"Well!? What the hell did you do?!" Tino yelled angrily.
"I wasn't me!" Lukas defended himself "Matthias played around with my potions!"
"Matthias!" Tino bellowed "Why?!"
Matthias looked at the floor "Maybe we should find out what happened to Berwald first. I mean only his coat is here and-"
"You idiot! What are we supposed to do now?!"
"I-"
"I mean of all the irresponsible things you could have done, this one is by far the worst! I mean he is just gone and-"
Suddenly the four of them heard whimpering and turned their heads to the coat.
"Berwald?" Emil muttered, looking down to the coat.
"Mhh…?" Came a muffled sound and they quickly dug through the coat to find Berwald, as a child. His hair ruffled, his glasses drooping down his face and his dress shirt way too big for him.
"Matthias!" Tino started again, but stopped, as he heard scared whimpering from the child and looked down to see tears rolling down Berwald's cheeks. Only a few, but it was enough to soften the Finnish man's eyes.
He dropped to his knees "Berwald, it's me. Tino. You don't have to be scared."
"I-I know…" he muttered "But who are the others…?"
"Your friends." Tino smiled, helping the child up who stretched out his arms, probably expecting to be picked up, but quickly crossing his arms behind his back, once he realized that picking him up wasn't Tino's intention.
But that was changed by Tino realizing, that Berwald wanted to be picked up.
Tino smiled and quickly scooped the boy up in his arms, who clung to his shoulders.
"I don't have friends… Everyone is scared of me…"
"We are your friends." Lukas insisted.
"Yes." Matthias smiled.
Tino nodded and smiled "Alright, first of all, let's get you something to wear, alright?"
Berwald nodded and looked at the other three, before Tino carried him off to the stairs.
Emil turned to Lukas "Why is he not able to remember anyone but Tino?"
"I don't know, maybe some side effect of whatever Matthias put in the potion!"
Matthias looked away "Sorry… We can fix it right?"
Lukas nodded "But it could take a month maybe longer, because I can only use a special flower, plucked in the full moon and it was full moon only 3 days ago."
"Don't you have any left?"
"No! Since you used them all!" He snapped at Matthias.
Upstairs, Tino had dug up some old clothes for Berwald to wear.
He stripped the boy of his clothes and put him in his old clothes, before standing back up again "Alright, all done. Look in the mirror. Looks neat right?" He laughed.
Berwald stepped in front of the mirror and nodded slightly, muttering a quiet "Thank you." Before going back to Tino.
The Finnish man took the Swede's hand and led him back downstairs, just to find Matthias and Lukas bickering at each other, while Emil stood next to them, annoyed.
Tino sighed and yelled "ENOUGH!" before calming his voice "Explain to me, what will happen now."
Lukas did and Tino felt Berwald grip onto his trouser leg, to which he put a hand to the back of the child's head, in a comforting gesture.
"Okay, well, I think we should manage to take care of this situation for about a month." He smiled and looked at the others.
Lukas nodded "I think we should manage that, you're right. I mean Berwald was never problematic. It can't be that hard."
Tino nodded "Alright. Let's make dinner, shall we?"
Tino was about to go to sleep, when he heard his bedroom door open.
He expected it to be Berwald, but was nonetheless a little surprised "Berwald?" He asked softly "Are you alright?"
Berwald didn't say anything and averted his gaze to the floor, but slowly made his way to Tino's bed and climbed in.
"Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?" Tino smiled and sat down on the bed, next to him.
The Swede looked down, pulled at the hem of his shirt, nervously and nodded.
The nod was barely noticeable, but Tino had known each other for so long, that the Finnish man noticed even the smallest things about the Swede.
Tino smiled and lied down, stretching out his arm, as an invitation for Berwald to cuddle with him and the Swede took the invitation hesitantly and cuddled into the Finnish man's embrace, who hugged him tightly.
"Don't worry, Ber, you will be back to normal very soon. And until then, I'm always here to help you."
Berwald felt a small smile tuck on his lips, as he murmured "Thank you…"
Tino smiled and quickly kissed his head "Good night." He whispered to the Swede.
Berwald smiled. He knew the Fin was his boyfriend. If he was his normal self, they would be cuddling now, too, but he was afraid Tino might find all of this weird, but was glad that the Fin didn't. He murmured a quiet "Good night…" before drifting off to sleep in Tino's warm embrace.
The next day Tino and Berwald drove to the city by bus, since they didn't have a seat for a child to sit in.
Berwald held Tinos hand tightly, as they walked to the bus stop. Tino looked down to the boy next to him a few times to make sure he was alright and figured that he was probably just nervous, about going to the city like this.
They entered the bus and Tino sat down, letting Berwald sit next to him. An elderly lady took the seat opposite of them and smiled at Berwald "Oh, sir. Is this your son?"
"Well…" Tino began, contemplating what to say "He's my- my nephew. Why?"
"He is really pretty." She smiled brightly at Berwald "Aren't you now, dear? He has a really unique eyecolour."
Tino looked at Berwald, who was blushing furiously, now hugging the Fins arm "Say thank you, Ber. No reason to be embarrassed."
Berwald looked up "T-thank you, Miss."
"You're welcome." She smiled and looked up "Where are you going?"
"Shopping." Tino said "A few new clothes." He smiled at the elderly lady.
"Ah, I see. Well, I need to get out now, unfortunately. Have a nice day. Goodbye." She got up and waved.
While Tino smiled and said "Goodbye", Berwald only raised his hand to wave a little.
When Berwald and Tino got home, the Fin was carrying the Swede, because he was exhausted. Tino understood, he had way smaller legs and it was always hard for children to walk around all day.
The Swede hadn't said anything, but Tino had noticed, how he'd fall behind and quickly scooped him up in his arms and had carried him.
Matthias came up to them "Where you successful?"
"Yes, we got Ber clothes." Tino smiled "But he got tired and I carried him."
Matthias smiled "You're spoiling him."
Tino gave a chuckle "He was falling asleep, while we walked. I had to carry him."
The Dane grinned "Whatever, anyways, Lukas started making the antidote today, so he'll be back to normal in no time!"
"Over a month is not what I would specify as 'no time', but whatever you say." Tino laughed "Anyways, can you take him for a second, while I bring the bags upstairs."
Matthias nodded and took the sleeping boy into his arms and walked into the kitchen to watch Lukas cook dinner.
"Oh, I see they have returned." The Norwegian said "Is he asleep?"
"Yes, I suppose it was exhausting to walk around all day." Matthias smiled fondly, holding the Swede tighter.
The squeezing at his body woke the Swede up and he blinked a few times "Tino?" he asked tiredly and then looked up "Matthias…?"
Matthias saw Berwald start to panic "Matthias… Where's Tino…?"
"Oh, he is just upstairs, calm down, Ber." He cooed, swaying the Swede a little in his arms. Said male clung to him tighter, not liking all the motion too much "Alright…" he mumbled, nonetheless.
Tino got back downstairs and smiled at the others "Oh, Berwald is awake."
Matthias started to laugh a little "Yes, and he panicked quite a bit, when he saw you were gone."
Berwald looked away, blushing furiously. That made Tino smile and take Berwald in his arms, to which the Swede held onto him.
"Really, Matthias." Tino said and smiled "I am the only one he can remember, of course he wouldn't like being without."
Matthias laughed "You're right. Sorry, Ber."
Berwald looked up and nodding, signalizing Matthias that it was fine.
Tino smiled and held Berwald close to his shoulder "Alright, how about we eat dinner now?"
Matthias smiled in agreement, and so did Berwald.
