Eddie and venom stopped at a small flower shop. The flowers so sweetly fragrant it can be smelt over the petrichor of rain. The bell over the door wakes Eddie from his whirlwind of thoughts, feelings. The cute shop keeper gives him a warm smile and he smiles back although he's uninterested.

So warm, kind. Venom has it real bad for this man. It's hard not to love you. So hard.

Eddie isn't a flower expert, but he's drawn in by their beauty. On special occasions when Anne was in his life, when their love was new and untarnished, he'd always buy her five black roses mixed in with the red bouquet. It symbolized the undying love and devotion he had for her.

"V do you have a favorite flower?" Eddie asks all whispered and precious between them. On Venom's planet, flora and fauna were scarce, besides the rare orchid or poisonous weed. He never found beauty in them, until he saw how Eddie saw beauty in everything.

The red flower that you like. My planet had nothing but weeds, and the occasional orchid. All poisonous, ugly things. Not like Earth.

Eddies listens to Venom, letting him tell stories of his planet, until Venom's voice cracks.

"You're thinking of roses, gorgeous. Look if you don't want to tell me any stories about your past that hurt you, I won't ask. I know how much the past can sting."

Venom was considered a murderous being, ugly and poisonous like the orchids and weeds on his home planet, a heartless creature. Eddie, lovely sweet Eddie, the one that left honey on his tongue from the second they kissed, has enough heart for the both of them. It may have gotten bent in the past but it can never get broken- it's too strong, and it makes venom pine for the reporter.

You have a beautiful soul. Venom spoke, close to tears. Never want to break you. Want to love you right. Venom thought in the back of his own mind, in a spot where the bad dream went. He'll save that for when he's ready.

"I see some black roses, would you like these? They mean devotion, five symbolizes a deep and unique love." Always so beautiful, always so willing to give. Venom now sees why people yearn this strong, have a need this overwhelming that it hurts.

The roses are floral, fake ones. The real ones leave too much of a mess. The thought is equally poetic as it is smart-

I'll love you until the flowers die.

Venom reads Eddie's thoughts sometimes. A true writer's soul, poetic and softly powerful. Venom longs to listen, longs to explore. He's found that the host has rubbed off on him.

I may be scared of fire, but I'd walk through it for you. Burn for you.

Another thought buried deep along with the first. He's saving it for later. For a moment when they finally fit together like the perfect match they are. For a moment when the only sounds needed are whimpers of praise and sweet nothings.

On the way home it was drizzling. The streets weren't crowded, so Eddie made a choice to just slow down and enjoy the moment. Veins entwined around his fingers were they sat on the handlebars. His hands are warm, a stark contrast to the cold rain, making the alien glow to his core. They are holding hands, a gesture so human, so loving that it makes venom ache.

The flowers sit in a vase on the kitchen counter. Venom and Eddie are sitting on the couch watching a Korean horror movie. Something about childhood friends taking a vacation on the island they grew up on. There's a bowl of popcorn in Eddie's lap, and Venom's head is resting on his shoulder.

"So what's with the dark chocolate?" Eddie has to ask, grabbing a handful of the sweet snack.

"Would you believe me if I said extra chemicals?"

Dark chocolate does taste like chemicals.

"Like dopamine, prolactin? What exact ones are we talking about?"

"Tryptophan."

Eddie grabs his phone to look it up, letting venom take his eyes over.

"Oh its a neurotransmitter. Its also in a lot of Thanksgiving food. Its weird how the brain works." Eddie, already such a happy person, has a lot to go around.

"Like how humans react to fear. Your amygdala becomes swollen," Eddie jumps at the sight of the protagonist taking a scythe to her attacker. The popcorn went flying the moment the fake blood did, "like yours is now," Eddie nudges venom playfully and venom wonders if he could actually blush, "We can turn the movie off if you'd like?"

"Oh god no. You're enjoying it." he feels Venom's burly form appear next to him on the plush, green sofa. He puts his feet up, letting himself actually relax.

" If that's the case may I suggest something?"

"Yes you may. What do you suggest?"

"Cuddling? It'll help you be less frightened?"

"I-if you'd like," you're killing me here, "I am pretty scared anyway so that might help."

"No need to be frightened. I can hold you. Calm you. Keep you warm."

Fuck me up. Please. I need your warmth. The symbiote pulls Eddie into his embrace and puts the blanket around them, feeling Eddie still jump at scares here and there.