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Geno knows something has happened the minute he steps off the ice. He feels it like a stab in the gut. Feels the pull behind his navel urging him to turn around and follow the tug towards…someone.
He hardly recognizes that his feet have changed direction until Sid is grouchily jabbing him in the side and shoving him down the tunnel. Sid pushes him again and he shakes himself a little, trying to throw off the feeling. Sid shoves him into his stall and he all but collapses back onto the seat.
He sits there, staring into space and trying to make his heart stop pounding. Neal is half undressed next to him, and pauses giving Geno a curious state. “What’s wrong, G?" He asks hesitantly. Geno drags his eyes up from the floor and tries hard to settle them on Neal.
His eyes fight it though, impulsively flicking to the door like a cornered animal. Now Pascal is watching him too, settling his hard gaze on him suspiciously. Geno takes a deep breath and steels his nerves.
Geno swallows around the lump in his throat and shakes his head. Muttering, “Lose…bad." He cringes slightly at his English failing him. He quickly ducks his head and starts unlacing his skates.
After he is changed he escapes the team and makes a beeline for the team physician’s office. He is half nauseous and is sweating slightly. He feels sickly and clammy as he forces himself down the hall.
As soon as he opens the door he is swamped with an overwhelming feeling of relief. He nearly moans with pleasure at the feeling, but stops himself. The feeling is fleeting though, rapidly replaced by an odd sense of dread and rejection weaving through the edges of his mind. The feeling catches him off guard and the emotions that swim in the back of his mind feel alien.
He stumbles and grabs at the door handle to keep himself upright. He looks up as an exaggerated groan comes from the other side of the table. He looks up slowly, not believing. The physician looks back and forth and nods sullenly. “That answers that question."
Geno pulls himself to his full height and looks at the doctor blearily. “What question?" He asks, his accent suddenly thicker than he ever remembers it being. The doctor gestures to the other person in the room, and Geno sucks in a breath as his eyes fall on the hunched form on the table.
Geno feels his stomach flip flop and his chest clench all at once. Tyler Seguin is sitting up on the table, his shoulders hunched and his head low, but his eyes are locked on Geno. He is sure they both feel the surge when their eyes meet. He feels something in his mind shift and settle in a foreign but comfortable position. The strange, alien tingle in his brain changes to a feeling of silk sliding across the edge of his consciousness.
It feels like years have gone by when the doctor clears his throat impatiently. Geno blinks and realizes that Tyler is now standing right in front of him, almost touching.
“We can send you to a specialist, get this sorted out…" The doctor says after a few beats of the two of them staring deep into eachother’s eyes. Geno is shaking his head ‘no’ before he even registers what he is doing. “Son, the longer you wait to have the bond dissolved the less likely it is to work." The physician presses.
Now Tyler and Geno both shake their heads. Tyler moves very slowly, bringing a hand up and gingerly pressing three fingers against Geno’s exposed collarbone. Immediately Geno feels exactly what Tyler is feeling. Knows exactly what Tyler is thinking.
This isn’t bad. They can do this. Bonds don’t form unless there is a substantial platform to base it on. Of course, Geno had heard the horror stories of bonds gone wrong and tearing people apart from their most vulnerable points, making them crazy. This bond doesn’t feel dangerous or scary. Just new, different.
“Is okay…" Geno says quietly, not looking up from Tyler’s placid face. Tyler nods again, and Geno doesn’t think he has ever seen the younger man look so serious. Geno grins and Tyler smiles slowly. “Yeah. We’re good." He says softly.
Geno trails sheepishly after Tyler, past the Bruins locker room and out the home entrance. Tyler leads him out to the parking lot, smiling softly and glancing back hesitantly every few steps. Geno smiles back and follows closely.
Most of the car ride is a quiet affair. Halfway through, Tyler starts squirming in his seat. Geno can feel Tyler’s nervousness brushing at the edge of his consciousness. He dawdles for awhile, trying to figure out for sure what Tyler’s issue is.
Finally, Geno gives up and reaches over, grabbing the hand on the center console that is tapping anxiously and grating on Geno’s patience. The bond doesn’t surge like it did before, instead feeling like a gentle fizzle. Geno smiles crookedly at him, threading their fingers together.
Tyler’s thoughts are a muddled mess. Geno feels confused constantly as he carefully tries to sift through Tyler’s rapidly shifting thoughts and emotions. He finally settles on a feeling of offense and mild irritation, back peddling and looking up apologetically when he realizes that he is violating Tyler’s privacy.
Tyler calms, squeezing Geno’s hand reassuringly after a moment. “We still have some things to work out, eh?" Tyler says, and Geno chuckles, “Sorry." and nods apologetically. Tyler shrugs and pulls his hand back to make a turn, the car bouncing slightly as he turns up towards a gated community of condos.
Tyler guides the car into the garage and kills the engine, looking at Geno for a minute then huffing slightly and getting out. Geno follows suit and trails after him to the door, slipping his shoes off and kicking them over out of the walkway. Geno can hear a dog going nuts on the other side of the door.
“Have dog?” He askes, half nervous half excited. He feels a wash of affection through the bond and smiles. “Yeah,” Tyler says. “A lab, Marshall. He’s just a big puppy.” He starts unlocking the door and turns back before unlocking it, “He’s gonna jump all over you.” Geno shrugs and smiles.
Sure enough, as soon as the door opens Geno has a flurry of brown hair and wet tongue bouncing between himself and Tyler. Geno wraps his arms around the dog and presses a couple kisses to the side of his soft neck. Tyler laughs and grabs Marshall’s collar, pulling him away. “He will pee on you if you get him too excited.” Tyler says though a laugh and drags Marshall across the room to a back door, shoving him out into the back yard.
Geno looks around, feeling Tyler’s unease fogging up the bond. Tyler clears his throat and walks over to the kitchen area, “Do you want something to eat? I mean, I can’t really cook much but we could order in…” Geno slouches against the wall and shrugs a shoulder, “I could cook, if you want.” Tyler pauses his idle shifting about in the fridge and look at Geno. “You cook?” Geno nods. “See, that’s why we bonded! You can cook and I like to eat!”
Geno laughs and shakes his head as he ushers Tyler out of the way so he can shuffle through the fridge himself. Marshall jumps at the door and yips excitedly, cocking his head to the side and looking in at them. Tyler goes and lets him in, swatting him playfully and baby talking him mindlessly. Geno sighs exasperatedly as he stares into the fridge.
“What now?” Tyler groans. “All food you have is pre-prepared, nothing to cook with!” Geno says, turning around and grinning. Tyler snorts and shrugs. “We can go to the store tomorrow.” He pauses ans looks up to where Geno has turned to look at him. “Uh…I just assumed…I mean, do you want to stay over? I have lots of spare rooms…or the cou-“ Geno cuts him off saying, “Yeah. I stay.” Tyler nods hesitantly and Geno goes back to rooting through the fridge and cabinets until he finds the ingredients to make a stir fry.
After dinner they settle in at opposite ends of the couch after arguing over what movie to watch. Tyler bundles up under a blanket, and Marshall leaps up and settles against his side with a groan. Geno smiles lopsidedly and pulls a blanket off the back of the couch, draping it on his legs. Tyler shuffles his foot across the couch and touches his toes against Geno’s ankles. Immediately the bond lights up and Geno can sense everything Tyler is thinking. Including hushed thoughts of Fred, ones that Geno can tell Tyler is trying to tamp down before Geno notices them.
“It’s weird…” Tyler pauses, “It’s like I know everything about you, but know nothing at the same time.” Geno nods, fiddling with the edge of his blanket. “You close with Fred?” He asks, and gets his answer before Tyler speaks when a warm flood of love laps at the bond. Tyler looks away and is quiet for a moment. “Yeah…” He shifts, patting Marshall’s backside. “Yeah I am. I always thought I would bond with him. For a while we thought we had bonded. I could finish his sentences and I just …knew what he would say and do before he did it. But the doctors kept saying we weren’t bonded. I don’t know how I’ll tell him about you.”
Geno sighs and tips his head back against the couch, rolling his head to the side to look at Tyler. “I not tell you that you can’t be around him. I not selfish. You both need time. I will need time.” Tyler swallows and looks away, idly scratching Marshall’s head. “Yeah.” Geno can feel Tyler’s mood shift to melancholy.
Tyler falls asleep halfway through the movie and Geno feels a gentle pull from the bond. He turns his attention to it and follows the tug. He is surprised when the bond falls open, almost like pressing against a door that wasn’t shut properly. Tyler’s mind is still jumbled and his thoughts hard to process, but quickly settles around Geno’s intrusion.
The thoughts swirl around Geno’s presence in Tylers mind, and Geno is a little taken aback. He hadn’t realized just how emotional Tyler was about the bond. There are streams of reservation and anxiety rushing around him.
A swirl of warm reddish brown circles a little distance away from Geno. He hesitates, but swears there is laughter coming from it, and gently prods the swirl. It immediately envelops him and wraps him in warmth. He realizes belatedly that it is Tyler’s memories of Freddy. Everything is warm and happy, content love. Geno startles when the swirl is jerked away from him and replaced with chilly green, shoving him towards his own end of the bond.
Geno crosses back to his own mind and blinks. Tyler is staring at him coldly. “Please don’t do that.” Geno nods and apologizes. Tyler gets up from the couch and gestures for Geno to follow him.
Tyler shows him to one of the guest rooms and points out the attached bathroom, telling Geno if he needs anything that he is just down the hall. Geno smiles and apologizes again, which Tyler waves off muttering, “See you in the morning.”
“Da. Goodnight.” Geno says with a sigh as Tyler turns and shuffles down the hall.