umbrellajackassery | you can't go home again

[ It had been a while since Eddie had been around. It wasn't really intentional, exactly, but time passed and things got more and more Complicated. The Umbrella kids got more Heroic even as they started to splinter, and Eddie mostly just stayed the same. Carved his own way, tried to figure things out on his own, but his particular flavor of Weird wasn't exactly benign. Venom wanted to eat and destroy, no matter how hard he tried to reign it in, and over time they found middle ground, for better or worse.

That, and his chosen career, put him at odds with Peter, because Eddie wasn't allowed to keep nice things. After it came to a head, Eddie opted for a change of scenery; not great for public relations when you end up catching the wrong guy. But it's gotta be better now, right? Must have blown over, and Venom was getting Nostalgic. He'd been on friendly terms with at least some of the Umbrella kids once, maybe there was something of it left.

They went on a patrol once they got there, Eddie because he wanted to see what had changed, Venom because...well. It was hungry. Like always. But Venom stayed inside, at least for the moment, kept to a nagging voice in the back of his head.

Granted, an incredibly annoying voice in the back of his head, but still. ]

HUNGRYYYYYY.

We just got here, V. I'll get you something later, just enjoy being back right now, okay?

ASSHOLE. WE ARE HUNGRY.

In a minute.

[ For now, he lingers around the Academy. Waiting for what, he doesn't really know. Curiosity, maybe? ]

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[ Charlie had always said, since they were children, that people had an Emotional Thumbprint. Not everyone's emotions ran exactly the same, and even their baseline constant emotions stood out as different. She could tell her siblings apart, just by examining those 'thumbprints', just like she could tell which friend was which. Eddie was one of those handful of people that she could tell were nearby, just by reading emotions.

And oh, how badly his twisted towards the end. Peter and Eddie had been friends, constantly around each other since day one when Peter wasn't running around with Diego, trying to save the day and be heroes. But even Peter and Eddie'd done the hero shit together, until somehow it became competitive and then everything...every stupid thing was some dumb competition. Who was the better photographer? Who could save the person faster?

Who was going to stop Murder Magician first? That one had been the breaking point. That one had ended when Eddie caught the wrong person and Peter found the villain.

There'd been an argument in the foyer that day, Peter and Eddie shouting at each other, Charlie sitting on the front hall stairs with her hands clamped over her ears, soaking up every negative feeling until she hit a breaking point and then...

"SHUT UUUUUUUP!" her shout had echoed through the house, there'd been a telekinetic blast from her that shoved both boys back and away from each other and Charlie'd run from the house, not showing up until a day later when Eddie was officially gone and the house had calmed some.

And now, here Eddie was. Hanging out near her old house. She had half a mind to just march past him and into her home, but she really couldn't. That'd be rude and Charlie, for as much as she doesn't want to like Eddie, wasn't rude. ]

So, how long has it been? How's your uh....friend?

[ His ability was about as terrifying as Bens, but the differences there were Ben hated his abilities. Eddie? Probably not so much. ]

[ He doesn't exactly startle; startling would imply he hadn't been aware of her, and Venom makes very sure that Eddie's aware of a hell of a lot. Constantly. Whether or not he wants to be. Venom had known Charlie was approaching them before Eddie did, muttered about it before she got close enough, but nevertheless "startled" is still mostly how he comes across when she addresses him.

Things had been pretty shitty when he left. Between all of them. He wouldn't have blamed her if she just kept walking, honestly. ]

Oh. Hey! Yeah.

[ He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as he turns to face her, sheepish over being caught, or...whatever other reason of the moment. ]

A while, I guess. V's good, you know. The usual. Uh. You?

[ That was probably one of a very scant few things Charlie liked about Venom; that he knew of threats and could tell of their surroundings much faster than they could register it. It was certainly helpful when they ran through the city, trying to fight crime and keep people safe.

The other thing she liked? He hated fire. That worked out for her, too.

There's a shift in her weight, from one foot to the other, out of how surreal this situation was. ]

The usual, hmm?

[ That's just not what she wants to think about. ]

Nothing too thrilling. I make money making cosplay videos and selling costumes. Dad died. Ben is...well, I can't say alive again. Apparently, he never actually died...just kinda...got stuck somewhere.

[ A shrug, like this is just not a big deal, but she's lying and keeping her emotions in check. ]

Weird week.

[ Weird? Weird. She's gonna underplay it like that, huh? ]

Also, somehow, there are several Klaus' in the house, one of them about sixteen.

Sorry about your dad. Is that what I'm supposed to say? I mean, I know most of you didn't really like him, so...

[ Yup. Awkward is the name of the game right now, deal with it. ]

Good about Ben though. I think. But...the Klaus thing is gonna need more explanation.

I walked into the house and I could practically see joy and relief floating off of Klaus. Can’t really blame him, though, what with dads idea of ‘training’.

[ Klaus got locked into a mausoleum. Charlie spent hours burning bigger and bigger things with diodes and thermometers attached to her skin and the walls of her training room. Reginald sucked. Charlie doesn’t seem particularly phased that he’s dead. ].

Ben was in a pocket universe. Apparently there was a kid there with him. We got her out a couple days after we got Ben out. Along the way, somehow, we temporarily ripped a hole between universes and time and now we have several of my brother running around. Adapting to all that... [ constant emotional energy from many, many sources ] has left me with a migraine a time or two.

you can't go home again

well, let's think of it this way. out of everyone? She's the nicer one to send.

TRUE.

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