Hello everybody, BossWooper here, back with another chapter. There's a few things I forgot to make clear last time, so allow me to do so now.
This takes place in a hypothetical 3rd season of Spectacular Spiderman. The Venom symbiote returned to Eddie, and I might just make a one-shot of their reunion... Somewhere in the future... Maybe.
Also, Venom will have an ability that is NOT cannon. If you don't like that, now might be a good time to turn back.
If anyone is interested in beta reading this story for me, you're very welcome to contact me!
Again, cursive is Eddie communicating silently with the symbiote, bold is Venom communicating with Eddie, and combined bold and cursive is the intertwined voice of Venom and Eddie.
R/R people, and please don't flame.
(There's been some minor updates to the last chapter)
It was late when they woke up next morning, the sun peeping in through the holes in the walls. They didn't have any other light sources in here, and they were a bit disappointed to have wasted sunlight on sleeping.
"We were tired. It was a late night."
"Because we were busy cleaning blood off the floor. And soon we might be busy repacking and fleeing across the city when the hatchling tells on us!"
"It's a child. Humans don't hatch from eggs."
"You're avoiding the subject."
They sighed deeply.
"I know. I know we should've gotten rid of her. But I couldn't. I'm an orphan too you know? I guess she hit a soft spot in us."
"In you. Let's just hope she lost her bearings when we were jumping all over town."
"She's what, 6? There's no way she would know where we are."
"The house of children is close by. We should've considered the possibility earlier."
They gave off an irritated growl. "It's too late now. We just have to keep our eyes open for any signs of trouble! Let's do the laundry instead."
"The kitchen laundry is dirty too."
"That's the dishes Venom."
"Irrelevant."
Speechless.
That's what they were, speechless.
They had been out, spending most of the day looking for useful stuff, had even found some nice covers to bring home, a satisfying meal, and had the delight of watching the Spider being on the receiving end of a good old-school beating. It had been getting late, so they turned home.
Now they had a small box of cookies and a child's drawing waiting innocently for them INSIDE THEIR HOME!
Shutting their open mouth shut, they swiftly stepped inside and closed the door, eyeing the box with suspicion. They snuck closer as if worried it might be full of explosives, and carefully picked up the paper, giving it a closer look.
"Thnk u fo helpin me" was written in large messy letters above a primitive drawing of what seemed like a small smiling human holding hands with a larger black shape with big arms and white spots as eyes. A happy mouth was barely visible under the black ink.
"... She found us."
"She sure did."
"She knows where we live. She knows how to get here. She could tell anyone. We could be in danger."
"Yeah."
"... She bought us cookies?"
"Chocolate chip."
"Why?"
"I guess she likes us."
"Likes us? Really? She was scared witless just yesterday."
"Kids are weird like that. It can seem pretty random whom they like. I don't think she'll tell anyone."
They walked into the kitchen and put the drawing down on a table, stuffing a cookie into their mouth thoughtfully.
"... Mm"
This was... weird. Typically children ran away screaming when they saw them, most adults too, but this tiny human had bought them gifts. "Gratitude." Eddie informed them.
Gratitude wasn't a concept they had ever really understood, as it didn't exist in their old home. Eddie had tried to explain it, said it was when someone did something for you, but it wasn't like being in debt to someone. It was happiness, relief, and appreciation towards the one who helped you. Absolute nonsense if you asked the symbiote.
At least the cookies were good. Venom shrugged and slumped down on the couch to read one of Eddie's old books. The symbiote preferred to focus its attention on the cookies instead.
Several weeks passed, and nobody barged through the door, no gunshots or police sirens was heard in the little run-down apartment, no Spider swung inside and attacked. Eventually, they forgot the little human who gave them cookies for bandaging her arm.
Until she suddenly stood crying and bleeding in their doorway, left eye swollen, lip broken, and tears running down her flushed face. Eddie reacted before the spooked symbiote gathered themselves from the shock, and ran to her side, kneeling down to her level.
"What happened?" Eddie demanded with their voice. The alien was actually surprised at the ferocity in their host's mind and voice. It wasn't difficult to conclude someone did this to her, but it was none of their business and they should really be upset over the fact that she came here uninvited. But Eddie paid them absolutely no attention.
The wounded and whimpering human didn't answer their question, but buried her face in their chest. In the midst of getting pretty upset about being smothered with salty tears and snot and blood and what the hell not, they realized to their horror that they weren't covering their host's face and now knew what they really looked like!
Eddie didn't seem to care, and just wrapped the little human in their arms, rocking back and forth in a strange motion the symbiote didn't quite understand. They closed the open door with a tendril and mentally stepped back, watching the scene as if watching one a movie, just as they once did with their Spider.
Eddie kept whispering small shushing words and sounds, and the baby human cried. They stayed like that for almost a whole 10 minutes, and the symbiote was on the brink of demanding them to let go and throw her out of their goddamn home, when she finally calmed down and Eddie lifted the snotty little twat to the kitchen and put her on the table. He then reached into the cupboard and brought out a bar of THEIR CHOCOLATE!
"That's ours!"
"Shut your figurative trap Venom."
And they did, actually. Eddie hadn't ever talked back at them like that; he was usually a very agreeable host. But something had ticked him off, and they decided it was best to just let him do as he pleased for now. They could always steal more chocolate; it just happened that the symbiote just wasn't too fond of the human concept of 'sharing'. Especially not food items.
Eddie lifted them up and sat them down on the table next to the other human, offering some of the chocolate, much to the symbiote's dismay.
The smaller human shyly took it, unwrapping it before taking a small bite and handing it back.
While they were miffed that Eddie had to guts to smile and refuse their own food, the symbiote still decided not to interfere. A happy host what simply that much less likely to turn on them, and Eddie had gained a pretty good idea of their weaknesses. The thought of what would've happened if the Spider had known heat was a much bigger threat than cold still haunted them, and they didn't really want to have a repetition of last time they had a fight with their host.
Instead, they quietly listened to the exchange of words between the two humans, hoping to learn more about the way they worked. Apparently some of the small human's fellow small humans had lashed out at her, something that had been a reoccurring experience for it over some time.
The symbiote still wasn't completely adjusted to the human sense of time passing, but it assumed it would have been going on during at least one trip around the star of the solar system.
These other small humans had ganged up on her, cornered her, and started beating her while she was defenseless. The symbiote couldn't help but mentally scoff at this. Humans were weak and fragile, but put a few of them in a group and they think they can take on the world. The word 'bullies' were repeated several times, and they recognized it from when they were still joined with their Spider. 'Bullies' were a negative expression for humans with the aforementioned behavior apparently.
The first time the human calf (child, Eddie reminded them resignedly) had gotten here, had been one of those occurrences. She had left the home of children, and headed towards a nearby place she called her 'alone time spot'. It was against the rules, but there were a small hole in the fence the matured humans hadn't seen yet.
When she had almost reached her 'spot', some of the bullies had noticed her and yelled at her. She had been spooked and slipped, and ended up with a scratched up arm. Eddie's door had been visible from where she landed, and she had entered in the hopes of finding an adult who could help her. Instead she found Venom.
Eddie kept responding with useless anger directed at the bullies, but also light hugs and smiles, and even the offer of taking out her bullies for her. She was thoughtful for a moment, but eventually frowned and shook her head, claiming 'Lisette' wouldn't appreciate that. 'Lisette' was apparently a grown human at the home of children, and the small human were fond of her.
"Well, if you say so... Wait, I didn't even get your name. What's your name, kid?"
Venom would never get used to hearing its own voice sound so polite and friendly. They silently wondered how it'd sound if their voices intertwined while they talked like that, but Eddie pushed the thought aside.
"Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."
The little brat beamed at them, and Venom couldn't help but reluctantly admit she had guts. Very few people had the courage to refuse them anything, and this was just a cub (child! Eddie reminded them, again. Venom could really not be bothered to care). Eddie claimed it was actually because she was this young she had such courage.
Venom was starting to understand this 'children' concept less and less.
"We're Venom," they announced, their voices intertwining again.
"We?" The small human tilted her head curiously.
"Yes," Eddie began to explain. "We're two people. I'm Eddie. My Other, is Venom. We use my other's name when we're work together." The child frowned lightly.
"That's weird." She announced after a short pause. Straight to the point and no beating around the bush. Venom found human young, however confusing they were, might actually be favorable to handle compared to their matured variant. They shrugged.
"That's just how it is. Now tell us your name."
She hesitated a moment. "Lisette says I'm not allowed to tell it to strangers," she began, then put on a more determined look. "But you helped me, and you told me your name. I'm Jennifer." She puffed her chest out lightly, as if praising herself for some kind of courageous action.
"That's a nice name," they commented. Or, Eddie commented at least. Venom couldn't really be bothered to care.
A slight blush rose to her cheeks and she smiled shyly. "Thanks. Yours is pretty cool too."
Eddie grinned and was about respond, when Venom interrupted. "Which one?"
"Venom," she replied happily. "It's awesome!"
They gave off a sharp, but amused laugh. "Sure is! Better than 'Eddie' too." Eddie gave off an indignant huff, and the smaller human laughed for a bit, then suddenly looked nervous and bit her lip.
"Is something the matter?" They tilted their head lightly, Venom reaching a tentacle down to snatch a cookie from the cupboard.
She looked down awkwardly, as if afraid to look them in the eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice was so low they almost didn't hear her.
"Aren't you one of the bad guys? I saw you fighting Spiderman on TV once..."
They gave her a long thoughtful look, contemplating their answer. In the end, Venom spoke for them, pushing Eddie a bit into the background.
"The kids that hurt you... They were bullies, correct?" When she nodded, they continued, stuffing a cookie into their mouth. "The Spider is our bully. It hurt us, and we hit back. Is that wrong?" The girl's eyes widened as she absorbed this new information.
"Spiderman... Is a bully?" She finally asked, then frowned. "But he saves people!"
"He likes the adrenaline," they shrugged, "he likes to think he's doing it for others, but that isn't entirely true."
"A... adre..." She seemed confused.
"The rush. The thrill. He finds it fun."
"Oh..." She looked down again. "... He bullied you?"
They nodded grimly, Eddie taking control again, and Venom's voice slithering out of their speak. "He took everything from us and tried to hurt us badly. We hit back, and suddenly WE are the bad guy!" Eddie scowled, and Venom reached for another cookie. The human larvae ("Now you're just trying to annoy me!") frowned as well.
"That's really bad!" She exclaimed, trying to look fierce and failing hilariously to do so. "Spiderman's bad! I'm on your side!" She wrapped her arms around the puzzled Eddie who was caught between amusement and surprise.
"We... Thank –" Eddie stopped midsentence and choked, spitting out the cookie Venom had just shoved into their mouth. "Damnit Venom! Not while I talk!" He coughed, lightly embarrassed and wiped cookie crumbles off the counter. "Thank you Jennifer. We appreciate it." They offered her a sheepish smile.
She giggled. "You're welcome!"
After taking care of her wounds, they took her near the house of children or 'orphanage' as Eddie called it. This time they went directly to their destination, rather than running across the majority of Manhattan like last time.
They landed swiftly in the same alley they sat her down just weeks ago, and lifted her to the ground. It wasn't as late this time, and hopefully she wouldn't be in trouble. As she was about to run home, the placed a large clawed hand on her shoulder, making her look up.
"Jenn, if those kids are ever after you again, feel free to come by my place, as long as you're alone." Venom huffed and pushed past Eddie's consciousness. "In fact, you can come by anytime you please. If we're not home, you can wait for us. But hands off the chocolate. It's ours."
With that, they turned from the waving human, and jumped back up to the roof.
"What was that about?"
"What?"
"I thought you didn't like her?"
"She just claimed herself to be an ally. We don't have a lot of those, and she makes you happy. Seemed reason enough."
"Aw, you do care."
"Shut up Eddie. We're not finished yet."
"We're not?"
They grinned broadly, showing off all their deadly sharp teeth.
"No. We have a few... 'Bullies' to take care of first!"
Dun Dun Dun! Will there be death and murder? Will Lisette be upset? Will Jennifer eat all Venom's chocolate? Find out in the next chapter!
Apologizes for the lateness of this chapter, I got stuck. Fluff isn't my thing, and there wasn't any action in the chapter. Hopefully there will be in the next!
