Love Addict's RPG Ch. 27 (Patreon)

This was a fun one.

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Saturday, February 17th

There was a worse hell than waking up with a weed hangover on a work day, and it was called whatever the fuck this was. Oliver awoke, and there was only pain from the very second he regained consciousness. Pain, a burning warmth in his forehead, and a pool of sweat surrounding him. The cheap carpeting beneath him was thoroughly soaked and smelled of failure. As far as the most shameful moments of Oliver's life went, this was definitely among them.

"Fuck me..." Oliver sighed, trying to pull himself up off the floor. His arms rebelled against him during the attempt, giving out and sending him back to the ground. He couldn't rely on them for much, and although his legs didn't ache like they did yesterday, his fever came with a general weakness that made the simple act of moving his body a desperate struggle.

Sitting around in sweaty shame wasn't Oliver's idea of a good time, so he fought against himself until he succeeded in dragging his body over to his bed. He managed to pick up his phone once he got there. It was 1:41 PM, and boy, did it feel like it. It shouldn't have been surprising to him, but it was. He hadn't woken up so late in literal years. If only he felt like he slept as much as he did.

"All this because I got a little carried away, huh...?" He leaned back, disappointed not only at himself but the situation as a whole.

Rechecking his phone, he realized Bradley had texted him several times this morning. The first few offered up some new details of his urban exploration- apparently, he spent the night observing a local fight club, of all things- while the most recent one came only a few minutes ago. Bradley was worried about how long Oliver was taking to respond and asked if he needed to drop by for a check-in.

Embarrassing as it was, Oliver couldn't even stand up on his own and get in his bed, resorting to leaning against it. There was no way he would make it through the day without some help, and relying on his psychically-created manservant was better than bothering his parents. He was about to text Bradley and ask for assistance when he got a new message from Mia, completely stealing his attention.

---

Mia:

hey sry bout last night I was high af lol

woulda texted sooner but then I got dragged into goin somewhere w/ my friend Becca this mornin

how u holdin up

---

Oliver replied immediately.

---

Oliver:

Not good

Couldn't sleep last night and I ended up getting carried away trying to make myself tired

Now I'm sick. Fever.

Mia:

...

god damn it, ollie

what's wrong

u know what, h/o

----

His phone started ringing, catching him by surprise. Amusingly, Mia had a dedicated ringtone even though he never assigned her one. It was a chiptune arrangement of her theme song, though it was more modern-sounding than the one Mia had for Zoe.

Oliver let the phone ring a couple times. He was nervous about talking to Mia on the phone. It wasn't a huge deal, but some people just didn't vibe with that. He was one of them, and his sickness wasn't helping his enthusiasm. Still, he wouldn't leave her hanging, and getting a new milestone out of it would be a nice little bonus.

"Hey, Mia..." Oliver said, his voice rough and ragged.

On the other end of the line was silence for a few seconds, followed by a drawn-out sigh. "Whiplash, Oliver."

"...Huh?"

"Giving me whiplash over here. First, it was the weed hangover, then you blanked out on me for an entire shift, then you physically exhausted yourself before we were gonna hang out, and now this." She sounded upset. Very upset. "What happened this time?"

Oliver didn't know how to respond, eventually managing a stupid question, "Are you mad at me?"

"...No," Mia lied.

--Mia Lost 2 Affection--

"Just frustrated from trying to understand whatever the hell is going on with you lately."

The loss of affection hit him like a punch to the gut, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the tone of her voice. He had to make things right and explain the truth because he couldn't stand how disappointed Mia sounded in him. "I told you I can get a little compulsive sometimes, right?"

"Right...?"

"Well, I came home, took a shower, and then I went straight to bed. I tried pretty hard for a while, but sleep wasn't happening. I..." Oliver felt himself somehow get even redder and hotter in the face, which wasn't a pleasant sensation. "I couldn't stop thinking about how much fun I had hanging out with you. On top of... just kind of being unable to stop thinking about you in general..."

"...Oh?" There was a slight change of tone in her voice. It was almost imperceptible, but Oliver picked up on it.

"I know it sounds stupid, but-"

"It doesn't sound stupid..." Mia sighed. "I get it. Not like I don't get racing thoughts sometimes, myself. What did you do?" She sounded far more understanding at this point, maybe even a little guilty for jumping to conclusions. When she asked what happened, it wasn't accusatory. Mia genuinely wanted to know.

He knew he wasn't clear just yet, but he felt much more comfortable. "I thought I wasn't tired enough, so I did curls with these dumbbells I bought yesterday."

"And you went on autopilot again, tiring yourself out?"

Oliver had a different definition for autopilot than Mia did, as this was different from what he did at work the other day, but it was close enough that he could write it off. "Pretty much. I put on a podcast and zoned the fuck out, only snapping out of it when my arms gave out on me. Then I kind of, um... fell and passed out on the floor..."

He knew that sounded bad, so Mia's long, silent reaction was not unexpected. The notification he got, however, was.

--

Mia Gained 2 Affection

--

"Sorry..." she sighed, breaking the silence. "Really shouldn't have jumped on your case before hearing you out. Frustration isn't an excuse for flying off the handle. Still learning about you, Ollie. Sounds like you actually struggle with this, and I'm not the kinda girl who victim blames."

Out of habit, he tried to downplay it. "Hey, it's okay. I did kind of turn these last couple of days into a whirlwind for you. Besides, I don't usually get this compulsive; it only happened because of how much stuff has been on my mind lately. Soon as things calm down, I doubt it-"

"Shut up and let me care about you, estúpido," Mia snapped back at him with all the sharpness of a razor. "Don't know what you're trying to accomplish, spinning all that yarn. Not gonna make me worry about you any less."

Oliver shut up. The way Mia didn't take his excuses made him feel small, humbled, even. It wasn't a bad feeling.

Mia was pleased with his sudden quietness. "Was that so hard?"

"A little, yeah..."

"Boys," she sighed again. "Give me your address."

Now he was the one getting whiplash. "Uh, what for?"

"That fever of yours so bad you can't pick up context clues?"

"Let's say yes."

"Gonna come over, make sure you're doing okay, and take care of you if I have to. You said you live alone, right?"

Oliver hesitated. He'd planned on having Bradley do the honors. While he appreciated the thought of Mia visiting and fawning over him while he was sick, his defensiveness tried to speak up again. "Yeah, I do, but..."

Mia interrupted whatever stupid excuse he was about to feed her. "Give me your address."

"Um. A-Actually, I think I'll be-"

"Give me your address."

"I don't want to trouble you..."

"Already troubled, Ollie. Give me your address."

He felt a chill run down his spine. Oliver had never felt so threatened over the phone before, making him cave. He gave her his address.

"Good boy," she teased, her dry and stubborn voice now sounding slightly singsong. "Dunno what made you so afraid of a helping hand, but mark my words; gonna beat this habit out of you if I have to. Be there soon."

--- Milestone Achieved! Phone Call with Mia +5LP ---

Mia hung up without warning, leaving Oliver stupefied against his bed. She was so forceful when she wanted to be, or rather when he required it of her. Oliver wondered if she really could loosen him up the way she wanted to. He was defensive to a fault, and Mia was unyieldingly stubborn.

He blushed even harder as a stupid thought came to mind: Mia was precisely the kind of girl he needed in his life. Oliver wasn't putting stock in her 'fixing' him like some sort of manic pixie dream girl, no, but they meshed well, and her personality was perfectly suited to dealing with his. She was good for him, and wherever their relationship went from here, Oliver felt honored to have someone so willing to wade through all his bullshit.

He owed it to her to try and open up more. To rely on her. Oliver resolved to do exactly.

And then it hit him- the girl he liked was coming to his place.

Oliver looked around. Bradley cleaned up the other day, but it still wasn't great. He was self-conscious about a couple of things, namely the waste bin next to his bed full of used tissues and the huge pool of sweat on his carpet. As things stood, he couldn't take care of these on his own. He couldn't even get onto the bed properly.

Thankfully, Mia wasn't the only person he could count on.

Oliver texted Bradley three simple words- 'I need help.'

The lock on Oliver's door magically undid itself, and the door burst open, Bradley bursting onto the scene with all the frenzied fervor of a paramedic desperate to save lives. "I CAME as SOON as I heard! What's the [Situation], my GREATEST [Homeboy]?"

Oliver was shocked, but not as much as he probably should've been. This was like a light jump scare at worst. Guess people really could get used to anything.

"We don't have much time, so I'm gonna run through this quick. Couldn't sleep last night, got carried away with the dumbbells while trying to tire myself out, gained a strength point, and then passed out. Woke up this morning with a fever, told Mia-"

"And now she's ON her way to [Take Care of You]?" Bradley jumped ahead and rubbed his chin. "This is SERIOUS! On the OTHER hand, this is also a CLASSIC [Bonding Opportunity]!"

"I mean, yeah. Not sure if I'm in the best state to take advantage of it, but you do see this kind of thing in anime all the time. More worried about what she sees when she gets here. Think you could help me out?"

Bradley looked honored that Oliver would ask and wasted no time volunteering his services. What were friends for, if not emptying each other's jack-off bins?

Mia didn't drive, so they figured she might show up anywhere from a half-hour to an hour from now. Bradley worked under the assumption that it would be a half-hour, speeding right along. The only real challenge was scrubbing the carpet and drying it out, but that didn't take him long. He was so good at this that Bradley could've been a professional maid- a thought that Oliver had to force out of his head the moment he had, lest his best friend ruin one of his biggest fetishes for him.

When he was done, you couldn't even smell the sweat anymore. They debated on minor details, like hiding some of his risque manga volumes or spraying some air freshener, but decided against both. Mia was a confirmed fan of multiple series bordering on hentai, and they thought it might be weird if the house smelled really good despite Oliver not getting up off the ground.

"I would SUGGEST looking into YOUR [Skill Menu] later on," Bradley said while admiring his work and straightening his bowtie. "Wasn't THERE a tier 1 skill THAT promised to help prevent [Physical Exhaustion]?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was. Might be worth the investment since I don't want this to happen every time I work out... it'll put me further away from getting Selective Hearing, though..." Oliver sighed, tortured even at this moment by the monotonous BGM of his apartment. "How about we talk about it tonight after Mia leaves?"

"You mean IF [Tutorial Girl Mia Rosas] leaves!" Bradley winked.

"She's not gonna spend the night while I'm sick," Oliver rolled his eyes and blushed. "Also, stop calling her-"

There was a knock at the door. Oliver and Bradley exchanged looks. They didn't need to wait long to find out who it was, as his phone buzzed with a new text message from Mia telling him she was outside. Shit. He thought they still had time for Bradley to get out of there, but it looked like he was being overly optimistic.

Bradley must've known how badly Oliver wanted to avoid introducing them and knew just how to handle this. He made for the kitchen window, opening it and shooting a thumbs up to his best friend.

"Alas, my time is at an END! Do YOUR best, my dear [Bosom Buddy]!" He exclaimed, jumping out before Oliver could say anything back to him.

Oliver watched in disbelief as his favorite unsettling friend tumbled through the third-story window. It was worrying, but he assumed he'd be fine and preferred not to consider the alternative. There wasn't time to process this, anyway. He texted Mia that the door was open and she could walk right in.

"Comin' in," Mia cracked the door open. After giving him a second to make himself presentable if need be, she stepped inside. "Biked here as fast as I could."

Oliver was just as fascinated by seeing Mia outside of work as yesterday. Something about seeing his coworker wearing ordinary clothes captivated him and made her seem a billion times cuter. She wore white sneakers, a pair of red skinny jeans, and a black tank top displaying a generic anime catgirl making a slightly suggestive face.

Adding to the charm was her red face and slight sheen of sweat,

Mia took the messenger bag she had with her yesterday from her shoulder and set it on the coffee table, along with a red bike helmet. Rather than commenting on the place or looking around, she walked straight up to Oliver and knelt before him. "Dios mio," she sighed, placing her hand on his forehead. "You look fucking terrible."

"I feel fucking terrible," Oliver confirmed. "Bit better now that you're here, but-"

"Grabbing that old low-hanging fruit again, nice," she teased. "Makes my heart throb even harder the second time around."

"My brain is overheated. It's hard to keep track of all the lines I've used on you."

"So you're using lines on me, huh? Tricky bastard. You take your temp?"

"Hard to do that when I haven't been able to get up off the floor yet."

Mia rubbed her forehead. "You keep stressing me out over your sorry ass, I'm gonna get an overheated brain of my own to deal with..."

"You're free to stop caring about me at your earliest convenience," Oliver offered.

She gave him a weak smile, saying, "If I could, I would."

"Ouch, that's cold. Really cold."

"Like you couldn't use an ice pack right about now," Mia scoffed. "Gonna try and get you into bed now, okay?" She asked, extending her hand.

Oliver took it weakly, giving her a measure of his strength. "Careful with how you pull. My arms still feel like someone poked a bunch of holes in them."

She pulled him up, and it went smoothly until it didn't. His knees buckled as soon as he was on them, causing an accident that was a little bit fortunate and a little bit not. Oliver gasped in pain as he fell forward, pushing Mia to the ground as he landed on top of her roughly, her head just narrowly missing the edge of the coffee table. She let out a grunt as his weight pressed against her, causing him to worriedly push himself up despite how much it hurt his arms to do so.

"Shit, shit, shit, I'm sorry! Are you okay, Mia? My legs gave out on me, and I-"

Oliver didn't have a chance to really take it in until now. He stared into her eyes as she stared into his. They were close now. Closer than they'd ever been. Her short black hair was ruffled, her glasses tilted halfway off her face, and her lips were parted in surprise. They were just a few inches away from his own, so close that he could feel her breath against him.

The fact was that Oliver had mounted her, and he watched in real time as her cheeks started to blush.

Guess it was a good thing he didn't buy the Lucky Pervert skill, since it ended up happening naturally, anyway. Now came the part where she slapped him and called him a baka. Or rather estúpido, in his case.

"...You planning on getting up anytime soon?" Mia asked, barely more than a whisper.

His response came suddenly and without any thought behind it. "Do I have to?"

Silence stretched on for several seconds. She blushed harder, but only a few seconds later, her lips were curled into the slyest smile he'd ever seen. "Don't write checks your body can't cash, Ollie."

His heart stopped as soon as she said that. This situation was dangerous- incredibly so. If he didn't get off her now, she was liable to feel the effects of what her words did to him poking up against her. Luckily, Mia helped him up properly this time and got him into bed.

It was kind of a shame, honestly. Mia didn't just look cute back there. She looked absolutely radiant...

"Lay down," she said, snapping him back to reality. "Want you to get real nice and comfy, then tell me where your thermometer is. Okay? After we know what we're dealing with, I'll make sure you're nice and taken care of. Sound good to you?"

"...Yeah. Extremely."

Mia turned around, placing her hand on her heart and letting out a nervous sigh where he couldn't see her do it. A wide, wide smile was plastered across her blushing face. "Dope."