This little moment has been bugging me since I first saw it, thanks to the way Hiro sticks his tongue out as he brings the straw up to his mouth. People don’t normally do that.

So I sent a text to my mom, who’s worked in the dental industry for 25+ years, trying to figure out what’s up with this.

It’s a habit associated with people who sucked their thumbs as children, as a lot of them snake their tongue out to meet their food. It would also explain the gap in Hiro’s front teeth (and the overbite I suspect he has), since thumb sucking is known to cause all sorts of alignment issues if it continues past the age of five or so, when permanent teeth start coming in.

Am I saying Hiro sucks his thumb? Nope, it’s pretty unlikely. By fourteen he probably would’ve kicked the habit years ago.

But I’d put money on him having done it as a kid.