[And Norman takes his own deep breath. He's the one who wanted the plain truth out of Eddie's mouth; a bad reaction now will only ensure that he never speaks so plainly again.
( charges haven't really stuck, but it's only a matter of time before their life catches up to them. better to stay ahead of it, keep running, lie low at a beach and watch spanish soap operas in a dingy motel until they can think of something better. )
Murder, Norman.
...We killed a bad person. Probably the worst person alive.
( and some other people... but they're not important. )
[Norman closes his eyes and keeps them closed for a long while.
Murder. Quite obviously one of the serious crimes Norman said he needed to know about. He wants to be furious, to storm out on Eddie and declare him a dangerous liar that had to be left in Norman's rearview for his own safety - wouldn't that make a wonderful shield against the emotional devastation that's already threatening to burst free from his carefully maintained control? Wouldn't it be amazing if he could sit in the courtroom and watch Eddie be carted away with nothing but cold satisfaction that the bastard got what he deserved?
But that's not Norman, and he knows it. And he has a very profound feeling that the lying, manipulative bastard he casts as Eddie in that fantasy isn't actually Eddie, either. More likely from what he's seen so far is that Eddie dug this hole moment by moment, not with any premeditated plans, out of a desperate desire to dodge the inevitable for just one more moment.
That makes everything so much goddamned harder.]
Tell me what happened. [He opens his eyes again, suddenly appearing much more exhausted than he did before they closed.]
( the moment between when norman closes his eyes and when he opens them again stretches on into infinity. there's a lot of fidgeting on eddie's part, the itching urge to leave, the noisy (but manageable) urge to simply eat normAN, CRUNCH HIS BONES, WEAR HIS SILLY GLASSES LIKE A PRIZE, BE DONE WITH THIS BULLSHIT. but they can't just eat all of their problems; it's how they got themselves into this.
technically, it's how venom got them into this, but eddie's been growing worse and worse about distinguishing the divide, the part where eddie ends and venom begins. it's just them. a unit. maybe eddie has always been with venom. it's getting harder to remember a time when he wasn't. )
...Cletus Kasady is a serial killer. Or was. Maybe you've heard of him. He's killed somewhere between the dozens and the hundreds... Couldn't explain his M.O. He just kills people. ( there's more to it than that, and eddie was already dragged once for oversimplifying things, but the details don't seem terribly important in this moment. )
I interviewed him. He got ahold of my alien during the interview. Accidentally. He created his own, stronger alien. Named him Carnage. Or maybe he named himself, I don't know how that works. But they went on a rampage to destroy the city together, with Cletus' super-sonic-screeching girlfriend. They killed... lots of people... So we stopped them.
...There was a church, and a wedding. And this giant, ringing bell... doesn't matter how it happened. He's gone. So is his girlfriend.
[This is why Norman needed to take that time and calm himself before speaking. The story Eddie tells... it walks just enough moral lines to keep Norman from condemning Eddie outright for his actions, and some small details even help him reach a level of understanding.
Empathy, even.]
So once he had his own alien... am I right to assume that law enforcement couldn't have done much to take 'em down?
[That's it. That's the lynchpin of the entire argument. And Norman absolutely can't say for sure that it would hold up in a court of law.
What a horrible, helpless feeling. Norman's stomach feels like it's dropped through the floor beneath him and started tunneling underground. It must feel ten times worse for Eddie.
Very suddenly, Norman scrubs his hands roughly over his face to bring himself back to the present moment and lets out a harsh breath.]
Eddie... you two are worse than fucked when you get caught. There's no point arguin' about whether you deserve it or not. All that nuance probably won't mean shit.
We saved the world from a homicidal maniac, man. Cletus, he'd... he'd pull up a seat and watch the world burn if he could. He's that kind of person. Roast marshmallows on your burning body before he'd piss on you to put you out. The guy threw his own grandmother down the stairs, tossed a goddamn blow drier in the tub while his mom was bathing to watch her fry--
We did the right thing, is what I'm saying. What, were we supposed to sit by and let him turn the city into his playground? Let more people get hurt?
[Norman bears up through Eddie's furious rant, suspicious that Eddie didn't hear his last comment correctly or just couldn't process it yet... and sure enough.
When Eddie catches up, Norman gives him a weak nod. Somehow he looks even more exhausted now, and even a bit sick.]
When you're the one - the only one who knows the stakes and that there's no time to explain to anybody else - [He sighs.] You ended up with all the responsibility on your shoulders and none of the clearance to protect yourself from what comes after. That's the only reason doin' the right thing was a crime.
( clearly, eddie had expected this conversation to go very differently, like eddie would need to defend himself as if norman was his jury, judge, and executioner. the thought of losing him over this sort of feels that way. )
Wasn't any time for that, yeah... Exactly. Even if you did explain it, it'd be more of a waste of time, trying to convince people to do things by the books. We didn't have time for that, right. We had to do something. ( there was anne, and she loved the books. but her legal expertise has to stop somewhere before alien indictment. ) Gotta do what you gotta do, y'know?
[Norman's not good. This all hits very close to home, and that might be the main thing that keeps him from judging Eddie too harshly. He nods, a silent and blatant lie, but doesn't leave his response at that.]
I told you how Scott Shelby died, right? [He remembers the conversation well enough that he doesn't bother waiting for an answer. Eddie's impression of him as a superhero largely came from the story of throwing Scott Shelby into an industrial waste grinder.] We were fighting, he fell into the trash. Except he got hold of the platform we were on and shouted for help, over and over, and I -
- I watched him hang there for what felt like hours. I knew Blake was there thanks to all the lights flashin' through the rain and I knew he was there to pick up Ethan Mars, who I helped escape from the precinct 'cause I could just smell the set-up. Shelby was their man and they were gonna let him skate by stickin' Ethan's head on the block in his place. And that motherfucker, even when Ethan passed all his tests and won father of the fuckin' year or whatever, y'know what I walked in to see?
[Norman's voice is strained now, his eyes glassy with potential tears he's still holding back.]
Ethan was tryin' to free his son and Shelby had a gun pointed at his back. He was still gonna kill both of 'em.
[So. That's the story. Norman essentially killed Shelby through inaction because he knew that justice could never be served. Maybe his stance makes a bit more sense now.]
( eddie probably shouldn't call a murder good, but. ) The Origami killer, Shelby, he's been at it for years, man. He killed kids. Kids. Drowned them in rain water, or whatever, to find a guy willing to do what it takes to save them. Not like I need to tell you that. If you're losing sleep over not helping a guy like that... you shouldn't be.
( right, there's due process, and there's the adage 'innocent until proven guilty,' but there's nothing innocent about a guy who murders kids, the same way there's nothing innocent about a guy-turned-alien-murder-machine hellbent on killing anything he comes into contact with.
plus, if the articles are accurate, plenty of fathers embarked on shelby's trials; ethan's just the only one who made it out alive. which means shelby's whole thing is flawed, but trying to logic it out with a serial killer feels pretty moot. )
Is Ethan... good? And the kid, Shaun? They're good, right?
I know all of that, I know... and I don't beat myself up or anything, but it's still...
[After he talks about it, he still sees Shelby's portly body turn to pulp in a split-second every time he closes his eyes.
Anyway. That's not the point.]
... yeah. They're good. Ethan remarried and Shaun's doin' as well as he can. But I told you this 'cause if I wasn't FBI, if I just worked all this shit out myself and helped Ethan out 'cause it was the right thing to do - you see what I'm gettin' at? Technically, by law, we're not in the same boat but in every other way I'm no different.
[Norman just needs Eddie to know that he's not standing on any sort of higher moral ground and holding Eddie's secret over his head. They're the same, and Norman will protect him because the justice system he's an active part of won't.]
So... what you're saying is I need to get hired by the FBI to cover my tracks and get legal immunity to fuck people up?
( venom, evidently, was getting tired of simply listening in and he emerges from eddie's shoulder. )
WE WILL NEED A SUIT, EDDIE. WE WILL TAKE ONE OF NORMAN'S SUITS. AND WE WILL WEAR IT! BETTER! WE WILL LOOK GOOD!
No, man, we can't take Norm's clothes. He needs 'em.
Plus they wouldn't fit.
I'm more, y'know... ( he flexes a muscle to finish the sentence, which has venom bobbing closer to norman, as if to size him up. )
YOU ARE RIGHT. HE IS... SCRAWNY. WEAK. LET US FIGHT HIM.
Anyway, thanks for being cool about the whole... thing.
You can still do your glasses thing if you want. But with the way it messes with your head, I'd rather just tell you the things you wanna know. Not worth the brain damage. ( v, meanwhile, looks like he might lick norman, which makes eddie frown. ) Quit it, bud.
[Venom's threats don't carry much weight with Norman anymore now that he's heard how often they get thrown around, so he's not worried about an actual fight (aka massacre) regardless of what Venom says. He just watches the exchange with growing amusement, then throws his arms around Eddie and winds up pulling both of them into a tight embrace.]
Fuck you, V, I look great in my suit. [Said through laughter laced with semi-hysterical relief. They seem to have gotten through Eddie's huge confession alright, and it's just sinking in now that it's a rather huge step in their relationship.]
( the fact that this confession went as well is did is still doing numbers on eddie’s head. it’s clearly for the better. the whole thing is way, way better than eddie could have imagined, but he’s still blinking in surprise when norman is on him. it passes quickly, and both eddie and v wrap around him him. v, being as pliable as he is, probably doesn’t feel too different from being wrapped up an a wad of really thick gum. and eddie is solid, which makes for a nice contrast. )
[Norman laughs and presses his face into Eddie's hair, suddenly so emotional that he feels the need to hide. He felt just as much apprehension coming into this - maybe even more, because he came in with no idea what he was about to hear - and now he just feels closer to Eddie than ever. The fact that Eddie (and Venom) killed someone doesn't even remain in his thoughts as a blip on the radar.]
Eddie - [No, not just him.] - and V - I dunno if you realize how fuckin' crazy I am about you.
I just confessed to bodying someone, and I'm getting cuddles out of it. So I might have some idea. ( he's joking. he gets it. as if the venom reveal wasn't enough, now eddie doesn't think there's anything he's hiding from norman, nothing that he doesn't feel like he can't tell him. and it's good, the best. his last relationship was ruined by mistrust, and he's not about to do it again.
he might be going overboard, telling norman too much too soon, but there's no real downside to being too honest, is there? it just means there's someone out here that he can rely on. and hug, and smooch, and fuck, and cuddle, and all of those very important things, but reliability is just really, really nice right now. )
Man, seriously, you've got no idea. I could kiss you right now. ( ... ) Why am I not kissing you right now?
( he leans up and kisses norman, right now. sorry, norman; no hiding for you. behind them, venom flickers his tongue in a sign that might be a mating call back on his home world, if eddie cared to do his research and keep a log of all of v's idiosyncrasies. which he does not. )
[Norman's a very, very difficult person to scare off with too much information too soon. His natural intensity level means that he dives into everything head-first and all the way, so it's much more likely that he'll be the one to scare off a more distant person - either that or maintain his own distance if he doesn't immediately click with someone, which leads to them drifting away.
But none of the above is relevant with Eddie. He adores Eddie, and Eddie seems just as taken with him, and that means he's already very near ride or die levels of devoted.
He's still smiling when Eddie kisses him, and lets out a murmur of pure indulgent happiness into his mouth before pulling away to point out something else Eddie might not have considered.]
I'm good with the kisses, but just so you know - you could also be fuckin' me right now.
( good to know, because eddie has so, so much to share. some of that includes deep dark secrets, sure, but there's plenty useless knowledge rattling around in his head to keep norman entertained and, like, not totally weirded out. though, to be fair, alien and murder take the top spots on eddie's list. at this point, he doesn't think he's hiding much else. the one time he ran a red light, maybe, but that was for a good cause. )
Fucking? Fucking is an option? Even with the whole...
I mean, you know this has to be a group activity now, right? With active participation? From all parties? V's not gonna, like, sit back and pretend that he doesn't exist now that you, uh, know he exists.
IT IS TRUE. WE WISH TO SEE YOU IN COMPROMISING POSTIONS.
( venom's getting a head start on that one, twining his gooey tendrils around norman's arms and raising them above his head. )
[Norman whips his head from one side to the other as Venom takes hold of his arms, tugging against his grip despite harboring no real hope that he's capable of breaking free. Panic presses in at all of his shallowest pulse points, temples and wrists and throat; sweat breaks out all over his body and bile rises in his throat; still, he refuses to scream or fight.
He loves them. Both of them. As volatile as Venom may seem to Norman, he's never done any sort of harm and even hid his presence early on to allow Norman and Eddie to become close. That means he must have some degree of self-control...
Jesus, talking reasonably with Venom would be so much easier if he just had pupils. Those vacant white eyes really don't give anything away.]
First, you're gonna have to go into some detail about what fuckin' entails for you, V. Don't be shy, I wanna know what I'd be in for.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[He pulls out the glasses, turns them around in his hands, fiddles with the arms... one last chance for Eddie to offer up the information himself.]
no subject
( deep breath, bud. you can do this. )
To start... we might be, uh... fugitives?
no subject
Deep breath. Stay calm.
Evenly, without any real expression:]
On what charges?
no subject
Murder, Norman.
...We killed a bad person. Probably the worst person alive.
( and some other people... but they're not important. )
no subject
Murder. Quite obviously one of the serious crimes Norman said he needed to know about. He wants to be furious, to storm out on Eddie and declare him a dangerous liar that had to be left in Norman's rearview for his own safety - wouldn't that make a wonderful shield against the emotional devastation that's already threatening to burst free from his carefully maintained control? Wouldn't it be amazing if he could sit in the courtroom and watch Eddie be carted away with nothing but cold satisfaction that the bastard got what he deserved?
But that's not Norman, and he knows it. And he has a very profound feeling that the lying, manipulative bastard he casts as Eddie in that fantasy isn't actually Eddie, either. More likely from what he's seen so far is that Eddie dug this hole moment by moment, not with any premeditated plans, out of a desperate desire to dodge the inevitable for just one more moment.
That makes everything so much goddamned harder.]
Tell me what happened. [He opens his eyes again, suddenly appearing much more exhausted than he did before they closed.]
no subject
technically, it's how venom got them into this, but eddie's been growing worse and worse about distinguishing the divide, the part where eddie ends and venom begins. it's just them. a unit. maybe eddie has always been with venom. it's getting harder to remember a time when he wasn't. )
...Cletus Kasady is a serial killer. Or was. Maybe you've heard of him. He's killed somewhere between the dozens and the hundreds... Couldn't explain his M.O. He just kills people. ( there's more to it than that, and eddie was already dragged once for oversimplifying things, but the details don't seem terribly important in this moment. )
I interviewed him. He got ahold of my alien during the interview. Accidentally. He created his own, stronger alien. Named him Carnage. Or maybe he named himself, I don't know how that works. But they went on a rampage to destroy the city together, with Cletus' super-sonic-screeching girlfriend. They killed... lots of people... So we stopped them.
...There was a church, and a wedding. And this giant, ringing bell... doesn't matter how it happened. He's gone. So is his girlfriend.
And a cop...
We liked the cop.
no subject
Empathy, even.]
So once he had his own alien... am I right to assume that law enforcement couldn't have done much to take 'em down?
no subject
Think of that, and then think of Carnage as like triple-decker V.
Way bigger than us.
Way stronger.
He ate cops for breakfast. And not even in the metaphorical sense.
no subject
What a horrible, helpless feeling. Norman's stomach feels like it's dropped through the floor beneath him and started tunneling underground. It must feel ten times worse for Eddie.
Very suddenly, Norman scrubs his hands roughly over his face to bring himself back to the present moment and lets out a harsh breath.]
Eddie... you two are worse than fucked when you get caught. There's no point arguin' about whether you deserve it or not. All that nuance probably won't mean shit.
And that's why I'm not gonna turn you in.
no subject
We did the right thing, is what I'm saying. What, were we supposed to sit by and let him turn the city into his playground? Let more people get hurt?
( ... )
Wait, you said you're not turning us in?
no subject
When Eddie catches up, Norman gives him a weak nod. Somehow he looks even more exhausted now, and even a bit sick.]
When you're the one - the only one who knows the stakes and that there's no time to explain to anybody else - [He sighs.] You ended up with all the responsibility on your shoulders and none of the clearance to protect yourself from what comes after. That's the only reason doin' the right thing was a crime.
no subject
( clearly, eddie had expected this conversation to go very differently, like eddie would need to defend himself as if norman was his jury, judge, and executioner. the thought of losing him over this sort of feels that way. )
Wasn't any time for that, yeah... Exactly. Even if you did explain it, it'd be more of a waste of time, trying to convince people to do things by the books. We didn't have time for that, right. We had to do something. ( there was anne, and she loved the books. but her legal expertise has to stop somewhere before alien indictment. ) Gotta do what you gotta do, y'know?
You good?
no subject
I told you how Scott Shelby died, right? [He remembers the conversation well enough that he doesn't bother waiting for an answer. Eddie's impression of him as a superhero largely came from the story of throwing Scott Shelby into an industrial waste grinder.] We were fighting, he fell into the trash. Except he got hold of the platform we were on and shouted for help, over and over, and I -
- I watched him hang there for what felt like hours. I knew Blake was there thanks to all the lights flashin' through the rain and I knew he was there to pick up Ethan Mars, who I helped escape from the precinct 'cause I could just smell the set-up. Shelby was their man and they were gonna let him skate by stickin' Ethan's head on the block in his place. And that motherfucker, even when Ethan passed all his tests and won father of the fuckin' year or whatever, y'know what I walked in to see?
[Norman's voice is strained now, his eyes glassy with potential tears he's still holding back.]
Ethan was tryin' to free his son and Shelby had a gun pointed at his back. He was still gonna kill both of 'em.
[So. That's the story. Norman essentially killed Shelby through inaction because he knew that justice could never be served. Maybe his stance makes a bit more sense now.]
no subject
( eddie probably shouldn't call a murder good, but. ) The Origami killer, Shelby, he's been at it for years, man. He killed kids. Kids. Drowned them in rain water, or whatever, to find a guy willing to do what it takes to save them. Not like I need to tell you that. If you're losing sleep over not helping a guy like that... you shouldn't be.
( right, there's due process, and there's the adage 'innocent until proven guilty,' but there's nothing innocent about a guy who murders kids, the same way there's nothing innocent about a guy-turned-alien-murder-machine hellbent on killing anything he comes into contact with.
plus, if the articles are accurate, plenty of fathers embarked on shelby's trials; ethan's just the only one who made it out alive. which means shelby's whole thing is flawed, but trying to logic it out with a serial killer feels pretty moot. )
Is Ethan... good? And the kid, Shaun? They're good, right?
no subject
[After he talks about it, he still sees Shelby's portly body turn to pulp in a split-second every time he closes his eyes.
Anyway. That's not the point.]
... yeah. They're good. Ethan remarried and Shaun's doin' as well as he can. But I told you this 'cause if I wasn't FBI, if I just worked all this shit out myself and helped Ethan out 'cause it was the right thing to do - you see what I'm gettin' at? Technically, by law, we're not in the same boat but in every other way I'm no different.
[Norman just needs Eddie to know that he's not standing on any sort of higher moral ground and holding Eddie's secret over his head. They're the same, and Norman will protect him because the justice system he's an active part of won't.]
no subject
( venom, evidently, was getting tired of simply listening in and he emerges from eddie's shoulder. )
WE WILL NEED A SUIT, EDDIE.
WE WILL TAKE ONE OF NORMAN'S SUITS.
AND WE WILL WEAR IT! BETTER! WE WILL LOOK GOOD!
No, man, we can't take Norm's clothes. He needs 'em.
Plus they wouldn't fit.
I'm more, y'know... ( he flexes a muscle to finish the sentence, which has venom bobbing closer to norman, as if to size him up. )
YOU ARE RIGHT.
HE IS... SCRAWNY.
WEAK.
LET US FIGHT HIM.
Anyway, thanks for being cool about the whole... thing.
You can still do your glasses thing if you want. But with the way it messes with your head, I'd rather just tell you the things you wanna know. Not worth the brain damage. ( v, meanwhile, looks like he might lick norman, which makes eddie frown. ) Quit it, bud.
no subject
Fuck you, V, I look great in my suit. [Said through laughter laced with semi-hysterical relief. They seem to have gotten through Eddie's huge confession alright, and it's just sinking in now that it's a rather huge step in their relationship.]
no subject
( the fact that this confession went as well is did is still doing numbers on eddie’s head. it’s clearly for the better. the whole thing is way, way better than eddie could have imagined, but he’s still blinking in surprise when norman is on him. it passes quickly, and both eddie and v wrap around him him. v, being as pliable as he is, probably doesn’t feel too different from being wrapped up an a wad of really thick gum. and eddie is solid, which makes for a nice contrast. )
We like how you look, Norman. Don’t worry.
no subject
Eddie - [No, not just him.] - and V - I dunno if you realize how fuckin' crazy I am about you.
no subject
he might be going overboard, telling norman too much too soon, but there's no real downside to being too honest, is there? it just means there's someone out here that he can rely on. and hug, and smooch, and fuck, and cuddle, and all of those very important things, but reliability is just really, really nice right now. )
Man, seriously, you've got no idea. I could kiss you right now. ( ... ) Why am I not kissing you right now?
( he leans up and kisses norman, right now. sorry, norman; no hiding for you. behind them, venom flickers his tongue in a sign that might be a mating call back on his home world, if eddie cared to do his research and keep a log of all of v's idiosyncrasies. which he does not. )
no subject
But none of the above is relevant with Eddie. He adores Eddie, and Eddie seems just as taken with him, and that means he's already very near ride or die levels of devoted.
He's still smiling when Eddie kisses him, and lets out a murmur of pure indulgent happiness into his mouth before pulling away to point out something else Eddie might not have considered.]
I'm good with the kisses, but just so you know - you could also be fuckin' me right now.
sorry for the delay; school is taking me out u.u
Fucking? Fucking is an option? Even with the whole...
I mean, you know this has to be a group activity now, right? With active participation? From all parties? V's not gonna, like, sit back and pretend that he doesn't exist now that you, uh, know he exists.
IT IS TRUE.
WE WISH TO SEE YOU IN COMPROMISING POSTIONS.
( venom's getting a head start on that one, twining his gooey tendrils around norman's arms and raising them above his head. )
LIKE THIS.
THIS DOES THINGS TO US.
pls take good care of yourself <3
He loves them. Both of them. As volatile as Venom may seem to Norman, he's never done any sort of harm and even hid his presence early on to allow Norman and Eddie to become close. That means he must have some degree of self-control...
Jesus, talking reasonably with Venom would be so much easier if he just had pupils. Those vacant white eyes really don't give anything away.]
First, you're gonna have to go into some detail about what fuckin' entails for you, V. Don't be shy, I wanna know what I'd be in for.