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“Hugo. Hugo! Hugo-chaaaan,” Charles whines.
“Stop using those Japanese honorifics. We’re in France,” Hugo retorts, frowning.
“I don’t think it’s harmful,” Loki chimes in, handing an empty glass to Hugo, who immediately stands up to fill it. “It’s a popular trend online, too. Adding ‘-chan’ to the end of your friends’ names.”
“...Well, fine,” Hugo murmurs, turning his head away. He’s hoping to avoid being teased by Charles about how ‘whipped’ he is. It works, but only because Charles is otherwise occupied.
“How old are you?” the blonde asks.
“Nineteen,” Hugo says, at the same time Loki answers “He’s nineteen.”
“Really? Not fifteen?” Charles asks again, barely keeping a grin off his face.
“What?” Hugo’s frown doesn’t fade, the crease between his eyebrows only deepening. He walks back from the sink, handing the glass of water to Loki, who smiles. “Why would I be fifteen?”
“Don’t you think you’d know if you were the same age as him?” Loki adds.
“That’s not what I’m seeing,” Charles sings, and Hugo can already feel a headache forming as the boy turns his phone around to show them his screen.
“No way Hugo just got confirmed to be 15,” the screen reads.
“Confirmed? By who?” The player in question asks, bewildered.
Charles shrugs. “I dunno, your birth certificate? Either way, you and I are the same age now!” He giggles. “And your birthday is later than mine, which means I’m older than you,” he declares.
“No, no,” Hugo refuses, shaking his head. Loki, who has been mostly silent thus far, sighs.
“Every time games are put on pause, rumors like this pop up. Is this what break week does to people?” he questions, looking exasperated. “I’ll handle this, Hugo. Don’t worry.”
Hugo stays silent, not willing to give away the slight flush on his cheeks at the thought of Loki handling something for him.
“You’re gonna make the national team put out a statement just to confirm he’s not fifteen?” Charles questions. “You’re no fun, Loki,” he groans.
“I don’t know about all that,” Loki hums, and Hugo gets a notification on his phone. It’s from Loki’s account - of course, Hugo has notifications on for Loki and Loki only, - and it’s just a repost of one of Hugo’s game compilations with a caption about his talent while only being nineteen. Despite himself, Hugo’s face warms a touch more.
“That should help,” Loki comments, looking amused at the way Hugo’s eyes are fixated on his phone, and then up at him. He smiles, waves, and Hugo looks away again.
“You guys are so gross,” Charles whines, making retching noises as Loki stands up to sit next to Hugo. Hugo would retort, if we weren’t so distracted by the warm press of Loki’s thigh against his own. Charles will get away with it, for now.