"Steven, the Knight doesn't move like that."
Connie grinned at Steven's exaggerated surprise, his eyes widening so much as to make his brow disappear beneath his hair.
"It doesn't? I swear this is how Pearl moved it..." He picked up the wooden piece and frowned at it, trying to remember. Finally he gave up and shrugged. "Oh well," then grinning, put it back exactly in the same spot. "King me!"
"Steven!" She swung her leg across the floor to kick him under the coffee table, trying hard to keep from laughing at his ridiculous attempt at ignorance. "You can only change pieces into kings when you're playing checkers. Are you sure it wasn't Amethyst who taught you how to play chess?"
He shook his head, his long hair rolling across his back in curls, "Nah, it was definitely Pearl. I think." This time he caught her ankle when she kicked him. "Are you going to defend against my new king, or do I win this round?"
Instead of pulling her foot away, she unfolded her other leg and put both feet in his lap. "Well, since you're going to be that way, I'll make my castle fly over your puny pawns! Hah!" She brandished his white queen in his face, then serenely placed it next to his other captured pieces. "Your turn, my Liege."
A snort of laughter escaped from behind his hand, which stroked his whiskered chin as he surveyed the battlefield. "Hmmm, that was a brilliant maneuver, Miss Knight. I may have to improve my tactics after a move like that."
Pinkie up, Connie lifted her glass of orange juice, "I look forward to see- Aaah! Sto-! Haha-aah!" She squealed as Steven suddenly began tickling her feet and they both broke out in the laughter that was always bubbling beneath the surface. The chess board jumped and pieces rolled as she twisted and squirmed, trying to free her ankles from his fingers, but he was relentless. Skillfully trapping both her feet in one hand, he used the other to lift the entire table up and set it out of their way so he could slide Connie closer. Once she was able to retaliate, their tickle fight quickly escalated into playful wrestling as Connie's speed and skill more than matched Steven's size and longer reach, ultimately ending with them in a heap of tangled limbs, each barely able to breathe around their laughter.
Gasping for breath with Steven's shoulder in her ribcage but her legs locked around his arm and chest, Connie demanded his surrender. Steven was laughing too hard to verbally submit, so instead swung his free arm up over her head and back around her waist before rolling onto his back where he could laugh properly, even with her sitting upright on his chest. The Lady Knight wiped her watering eyes and just grinned down at him until his chuckle died down enough for him to speak again. The pink glow that had built in strength during their scuffle also faded, albeit more slowly than his laughter. From his point of view, she was still haloed by the glow when he caught his breath.
"Okay," he grinned, "I surrender, you win." He rested his hands on her waist, "but only if you admit that I'm better than you at checkers!"
She giggled and shook her head, "You're impossible, Steven Universe." Leaning down, she kissed his forehead.
He closed his eyes at her tender kiss, "Of course I am, Mrs. Universe," then pulled her down to lay on his chest, "that's why you love me."
"Just to be sure, you do realize we weren't playing checkers, right?"
