Chapter Text
Tyler knows weird shit happens in hockey, okay? He played in the O, he's seen plenty. Sure, showing up with suddenly pink hair wasn't the worst, unlike Brownie who'd turned into a surprisingly hot chick, but not as cool as the youngest Staal brother who'd transformed into an actual wolf.
Most people aged out of it after Juniors though, for these who didn’t, Tyler had heard it was worse in the NHL where the concentration of magic was higher, so Tyler shouldn't have been surprised when he opened his hotel room door to find Looch standing there with a screaming child in his arms.
“He can be your problem now,” Looch tells him, holding the child out to him. “I need a drink.”
Tyler would have guessed rookie hazing, if Chara wasn’t so adamantly against even using that word, and even so instinctively shrinks back. Looch just takes a step into the room to dump the kid on the floor and turns to walk away.
Tyler calls after him but Looch only waves back. “You'll be fine,” Looch says, as though there isn’t an actual child in Tyler’s room.
Since he can’t abandon them to chase down Looch and demand answers, Tyler shuts the door and turns back to his new guest.
The tantrum doesn't stop but Tyler can make out actual words now they're not muffled on his teammate's shoulder. Unfortunately they're also clearly not English. Tyler recognizes who it is at the same time; only tiny Tuukka would have a face that elfin cute and still be filled with rage.
Goalies usually look out for each other, and it’s mostly them who still suffer from the magic flux, but Tyler can’t imagine Thomas wanting to look after a child and especially not a screaming one.
When Tyler's sisters were little, he'd been told the best thing to do was to ignore their tantrums. If they learnt that screaming got attention, they would keep doing it. Hoping that was actual parenting advice, Tyler walks around his deaged goalie back to the bed where he puts his headphones back in and hits play on the film.
It only takes a couple of minutes before the screaming stops then another minute until the bed shifts. Tyler glances briefly up to check Tuukka is pulling himself onto the bed safely. He can't remember if injuries usually carry over but he doesn’t want to see the disappointed look Chara will give him if he breaks their goalie.
At least he doesn’t have to worry about fucking up an actual child. From what he’s heard about this sort of thing, it’s their Tuukka in there, he’s just temporarily lost access to most of his memories. Tyler hopes he hasn’t forgotten how to speak English because he doesn't think Google translate is going to help when Tuukka almost certainly can't read or write.
Unless Finnish kids learn that sort of thing early? Tyler tries to estimate how old Tuukka is right now; he’s walking around, so he’s got to be at least two and from his height, Tyler guesses he’s probably around 3 or 4.
Tyler hadn't been expecting the small child to try to wiggle under his arm but he happily tucks Tuukka into his side so he can see the screen. He hopes Pirates of the Caribbean isn't going to horribly traumatise the kid.
Then he registers that Tuukka's wearing actual children's clothing. He must have been switched for a while if they've managed to find age-appropriate clothes and get him into them, or it’s happened enough times before that they bring children’s clothes with them on roadtrips.
And Tuukka must have been more cooperative then than when Looch brought him here. Maybe Chara or someone else speaks Finnish, which begs the question why they wouldn’t have ended up being the designated babysitter instead of Tyler, who would have thought he was anyone’s last resort. It doesn’t seem Chara’s style to be a test so he has to assume someone has a good reason for choosing him.
Maybe Tyler should have spent more time since the draft reading the Bruins press - it would probably have mentioned if Tuukka had missed multiple games without an injury, though some teams lied about that, and while they weren’t supposed to say what a player’s particular quirk was, there would always be speculation.
Tyler's phone buzzes but, rather than an explanation from Chara or any of the As, it's just Jordan telling Tyler not to expect him back. Tyler guesses he’s been swapped with Tuukka but he would have at least expected his roomie to want his bag.
Maybe he's been told to avoid overwhelming their clearly stressed goaltender but why they thought Tyler would be best at that is still a mystery.
Tyler scrolls through his contacts, but he can’t work out who he could call and actually tell the whole story to, apart from the people who are also in this hotel and could easily have given him more information if they wanted to. He’s tempted to call his mom but Tyler doesn’t want to worry her. He puts his phone to one side, and turns his attention back to the movie, trying to ignore the fact that his company is their suddenly tiny goaltender.
The movie is just getting to the good part when, apparently encouraged by his lack of objections, Tuukka says something. It sounds like a question and his tiny teammate is looking at him hopefully but it's definitely Finnish.
Pausing the movie, Tyler feels bad when he has to shake his head. “English only, bud.”
Tuukka repeats himself and Tyler is horrified to see tears in his eyes. He feels like a monster, almost expecting his mom to turn up suddenly and shout at him like she had when he'd made one of the girls cry.
“Hey no, I just need you to help me out a bit here, bud.” He shrugs as widely as he can and looks confused. It isn't difficult. “Can you show me?”
Tuukka looks around the room then plops himself down off the bed and runs over to the desk, pulling at the menu.
“Oh, you’re hungry?” When Tuukka looks back at him Tyler mimes eating then rubs his stomach. “Hungry?”
Tuukka nods eagerly and Tyler realises he has another issue of whether he should he order something his grown-up teammate would eat or pick something more suitable for a toddler. What did kids in Finland even eat anyway? He plays it safe by ordering a variety of options.
Once the food arrives Tuukka chatters away. Tyler tries to nod and smile at appropriate points though he doesn't understand a word. Tuukka picks haphazardly at the food, interspersed with long glances at Tyler as though he’s waiting to be told off for playing with it. He does eat some of it and Tyler knows plenty of their allegedly adult team-mates are fussy about their diets so he isn’t going to pretend that it’s a big deal now Tuukka’s smaller.
He restarts the movie and within minutes Tuukka falls asleep against him. Tyler decides to keep watching and let him sleep through rather than risk waking him up moving him.
Tuukka is fast asleep when the end credits role and, deciding it surely won't hurt Tuukka to go a day or so without brushing his teeth, Tyler manages to get the cover over him without waking him.
At least it's a twin so there is another bed, even if he has to dump Jordan's case off it first. Hopefully he will wake up to find their goaltender is back to normal - these sorts of switches don’t tend to last more than a day or two.
Unfortunately, in the morning, Tuukka is already sitting up in bed and has managed to turn the TV to cartoons by the time Tyler's alarm goes off.
There is a knock on the door and Tyler hasn’t ordered any room service so he looks through the viewing hole to check it's a teammate. He isn't sure how cautious he's supposed to be about Tuukka’s situation.
Fortunately it's only Bergy and he’s carrying a small holdall. Tyler checks Tuukka is still engrossed in his cartoons before opening the door.
"You both survived the night?" Bergy asks, trying to peer into the room without actual coming all the way in. "Didn’t strangle him in the night."
It doesn't sound like Bergy's joking but he must be so Tyler forces himself to laugh. “He wasn’t so bad.” It feels weird talking about Tuukka behind his back and Tyler hopes Tuukka isn’t listening, or that he hasn’t got his English back yet.
Bergy looks doubtful. “Do you need me to help you get him changed? Keep him occupied while you shower?”
Though he would kind of like some help, Tyler gets the impression Bergy is only asking to be polite. “I think we’ll manage, thanks.”
That must have been the correct response as Bergy looks almost relieved, passing him the holdall. “That’s good to hear. This should help.”
“What it is?” Tyler asks, even as he wonders why Looch couldn’t have given him whatever it was last night.
Bergy smiles but it seems a little forced. “Just a few things we thought you might need.”
“We?” Tyler frowns as he hefts the bag
“Well, see you downstairs,” Bergy says, and practically runs off without explaining anything more.
Tyler puts the bag onto the bed and it turns out to contain several child-sized outfits, shoes, and toiletries. No toys or skating gear, but it looks as though someone had planned for this. It makes him wonder again if this has happened before, whether to Tuukka or someone else. It would sort of explain why everyone’s being so weird about it.
Tyler tips the clothes out on the bed. There’s a mass of cute animal designs which Tyler can’t quite imagine his serious teammate wearing. Still, they had clearly been prepared for this purpose. "Hey buddy," he says, drawing Tuukka's attention away from the TV. "Do you want to come and pick out an outfit for today?"
Tuukka looks at the clothes, his tiny face wrinkling up into a frown. Then he looks Tyler straight in the eye and says, very clearly, "No."
Tyler isn't sure if he should be delighted Tuukka appears to have some of his English back or worried about what that flat refusal implies. Then again, he's already decided to pick his battles. He can probably take Tuukka down to breakfast in his pyjamas but they aren't going to be warm enough for the rink. He thoughtfully sifts through the clothes, working out which were worth insisting on. Socks are a necessity and there’s a little jacket which doesn’t look too offensively cute, so a coat as well.
The socks don’t provoke any resistance but any attempt to change Tuukka out of the pyjamas is quickly rebuffed. Tyler does at least manage to persuade him to pull on a sweater over the top and, once he’s dressed to both of their satisfaction, Tyler says, “Ready for breakfast, buddy?”
Tuukka holds out his arms and it takes Tyler a minute to realise he wants to be picked up. Well, if he could carry his sisters, he could certainly manage a little kid.
On a whim, as he picks Tuukka up, Tyler swings him around. Tuukka looks up at him wide-eyed as Tyler asks, "Again?"
He nods and then as Tyler spun them both again and again, he finally got to hear Tuukka laugh.
Still carrying Tuukka, Tyler has barely taken ten steps outside his room when he runs into two of their trainers. Neither of them look particularly surprised to see him with a child so he guesses they already knew about Tuukka’s situation but Stevie, the more senior of the two, frowns as he asks, “Where are you going?”
“Team breakfast?” Tyler says, confused.
The trainers give each other a look and then Stevie steps forward, putting a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “Look, it’s better not to risk bringing him down to breakfast. We don’t want to disturb anyone. Why don’t you get room service - we’ll cover the bill - and join us on the bus when it’s time to leave?”
Tyler lets himself get herded back into his room. “Well I guess it’s just the two of us then, buddy.” He tries to put Tuukka down so he can look at the menu but the tiny goalie wraps his arms around Tyler’s neck and refuses to let go. Tyler can imagine that another tantrum is coming if he tries to force the issue and he had enough of that last night so he quickly changes direction.
Once they are sat in the desk chair, Tuukka lets himself be rearranged so they can both look at the menu. “What do you want, buddy?” Tyler asks. “Pancakes? Eggs? Fruit?” He’s going to get an omelet for himself and tries to remember if he’s ever watched what Tuukka usually has for breakfast. .
Tuukka pats at the menu and Tyler figures it can’t hurt to let him pick, not that he’s sure Tuukka can actually read it right now. He holds it until Tuukka points at something. “Fruit? Good choice.”
Breakfast is messy and it’s probably a good job they hadn’t gone down to the restaurant because they both need to change tops after - Tuukka because he’s dripped red fruit juices all down his front and Tyler because Tuukka managed to knock over his coffee and he’d got his sleeve in it.
Tyler carries Tuukka out to the bus with the shoes he’d refused to put on in his own jacket pockets. He isn’t sure if they’re going to have a plan for what to do with him during morning skate but at least it’s not open to the public.
They’re amongst the last ones onto the bus and there is a clear gap left at the front. Tyler tries to looks for Brad, who he usually sits with, but Tuukka is fidgeting to get down. He clambers across the seats to press his face against the window and, after another glance around where no-one will meet his eyes, Tyler sits in the aisle seat.
Chara comes to sit across the aisle from them. "How're you doing?" he asks, gaze on Tuukka where he is trying to wriggle out of his coat. Tyler grabs hold of an arm to steady it for him.
“We're good,” he says brightly.
Their captain raises his eyebrows and Tyler hopes he isn't looking too closely at what Tuukka's wearing and isn't going to ask what he had for breakfast.
Instead Chara asks, “You both slept alright?”
“Yeah? I guess,” Tyler says. “We watched a movie and he went to sleep then he was watching cartoons when I woke up this morning. So-” He shrugs, not sure what else the captain wants to hear.
Chara nods along. “Well, that’s good. I need to speak to Rex now but come and find me if you need anything.”
Tyler has a bunch of questions but Chara gets up and leaves without giving him a chance to ask any of them.
It isn’t a long drive to the arena and fortunately there are no press waiting at the rink entrance so they make it into the player area unharassed. One of the trainers stop Tyler at the locker room door and takes Tuukka off him.
“Is he going to be okay?” Tyler asks.
Don’t you worry,” he says. “It’s no problem.”
“Be good, buddy,” Tyler tells Tuukka, holding his hand out for a fist bump and feeling a little sad to let him go. “I'll see you soon.”
When they get off the ice, Tyler can hear a child's yelling in the distance but, distracted by the normality of practice, he doesn't put it together with Tuukka's current state until the rest of the team start sharing significant looks.
Chara pinches the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly tired. "Can you take him again?"
Tyler looks around, hoping he is talking to someone else. “Me?”
“He seems to like you. But don’t worry if you don’t feel up to it, I’m sure we can find someone else.” He doesn’t sound very certain though and Tyler figures this morning wasn’t so bad.
“No, I can do it,” he says. “I’m just not sure how I’m your best choice.”
“He likes you.” Chara smiles and Tyler gets the same feeling he had this morning with Bergy, that it isn’t quite genuine.
There isn’t much Tyler can add so he follows his captain down the corridor to meet the trainers. They don’t need to know where they’re going as they can just follow the sound of Tuukka’s cries. All Tyler’s questions escape him as the volume of the cries increases and he can’t help worrying what could possibly have happened to Tuukka.
When they finally turn a corner and find Tuukka on the floor surrounded by three staff members, Tyler is relieved that Tuukka doesn’t seem to be actually hurt. Tuukka’s tantrum last night hadn’t been anything like this - his face is red and tear-stained and he’s waving his arms and legs in a full blown meltdown. If this is what the others had experienced then their worries make more sense.
Z takes a breath and looks as though he is about to step forward but Tyler gets there first, pushing through the group and crouching down beside Tuukka.
“Hey buddy, what’s the matter?” Tyler tries to keep his voice bright, like he would talk to kids wanting an autograph.
Tuukka’s face brightens the moment he sees Tyler and he flings himself into his arms, almost knocking him backwards, babbling a wave of words which would probably be indistinguishable even in English since his head is buried in Tyler’s mid-section.
The trainers look relieved and Chara gives Tyler an approving nod. “You seem to have everything under control. I’ll leave you to it.”
By the time Tuukka has settled down, and they have had some lunch, the coach has gone without them and so they take a taxi back to the hotel alone. Tyler isn’t sure how that works with trying to be inconspicuous but the driver doesn’t give any sign of recognising him so it must be okay.
Tyler was supposed to be taking a nap but Tuukka hadn’t wanted to sleep so instead they end up with most of the bedding on the floor after Tyler tries to make him a blanket fort.
Tuukka is chattering again, in a mixture of Finnish and English. It doesn’t seem to bother him that Tyler understands less than half of what he says so long as he looks interested and makes noises in the right spaces.
There's a gentle knock and, before Tyler can get up to check who it is, Z calls out "Tyler?" Tuukka takes that moment to screech in laughter when he realises he's all caught in the towel.
Tyler glances around at the state of the room but he can't really turn the captain away and he doesn't think there's anything he can do to fix it quickly. "Coming!" he says.
Z tries the door before he gets there but Tyler did at least have enough sense to lock it. Tuukka could definitely reach the handle and he didn't want to chase a kid down the corridor. Tyler lets him in and prepares for his judgement.
Instead, Tuukka exclaims, "Look Z - I caterpillar!" and Z smiles down at him, his expression softening.
"I just wanted to let you know that the trainers will pack up Tuukka's room but you still need to do your own." He looks pointedly at Tyler's open and mostly empty case. "You should probably tidy up in here too." Tyler follows his gaze to the bathroom this time, where there are visible puddles and bubbles on the floor after he’d finally managed to get Tuukka washed up a little and a change of clothes. "And don't forget to leave a tip."
“I won’t,” Tyler promises. He’s grateful the mess from breakfast has already been cleaned up and knows this heap won’t be quick to tidy.
"At least he seems happy," Z says, looking down at Tuukka who is gleefully rolling
about on top of the covers, still tangled in the bath towel.
Despite his insistence that he isn’t tired, Tuukka does end up falling asleep a little after Z leaves, so Tyler takes the opportunity to pack his case and the holdall of little Tuukka’s things.
Thomas was always going to be in net for this one and Hutchinson from Providence meets them at the rink as Tuukka is clearly in no state to back-up.
After what had happened in the morning, Tyler hadn’t been looking forward to leaving Tuukka for the game but that didn’t mean he wanted to be scratched. Julien says they’ll call it sickness rather than a healthy scratch and that it gives Tuukka’s absence more believability.
Rather than sitting in the box, they end up watching from a meeting room since Chiarelli doesn’t want to risk Tuukka being seen in this condition.
Tyler manages to persuade one of the PR guys to go out to the arena store before warm-ups and pick up a kid-sized stick and ball set for Tuukka. He then spends most of the first period practicing stickhandling with him. It doesn’t take long before Tuukka wants a net.
Tyler doesn’t know what age Tuukka had started skating and he doubts he had been playing goalie when he’d been this age for real so he takes it as a sign that their Tuukka is definitely still in there.
Fortunately that’s the point the intern returns with drinks and snacks. Judging from the meals they’ve had so far, Tuukka doesn’t seem to be too fussy with food and that’s able to distract him for a bit without any trouble.
By the middle of the second, Tuukka is visibly flagging. It’s not that late for a hockey game, but it probably is for a four year old, or whatever he is. Now he’s speaking English again Tyler could probably ask, but it doesn’t seem that important.
“Looking tired, buddy,” Tyler says. “Do you want a nap?”
“No,” Tuukka insists. Tyler kind of does so he flops back onto the sofa. He’ll only close his eyes for a few seconds; how much trouble can one small Finn get into in a minute? But once he’s there it seems like a lot of effort to get back up and he can still hear Tuukka moving around, chattering to himself in a mixture of English and Finnish.
The end of period buzzer is what wakes him and Tyler is disorientated for a minute by the unfamiliar quiet room. Hold on, quiet? He sits up abruptly, looking around in a panic. If he’s lost Tuukka, Z will actually kill him.
Tyler looks over to find Tuukka drawing on the wall, with the markers which go with the coaches’ whiteboards. “Oh, sh-” He catches himself before the swear escapes. “Oops,” he goes with instead.
“Oops?” Tuukka says, echoing his tone. He looks up at Tyler, biting his lips as though waiting to see what he will do.
Tyler stares at the picture, which kind of looks like it’s supposed to be a bear, then shrugs. There isn’t much point making a fuss about it. “Ah, well, guess I'd better leave a really big tip for the cleaners here. You'll have to owe me dinner when you're big again at make up for it.”
Tuukka seems surprised. Tyler wonders exactly what has happened the previous times he’s been small or maybe when he was an actual child and he can’t help feeling angry - it doesn’t seem fair to get annoyed over something so minor and there’s no good reason for telling him off over it; Tyler figures their goalie’s mind is still in there and adult Tuukka already knows not to draw on walls, or at least one’s that aren’t his own, so why waste both of their energy on something which will be a moot point in a day or so.
Tyler holds out a hand and after a moment Tuukka puts the pens into it, as though he already knew he’d been doing something he shouldn’t. Tyler places the pens on the top of the whiteboard, out of reach where he probably should have put them in the first place and wonders if that was a test and, if so, if he’d passed.
He doesn’t have long to consider it before the trainers come to find them. They want them to head out to the coach before the third finishes, to reduce the chance of being spotted by the press.
Tuukka is very unhappy about being woken and makes sure everyone around knows it. They won’t let Tyler carry him so all he can do is trail along after with his arms full of the things he’s manage to collect for Tuukka.
On the coach, Tyler manages to settle him again and drifts off to sleep himself until the lights come on when the rest of the team join them.
When Tuukka starts to stir, face already scrunched up, Tyler pulls him into his lap, pressing Tuukka’s head against his head and using the blanket to block out the light. Z’s among the first on and he looks fondly down at them before turning back to hush the others.
They are heading straight to the airport but apparently it’s too much to hope that Tuukka will sleep straight through until they’re on the flight. They don't usually have a lot of time to spare but tonight it turns out the plane is delayed so at least they get to go into the terminal.
Tuukka is clearly at the stage of overtiredness which means a meltdown is coming but Tyler manages to find a small gift shop still open to distract him. He lets Tuukka pick a comic, which comes with a small set of crayons, “As you seem to like drawing so much” he tells him, and a soft toy, while he picks up some more kid-friendly snacks since he doesn’t know if the menu on the plane will have a toddler in mind.
Tuukka hates the plane, especially the take-off. Tyler hates to see the tears down his tiny face as he rubs at his ears. As soon as the seatbelt light goes out, Tyler lets the tiny goalie climb into his lap.
Tyler had been worried Tuukka would want to spend the entire flight running up and down the aisle and that he would disturb the rest of the team. It’s only a short flight so it doesn’t matter too much to Tyler if he stays awake but he knows the older guys need their sleep.
Instead, Tuukka happily chatters to him as he does some coloring in, ignoring the pattern on the page to draw something with lots of black and yellow. Tyler obediently passes him the crayons as Tuukka points at them, evidently quickly giving up on trying to teach Tyler Finnish.
“Who’s that, buddy?” Tyler asks him, as the picture starts to take shape. He thinks it’s two people, one of them a lot taller than the other.
Tuukka only giggles so Tyler pretends to be thinking hard. “Is it Z?” he guesses. “He’s really tall.”
“No!” Tuukka yells, giving Tyler a disapproving look which seems more like their grown-up goalie than a small child.
“No?” Tyler pretends to be confused. “Then who could it be?” he asks with an exaggerated shrug.
“You!” Tuukka jabs a finger into Tyler’s chest as he laughs. He might be tiny but he has really pointy fingers. He laughs at Tyler’s disgruntled expression, flopping over into Tyler’s lap.
Tyler hopes anyone wanting to sleep has earplugs in though he can’t help but be relieved at how much happier Tuukka seems now then when he was first left with Tyler. He supposes it must be hard to suddenly become tiny and unable to do all the things you are used to and then to have no-one speak your language so he can understand why Tuukka was so upset.
Fortunately it doesn’t take long before the long day catches up with Tuukka, who drops off to asleep in the middle of a sentence, leaning over until his head rests on Tyler’s arm.
The landing is less traumatic then the take-off, Tuukka barely wakes up until the bump of the wheels touching down and even then he is too sleepy to make a fuss. Tyler carries Tuukka onto the bus and lets him wrap his arms around his neck, resting his head in the crook of his neck.
The goalie is kind of cute like this, his face relaxed in sleep, and Tyler guesses that’s supposed to be the point of this sort of transformation, a reaction to extreme stress. He sort of knows how that feels though, as a top 3 pick, he’s probably not going to get sent down to Providence while, as a back-up goalie, Tuukka’s place in Boston probably feels far less assured.
Even with the time zone change, by the time they get to the new hotel it’s nearly two in the morning. Savvy helps Tyler carries his and Tuukka’s bags to their room - Tyler isn’t at all surprised that they’ve been assigned to share since no-one else seems to want the responsibility.
Since Tuukka is already half-asleep, Tyler decides to skip out on trying to get him into the shower or to brush his teeth. If Tuukka’s still little in the morning, they can cross that bridge then.
It probably isn’t worth waking him up enough to change into pyjamas either, so Tyler just helps him out of his coat and sweater. He tucks Tuukka in the other bed, hoping he will sleep there.
Tyler wakes in the middle of the night. At first he’s confused, then he hears a whimpering sound. Tyler turns on the light to see Tuukka is shaking, beads of sweat on his face. He tentatively puts his hand on Tuukka’s forehead to check for a temperature, hoping he’s not getting ill. Tuukka bolts upright, crying out as he wakes up and Tyler folds him into his arms without hesitation.
“Did you- Were you having a nightmare?” Tyler asks, even though he isn’t sure how much English Tuukka understands right now.
Tuukka burrows closer into Tyler’s arms and he can feel the sharp chin digging into him as Tuukka nods.
Tyler might not know much about children but Tuukka isn’t the first room-mate he’s sat with after a nightmare. Besides, he remembers going to climb into his mom’s bed after a bad dream when he was a kid. “You want to tell me what it was about?”
At first Tuukka shakes his head and Tyler isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do next. His mom had always sung lullabies to send him back to sleep but he doesn’t think Tuukka’s going to be comforted by him doing that. He wonders if he could find Finnish lullabies online.
Tuukka only clings tighter to him when Tyler tries to reach for his phone so he just pats him on the shoulder, which turns into rubbing his back like he’s seen people doing in movies.
It seems to work as Tuukka stops shaking. Eventually, in a voice which is barely more than a whisper, Tuukka says, “I was all on my own. Everyone left me behind.”
“I’m not going to leave you behind, baby, I promise,” Tyler tells him.
Tuukka’s sheets and clothes are damp with sweat, so Tyler helps him change into his clean pyjamas then lets him climb in beside him. It doesn’t take Tuukka long to fall back asleep but Tyler lies awake for a while thinking.
He doesn’t want to make any assumptions but it’s surely no wonder Tuukka’s having nightmares about being left alone when half the team have made it clear they don’t want to bother with him.
Tyler doesn’t understand why they’re all acting like dealing with Tuukka is such a hassle and he can’t imagine what issues the others could have had. Even Chara had seemed to think it was a great favour that Tyler was willing to take Tuukka again and, despite the meltdown, hadn’t actually offered to help.
When Tyler’s alarm goes off the next morning, and he finds himself alone, he’s disorientated. It takes a moment to realise what is wrong; Tuukka is nowhere in sight, and then a little longer to realise he can hear the shower running.
Tyler’s pretty sure that’s a good sign he’s back to normal but he feels he ought to check. When he knocks on the bathroom door, it’s Tuukka’s usual voice which responds. Tyler is both relieved and oddly disappointed.
He doesn’t expect thanks so isn’t surprised when Tuukka sweeps out of the bathroom without saying a word.
When they show up for team breakfast, Tuukka back to his usual grumpy adult self, Tyler sees the looks of surprise before Tuukka takes his usual seat, leaving Tyler to find his own.
He can hear Marchy try asking Tuukka what Tyler’s got that the rest of them haven’t. Tuukka just smiles enigmatically.
Bergy sits down next to him. “So, what did you do?”
Tyler searches his memory for some way he might have fucked up. “Nothing?” he ventures
Bergy rolls his eyes. “I meant with Tuukka? It took a week for him to switch back last time and I didn't think my eardrums were going to recover. Even Z couldn’t get him to calm down.”
That explains a lot. Even so, Tyler didn't think he’d done anything special. And he thinks mentioning the nightmare would probably be a breach of Tuukka’s confidence so he simply shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you. He was basically asleep when we got to the hotel last night and by the time I woke up he was back to normal.”
“You must have done something?” Bergy insists. “What happened during the game?”
Tyler shrugs, again unsure how much he wants to share. “We just hung out. I don’t know - normal kid stuff?
“Well, you're the Tuukka whisperer now, kid,” he says. “Good luck.”
Tyler frowns. He can’t imagine what they must all have been doing to mess up that much. “Does this happen a lot?”
“3 times last season,” Ference interrupts. “And it was worse every time. Everyone else has tried and failed to calm him down. I thought they’d send him down for sure if it went the same again this year.”
That feels unfair. Surely they know it’s not something Tuukka can control. “Well, it didn’t seem so hard,” Tyler tells them.
Bergy laughs. “Yup, definitely calling on you first next time.” He leaves for his usual seat and Ference turns back around.
If there’s going to be a next time, Tyler catches himself wondering what sort of things he could buy to be prepared.