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Vivien Hugo admired Loki from the pitch on a regular basis, but he didn’t let it distract him. He had a habit of compartmentalising the bits of him that were hopelessly attracted to him, and putting them on the back of his mind so he could focus on the task at hand. Like a well-oiled machine, he could see Loki at practice and catch his gaze, his golden eyes glistening in the stadium light almost like precious metals, and he would not let it take over the need to control the midfield and make passes for him.
It was practical of Loki to want to keep their relationship a secret. Hugo understood this. He knew that Julien was in the limelight now, being one of the younger strikers in the French leagues, people knew who he was. The last thing either of them wanted was scandal or speculation on their relationship to get in the way of either of their careers.
However, no matter how good Julien Loki was at keeping their relationship a secret, the urge to let his gaze wander to Hugo, his handsome secret boyfriend, during team meetings or the locker room banter was probably not as subtle as he thought. No one had said anything to him, and he didn’t let it distract him on the pitch, but he did find himself staring at him at times when he probably shouldn’t have been.
Loki was the one who proposed keeping their thing a secret, because he knew the scrutiny of being a footballer would extend as far as his relationships, and if anyone knew he was in one with a teammate it could be messy. He would rather not take any chances. He wasn’t afraid of bad press or any sort of rough times in his career, but he didn’t want to be inconvenienced. He knew he wouldn’t have any trouble being the best striker in the world, but he also wanted a smooth ride there, not one with troublesome tabloids about him and Hugo having a secret affair.
And because of this, everything Vivien Hugo did was calculated.
This included letting out his frustrations with those thoughts on the back of his mind, and how exactly he would do that.
“If Charles passes up just a few feet more, instead of that area he’s comfortable in, I’ll be able to score some really good goals.” Loki explained to Hugo as they finished their practice, following the other teammates towards the locker rooms. The boy in question was well ahead of the group, excited to be done with practice, and the other team members were ahead of the couple.
Hugo listened, as he always did. Loki was so arrogant and because of it, so perfect. He agreed with what he had to say, anyways, but he wasn’t thinking about that.
He was thinking about the best spot to get Loki alone. Which would be happening in under a second.
“He’s good but he’s–whoa–?!”
As the team turned the corner to reach the locker room, Hugo grabbed Loki’s arm, forcibly pulling him to the side, down the separate corner, cutting off his sentence. He took him underneath the stairwell, shielded just enough from watchful eyes, and grabbed him by the shoulders. He pushed his back against the concrete wall, not hard enough to hurt, but with just enough force to keep him in place, and slotted his own body in with his. He leaned down and pressed their lips together, kissing him deeply as he held his shoulders.
Loki was caught off-guard, but if it were anyone else, he would have fought back. He let Hugo do what he wanted with him because he trusted him and he knew he was right to when the outcome was the passionate kiss they were sharing. His plump lips somehow tasted both sweet and salty from sweat and it was intoxicating. He melted into the kiss immediately.
After a few seconds of sharing the kiss, Hugo pulled away, dropping Loki's shoulders only to move his hands to the other boy's sides, pulling their bodies closer together.
“What's gotten into you?” Julien asked with a grin on his face, his own hands running up hugo's chest to eventually stop at his shoulders. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t enjoying himself.
Vivien didn't answer right away, instead he kissed his lips again, delighted to feel Loki open his mouth into the kiss, so he could snake his tongue into his mouth gently.
After another few seconds of softly wrestling tongues, Hugo finally pulled away to answer. “You kept looking at me.”
Loki, a bit breathless and confused, raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but giggle, their faces only inches apart. “Of course I was looking at you, you're my teammate. Do you make out with everyone who looks at you?”
“No, mon cher, you were looking at me and you smiled so arrogantly.” Hugo leaned his head down now, past the other's mouth, daring to kiss the skin on his neck. “As if you knew I wanted you.” Hugo wouldn't be surprised if he did, Loki was almost godly when he was on the pitch, could it extend to his awareness of Hugo's intimate feelings of his? He concluded that that probably wasn’t the case, but the taste of his flushed skin was intoxicating enough to distract him.
Loki opened his neck, letting the other do as he wanted. He would always let Hugo do what he wanted to him, if it would serve him as well. If he didn’t want to be pushed under the stairwell and forcibly kissed, he would have made it known immediately.
But this was far from their first time having secret moments like this, when they should be in the showers, or should be in team meetings, or even hiding in Loki's childhood bedroom when his parents were downstairs making dinner waiting for them to join, none the wiser…
Julien giggled quietly again, now one hand that was on the other's shoulder, changed to entangle his fingers in his hair as he continued to kiss him. “So, that's what does it for you?” He teased, his fingers tangling in his reddish locks.
“I almost couldn't help myself.” Hugo muttered into the skin just above his collarbone. “I almost kissed you right there on the pitch.” His lips trailed upwards while his hands trailed down, his finger tips now inching themselves under Loki's jersey shirt, just above the band of his shorts, touching the warm skin on his hip bones. His lips found their way back to Loki's mouth, who kissed him back with fervor.
After a few seconds of wrestling with lips and tongues, Loki broke the kiss pulling away gently with another arrogant smile. “Good thing you composed yourself enough for practice.” He muttered, half grinning, but his gaze was still down at Hugo's flushed, wet lips, seemingly asking for more just by being parted and only a few inches away.
Vivien hungrily kissed him back again as he closed that short bridge between them, his own body somehow seemed to press closer to Julien's as he did so. He only pulled away from his mouth to move back to his neck again, lapping at his skin, trying to compose himself from unintentionally leaving marks, unknowing how successful he would be in the long run.
Eyes closed now, Loki couldn't help but melt into it, enjoying the feeling of Hugo attempting to hold back from leaving bites, he could tell how much of an internal struggle his boyfriend was having. However, it felt too good to pull him away, even with his fingers entangled in his hair, ready to yank him off if the threat was imminent, it was intoxicating.
It wasn't until Loki's eyes fluttered open slightly that he was struck with the sight of blonde hair just past the reddish locks in his face. Before he could even process what he was seeing, an annoying, almost cringe-worthy sounding voice cut into their perfect moment.
“I knew it!”
As Charles exclaimed, Loki didn't even have to pull Hugo off of him, because he had already moved at the sound of the first syllable. They both faced Charles now, the younger boy's smug expression only dampened a bit by an embarrassed blush.
Charles turned the corner as quick as he could, still practically yelling down the hall as he addressed them. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You two are–”
But Julien Loki was known for his speed and he was certainly faster than the boy. He was able to turn the corner faster and with all the might he could, he snatched the boy, clamping a hand over his mouth and pulling him under the stairwell. Hugo grabbed him from the other side, holding Charles with the overwhelming strength he possessed.
“Charles, shut up!” Loki threatened, his voice low but harsh, so their teammate knew he was being serious. “Don't mention a thing you saw to anyone, understood?”
When Charles didn't make a move to speak, his eyes moving back and forth between his two teammates, Loki dropped the hand over his mouth.
“I knew you two were dating!” He said a bit too loudly.
“Shh!” Loki looked around trying to see if there was any sign of anyone coming for their new hostage. “Someone's going to hear you!”
“Charles, you can't tell anyone.” Vivien warned now, voice just as low and threatening.
Charles scoffed. “Come on you guys, it's the biggest gossip in the locker room! You have to let me tell the guys!”
“No!” Julien scolded and grabbed Charles' arm a bit firmer than he probably should have.
“Ow!”
“This is serious, Charles.” Hugo moved himself more in front of the boy, making sure he was looking at him. “You can't tell anyone.”
“Why not?” Charles whined.
“Because this could affect our careers. It's not a game.”
“It's not going to affect your careers, everyone will be happy for you! Please let me tell them!”
“Charles!” Loki grabbed him now by both shoulders, making sure he was in the line of vision now. He took a beat to compose himself before going the serious and sympathetic route. “You might not think about it now, but you have to think about these things as a professional. People might not be so forgiving about the idea of teammates dating.”
Charles looked at him skeptically.
“If it gets out it could be bad. So no one can know. I know this doesn't affect you the same way it would affect someone like me or like Hugo, but you have to think about the consequences of something like this getting out before it destroys us. Don't you want to keep playing with us?”
It was a slightly manipulative tactic, but Charles could tell. And Charles Chevalier could play that game.
“What do I get for not telling?”
“You get the ability to keep playing with us.” Hugo stated without any pause. Hugo didn't believe Charles would actually tell anyone, but he knew he was a contrarian for fun.
Charles shrugged. “I'm bored of playing.” The contrarian tried. “I think it would be more fun to be the one to bring the gossip to the team.”
“Fine, what do you want?” Loki gave in now, still gripping the boy with too much force. While Hugo trusted Charles wouldn't tell anyone, Loki did not.
Charles thought for a second. “I get to leave team meetings thirty minutes early and I won't tell.”
“No, you need to be there for those.”
“Then I'll tell.”
Another beat, and Loki continued “Five minutes early.”
“Five? That's nothing!”
“Five minutes early and I'll tell the team it's because you're special.” Loki bargained knowing that everyone in football was a slave to their ego in some way.
Charles narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. A grin on his face formed as a new deal came to his mind. “Five minutes and I get to tag along on your dates once a week.”
“Once a month.”
“Once every two weeks!”
Loki dropped Charles' shoulders and stuck his hand out to a handshake, which Charles ended up highfiving it instead of shaking. “Deal.”
“Deal!”
He looked over at Hugo who just gave a nonchalant shrug.
“Let's go get cleaned up. If anyone asks, we were discussing business.” Hugo suggested.
“Secret business~” Charles giggled as he skipped the corner towards the locker rooms, the other two following him less enthusiastically.
Vivien had been calculated enough to deal with situations like this, but he knew Loki wasn't. He was manipulative and cunning, but Julien always gave into Charles in some way. Whether it was a weakness or a soft spot remained to be seen, but what was done, was done. There would be a little gremlin on two of their dates a month, he supposed. He wondered how long that would carry on until Charles got bored.
Loki wasn't pressed about the situation. An air of relief washed over him when he got Charles to admit he wouldn't tell anyone. However, if he was going to be an annoying presence on their dates he was going to have to rethink their strategy of dating in secret. He might be tempted to out themselves if Charles makes it difficult to enjoy their surprised heated make out sessions.
“I found them discussing business!” Charles' voice rang as he opened the door to the locker rooms.
Julien and Vivien looked at each other. A knowing glance before the taller snaked his hand behind the striker, rubbing his back lovingly for just a moment, a feeling of private camaraderie of being overwhelmed between the two.
Loki made a decision that he needed to get dressed as fast as he could and take Hugo with him and forget about this evening.
Besides they had to finish what they started before Charles interrupted them.