The time I hid the PJ pants

They were in my small bedroom

Grey walls, blue duvet

Fishing their sleepover supplies out of their backpack.

Their youthful way of preparing for experiences

Or maybe the child of divorced parents knows how to pack a bag.

They laid out their matching pajama set on the bed

And turned to dig out more.

Again, childlike things.

But in the way that is tender in a grown person.

I, from reclined in the bed, ducked forward to silently pull the pajama pants 

And tuck them under a pillow, unseen and unheard.

A disappearing action a humanoid black hole the elves that take your things when you lose them.

I didn’t plan it, I did it in an instant

I started to swell with air destined to be laughter

A child delighted with my tricks.

They turned round with toiletries and chatting and when the time came 90 seconds later to deal with PJs

They paused confused and began the bewildered search

Back into the bag, spinning on an axis, ~where did those go I could’ve sworn~

I’m swollen and I’m playing it cool and I'm devouring the comedy

The constructed bafflement I am the puppeteer and

                                My beloved the puppet

They are searching pivoting flustered and fumbling 

I act and improv, supporting the search from my jester’s perch

But it’s time to let the wind out of my balloon my mischief must unfurl and fly

I am lit up in love, the trick I know will land because I know my person

I know their careful way I know what their laugh will sound like

I know my intimate thievery is good!

My mouth curls and my eyes spill and I let them see

~Why are you smiling?!~Did you hide them?!~

The sound that a laugh makes when it sneaks free

I brace as they come to me, holding me in their hands to search around me

Laughing into my eyes, forehead to forehead, seeing my happy guilt

I’ve gotten what I want

They are here with me now in the bed their weight on me as I laugh 

They search the pillows with their hands and their discovery is just like I pictured it

Their laugh is just like I heard it and called it forth I loved calling it 

Their laugh I loved calling it I loved it