Punishment
Setting: Pavement Cracks Universe
James discovered pretty early into his relationship with Piper that his sweetie loved his sleep, and absolutely refused to even attempt functioning when it was interrupted. James, on the other hand, slept lightly and infrequently, always ready to pop out of bed fully alert at the slightest stimuli (he blamed it on his childhood with the circus- the elephant trainer was about as sober and reliable as Papa Jesse).
Still though, Piper's requests for a quiet eight-ish hours of sleep was a sensible one, and at first James was respectful. Then he started getting bored. And then he started messing with Piper.
As was his wont, he started with the classics, like shining a pair of flashlights at Piper and screaming "TRUCK!" or tickling his nose with a feather and getting him to slap himself in the face after coating his hands with different substances. He was threatened with castration if he tried the bowl of wet water trick.
"But baby, that'd punish both of us."
And for his lack of sympathy he'd been banished to his apartment for a week (the sentence only lasted through the weekend before Piper relented). James cooled off on experimenting with Piper's sleep habits for a while after that (he'd convinced himself it was somehow necessary research rather than merely being a needy pain in the ass).
Piper was lulled into a false sense of security regarding sleep by almost a month of uninterrupted nine plus hours, with breakfast and coffee waiting for him when he finally left the bedroom.
Then one morning he woke up in a mid-sized ball pit/moonbounce. He shot up in bed, which set the moon bounce shaking and scattered the little plastic balls all over the bedroom floor. "What the fucking fuck...?" He rubbed at his eyes, unable to process the experience. "J-James!"
"Hey Pookie!" James somesaulted into the ball pit and snuggled up next to him. "G'morning."
"Oh no it's not. Where's the bed?"
"Safely stored in the empty apartment up the hall. You were really out of it last night, so after you fell asleep I thought I'd make a challenge for myself and see how much furniture in the bedroom I could swap without waiting for you. The bed was the big boss."
"Screwing with my sleep isn't a video game!"
"Anything can become a game with the right perspective. You didn't react to the dresser becoming a popcorn machine yet."
Piper leaned over the edge of the ballpit and scowled, noting that his bedroom bore a marked resemblance to a rich kid's birthday party or a carnival.
"After I wake up, and have my morning cup of coffee, remind me to punish you. Severely."
"You think I'd fuck with you this much and not have coffee already made in the kitchen? Yeesh. I'll put it all back while you're in the shower."
"Damn right you will," Piper snapped. "Now get out of my ballpit. I'm going back to sleep."
