#i tried to think of a fun tag for you but brain is Mushie Mush

[multi-lefaiye]

so. for the song ask game. Eden is clearly depressed cause. Achillies come Down we all know. but also has done something bad to make people turn on him, or some kind of negative thing he did, he may have not done it on purpose but i am basing this off of Good For You. Get this man some therapy pls. but also also guilt mayhaps? mayhaps the depression is a mixture of many things including guilt over something hes done

hello yes thank u for the ask game <3

oh yeah you're so right. eden is such a depressed little asshole. he needs therapy, and maybe he'll get some at some point in the campaign! though i don't think it'd be an easy process because i think he'd be taken aback that he has to actually tell his therapist about his problems for them to be able to help. he'll get therapy, but he'll die before admitting that he needs it.

hehe i'm glad you took Good For You into account b/c honestly like. the situation isn't the same as what's presented in the song, but it's the best representation i've found via music of how eden's personal relationships were all fucking destroyed by the time the campaign started. i will say, he didn't intentionally drive everyone away! not to say he never did anything wrong, but his determination to prove himself and accomplish his very single-minded goal is what ultimately destroyed these relationships and left everyone to leave him.

i don't think eden feels consciously like he's done anything wrong, but he also definitely struggles with a lot of guilt. however, at the point where the campaign begins, his guilt is mostly centered around the fact that he feels like he's never been enough for anyone, and he feels guilty that he wasn't able to prove himself and be accepted for who he is. (of course, there's something to be said for the fact that eden's perception of how others perceive him is uh... not exactly accurate.)

he also has a lot of guilt regarding his relationship with his younger brother, which is one of many relationships that fell to the wayside in his desire to prove himself. eden is a very protective older brother, but his pride and his desire to be better and prove himself ended up taking precedence. surely that won't bite him in the ass later! (it absolutely will)

[tere706]

Love is Blind - Chpt 17

(Hey, see. Just needed to kick myself a few times. And the idea that I wouldn’t be able to post this chapter because of the log off phase 3... I don’t want to wait another week! So I bulled my way through this. 

I want to thank everyone who has come with me on this journey. I’ve had so much fun writing this fic. I hope you have too. A lot of things changed during the writing of this idea, but the fundamental ending is basically the same as what I had imagined at the beginning. 

There’s still a chance of me coming back with a sequel fic for this, but I do want to take a break from writing. I’ve got a lot going on this semester... and I have a bad habit of pressuring myself to get chapters written. 

Anyways, enjoy the finale of Love is Blind!

Tagging: @inumorph, @dark-night-sky-99, @liadreyar-dragneel, @lunalustrix, @thirstyforvenom, @mltcp)

The realization of consciousness came slowly. It wasn’t any one moment of awareness, just a progressive understanding that she could distantly feel her body. Liz was fairly sure she should be grateful that her body felt so distant. Her head felt fuzzy too. She remained still, just processing what was going on around her while she tried to get her brain working.

Her breath was warm against her lips and nose, strangely so since the rest of her felt cool. And there was a pressure of something against her chin, cheeks, and nose. Something beeped off to her left, a rhythmic sound, and hushed voices came through walls. They were too soft to understand. It was the rhythmic beeping, a heart monitor, that caused her brain to drag up a location. Hospital. She was in a hospital. Why?

Liz gave a soft groan, breath rasping in her throat. It sent a sudden surge of pain through the cloud of pain medication. At least, she assumed that was why her brain felt like it was stuffed with wool and her body almost dislocated from her.

“Liz.” The voice was hoarse, carrying a hopeful desperation. The voice, Eddie’s voice, stirred her memories of why she was now in the hospital. Aaron. Fire. Venom and Eddie screaming. Pain.

“Eddie.” She managed to croak back at him, mostly so he would know that she was actually awake.

A chair scraped along the ground to her right as Eddie moved. “Hold on a second. I’ve got water for you.” He murmured and pulled the weight away from her mouth. The end of a plastic straw touched her lips and Liz was grateful that he wasn’t going to accidently dump half a cup of water on her. It wouldn’t have been his fault, everything was too fuzzy for her to try and coordinate herself. She sipped slowly, letting the cool water slide down her throat.

“Thanks.” Liz was pleased to find that it was a bit easier to talk now. “You both okay? What happened?”

Eddie chuckled as he sat back down in the chair. “You’ve got your priorities. V and I are fine now. He’d be hovering protectively over you, but we’re in a hospital. They, uh, make us kind anxious. Bad experiences. Tell me what the last thing you remember and I’ll try to fill you in.” His voice was low and soft, meant to sound comforting. Liz had to blink back tears of relief when he told her that both of them were alright.

“Aaron?” He’d been right that ‘both’ had meant him and Venom, but she still had some concern for the teen.

“I’ll get to him, answer the question.” Eddie said with a faint snort.

“I heard you hit the ground. Ven had screamed. I… I tried to grab Aaron. I wasn’t sure where he was, too many sounds all at once. Then… heat and pain.” Her voice grew softer as she spoke and Liz ended with a cough, throat feeling like she’d scraped it with sandpaper.

“Drink first.” Eddie placed the end of the straw back in her mouth so she could get some relief. “You got burned, Liz. It… it was bad.” He paused and pulled the straw away, setting the glass to the side to give himself a moment. “You scared us bad. We thought you were gonna die.” Eddie took a deep breath. “Aaron stopped freaking out and called an ambulance. He’s alive. Turned himself over to the police and explained what he was, at least tried to. I think they’re going to have him transferred to somewhere that can help him. We… uh, said we’d been attacked in the warehouse and that he’d helped drive off the attackers, but you were hurt. So, I think they’ll go lenient on him, accidents from his abilities.”

Liz smiled gently, her head tilted toward Eddie’s voice. “Thank you for that. I can’t imagine you like him much.”

“I don’t. But you do.” Eddie sighed. “So, we all made it out alive. You’re the worst off. You have a concussion, I’m assuming that’s from Aaron?”  He paused long enough for Liz to give a slight nod. “Yeah. You have burns in your throat and lungs from hot air, but the doctor said those weren’t too bad. You had an oxygen mask on, if you’re curious. It’s your arms that took the most damage. What… what were you thinking, throwing yourself at Aaron?! You had to know he was wielding fire!” Eddie sounded like he was struggling to keep his voice from rising in anger and worry. He probably didn’t want a nurse poking their nose into the room yet.

“I couldn’t let him kill you, Eddie. I couldn’t lose you.” Liz swallowed hard, feeling the wave of remembered panic. “I didn’t know if Ven was even alive. I heard him scream in pain and I know fire can really hurt him. If I’d been brave enough to do something sooner, I… I couldn’t lose you too.”

Eddie’s fingers brushed gently against her cheeks, wiping away the tears that had slipped past her self-control. “I’m sorry you were put in that situation.” He whispered tenderly. “Do you want me to continue? Or do you want to rest?”

Liz smiled faintly and shook her head a little. “I feel kinda… fuzzy. Musta put me on the good pain meds. I think I can handle whatever you say without freaking out.” She had a feeling that she wouldn’t be so calm without those pain meds clouding her thinking. Maybe hearing it now would allow her to process it a bit before she was really able to think.

“Okay.” Eddie blew out a slow breath and stroked his thumb gently across her cheek. “You have third degrees burns. They had to do skin grafts on your left hand and part of your right arm. Second degree burns expand out from there. The doctor says you have a high probability of regaining full use of your left hand if you’re careful and go through physical therapy. They also have you on some antibiotics.”

She leaned her face slightly into his touch. “Wow. That sounds pretty awful. And like it would hurt a lot.”

Eddie couldn’t stop a surprised laugh from escaping him. “Yeah, that’s probably why you’re on the good stuff, hun.”

“I… I don’t wanna be alone, Eddie.” Liz whispered the words, feeling herself falling slowly down into the quiet again. She was just too tired to stay awake much longer.

“We’ll be right here. Both of us. We’re not going anywhere.”

The last thing she remembered before falling back asleep was the brush of Eddie’s lips against her forehead.

~

“The splint itches.” Liz gritted her teeth in frustration. She couldn’t move her left arm at all, it was still suspended up on a sling to keep the swelling down.

“Mmhm. Finish up your last hand stretch and I’ll feed you dinner.” Eddie didn’t sound nearly as sympathetic as Liz had wanted. To be fair, he’d been listening to her growl and grumble for the last four days as they weened her off the pain killers. She was still in the hospital. The doctors wanted to keep an eye on the worst of her burns, and they were concerned about her damaging the skin grafts.

Liz slowly spread the fingers of her right hand, which hadn’t been burned as badly. That one was ready for the start of physical therapy. It hurt, skin pulling tight. But she didn’t want to lose any mobility. Her hands were a large part of how she interacted with the world. The doctors had sounded positive around her getting full feeling back in the right hand. But the left… While she might get her range of motion back with lots of physical therapy, it was unlikely that she’d get full sensitivity back. There was too much damage to sensitive nerves. It only made her more determined to take care of her right hand, since it had better odds.

“There, done. I can’t wait to be able to feed and take care of myself again.” Liz’s voice turned wistful. Being unable to use her hands was degrading in so many ways. She might never enjoy bathrooms again.

Eddie chuckled and scraped a fork across a plate. “Open up, you can have the mushy hospital dinner now.”

Liz sighed and obediently opened her mouth, trying to swallow the bite with minimal tasting. “I miss fruit cups and chips. Real fruit cups, not that junk the nurse tried to offer me.”

“We’ll get you as much as you want once you get out of here.” Eddie promised. Liz felt a warm tendril from Venom slide under her head to help support it as Eddie offered another bite. The symbiote had been quite during the days spent in the hospital. Eddie couldn’t spend the night with her and it was dangerous for Venom to show himself. Still, Liz didn’t mind getting to share this time with Eddie. It was pleasantly normal. Despite the burns.

“Let’s make it a date. I’m holding you to it.” Liz quickly swallowed the next mouthful of mush.

~

Liz didn’t leave the hospital until two weeks later, when her right hand was deemed healed enough for use. It still needed physical therapy to ensure the muscles and tendons finished healing. She didn’t care. Finally, she would be able to start taking care of herself again. No more help in the bathroom, no more hand feedings, no more treating her like an invalid. Well, mostly at least. The third degree burns on her left hand and part of her right arm still had to be cared for every day. Eddie had offered his services on that front, taking lessons from the nurse on how to look after Liz’s injuries.

As soon as they walked into Liz’s apartment Eddie gently touched her shoulder. “V is going nuts, wants to be able to hold you.”

“I’m surprised by how patient he’s been up to this point.” Liz stated teasingly. A moment later she felt large, warm arms wrap around her waist and carefully lift her up. Venom was treating her like she was made of glass as he settled on the couch and cradled her form against himself.

“NOT PATIENT, WORRIED. YOU WERE BADLY HURT, LITTLE BIRD. WE DID NOT PROTECT YOU.” Venom was nuzzling his face against the top of her head and she could feel the rumble coming from his chest.

Liz tilted her head up and placed a gentle kiss along the edge of his jaw. “I don’t need you to protect me, Ven. I need you to support me. We look out for each other and we cover each other’s weaknesses.”

“WE?” He sounded amused now, that long tongue sliding down along her cheek. It left a cool trail in its wake.

“Yes, we. As in you, me, and Eddie.” Liz tried to push the distracting tongue away. Venom just curled it around her right wrist, testing the healing flesh gently.

“MMMM, WE LIKE WE.”

Liz smiled faintly, amused by his antics. Venom wouldn’t be the least bit disgusted by the scars she was likely to have from the burns. Appearance mattered about as much to him as it did to her. Eddie had made his stance about it clear while they were still in the hospital. He wasn’t leaving her.

“Me too, Ven.”

~

The doctors had been right. After three months of physical therapy Liz had gotten almost the full range of motion back in her left hand, but she’d lost some of the sensitivity. A few months ago, that would have been devasting, but now it was mildly inconvenient. Besides, Liz had too many good things in her life to let one raincloud darken her life. Not a day went by without Eddie and Venom in her life. Eddie would stop by with food and gossip. Sometimes he’d spend the night with her. Other times it was Venom, sneaking in through the window for a chat and some chocolate. He was still terrible about closing the window behind himself. Liz had managed to convince him to stay and cuddle with her instead of going back out a few times.

Tonight was a date night. Her boys had taken her out for a swing to enjoy the cool night air. Now they were sitting on the edge of a roof, Venom’s arms curled around her body to keep her close. Liz felt warm and safe here, head resting against his chest as she listened to both his heartbeat and the heartbeat of the city around them.

“Do you know how to dance?” She broke the quiet between them suddenly.

“NO.”

“Not really, I know a little.” Eddie’s voice came a moment later. Which meant they were doing that weird half and half face thing again. It didn’t disturb Liz the way it used to, but it was still odd.

“I want to dance. We’re up on a roof, no one will see us.” Liz grinned playfully, head tilted up toward their face.

They lifted her up and stepped back from the edge of the roof before setting Liz’s feet on the rooftop. She kept her hands on their arms as Venom’s heat vanished and she was holding warm leather instead of Venom’s slick skin.

“Alright. But, uh, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about too.” Eddie sounded anxious as he wrapped one arm around her waist and grabbed her right hand with the other. They swayed in place for a moment before Eddie started to lead her in a slow dance.

Liz smiled happily, trusting Eddie’s lead as he spun her away and then back to himself. His hands were warm and comforting on her skin. She waited for him to continue his line of thought, but he didn’t seem sure how to say whatever it was.

“You know, you’ve been in and out of my apartment a lot the last couple months. Do you even really use yours?” Liz asked as she was pulled back in close to him.

“Well, yeah. We need a place to crash too.” He sounded startled by the question, pulled out of his own thoughts. Or was he pulled out of a silent discussion with Venom? No way to know for sure.

Liz shrugged slightly. “I was just thinking… wouldn’t it be easier if you moved in with me?”

Eddie stumbled to a stop, still holding her. “Are you serious? You want us to move in with you? What if we mess this up? What if we make a mess or-“

She leaned up and kissed him to make him stop talking. The first kiss missed, bumping her nose against his, but the second was much more successful. Liz pulled back, settling back on her feet again. “We’ll deal with that together. I value having you in my life more than I value the perfect order of my apartment. I’ll traverse the dangers of dropped shoes for you, Eddie.”

“I love you.” The words were blurted out, more of a startled statement than anything else. “I love you, Liz.” That time his voice was full of too much emotion. Eddie wrapped his hands around Liz’s waist and lifted her into the air, swinging around in a quick circle before setting her back down and kissing her this time.

When he finally pulled away, Liz panted and chuckled. “I love you too, Eddie. I take that as a yes?”

“Yes. Yes, we want to move in with you.”

“FINALLY! WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO SAY THE WORDS, EDDIE?!” Venom sounded so exasperated and amused. Liz smiled and lifted a hand so that Venom could nuzzle his head into her touch.

“It wasn’t that simple…” Eddie muttered, sounding embarrassed.

“YES. IT WAS. NOW, DO WE LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER?”

Liz tilted her head. “Ven, have you been watching Disney movies again?”

“NO!” Oh, that defensive tone could only mean ‘Yes’.

Eddie groaned softly. “V, I told you to stop watching movies while I’m sleeping.”

“WE GET BORED. WE COULD GO EAT SOME PEOPLE INSTEAD.”

“No, no, I’ll accept the movies.” Eddie was quick to backtrack on that one. He was still a little grossed out by eating people. It was better just to not think about it.

Liz scratched gently along the underside of Venom’s jaw, eliciting a rumble from the symbiote. “To answer your question, Ven, no. Happily ever after isn’t a real thing. But we can make the most of every moment we have together. The good ones and the bad. We have each other, so we can’t be doing too bad.”

Venom rumbled happily as she continued to scratch along his jaw. “EDDIE, WE WANT THE RING.”

“Ring?” Liz asked in confusion, listening to the choking noises coming from Eddie. He’d tightened his grip on her waist as well.

“VENOM! We can’t just… you can’t just say that! We’re not… we haven’t even-“

“WE LOVE HER, GIVE HER THE RING SO THAT THE OTHER MALES KNOW SHE’S OURS.” Venom stated imperiously.

Liz could feel the heat rising to her face. “Oh. Ven, we need to have a talk about that. Uh, marriage might be a little too soon. Not that I don’t love you both, but we haven’t… I mean we don’t know… what if…”

“YOU ARE BOTH MAKING THIS TOO COMPLICATED. WE SLEEP TOGETHER. WE WILL LIVE TOGETHER. WE LOVE EACH OTHER. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU, LITTLE BIRD.”

Liz leaned her face against Eddie’s chest, shoulders shaking.

“Liz, I’m sorry. You know how he is. He only learns enough about culture to suit his own purposes. Don’t be upset.” Eddie had shifted his hold to carefully rub a hand up and down her back.

She tilted her face back up toward Eddie and threw her arms around his neck. There was no stopping it now, laughter bubbled free as she peppered Eddie’s face with quick kisses.

“I love you! I love you both so much! Life would be so boring without you both!”

No, there was no such thing as happily ever after. Sorrow and pain always find their way into life. But without those emotions, how would we ever know what happiness is?