Shut Up Venom

"I'm supposed to corrupt you. But unlike most of my kind, I don't like to unless I have to." The simple way Venom phrases that makes the hair on Eddie's neck stand on end.

"You corrupt your hosts?" Eddie asks, vaguely horrified. Not horrified enough to stop eating, but enough that he pauses briefly.

"Yes. It's how we transfer from host to host. But I prefer trying to stay with one host."

"It's a good thing you like me, then." Eddie mutters, picking up another piece of sushi. He contemplates dipping it in soy sauce, just so Venom can try it.

"What's soy sauce?" Venom catches the thought.

"A salty sauce used to give flavor. Think you'd like it?"

"I don't know."

"Wanna give it a shot?"

Venom considers for a moment. *"Sure. Sounds interesting."* So Eddie dips the sushi on the soy sauce and takes a bite. It's not as salty as he would prefer it, but hey - baby steps. Especially since Venom is still weak and Eddie isn't sure yet what all can hurt him.

*"Not much."* Venom answers the unasked question. *"I think I like this flavor. But not as much as chocolate."*

Eddie laughs at that. "I am so not dipping sushi into chocolate. I draw the line there." He pauses for a moment, then decides to continue with the previous questions. After all, Venom doesn't seem to mind them, as long as all he senses from Eddie is curiosity. "So do you have to corrupt your host?"

Venom gives the impression of a shrug. *"It's easier than trying to coexist. Take what you need, all that you need. No consideration for the other. I never liked that."*

He can tell. Venom only speaks in broken sentences when he's highly uncomfortable. "Okay. So that's why you keep asking to eat people."

*"Essentially."*

"That makes a lot of things make sense."

As the evening wears on, Eddie can sense the symbiote's exhaustion. Venom's responding less and less, and Eddie's pretty sure that within the next ten minutes or so, he'll be asleep. So, Eddie pulls his phone out, turns on some quiet music, and picks up the book he's been reading. He settles onto his couch and dives in. About five minutes later, he gently prods at Venom and gets a very tired response.

"Yes?"

"Just checking on you. How's the healing coming?" Eddie speaks quietly.

"Slowly. I'll need a few more days to be back at full strength."

"I'll let you sleep." Eddie resumes reading, and he can actually feel it when Venom falls asleep. There's a quiet series of knocks on his door about an hour or so later. Eddie mentally checks on Venom, and goes to the door, looking through the peephole. Annie stands out in the hall, a paper bag in her hand.

"Eddie?"

He opens the door, and puts a finger to his lips, and points at his head. "He's asleep." he says quietly.

"Oh." Annie pitches her voice lower. "I brought food - I wasn't sure if you'd eaten yet."

"A few hours ago. We had sushi."

Annie sets the bag on the counter, then turns to dig plates out. Eddie watches her with some bemusement.

"What are you doing here?" He asks. "No offense, but before all this happened, you were more than happy to avoid me at all costs. Not that I blame you - I deserved it. But, there's no reason for you to be here."

Annie sighs. "Strange as it is, I still care for you. And I'm here because I'm worried, I guess."

"Venom isn't going to hurt me." Eddie's voice is flat. Annie smiles.

"I know that. He made that plain. But you worry me, Eddie. I just don't want anything else to happen to you."

Eddie gives her a look. "I really don't think -"

"You do, so shut up and eat."

"I'm starting to think Venom is right. You do read minds."

Annie grins at him. "Only yours and his. Helps that I dated you and shared space with him."

"How did that feel?" Eddie teases.

"Weird as hell. You can keep him."

((Behold the crappy post))

Eddie takes the plate Annie hands him and sits down, eyeing the spaghetti, and debates checking to see if he has any parmesan. Annie smiles slightly.

"Wondering if Venom will like it?"

"No - wondering if I still have cheese in the house or if I ate it all those first few hours after Venom found me." Eddie takes a bite of the spaghetti and nods appreciatively. "Those few hours are kind of a blur. I don't remember much beyond scaring the ever-loving shit out of my neighbor and sitting in a lobster tank." Eddie cocks his head to the side. "Oh, and biting into a live lobster. Don't especially wanna repeat that." Annie snorts into her food, and Eddie grins at her. "The best I can figure is that I'd just accepted that I'd gone mad, and if eating raw lobster didn't get me sent to the funny farm, nothing would."

Annie pauses, and then taps her head. "He still out? It seems rude to talk like he's not here."

"He's still sleeping, yeah. Pretty sure he doesn't register you as a threat, which is great. We need to find something else to associate Dan with, though - he thinks of Dan and the MRI machine as one. Not great." Eddie says thoughtfully.

Annie snorts. "No, that's really not a good association." she says. Eddie grins at her.

For a few minutes, they just eat spaghetti in silence. Venom wakes up long enough to register Annie's presence, show his appreciation for the spaghetti, and go back to sleep. Eddie snorts.

Annie looks at him. "What?"

"He woke up long enough to think 'oh, Annie brought food, nice' and went right back to sleep. He likes you."

"Well, I'm glad he doesn't mind me being around." Annie says cheerfully. "So what all does he need to heal?"

"Mostly rest. And food."

"People?"

"Haven't burned that bridge yet. So far we're sticking with a lot of meat."

"That's probably for the best." Annie says placidlu. "Pretty sure I don't have bail money."

"That's exactly what I told him." Eddie grins.

Annie's smile fades and she gives Eddie a serious look. "Eddie, what are you going to do about LIFE?"

"I'm not sure." Eddie sighs and sets his fork down, staring off into the distance. "I'm kind of hoping they'll assume that V is dead and leave me alone."

"And if they don't?"

Eddie shrugs. "Worst case scenario? I get killed. Best case? I probably leave town and move to a completely different state. But I'd like to stay in San Francisco if I could."

"I don't want you to leave." Annie says quietly.

"Neither do I, so we're even there." Eddie says dryly. "But if I have to, I will. I won't risk you or Dan getting caught up in this."

Annie gives him a small smile. "I appreciate the concern, Eddie, but we're already caught up. In for a penny, in for a pound."

Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better about things." Eddie says dryly. Annie just grins at him. He sighs and leans back in his chair. "You know, though - I kinda wonder how many men LIFE is willing to lose."

"What?"

"V shouldn't have to live with that threat constantly looming over him, you know? If they come after us - only if - well, I might burn that bridge then."

For a long moment, the two of them are quiet. Eddie pretends like he's not waiting for her to call him a monster, and she just quietly considers. Finally, she speaks.

"It would be self-defense."

((It sucks, but it's up!))

The quiet comment makes Eddie blink at her in stunned surprise before scoffing quietly. "You don't believe that."

Annie met his gaze squarely. "I do. I was there in the control room while you fought for your life, Eddie. So yes, I do believe that it would be self-defense."

Eddie shakes his head. "You'd think that after all this time you wouldn't be able to surprise me anymore, but here we are."

Annie smiles. "Good. I'd hate to think I'm predictable." She grins as Eddie starts to laugh, but it fades into seriousness again. "Don't leave if you can help it."

"Trust me, I don't want to either. It's a last resort." Eddie murmured, looking around his apartment. Though if he was brutally honest, he could be packed and gone in ten minutes.

(TA-DA!!)

Annie narrows her eyes at him. "I'd believe that more if you'd stop making exit plans."

"I'd like you more if you stopped reading my mind."

"Eat your damn spaghetti."

Eddie gives her a look as he slowly spoons some into his mouth. Annie almost chokes on her laughter. Venom wakes up again just long enough to register the noise as non-threatening. Eddie gives him a mental poke. Venom pokes back before shifting a little and falling back asleep. With a frown, Eddie peaks down his shirt.

Venom has come just enough to the surface to turn his skin black. Living armor. He grins humorlessly. "Well, that's one way to make sure I'm safe." he muses.

Annie shamelessly pulls his collar away to look down his shirt for herself. "How long can he keep that up?"

Eddie arches an eyebrow at her before answering. "I'm not entirely sure. He's half-asleep and all I'm getting from him are impressions of his mood. I'll ask when he's more awake."

Annie lets go of his shirt and sits back, taking another bite of spaghetti and chewing it contemplatively. "How long until he's recovered completely?"

"A couple more days. So I'm going to be eating a lot of red meat and sleeping a lot." Eddie gave her a faint grin. "His exhaustion is contagious." He catches Annie's wrist as she starts to rise. "I'll sleep later. You don't have to leave right now."

"I don't want to intrude."

"You would have to try very hard to do that." Eddie says with a grin.

"He's turning himself into armor. While he's sleeping."

Eddie rolls his eyes. "It's nothing personal. V really likes you. He just doesn't trust my ability to stay out of trouble."

Annie doesn't look totally convinced, but she nods. "Relatable."

"Hey now!"

"I'll stick around if you want to sleep. Give Venom an extra warning if someone breaks in."

"You are so not helping."