Chapter Text
Eddie woke up to a dull pain in his chest. As consciousness slowly returned to him the pain grew from a slightly annoying ache to something much more excruciating. Still, he wasn’t really worried until he heard Venom’s voice.
“Wake up!”
Venom sounded panicked. It was an emotion Eddie rarely saw the symbiote express, and it scared him. If Venom was worried, then something must be very wrong.
“Venom, what’s happening?” Eddie’s voice came out hoarse, as if there was something caught in his throat.
“There is a foreign body in our lungs. It is inhibiting oxygen intake-”
Before Venom could finish speaking a fit of coughing overtook Eddie. He endured it with his hands cupped over his mouth. He could feel whatever was blocking his throat come loose. When the fit finally ended he brought his hands away from his face. Dread washed over him.
Cupped in Eddie’s hands was a collection of small, white flower petals. He blinked a few times, but every time he opened his eyes again they were still there. This was not good.
“Your pulse is quickening.” Venom’s voice cut through the panic.
“Yeah, no shit!” Eddie snapped
“You are scared. Tell me what is wrong.”
Eddie took a deep breath. This brought on another coughing fit, but thankfully no more petals followed. He pulled his laptop close and did a quick search;
Hanahaki.
Immediately several articles showed up that would help explain his condition. Eddie clicked the first link, and read the description aloud;
“An ailment caused by unrequited love, identifiable by coughing up flowers. Without medical intervention, this disease will become fatal.”
Eddie stammered slightly at that final sentence. It was deathly quiet until Venom finally responded.
“Your life is in danger?”
Eddie couldn’t summon the will to say yes, to confirm that this could kill him if he didn’t do something drastic, so he simply nodded.
“How do we cure it?”
Eddie already knew the answer. He had done some reports on Hanahaki Disease back when he was doing journalism, but for Venom’s sake, he began typing.
Searching ‘‘Hanahaki treatments’ brought up the expected results. The cure was well known, but it was by no means easy. The subject of the victim’s affection coming to return their feelings was the most common method of curing Hanahaki.
“It is Anne, isn’t it?”
Eddie was silent for a few moments. He had thought he was finally over that. Anne was happy with her new boyfriend, and Eddie couldn’t blame her. Dan was a kind person with a solid and secure profession. He was everything a woman could ask for.
But apparently Eddie really wasn’t over it. If he was, he wouldn’t be in this situation.
“Do not worry Eddie. We will simply have to get her back.”
“Hey, are you reading my thoughts again? What did I tell you about that?”
“This is a desperate situation! I am not about to let such a perfect match die.”
Eddie smiled despite everything. He liked it when Venom referred to him as a perfect match. There was something exclusive and reassuring about it.
“Alright, buddy,” Eddie said. “We’ll try your plan, but we have to start small.”
He picked up his phone and began to dial Anne’s number. She was probably awake by now. Anne was always an early riser. Just as expected, she answered within a few seconds.
“Eddie? What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Nothing’s wrong Annie,” Eddie lied through his teeth, trying desperately to sound upbeat without triggering another fit.
Anne sounded even more confused when she responded, “Uh, ok? Then why are you calling me?”
“Offer her food. Is that not a method of human courtship?”
“Shush!” Eddie hissed before quickly regaining his composure, “Can’t I just call up a friend and chat? I’ve actually been thinking that maybe we could get lunch sometime.”
Anne was silent for a long time and Eddie quickly realized the awkwardness of his request.
“Oh, not as a date or anything! I’ve just been feeling a bit cooped up in my apartment lately. It’s me and the parasite, y’know?” He quickly added
“Eddie, you are defeating the purpose of our mission.”
Eddie brought the phone away from his face. “What did I just say about taking it slow? Trust me, I know what I’m doing!”
That was also a lie. Eddie has absolutely no idea what he was doing. Right now he was honestly just grateful that Venom hadn’t thrown a fit over the ‘parasite’ comment, but the sound of muffled speech brought his attention back to the phone.
“I’m sorry Anne, what were you saying?,” he asked. .
“I said sure. I’ve been wanting to try out that new café that opened up a few blocks from my house, but Dan has been too busy with work to go,” she said. She seemed less suspicious, and that was a good sign.
“Oh, awesome! I know exactly what café you’re talking about! I’ll meet you there at noon,” Eddie said. Once again, he was lying.
“Sounds good. I’ve got to get back to work now, but I’ll see you then!” With that, Anne hung up.
Eddie sighed and tried to shake off the guilt. It was just lunch, nothing romantic at all. But the hoarseness in his throat reminded him that it would have to become romantic sooner rather than later. What would he do if this plan failed?
Eddie decided to ignore that possibility for now. It would only increase his stress, and that would help at all. However one thing he couldn’t ignore was his guilt.
Dan was a great guy. If this plan managed to succeed, and Anne took him back, how would Dan react? Would he be angry? Heartbroken? Maybe he would even understand. He was a doctor after all. Of all people, he would be the most understanding of Eddie’s actions.
“Your thoughts are racing. We need to calm down and prepare to win Anne back.”
Venom's reassurance brought Eddie out of his anxious thoughts. He was going to take a deep breath, but caught himself before he brought on another bout of coughing.
“Alright. Let’s do this,” Eddie said, glancing towards his closet. He prayed that he had something a bit nicer than a hoodie to wear.