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It was morning when consciousness next reared it's head, the sunlight that lit up the hallway pooling into the bedroom. Groaning, stiff, you tested your limbs, findings things achy yet usable.

You were still draped across Venom's body, his left hand splayed on your back, his other arm thrown up, resting on his forehead, probably to shadow himself from the light. His chest rose and fell beneath you as he slept, a low series of rumbles accompanying every breath, wicked fangs slightly parted.

Itching on your face made you sleepily rise your left hand, fingertips prodding at the source: the shiner that encompassed your right eye. Couldn't muffle a noise of surprise when you encountered some of the symbiote instead of your skin, your brain skipping a gentle wake up and shooting right into full coherency.

Only your trust of Venom kept you from launching yourself away as you poked and prodded at the dark patch on your face, tugging slightly. He grumbled in his sleep, the hand on your back adding pressure to tuck you back down onto his chest.

You spent a moment panicking as you were pressed down, mind whirling as the bit of symbiote on your face shifted a little, undulating across your skin. What had he said about healing you? A sharing, he'd called it, right?

It took almost a minute for you to wrestle yourself back to something akin to calm, breathing deeply. He'd said he - the symbiote - would try to heal you. Obviously that wasn't going to happen without it fucking touching you, right? Which explained why it was so stubbornly attached to you.

Okay. Your life was weird. Just... calm the fuck down.

You closed your only working eye and clung to Venom as you worked through the last bits of panic, listening to his heartbeat as it thudded under your ear. Safe. You were safe. Venom would never hurt you. Just fucking breathe.

When you were leveled out - and tired again, what the hell - you let out the breath you hadn't been aware you'd been holding, then forced yourself to relax, tense muscles un-cramping from the brief 'fight or flight' signals your brain had been sending them.

Venom's rumbling changed pitch then, deepening, and you rose your head from his chest, blinking as you met his gaze.

"Oh." Yeah, you were a pinnacle of conversation. Congratulations. Try again, fuckwit. "Hi?"

Dumbass.

He rose his right hand to your face, expression intense as the bit of symbiote there fluttered aside, and you blinked your suddenly uncovered right eye, squinting a little at the bright light.

When he didn't say anything, merely stared, you fidgeted. "That bad?"

"NO," he rumbled. "JUST PRETTY."

Felt the warmth of a blush overtake you as you rose your hand to your face again, lightly prodding at your cheek. Instead of the sharp pain you'd felt the day before, all you felt was a slight ache, and your eye definitely felt less swollen. Things looked a lot clearer too. "Either tell me how it looks or lemme go find a mirror."

He wound both arms around your waist, trapping you against him with a pleased grin. "ALMOST ALL HEALED, LITTLE STAR. NO MORE BRUISES, JUST A BIT OF REDNESS."

"Really? Wow." Relief bubbled up in you as you curled your arms around his neck, careful not to brain him with your cast. "Thank you!"

"YOU CAN THANK US WITH A KISS," he purred, chuckling at your intensifying blush before he slid a hand up to the back of your head and pulled you down to him.

That hunger was back, his purr morphing into a growl as he twined his tongue around yours, feasting, tasting, until you had to pull back to gasp for air. Fangs grazed the side of your neck, nipping, tongue laving the same spot to cool the sharp prick of teeth.

Insanity here you came.

"What did I tell you about teasing me?" you breathed as he nuzzled at your neck, a chuckle leaving him as he licked at the shell of your ear. He was so careful with you as he gently rolled you onto your back, pausing to tuck a pillow under your head before he leaned over you.

"SORRY. COULDN'T HELP OURSELVES." He didn't sound sorry, the smug bastard. Didn't look sorry either, and you had to fight the urge to glare the look of satisfaction off his face when he saw the blush on your cheeks. "WE WAITED A LONG TIME TO WAKE UP TO YOU IN OUR ARMS, AFTER ALL. SO MUCH TIME LOST."

You were going to snark something at him, except your brain got derailed when he tugged you into another kiss, a loud groan escaping him when you turned the tables by gently nipping at his tongue. One taloned hand rose to tilt your head back a bit as he pulled away with a growl, baring your throat to him so he could graze his mouth against your pulse.

"FINALLY SMELL NORMAL AGAIN," Venom growled, nuzzling at you, nipping a trail up to the spot behind your left ear. "STILL TOO MUCH HURT IN YOUR SCENT, BUT GETTING BETTER. WE'LL KEEP HEALING YOU AT NIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP."

Curiosity made you nudge at him until he rose his head to meet your gaze. "Won't that drain you?"

He shrugged. "WE DON'T FEEL DIFFERENT. DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN HEAL YOUR BROKEN BONES, BUT THE CUTS, BRUISES, WE CAN FIX THOSE. NO MORE ITCHY STITCHES."

Just the thought of being free of stitches, especially the ferociously itchy ones on your scalp, made you ridiculously happy. "Thank you."

"ANYTHING FOR YOU, LITTLE STAR." Venom gave you another searing kiss, his right hand cupping the side of your head as his tongue gently explored your mouth.

You were panting by the time he pulled back, his fangs bared in a very male grin as you tried to convince your body that no it was not 'all hands on deck' time. Goddamn it. "Tease."

A pleased chuckle left him. "WE LIKE KNOWING WE CAN DO THAT TO YOU."

"Obviously," you deadpanned, rolling your eyes when he laughed again. Swatted at him for good measure, grumbling when Venom caught your left hand and licked at your fingertips. "You just going to drive me crazy the whole day?"

"IT CROSSED OUR MINDS," he admitted with a rumble and a grin, nipping at your thumb before relocating your hand to his chest. "FOOD FIRST. YOU NEED YOUR STRENGTH. WE BOUGHT COOKIES!"

A laugh bubbled out of you. "Lemme guess - chocolate chip?"

"OF COURSE! WE LIKE CHOCOLATE. IT IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS. EDDIE IS STILL ASLEEP. WANT COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST?"

That came as a bit of a surprise. "You're hijacking his body?"

One massive shoulder rose and fell in a shrug as Venom started to untangle his tendrils from you before rising from the bed. "LITTLE BIT. HE WON'T MIND. TOO MUCH." You received a view of his back as he stretched his arms high above his head. The smirking glance he gave you over his shoulder told you that he was purposefully showing off.

"Mean," you grumbled, narrowing your eyes at him as you carefully pushed yourself upright, jaw clenching at the fierce ache in your ribs as you swung your legs over the edge of the bed. You could barely move and yet your libido was wanting you to do the horizontal mambo. Fucksakes.

The pained, frustrated, sigh that left you had Venom moving to crouch in front of you, taloned hands rising to your face. "LITTLE STAR?"

"M'okay. Really. I just moved wrong." And you're driving me insane! You didn't voice the last bit though.

He hummed, talons careful against your skin as he checked the bandages on your left arm, before palming your sides, snatching his right hand away when you flinched. "RIBS?"

"Yeah."

A tendril reached out from his side to pick up the small bottle on the nightstand, shaking it a little so the pills within rattled. "TIME FOR MORE PILLS."

You grimaced as he gently pressed the container into your hands. "I don't like how they knock me out."

"WE DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU HURT," he murmured plaintively, pulling a sigh from you as you frowned down at the bottle. Taloned hands reached out to enclose yours as Venom leaned in to nuzzle at your cheek. "MAYBE HALF?"

"Yeah. Okay."

"WE'LL GET YOU SOME WATER. STAY HERE."

You grinned. "Arf."

A low chuckle rumbled out of him as he headed out of the bedroom. "HORRIBLE, LITTLE STAR. HORRIBLE."

Snickering, you popped open the bottle and shook out one of the painkillers, using your teeth to snap one in half. Knowing better than to stretch to put the container back onto the nightstand, you shrugged and dropped it onto your pillow.

Venom ducked through the doorway with a glass of water moments later, pale eyes locking onto you, obviously checking to see if you'd moved.

"I stayed put. Do I get a cookie for good behavior?"

"WELL, WE WERE ENTERTAINING THE THOUGHT OF WEBBING YOU TO THE BED..." He quirked a brow at you as he held the water out to you, and you rolled your eyes at him as you accepted the glass.

"Not tonight, hun, I have a headache. Besides, it's hard to have fun when you have busted ribs," you quipped before taking your painkiller, hoping that just a half dose would be enough to dull your aches without knocking you unconscious.

He gave you a grin full of teeth and hunger and mischief. "YOU COULD RIDE US."

And now you were choking.

Coughing didn't engratiate you to your ribs, and once you'd regained the ability to breathe, you narrowed your eyes at him and flung the remainder of the water at him, his squawk of protest echoing in the room. "Listen you. There's teasing and then there's being cruel. I can't do anything in the state I'm in. I can't even sit up without being in pain and you keep driving me crazy and I almost want to punch you but I can't because my hand hurts and how can it hurt my pinky's not even attached-!"

"SHIT," left him in a panicked hiss as some tears of frustration and overwhelmed emotions started to fall, and you hiccuped as you found yourself wrapped up in a bear hug, that purr of his loud in your ears as he nuzzled and licked at your cheek.

You whacked him in the arm with your cast just for good measure, taking a bit of pride in how he grunted in at the impact. That done, you snuggled into him, hiding your face against the side of his neck.

Boundaries, Eddie had said. Venom had no idea about boundaries. Sighing, you curled your arms around as much of him as you could, raising your head to place a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I hurt, Venom. A lot. Yes, I want you, and Eddie, but I can't right now. Please understand that."

A deep rumble vibrated out of his chest as he licked at the few tears still on your cheeks. "WE'RE SORRY, OUR STAR. WE'RE... THIS IS NEW TO US. SYMBIOTES DON'T USUALLY BOND WITH ANYONE OTHER THAN THEIR HOSTS, BUT YOU..." He nuzzled at you, nipping at your jaw. "YOU ARE OURS."

"I am," you agreed, softly, and if that wasn't a commitment, nothing was. "Just give me a couple of weeks to heal, okay?"

He gave you a gentle lick, from cheek to temple. "WE WILL BE PATIENT, AND WE WILL HELP YOU HEAL. CAN WE STILL HOLD YOU?"

You smiled. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't." A pleased, relieved, purr left him as he kissed you, gentle this time, licking at your lips when he pulled away and wrapped you up in a hug again.

And then. "UH OH."

You had a good clue as to why he looked rather guilty. "Eddie's awake now, huh?"

"HE IS... GRUMPY." Venom heaved a put-upon sigh, gathering you up into his arms, tendrils curling around you to support your aching form as he carried you out to the living-room. A grumble left him as he gently set you down on the couch, brushing his fangs against your cheek. "WE WOULD NEVER HURT OUR LITTLE STAR."

"You tell him to stop worrying," you frowned, your left hand brushing across his arm as he pulled away from you. "Better yet, let me talk to him so I can tell him to stop worrying."

Venom grumbled again, but stroked the curve of a talon across your cheek before the blackness that was the symbiote undulated away from Eddie's face and body. The man underneath looked about three shades past pissed.

"Are you alright?" Eddie demanded as soon as the symbiote had reformed around him in the form of jogging pants and a tee shirt, moving to kneel in front of you and giving you a once over as if he expected to see that Venom had attacked you in the night.

"I'm fine, Eddie."

"Jesus Christ, I told him to take it easy on you," he muttered under his breath as he checked all your bandages, gently prodding at your newly healed eye. "No fucking clue about boundaries."

"Not one bit," you drawled with a smirk. "It's not like they publish 'how to interact with humans' textbooks."

A wry huff of laughter left him as he sat back on his heels, raising a hand to your face. "You're sure you're alright?"

And then you had a front row seat to one of the weirdest things you'd seen in a while: blackness rose from Eddie's shoulder, the large tendril stretching out a bit before Venom's head and face appeared on the end of the stalk.

"WE WOULD NEVER HURT OUR LITTLE STAR!"

"You made her cry!"

"NOT ON PURPOSE!"

"I told you to go easy on her! She's hurt you dumbass!"

"WE KNOW THAT, ASSHOLE!"

You quirked an eyebrow as you watched them argue with each other, wondering, when, exactly, this had become common place for you.

It went on for a bit, you just sitting there watching the show, before their voices got loud enough that you were worried about the neighbours hearing. Also, they were giving you a headache and talking about you like you weren't there. That was pissing you off.

So you scowled and used your best 'able to be heard over the roar of traffic' voice. "Enough!"

Two sets of eyes locked onto you in shock, which, again, weird, but what the hell.

"Now you two listen and listen good. Eddie, Venom didn't make me cry. I was nearly killed two days ago, and then almost blown up, and I'm still freaked out about that. So, yeah, I'm emotionally brittle right now. Every time my anxiety spikes I want to cry, and if you don't like it, imagine what it feels like on my end! I hurt, and I'm drained, and I'm scared, and what's really driving me crazy is that my pinky itches, and it isn't even fucking attached anymore! So, I'm gonna cry a bit, I'm gonna lose my shit from time to time, and none of it will be either of your faults! So, quit it, both of you! Because this insanity-" you made a gesture to encompass both of their dumb selves - "Isn't helping!"

Eddie's jaw dropped while Venom started snickering. You debated smothering them with one of the couch cushions. Though with your luck Venom would probably just chew through it.

Grumbling, you folded your arms across your chest - as well as you could with stitches and a cast - and pouted. "And I was promised cookies."

"OH! COOKIES!" Eddie toppled over as Venom - apparently forgetting that he was attached to the poor man - made a lunge for the kitchen, half a dozen tendrils lashing out to open a cupboard and grab a plastic container that the local bakery used to sell batches of cookies. Only when he realized that his other half had face-planted onto the floor did the symbiote freeze, pale eyes widening a little as Venom's 'head' turned to look at the man. "EDDIE?"

Said other half rose his right hand and flipped the symbiote the bird, not moving from where he was plastered on the floor.

You tried not to laugh. You did. Even drew a bit of blood from biting the inside of your cheek. "Are you alright?" you warbled, slapping your left hand over your mouth to silence yourself when Eddie rose his head to give you a long-suffering look.

Venom, deciding that Eddie was fine, extended tendrils to drop the container onto your lap, but not before snatching up a cookie. You thought he'd eat it, but the symbiote merely drooped to stick it into Eddie's mouth before, with a final snicker, he vanished into the 'clothes' that Eddie was wearing.

Busted ribs or no, it was the best laugh you'd had in a long time.
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