inbox . etraya

[decodex]

@LethalProtector

Eddie Brock. Leave a message... Does anyone leave messages anymore?

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text | @boltcutters

[imperatour]

Hey.
Don't worry about it.

[decodex]

Hey.

I'm worried about it.

( oops, too late. )

You okay?

That was
Really not cool of me.

[imperatour]

I'm fine.

[ Why wouldn't she be?! She is aggressively. Fine. ]

Wasn't a bad strategy.
Probably would've worked with someone else.

Didn't... not work.
We're good.

[decodex]

It was a bad thing to spring on someone out of blue.

I'm sorry.

If we need to fight for real in order to settle this, I'm good with that.

( he knows [?] the ways of the post-apocalypse warriors. )

[imperatour]

I think it's your "brother" who wants to fight you.
Talked him down though.

You just caught me off guard.
Way more used to punching.

[decodex]

You know, I don’t even know his name. Like, if going to get my ass kicked, I’d at least like to know the name of the guy.

Not used to punching. Think it might be a bit late in my life to learn.

But
If I fought you, I don’t think it would have gone well.

[imperatour]

[ Naturally Furiosa assumes this is because she's such a talented fighter and not because Eddie's alien boyfriend would eat her. ]

Max.
That's his name.
Don't spread it around too much.

[ Now he can be mad at Furiosa instead of Eddie. ]

[decodex]

Why? Is it a secret or something?

( please, max, continue to be mad at him!! )

[imperatour]

Just a loner type. Doesn't like to give it out.

[decodex]

Yeah. I guess I get that. Flying under the radar and all.

You the same way?

[imperatour]

I didn't have that same luxury. I tend to stick out.

[ One armed and the whole brutal woman warrior thing. ]

[decodex]

I mean, are there a lot of people? Like, cities worth?

Guess I’ve always assumed that when the world ends, it just
Ends.

Not that a new culture of desert warriors would rise from the irradiated ashes.

cw eating bugs

[imperatour]

Civilization's dead and the soil's sour but people survive.
People gather.
The Citadel had clean water. Garages. Hydroponic gardens. Maggot farmers.

[ What? You've never eaten maggots?? Look at this fancy guy over here. ]

Feels like here, if there was more electricity than what you could get from a guzzoline generator.

[decodex]

( eddie's eaten living, breathing humans. he's in no position to judge. )

And you're gonna go back? Like, when this is all over.
Do you wanna stay in Etraya?

( he's going to need clarification on what 'guzzoline' means at a future date. )

[imperatour]

There are people who need me back there. They deserve a living world.

[ Non-answers for 1000, Alex. ]

[decodex]

Yeah, but…
Is that a yes or a no?

If you had the choice, I mean.

( it’s the journalist in him. )

[imperatour]

Don't know.
Hard to make a choice when it's not really in front of you.

[decodex]

That’s
True.

Yeah, that’s a good point.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot, I guess.

[imperatour]

Would you stay?

[decodex]

I didn’t used to think so. And I still don’t love that we’re all, like, hostages.

But I like the people.

[imperatour]

People are what make a place home, I guess.

[decodex]

Yeah.
I’d say so.

You doing okay here?

[imperatour]

[ For some reason this is the thing that gives her pause. She's not used to people checking in on her. ]

Haven't lost any more limbs.

[ Always a win. She isn't exactly in a position to go from 1 to 0 complete arms. ]

I've survived worse.
Never kissed my way out of a blood sport arena.

[decodex]

( venom wants to talk about her arm but, god, you can’t just ask people why they’re missing limbs. that’s one of those tactful, human practices that aliens are egregiously unfamiliar with. )

Wouldn’t recommend it. There’s, like, no scenario where kissing strangers goes well.

I’m still not entirely convinced that you and my ‘brother’ aren’t coming for me in my sleep.

[imperatour]

[ Disappearing and reappearing ellipses. The suspense!! ]

We're not
It's not like that.
Just to be clear.

[decodex]

( is she sure— )

No, yeah, I know.
You said as much before.

Still, though.

You don’t have to be together together in order to serve up justice. Guzzoline style.

[imperatour]

[ Nothing says "definitely not true" like jumping to assert it multiple times!! ]

You really gotta hate someone before you drench up in fuel and light them up.
Can't waste the guzz.

I talked him down. [ For now. ] Now his only grudge is that you stole his face.

[decodex]

Wait, that’s a thing??

Tell him
Actually, I’ll tell him myself.

[imperatour]

Yeah, think he's the type to hold grudges.

[ Pot, kettle. ]

text; un: romano

[badlydisarmed]

quick y/n question. could your boyfriend perform transorbital brain surgery?

[decodex]

My guy, that is not a quick y/n question.

Could my 'boyfriend' get more
Details?

( he types it satirically, but everyone knows. venom's the Boyfriend. )

[badlydisarmed]

Can he reach someone's brain through their eye socket... or their mouth or ear, it doesn't HAVE to be transorbital.

I need to know if he could kill and remove a brain parasite without harming the patient or himself in the process.

[decodex]

( sir.... )

I mean
Yeah.

We can get into people. Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, whatever. No problem.
Not sure if we're the ones you want, though.

[badlydisarmed]

Why? Is he gonna be mean about it?

I'm looking at my options, your messier double said something along the lines of sentient oil grease and I thought, hey, that's an option.

[decodex]

Something like that, yeah.

Who's the patient?
Is it you?

( how is smelly, sweaty eddie brock the CLEANER of the duo— )

[badlydisarmed]

Not me, it's a patient. I'm a surgeon but at the moment I only have one working arm, and while the robots are helpful, they're not dexterous.

[decodex]

What happened to the other one?
The other arm, I mean.

[badlydisarmed]

Tragic aircraft-related accident. It's fine, the weirdly charismatic guy from the nuclear magic world is building me one.

Is your boyfriend willing to help? With the brain surgery, not the arm. Nothing's given yet, I'd need to talk to the patient and see how they feel about it. But if your guy wants to help he'd be the safest option at the moment.

[decodex]

Yeah, about that.
I wouldn't exactly call my guy safe.

( he can ignore the boyfriend comments. not important. la-la-la, he can't hear you!! )

If you want us to go NEAR a brain, we're probably going to end up eating the brain. It's like putting a Gameboy near a ten-year-old and telling him not to play.

[badlydisarmed]

Of course he would.

I'm putting you down as absolutely last recourse. We're not desperate yet.

[decodex]

Happy to be of service, doc.

( could venom control himself? on a good day, there's a 50/50 chance. better to be honest and safe, especially with someone they might actually know. )

If the patient isn't you, who is it?

[badlydisarmed]

I'm only not answering Nonya because I don't know what apocalyptic hellscape you're from. In mine we still got doctor-patient confidentiality. I already told you more than I should have.

[decodex]

When you're trapped on the battle planet and relying on the 'alien boyfriend' to save the day, I think we might be a little past back-home social mores.

[badlydisarmed]

Yeah, sorry, still not telling.

If you know any medical doctors to point me to, I'd appreciate it though. Also tell your boyfriend eating human brains will just make him sick.

[decodex]

I'll pass it along.

( message received. )

[badlydisarmed]

THX.

XOXO

card + gift

[codicies]

[ there's two wrapped gifts and a father's day card addressed to Eddie & Venom. One of the gifts is chocolate, one of the nicer ones available at the stores around Etraya, though it doesn't mean much when nothing has a price.

The other is a leatherbound journal Dylan found in the stationery section.

Inside the card is written: ]

Sorry it isn't much. But thank you for looking out for us. Happy Father's Day.

—Dylan

text

[decodex]

( they're not crying; you're crying! even moreso considering eddie can't remember the last time he's thought about father's day, given everything about carl. )

Hey, man. You didn't have to do this for us.

[codicies]

[ Dylan takes a bit to respond as he tries to figure out how sincere he wants to be. Even reaching out this much is terrifying He's already been abandoned so many times before; It would suck to open himself up only to let himself be hurt again. ]

I know.

I wanted to.

[decodex]

( meanwhile, eddie's trying to toe the line that is being the alternate universe equivalent of a weird stepdad. he's not dylan's eddie, knows that the eddie from his world is way more competent in some ways and worse in others.

still, he's not trying to replace him. even insinuating that he could be the other eddie feels like crossing a line. )

We appreciate it.
We think you're great.

If Internation Kids' Day ever becomes a thing, we'll get you something, too.

[codicies]

Well, in case that never comes to pass, my birthday's in October.

[decodex]

Please say it’s early October and not, like, late October.

We can be a lot of things, but I don’t think dads to a Scorpio is among them.

[codicies]

Good news, I'm a Libra. So now if you slip up there's just no excuse.