The Condor's Swan

Chapter 1- Swan Song

They had found her by complete accident. Their Host had gone on a date with his girlfriend to some lounge that was praised by critics and they had quietly decided to give their more gracious of Hosts a 'night off'.

He hadn't shunned them. He had welcomed them- with conditions, but still. He wanted them. He deserved some slack and They were a bit bored anyways from the moment that Eddie Brock had walked into the dimly light and romantic-mood lounge with his lady love in tow. They watched as he pulled out a chair at a quaint table for his woman and pushed it in with gentlemanly kindness before taking their own seat to look upon a stage at the end of the room; a heavy red velvet curtain blocking out whatever it hid and the symbiote used it's host's eyes to look about the elegant yet simple lounge- before the curtain began to rise and clapping arose with cheers from regulars, drawing all their attention- and they were not disappointed.

A woman stepped forward in a shimmering and slinky dress of gold, the spotlights on her making it sparkle that much more. Golden-brown tressed cascaded down her left side, bangs pulled over the left side of her face and over her shoulder as her lips parted into a dark plum smile while she sashayed forward to an old-style microphone from the 1950s.

"Welcome to the Dark Sunrise Lounge." She spoke casually into the microphone and Venom fought against the urge to control Eddie's motions to follow the woman as she gestured to the band behind her, "These are the Moonlight Kids, and tonight I'll be doing a smooth jazz rendition of their song, 'Dark Antidote'." She said and Venom perked, as the music started up in a smooth rise as she started singing.

Singing about how even 'monsters need love'. And with her gestured to the crowd as she sang, Venom was positive. Without a doubt, she was talking about him.

The gestures were towards 'him' but really they were towards the back of the room, and she sang so honestly and passionately that Venom shivered inside of Eddie as the song went on.

It was about loving whoever she was singing about, for who they were, monster or not, and despite their criminal actions and past, she loved him nonetheless; and Venom took it to whatever heart he had. He took it as a confession; one he'd never gotten before and one he's quite cherish hearing.

"We accept, our Tweety-Bird." Venom purred darkly in Eddie's mind as the both of them continued to listen complacently to the woman's beautiful and alluring voice,

"Come to me, darling, and I'll love you." She finished her song and Venom hissed pleasurably in Eddie's mind that sent a fearful shiver down his host's spine as the woman smiled, "Thank you for coming and listening. We currently sell their album here, and my jazz rendition of it is also included. Please enjoy the rest of your evening." She said and turned gracefully, displaying the deceptively low cut of her backless dress and walked towards the band while the velvet curtain slowly descended in red waves towards the floor of the stage. Venom panicked a bit,

"She was singing to us, Eddie! Tell her we accept!" Venom said urgently and Eddie replied in the same mental form as Venom was speaking to him,

"She was just singing, she wasn't confessing." Eddie said dismissively and Venom stared at the stage, "Besides, she's a lady. you probably have to court her." Eddie mentally told the symbiote as he continued casually on with his dinner date before they left and the symbiote questioned,

" 'Court her'?" Venom echoed and tried to search his Host's mind for the word, finding just the word and nothing else connecting to it until his Host explained,

"Like I did with my woman. Treat her nice, bring her nice things, ya know, woo her." To emphasize, Eddie wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders as they talked and she laughed, leaning into him contently and smiling up at him sweetly.

"...And you think that our Tweety-Bird will approve?" Venom questioned cautiously and was encouraged by his Host's positive though vague answer,

"Yeah, all women appreciate it," Eddie answered confidently, and Venom waited until Eddie had fallen asleep before he took over his Host's body and prowled the skyscrapers of New York City in thought.

"Treat her nice. Bring her nice things. Woo her." Venom grumbled to himself as he sat on a rooftop, pacing back and forth a bit, before seeing a cat hopped up onto the rooftop too and he stopped.

It was a white cat with long hair and blue eyes and it looked up at him as he stopped in front of it and pet it absently as he tried to think of 'nice things'. Like what? What types of things would a woman dressed in gold want? He looked at the cat that purred under his touch- and a thought came to him as a wicked smile slowly spread over his face and brought every sharp tooth into view,

"Good kitty."