Everything was still, quiet, and dark when Jasper threw her arm over the cold, empty space beside her. She grunted and woke from an otherwise sound sleep, annoyed by the lack of something warm where there should have been. She opened her eyes a little, squinting through the darkness and focusing on the red blur of their alarm clock until it came into focus; two-thirty am.

Peridot said she was coming to bed three hours ago.

Slow like a slug, Jasper pulled herself out of bed away from the twisted sheets and fluffy pillows. As she planted her feet on the ground and flipped her wild hair out of her face, she had already begun to miss it. She felt her way through the darkness with her feet until she found the door; from under it there was the occasional flicker of light followed by muffled sounds from the TV- unless, of course, there was a war happening in their living room.

Peridot was hunched over on the couch with her knees tucked under her chin. She smashed away at buttons on her controller as loud gun shots, screams, and explosions came from the speakers.

With gritted teeth, she oh-so maturely shouted into her mic, "SUCK IT, YOU IDIOT NOOBS!"

Jasper, lingering in the bedroom door, watched in her sleepy daze. Everything on screen was happening too fast for her mind to process, so she slunk over to Peridot, dragging her feet, and hunkered her weight down onto her tiny girlfriend; her arms and chin resting on Peridot's shoulders and head respectively.

Peridot let out a squawk and was quick to try to shrug Jasper off while keeping focused on the game.

"What are you doing? Get off of me!" She demanded, her face heating up at the snickers from Lars, Ronaldo, and the other players. To divert the attention, she called out "Headshot!" as one of Lars' digital soldiers went down. She felt satisfied once more as he began to cuss her out.

Jasper buried her face into Peridot's hair and tightened her grip.

"'S late. Come to bed, nerd."

The round ended and rolled the results. Choosing to ignore Jasper's request, Peridot said, "Suck it, losers, I win again! Maybe you guys should start practicing more if you think you have the nuts to beat me!"

While Lars and Ronaldo grumbled and groaned at her in particular- although there was definitely an ornery twelve-year-old or two there too- Peridot shoved her hand into her bag of Dorito's and stuffed her face with them. They were sent out into the lobby, where the next match loaded.

Jasper whined, catching Peridot's attention.

"I'll come to bed after this match," Peridot reassured her through a mouthful of snacks. She rolled her shoulders under Jasper's weight and cracked her neck.

In no time at all, the next match had begun and Peridot was completely absorbed once more, lost in her small world of guns and cussing twelve-year-olds. There was no denying that she was happy with this unhealthy hobby- Jasper, however, was not.

She was half asleep and just about drooling on Peridot's head. She sagged more and more, giving Peridot an increasingly hard time. She didn't mean to do that bit on purpose, although there was nothing unintentional about her whining.

"Perrrrrrrriiii..." Jasper complained with a slow yawn. "Come to beeeeedddd..."

Although Peridot did well to ignore Jasper, all this combined with the teases from Ronaldo and Lars calling her variants of "Lover girl" and being told to skedaddle off to bed, was quick to drive her up the wall. Heaving a great, exasperated sigh, she told them she was leaving; she suffered through the shame, and exited the game. She took her headset off in defeat and tilted her head back.

Merely a baby's breath from her face was a lightly snoring Jasper; for someone so scary, she looked so cute when she slept. With her features relaxed for once, she looked content. Upon taking her glasses off as well, Peridot reached up to cup Jasper's cheeks and then went for a sweet kiss on the lips.

Stirred from a doze, Jasper wrinkled her nose into a sour face. She finally opened her eyes a little and looked upside-down at a tiredly amused Peridot.

Jasper's brows knitted together and she slurred, "Yuh comin' to bed now...?"

Her lips pursed into a smile, Peridot leaned up and gave Jasper another peck on the lips. "Yeah. Let's go."

Nodding, Jasper yawned, unwrapping her arms from Peridot, only to grab her around the middle and pick her up with ease. Peridot let out a surprised noise and clung to Jasper's arms for support. She was lifted straight over the couch and carried across the living room to their bedroom, clutched securely to Jasper's chest the way a child handled a toy. It was futile, not to mention dangerous, to fight against Jasper when she very well could drop Peridot or even just crush her on accident, so she allowed Jasper to carry her to bed without a quarrel.

Jasper's usual thunder of a stride was replaced now by a lazy, tired shuffle.

She brought Peridot over to the bed, only to dump her there, leaving her to almost bounce right off the side. Thankfully, she caught herself as Jasper flopped down onto her end.

She shifted around restlessly to get herself comfortable, then after a minute of stillness, threw her arm over Peridot and pulled her in close; the usual routine.

Working with what leverage she had, Peridot pulled the blanket up over them. As she did so, Jasper whispered in a hot breath against her neck, "Night... Yuh nerd."

A shiver went down Peridot's spine. She smiled weakly and patted Jasper's arm.

"Yeah, yeah... Goodnight, you big baby."