Hey all. This is my multi-chapter Venom fanfiction. As of right now, it is SFW, though that may change as the story progresses. For ease of access, the story will be available across platforms on AO3 and on here as well as my tumblr .
One: Shock||Hello
Virginia Marie Lovegood worked at the family-owned pet store down the road from where she lived, a little place called The Ark. The family was Catholic, and they had hired her because they took it as a good omen that she had been named so similarly to the Virgin Mary. She shook her head, smirking in amusement since both of her mothers were non-Catholics who each named her after one of their grandmothers (although those grandmothers had been Catholic), and who had both mutually chosen a new last name for them all. She avoided conversations about her family, lying and saying they weren't close when in reality she loved her mothers but wanted to keep her job—the family paid her extra both since they saw her as a pious saint and because she had proven capable and trustworthy enough to manage the store on her own when required, having worked there for 2 years. The family had another business across town that needed much more personal oversight, so having someone they trusted look after everything, and in some cases close, helped them immensely.
When a lull in activity came, she made her rounds, facing and restocking products, spot-sweeping the floor, tending to and checking on the animals. She heard the bell on the door jingle from the back where she was pulling down hay to change out the rabbit bedding, but she had a box balanced on the edge of a shelf overhead, so opted for finishing lowering it as quickly as she could rather than pushing it back. "I'll be right with you!" Ginny called out, hefting the box to the floor with a huff. She dusted her hands off on her apron and emerged from the back to see a man squatting down amongst the puppies, letting them sniff and lick his hands. They seemed particularly interested in him, more so than normal even for the friendly, sociable, outgoing pups.
"Would you like to see one in particular?" Ginny asked, coming up near him, but not too close. You never knew what people were like, who wanted to rob you or who had PTSD. She took the time before he responded to study him. He had dark curly hair stopping by his ears, and when he looked up at her, she saw that he had facial hair of the same shade, with blue-green eyes. He was dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans.
"No," he said, voice soft and even. "I just wanted to come by and pet the puppies. I hope that's okay?"
"Yeah, it is," Ginny shrugged. "I'm Ginny, the store manager on duty. Let me know if you need anything."
He nodded, curiously watching her drift away to check on the kittens and rabbits. "The last time I came here three years ago you didn't work here, did you?"
"No," Ginny responded, pushing a few strands of her black hair behind her ear then picking up a kitten from the bin, "I started two years ago." She leaned against the wall, kitten held against her as she stroked its silky little head. It clung to her, purring loudly and making biscuits on her chest. She was thankful for the thick apron to keep the tiny needle-sharp claws from stabbing her.
"Are you related to the DiLaurentis family?" The man asked, letting one of the puppies crawl into his lap. It licked his hand and he scratched underneath its chin, smiling down at it.
Ginny shook her head. "No, they hired me because of some sort of religious superstition around my name, and they promoted me because I'm the only one they can trust to do the job right who's not a part of the family."
The man hummed, rubbing just behind the puppy's ears and ignoring when it nipped at the cuff of his sleeve. "Is old Feliciano still alive? He used to always talk with me about my cat, Delilah."
"Yes, but he let Florencia take over the business with her husband, Veneziano, and the kids."
"And how are Veneziano and Florencia? The last time I spoke to either of them they only had the one, Magdalena."
"Well, now they have another one, Marcellus."
"I guess time really flies, huh?"
Deciding the man probably didn't mean her any harm, she sat near him on the floor. The kitten stared at the puppy with wide eyes and they sniffed each other before promptly begging for more scratches from their respective humans. Silence settled and for a few minutes they just sat in each other's company. "I guess so. What's your name, anyway?"
He glanced up at her, hand rubbing up and down the pup's stomach. "Eddie. It's short for Edward."
Ginny smiled. "Ginny is short for Virginia. Virginia-Marie, actually, but most people don't bother with all of that."
"Ah. I'm actually Edward Charles, but you're right, most people don't bother with either middle names or the second half of hyphenated names."
Ginny was about to say something else when her phone rang. She fished it out, and, seeing that it was Florencia, promptly answered. "Hello? Florencia, slow down, what's the matter?"
Eddie watched as the woman across from him frowned softly, her forehead creasing, the expression completely altering her pretty face. She had long, thick black hair, dark eyes with an epicanthic fold, golden brown skin. She listened intently for a full minute before speaking. "You can't come by for closing tonight or any night this week?" She worried her lip and slipped more stray hair behind her ears again. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. Do you mind if I bring something with me to protect myself?" The kitten stood up in her lap and batted her for attention until she started petting it again. "Great, thanks for understanding. And yeah, Bear will be with me."
Seemingly at the sound of his name, "Bear" materialized around the corner. He was a chocolate Labrador, though his eyes showed that he was far more intelligent than average. He came up to Eddie, snuffling along his arm. He stuck his nose into Eddie's hand, and investigated the puppy's head before ambling over to Ginny and laying down, putting his head on her leg. His eyes stayed on the kitten, which shrank back from him initially but whose curiosity got the better of it in the end.
Ginny hung up and sighed, running a hand through her hair. She pocketed her phone and placed her newly freed hand on Bear's head, seemingly relaying her conversation to him, although of course Eddie could still hear her speaking being in such close proximity. "Not only will no one be relieving me during the day, I have to close, too." She pursed her lips. "But," she amended, "they're on reduced hours. They're opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier, and paying me double and a half for all the fuss, thank gods." Bear whined sympathetically and butted his head against her hand. She scratched one of his ears affectionately. "Don't worry. I'll have more time to play with you outside of work." Bear's tail wagged excitedly at the word 'play' and his ears perked.
Eddie smiled to himself, curiosity getting the better of him. "Why are they leaving so much of running the store to you this week?"
Ginny sighed again, hating to be the bearer of bad news. "Apparently we jinxed Feliciano. He had a massive heart attack about an hour ago and the family is staying with him at the hospital. Without me they would be closing down completely this week."
"Well shit," Eddie said, feeling like an ass.
"'Well shit' is right, it's a fucking tragedy," Ginny muttered. She didn't notice the small inky band morph into a tendril that snaked out to investigate the puppy, or the puppy investigating it. When she looked at Eddie, the inky tendril had returned to looking like a harmless elastic band on his wrist.
"Sorry if that language offends you, but he's not even dead and it's hitting the family really hard, ya know? Florencia already lost her mother so recently to breast cancer."
"Yeah, I know—well, not about Giuliana having cancer, but about how hard it must be hitting the family, since they're all so close," he said, staring down at his wrist. He put the puppy back into the bin and stood, dusting himself off. Ginny followed suit with the kitten, Bear standing with her. He trotted over and sniffed at Eddie again, then disappeared around the end of an aisle.
"Heading out?" She didn't know why, but she felt oddly comfortable and safe around the customer, and almost didn't want to see him leave.
He glanced at her, smiled, and nodded wordlessly.
She held her hand out to him. "Well, you're welcome back any time, Eddie."
"Thanks, Ginny. If you'll allow it, I might just come back and keep you company sometime this week." Eddie took her hand to shake, but when he did, an electric shock bolted through her hand and up her arm to her shoulder. He stared down at her hand in shock, eyes wide. "Did you feel...what the hell?"
"Yeah," Ginny gasped before composing herself. "Some sort of shock. Static, maybe. Happens all of the time, doesn't it?"
Eddie paused, feeling Them thinking yet blocking Their thoughts from him at the moment. "Yeah," he heard his own doubt and uncertainty. "Static." He tried to bring his smile back but could only muster a nervous grimace, but Ginny seemed not to notice, too preoccupied with her own thoughts at that moment as she stared at her own hand. "I'll see you, then."
Ginny refocused on him, watching him leave, an odd feeling settling in the back of her mind. The shock had unsettled both of them, she could tell. Both of them had clearly felt it, judging by his reaction, and both of them knew it wasn't static, but what else could it have been?
Just to check in, in my mind either Ginny is the adoptive child of both mothers in a queer couple, or the biological child of one woman and adoptive child of the other.
