The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 227: Game and aftermath. (Patreon)

Turns out airsoft is nerve-wracking. You run through a forest where enemies could be around any corner and you could get shot at any moment. And that’s exactly what happens to you. Unlike everyone else playing, you don’t know the area. It’s like you’re just trying to get over some bushes and someone shoots you from an unknown location, making you walk back to the respawn area. And since Olivia’s been sticking with you to teach you how to play, she’s been getting shot about as much.

“Sorry. I’m screwing up a lot.” You tell her as the two of you wait in the respawn area to rejoin the game.

“It’s fine. It’s not like I expected you to be a master of the game from the start.” She tells you. “Though it really isn’t fun to get shot only minutes after respawning. Bunch of assholes.” She sighs.

Yeah. You can barely even play the game. These guys don’t hold back at all.

“Alright. I know what we’ll do.” Olivia nods to herself. “We’ll leave the enemy flag to the rest of the team. We’ll focus on defending ours.”

“Alright. How do we do that?”

“See that building?” She asks, pointing to an abandoned two story house. “There’s a room there with a window looking towards the enemy base and one towards our flag. We grab our rifles and wait them out.”

“Alright. It’s not like I have a better idea.”

When your time is up, you and Olivia run towards the building. It’s empty and full of dust, as expected, but in a way it helps set the atmosphere of a battlefield. You go up to the second floor and go into what once would’ve been the master bedroom. There’s even a broken bedframe inside.

“Get in that corner, I’ll stand here.” Olivia says. “Remember, try to hide yourself as best as you can. These guys are good enough that they may hit you even if they can only see a bit of your shoulder.”

“Got it.”

You kneel in the corner, right next to the edge of a big , glassless window. You set the barrel of the M4 rifle Olivia lent you on the window frame and stay as still as you can. Olivia is at the opposite side of the same window, in the same position as you, and aiming at the other side.

“So now we wait?” You ask.

“Yeah.” Olivia nods. “And don’t worry. They’ll show up.”

And they do. Just when you thought it might just be a good idea to strike up a casual conversation, Olivia catches a couple of guys from the opposite team sneaking around the bushes.

Both of your rifles have scopes, so that should help you aim from this distance.

“Wait for them to get closer. We’ll shot when they’re close enough to our flag.” Olivia says.

You steady your breathing. It’s actually pretty tense to just wait when you can see the enemy. But you’ll follow Olivia’s orders. The two of you wait and watch their movements. One of them stays hidden while the other looks like he’s about to run towards the tree where you flag is tied.

“I can get the one in the bushes. You try to shot the one running.” Olivia says. “I’ll shoot when you shoot.”

“Got it.” You nod. You focus on the guy coming out of the bushes at a full sprint. You watch him from the scope of your gun, and trying to aim at a moving target from about 20 meters is already difficult. So you wait. You keep watching him run until he’s reached the flag, and when he’s busy trying to untie it, you pull the trigger.

Your first shot misses, and so do the second and third. But your fourth manages to hit his arm, making him raise it and yell “Hit!”

At the same, time, Olivia shot the guy that was hidden in the bushes farther away and still got him.

“Good shot.” Olivia praises you with a smirk.

“That was nothing but luck.” You chuckle.

The game continues for a about 10 more minutes. And with you and Olivia there to defend the flag, your team ended up securing a victory.

______________________________________________________________

After two more games, the sun is starting to set, which means the meeting is over. Everyone starts gathering their stuff, loading things into their cars and leaving one by one. After getting Olivia’s stuff back in her car, including the gear she lent you, the two of you say a quick goodbye to the other guys and drive away.

“Sorry, in the end it wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be.” Olivia says with a wry smile. “We ended up playing very defensively.”

“I thought it was really fun.” You tell her. “It’s frustrating that I’m so bad at the game, but that’s to be expected, I guess. But I’m interested in playing more. I’ll check out some good prices for a handgun or something.”

“Really? I can help you pick something good for cheap.” She says, showing some excitement at the prospect.

“Please do.” You chuckle. “My budget is not very high.”

“Though… If you want to play again, I can always lend you mine.” She says.

“I might take you up on that. I really did enjoy myself today.” You nod.

“Good. For a moment I started fearing you’d find it boring.”

“Far from it. It was really exciting. Besides, I got to see just how serious you are about it. It’s scary how good a shot you are.” You laugh.

“I’ve been playing since I was 13. I’d be a disgrace if I wasn’t a good shot by now.” She laughs with you.

The rest of the drive back is spent talking about moments in the game. Times when cool things happened, when she saw you make a mistake, the guns the other guys were using and so on. You barely even notice when you’re at your place.

“Thanks for today, Olivia. I mean it. It was a lot of fun.”

“Good to know my effort in planning this didn’t go to waste.” She grins.

“It certainly didn’t.” You chuckle. “But now… There’s a couple of things I’d like to ask you.” You say with a small, wry smile.

“Yeah…” She sighs. “Do you… mind if we go to your room?”

“Not at all.”

Olivia parks her car in front of your place and the two of you go in. You pour two glasses of juice and sit at the table, opposite to each other.

“How did you guys manage to make this dump look so nice?” Olivia asks, looking around.

“A part of it is the girls’ sense of aesthetics. They practically remodeled the place while I was way.”

“While you were in Japan, right?”

“Yup.”

Olivia takes a deep breath and turns more serious. “David, I know you want to ask me things, but there’s one thing I want to ask you first. Something I need to know.”

“Go ahead.”

“Katherine implied some things when she was helping us with the assignment. Something about… some kind of magic.”

Oh.

“What did she mean?”

Well, if anything, it’s good she brought it up before things went any further. You need to get this out of the way quickly, for better or worse.

“A month after coming to Hayes, something appeared in my phone. A weird thing called The Affection Multiplier App.”

You start telling her everything. From what it does automatically, to what it allows you to do and how it’s changed your life. You tell her how the main reason you were able to easily forgive them is because you saw in their scores they were being honest about their feelings.

“…” Olivia remains quiet after you’re done, like she’s slowly taking everything in.

“Regretting anything?” You ask.

“…The way Katherine was speaking, I dared to believe there was something weird at play. But this is… different than what I thought.” Olivia says with a bitter smile on her face.

“How so?”

“Honestly, I was starting to believe it was something like hypnosis or something. Like you’d done something with our minds to make us stop bothering you.”

“That’s not completely wrong. There are certain effects the app has in place that make it harder for people to dislike me. I may not have done anything to you directly, but its effects are still influencing you.”

“…” Olivia chuckles bitterly. “You know, I used to daydream about having hypnotic powers and making those that bothered me into slaves or something.” She grimaces. “I wish I’d had the app you have back when I was in middle school. It would’ve made things so much easier.”

“It would’ve.” You nod. “So you believe me?”

“It’s difficult to, but I do. Like Katherine said, once you know you start noticing how unnaturally natural it all is.” She sighs. “Though it’s also not as bad as I thought it would be. To be honest… I think that if you’d told me you’d brainwashed me, I would’ve been okay with it.”

“W-What?”

Olivia looks at the table with downcast eyes and a wry smile. “I always knew everything I did would someday come back to bite me in the ass. And all things considered, I got it too easy. I think a part of me wanted to be brainwashed just so I could say I was atoning for making people’s lives miserable.”

“Olivia…”

“But it doesn’t work that way.” She says, looking at you with a strong resolution clear in her eyes. “I did what I did because that’s what I thought was for best. I won’t regret it, but I’ll accept whatever consequences may come. If I went back in time, maybe I’d do things differently, but I can’t and I’m not sure I’d even want to. I’m not the kind of girl who bothers looking back.”

“I’ve noticed.” You tell her with a smile.

“So now that that’s clear, let me say it again.” She smirks and crosses her arms below her chest. “I’m in love with you, David. I want you. I want to be your girlfriend, no matter how many other women I have to share you with. Even if there’s magic bullshit happening, I’ve never felt my chest so light. If something supernatural is to thank for it, then I’ll accept it.”

Your own chest tightens when you hear her words. You smile. “I can’t help but think that, if you’d shown me this side of you from the beginning, I would’ve fallen so hard for you from day one.”

“It’s the one thing I regret the most.” She says. “I regret that I couldn’t see you were exactly what I needed to get my life in order.”

“You’re overestimating me. Besides, you’re not the only one who’s changed. I wouldn’t have been able to have a conversation like this with you back then. I think we’ve both done some growing up these past few months.”

“You may be right.” Olivia chuckles. “It’s true that your newfound confidence is far more attractive than seeing you cower in fear. You’re also better eye candy now. ”

“And you’re far sexier now that I know you won’t knee me in the balls.” You smirk, making her grimace.

“Y-Yeah… sorry about that.”

“So now it’s my turn to ask questions.” You say. “I know that it’s important for you that everything’s clear between you, Lilian, Jessica and I. So what do you want me to do now? How do we move from here? I want you, Olivia. I want Jessica, too. And although Lilian and I are only starting to understand each other, I like her as well.”

“And that’s exactly what we wanted, too.” Olivia says with a small smile. “Date all three of us. We can’t ask for more than be able to be with the guy we like while also staying as close as we always have. Lilian might not be as sure as Jessica and I are, but give her time. It’s… her first time thinking so seriously about a relationship.”

“Okay then.” You say, feeling your shoulders a bit lighter. Just a bit, though. “I’d still like them to know about the Affection Multiplier before taking things further, though.”

“That’s fair. I’ll be there with you when you tell them.” Olivia nods. “But I don’t think they’ll take it badly.”

“Thanks. I hope so.” You sigh.

“So... This means we’re officially together now? I’m your girlfriend and you’re my boyfriend?”

“I guess. Unless you want me to ask you officially.” You chuckle.

“Do it.” Olivia says with a grin.

“Okay then. Olivia, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Fuck yeah.” Her grin only grows as she stands up from her seat, walks up to you and sits on you, straddling your lap, wrapping her arms around your neck and firmly locking her lips on yours. You just give in, holding her by the waist and kissing back those sweet lips.

“I’m guessing we’re not taking this very far until you talk to Lilian and Jessica, right?” Olivia asks, gasping for air while your foreheads and noses touch after the kiss.

“Preferably.” You smile wryly. “Though you’re not making it easy to resist.”

“Then let me pay your back for only a fraction of all the teasing I did back then. Only kisses, but you can touch wherever you want.”

“You damn temptress.” You groan as you feel your resistance weakening. One of your hands leaves her waist to firmly grope one for her tits.

“Ah!” Her moans are even sweeter than you imagined. And to think than you’re freely touching the large, soft bosom of the woman who was once the source of your misery, and she’s smirking at you knowingly… it’s such a surreal experience.

“How long have you wanted to do this for?” She asks teasingly.

“Ever since I first saw you.” You answer.

“Well, from today on, feel free to grope as much as you want because you don’t even need to ask permission. Not only are you allowed to touch me wherever and whenever, but I want you to.”

“And you? How long have you been holding that back?” You ask, teasing her back.

“Oh, believe me, I still am.” She grins. “I’ll just use this chance to show you I can be a good girl.” She kisses you again, giggling. “I’ll be your good girl.”

This girl’s amazing.