etrayalogs | Family Reunions? (closed)

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Family Reunions? (closed)

WHO: Sleeper, Dylan, and Eddie Brock (and Venom, of course)
WHEN: Sometime after arrivals
WHERE: The Brock apartment
WHAT: Bringing home a stray
NOTES\WARNINGS: Probably mentions of cannibalism, poor pet parenting, poor parenting in general

"Wait here," Sleeper says to Dylan, giving him a sly wink to say they've got this handled. Just need to make sure my roommates are okay with another pet.

They leave Dylan outside the door before slipping in the crack and looking for wherever Eddie has gotten to. They can sense Venom in the space, so it's only a matter of time.

"Dads! Dads! You have got to see what I found! Please tell me we can keep him!" Cue the cat-shaped being bouncing and dancing with excitement over what they've brought home. "He was just wandering around in the cold, and we can't just leave him. I bet he's even housebroken!"

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So much of Dylan's life the past several months had been a struggle for survival; There hadn't really been much time to relax and have fun. So seeing Sleeper act so... happy and silly is a little surreal, but in the best kind of way. Sleeper's sudden bout of zoomies signals to Dylan that for the first time in a long time, it's safe for him to relax.

He lingers in the apartment entryway, closing the door behind him and cradling his egg close to his chest. He knows that they're an Eddie-and-Symbiote duo, but not his. After the mess of alternate dads he'd encountered back home, he's a little nervous, bit Sleeper's attitude puts him at ease.

He steps a little further into the apartment, glancing around curiously.

The apartment is small and old, but it's still full of love. Eddie, Venom, and Sleeper all of have bits of their personality strewn throughout. Notebooks, candy wrappers, shiny trinkets, playing cards, photographs, ugly sweaters, mismatch dishes, bird feathers— it all adds to the lived in feeling of a home that Eddie hadn't expected to become a home.

At the moment, Eddie's drafting up his fifth attempt at an apology letter, and Venom keeps jerking his hand away before they can reach sorry because, quote, "WE HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR. IF ANYTHING, WE ARE SORRY THEY ARE SO PATHETIC!!! WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR WEAKNESS, EDDIE."

So, yeah, Sleeper's zoomies are definitely a good stopping point. They're even more riled up than usual, which is fun. He stretches and stands up, only stopping to pet them.

"Saved by the bell... Whatcha got there, buddy?" Their apartment is starting to feel a little cramped with the incubating egg creature, plus the three of them, but what's one more pet? They can handle a cat, or a dog, or a—

"Person! Wow. A... Okay. Not what I was expecting— wait, why wouldn't he be housebroken?"

Sleeper, please. Eddie waves Dylan inside, not letting himself be tripped up for long.

"Sleeper doesn't really bring people over. They normally... just creep around, really. So, this is cool. Yeah, man, welcome."

"If you'd seen some of the places I've caught him sleeping, or worse, smelled them, you'd have concerns too. But he only acts out on occasion," they continue, still playing like Dylan's a stray they brought home.

"C'mon, Eddie, just look at him. You wouldn't leave him out on the streets to starve! He's all skin and bones!"

They turn to look at Dylan, the expression on their feline face just egging him on. "Tell him, will you? You're my human and I get to keep you."

And just as added emphasis they pull away from Eddie to leap up on Dylan's shoulders.

The home looks so lived-in and cozy. It reminds him of the apartment Tony Stark had bought for Eddie before... well, everything with Meridius, and Alchemax, and all of that nonsense. Back when that apartment had been safe.

He recognizes the man from the hospital. Dylan hadn't been searching for symbiotes then; He could have known a lot earlier if he had been. He freezes up for a moment, staring at just how normal the man looks.

Everything here seems so normal, Dylan almost feels out of place. Especially since it seems Sleeper hadn't prepped either of the alternate dads for the bomb he's about to drop. Before visiting the library, he'd chosen an apartment of his own and grabbed the key; He could walk out right now and stop intruding on whatever dynamic they had going on. But Sleeper clearly wants him here. He has to at least try.

"Weird way to say I'm your brother." He looks down at Sleeper and then back up to — up to Eddie. And presumably the symbiote, too. He can't hide how nervous he sounds when he continues: "I, uh, guess we forgot to exchange names when we met earlier. My name is Dylan Brock." He swallows, punching down the incredible urge to apologize and offer to go to a different apartment so he won't be a bother.

Eddie trusts Sleeper, and Sleeper trusts Eddie. They trust each other not to, like, be awful. So, Sleeper wouldn't have brought anyone over if they thought Eddie would, like, be awful. That's a good feeling. It's a small one, but it's nice to know that someone trusts him enough to bring a friend home. For most of his life, he's been a loser, a screw-up. He's not the kind of person that gets invited to dinner parties, but he's the kind of person that his cat child brings their friend home to.

And that means something.

"Yeah, no, we're not leaving anyone to starve." Though it's true that this kid looks pretty skinny. Maybe he hasn't been eating well. Fortunately, food isn't much of an issue in Etraya.

...And then the bomb drops. Thankfully, it's not much of a bomb. He's accepted that he's got an alien baby with Venom in an alternate universe — having a human baby in an alternate universe is so much easier to make sense of. Before he takes the time to process it and be a good dad, he's got to be a good host first.

"Dylan Brock. Eddie Brock. Nice to meet you, man. Again. Our home is your ho—" And since Dylan must also, totally know about aliens, Venom bursts out like an eruption from a volcano.

"I KNEW IT!!"

"No, you didn't know it."

Venom gets all up in Dylan's grill, which may or may not be normal, depending on how insane his version of Venom is. He's grinning from ear to ear. Again, may or may not be his usual.

"WE SYMBIOTES SENSE THESE THINGS. EDDIE, LOOK!! HAH! HE HAS OUR EYES."

"Yeah, man, okay, give him some room. You're gonna freak him out."

Please don't be freaked out, buddy.

Edited 2025-01-16 01:34 (UTC)

Dylan is no stranger to the multiverse. He's met his share of alternate Eddie Brocks and seen many more in his father's memories. It's not difficult to look a stranger in the eye and call him family. He's prepared for it.

He thought he was prepared for an alternate symbiote, too. Dylan had been ready to be cool and collected, to chat casually about the strange turns his life has taken thanks to being part alien, maybe even play happy family for a little while. Yet when the wraith head emerges and gets right in his face, Dylan's thoughts grind to a halt. For a moment, he's back in the arena, staring at a similar face for what could have been the very last time, hearing an echo of a low, desperate, I love you, son.

Tears well up in his eyes, and before Venom has a chance to pull away, Dylan closes the distance between them. He places a hand on either side of that oozy head, pulling it closer and resting his forehead on top of his head.

"Yeah," he manages, pulling back to wipe at his eyes. Despite the tears, there's a small, relieved smile on his face. "Yeah, I sure do."

Oh, God. Oh, fuck...

...is Eddie's initial reaction to the tears welling in his new son's eyes. He'd wanted Venom to take it easy on him, but he's really, really upsetting the kid. Even Venom looks taken aback, because Eddie rarely cries. He probably should, though, since emotions are good for humans.

But then Dylan takes his face, and Venom has no fear or concern. This is his son, and he has their eyes; he's not worried about what he might do. The sweet, gentle headbutt elicits clicks and purrs that only an alien can faithfully make. It's comfort. Dylan feels like Eddie in some ways, but he also feels completely unique. It's not as if he can read Dylan's mind, but you don't have to be a mind-reader to know he's hurting.

Venom's relaxed, so Eddie tries to relax.

"WE WILL EAT ALL YOUR ENEMIES," and Venom now has tears in his big, milky eyes. Are they real tears, or just an alien imitation of them? Eddie and Venom are so closely linked that if Venom's crying, that means Eddie's crying, too. He brings the back of his hand to his face and looks surprised that it's coming away damp.

"We— We don't mean that." Don't mind your dad dabbing at his eyes.

"WE MEAN THAT."

"We all know you mean it, Venom. It's one of the things you're usually pretty good at."

At the show of emotions, though, they leap back off Dylan's shoulder and start increasing in size and changing form into something a little more people-shaped so it can drag everyone close for a hug. Because this totally calls for a six-foot-plus hulking monstrosity to stage a group hug.

"Hey, why's everyone leaking bodily fluids? There's nothing to be sad about when you have family around." They'll just have to ask Dylan the details later. If they can even get the kid to open up.

Dylan laughs softly at Venom's promise, letting himself get pulled into the group hug and leaning on Sleeper. "I'll be sure to make some," he says, only partly joking.

This Venom is already so different from what he's used to — He's bombastic and loud and excitable. It's almost like he's... younger. He wonders where they're at. They're from a world without Spider-Man; What could that possibly look like?

"Not sad. It's just a lot, that's all."

He glances over at Eddie, trying to look reassuring. Maybe they can make this work.

Eddie's also getting pulled into the hug, but he's more being propelled by the force of Venom's enthusiasm. Venom wraps around the three of them, Sleeper, Eddie, and Dylan. He's jubilant.

"OUR CHILDREN! THE FRUIT OF OUR LOINS! LOOK HOW THEY'VE GROWN!"

Please, someone stop Venom from saying 'loins' ever again. And, yeah, literally speaking, Sleeper sure has grown.

"You can do that..?" It's an awed whisper from Eddie. So many revelations in such a short period of time. "I thought you were a cat..."

"I like being a cat. But I'm still a symbiote. Within some limits we can be whatever we want to be," Sleeper points out. "Which means when my family needs hugs, I can use this shape."

They can't help ruffling Dylan's hair affectionately. Hands are sometimes nice. When you don't want to just get someone who has them naturally to do those things for you. They can see that Venom has thrown their brother off a bit, but there's something about how carefree and unapologetic this version is that is refreshing.

"Less mass means less food needed to keep going. I can even survive on mice if there isn't anything better." Rodenticide is survival mode. They would much rather go for something larger, like the rabbit and deer that can be found around Etraya.

In Soviet Etraya, cat pets you, apparently.

"For the record, I do not survive on mice. Pizza will suffice." As if on cue, his stomach growls. "Or whatever you have around here."

Upon hearing Sleeper's explanation, Eddie thinks he gets it. If he had the ability to take any form in the world, a cat is a pretty good start.

"We can do pizza." Breaking out of the hug feels natural, like he's not really leaving anything behind. That's a good feeling. "Delivery really hasn't been invented here. I mean, I guess you could tell the robots to fetch you something, but they probably won't get it right."

Fortunately, their fridge here is stocked with just as much junk food as their fridge back home was. He begins to set Dylan up with a Cup Noodles, mostly because they're easy. Boiling the water is what'll take the longest, but even then it should be fast.

"You need chocolate like the rest of us?"

Sleeper also withdraws, shrinking back to their usual shape to leap up on the kitchen counter to "supervise" and gesturing Dylan that he's good to come over.

"Everyone knows chocolate is one of the four food groups."

Dylan shrugs. "I'm part symbiote. I don't know if I need chocolate the way you guys do, but do you really want to risk it?"

He follows Sleeper to the kitchen counter, mindful of the egg in his hoodie pocket.

"Probably not, no."

So, he adds a chocolate bar from a crowded cabinet to the meal-to-be. And since Dylan probably needs hydration, Venom pulls a can of soda from the fridge with tendrils shot across the kitchen.

"Chocolate, noodles, and Dr. Pepper. All the major food groups..."

He scratches his cheek. Yeah, maybe he needs to go out and find healthy foods for growing teens. Lettuce, spinach, stuff like that.

"You been doing alright since you got here?"

Sleeper looks hopefully between the two humans as the chocolate comes out, but they aren't about to ask.

Besides, they know things are up, even if Dylan hasn't shared much. It's just how things are.

"Perfect for a growing boy."

Dylan starts checking the drawers in the kitchen, pulling out some silverware when he finds some and getting to work setting the table. "I hope you guys aren't the type to say grace."

( sometime after their train trip, eddie and venom work on getting settled back in etraya. as far as first missions go, it was... okay. they don't have much to compare it to, but they definitely weren't a fan of seeing so many people in peril. please let their next mission be one where they travel to a chocolate factory or something—

this home, the apartment they've picked for themselves, is getting cozier by the day. eddie doesn't really want to leave ever again, but there's a lot that needs done in this place, including crafting a school from the ground up, so eddie doesn't have time to dawdle around.

he's still taking a few days to chill, though. breaks are important, and they're comfortable. )

Hey, uh, Dylan? You got a sec?

( they were cozy on the couch and reading a newspaper, venom draped over him like a blanket, but catching sight of dylan has eddie sitting up straight to beckon him over. )

[ Dylan wonders if he did something wrong. He pauses, then hesitantly makes his way over. ]

What's up?

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Family Reunions? (closed)

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cw: minor self-deprication / negative self-talk

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