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In the end it happened because of the oysters.
Considering things in retrospect, Eddie should have realized he hadn't been fooling them for long. Anne's concerned texts inquiring if he was eating properly, or Dan calling to ask him to go to the hospital for a check up, while insisting he needn't to worry because they wouldn't be doing an MRI scan, should have given him a hint of what was going on way sooner.
He didn't put two and two together though, and when they invited him over for dinner to celebrate the relaunch of the Eddie Brock Report he didn't think much about it, beside once again feeling warmed, and maybe even a little embarrassed, by how nice they still were to him.
Still, he was left speechless by the large seafood meal they had prepared, among which a huge tray of...
Those are alive?! Venom's voice boomed into his brain, sounding almost giddy with excitement, and he had to resist the urge to grin too much at that.
“Wow,” he said to Anne instead. “I thought you didn't like oysters much.”
“True, but you do, and this is your celebration after all.” She took the gelato he had brought for dessert (three chocolate-based flavors, and a cream one... with huge chunks of chocolate mixed in it. Because there was just no way to argue with Venom about that) to put it in the fridge. “And Dan likes them a lot too.”
“These are the freshest you can get, you will love them.” Dan said, as he opened a bottle of white wine.
“I'm sure w—I will.” Eddie took the glass he was offered. It was hard not to let his tongue slip and say something suspicious, with Venom pretty much bouncing up and down his mind.
Can we really eat them?
Yes, of course.
And of course he should have been more precise, because as soon as he thought that he felt his free arm being yanked towards the table, his hand closing on an oyster and quickly bringing it to his now open mouth, shell and all.
...but not like this!!
He stopped just short of his teeth crushing the shell, Venom relinquishing control with a flutter against his brain that felt both apologetic and annoyed.
You said we could .
Eddie stared at the oyster for a couple of seconds, then he swallowed and glanced at Anne and Dan, bracing for their reaction.
Dan had been pouring another glass of wine and managed to catch himself just before spilling it on the floor. He and Anne exchanged a quick look, and then she smiled.
“I guess both of you like these?”
“...yes. We do.” Eddie's eyes went from her to Dan, who now was smiling, a little nervously, too.
“It was Dan's idea.”
“I figured that your buddy might appreciate it. You know, after seeing the enthusiasm for the live lobsters...”
“Yeah.” Eddie made a face. “Don't remind me of that.” He still couldn't stop staring at them in disbelief. “So you knew about us, since...?”
“Pretty much since you passed by to tell me the good news about the Report.” Anne said, shrugging.
Eddie sighed. “I'm sorry I lied to you, Anne. Again. I just didn't want to drag you into... this, again. This weird thing my life has become.”
“Eddie, my concept of 'weird' has been very much redefined since... you know. We were worried, at first, but then you seemed to be well, and Dan could verify that you weren't at risk of organ failures or anything like that again.”
“In fact, your health seems to have improved...!” Dan said.
“Yeah,” Eddie found himself smiling. “I know this might be sound absurd but this thing between me and Venom... seems to be working really well.”
“Oh, I don't think that sounds absurd at all! I think you simply have reached the best balance possible. A true symbiosis, beneficial to you both, I guess...”
Venom had been laying low in Eddie's consciousness, sensing that this conversation was something Eddie needed to face on his own terms, and letting his presence to be felt like an anchoring, reassuring weight in the back of Eddie's mind. Eddie however felt him peeking out in interest at Dan's words.
See, even Dan doesn't think I'm a parasite. Stop calling me that.
“It's because Dan doesn't know you well yet...” Eddie mumbled under his breath. Anne raised an eyebrow.
And of course Anne would notice we're still together. She's smart.
“He likes you both,” Eddie said. “Even more after this banquet I guess.”
Anne gestured to the table. “Well, better if we get to it then. You can have all of the oysters of course.”
Venom didn't wait to be told twice.
-
You're happy that they found out.
Eddie considered Venom's words, as they walked home after bidding Anne and Dan good night and promising they would all hang out together again soon. “...yeah. I guess I am.”
After eating that robber in Mrs. Chen's shop, Eddie had made a renewed attempt at keeping Venom's existence a secret. The investigation about the Life Foundation was still ongoing, after all, and he had no way to know how much about the symbiotes was going to be uncovered by the authorities. Last thing they needed was having to deal with some kind of government's men in black or something like that...
We can always eat them too.
“We'll keep that as a last resort.”
But Anne and Dan knowing was... freeing, in a way. Like a heavy weight being lifted off his shoulders.
They didn't even talk much about Eddie and Venom's situation, during the evening. Eddie had mentioned a few things, like Venom's predilection for chocolate and potatoes, which had immediately sparked Dan's interest for the kind of chemicals being potentially involved, and for bad tv, and as the evening progressed Venom had participated more and more, making comments that Eddie repeated aloud. By all means, the whole situation, with Eddie's asides to the voice only he could hear, and the moment when Venom actually materialized a few tendrils to save the last oyster in order to, as they found out later, try dunking it in the ice-cream, should have been awkward. Terribly so. And yet, it hadn't been. They had felt at ease.
“Are you ok with that? With Anne and Dan knowing about us?”
You trust them, which means we trust them.
Venom was already very fond of Anne, be it because of Eddie's memories of her or because of the short time they spent bonded together (or more likely a mix of both), but Dan's good-natured interest and earnestness seemed to have won the symbiote over as well. Just as they had with Eddie.
And of course they were bound to find out. You're a terrible liar. Pathetic.
“Oh, shut up.”
-
“That went well, don't you think?”
Anne glanced away from the window, to meet Dan's gaze. She had been looking at Eddie, and Venom, as he walked up the road. She let the curtain fall close.
“Yes.” She returned Dan's smile. “I'm glad we could finally talk about it.”
“They seem to be doing fine, all things considered...”
“They do...” Anne's voice trailed off, as she thought about the evening again. Eddie had seemed relieved to be able to share their secret. But beside that, just like back when they had been talking in front of the house a couple of weeks earlier, he had seemed... well. Happy.
The way he fondly smiled after his eyes unfocused for a few seconds, as he listened to what Venom was saying, the warmth in his expression...
Anne found herself shaking her head a little, a grin on her lips. She couldn't believe that... and yet she could. Even before the kiss, she had picked more than a few hints from her brief time bonded to Venom herself after all.
She caught Dan looking at her questioningly, and she moved closer to embrace him.
“I agree. They seem to be doing just fine.”
-
The next few days went by in a flurry. Finding his footing again with the reports hadn't been difficult (he even discovered most people were convinced his apparent fall from grace had been a ruse, part of a covert investigation into Life Foundation's crimes), but it drained out a lot of Eddie's time and energy. Anne and Dan were busy too, but somehow the three of them managed to squeeze in the time to meet, be it for a quick coffee on the go, or for a longer walk to show Venom more of the city and its surroundings.
It was Anne who came up with the idea to go to the Academy of Science. The suggestion was prompted by Eddie's comment that he wanted to show Venom how Earth had more to offer than the late-night reality shows and endless compilations of baby goats and ferrets videos on YouTube the symbiote seemed so enamored with. “And nothing wrong with those. But he put everything on the line to save this damn planet, and I want... well I want him to see there's a lot on it that was worth that...” he trailed off, and then he smiled. “Yeah, you keep saying that...” he mumbled, sounding somewhat sheepish.
Anne gave Dan a pointed look, to which he replied with a grin.
“Well, a natural history museum could be a good place to start... they have a t-rex skeleton, and there's the aquarium, and... there are penguins I think?”
By the end of their visit, it was clear that penguins videos, especially ones featuring round, fluffy chicks, would be added to the rotation of Venom's favorites. Eddie had spent almost half an hour plastered against the glass of the penguins enclosure, and when he had finally been able to walk away, right before the arrival of a small horde of middle-schoolers, Dan's coughing alerted him that Venom's miniature head was peering out from his collar, his eyes two wide orbs still fixed on the penguins. Eddie quickly pulled up his hood, before some kid noticed anything weird, prompting an annoyed mental scoff.
On their drive back from the museum they stopped to get some take-away, and Anne tried to convince Venom to at least try some stir-fried vegetables, which were deemed acceptable. Barely so.
“There would be no need for you to bust your ass synthesizing all the vitamins I need if I could get some just by eating what I want to eat. I swear, I'm missing broccoli...” Eddie groaned, and then rolled his eyes. “Oh, so apparently my 'primitive body' is too inefficient for me to be trusted to feed it by myself...?”
“I think Venom has a point...” Dan said. “I mean,” he added, as Anne stared at him, her eyebrows raised. “Venom can definitely help Eddie assimilate the nutrients he needs in the most effective way, all the analysis we did show that.”
“Please don't encourage him...!”
-
I don't see a reason for all this fuss Venom said, as he finished pouring the expired contents of the kitchen cabinet in a trash bag, and then tied it close with a few deft movements of his tentacles. Another tentacle was swiping a dust cloth on top of the furniture on the other side of the living room.
“Anne and Dan are coming over for dinner tomorrow, so we need this house to be presentable,” Eddie replied, as he swept the floor. He had tried using the vacuum cleaner, but Venom had made very clear he didn't like that. Because of the noise, the symbiote had insisted, and absolutely not because he got more than a few strands of himself stuck into it when he had tried poking it.
But you went buying all the cleaning stuff before inviting them...
“Always better to be prepared.”
He didn't mention that he had taken a look, a real look, around their house after his latest conversation with Anne on the phone. He had been describing her the consequences of their first attempt with live poultry (apparently Venom's fascination with penguins didn't extend to other kind of birds). Somehow, even if Venom had eaten the chicken in a single mouthful, a ridiculous amount of feathers had scattered around the apartment all the same, getting pretty much everywhere. A valuable lesson had been learnt about not doing this indoor the next time around.
Anne's concern about the state of his apartment had reminded him of how even back when he was living on his own in New York he would forget about taking out the trash for days in a row, plates and cutlery piling up in the sink, and clothes on the floor.
It had been living with her that made him try to do a real effort about that.
“You're living with someone again, right?” she had said to him, kindly. It made him pause.
He was. With a house-mate, with a body-mate... with someone he still hadn't let himself voice aloud a definition for, beside the name they shared at times. Someone who seemed to be content to just be in his company while he was working his way to that.
Someone who had started slipping part of himself, a head, a few tentacles, out of Eddie's body at night, just because snuggling close to each other felt good. To both of them. Because seeing, feeling, Venom first thing upon waking up in the morning made him smile, right before getting into their usual banter.
And in those moments he could feel Venom smiling too.
...well, whatever their relationship was at this point, he wasn't going to let his symbiote live in a dumpster.
He knew Anne and Dan would have gladly helped him to tidy up the place, but he wanted to pull that together on his own, or at least to start to. Inviting them for dinner was added motivation.
At first Venom had just stared at him, somewhat amused by his efforts, while making snarky comments. Then he had started actually trying to give him a hand (or better, a number of tentacles) in the cleaning operations, while still making snarky comments.
I thought this was your thing.
“What was?”
Anne and Dan live in a very tidy house. Mrs. Chen has a very tidy shop. You, on the other hand, live in the trash. Sleep into it, too.
“Oh, that's real nice of you... if I sleep in the trash you sleep in the trash too, you know?”
As Eddie turned around to place the broom against the wall and grab the mop, he almost kicked a bucket of soapy water. Venom quickly snatched the bucket and placed it a few feet away, without spilling a drop.
“Thank you.”
You're welcome.
-
“Those were amazing...” Dan declared, placing down his paper napkin. Anne nodded in agreement, looking even more impressed.
“You can thank internet tutorials for that,” Eddie said. “And Venom watching those cooking shows. He saw someone making these cocoa pork ribs, and started taking notes... He even helped with the preparation and only ate two of them raw.” Venom had materialized, hovering just above Eddie's shoulder, his grinning mask of a face looking quite pleased by their guests' reaction (and by the tasty meat now filling Eddie's stomach up).
After dinner Dan insisted on helping Eddie clearing out the table, while Anne sat on the the couch and browsed on Eddie's laptop for a film to watch. Venom moved closer, a moray eel slithering on the back of the couch, to peek at the screen, his eyes squinting a little. She looked at the tendrils, gently undulating as they entwined with each other, connecting his head to Eddie's body, both of them perfectly at ease as they moved around. Venom noticed, and turned to look at her, head tilting to the side.
“I'm glad the two of you are together, you know?” Anne said. “You have been really good for Eddie, I know. And... I hope he's being good for you.” Venom's grin grew wider, and somehow softer, in response. He glanced towards his host, who was chatting with Dan, and then back at her. Even with no words, his answer was clear.
We make each other happy. Anne could almost hear that in the voice she had heard into her own head. She nodded in understanding.
“Want to help me pick a movie?”
Eddie and Dan joined them on the couch, an old romance movie just beginning (“Venom's idea,” Anne made sure to point out). Eddie placed a pillow on his lap and Venom settled on it, extending down from his chest, like the chilliest chestburster ever.
As they watched the movie, Eddie started to absent-mindedly caress Venom, the tip of his fingers barely running through the symbiote's almost-yet-not-quite liquid body, in a way he knew Venom found relaxing. A few tendrils tangled around his fingers, to hold his hand close.
Glancing to the side, Eddie caught Anne's eyes. She was leaning against Dan's side, his arm around her shoulders, and she was holding his hand, their fingers laced together.
Eddie and Anne looked at their respective partners, both completely engrossed by the movie, and then they looked back again at each other, and they smiled.