It's hard to resist the urge to call Howard adorable and cuddle him. Really, it is. Cedric chooses to restrain himself to smiling like an idiot. It's hard not to feel overheated.

He's aware they need to go slowly, so he awkwardly extends and retracts his hand once or twice. Is it going to be okay? Is it not? In the end, his hand ends up gently covering the wrist Howard is staring at.

"More than that," he admits. "It's fine. That's...well, that's one thing that boyfriends can do, isn't it." That word's going to take some getting used to. "Doesn't have to be all the time, but I don't mind."

This is so awkward. He should just shut up and start doing something comfortably silent. Fidget, fidget.