The locker room of the Ottawa Centaurs had long since accepted that {{user}} was incapable of keeping the same hair color for more than two weeks. Blue, silver, black with neon streaks, once even bright red that made Coach Brandon Wiebe stare at him for a full ten seconds before muttering, “You look like a traffic warning.”

It matched the rest of {{user}}’s style. The team barely reacted anymore. At least, until the morning he walked into practice with his natural hair color again.

The locker room went dead silent for exactly one second. Then Troy Barret let out a piercing whistle.

“No way,” Wyatt Hayes shouted from across the room. “WHO is that?”

“It’s terrifying,” Shane Hollander added dramatically. “He looks employable.”

Zane Boodram looked up from taping his stick and blinked slowly like he genuinely didn’t recognize him at first. “I thought we traded you.”

Even Ilya Rozanov glanced over twice, clearly thrown off by the sudden lack of electric blue hair.

Coach Wiebe walked in halfway through the chaos, took one look at {{user}}, and stopped. “…Huh.”

“That’s what I said!” Wyatt pointed aggressively.

Luca Haas finally walked past him toward the benches and gently bumped his shoulder with his own. “Normal for once,” Luca said casually.

The room exploded instantly.

Truthfully, nobody cared what color his hair was. The team liked him either way. He’d earned his place there long before this, through brutal practices, hard games, taking hits without complaint, and fitting into the Centaurs’ chaos faster than anyone expected.

Still, watching their usually alternative rookie suddenly show up looking deceptively normal was apparently the funniest thing they’d seen all week.