I'm hoping to do more Steven Universe works, but this particular one wouldn't get out of my head so it had to go first. Next up I'm planning a more Pearl centric one but not Lapiven. There will be other Lapiven works.

Enjoy.

"Hmm..."

Lapis, being a gem, didn't need to breathe, but her sleeping companion did. For some reason, watching Steven breathe, the slow rise and fall of his abdomen with each life sustaining intake and exhale of air, fascinated her to no end. The only thing that intrigued her more, was feeling his heartbeat. Another thing she didn't have, but he did.

Good thing Steven was a heavy sleeper. He didn't even twitch when Lapis' hand lay on top of his chest, her fingers splaying out to feel his beating heart through the thin material of his nightshirt.

Feeling bold, Lapis removed her hand and replaced it with her own head. After making sure no strands of her hair would accidentally get into Steven's mouth, Lapis shut her eyes and pressed her cheek to him.

Lapis had to stifle her giggle when her head would move up and down while he breathe but she was too busy focusing on Steven's heartbeat. Once upon a time, the slow rhythmic thumping would have been annoying, uncomfortable even. But right now, with the sound and feeling coming from Steven, it was soothing. She'd earlier scoffed at the very idea of such a thing being an effective lullaby but here she was, being lulled right to sleep by it.

Granted, she was supposed to be sleeping, too, but she didn't want to actually do so yet. Reluctantly, she raised her head from Steven's chest and sat up on her side, fist on her jaw propping her head up.

Lapis, having never shared an actual bed with another before, began her night by laying ramrod straight on her back, unsure how she was supposed to be positioned.

This… thing they shared now, this human relationship was taking Lapis some time to truly understand. What was alright for her to do? What was going too far, or doing too much? Steven promised to tell her if something wasn't right, but even then, she treasured Steven so much… she didn't want to make any mistakes.

This wasn't quite the same as what she saw on Camp Pining Hearts. Despite her still needing to learn more about human customs, Lapis at least figured out pretty quickly that real life was different from what was shown on the television.

Steven had simply told her to "relax, do what's comfortable". But it was far easier said than done. She just… she didn't want to make a mess of this and ruin one of the best, if not the actual best, things to ever happen to her.

Despite Steven's reassurances, Lapis had remained like a statue for hours until the sleeping boy's questing arms found her. Once he did, he'd wrapped them around her and pulled her close. Tight enough to hold, but not so tight as to make her feel trapped, even allowing her a lot of room to be able to move. In that moment, Lapis had decided to take a chance and just snuggle into Steven in whatever way she felt was comfortable and wouldn't cause Steven any physical harm.

Even asleep, Steven not only knew of her limits, but respected them!

When sleeping Steven nuzzled under her chin slightly before relaxing once more, a smile came unbidden to Lapis' lips. He really was adorable while he slept, she could not deny that. Yet, it was something she would never admit while awake, even under the most severe of duress. The only way she could crack on that front would be if Steven turned that starry-eyed look on her. It was borderline criminal what that face did to her.

Recalling some of her research into intimate sleeping arrangements, Lapis had something she wanted to try.

With all the subtlety and slowness Lapis could muster, she turned again. But this time, it was away from Steven so that her back was to him. Just as she expected, Steven's arms didn't stop her. They merely adapted to the change.

That was enough to bring another smile to Lapis' lips, but Steven's next act caught her completely by surprise. She had just relaxed into Steven's hold when she felt a very familiar pair of lips softly touch the teardrop shaped gem on her upper back. The sensation sent a mild shiver right through Lapis, as it often did whenever Steven did that.

"Lapis…" Lapis couldn't see him with her back to the boy, but she could hear the grin she knew he was wearing in his sleep. Much to Lapis' delight, Steven didn't content himself with just kissing her gem. He also rubbed his cheek against it, like he wanted to be as close to her as possible.

This was far from the first time Steven had done something like this to her gem. He'd developed a habit to sometimes give it a kiss… or several, whenever they were alone or whenever nobody was paying attention to the pair. While pleasant, it tended to be very distracting. This wouldn't be an issue normally, but when she was flying? That was a different story. Luckily, they'd been flying low above the water that first time.

Pearl had yet to allow Lapis to hear the end of it.

Steven, in true Steven-like fashion, didn't stay still for long. While this was the first time they were sharing a bed, it was not the first time they'd fallen asleep together. The boy tended to have a difficult time sitting still whether awake or asleep.

Lapis could see the appeal humans found in sleeping in the arms of their loved ones, it was certainly much more enjoyable than doing so alone. Which made it quite annoying when Steven let go and shifted onto his back.

Now that, was not alright. She was just getting comfortable!

Lapis decided that if Steven wouldn't come to her, she'd come to him. Twirling back over yet again, she once more draped an arm across him and rested her head on his chest.

Lapis instantly knew something was up.

Steven's heartbeat, while earlier had been slow and at a steady pace and rhythm, was now beating much faster. Maybe he was having a nightmare, or maybe he was…

Oh.

Oh!

"Really?" Lapis whispered, sitting up to stare down at Steven.

No response.

"Oh, Steven." Lapis singsonged with the sweetest voice she could manage, just like Connie had taught her. It was a sneakily effective trick that Steven normally couldn't resist, much like that look he used against Lapis.

Again, no response.

"Last warning." Lapis' cerulean eyes narrowed dangerously as she threw a leg over Steven's waist, moving to straddle him. Good thing he'd gotten physically larger since they first met. He would have been harder to pin down when he was smaller.

Regardless, playtime was over.

"Okay, you brought this upon yourself." Lapis arms raised high in the air, curling her fingers as if they were giant claws. And yes, she was hesitating for a scant few more moments, giving the boy one last chance.

A chance that he, of course, squandered.

With no further warning, Lapis pounced…

With a ferocious tickle attack to Steven's fleshy sides.

Steven didn't last even a single second before he exploded into howling laugher and cries for her to stop, but Lapis wasn't listening to his pleas for mercy.

"This is for pretending to be asleep on me!" Lapis, having been once again snagged by Steven's contagious laughter and joy, laughed right along with him while pressing her attack.

"No… fair!" Steven gasped between peals of laughter while trying to breathe. His own hands went to her hips and sides in a vain attempt to counter-attack, but it was for naught. "You're not… ticklish at all!"

"As you humans say…" Lapis hands redirected her assault to beneath his arms. "All's fair in love and war!

Lapis giggled at the boy's attempt to find her own spots. She was, to use another human term, 'immune' to such things. Too bad for the boy pinned beneath her. However, he quickly gave that up as a lost cause, and changed tactics to trying to throw her off.

Lapis, while physically weak by gem standards, was stronger than a human, even a hybrid like Steven. Making his struggles for naught. He could maybe dislodge her, but it would require a lot of effort on his part. Effort he was having trouble mustering under Lapis furious onslaught.

Tears were streaming from Steven's eyes before Lapis finally took pity on him and relented. Steven seized the opportunity to gain some ground in their battle by seizing hold of her hands. With their hands pressed together palm to palm, pink skin meeting blue, the pair laced their fingers together each giving the other a mild squeeze.

"You're… evil. You know that… right?" Steven wheezed, only now getting some air back into his lungs as he blinked some of the moisture away from his eyes.

"Pfft." Lapis waved a dismissive hand, but the gesture was a little odd considering she refused to release Steven's hand to make it. "You love it."

"Yeah." Steven smiled up at the gem. There it was, that same starry-eyed look that did things to Lapis' insides she never experienced before Steven. "I do."

Lapis, unsure at first what else to say, simply smiled back and leaned down to touch her forehead to Steven's.

"Fess up." Lapis, only now noticing her eyes had drooped close when their foreheads made contact, cracked a single eyelid. "How long were you awake?"

"When you turned over." Steven confessed, a faint red flush coming to his cheeks.

Lapis mind flashed back to when Steven kissed her gem. "I knew it!"

Steven offered nothing more than a sheepish shrug.

"You know…" Lapis changed the subject, rolling off Steven in the process but keeping their hands joined. "You were right."

"Oh?" Lapis could hear the smugness.

"Don't get full of yourself." Lapis bonked Steven on the nose with this own hand. "I just mean that this is… nice."

"And you doubted me." Steven said fondly, letting go of one of Lapis' hands to brush a lock of her hair from her face.

"Sorry." Lapis leaned into the contact of his hand on her cheek. "But really, we should do this more often."

"Really?" Steven visibly brightened. "You don't have to do anything you don't…"

"I want to." Lapis silenced the boy with a finger to his lips. "You, me, just laying here, together. There's nowhere else I'd rather be, Steven."

"Me too, Lapis." Steven's fingertips traced along Lapis jaw, eliciting tingles wherever he touched.

"Nice as this is…" Lapis had a hard time concentrating on anything other than Steven's touch. "You need to be getting some sleep."

"Only if you join me in dreamland."

"Always."

Let me know what you all think. I'm also happy to take requests for things people want to see more of.