Aftermath part 2

[moonshadows]

When she got to the hospital, the staff had already prepared Eddie for being discharged. They’d changed him into the clothes she’d brought, with the extras in the plastic shopping bag on his lap as he sat, barely conscious, in a wheelchair. She signed all the paperwork, accepted a sheaf of home care instructions, and walked with them to the lobby where they waited while she brought the car around. The orderlies transferred him to the front seat and buckled him in.

“We gave him a dose of painkillers when the sedative didn’t work,” one of them confessed to her. “He’s high as a kite, but at least he’s not having an anxiety attack. He’s got prescriptions in that pile, but don’t give him anything for at least six hours.”

Anne nodded. “Got it. Thank you.”

Venom seeped over from her to Eddie once they were out in traffic, but he hadn’t replenished his resources since the afternoon, so she had no idea what he was doing. Whatever it was, it didn’t take long and Eddie was much more lucid afterwards.

“Annie?” he slurred as she pulled into a drive-through. “Where are we?”

“Taking you home,” she soothed, rolling her window down.

“This isn’t home.”

“This is dinner.”

“Welcome to Taco Bell, may I take your order?”

Anne leaned out towards the speaker. “I need a party pack of tacos, half crunchy and half soft, with an order of cinnamon twists and a fistful of hot sauce packets. Don’t just give me three or four – I want at least six. If you have to charge me extra for them, that’s fine.”

She could almost see the look of gratitude the poor employee was giving her through the camera as he announced her total and told her to drive up.

“Soft?” Eddie asked, frowning, as she pulled up to the payment window.

“So you can have them for breakfast tomorrow.”

He smiled, brilliant adoration that made her want to stop the car and kiss him until she’d erased all the pain of the last six months. “You’re the best,” he breathed.

Anne collected her order (“I gave you twelve and charged you for half of them,” the employee said, and she thanked him for it) and handed the bag to Eddie, who nibbled absently on the cinnamon twists as she drove back to the apartment. Venom transferred back as she put the car in park, and while Eddie was clearly still out of it, the symbiote was able to walk him up the stairs without incident while Anne followed with clothes and paperwork. Dora and Dan watched while Eddie was marched to the couch and sat down, and then he slumped as Venom retreated to manifest tendrils for unwrapping tacos and holding them up for Eddie to eat.

“Sauce,” Anne told him. “Open a packet and squirt it into the taco first. Try to get it in a line so he gets some in every bite.”

Dora edged over to Anne. “Is Venom…”

“Feeding Eddie?” Anne smiled. “He sure is. You’re looking at the world’s first human-symbiote romantic relationship.”

Dan slid an arm around her waist and smiled. “I think it’s adorable. Although I have to admit, it makes me a little glad for the asexual reproduction thing.”

“I need to hit the fish market in the morning,” Anne said. “All the adorable doting in the world isn’t going to mean anything if Venom doesn’t have the resources to get Eddie back on his feet. Under his own power,” she clarified forcefully as Venom manifested a face.

“Oh.” Dora blinked. “Is that – was that Venom, walking him in? I wondered…”

“And it was Venom trashing the lab,” Anne confirmed. “Eddie has no memory of that; it was entirely Venom getting him out of there.”

“I didn’t know,” the other woman murmured. “He never displayed that with any of the unsuitable hosts. Probably so that we wouldn’t see they could do that,” she added in mild resignation. “I hate to say it, but Drake might have saved the world by unintentionally starving them.”

“No one has to know that,” Anne told her. “We write the history books on this one. Drake’s legacy is in our hands.”

“He would hate that,” Dora said idly. Then she grinned. “Sucks to be him.”

From the couch, Venom’s face said, “As much as I enjoy this, it is easier from inside a host.”

“Guess that’s your cue,” Dan teased, giving Anne a kiss on the cheek.

Blushing faintly, Anne sat next to Eddie and let Venom flow back into her body. Then she mentally stepped back and let him drive, cuddling up to Eddie and lavishing little nipping, growling kisses on his stubbled face while feeding him the last couple of hard tacos and getting molten affection and murmured appreciation in return. Dan handed over a glass of water to help him drink when the last one was gone, and set a second glass on the coffee table.

“Trash?” he asked, picking up the bag. “Oh. Too heavy.”

“The soft tacos are for Eddie to have for breakfast, Anne said.”

“Makes sense. I’ll just put them in the fridge.”

“Thank you.”

Eddie’s falling asleep, Anne pointed out.

Tenderly, but with tendrils, Venom got Eddie sprawled out on the couch and covered with a sheet. Then he passed control back

“I’ll be up for a while if you want to get some sleep,” Dan told her.

Beside him, Dora yawned. “I’m going home to get caught up on my sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow unless the feds haul me off in the middle of the night.”

Anne hugged her, and then Venom manifested a pair of tendrils to hug her as well. That was something she hadn’t expected, to judge from her expression.

“You tried,” Venom growled softly. “And you were there when I most needed you to hurt Riot. That counts for a lot. Thank you.”

“Hey,” she stammered, flustered, “you were the one getting hurt. You and Eddie. I just hit a button.”

Venom manifested a face, which growled at her – and then licked her cheek. “You are a credit to your race and an ally. Have a good night.”

Dora pinked slightly. “You’re not too bad yourself, Venom. Thank you.”

Dan gave her a firm handshake, and she waved as she left the apartment.

“I called Eddie’s prescriptions in for you,” Dan said once the door was closed behind her.

Anne hugged him, cheek on his shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with gratitude. “That means I can go pick them up and get back here before he actually needs any of them.”

He kissed her forehead, returning the hug. “See if you can pick up some probiotic yogurt drinks for him? I don’t know if Venom understood the concept of gut flora when he snacked.”

“Ooh, good point. We may not want to use the front bathroom for a couple of days.”

Despite the horrific images, Anne couldn’t help being amused, and that led to silently educating Venom on the microbial colonies that lived in everyone’s digestive tracts.

Those had a purpose?

Yes, they very much did.

We should find a mugger. I can feast on his organs and Eddie can have his ‘gut flora’.

You know that if we keep leaving drained bodies around, the government’s going to have evidence that there’s a symbiote alive and feeding.

Neither of them liked that option, but they wordlessly agreed to discuss alternatives later.

As she drove to the pharmacy, Anne pondered the hoodie she was still wearing. She’d never been into the ‘wear my boyfriend’s shirt’ thing so many of her college friends had raved about, but she put that down to Eddie’s shirts usually being old and having holes and having been worn for a couple of days in a row. Hoodies had never appealed to her much either, whether his or not. But this one, brand new and way too big for her, knowing that she was ‘seasoning’ it to make it more acceptable for him…somehow, that lent an illicit appeal to wearing it.

It was still way too big for her, she grumbled to herself as she rolled the sleeves up three times on her way into the pharmacy. It was so big that it completely covered her from neck to upper thigh, which made her look like she was going for some sort of trash-chic look.

The things she did for Eddie.

You only pretend to be annoyed, Venom pointed out.

It’s a joke – pretending that doing things for your sweetie is such a chore when both of you know that you love doing them because they’re for your sweetie.

But you do not always confirm that Eddie knows it is a joke.

He was right, and Anne bit her lip as she strode down the aisle towards the pick-up window.

I’ll do better, she promised. Eddie deserves better.

The small rush of endorphins told her that Venom agreed.

There was one man picking up his prescriptions – or attempting to. As they got closer, Anne could hear the pharmacy tech explaining that it would be ten or fifteen minutes for them to fill it, and the man – early 30s, smartly dressed, the sort who liked to make uninvited comments like ‘you should smile more’ – expressed unhappiness that he had to wait when he had a hot date, which was apparently the reason he needed the script filled in the first place. After more complaining that was only delaying him getting his generic Viagra, he stalked away to sprawl in one of the chairs off to the side and glare at everyone.

Anne did her best to not make eye contact while Venom watched with a mixture of curiosity and revulsion at the memories floating through her mind.

The pharmacy tech called her up and she listed all of Eddie’s scripts, presenting his insurance card which listed her as the primary. The tech nodded and vanished into the back to gather his drugs.

“Hey.”

Anne ignored the man, but her heart rate jumped. Venom paid closer attention.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“None of your business,” she snapped, still not looking.

Cloth rustling and footsteps. “I bet it’s a cute name. Anyone ever tell you how pretty you are?”

“My boyfriend,” she said sharply.

The man stopped a few feet away – probably just outside of her reach but inside of his. “Boyfriend? Honey, whoever he is, he doesn’t deserve you.”

How DARE he?

“You’re too pretty to be wearing some loser’s hoodie.”

I’m going to eat his nuts.

She could feel Venom shifting, but kept her face forward.

“Is he sending you to pick up his pain pills so he doesn’t get caught?” The man scoffed. “Snorting oxycodone isn’t a good time, sweetheart. Tell your druggie boyfriend to get lost and let me show you a real good time.”

That was too much; she whirled and gave him her best I’m The Prosecuting Attorney And Your Worst Nightmare glare. “I find your claim insulting and dubious,” she informed him coldly, Venom cheering her silently on. “You’re picking up boner pills. Not exactly a vote of confidence in your bedroom skills. Furthermore, you look like you think the clitoris is part of a flower and the G-spot is a club. Judging by the way you flap your gums, I would rate your cunnilingus at just above a three-year-old eating an ice cream cone.”

The man scowled, and Anne felt a rush that had nothing to do with adrenaline. It took an effort to keep her eyes on his and not glance down to confirm that Venom was, in fact, eating his nuts.

“You’re a real mouthy bitch, aren’t you?” he growled. “You think you’re better than me? You’re nothing but a whore.”

“That’s libel,” she informed him sweetly. “I’m an attorney. Walk away before I call the police.”

“Ma’am?” The pharmacy tech sounded like she wasn’t sure if she was nervous or trying not to laugh. “I have your scripts ready.”

Anne turned back to the counter. “Thank you.”

The man retreated.

The rest of the transaction went without incident, and Anne did not look at the man as she walked away.

I ate his nuts.

Good, she thought viciously. Did you get his gut flora?

I did. And I snacked on his muscles. He will be thoroughly unable to perform a sexual act tonight, ‘boner pills’ or no.

She grinned. I’m sure his date thanks you.

Just to be on the safe side, she picked up an anti-diarrheal along with the probiotic yogurt drinks and a package of soft toilet paper. She also grabbed a bag of powdered mini donuts and sweet chili Doritos and a roll of mentos from the candy display by the front register. The cashier rang her up without comment, and then she and Venom were outside, striding back to the car with the spoils of their successful hunts.

Dan was sitting in the chair with the evening paper when they got back to the apartment. Anne dropped the bags on the coffee table.

“There was an asshole in the pharmacy,” she said shortly as Venom took over and climbed onto the couch to drape her body over Eddie’s. “We came back with his scripts, toilet paper, Doritos, donuts, and gut flora.”

He chuckled. “The Lord provides. Even assholes have a purpose.”

Venom merged carefully with Eddie, transferring his precious cargo and placing it meticulously. Eddie stirred vaguely during the process, just enough to hug her body and fall back asleep.

“Now I’m going to bed,” Anne declared as she climbed back off of the couch. “Wake me if he gives you any trouble?”

Dan gave her a light kiss. “Of course. Sleep well, both of you. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“I do not sleep. Wait, am I included in your affections?”

“Are you asking for a goodnight kiss?” Dan countered with a grin.

“I…do not know.”

Anne laughed at the symbiote’s confused reaction. “I’m going to bed. You two can spend the night thinking about how you feel about each other.”

Chuckling, Dan went back to his paper.

 

Sleeping in a hoodie was a new experience, one that made her feel spiritually closer to Eddie. She’d foregone even an undershirt with the vague intent of letting the fuzzy insides soak up every iota of her scent, but before she wandered out in the early morning she donned a light sleep shirt.

Okay, it was more of a sheer nightie, but she was wearing shorts with it at least.

Eddie was hunched over the coffee table to minimize spills as he ate cold soft tacos for breakfast with the aura of a wounded prey animal watching for predators. Anne walked right by him like she didn’t even see him as she went to the kitchen for coffee.

“Morning,” she called as she passed. “Coffee?”

A mumble answered her. Then Eddie swallowed and said, “Yes, please.”

Coffee machine: on. She set out two mugs and turned to lean against the counter and pretend she wasn’t watching him as she stretched. Although Eddie’s eyes kept dropping, he was looking at her. When he finished the last taco, he drained his glass of water and reached for the bag of donuts. It made her smile; he was feeling good enough to eat and gain back all the weight he’d lost over the last six months. She poured him a glass of milk and moved from the kitchen to the living room, sitting almost next to him on the couch with a teasing grin as she held the glass out of reach.

“Trade you,” she invited as he reached for it, cheeks puffed out from having stuffed two donuts into his mouth.

He gave her a wary look.

“For a donut,” she answered.

Slowly, with more drama than was really necessary, he reached into the bag and pulled out a single mini donut before extending his hand as if he were reluctant to let it go. Anne grinned, bent down, and plucked it from his hand with her teeth. Then she offered him the glass of milk and he accepted, washing his mouthful down with a long sip.

For a minute, they both chewed in silence. Then the coffee machine finished brewing, and Anne stood to doctor their mugs.

“How are you feeling?” she asked as she sat back down, handing Eddie his mug.

“Better,” he muttered, eyes averted. “Woke up hurting, but Dan gave me a pill.”

Venom manifested a face. “What hurts the most?”

Eddie winced. “The ribs. And the shoulder.”

“Snuggle,” he commanded as the face retracted.

Eddie leaned back with a sigh and Anne snuggled up to him, both of them sipping their coffee as Venom slithered between them and knitted the micro-fractures in Eddie’s bones back together.

“Thanks,” Eddie murmured as the symbiote retreated.

Venom brought the face back out. “Kisses?”

Anne watched, smiling, as they exchanged light, nipping kisses for a few seconds. “You probably want this now,” she said when they were done, plucking at the hoodie.

Eddie didn’t answer, but she put her coffee mug down and tugged the hoodie over her head, shaking her hair back into place as she offered it to him. He wasted no time in wriggling into it, and although he still avoided her eyes, he looked marginally more comfortable to have that emotional armor around himself again.

“I want to talk about…what happened six months ago,” Anne said in a low voice, her gaze buried in her mug. “You don’t have to say anything. I just need to tell you the things I didn’t, or couldn’t, tell you then.”

“Okay,” Eddie said, softly. Sadly.

“Carlton Drake came to the firm that morning,” she began quietly. “He made a lot of noise accusing me of having leaked confidential information to you.”

“But you didn’t-” Eddie fell silent.

“The partners knew I didn’t. But Drake was throwing a fit about the firm being able to uphold its reputation. He wanted me off the case. He wanted me fired. The partners defended me, assured me they didn’t want to fire me, but they had to throw him a bone.”

She took a deep breath, but her hands trembled.

“If I wanted to keep my job, I couldn’t have any contact with you.”

“Annie…” Eddie sounded like he didn’t know what he wanted to say.

“I...it was hard enough convincing the firm to hire me when we moved out here on short notice,” she said, trying to keep the hysteria out of her voice at the memories. “And even if I convinced another firm to pick me up after a second incident of needing to find a new employer because of my boyfriend’s employment issues, who’s to say Drake wouldn’t lean on that firm, too? Yes, I panicked. But I didn’t choose my job over you, Eddie.” Her eyes were closed because she was terrified of what she’d see on his face, and Venom wordlessly tried to reassure her. “I thought...if I kept my job, I could still provide for you even without contact. The partners weren’t going to check with my phone carrier or my bank to make sure I’d completely kicked you out of my life. I could still provide for you. I could keep your motorcycle on my car insurance, keep your phone on my plan, keep money in the joint account for you, keep you on my health insurance. I just couldn’t talk to you, or see you, or...”

Tears choked her, and she clung to the mug, crying silently.

“She thought,” Venom rumbled from a freestanding face, “that once the case was over, she would no longer be barred from your side. But she did not explain this to you, because she was so distraught at the time. And when she had calmed, she realized you saw the relationship as over.”

Anne forced herself to take several deep breaths. “I didn’t think we have to put our relationship on hold for the foreseeable future was any better than we have to break up,” she said unevenly, eyes still shut. “I didn’t have any good answers. I didn’t have anything solid to give you. So I just kept doing what I could from a distance and hoping you’d be okay and hoping that the case would be over quickly...”

“And then Dan happened?” The words were quiet, understanding, kind.

They cut like daggers.

Her composure shattered; she wanted to explain that yes, Dan had happened but it wasn’t like that. She wanted to explain that she loved living with Dan, but the love wasn’t the same, that Dan was great to live with and he was a fantastic partner but it wasn’t the same. He didn’t have the spark, the warmth, the passion that Eddie had. He didn’t make her heart sing, his hugs weren’t even remotely as comforting, and the sex wasn’t anywhere near as good. But she couldn’t, because she wasn’t going to leave Dan and they both knew it, and what would be the point in telling Eddie how much she wanted him in her life if she wasn’t going to end it with a declaration of wanting to get back together?

She was crying too hard, too lost in her tangled emotions, to realize that Venom had engulfed her until he was depositing her on her bed to cry herself out.

I told him that it was complicated, and you needed space to sort out your emotions. Venom’s silent voice was a reassuring rumble. He said he needed space as well. I hugged him. He found that comforting.

Anne spent a moment in wordless approval for Eddie having access to comforting hugs. Then she went back to the hysterical crying she’d been doing while Venom vibrated between her cells, doing his best to ease the misery his host was experiencing.