"You know," Percy started as he washed the dishes from dinner. "You never did tell me how you got separated from Eddie."

"It's complicated," Venom responded after a moment of silence, reaching out to catch a spoon that slipped out of the teen's soapy hands.

The son of Poseidon hummed his thanks as he rinsed off the utensil. "I don't think it is." He placed the last dishware onto the rack to dry before grabbing a towel for his hands. "You're hiding something from me, Venom."

The symbiote didn't move, internally going over the few conversations they had together to find any sign that he gave his deepest troubles away. "I don't know what you mean."

"Please," Percy rolled his eyes, wiping down the counters. "I'm not that stupid but, if you really don't want to talk about it right now, I'll let it go."

"That easily?"

"Don't get me wrong," The son of Poseidon looked down at the symbiote on his wrist. "You will tell me later. Got me?"

Venom was caught off guard by the fierceness in the teen's voice and found himself agreeing, "Got it."

"Awesome," Percy grinned, walking over to his room. "I'm going to call my girlfriend Annabeth, ask her if she can help us find Eddie."

"Is your girlfriend also like you?"

"Yup," He nodded. "Her mom's Athena." With a swipe of his hand, Percy created a rainbow out of some mist and fished out a strange-looking coin from his pocket, throwing it into it.

Venom couldn't help but duck down to look at the other side when he didn't hear the coin fall back on the floor. "What is this?"

"Watch," Percy grinned. "Oh, Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase, Mount Olympus."

The symbiote watched as the rainbow rippled before showing a pretty blonde writing on some blueprints. Annabeth flinched in surprise at the sudden call but smiled when she saw her boyfriend, "Percy!"

"Hey, Wise Girl," His eyes softened at the sight of her and Venom internally snickered. "I have a bit of a problem." He raised his hands as he opened his mouth to continue before he was interrupted.

"Is there an alien on your arm?"

Percy and Venom seemed to blink at each other before looking back at the teen, who looked unimpressed. "That's kind of the problem. This is Venom and I'm trying to help him find his friend."

Annabeth exhaled through her nose, mumbling something that sounded like 'only you.' She looked back at the green-eyed teen and Venom, "What's your friend's name?"

Venom was surprised at being spoken to directly but answered promptly, "Eddie Brock."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can stop Hermes, see if he can tell me where Eddie is. I'll call you later if I have anything."

"Call me even if you don't. Love you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth smiled softly, "Love you too, Seaweed Brain."

When she ended the call, Percy sat down heavily on his bed, using one hand to rub his chest gently. He stared up at the ceiling, seeming to be deep in thought, as he ignored Venom darting around to explore his room. It was almost like he was searching for an answer to a question that he didn't even know he had. Finally, he sighed and rolled on his side, reaching out to Venom. When the symbiote bonded with him again, Percy lifted him up until he was eyelevel, "Venom... Are you killing me?"

"Wha- How-" Venom seemed to stumble over his words before finally deciding to tell the truth. "Yes."

"Do you mean to?" Percy laid back down, returning to staring up at the ceiling. "Is it intentional?"

The symbiote shook his head rapidly, moving up so he was hovering over the teen. "No, it's not. We're an imperfect match. You were not meant to be my host."

The demigod nodded, "Is Eddie the right match? Or are you hurting him, too?"

"Eddie and I are 100% physically compatible. I do not harm him when we are bonded."

"Good," Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That's good."

Despite the teen's apparent acceptance, Venom still felt the need to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. "When we find Eddie, you will be okay. Your health will return to normal."

The son of Poseidon lifted up his hand, holding his pinky out, "Promise?"

Venom wrapped himself gently around the teen's finger, "I promise."

The two sat in silence for a minute and Percy even fell asleep, taking a little nap, while Venom stretched himself over him so that he could be kept warm. The symbiote was fond of the teen and he didn't quite know why. It was probably because he was so readily accepted instead of screamed at. The cracker was delicious, so there was that.

Venom found himself falling asleep as well, resting his head gently on the teen's chest and listening to the steady heartbeat that he was (unintentionally) affecting. He was comfortable in the small apartment and he knew that no danger would find them there tonight.

"Venom... Venom!"

The symbiote was startled awake by a person's voice calling his name and he looked around for the source. He cocked his head to the side when he saw the blonde from earlier doing the rainbow call thing that Percy had done earlier. He stared at her for a few seconds before her name came to him, "Annabeth?"

"Yes," Annabeth nodded, looking a bit pleased that the alien bothered to remember her name. "Can you wake Percy up? I have some important news."

"Okay," Venom nodded, focusing his attention to the slumbering teen. "Percy, wake up. Your girlfriend is on the ph-" He looked back at the girl, "She's on the rainbow." He grinned internally when he heard her snort of amusement.

Percy slowly blinked awake, sitting up while running a hand through his hair, "She's on the what?" He blinked again a few times, rubbing his eyes, before he noticed Annabeth, "Oh, hey, Wise Girl! Got anything?"

The daughter of Athena nodded, absentmindedly moving her blueprints into a neat pile at the corner of her desk. "I talked to Hermes. We've found Eddie."

"That's awesome! Where's he at?"

As the woman relayed the information she received from Hermes to her boyfriend, Venom chose that time to think. He was thankful that he had ended up choosing Percy when he was hopping from person to person. The demigod was caring and considerate, even going as far as to share his chocolate bar with the symbiote when he saw that he was drooling over it. The only other people that treated him with some respect was Eddie and Anne. Venom found himself a bit sad that he was going to have to say goodbye to the teen soon.

"Hey," Percy waved a hand in front of Venom's face, smiling gently. The symbiote noticed that he had ended the call with his girlfriend. "It's getting a bit late, so we'll go find Eddie in the morning, okay? He's probably worried about you."

Venom nodded, "Okay."

"We'll still be friends," The son of Poseidon said, seeming to catch onto the symbiote's train of thought. "The next time you're here, though, you have to bring Eddie. Paul won't say it out loud but he's kind of his fan."

"I will. Is he far from here?"

"Eh, no. It's, like, a thirty minute walk to get to him."

"We're walking?"

Percy actually booped the symbiote, "Technically, I'm walking. In any case, walking is good for you. Now, I have a research paper to do but I don't feel like doing it tonight, so imma sleep instead. Good night, Venom."

"Good night, Percy Jackson."