16479/Gyros with Anti-Heroes

Gyros with Anti-Heroes
Date of Scene:	03 December 2023
Location:	Chickpeas Gyro
Synopsis:	Merc vs Alien, ft. choco-kinks and the proper way to make gravy.
Cast of Characters:	Eddie Brock, Inez Temple

---

Eddie Brock has posed:
The robust smells of tasty protiens in the air. A night that is filled with promise, with only three rats skittering out from the alleyway behind Chickpea's Gyro shop. Eddy has parked his motorcycle, a 2000s Triumph, and is doing important work on...

<<Venom>> FOOD!

Yes, technically he is writing an article on how people have been getting sick at...

<<Venom>> FOOD!

"Work first, food second," Eddy, a large guy, says to a teenager looking at her cell phone. It gets the 'What?' face as there is no one else he could be talking to. Eddy plays it off, "Grasshopper and the ant. Work for your supper. You know what, never mind," he hisses through his teeth in a 'yikes' moment. The big daddy symbiote dude stands by the entrance.

<<Eddie>> We are at a food place. Calm your shit.
<<Venom>> CALMING YOUR SHIT IS FOR PUSSIES. WE WANT FOOD.

The teenager that goes back to her phone is stared at by Eddie. Well, more by the symbiote, than by Eddy.

<<Venom>> SHE ISNT EVEN USING THAT HEAD.
<<Eddie>> We don't eat good people!
<<Venom>> HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE IS GOOD?
<<Venom>> SHE COULD BE HACKING YOUR BANK ACCOUNT RIGHT NOW.
<<Eddie>> What? Where the hell did you get that idea?
<<Venom>> VIDEO GAMES.

Inez Temple has posed:
Let's all be honest here: Michelin Stars are cool, but at the end of the day the true sign of New York City food excellence is how many rats are in the alleyway. NYC Rats have a very discriminating palette, after all. Don't believe it? Watch Ratatouille. Everyone knows that, much like Venom's video games, animated Dreamwork movies are the source of truth. Chickpeas has a coveted spot in the vermin review circuit, and that's good enough for Crazy Inez Temple.

"Y' comin' or goin'?" The words are offered to the indecisive Eddie Brock at the front of the restaurant by a tall woman in daisy dukes, cowboy boots and hat, and a crop top hoodie. Despite the chill in the air (NYC in that vague period between fall and winter is not a warm fuzzy temperature...) she appears not the least bit uncomfortable as she eyes Eddie up and down, flicking her hat up with one knuckle against the front of it to give her a clearer view given his slightly taller height. "Y' look like y' got a mighty need f' some food there, big guy."

She's also being eyed by the teenager on her cell phone, looking like a cowgirl out in a Texas summer complete with twangy drawl and ridiculous belt buckle proclaiming her a 'BAMF'. She practically oozes Spaghetti Western energy, and if it were a video game, she'd have that John Wayne whistle and possibly a tumbleweed... As it, there's the sound of Greek music heavy with accordian as she slooowly opens the door, and the closest to tumbleweeds is a plastic bag blowing in the wind.

The teen decides to go elsewhere for her lunch and Inez continues to eye Eddie as she holds the door open for him with one spurred boot.

NYC, y'all. No city like it!

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> THE FOOD IS LEAVING!
<<Eddie>> Not food.
<<Venom>> THE FOOD IS LEAVING!

"Not. Food." Eddie says as swole team symbiote alpha looks over to the Texan in the big city.

Pause. "Not -just- food. Food with company." Eddie grabs the door, opening it wide. Heading in after ladies first.

<<Venom>> SMOOTH.
<<Venom>> REMIND ME AGAIN WHY ANNE DUMPED YOU.
<<Eddie>> Because you scared the shit out of her.
<<Venom>> CAN'T PROVE THAT.

Its clear that Eddy isn't all there when he steps inside. A distraction of the tall and cowboy hat variety will be great. Plus Inez is an interesting character. Beats the chef he ran into last week that 'claimed' a rat did all the cooking for him. That little bit of the Brock Report got taken down before he made -any- money off of it. "You coming from work or heading to," Eddy says, totally not just calling Inez a stripper in a cowboy outfit.

Inez Temple has posed:
Them would be fighting words, partner!

... Except it's totally a fair opinion of Inez. She tucks her cowboy hat back down as she gives Eddie a grin and slips past him. "Ain't you just a gentleman." She tells him cheerfully, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder as she walks by, the blow hard enough to send most people staggering a little. "I ain't 'gainst the idea of company. Gets a mite bit lonesome eatin' alone sometimes."

Regarding the topic of work, she shakes her head slightly, "Currently on t' clock, sugar." She tells him, tapping the side of her nose, "Target 'cross the street, skipped out on bail an' a mighty fine bounty on his head." So not a stripper. Unless strippers are collecting bounties in their spare time? She glances around the building, and nods towards a table. "Iffin' y' wanna keep me company, cowboy, mind doin' a window seat?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
Curiously enough, Eddy is of the nice and stocky build with symbiotic punching bag shock features built in. Its nice to have a solid tower of muscle to pat against. "Always great to meet new people," he says, though its questionable if its 'meet' new people or 'meat, new people' when said.

Strippers could moonlight! NYC is a crazy town and that wouldn't be the strangest thing. There is at least one alien goo being in the gyro shop that is down 2, I count -two- high quality rat reviews on Squeak, the premier Yelp app for rats.

"Not if you don't mind me asking the increasingly interesting lady a few questions while we wait," Eddy says, the 'I gym much, oorraahhh' looking guy having the gentleman streak of getting Inez's chair at the small table near the window. "Eddie Brock," he says as if it doesnt require him to follow it up with him being a reporter of sorts. Writer of sorts. Shit he doesnt even has his mind sorted out, vocational titles are further down the list.

<<Venom>> THERE IS MORE THAN A BOUNTY ON HIS HEAD.
<<Eddie>> Dont--
<<Venom>> THERE IS A BRAIN.
<<Venom>> THERE IS A BRAIN, EDDY.
<<Eddie>> ...
<<Eddie>> Are you done?
<<Venom>> ASK ABOUT THE BRAIN, EDDY.
The man looks towards the street before looking back to Inez. "Bounty Hunter," Eddy asks, connecting the only profession he knows that tracks down people skipping on bail. "And the mark. They do, what, tax evasion?"

"Indecent exposure?"

<<Venom>> CANNIBALISM.

"Cannibalism?" Fuck.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Inez. Inez Temple." Said personage introduces herself, flashing a grin at Eddie and giving him a little salute with her hat as he pulls the chair out. She settles into it gracefully, shifting slightly as something inside her hoodie goes *clink* together. It's metallic, muffled slightly by padding, and for a brief moment there's a flash of a harness peeking out of the neckline before Inez gets her clothes situated right.

She squints at him a touch suspiciously as he immediately goes into cannibalism, frowning. "Er. Ain't none of m' business, really." She finally says slowly, with one eyebrow raised at him. "T' contract were third party, an' pretty mum on what happened. Just that there's a bonus iffin' he's brought to the drop alive."

Oooh, she's one of *those* kinds of bounty hunters. She orders a sweet tea when the older Greek woman with a beehive of hair comes to take their order, who rolls her eyes and glances towards Eddie for his order.

Afterwards, Inez cocks her head at him. "So what y' do fer a livin' there, Eddie? Name's kind of familiar, but can't quite place it."

Eddie Brock has posed:
"Wanted. Dead or Alive," Eddy says as his hands gesture towards Inez and the Clint Eastwood vibe. No, he does not sing the lyrics to the song. He leans over to the next table to take their entire stock of sugar packets, for the 'Northern' Sweet Tea from Greece. Gourmand, this Eddy.

Or someone with a sweet tooth. The big guy orders a chocolate milkshake with his gyro and fries. It doesnt quite fit the 'jacket and white t' gymbro vibe. "I write, Im a writer," Eddy says as he finishes up his order, "journalist, ghost writing, Brock Report."

<<Venom>> THAT IS SOME WEAK SHIT, EDDY.
<<Venom>> TELL HER WE ARE WILD KINGS OF THE STREET.
<<Venom>> THE LETHAL PROTECTOR.
<<Venom>> NO PANTIES DROP FOR WRITERS, EDDY.
<<Eddie>> Fuck you.

"A takedown would make a good piece. Everyone loves a 'bad guy' SNACKED down. Taken down. Bad guy taken down," Eddy says as a hand goes beneath the table and twists the other to bring the ravenous symbiote to heel. "Good press for your outfit," he says, wondering about that, "solo operator, Miss Temple?"

<<Venom>> YOU WILL BE A SOLO OPERATOR TONIGHT, EDDY.
<<Eddie>> I always have you, buddy.
<<Venom>> WE ARE TOUCHED.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Ah!" Inez snaps and points. "That's where I heard t' name! Brock Report." She grins, leaning back with arms thrown over the back of the chair. "Good work. Little aggressive, but I ain't a delicate flower." His theft of all the sugar packets in the immediate vicinity is met with a nod of approval, as if he only barely beat her to it.

"Oh, mostly solo." She says airily at his question, with a hint of a smirk, "Ain't one t' turn away a friend, but mite complicated splittin' the booty." She considers him as she speaks, though, a hint of a frown making a furrow between her eyebrows. "Y' must be awfully ravenous, friend." She tells him, completely oblivious to the conversation with an hungry alien in his brain. Observation made, she adds, "An' I don't think this is t' kind o' job y' can write about, client confidentiality an' all, but I got some stories I can share." She grins, then, "Like t' time the Son o' Satan asked me t' help with an exorcism. Or when I rescued a penguin from a fight club in Gotham."

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddy explains the food slips with a, "Missed breakfast. Most important meal of the day. You got me dead to rights with the whole 'big fella needs food badly' earlier." A Gauntlet reference? No. Eddy isn't nerdy enough for that. The reference to other stories perks his interest.

"It was fun while it lasted, zero regrets. Bust the balls of enough big names and one is bound to retaliate in time," he says. The symbiote wants to get high off of that adrenaline. Chase the story, ride through danger. Eddy can feel its anticipation like a wolf waiting for a fawn to lay down before it goes for the neck and thrashes it like the wild animal it is. And this? There is no harm in -this-. "I'd like to hear those stories, so long as it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass to share 'em. Though, from the look of it? You can more than take care of yourself. Wait, did you say a penguin in a fight club?"

<<Venom>> STRONG WOMAN. WE LIKE THIS.

Now there are noble heroes out there that do good just to do good. "Also how the booty works," Eddy says. Any means of keeping up with the -frequently broke shit- and food bills is a blessing. Might need to take up some moonlighting gigs.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Breakfast is important." Inez agrees a touch dubiously, eyebrows slowly climbing at Eddie's... eccentric... behavior. But Inez is nothing if not use to dealing with eccentric personalities, and given she spent a time maybe-but-not-entirly-sure married to Deadpool as long as Eddie doesn't start talking about Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur having hate sex while Betty White records she can deal with it. Yes, that's oddly specific. No, she does *not* want to talk about it.

"Penguins are vicious, evil birbs, Eddie." Inez says with a serious tone and expression, "Didja know they practice necrophilia? Cannibalism?" She shakes her head, and adjusts her hat as the gesture cocks it slightly. "Don't be underestimatin' t' danger of penguins."

That warning delivered, she grins, "Oh, I ain't against a little nibble down south." She says cheerfully, "Keeps m' on m' toes. But yeah. Someone was startin' an animal fight club. Chickens, dogs, cats, and decided t' go big an' do penguins. Crackpot in Gotham, one o' t' Bat's creeps, took exception an' paid me to bust it open. Paid good!"

He then asks about the booty, and she cocks her head. "Well, depends on t' crew. Most, it's an even split. Usually negotiated when teamin' up." Her tea is delivered, and she gives the waitress a salute with her hat before she starts pouring packets of sugar into the liquid. She's Texan, and she doesn't need to drink it to know it ain't sweet enough. "Thinkin' of givin' it a try? You're built for it, 'long as you don't mind gettin' thrashed now an' again."

Eddie Brock has posed:
The Deadpool sex tape, something that the Brock Report will never know about, not in this timeline.

"Necrophilia?" Eddie responds with surprise about them birbs.

<<Venom>> CANNIBALISM?

The whole situation has his body language loosening up. This is a thing he can agree with the symbiote on in taking on, should a penguin epidemic sweep through the area. Why, he could almost blend in. Get a little penguin suit camo on the symbiote. "Run into any trouble breaking up the ring?" Eddie says. One, he is a dog person, and two, any story about animals is going to sell.

Speaking of financial issues. "A team up in the area isn't out of the question if the story is right," he says. There is a grin. Something about Eddie's grin is like it should be three times wider. Cheshire, almost, yet it fits within the confines of his meatheaded face. "Getting thrashed is half of the journalism I do. Can't get a story worth telling without riding straight into the thick of it," he says. His own drink arrives, which is the manly milkshake. Chocolate. He downs it at an unhealthy speed, like the only thing from the waitress getting mauled to death is how quickly Eddie can get choco goodness in his system. Ahh~

"You local, Inez?" he asks on that note, "Or where is home for you?"

Inez Temple has posed:
"Some shmuck in the old times wrote a report on it." Inez says grimly, "Wrote it in Greek 'coz it offended his sensibilities somethin' fierce. Makes you wonder, don't it? Penguin rape-gangs patrollin' the south pole." She tsks, then, and perks up when she was asked about her experiences. "Naw! It was pretty straight forward." She makes finger-guns. "Few rounds, pew pew, easy squeezy." She eyes the milkshake, and how quickly he downs it, and in a slightly concerned tone asks, "Y' got t' sugars? D'you need insulin?"

But then she shakes her head, and they start talking financial issues. "Mmm. Well, iffin' y' wanna tag a long, I can offer y' a 30 percent split. Bump it t' 40 if y' ain't afraid to shoot someone." She offers, "Y' gettin' paid fer t' story, so should be a good payday. Plenty fer.. er.. milkshakes and breakfast?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock looks like he just downed a choco protein shake instead of a one way ticket to the dia-betes. "Thats sweet of you to ask, Inez," he says, grabbing a napkin and cleaning off his face, five o'clock shadow, and pride. "Its the chocolate. You know how dark cocoa powder has high antioxidants?" In his case, its the PEA, in them. "Its like that. Anything that kicks off the good chems is a bonus to me." he says with a small wonder he isn't an addict. Choco addict.

"Not only -can- I get my hands dirty, I prefer it," Eddie says, though his version of it comes with literal hands. Possibly even literal dirt. "And breakfast, if you're cookin'. You can learn a lot about someone from their go-tos in the morning. The ever popular how do you take your eggs question."

Inez Temple has posed:
Inez Temple says, "Soft boiled, usually." Inez takes the question on eggs seriously and literally, leaning back in her chair. The topic of Eddie and his addiction to choco is ignored for now; she's met plenty of weird people with quirky tastes. Who is she to judge him and his kink for chocolate milkshakes? "Dependin' on if I got time, a nice sausage gravy with home made biscuits to go with it, along with some bacon. Orange juice and a cuppa coffee."

She grins broader when he talks about getting his hands dirty, though, and rubs her own together a touch gleefully. "Well, iffin' that's how y' like to roll, Eddie, then we can certainly start somethin' beautiful." Beat. "Oh, I fergot t' answer y' question on where I'm from." She chuckles. "I'm currently based outta NYC, got a trailer out in t' boonies, but my work can take me anywhere, really." Especially when she needs to lay low due to possible warrants or vengeful enemies."

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock can check that off on the mysteries of Inez, Chapter 1, breakfast. All this food talk would make the symbiote hungry if not for that beautiful scratch of the choco kink. It sure as hell beats nomming on brains most days. "The kind you make when you take those sausage crumbles and feed flour into the grease, adding in milk or heavier dairy?" Eddie says, being a bit of a breakfast foodie. So to have missed it earlier was a real tragic event right up there with Bruce Wayne's parents. "God. I haven't had that in a while. Its going on the to cook list," he says as his gyro finally arrives. Something to stuff his face with while talking shop with the bounty hunter.

The big guy washes down the Greek food with whats left of the shake, wiping off with the back of his hand. Getting 'em dirty early! "Best news I've heard all day, here," he reaches in and takes one of his old Brock Report cards and puts it on the table for Inez, "they may have discontinued the show, but the line still works." Eddie takes a huge bite of the gyro, the poor meal not lasting long. If there was a sin for him? Gluttony, for sure, to keep that fast metabolism at bay. "Any hobbies when not taking down bounties or updating the Wiki page on penguins?"

Inez Temple has posed:
"Shit, man, I ain't talkin' gravy from a pouch or anythin'." Inez retorts, as her own food is delivered and she begins to nom on feta covered fries with relish, pausing to wipe her mouth. "Good ol' pork sausage, high fat content. Roux in the grease with flour, an' either cream or evaporated milk. Plenty of pepper an' salt." She eyes her food, as if comparing it to her ideal breakfast. "Mebbe some extra bacon grease if it's dry. Biscuits from scratch, an', fuck, some nice grits."

Her eyes don't quite glaze over, because she isn't the glutton Eddie is, but there is a decidedly wistful look before she turns her attention to fries and shaved lamb meat. She licks some sauce off the back of her hand as Eddie slides the card, and she pockets it easily enough. "Nothin' too outrageous." She tells him regarding hobbies, "Lots o' sharpshootin' an' stuff. Stupid YouTube videos. Bar hoppin', occasional honky tonk." She smirks.

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> YES. SAUSAGE GRAVY.

Its always nice when Eddie and the symbiote are playing nice together over their mutual love of food. "Sausage. Fucking. Gravy," Eddie re-emphasizes with the description of country soul food. It is the sort of thing that makes the waitress give them 'eat -this- food you ungrateful little shits' look. Which he does, handily. Omnomnom.

"Well you are just a regular gem, Inez, down to earth with good taste. Fun." Eddie says as he reclines back to 'enjoy' his fries at a slower pace than the meat-in-a-bread-wrap or choco kinkshake. He chews on a fry as he looks at the blonde as if picture those pasttimes. "What got you into bounty hunting, then?" he asks. Asking questions comes without thinking about it too much. He is a journalist. An investigative reporter.

Inez Temple has posed:
The ire of the waitress is ignored by Inez... She's a very generous tipper, so any offense will be smoothed out when the waitress spots the stack of bills she's going to be left with. "Sausage gravy." Inez echos to Eddie with a definitive nod of understanding. There's few things that Southerners take as seriously as a good breakfast, after all.

His commentary on her hobbies is met with an eloquent snort between shoving fries in her face. But she's enough of a lady that her mouth isn't full when she talks, answering his questions easily and with the confidence of someone that stopped giving a fuck ages ago. "Well. Weren't ever that good at learnin', but I can throw a mean punch." Inez says easily, "'Tween that, and bein' one of them mutants, I caught the eye of some people that trained me, an' sent me out with a slap on t' ass to go play."

Pause while she slurps some of her disgustingly over-sugared tea, followed by a polite dabbing at her lips. "Ain't work if you love whatcha doin', an' I love the thrill of it all, y'know? Get's the heart racin', blood pumpin' and leaves you feelin' *alive*."

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> MAKES YOU FEEL FREE, EDDIE!
<<Venom>> WIND IN YOUR HAIR, EDDIE!
<<Venom>> LETS START A RIOT, EDDIE!

Okay now. That got good ole symbiVenom all riled up like a raw steak to a pack of wolves. The thing is? Eddie agrees with that part of it. The whole murder and cannibalism? Not -as- much. Gotta keep that dialed back into respectable levels. But picking up a car and seeing if you can throw it over a lake? The thrill of the hunt? Of going in for a scoop that could get you brutally murdered? Driving a motorcycle WITHOUT a helmet?

Too far. Always wear a helmet.

"Nothing like it," Eddie says with the kindred spirit there, "that tension in the air right before something is going to happen. Thick enough that you can taste it. The heat when the action starts. That chaos that is a deluge of shit right to your head." A sharp inhale through his teeth and exhale. He almost missed the important part.

Mutant? "Oh no shit," Eddie says with a grin on his face as he leans in, "what are you packing? You know what, hold that. Let me take a shot at it." His eyes wander over the southern's and holds it there. A roll to the shoulders, the chest, the outfit. Collect what he knows and comes back with.

"You never miss a shot, like a Western High Noon situation. Even if you did, durable as hell. Strong enough to throw down in a saloon full of Croc-o-human hybrids. And something with perception. Hawk eyes? For those long rifle shots," he makes a guess. Then a finger gun back to Inez, chowing down on one of his remaining fries, "Throw in good looks, line dance skills, and a resistance to whiskey to the tune of 'bottles over shots'."

Inez Temple has posed:
Helmets are for *losers*, Eddie.

Fortunately, Inez's mutation does not run towards any kind of mind reading so his brief descent into dorkiness and pussy status is not noticed. Probably a good thing too, since Inez doesn't seem like the type to let something slide. "Speakin' my language there, cowboy." Inez's grin is tight, almost predatory, "I don't ever feel more alive, sharper, than when I'm starin' at some big bastard 'bout to pound my brains out."

When he begins guessing at her mutation, she smirks. "Oh, nothin' fancy. Durable, yeah. 'Specially impact. Real handy when y' gotta jump outta a two story buildin' to catch some bastard, an' I never gotta pussy-foot 'round with a helmet." She agrees easily, leaning forward. "Enhanced senses, but 'specially sight. Strong enough I reckon' I could bench y' one-handed... Handy when you wanna double-fist shotties. Healin' factor but ain't anythin' astonishin'. Tons got better." She chuckles, leaning back. "Nothin' top shelf, but juuuust well rounded 'nough t' get the job down, y'know?"

She then leans back. "So what 'bout you, Eddie? Any hobbies that don't involve sugar an' a pen? Y' don't strike me as t' honky-tonk type. Too New York City." And she playfully says it just like the old commercial for salsa.

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> EVEN SHE AGREES THAT HELMETS ARE FOR LOSERS, EDDIE.

Eddie hasn?t had many hobbies even though he is well into his 30s now. The skateboarding he did as a kid hardly counts now. ?Meeting people is my hobby,? he says, both as a bitch-ass excuse and a, ?and the gym.?

<<Venom>> YOUR LIFE IS BORING WITHOUT US, EDDIE.
<<Eddie>> Well I can?t really say I spend my spare time with my alien buddy beating the crap out of people.
<<Venom>> WHY NOT?

Good fucking point, why not? Eddie has a moral compass that lands him into wishy washy bitchtown county sometimes, but Inez already said she was a mutant. ?No honky-tonk, unless that?s a head nod to getting down in a dive bar. I do however have an alien friend that I beat people up with.?

Joke? Not joke? Eddie wobbles his chocolate milkshake for what is left, melted at the bottom. It?s not quite Pace Salsa, but the two could be starring in that commercial.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Whu?" =

Eddie gets several startled blinks from the merc in front of him, fry hanging out of her mouth like a piece of straw before she shakes her head, dismisses the surprise, and moves on. After all, she's heard some seriously weird shit. Her 'boss' with X-Force is a mutant messiah that's older than his dad and with an alien viral load. "Like a tape worm?" Inez ventures a touch diffidently, regarding Eddie's alien friend, "'Sthat why y' et so much? Mite bit weird there, partner, an' I have the Son of Satan as one o' m' clients."

She munches on her fries with curious, furtive glances at Eddie as if trying to figure out exactly how the alien thing works. Finally...

"Can y' show me?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> SHOW HER, EDDIE. SHE WANTS TO SEE US.

There is the slow chew of one of his fries. If she is a mutant and is tracking down bounties, then it wouldn't be horribly long until she saw Venom come out either way. Eddie points upwards. Nope. He stops pointing upwards. There is no way a guy like him could explain what a Knull spawned species is or how they ended up on Earth. "Showing you is the fastest way," he says.

A black ichor rolls over his shoulders, pouring from an unseen spot on his back. Eddie's chest is covered in the stuff before long. It looks like muscle fiber fused with plastic given a writhing life. If the monstrous black skin wasn't enough, it creeps over his face on the window side, away from the waitress. Gnashing teeth on one side, like daggers, a maw that yells hunger by just existing, and a milky white 'eye' over side of his face that has converted over.

"WE ARE VENOM," Venom says, voice met with two as Eddie and the Symbiote talk, both. "THE LETHAL PROTECTOR. WE EAT BAD GUYS." Eddie shakes his head, as if the two are not sharing the same brain here. "WE EAT BAD GIRLS, TOO." For fucks sake, phrasing. As the waitress comes back, Eddie retracts the symbiote back into his body faster than a toilet flushing on an airplane.

"The full picture is taller and has more writhing parts," Eddie says, as the waitress assumes they are talking about some weeb hentai shit. No judgement. Just the bill.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Shhhhiiiiiiiiiiit." Inez stretches the word out as only a proper Texan can, eyes widening as the friendly, affable if a bit eccentric bro-dude in front of her splits in half. She just stares for several moments, eyes a little wild as she takes in all of the implication. "Well. That a worm y'ain't gettin' out squattin' over a bowl o' soup."

She shakes her head, doffing her hat and rubbing the back of her head as she sets it in her lap. "Um. Nice t' be makin' your acquaintances, fellas." She responds to his monologue about who they are, and she squints at Eddie, even as she reaches for the bill. "Well. That ain't somethin' y' see every day." She says conversationally, and puts her hat back on. "Oh, an' Mr Hentai Tongue? Imma good Christian girl, so don't you go et'in' me without dinner and flowers first." Jokingly said, but with an edge to it that suggests she is really saying 'please don't consume me just because I'm morally grey'. "Promise on lil' baby Jesus, I ain't all bad."

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> THIS IS WHAT RESPECT LOOKS LIKE, EDDIE.
<<Eddie>> This is what fear looks like.
<<Venom>> A PREDATOR HAS CLAWS. FEARING THEM IS THE SAME THING AS RESPECTING THEM.

He gives a laugh about the Hentai Tongue and Christian Girl bit. "If only it was just the tongue, Inez. If only." Never let the symbiote cook. Lots of tendrils. All the finesse of a rhino. As for the bill? Not above letting that be taken by a better paid profession. Or split.

"I won't eat you," Eddie starts, head slowly turning to the waitress getting horrible context clues from this conversation. "You'd have to be..." he stops and looks at the waitress. You mind? She will come back later. "... a lot worse to agree to greenlight that idea. Anyone breaking up an animal fighting ring doesn't qualify."

Inez Temple has posed:
"Well, I also recently beat up a priest with a Muslim and a lesbian, and the three o' us forced him t' bless some metal fer holy bullets." Inez protests, as if the idea of her being this hero saving animals were an insult. Which... it might be given her profession. Surely people don't want their mercenary bounty hunters to be soft hearted even with such fucked up animals as penguins!

She wrinkles her nose, as if realizing she's arguing to be eaten by some people's standards. "Well. Fuck. Might be if you do good as m' intern, I can getcha some work. Plenty o' people would love someone to crunch an' munch on baddies." She finishes off her tea, and squints at him. "Think this might be the start t' a beautiful friendship, Eddie." And she holds a hand out to him. Both to seal the deal, and because the part of her that was teased for being a mutie knows how reassuring physical contact can be after the kind of revelation he gave.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock extends a hand, giving Inez a shake with the kind of grip that makes it clear that despite eeevvveerrryyyyttthhiiinnggg Eddie is saying, that Venom is always going be dangerous. Penguin class danger. Though he does find it funny to be argued for being nommed on. "I think it is. Can't very well catch that adrenaline high busting pharmacy stores for high mark ups. Have to go where the story is." And where the food is.