Yeah, like, you break a bone, right, when it heals up, it's stronger, so it won't break in the same place.” They file this knowledge away, but it's true, they've seen those places in his own body. At the time, it made no sense. “Plus, like, scars aren't pretty, but they're tough, right, same kinda deal.”
Black tendrils wrap around him, comfortably spreading their touch everywhere they can comfortably reach. “Eddie?”
“Yeah?”
They smile. “We are glad to be us. Humans are weird, but it is an acceptable weird.”
“Love you too, babe.”
The endearment sits heavy in the air, and it still feels decidedly unreal. “Love you more.”
He laughs.
It's a good sound.