#the box....papa no...........................

He breaks into one of the houses that has been damaged enough to make the family evacuate, but is still mostly standing and finds some first aid supplies, a little bit of food and a hooded jacket and scarf combo he can use to hide his face. In another abandoned house, he finds camping equipment. He sets up camp in the woods and tries to keep a low profile as much as possible.

There are 3 reasons he’s not leaving town and they are:

1. If his van suddenly goes missing people will be suspicious. 2. He has no money for a bus ticket. 3. He needs to stay close to the people he cares about so he can make sure they’re safe.

He looks after people in little ways from the shadows and so far he’s only had one close call but it was dark and he was wearing a black hooded jacket so he’s pretty sure Dustin thinks he saw the grim reaper in the woods.

But then one day while Dustin and Steve are out trying to repair some of the damage, Steve trips, falls and cuts his leg pretty badly. Dustin is panicking, Steve is bleeding and there’s no one else around so Eddie doesn’t have much of a choice. He runs to his tent, grabs his first aid kit and sprints back, only slowing down to cover the bottom half of his face with the scarf before he steps out into their line of sight. It’s not going to work, he knows it’s not, but he’s not ready for this yet and covering up makes him feel a little less terrified.

“Don’t freak out,” he says, and immediately hates himself because ‘don’t freak out’? That’s what he’s going to lead with after basically returning from the dead?

Dustin is staring at him, stricken. He keeps rubbing his eyes like he thinks he’s hallucinating even as Eddie kneels next to Steve’s injured leg and starts cleaning the blood and debris away with an antiseptic wipe. His eyes are burning as he works because he can feel the shocked stares of the two people he wished he’d gotten to spend more time with and it’s getting hard to actually see Steve’s leg to tell if he needs the hospital or not.

“Hey,” Steve says softly, putting a tentative hand on Eddie’s wrist to slow his hand, which is now shaking. Eddie looks up at him and a few stray tears slip from his eyes. “It’s okay.”

Eddie shakes his head and sniffles loudly. “It’s not. I let you guys think-”

A solid weight hits his side and suddenly a pair of arms are squeezing him as Dustin sobs onto his shoulder.

“I knew it. I knew I saw you the other day!” He cries. “What the fuck, Eddie? Why?”

“I’m so so sorry, Dustin,” Eddie says, squeezing Dustin just as tight. “I didn’t want to make things even more complicated for you. I’m still a wanted criminal. And now I look like a monster too, so I thought it would be better for you guys if I kept my distance.”

“Idiot,” Dustin punches him lightly. “You don’t get to decide what you think is best for us ever again, you got that? We missed you so much, asshole!”

Dustin breaks down, crying loud ugly tears that soak into Eddie’s clothes. Eddie runs his fingers through Dustin’s hair and tries his best to comfort him. “I’m here. Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.” Then because he speaks before his brain processes what he’s saying half the time he adds, “Papa bear’s got you.”

It’s probably an odd thing to say but it just makes Dustin cling to him tighter and cry harder.

He looks at Steve for help and sees that he’s now stitching his own cut back together, which should probably not be hot like Eddie’s brain is telling him.

“Might wanna make yourself comfortable,” Steve says to him with his own tearful smile. “You’re not getting rid of him anytime soon.”

Later on, Eddie and Steve are sitting next to each other in front of a campfire while Dustin sleeps off his exhaustion in Eddie’s tent. Eddie still has his face covered and he can see Steve staring curiously in his peripheral vision. Steve's leg is wrapped up now, and he's been keeping close to Eddie ever since he supported Steve's weight to help him hobble through the woods to the fallen tree Eddie had been using as a makeshift bench for his little campsite.

He's been touching and leaning on Eddie ever since, like he's still trying to prove to himself that Eddie is actually there.

“What did you mean earlier? When you said you look like a monster now.” Steve asks carefully. “Is that why you’re covering your face?”

Eddie sighs and looks Steve in the eyes, “Unfortunately, when the demobats turned me into their human buffet, they didn’t spare my face. I have, scars. They’re… a lot to take in.”

"Can I see?" Steve asks, reaching for the scarf but waiting for Eddie to give him the go ahead. Eddie takes a deep breath and nods.

Steve gasps as he's pulling the material down and Eddie squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see disgust seeping onto Steve's features like a slow spreading venom. But then he feels the lightest, softest touch of fingertips against the sensitive skin of his jaw and cheeks. He's tracing Eddie's scars like they're something delicate and precious.

"Still as pretty as the day you pinned me to the wall and held a broken bottle against my throat," Steve murmurs, but Eddie hears it loud and clear. His eyes shoot open.

Steve is looking at him like he's a sight worthy of awe.

"Me?" Eddie questions in disbelief.

"Yes, you," Steve answers, leaning in ever so slightly. "You're beautiful, Eddie. Scars don't change that."

Something clicks in Eddie's brain about something Dustin said earlier.

"'We missed you so much,'" he repeats to himself as his gaze drops to Steve's lips, realising that 'we' included Steve.

Steve smiles as he strokes his thumb against the skin of Eddie's cheek, his eyes shining in the glow from the campfire.

"Yeah, we missed you so much," Steve confirms. "More than you can imagine."

He presses a soft kiss to one of the scars on Eddie's face and pulls back ever so slightly. "Hope you don't mind if we never let you go again."

bitch.. i’d be so scared because what 😭 i’m immediately folding, apologizing, sorry papa! gimmie kiss! ☹️

because that stare is something serious. like HUH!

When that one photo floated around, I immediately had to draw it as Copia and then used it as opportunity to finally post a version of tattooed Copia for you

Full version (sfw) on AO3

Can you spot the 2 "eastereggs"?

Sorry we all outta Fabrice we only got Rat Kings. Please don't eat your own hair I don't think the king likes that very much it would be much better if you kneeled.

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