May I ask for some contrahero, mayhaps?
(Yes you may! I'm actually surprised that this is the first contrahero request, I thought there'd be more. Either way, I love them, and how cute and silly they are, so enjoy!)
Hero and Contrarian have a little game that they like to play, called the 'I love you' game.
It was quite simple. They would each take turns saying I love you, but they would have to add something to the end of it.
Such as-'I love you so much that I want to vomit.'
'Well, I love you so much that I feel like I can jump and touch the sun.'
The point of the game was to keep adding more and more ridiculous things after the 'I love you' until one of them couldn't think of anything to top that.
Contrarian was just too creative for his own good. He would come up with lines that would have Hero simultaneously burst out laughing and his face heating up in embarrassment.
It wasn't as if it was a bad thing. There wasn't even technically a proper winner to the game, or even a prize to win, if you excluded the amount of kisses they traded after the game.
It's just that sometimes, Hero would like to win, just once. Just to prove that his love for Contrarian was as passionate and as colourful as Contrarian's was for him.
Like he said, it wasn't a bad thing to lose-but Hero would sure like to see what Contrarian looked like when he lost for once.
They were cuddling on the couch one time, Contrarian laying flat on his back while Hero snuggled into his chest, and Contrarian was peppering kisses to the top of his head, when he mumbled into his feathers, "I love you."
Hero smiled playfully, hearing the beginnings of their game again. "I love you more," Hero muttered, before lifting his head to meet Contrarian's playful eyes.
Contrarian giggled, and then said, "I love you so much that I could swallow a whole watermelon."
Hero burst out laughing at how ridiculous they were already starting, but he quickly responded with, "I love you so much that I could walk through fire without getting hurt."
Hero felt Contrarian squeeze him tighter, a competitive spark in his eyes. He stared at Hero for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes in thought, and then he smiled cheekily and said, "Well, I love you so much that I could turn into a shadow, so that I could follow you around and prank people."
Hero opened his mouth to reply, but the image of Contrarian bouncing around as a dark shadow and messing around, and then slinking back to the darkness to escape blame was really funny to him-and he burst out laughing.
He shoved his face into Contrarian's chest, who cheered and exclaimed, "I'll take that as a win!"
"It's just-" Hero tried to say, "-just the image of you as a shadow, doing like, cartwheels or something is so silly to me."
"I'm nothing if not silly in everything I do-that's one thing you can count on me for."
"Yeah, I see that." Hero relaxed back against Contrarian's body, his ear right over Contrarian's heartbeat with a sigh. "Fine. You win-again."
Contrarian waved an arm in the air gleefully and said, "Another victory for me."
They quickly fell back into their relaxed cuddling, but Hero couldn't stop thinking about how he had lost the game-again.
He wanted to beat Contrarian. It was dumb, but Hero wanted to prove that he loved Contrarian enough to win at this little game.
He knew they weren't going to break up over this, but Hero still felt like it was important to be able to convey his love properly. Or maybe he's just been hanging out with Smitten too much.
Still, Hero started to think of how he could beat Contrarian, if only to see his partner's reaction at Hero usurping him.
How did Contrarian always win? Well, he always made Hero laugh until he surrendered, so maybe Hero could try that? But then again, Hero's not particularly funny.
What kind of reactions were Hero able to get out of Contrarian? He thought about it for a few minutes, and his brain merely reminded him of all the times that Contrarian complimented him, calling him too sweet and kind for his own good, and that his teeth would fall out at the sweetness.
Wait- maybe Hero could use that.
Hero smiled, cuddling into Contrarian's chest, knowing exactly how he was going to win the game this time.
That night, as they were settling down for bed, Hero dragged Contrarian as close as he could, pressing a kiss to his forehead, making Contrarian giggle.
He felt Contrarian relax and melt into Hero's arms and mumbled, "Night, love you."
Hero smirked, and muttered back, "Love you more."
Everything was silent for a few seconds, before Contrarian snorted, and lifted his head to peer up at Hero in giddy surprise. "Really? You wanna do this again?" Hero just grinned down at him. Contrarian sighed and said, "Okay, but it's your funeral."
Contrarian scooted up to be at eye level with Hero, and Hero could see the determination in the other's eyes, even in the dark, as Contrarian began, "I love you so much that I feel like I could juggle five whole cabins at once."
Hero tightened his grip on Contrarian, smiling at him warmly as he whispered, "I love you so much that even the flowers would be able to feel our love."
Contrarian's face flashed with surprise, before he quickly recovered, but Hero could still see a hint of Contrarian being taken aback by his words.
Contrarian shot him a confident look and said, "I love you so much that I feel like I could ride a mountain like a horse."
Hero smiled sweetly at him, leaning down closer to Contrarian's face as he said, "I love you so much, that I would make the sun shine on all the amazing living things on this land, for a chance for us to build a home there."
This time, Contrarian chuckled nervously, staring at Hero in uncertainty, and Hero could feel the way Contrarian was studying his face and trying to understand him.
Hero thought that this would be the moment that Contrarian admitted defeat, but then he felt Contrarian tighten his grip around his neck and quietly said, as if unsure and even afraid of what was about about happen, "W-Well I love you so much that I feel like I could bounce on a cloud."
Hero could tell that Contrarian wasn't focusing as well as he usually was for this game, and he decided to go in for the kill.
He cupped Contrarian's cheek with one hand, leaning down to press a soft kiss against his lips, and when they parted only a few seconds later, he whispered to Contrarian, "I love you so much, that my devotion to you would carry on even if we were nothing more but feathers in the wind."
Contrarian froze, staring up at Hero with wide eyes, and Hero felt the way he shivered in his hold and his feathers stood on end. Contrarian didn't have a response for the next few seconds, and Hero smiled knowingly, and they both knew in that moment that he had won.
Contrarian chuckled nervously, glancing around the bedroom as he went, "Wow-didn't expect you to-um-go that route."
Hero giggled, rubbing a hand up and down Contrarian's back. "Does that mean I won?"
"Yeah," Contrarian said, still sounding as if he hadn't moved on from what just happened, "you've won, because what was-" he cut himself off with a shake of his head, and Hero struggled not to laugh louder and accidentally wake someone up- he's just never seen Contrarian this caught off guard before.
Contrarian blew out a breath. "You are brutal, you know that?" Hero smiled and pressed another kiss to his lovely partner who he had finally beaten at the 'I love you' game.
"Well," Hero said, feeling Contrarian settle back down within his arms. "I was just trying a different approach, the honest strategy."
Contrarian shoved his face into Hero's chest, and Hero could tell that he was flustering the other a lot with this teasing, and he decided that he was going to do whatever it takes to win from now on if it got this reaction out of Contrarian.
"Shut up and take your victory," Contrarian mumbled. "Just know that I'm coming back with a vengeance."
Hero kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes. "I'll be ready for you."
