16577/Andi and Eddie grab a Bite

Andi and Eddie grab a Bite
Date of Scene:	15 December 2023
Location:	Big Belly Burger's
Synopsis:	Andi and Eddie have a brief chat about their hobbies and preferences
Cast of Characters:	Eddie Brock, Andi Benton

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Eddie Brock has posed:
Its a good day for food. Its always a good day to get a bite when you are part of the symbiote family. It has been a fair, yet undefined, amount of time since the Carnage incident. Eddie has had time to process the sociopathic bullshit involved. The whole existential crisis is not the form of mid-life crisis that he is looking for. Ideally its a new bike, maybe two. Not that he doesnt love his baby Bonneville, but a Ducati would be nice.

Eddie is out in Happy Harbor and, remembering that Andi is in the area, give her a text.

EdBro: Hey. Want to get a bite to eat?
EdBro: Im over at Big Belly Burger
-Eddie Brock has shared a location pin-
-Eddie Brock has shared a location pin-
-Eddie Brock has shared a location pin-
Edbro: -gif of Goodburger, home of the Goodburger-

He sits at a booth near the window, slapping his smart phone with a fat finger. "Keyboards now are so small. Gotta. Tap. It," he says, remembering the days where his Blackberry had buttons. BUTTONS! He could feel them. Now there is this whole digital keyboard.

<<Venom>> SEND ANOTHER 'MEME', EDDIE. WE ARE YOUNG. WE ARE COOL.
<<Eddie>> We created Carnage, so lets stick in the scrappy fuckup category today.
<<Venom>> NOT COOL. KNOW WHAT IS COOL?
<<Eddie>> What?
<<Venom>> A MILKSHAKE.
<<Eddie>> Chocolate Milkshake?
<<Venom>> THE ONLY ONE WORTH HAVING.

Andi Benton has posed:
Things have been different lately. Better? Andi Benton isn't ready to go /that/ far, but since dealing with Carnage - temporary as it may or may not be - some stuff has sucked...less. There's her father, ever since finally telling him about her secret. That's one thing.

Another is Venom. While she couldn't claim they were friends, not yet anyway, it felt like perhaps a change for the better was possible around the Carnage situation. They worked together, if in their own ways. They weren't to the point of hanging out all the time, feeding over the same kill, but...there was something.

And then, a ping on her phone, whichever one he reached out to. She does try to keep 'Andi' separate from 'Mania' in that regard.

<<Uh, yeah. That sounds good.>>

Pause.

<<I know where it is. You don't have to keep spamming the location thing. Give me a few minutes.>>

This is what leads to her leaving the apartment for the relatively short trek over, which is shortened by going Mania to swing her way along part of the route, more out of sight.

<<Mania>> He reached out to us. That is progress, right?
<<Andi>> Hopefully.
<<Mania>> We have not heard from him since Carnage.
<<Andi>> We've also been trying to give him room.

The door opens soon after and Andi, clad in her usual style, enters before looking right over to where he sits, approaching afterward. "S'up."

Eddie Brock has posed:
One small step for symbiotes, one giant leap for symbiote kind. In that -short- period of time, there are no less than -three- milkshake cups emptied on the booth Eddie is at. It is chilly near the window, so Eddie is keeping his leather jacket on, opened to vent the heat, and exposes those swol-team-6 musles behind the white t-shirt. Throw in the blue jeans and he is one slice of Americana from the 90s. He raises a hand to Andi as she approaches, the other on the shake and woofing it down.

"Deep, meaningful things," Eddie leans into the conversation with serious and intensity. "Like why my phone keeps telling me to update itself every day," he adds in as the seriousness degrades into Dad level keeping up with the times. The big guy shakes his head and goes on, "In the neighborhood. Figured some face time was needed without the," he points to his phone -which is not even screenlocked- "app." He sips on the rest of his shake and dents it in to denote it is empty. "You in a band?" he pulls out of the blue, "Or play any instruments?"

Andi Benton has posed:
As if sharing a cosmic moment, Andi stuffs her hands into the pockets of her coat after sitting down across from Eddie, squinting at him. "You look like you're ready to step into a music video or a car commercial from the 90s, only less with the loud colors."

Their alter-egos do lean toward monochrome in one way or another.

A pierced brow slides upward at the evidence of milkshake decimation left atop the table, and she adds, "What, none for me? Should I go order my own first? And yeah, phones kind of want your apps to stay current. I think some of the developers don't really do more than change one line of code just to say they did something so they can keep their jobs."

Her demeanor shifts toward one of mild curiosity at the music-related question. "No, why?" As eloquent as ever.

Eddie Brock has posed:
"Huh," Eddie says as if there is profound wisdom in technology being shared. He picks up his phone and looks at it like it is going to reveal its secrets to him. "I did an interview once for an Anonymous hacker who said something similar. That they were putting in arbitrary lines of code so that folks could keep their jobs. Then another person would use that code when they code their apps. It told us what the company was really looking at when collecting 'our data'." The phone gets put down. "Shit might as well be a magic spell, though. More a 'have to see it, touch it' kind of guy." The whole symbio hacking electronics is way out of his developmental arc for now.

He grins to Andi, "You seem more resourceful, so I thought I'd ask where you stand on technology. On music. The later, I used to like jamming with a guitar, but lately," he shakes, "doesnt land the same. Wondering if you had a similar experience. Music you feel, the way expresses, and I'd kill to be in a 90s music video." There is a grin, its a grin that -should- be bigger behind the skin. Maybe he would kill for it, if music videos still existed. "Also you strike me as someone that you strike as someone that doesnt anyone to get them a shake, or anything else. But thats the rub, we don't know each other -that well-, and I dont know about you, but I dont like people acting like they know me without getting the time to back that up." A hand circles the burger joint. "So I want to fix that. Last few times we talked I wasn't exactly primed to see you for 'you' if you know what I mean. Had my own shit to sort out."

Andi Benton has posed:
Two hosts for symbiotes could share a lot of stories, but when their attitudes toward certain things differ and clash, sometimes attitudes are on display.

First, Andi gestures at Eddie's phone as if to say 'See?' when he brings up the Anonymous example. Then she adds, "Look, I'm part of Gen-Z. I'm supposed to know about this kind of shit. Old people think we go around with our phones surgically attached to our ears, but we also have this awesome thing called Bluetooth so we can talk through our earbuds. But just sit inside a place sometime. Watch the people going by and count how many are like this." She withdraws her own phone, leaning over it like there's nothing else in existence.

Then, "I just work in a music store. I don't play any instruments. I could probably play a kickass guitar if I really wanted to, though. And I get it. I've had a lot of crap to figure out too."

Keeping her phone in hand, Eddie might see her pulling up the app for the place, putting in an order that way. Because why go stand in line and wait when you can sit down, be lazy, pay electronically, and get it when it's ready? "So how are you thinking of fixing that?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock tries not to think too deeply on his generation and the generational gap. It'd be fair to say he is an early Millenial, but really he comes off as Gen X vibes with the 'do you even lift bro' physique and demeanor. The whole 'what happens when a latchkey kid becomes middle aged' story. Most importantly he is now supposed to be the group that all these kids are looking to as a role model. Eddie? Nah. Doesnt want that gig. The followers on the Brock Report were one thing, but his world is monochromatic and the new generation deserves more colors. Colors and smartphones.

"I've seen a kid get hit by a car trying to catch a digital pidgeon and Facetime with their grandparents across the globe," Eddie says with a grin, "so as far as I'm concerned? Its like anything else. Could master my privacy settings or could learn how to play Cliffs of Dover. I'd rather balance my time with paying journalism, letting off some steam, and chasing down people kicking down the little people and," he makes a C with his hand for Chomp Chomp. Then they close. Thats a topic right there. The hand opens up, "Whats your take on all that? Wolves have to eat, carnivore is a carnivore." Venom isn't saying he needs to go on a full massacre, but some people don't deserve the heads on their shoulders. That stance isnt for everyone.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton doesn't do much more than grimace slightly at the mention of someone distracted enough to get hit by a car, only saying to it, "That's a little worse than someone walking right into a pole. Hopefully the kid learned a lesson without..you know." She gestures with a hand, to hint at worse fates than just a bruised ego.

The topic of eating stirs a little something inside.

<<Mania>> This again. You know how we feel about it, Andi.
<<Andi>> And you know how I feel about it.
<<Mania>> But it is in our nature.
<<Andi>> So you'd rather we ate brains instead of chocolate?
<<Mania>> We love the chocolate! But how do you know you will not like brains unless you try them?
<<Andi>> I can't believe you actually asked me that. Now stop.

The longer pause is evidence that something's going on inside, something Eddie knows all too well about. Andi glances toward the window and says begrudgingly, "I don't like killing. I'm going to try to find different ways. I was with you on fighting Carnage with everything we had because he had to be stopped, but I draw the line at eating people. One, that's cannibalism. Two, we have an alternative that works." Her eyes have narrowed in her focus on whatever is or isn't going on outside.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Thats too righteous and high responsibility for someone like Eddie. He didn't ask for the friendship he has, but forcing the We to be something they are not feels. Off. There is compromise. Limits. Boundaries. But none at all? Feels like he is rejecting a part of another just because it doesnt fit his mold. Venom is not his tool. Venom is his Us. "Respectable stance," Eddie says, even though he doesn't agree on it, he can agree its right for Andi. Some people are Vegan. "So long as you don't preach it, things will be fine."

The two enjoy lighter topics from then on out. Eventually Eddie does get a call that puts it quits. "Catch you around, kiddo."