Chapter Text
The fact is, Eddie’s jumped at every invite thrown his way by Anne. He just can’t help it. They have a history, and even if she’s happy with Dan and he’s happy with Venom, there’s still all that old history between them.
Eddie was punching well above his weight when he landed Anne, and after everything with him and Life Foundation and Venom, he knows how lucky he is she’s even still talking to him. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d just told him to get fucked.
So yeah, every time she calls he’s scrambling for the phone. Even if they’re no longer in love, Anne is smart, funny, and cool as hell, anyone would be thrilled by the invitation to hang out with her.
Only, it’s not always Anne.
Again? Venom mumbles, from the inside of the popcorn bag. They’re crashed on the couch after a long week of work, and Eddie’s just hung up the phone after making plans with Dan.
“Anne’s got some thing with her girlfriends.”
So?
“So, I think he doesn’t want to sit alone in his apartment on a Saturday night.”
Instead we are going to sit with him in their apartment on a Saturday night?
Eddie rolls his eyes, reaching for the serpent head in the popcorn bag and scratching at them just the way Venom likes. “Yes, and as I recall the last time you had a great time.”
Venom comes out of the bag, munching the last of the kernels and giving him a skeptical look. Since they’ve gotten past the whole win Anne back thing, Venom’s interest in being around the couple has waned.
Or maybe that’s just since he and Venom became them.
Would have a better time just us, Eddie.
Venom nudges his cheek, and then curls up around his neck. It’s their favorite spot, evidenced by all the teeth marks—love bites!— across Eddie’s skin.
“We can still have us time when we get home. Or before we go. Or now. You know, technically we are always having us time.”
Venom licks under his jaw and back to the space behind Eddie’s ear that always leaves his body tingling. Smartass.
They retire to bed shortly after that in a tussle of black limbs and sloppy kisses, the plans for later all but forgotten.
#
Venom still fusses when the time comes to head over to Anne and Dan’s apartment.
Eddddieeeeee.
Eddie’s standing in his bathroom, brushing dinner’s garlic out of his mouth. It’s already dark out and they’re just hanging at the apartment, so Eddie doesn’t bother with anything nicer than his hoodie and jeans. “Wha?” he asks through a mouth full of toothpaste.
Could be doing something more fun.
Eddie spits and then glances up at Venom through the mirror. “Oh yeah, like what? And if you’re about to say sex let me just remind you that we did that twice today, and I’m not about to be one of those lame people in a new relationship who has no time for their friends.”
Venom’s irritation is all at once washed away. They love to hear Eddie validate what they have in human terms like relationship. Early on Venom plucked the context of that word from Eddie’s memory and has held it steadfast ever since.
Eddie sees his opening, turning on the faucet to rinse. “This is what couples in a relationship do babe, they go and hang out with their friends on the weekends.”
Venom purr undercuts their begrudging, fine.
Eddie turns his head and smacks a minty kiss onto Venom’s head. The symbiote hisses and dissolves into his body. Eddie grins at the bubbling warmth suffusing from inside.
#
They get to the apartment just as Anne is heading out.
“Oh hey!” She gives him a half hug while juggling a bag and her purse to the car. “I’ve got to run but go ahead inside— oh!”
She startles as Venom reaches a tentacle out to get the car door for her.
“Thank you V,” she smiles as she dumps her stuff in. With her free hand she gives the blackness a scratch. “You boys have fun!”
Eddie waves as she gets into the car and Venom slips back inside his skin. Then he goes inside.
“What’d you fo— oh! Hey!” Dan springs up from the couch upon seeing them. “You just missed Anne.”
“Caught her in the driveway,” Eddie says, closing the front door behind him.
“Oh cool. Yeah she was running a bit late today.” Dan motions for him to follow and they head into the kitchen.
“Surprising.”
Dan laughs and opens the refrigerator. “Yeah. Leah last minute asked if we had any board games, so we had to go searching through the closets. Then after ten minutes of that Anne remembered they were actually in the entertainment center. Beer?”
“Yeah sure.”
No! Venom hisses, appearing from his shoulder.
“Oh c’mon V. Just one?”
Dan pauses with two beers in hand, unsure.
Poison Eddie! Bad for your liver!
Eddie reaches over and takes the beer off Dan’s hand. “But baby, that’s what I have you for. Surely one measly beer is nothing we can’t handle.” Eddie caps this off with a surge of affectionate feelings.
Venom huffs.
Dan perks up. “I promise I would never let Eddie have anything that was actually going to harm him. I took an oath.”
Venom turns to give Dan the once over. Their sharp teeth are on full display, but Eddie can feel how soft his darling is getting. They can pretend all they want that these visits are a hardship, but when they’re hanging out Eddie can tell Venom is having a good time.
It’s impossible not to. Anne and Dan are both amazing people.
They settle onto the couch with the TV playing low in the background. Eddie talks about the leads he’s following up on, Dan tells them about his week in the ER, and Venom pops in with questions or commentary. Twice Venom demands Eddie get up and get food to soak up the alcohol.
Since Eddie has only finished one beer he finds that to be a complete load of garbage. He gets up anyway because, you know, love.
Time flies by and before Eddie even realizes it, Anne is back and regaling them both about her evening. Dan slides a hand around her waist and kisses the side of her head when she finishes a story about her very awful Pictionary win. Inside his head Venom nudges Eddie and sends him the image of their kisses from this morning.
Eddie makes a hasty retreat before Venom gets him in any trouble.
Anne and Dan smile from the doorway of their apartment, the perfect picture of a happy couple.
Eddie feels relieved that he doesn’t feel anything but happy for them.
#
More weekends than not Eddie finds himself at Anne and Dan’s place. Sometimes they have dinner and chat, sometimes they watch movies, and on two notable occasions they attempt to play board games before Venom gets too frustrated with not winning and swallows the pieces.
It gets to the point that there are no more invites. Eddie just shows up every Saturday night and they hang out.
Even when Anne has plans, Dan is there. It’s predictable and cozy, their new normal. Leagues above what his life looked like just a few months ago, Eddie couldn’t be happier. Eventually Venom even gives up pretending that they don’t look forward to it.
Tonight is another evening with just Dan. Eddie knows it as soon as he pulls in to park, because one of the cars is gone.
“Hey,” Eddie says, letting himself in the front door.
“Just in time!” Dan calls from the kitchen. Eddie walks that way and finds him uncorking a bottle of wine.
“What’s the occasion?”
Dan fusses with the bottle a moment longer before Eddie extends his arm out. Sheepishly, Dan hands it over. “Nothin’ really. Gift from a patient. Anne says it’s some very fancy wine, but I’m no connoisseur. Figured may as well try it with company.”
Venom slithers out to assist with the cork, and in no time they have it off.
“Thanks,” Dan says, taking the bottle back and pouring two glasses of red wine.
“Not a huge wine person myself.”
“Me either. But this way we can hate it together.” Dan leads them back to the living room.
Venom pokes his head down into the glass to give it a whiff. Smells strong.
“Higher alcohol content than beer, but wine has been shown in some studies to be good for the body,” Dan says, settling himself into his usual spot on the couch.
Venom hums their skepticism but just curls up around Eddie’s neck. They’ve gotten better with alcohol, especially when Eddie is drinking responsibly and pairing it with food. It’s a good development, because Eddie would have hated to go the rest of his life without a buzz.
He would have, Venom’s worth it, but it’s nice not to have to.
“Cheers,” Eddie says, leaning forward to clink his glass with Dan’s. They sip.
It’s dry and flavorful, and Eddie actually doesn’t hate it. That’s a first for wine.
“Wow, okay I think I get it,” Dan says.
“Same, maybe those wine snobs are onto something.”
Dan laughs and sets his glass down. “So, this new movie on Netflix, the guys at work wouldn’t shut up about it. Wanna watch?”
Eddie sits back against the couch while Venom slinks down to curl up in his lap, their favorite place for movie watching. Eddie shifts the wine to his left hand so he can lend his right to petting the black puddle. “What’s it about?”
Already Dan is thumbing over on the screen to find the movie. “Now don’t laugh, it’s a teen romcom.”
This makes Eddie grin because of the happy trill that Venom makes. “V loves romcoms.” Eddie explains.
That’s putting it lightly. Eddie’s woken up in the middle of the night more times than he can count to the happy sighs from his symbiote crooning over two characters finally getting together on screen. Once when Eddie woke up cranky at the interruption of his sleep he’d demanded to know what was Venom’s deal with romcoms.
They are like us, Venom had said, backlit in blues from the TV screen, except not as good. Not a single one is more in love than we are. We like it, being the best. We like seeing the stories and then knowing that ours is stronger.
Needless to say, it had shut Eddie right up.
Now every time he catches Venom binging romcoms Eddie is reminded of just how tender and special the love between them is. Of just how much Venom loves their love.
It’s enough to make anybody melt.
“Well I hope you both like it,” Dan says, stopping on movie with a young Asian girl on the poster. He hits play.
#
During the film Dan gets up to refill their wine glasses before just bringing the bottle back to the couch. When he retakes his seat it’s closer to Eddie and Venom for ease of pour. Eddie continues twining his fingers thoughtlessly through Venom’s gooey mass as they stare riveted at the screen.
Dan’s coworkers were right, it’s a good movie. It doesn’t matter that it’s a teen story, because the writing is fresh, and the actors are painfully adorable. By the end Eddie can feel that Venom is just as charmed as him.
When the credits roll the three of them are grinning (or in Venom’s case, purring) from ear to ear.
“Wow that was great.” Dan says, flipping the TV over to cable. He puts on one of the late-night show hosts and turns the volume down.
“Seriously. What’d you think V?” He doesn’t need to ask, but does so for Dan’s sake.
Loved.
The rumble is low and a little sloppy. For the first time that night Eddie is noticing just how buzzed he actually is. How buzzed Venom must be by proxy. Still, Venom feels happy and sated in his lap so he’s not about to draw attention to it.
“Good,” Dan smiles, and then leans over to pour the last of the wine into their glasses. “The symbiote seal of approval is all I care about.”
They clink glasses again and Eddie takes a large swallow. The wine’s grown much tastier as the night has gone on. “Oh V’s easy,” Eddie says, “I’ve caught them mooning over the likes of 27 Dresses.”
“Hey!” Dan bumps up against Eddie. “27 Dresses is a classic! Don’t listen to him Venom, like what you want to like.”
We do. Venom manifests more of a head to give Eddie a baleful stare. We already know Eddie has bad taste in most things.
“Wow, betrayed by my two best friends,” Eddie mutters at Dan’s full laughter. “See if I buy you those chocolates on Main you’ve been not-so-subtly googling.”
Dan leans down to give Venom a wink. “Don’t worry buddy, I can hook you up.”
Dan! There’s a bubble of happiness that grows inside Eddie’s stomach as his symbiote slithers over to nudge their face against Dan’s arm.
There’s no way to tell Dan that it’s likely the alcohol that’s gotten Venom so soft on their boundaries. Instead he watches Dan’s eyes go wide with surprise at the small black head pressing like a cat against him.
Dan’s eyes flicker up to Eddie’s in question and Eddie just nods.
Gently, as if afraid of scaring off a wild animal, Dan lowers his hand onto Venom.
The sensation is… interesting.
Eddie can feel Dan scratching at the symbiote as if someone were scratching at some bone-deep itch of his own. It’s pleasant and kind of shocking. Since he’s gotten with Venom they haven’t had anyone touch them with anything other than violence, and the difference is astounding.
Venom’s purring deepens, and they slide more over until they’re half in Eddie’s lap and half in Dan’s. Dan has a smile stapled onto his face like he honestly can’t believe his luck. Eddie remembers the first few times Venom purred for him, he probably had that same dopey look.
It’s kind of adorable.
“Just like a cat, right?” Eddie says, because it’s getting weird the way he just keeps staring at the two of them.
“Sort of. The texture is different. Still soft though. Am I doing okay?”
It’s unclear which of them he’s aimed that question at, but as Venom has curled their head into Dan’s stomach, Eddie goes ahead. “Yeah. Perfect. I can, ah, feel it. Through our bond.”
“Oh. Oh! Guess I should have expected that.” Dan’s hand pauses then. “Is this okay, with you? I didn’t even think to ask.”
Eddie flushes, he can’t help it. Dan is just so considerate. “Yeah, of course.” He takes a swallow of his wine to prevent himself from saying anything stupider.
“I’m a little drunk,” Dan confesses in a hushed whisper. “But I’ve wanted to do this for a while.”
In the background the audience on the TV laughs. Eddie’s insides feel drowsy and warm, aided by the cocoon of darkness around them. He knows it’s late and that he should go, but he doesn’t want to. At least not yet. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Dan is threading his fingers through Venom’s tentacles, and Eddie feels it like fingers through his hair. It tingles all the way down his spine. “I see you do it sometimes like an unconscious habit. It made me wonder what Venom felt like, and if I would ever get the chance to see.”
“Well it’s your lucky day, we’re also a little drunk.” Eddie faux whispers back.
From their laps Venom makes a soft noise and twines around Eddie’s hand to pull it back in. In his head Venom inquire about processing the alcohol and sobering them up.
Not yet, Eddie sends back.
“Anne’s gonna be so jealous.” Dan says after the silence has grown. “She thought she was going to be the first to pet V.”
Eddie tries to imagine how that conversation went, the two of them curled up on this very couch confessing to one another how much they’d like to—
To what?
Eddie has a sudden and deep desire to know just what was said about his darling. “You guys talk about V a lot?”
Dan tilts his head up to catch Eddie’s eyes now, a small and strange smile on his lips. “Not more than we talk about you.”
What?
Dan sips the last of his wine and then puts his glass down on the coffee table. Eddie follows suit even if he doesn’t quite know why. “What do you talk about?” He asks because he’s moderately drunk and can’t help himself.
Dan’s eyes flicker down to Venom where he strokes one long path across the blackness. Eddie’s eyes flutter with the sizzling sensation that passes through him. When he opens his eyes again Dan is watching him, dark and intense.
There’s heat everywhere, and Eddie feels it heavy in all his limbs. Something’s happening, something’s about to happen.
From deep inside him Venom mumbles drowsily that it’s okay.
This can’t be okay, Eddie replies.
Venom feeds Eddie the feeling of rightness, of contentedness. Pure encouragement.
But I think we’re about to—
“Oh, you know,” Dan says, stroking Venom again and inducing a shutter in Eddie. “We talk about your articles, what we should do for Saturday night, how your and Venom’s relationship is… progressing.” Dan fingers trip delicately across Venom and Eddie feels it on each of his vertebrae.
Dan licks his lips and Eddie’s eyes track the movement. “Yeah?”
All of a sudden Dan is very close, but Eddie can’t remember how that happened. He smells masculine, of some almost worn off cologne. “Yeah,” Dan breathes.
Yes, Venom says, so low Eddie can’t tell if it was vocalized or just in his head.
And then someone leans the rest of the way, and their lips are touching. Dan kisses him soft and warm, a barely there slide of pecks that Eddie presses further into each time they part. It tingles where they’re touching and stirs up the pocket of heat in Eddie’s stomach.
Dan slides a hand into his hair, and when they come together again it’s a deeper kiss. Sparks burst between them as Eddie opens his mouth and Dan dips his tongue in. The kiss moves toward filthy, the taste of wine smeared between the two of them. Dan nips at his lip and Eddie returns with a tease of his tongue.
They echo noises of pleasure between them, letting the kiss dissolve slowly into tongues and sensation. Into a flow of delicious heat.
Dan’s hand grabs at Eddie’s hair to tilt his head just so, and it’s such an Anne move that it shocks Eddie back into some sense of sobriety.
He pushes back at Dan in the same moment that Dan seems to come to himself and pulls away.
In the dark living room, they stare at each other.
ANNE! Eddie’s brain slams immediately into panic.
Hush! Venom rolls a little out of Dan’s stomach to look at him. It is okay Eddie.
“What—” And before Eddie can even try to get his absurd question out, Venom pushes at him a memory.
It’s recent, a conversation that happened between Venom and Dan just ten minutes prior. It plays quickly in Eddie’s head as if it were his own memory.
When he gets to Dan telling Venom, we’ve wanted you both for a while now, Eddie blushes down to his toes.
On the back of that Venom sends him another memory, this one of Dan and Anne. It’s Dan’s memory of a conversation where such things were discussed.
Except ‘conversation’ is a generous term here. In the memory Dan’s tongue is quite preoccupied with something that is not talking, and Anne is grabbing at their bedsheets and painting a pornographic narrative.
It is very enlightening.
And hot. So fucking hot. Jesus fucking Christ Venom can not just dump something like that on him.
“Fuck,” Eddie whispers, shoving those images away for now.
Dan is blushing himself, but he looks less worried and more hopeful. “Venom explain?”
“Uh.”
Dan laughs, tilting his head down onto Eddie’s shoulder. Venom uncurls himself into a more proper form, keeping a tendril wrapped around each of their arms. “I wasn’t planning this tonight. Anne and I hadn’t gotten as far as how we were going to approach you, we were just kind of going to wait and see if there was an opening.”
“And getting us wine drunk was the opening?” Eddie says it fondly.
“Actually, it was Venom letting me touch them. They slipped into my head a little and I couldn’t exactly hide it.”
Did not mean to Dan. Eddie has told us about privacy. Just used to going inside Eddie.
“It’s okay,” Dan says, scratching at Venom and causing a wonderful wave of sensation though them both. “It worked out. At least I think it did.”
“Oh, it did,” Eddie says, nudging Dan off his shoulder. “You two are sneaky, but it was a little unfair to be left in the dark. I thought I’d really fucked up again.”
Venom purrs into his throat, grazing the skin with teeth. We would not let us, Eddie. We understand consent, importance of communication.
“Good, just next time maybe let me in on it before.”
Yes Eddie. Love you Eddie.
“I love you too babe.”
Dan hums in consideration. “Maybe we could make it up to you?” He runs a hand up Venom’s smooth surface to Eddie’s neck and then jaw.
The heat returns in full force, heightened by Venom’s own stirrings against his neck. “What about Anne?” Eddie asks, his own hands taking Dan’s and tracing the veins across the back.
Dan pulls him in to press a kiss first to his cheek and then to Venom’s. “Hmm, well I heard she already had a make out session with you both.”
Eddie cringes but Dan tilts his head to drop a kiss on his mouth. “Stop worrying Eddie. It was fine then and it’s fine now. Better than fine.”
Dan has masturbated to it, stop worrying.
“Oh god. Venom!” Dan pulls back to hide his face in his hands.
Eddie chokes on a laugh, grabbing for Dan who makes a weak attempt to escape mortification. “Jesus V, I thought you said you were getting better understanding privacy.”
Venom grins widely and gives the equivalent of a shrug. Dan let us share those other memories, we figured similar ones were okay.
Eddie pulls Dan’s hands away from his face. “If it helps, Venom could tell you something mortifying about me?”
Eddie has had many sex dreams involving you two.
That’s true, but he’s never ever gone further with the idea while awake. Mostly because it seemed like it would be offensive to Venom who they are madly, deeply, obsessively in love with.
“Wow, thanks dear.”
Love you Eddie. Inside Eddie feels a strong pulse of love that washes away the last of his worries. Venom isn’t threatened or worried that this new thing will replace what they share. Instead Venom is curious, happy, interested in the idea of growing their love into something bigger.
“You two are so cute,” Dan says. His face is still flushed but now there’s a soft look to it. In the poor lighting Dan’s eyelashes are inky and long, and Eddie realizes he’s already halfway gone on this man. “I think that’s what got Anne and I first, the love between you is so obvious and strong.”
“Oh?” The energy is still charged around them, and now that Eddie’s on the same page he feels powerful, hungry.
Dan leans back into their space again, one hand tracing Eddie’s scruff and one tangled up in Venom. “Anyone would look at the way you two are and want to be a part of it.”
Eddie gets closer, pausing just before their lips touch. “You should text Anne,” he breathes.
Dan smiles, soft but mischievous. “Venom already has.”
When Dan’s tongue slips into his mouth, Eddie hears his phone ding. Venom, who’s looped like black webbing between the two of them, pauses from his curious licking of Dan’s ear to attend to it. Eddie feels the pleased rumble from his symbiote, and he knows what Venom is going to say before they say it.
Anne is on her way.