Author's Note: Just had this little bit of fluff and it's the end, folks! Thanks for reading! I may have some one-shots for Venom, but that'll go in a separate link.
I was going to extend the last chapter to include the after-credits scene, but I just couldn't bring myself to spoil something so *GOOD*. So go out and watch the movie and then tell me what you think about the post-movie scene!
Eddie sat with his arms propped over his bent knees. His eyes watched the waves and the sun's steady path towards the horizon. His feet were in the sand, except they weren't really his feet. The familiar black goo encapsulated them, going up to his knees almost, wiggling the toes as Venom enjoyed its first time at the beach. Its head emerged from Eddie's shoulder and hovered over it, looking out at the horizon as well. "Thank you, for bringing me here."
"Yeah, you're welcome buddy," he said as he glanced over at the symbiote. "It's beautiful, huh? I'm sorry we can't do anything about the whole wind in your hair thing."
"Osho says, when you love someone, you accept the total person, with all of their defects," Venom said, intoning the words in a wise voice.
"That came out of left field?" Eddie questioned. "Wait, defects?"
"Nobody is perfect!" the symbiote retorted.
Eddie chuckled and raised both hands in a time out motion. "Wait. Go back, go back. You just said that you loved me."
Metz was walking up to the pair as he spoke, a bucket filled with beers dangling from one hand, and they raised a brow at the words. Their outfit matched Eddie's – a loose, flowery button up and tan cargo shorts, their own bare feet sinking into the sand. Their hair was braided, the end of it resting barely over their shoulder. "Am I interrupting the lovebirds?"
"Didn't you?" Eddie insisted to Venom with a grin, earning a scoff from the symbiote. He turned to Metz after with the same mischievous grin, taking a beer they held out now. "Hey, thanks, bees." Metz rolled their eyes at this and took a seat beside Eddie. He saw one non-binary meme and now they were stuck with that nickname.
It'd been a month since they'd left San Francisco, over three months since the two humans met, and while neither hid their affection for the other, the dynamic of the relationship basically stayed the same.
Except when Venom intervened, anyway.
The two humans had a long talk after they found a safe place – mostly about Metz's stubborn recklessness at throwing a new life away just to follow Eddie and Venom. And while they conceded on the fact that they were, indeed, reckless, Metz had countered they could technically go back if they wanted to, which caused a very particular look to cross Eddie's face and nothing short of an uproar from the symbiote. This, of course, had caused a whole other discussion – mostly Metz assuring the two that they had zero intention of leaving the man and symbiote on their own to begin with.
When the conversation finally veered into relationship territory, and only after much prodding and insistence from Venom, they settled on keeping things as they were, seeing how the two were still getting to know each other and adapting to, at this point, living together. Neither minded displaying small forms of affection, but, for the most part, both decided taking things slow was the best thing.
This did not make for a happy symbiote. Metz warned Venom more times than either could count about butting out. Despite the threats, the two humans found themselves drawn together – literally – by the symbiote on a daily basis.
Today was no exception as Metz was yanked without warning and found themselves seated on Eddie's lap as soon as they had set down the bucket. The symbiote swirled between the two humans and Metz rolled their eyes, taking another drink of their beer. At this point, the antics had become more annoying than embarrassing and they would just wait for Venom to loosen its grip enough so they could return to their spot on the sand.
"Where will we go?" Venom asked, its head now between Eddie and Metz.
"I don't know," Eddie mused, casting a side glance over at Metz's profile, his lips quirking into a smile when their arm casually slid over his shoulder. Even if the two were careful with the amount of affection they displayed or how often they showed it, Eddie couldn't help relishing every touch Metz bestowed upon him. He had Venom to thank for that, but he'd never admit that out loud. But, he could find other ways to thank the symbiote. "Anywhere that needs the Lethal Protector, I suppose."
"OH. You really meant it!" Metz had to smile at the genuine surprise in the symbiote's voice.
Eddie caught Metz's eyes and winked, wrapping his arms around their waist. "Yup."
"We will need a cape!" Venom responded immediately. Metz's head tilted back at this to let loose a laugh. "And a mask!"
"Hmmm no, no," Eddie said, shaking his head even as he laughed as well.
"I think you got that covered, V," Metz added after and patted the symbiote's head. "You're good." Venom gave Metz a toothy grin. It had made it clear to both humans that it was an asexual being, but just like any other creature in this world, it thoroughly enjoyed when affection was showered on it. "You're not going to go around biting people's heads off, though, are you?"
"Eddie promised!"
"You caught me with my pants down when you asked," Eddie said, rolling his eyes in exasperation now.
"Well, a promise is a promise, Eddie," Metz pointed out, hiding their smirk behind another sip of their beer. "You know that better than anyone by now, I hope."
"Oh, so now you're for this?" he asked with a raised brow.
Metz ignored Eddie's look and gave their entire attention to Venom as the alien's grin only widened. How that was even possible, was beyond Metz's comprehension. More than half Venom's face seemed to be just teeth. "If it's only really, really bad guys, I might be convinced of it," Metz replied, their eyes on Venom. The symbiote's focus was only on Metz, too. "You promise to listen to Eddie when he says you can't eat someone?"
"I promise to listen to you about listening to Eddie," Venom said without hesitation.
"Excuse me?" Eddie said, rapping his knuckles on Venom's head and earning an indignant snarl from the symbiote. "You should be promising me to listen when I tell you anything, not just the munching on people's skulls part, you parasite."
"I am not a parasite!"
"Stop antagonizing my baby," Metz chastised, cuddling Venom's head to their neck. "He's saved me twice, you know."
"Ha! In your face!" Venom cried in victory.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" Eddie said as Venom over into Metz now and hovered over their shoulder. Meanwhile, Eddie kept one arm around Metz's waist but used the other to tickle her. "I'll show you funny."
"You get your dirty paws off me, Eddie Brock," Metz shrieked, though the words had no threatening force behind them as they squirmed, peals of laughter escaping. The bottle in their hand sloshed out its contents over their shorts and a gasp interrupted their laugh. "My beer! Venom, help!" Just at it the sound of its name, the symbiote shot out a tendril. Except instead of rescuing Metz from Eddie, it simply curled around the bottle and pulled it from Metz's grip, holding it away for safekeeping. "That was not the type of help I wanted," Metz threw out.
Eddie's face beamed with that crooked, dazzling smile of his as he finally called it quits, pulling Metz towards his chest instead. "He may like you better," he joked and leaned forward to press a quick kiss on their shoulder. "But, I'm still his daddy."
Metz shoved at his shoulder after. "That is all types of wrong," they said with a breathless laugh. Metz closed the distance for a moment to place a quick kiss on his lips, deciding it was rather nice, right there on Eddie's lap, and turned to look out at the sea. The trio fell into a serene silence, the sun dipping halfway down the horizon, and none could recall any other moment when they'd felt so genuinely content or complete.