And so he stays just close enough to be distracting without providing any touch, humming cheerfully as they walk, until they get back home and he can innocently head off towards his room.]
[Also it's harder to talk about with Jean! She knows better than most how fraught their situation was. Is, still, in back of Pavo's mind. But he's trying to downplay his hesitations, so instead once they're safely alone he's gathering Noctua into his arms.]
[He is pulled! He slips, falling sideways onto the bed next to Noctua, snickering all the while. It's fun. It reminds him of when they were kids, and that's soothing enough to make Pavo relax a little even deep down where he's actually a churning maelstrom of Issues 24/7!]
[The problem, here -- the truly unfair and horrible thing -- is that despite Pavo being taller, Noctua is more solid. Pavo makes up for it visually with excessive stupid shoulder padding, but right now it means he is failing to flip them.
And thus, he'll have to resort to dirty fighting. Like, say, subtly kicking his own boots off and over the edge of the bed, just so they'll make a sudden noise and maybe startle Noctua!]
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