First things first.
I DON'T OWN VENOM!
ALL RIGHTS BELONGS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS OF THE MOVIE!
And this is my this year's "Christmas story".
It would be better if you have read "Something strange" and "In winter wonderland" before you read this.
Both of these stories can be found on this account as well ;).
Anyways, this was soooo much fun to write and I hope it will bring you lots of joy and will get you into the christmas mood.
Oh, and don't forget to check out the second chapter, for this will be a little Bonus ;)
And another things:
While reading you should listen to "John Williams - Somewhere In My Memory/ Carol Medley (Home Alone I & II)" on youtube,
for this will make this even better (the 30 minute version). At least it made it easier for me to write this down haha. This music fits pretty good :3.
And as always: These two are just friends in all of my Venom stories. Just saying.
I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas.
Enjoy yourself, spend as much time as possible with all your loved ones and just have lots of fun :3.
See ya'll in the next year^^.
I hope you like it and again sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes; english isn't my first language ;).
(German Version of this story can be found on my account)
And i would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very much.
Please don't be shy and share your thoughts with me. I won't bite you.
And besides: Comments keep my motivation up to write and upload my stuff^^
Oh, you beautiful Christmas time
Christmas has always been a magical time.
Even for someone like Eddie Brock.
But his life had changed fundamentally in the last few months and not very much for the better. He had lost his job, had lost his fiancée, because he had betrayed her and he had almost died when he had dared to mess with Carlton Drake. In the midst of his laboratories, he'd been infected with an alien parasite that had made his life very difficult at first. But little by little, this parasite had become dear to him. They had become best friends, who had fought side by side against Drake and Riot and had saved the world.
Yet…
Eddie realized that he was missing something after all these events.
He missed Anne and often he caught himself reveling in past times, wishing he could turn back the time.
The holiday season didn't make it any better for him and the complete opposite was the case, because he felt so lonely as never before and therefore he had immediately accepted the job that had led him to New York. A few days ago he had finished the interview and his employer had been extremely pleased when he had sent him the article that same night. The rest of the time, Eddie spent with Venom and showing the Alien a little more about humanity and life on earth, because the symbiote wanted to stay here. But that also meant that he had to get used to the life on earth, which worked quite well so far. Eddie had made some basic rules that Venom followed. But despite everything, the journalist had the feeling of having to take care of a small child, because Venom had many questions and some of them were so ridiculous that Eddie often caught himself biting his lip not to laugh out loud, which gave him one or the other skeptical look when he was in public.
But secretly he enjoyed this time, especially since Venom always managed to distract him from his grief. Only two days ago he had had to explain to the curious Alien what snow was and what it was used for and it had taken a long time for Venom to understand that snow was not a voracious monster that wanted to destroy the entire planet, but was something that was even fun. When he thought of the latter, Eddie gritted his teeth, because of course the symbiote had to try this new knowledge out on him by starting a snowball fight. Too often he had been the guinea pig for certain things, but even for those things, there were limits that Venom didn't exceed. For example, some parts of his body were taboo for him, which the symbiote also respected, but that didn't stop him from trying out other things. Eddie still shuddered as he remembered when Venom found out what "being ticklish" meant and when he had to investigate this...
The journalist shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts and instead concentrate on the newspaper in his hands. Half an hour ago he sat down at the small desk that the hotel room offered and had begun to look through the local newspaper. His symbiote had manifested after a while, staring out the window spellbound, and Eddie thought he could sense his excitement, which made him raise an eyebrow in confusion and he turned his head to Venom.
"What's so interesting out there, hm?"
"So many lights..."
Only then did Eddie realize that it was already pitch dark outside.
Had he really sat here, reading this newspaper for so long?
It had to be that way, because as he began to stretch his body, he felt the pain in his back, heard the cracking of his bones and felt how heavy his eyelids had become. He gently ran his hands through his face, trying to wake himself up a bit, before he got up and also risked a look out of the window.
Granted, he still didn't like the altitude and apparently his symbiote was just beginning to read his mind as he turned his face towards him and gave him a big grin, which Eddie just commented with a roll of his eyes and he just decided to ignore him and stare out the window instead. Fortunately, it was already dark and so the altitude was okay for him. And only now did he notice all the beautiful lights emanating from all the Christmas decorations that had been set up or hung up all over the city and plunged the city into a sea of lights. The snow, that still covered the city, made the picture perfect.
How long had it been since he had seen such a beautiful Christmas landscape?
Christmas was truly the best time of the year...
"What is Christmas?"
Startled, he winced as Venom's dark voice cut through his thoughts so suddenly. When he thought about this question, he almost laughed, but he kept himself from doing so. Venom couldn't really know what Christmas was, since he had never heard of it and otherwise didn't care much about human holidays. But how was he supposed to explain something like Christmas to him?
"Can't you just read in my mind?"
"I already did that...and it doesn't make much sense."
Of course...it could have been so easy...
Eddie sat down on the small windowsill and ran his hands through his face once again.
"Oh man, how am I supposed to explain that to you? Christmas means something different to everyone, you know? There are those who believe in God and celebrate it in his honor and then there are people who celebrate it for other reasons."
"And why are you celebrating it?"
"Me? Well, I wouldn't say that I celebrate it this year. I mean, I don't have anyone to spend it with, except you. I've always spent my Christmas with Anne, you know? And before that I was with my parents, but that's all in the past now."
The two were silent for a while and everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Venom took the liberty of reading Eddie's thoughts and what he saw there he didn't like at all, because he could feel a great sadness in him as he remembered the last Christmas celebrations he had spent with Anne. He missed her and wished those times back.
"Can we go outside and see the lights?" Venom's dark voice cut through his thoughts again and Eddie raised his head to face the symbiote, who returned his gaze and pleadingly looked at him and that alone raised his mood a bit. And there was something else in his eyes, which he couldn't quite interpret. Almost as if Venom wanted to distract him from his sad thoughts. And Eddie appreciated this gesture very much, so he didn't hesitated for too long and got up from his seat.
"If you want to, then sure. I'm finished with my work anyway and I don't feel like sitting here all evening. After all, this is our last night in New York. I'm just putting some warmer clothes on. Then we can go."
And out of the corner of his eye, he could see Venom's grin broadening and he almost thought that he could feel something like anticipation. Anticipation that didn't come from him, but from his symbiote. But that could only have been his imagination...
The biting cold almost greeted him like a hammer blow as he stepped out of the hotel lobby and he pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and pulled the hood of his jacket even lower down his face. For one reason, to keep himself warm and for another reason, to make sure that no one would see Venom, for the symbiote had hidden in his hood to see everything well. It was always amazing to see how small Venom could become if he wanted to...
Eddie ordered a taxi that would take them to the city center, because he had told Venom that most of the lights would be there and there was a huge Christmas market going on and what could have been better than visiting a Christmas market at a snowy evening?
The taxi didn't take long to reach their destination. It was just fifteen minutes and luckily the roads were not that busy. Eddie paid the taxi driver, gave him a generous tip and then set off.
Around him, every tree shone in golden light. Even the houses around them shone in the most beautiful lights. Santa Clauses, reindeers and glorious angels who greeted the Christmas time with their trumpets adorned their paths. Venom ventured so far out of the hood that he was still invisible to the eyes of the other people who came towards them, but still far enough to see the lights and decorations. The sheer sight seemed to make him speechless, for Eddie didn't hear a word from him. He could only feel that strange joy again, which clearly came from the Klyntar and a small grin spread across his face.
"Do you like what you see?"
He spoke to him in his mind, as he didn't want to risk getting caught by one of the people passing by as he talked to himself and it worked out well, because Venom answered him a little later with a simple "Yes".
"If it all gets too much for you, let me know and we'll go back, okay?"
"No Eddie. It's not too much. It's so beautiful…"
There was no mockery or ridicule in his voice. Only honesty.
Venom honestly meant those words and Eddie was happy about that. Even then, shortly after their first meeting, when they had stood on top of the highest point of his old workplace, he had already hinted something like that. Venom liked this planet and he had proved that to Eddie, if not to all humanity, after bravely fighting against Riot and fighting for this planet.
"Don't think about Riot anymore. He is dead."
"Some things are hard to forget, you know?"
"Then try not to think about it at least today. So. What are you humans do in this strange place?"
"Strange? A Christmas market is not strange."
"For us it is. What's that weird looking guy over there? We've never seen one like that before."
Eddie's gaze went into the direction of the small tentacle that had secretly manifested itself out of his shoulder and pointed to a big-bellied man with a long white beard and red clothes.
"That's Santa Claus, you dork," Eddie said loudly this time, grinning in amusement.
"Can we eat him?"
"Don't even think about it, V!"
Dark laughter filled his head and made him shudder.
"Just a joke."
Grumbling, Eddie continued his way.
Around him were various small stalls. Some offered delicately fragrant food and he rolled his eyes as his symbiote's head pushed forward a bit and he was already drooling on his shoulder.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you don't drool on other people? Seriously, V. Stop that. That's disgusting!"
"It's not our fault. We are hungry."
"Again? Are you kidding me?"
"Eddie~."
"No. We just started."
"Eddiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee~."
"Oh god…"
Before Venom would bite off anyone's head, Eddie decided to get something edible somewhere. The selection was huge and as he smelled the delicious scents as well, even his mouth watered, which his alien buddy notice with a big grin on his face and he couldn't help but mocking him for that.
"Yeah, yeah, just make fun of me, V," he grumbled, as he stood in front of a stall that offered steaks and waiting for his order. And he was trying to ignore the dark laughter, which he could hear again inside his head...
After they had eaten, they moved on and Eddie tried to explain everything to his friend as understandably as possible and Venom seemed to take more and more pleasure in the customs of humanity, even if he found it difficult to understand them. This Christmas he started to like the most. All these lights looked great, there was delicious food, people in weird clothes (like Santa Claus) and, best of all, lots of sweets and of course he begged until Eddie bought some of them for him.
"We also want to give Anne something when we get back home."
That...came as a surprise and Eddie paused. Did he understand that right and was Venom serious with what he just said?
"We are serious."
"Get. Out. Of. My. Head!"
The symbiote only grinned, as he ventured a little out of the hood, because he and Eddie stood a bit off the Christmas market and behind one of the stalls, where they couldn't be seen by anyone.
"We like Anne and you told us earlier that we should give someone something if we like them. Besides, we know that Anne would like it too."
"Oh yeah, Sherlock? And how do you know that?"
He ignored the Sherlock and grinned even wider.
"We read it in her mind when we were one with Anne."
Ohhh yes, there had been something.
At that time, in this forest; Just before Venom or Anne or whoever had pressed that strange kiss onto his lips. This was by far the strangest kiss of his life and he would have loved to forget about it...
"Why does Eddie want to forget about it?"
"Get out of my head, man!"
His face now looked like an over-ripe tomato and before Venom could make even more fun of him, he decided to head to the next best stall and buy something for Anne, so that his companion would finally shut up. Which of course didn't happen, because he kept on teasing him, kept on mocking him with this strange kiss.
"Anne told me that this weird ass kiss was your idea."
"It was not my idea...well, maybe a bit. I read it in her mind and I just wanted to help her."
"Wait, how now? It was her idea and not yours?"
"Well, more or less. Let's just say we both had the same idea."
"Wow…"
Apparently there was more than Anne wanted to admit. After all this time she still had such thoughts about him...
"That's...good to know..." he murmured and he decided not to talk about it anymore, but quickly changed the subject to something else and luckily he also found a small stall in just the right moment and where there were sold a lot of little pieces of decoration that fit perfectly into the Christmas time. The saleswoman greeted him warmly and Eddie assured her that he wanted to look through all those figures alone.
"Choose something."
Venom also let his gaze wander over all those little figures and when he found something suitable, he pointed with a small, barely recognizable tendril on it. There were two porcelain figures, a man and a woman, kissing each other under a small mistletoe. Eddie turned his head so far that he could see Venom out of the corner of his eye and gave him a look, darker than the darkest night.
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Can't be even more clear, can't it? Choose something else..."
"But Eddie ..."
"No, V. Chose something else!"
There was a grumble, followed by a mumbled "Alright" and Venom let his eyes wander over the selection of figures again.
In the end he chosed a Christmas sleigh filled with many presents, drawn by a magnificent Christmas deer, with lots of ornaments on it.
After Eddie had paid, he stood a little later at a small wooden table. In his hand he held a cup of hot cocoa and with a small smile on his lips he listened to the music that was played not far away from him. When the singers started singing "Silent Night", his eyes closed almost by themselves and he let himself completely fall into the music. Everything that had happened to him in the last few months was forgotten. There was no more argument with Anne, no asshole from a boss who had fired him, no Carlton Drake and no Riot. There was only the here and now...
"What are you doing?" he heard Venom ask after a few moments in which he had started to hum along with the song.
"I like the music. And when a human likes the music, he hums or sings along with it."
"You humans are weird."
"Said the Alien that looks like Flubber when he has no host..."
There was another growl and Eddie grinned, but kept his eyes closed.
His peace lasted for full three seconds, before he flinched and almost poured his cocoa on the ground, when Venom bit not very gently into his ear.
"What the hell…?! Venom! Don't bite me, man!"
"That's what you get when you're so mean to us."
"Me and mean? If one of us is mean then it's probably you! Or who keeps mocking me all evening long?"
"That's just fun."
"Not for me!"
"Is Eddie mad at us now?"
He could hear honest concern in Venom's voice and almost felt sorry that he had just scolded him, if only in his mind. A sigh escaped his throat.
"No I'm not. I'm sorry, V."
"We are also sorry. We didn't want to hurt Eddie."
The journalist just grumbled and took a sip from his cup.
"We would never hurt Eddie because we love Eddie."
The young man almost choked on his cocoa, for which he also earned some strange looks from some passers-by who passed him and he quickly assured them that everything was alright and that only the cocoa was too hot. When he was sure that no more curious eyes were on him, he turned his head so far that he could look at Venom, who was grinning at him again.
"What the hell is wrong with you today? You love me? Seriously? What's coming next? Do you want to marry me or something?" he growled softly, carefully that nobody heard him.
Venom, on the other hand, tilted his head slightly and looked confused.
"Eddie seems to have misunderstood us."
"Oh no, buddy, I think Eddie has got you right."
"You humans use this word if you like someone, right? Did we say something wrong?"
Ohhh, so that's what he meant with that. Oh man, he really should teach Venom how to tell someone that he liked him without saying something as strange as this...
Actually, he just wanted to explain to him that love was not quite the right word, but he paused when he thought it over himself. In principle, love was not the wrong word. It just depended on the situation and the importance. You could love your best friend, your siblings, your parents and then there was romantic love...what he had with Anne back then...damn! Now he thought of her again!
"Now we have made Eddie sad," he heard the symbiote saying softly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw how Venom hung his head down.
"No, no. You didn't. It's all right and hey, if you want to, then use that word if you like it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's alright, V. You couldn't have known better."
Almost immediately, the symbiote's face brightened again and he licked Eddie's cheek, almost scaring him out of his skin, when that rough tongue glided over his skin. He was about to scold him once again, but he decided against it, as Venom snuggled into his scarf and watched the singers who had meanwhile started singing another Christmas carol and who were now singing "Hark! The Herold angels sing ". And he, too, concentrated fully on the music again and was caught in his own thoughts a little later.
Tomorrow he would fly back to San Francisco and secretly he was looking forward to see Anne again, because she had invited him to dinner for the next weekend.
And next weekend was Christmas...
It would probably never be the same again, but if he could trust Venom's words, then there were still feelings for him. And maybe, just maybe, Eddie managed to tickle those feelings out of her at some point.
Either way, she had never really left him, because she was still happy when she was around him and even Eddie could see that there was more in her eyes than just friendship. Whenever she looked at him, he could see it in her eyes and that sight pleased him. Maybe it wouldn't happen this year or next year, maybe he would have to wait for half an eternity, but he was sure that one day she would take the first step towards him.
And Eddie would wait for her and he would always keep the door to his heart open for her...
