Love Addict's RPG Ch. 39 (Patreon)

Mia sat back down across the table from Oliver. The way she was staring at him taught a valuable lesson. Just because he couldn't rely on Lucky Bastard for the next week didn't mean he wasn't lucky. On the contrary, he was the luckiest guy in the world. The look on her face told him she was downright lovestruck, and Mia wasn't doing anything to hide it.

"Where to even begin..." she sighed, her eyes glimmering with scarcely concealed intrigue. "Guess it's true what they say about how you make your own luck, but I'm interested in seeing how far this talent of yours can stretch. Fancy a few rounds of five-finger fillet?"

"Absolutely not," Oliver laughed and tried not to wince from the imagined pain. "And I wouldn't call five-finger fillet a luck-based game by any stretch of the word, anyway. You have any idea how much dexterity you need to go fast and not stab yourself? Totally skill-based."

"Hm," Mia nodded thoughtfully. "Suppose that's true. Just thought it would make for quite the spectacle."

"Maybe. It would also give your brother and me something to talk about."

She had a good, long laugh at that before exhaling and shaking her head. "Not gonna lie, that'd be pretty damn funny... but nah, rather keep you away from my brothers for as long as I can help it."

"Why's that?" Oliver asked, concerned over his previous suspicions.

"Oh, it's nothing, they're just fucking annoying, that's all. Like if cockroaches were people, but somehow worse. No need to be so worried." Mia explained in a reassuring tone. "And hey, even if they were the type to start trouble, it's not like you couldn't handle yourself. Pretty sure anyone foolish enough to swing at you would wind up tripping over their shoelaces."

Oliver wasn't as worried about her brothers anymore, but he did have a new problem on his hands. One that was arguably a whole lot worse. Showing off in the way he'd just done had created gigantic expectations of him in Mia's mind. In such a short time, she'd been wholly convinced he was supernaturally lucky. That would've been all fine and dandy since, well, he was, but the spanner thrown into the works was that he couldn't tap into any of the crap he'd just demonstrated for her until a little over a week from now.

How in the fuck am I supposed to explain all of this? He thought to himself, hiding behind a nervous smile. Oliver was starting to understand why protagonists lied so goddamn much and gaslit the people they cared about. It was the easy way out. That said, there was a middle road between lying and telling the truth, and it was called being vague while keeping your foot as far away from your mouth as physically possible.

"I'm not that lucky," he laughed awkwardly, trying to sell this. "I just know a thing or two about getting my way, that's all."

Mia didn't buy it at all, but she was smiling out of amusement. "Do you, now? Gotta admit, that sounds vaguely threatening. Better keep my guard up around you." Oliver blushed when he realized she was right, earning a couple of soft chuckles from her. "I'm kidding, silly. If you don't want to tell me how you managed to pull all this off, that's fine. I'm curious, sure, but I'm not in a rush to spoil your secrets. Not when a bit of mystery looks so sexy on you."

Oliver went completely red in the face. On the one hand, he felt like he'd just been given a get-out-of-jail-free card. On the other, his heart was about to explode from having been called sexy. The way she so easily said it brought up a question that he expressed to change the flow of the conversation.

"You know, ever since last Wednesday, you've been talking up a storm and saying wild shit like that as if it's the easiest thing in the world for you. I mean, calling me sexy is one thing, but making demands of a guy already threatening to call the police on us? It's getting harder and harder to buy that you're even half the wallflower you claim to be, Mia."

Mia hadn't expected him to suddenly flip the situation on its head and put her under the spotlight. It made her somewhat embarrassed but didn't hold for long. "Curious, that. It's almost as if I really, really like you, and just being in your company helps bring out a side of myself I otherwise struggle to show off."

"God damn it," Oliver lost even more of his composure and stared blankly at the floor. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. You're way too good at this!"

"You've only got yourself to blame," she teased. "And besides, you're doing much better than you give yourself credit for. Already said today was amazing, and we're not even done yet, are we?"

There was only one answer to a question like that. "I'll stick around all day if you want me to."

"Thinking I might," Mia smiled. "Becca will take off at five or six and probably just keep to her book before then, anyway, so I figure we can hang out in my room for a few hours after we cash in those tickets."

"Now that's a plan if I've ever heard one. Wonder if they've got any more copies of My Cute Hellagers and Me behind the counter? Could always grab a used copy somewhere they don't before we swing by my place and pick up my Odyssey."

Mia's sleepy eyes briefly twinkled as she clasped her hands together in satisfaction. "Ah. Your ability to read between the lines and determine what I want from you will serve you well in our relationship, Ollie. Well done."

"Read between the lines?" Oliver suddenly cracked up. "I've had less subtle bricks to the face. You were all like, 'It's a fun game, but apparently it's even better with multiplayer, Ollie...', and, 'one of the biggest reasons I never picked it up was because Zoe was too busy with other games when it came out, but maybe now that I have a copy I can find someone else to play it with...'."

"Had to make sure you're capable of picking up the most obvious, unmissable of hints," Mia said, making her pouty face and looking away. "You don't exactly got the greatest track record in that regard, estúpido."

"Oof, that one hit where it hurt..." Oliver mockingly grasped his heart, knowing full well he deserved it.

"Suck it up. Not gonna kiss it better when we're in public." Mia teased, then looked over Oliver's shoulder and pointed with her index finger at the incoming employee. "Food's here, anyway."

At last, they finally had their pizza. It was about as good as they expected for a place like this. It was probably frozen pizza, but at least it was decent frozen pizza. The reason Mia went with cheese wasn't because she didn't like toppings. It was to prevent herself from overeating like they talked about earlier. She was hungry and would eat everything on her plate, so the least she could do was minimize the damage.

When Oliver only ate three of his pieces, she started sweating like someone was holding a gun to her head. He tried to argue that it wouldn't kill her, that if a single slice of pepperoni pizza added another couple of pounds to her slim frame, he wouldn't complain, but Mia's willpower did not falter in the face of greasy temptation. She remained strong, even when an employee took the last slice away, and Mia made an expression like a mother helpless to stop their child from being stolen right before her eyes.

As he watched poor Mia struggle, it suddenly made a lot more sense to Oliver why she was so understanding when he opened up about his occasional bouts of compulsion. Everyone has their demons, he supposed, making a mental note to never downplay the topic or encourage her to have another piece ever again if she really didn't want him to.

Mia didn't sulk for long. The excitement over finally going to check out the prizes together was enough to pull her out of it. Arm in arm, they asked an employee where they could find it because they hadn't seen head nor tail of any prize rack from the moment they entered the building. It turned out that was because there wasn't a rack; an entire room was dedicated solely to prizes at the back of the arcade.

They entered the room, their eyes quickly full of wonder and glee. You definitely couldn't say that Prize Planet skipped out on the first half of their name, not after getting a load of what they had in store. The place was practically a treasure trove. A veritable cave of wonders. Three long glass counters arranged in a 'U' shape trapped an employee whose only exit was a small partition on the left-hand side. This was the treasure's guardian and also its dispenser.

The glass counters contained plenty of low to mid-tiered prizes, many catering to the younger demographic. There were tiny trinkets, toys, trading cards, blu-rays of popular animated features, various candies placed conspicuously close to brightly colored e-cigs, more stuffed animals and plushies of recognizable brand mascots, and some popular video games from the last console generation which Prize Planet probably picked up for pennies on the dollar.

None of that was the good stuff, however. The good stuff was reserved for the walls, where numerous shelves carried things of interest to Prize Planet's primary audience, young adults in their early to late twenties. HDTVs, laptops, gaming PCs and consoles, vapes, cell phones, high-end headphones endorsed by famous rappers, those absurdly expensive thermos mugs which no self-respecting white woman that considered herself 'trendy' would be caught dead without, and so much more.

No copies of My Cute Hellagers and Me, though. Used copy, here we come.

While Oliver had a lot of points to spend and plenty of things caught his eye, when it really came down to it, nothing in this room was nearly as valuable as the things his skill tree offered him. So long as he found a way to sell it, the watch already made him back his money and then some. His points would be better spent letting Mia get whatever she wanted, hoping it would raise her affection and bring her closer to her second heart event.

There was also a less cynical reason than farming affection points that made Oliver indifferent about picking a prize for himself. Simply put, he knew that getting a nice present for Mia and watching her go through the motions as she accepted it would make him happier than anything else.

"Let me know if you want anything special," Oliver said. "We have enough points for two really good prizes or whatever else you want. Your call."

"Please don't tell me you're gonna insist you don't need any prizes?" Mia moved sheepishly towards the display, already sporting an adorable frown.

"Okay, sure. Not much use in telling you what you already know."

"Should've seen this coming, damn it..." Mia sighed and ruffled her hair, frustrated. "Come on, Ollie. Don't do this to me. I'm weak and materialistic."

"And I like getting you things, so we're a perfect match!" Oliver said, ignoring the man behind the counter who groaned at his line. Though intense, Oliver thought that guy could fuck right off. It was literally his job to stand there while couples flirted and picked out their prizes, so he wasn't going to stop on some asshole's account.

Wrapping his arm around Mia's shoulder from behind, he continued, "I told you I wanted to start making up for lost time, so why don't you have a look and see if anything catches your eye first, huh? Who knows. There might be something you want so bad you won't feel guilty about me getting it for you."

"I don't know if I'm that materialistic, but I'll certainly give it a..." it took Mia a solid three seconds of glancing at the wall to realize how wrong she was. Her eyes went wide, sparkling like diamonds. "Oh."

"Oh?" Oliver smirked.

"Nothing," she fussed with her bangs, trying not to stare directly at it. "Just realized I might've spoken too soon."

"All right, let's see if I can't figure out what you're-" it took Oliver a solid three seconds of glancing at the wall to realize what Mia was after. "Ah. Okay, interesting. That's not the kind of thing I would've expected to find in a place like this."

"Yeah, I'm... honestly a little shocked..." Mia's resolve continued to melt away like a burning candle. She was being torn in multiple directions. She liked getting things and enjoyed being spoiled by Oliver, sure, but the scales would be drastically out of whack if he did this for her. Worse, she couldn't afford to pass up the item in question. "Man, I think that has to be the most expensive thing in this entire room. Brand new one'll run you like thirteen hundred dollars."

"Shit, seriously? That explains why it costs so many damn tickets, then..." Oliver considered, then made the executive decision to force himself to say something embarrassing, his hand finding Mia's waist and pulling her closer as he turned towards the employee with their card in his hands. "Excuse me. Would you mind grabbing that drawing tablet for us, please? The Hugeon x16 thing right over here."

"H-Hey," Mia made a conflicted face but did not resist his advances, only able to mildly protest, "I didn't make up my mind yet..."

"I know," Oliver leaned in closer, whispering into her ear, "That's why I'm making it for you."

It was the smoothest thing he'd done thus far that day, leaving Mia speechless. Oliver had no idea how hard he'd just appealed to her specific tastes by doing what he did, but he figured he must've done something right when he received the following notification.

--- Mia Gained 10 Affection! ---

As the employee left his station to take down the tablet, Mia clutched Oliver by his collar and wouldn't let go. "Low blow, pendejo, getting me something so crazily expensive on our first date... something I couldn't possibly turn down, at that..." she mumbled, voice stubborn and full of pride. "Now not only do I have to somehow make this up to you, but I also get to feel shallow as all hell, because... damn it, this... this is..."

And then it happened. Mia let go to hug him, burying her face in his chest. Cracking at the seams, she spat out an honest, "Muchísimas gracias, Ollie..."

Shocked, he hugged her back, thankful the employee was still turned away trying to lift the heavy piece of tech. A warm smile spread on his face the longer they hugged, coinciding with an even warmer feeling in his heart. This closeness between them, the tender affection in the air... Oliver was growing increasingly convinced that tender moments like these were the greatest pleasure he would ever know in life, and all he could think about was getting more and more of them.

"Don't thank me yet," Oliver said, understanding gracias and assuming the first word was some kind of modifier. "We've still got a bit more tickets."

Mia was thoroughly defeated. Oliver wasn't going to take no for an answer, and her only solace was knowing he didn't yet understand how much that kind of thing appealed to her. Part of her wanted to keep struggling and see if he would push back further, but as much as she wanted to encourage that dominant streak she witnessed, Mia was Oliver's mirror in many ways. Her young, romantically inexperienced heart was already beating out of control, and she couldn't take much more of this.

"Okay, okay..." Mia sighed, looked down at the glass case, and quickly found an answer to make things much easier to digest. A convenient loophole. "Why not dump the rest of the tickets into these Sorcery cards?" She said, tapping the glass to point out a box of thirty booster packs and four structure decks for one of the world's most popular trading card games, Sorcery the Consumption.

The suggestion surprised Oliver. He was pretty familiar with the game since none of the nerdier kids on the playground would turn you down if you wanted to play a few hands. He quit the hobby in middle school after most of his acquaintances outgrew it, but he still had his cards somewhere back at his parent's house.

"I had no idea you played STC," Oliver remarked, curious.

"Sort of," Mia shrugged. "It's fun enough, but I don't collect them. Becca does, though. Big fan. Rarely leaves home without strapping a couple deck boxes to her bag."

"Must've missed those. I think I was probably paying more attention to her special hat."

"Mn, yeah, I can see how that might've stuck out more..." Mia joked. "But what do you think?"

"Hey, if you want to get your friend a gift with the rest of our points, I won't stop you. In fact, I think it's really nice of you."

That made her smile, but Mia had something else in mind. "Was actually thinking you should give them to her."

"Me? I... don't know, I'd feel pretty awkward. I mean, I barely know Rebecca. Literally just met her, in fact."

"Exactly. Give her a couple of these, and she'll be eating out of your hand."

"Didn't know we were in a hurry to domesticate her."

Mia laughed at his phrasing, clarifying, "Becca and Zoe are all I got as far as friends go, so I want them to like you, obviously. This'll help."

Oliver could see how much this meant to her, so he agreed immediately. The employee was already getting out the cards for them, having no choice but to play a background role in their little love story and eavesdrop whether he wanted to or not.

"How am I going to win over Zoe, though?"

"Well..." Mia paused, narrowed her eyes, and adjusted her glasses. Seemed like that one would be more complicated than getting her a six-pack of Gamer Gulpies, Oliver surmised. "Points for your enthusiasm, but let's focus on winning over one maladjusted nerdy white girl suffering from arrested development at a time, mi amor."

Oliver attempted playfulness again, summoning a suggestive smile. "Do I have to? In my experience, sometimes playing the field worked better than getting tunnel vision..." he teased, naturally leaving out 'in dating sims'. Explaining his decade-long eroge obsession wasn't something he wanted to tackle on their first date.

He expected Mia to roll her eyes, nudge him, or something else to that effect. He didn't expect to witness a momentary twinkle in her eye, like a lightning bolt hitting a tree and sparking a forest fire. Pair that with the tiniest hint of a suspicious smile steeped in danger that left her face as soon as it appeared, and Oliver felt a tingling premonition run down his spine.

"Mia, are you good? You're, uh... kinda looking like a creep right now."

"My bad... imagination got the best of me, that's all..." Mia replied, suddenly grinning again. While less so, this one still had an unsettling tinge to it, similar to before. Oliver thought she didn't look as in control of her imagination as she wanted him to believe. "Be careful what you wish for, Ollie. That's all I have to say about 'playing the field' for now. You ready to check out?"

Blindsided by how suddenly she moved things along, Oliver was pulled by Mia's tempo and presented the employee with their point card. It barely had enough for the drawing tablet and the cards, but it did. The employee had a look of near rapturous joy on his face, glad finally to be rid of this overly obnoxious couple as he rang them up and offered to help carry the expensive machinery to their car. He thought nothing of it when Oliver turned him down and sucked both items into his inventory.

Feeling immensely satisfied with his first date, Oliver led Mia outside the building. It was a little past three, and they still had the whole day ahead of them. They reaffirmed their plans to get Oliver a used copy of My Cute Hellagers and Me and hang out at Mia's place until around seven or so. She still had to work tomorrow and understandably wanted to mess around with her new gadget for a few hours before bed. Oliver didn't mind having time alone later to process everything that happened and text Bradley, anyway, so it was all right with him.

The couple were holding hands as they approached the car. Mia's hand was so small compared to Oliver's. Soft, too. Everything in the world felt perfect and right, which he couldn't say had happened to him in a very long time.

"Credit where it's due," Mia spoke, leaning into him as they walked. Her smile was lazy, her voice dreamy. "That was the best first date ever. Might not mean much coming from a shy and woefully inexperienced girl like myself, but hey. Hope you know you scored some major points here with me today."

--- Mia Gained 5 Affection ---

"I had had a feeling that was the case, but it's still nice to hear you say it out loud..." he laughed at the layers of irony she couldn't even begin to understand.

Really, the results of his date were genuinely staggering. They crossed the halfway mark toward the next heart event, her affection now sitting at fifty-three out of a hundred. It made Oliver wonder if he could always expect such rapid growth when out on an actual date since that's how it worked in many dating sims, but he had a feeling that might not be the case. In all likelihood, Mia was just that happy to go on a date with him, and he'd sincerely impressed her throughout it.

"I don't think it could've gone any better than it did, either, personally," Oliver said, really meaning it.

"Don't go getting a big head over it," she warned, stopping at the side of Oliver's car to tap on his forehead with her closed fist. "You raised the bar dangerously high, mi amor. Future you's gonna have to live up to this shit."

"Hey, you're the one who said you'd probably have fun no matter where we went as long as we're together."

"Fuck," Mia blushed and looked at the ground, managing an awkward laugh. "You're right, I did say that... mn, God, just look at what you've done to me, pendejo. Still. No matter what I said in the heat of the moment, it doesn't mean you can slack off."

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. His confidence was at an all-time high, making him think he could get away with almost anything. Because of that, he tried something. Not anything crazy. Not right off the bat, but something nonetheless.

Mia was leaning against the car door, and he was standing in front of her. He leaned in closer, placing his arm on the car's roof. It wasn't the same as pinning her to a wall, but it was the next best thing. She stared at him as a confused, nervous look of excitement appeared on her pretty face.

Her BGM track slowed, becoming softer. Less feisty and much heavier with the atmospheric acoustic guitars.

"You're so inconsistent that it's fucking adorable, Mia," Oliver spoke as if in a trance.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her words didn't follow until a few seconds later. "...Inconsistent how?"

"You want to be spoiled and given lots of gifts, but if it's too much, you'll get all weird about it. You say you'd be happy wherever we go, but now that the bar's been raised so high, you're singing a different tune. Really doesn't sound like you're being honest about what you want."

"Well, I am a woman..." Mia said sarcastically, unable to downplay her beating heart. "Inconsistency and not knowing what we want generally comes with the package."

"I know what you want."

Her heart stopped. Mia couldn't breathe. It took all she had not to tremble with excitement. "Do you, now? Lucky me, I don't have to think for myself anymore."

"You want to be spoiled and be taken out on nice dates, but you have trouble owning up to it because you got a serious case of 'not like the other girls' syndrome going on."

"...Uh-huh," Mia swallowed nervously. "Supposing you're onto something with your amateur diagnosis and not just talking a sewer's worth shit... what exactly are you going to do about it, mi amor...?"

Oliver could see the expectation in her eyes, the slight puckering of her puffy lips, and the erratic pattern of her breath. There was a correct answer to her question, one that didn't involve any words. That answer was to seal the deal.

There was just one problem...

Mia wasn't the only one struggling to keep their composure. Oliver might've somehow pulled off pinning her to the car and even stumbled past most of what he had to say while sounding sure enough, but both of these acts burned through his confidence faster than you could say 'anticlimactic'. It sucked, and he hated himself for it, but the resolve to lean in and just fucking go for it wasn't there yet.

The desire to do so? He had that in spades. The rest of him just hadn't caught up.

Oliver backed off and smiled with as much charm as he had left. "I'm going to keep spoiling you, take you on nice dates, and treat you how you deserve to be treated, no matter how much that makes you squirm."

His remaining charm did not go far enough to hide Mia's disappointment. Her expectant face watched in confusion as he backed away, her eyes distant and her brows furrowing. She was trying not to look as upset as she was, which somehow hurt worse than if she'd just called him out on it.

Then, she said four words that felt like daggers being driven into his heart.

"...Oh. Is that all?"

Then came the twisting of the daggers.

--- Mia Lost 1 Affection ---

It really shouldn't have, but that notification hit him pretty hard. Oliver had aced the date and passed the test with flying colors, only for his nervousness and inexperience to cave in on him at the grand finale. Every single brain cell he had left in his porn-addled brain dropped whatever task they were currently devoting themselves to and began chanting a chorus of the words 'you fucking dumbass' within his mind loud enough to completely drown out Mia's theme song.

He had to salvage this. He couldn't just say nothing, but he couldn't kiss Mia now the moment had been ruined, either. Oliver struggled to think of the best option, praying for a list of dialogue choices to appear. Out of all the dating sim-inspired powers available to him, why the hell wasn't that one in his skill tree?

Oliver didn't think he could get away with trying to be smooth after fucking it up so bad, so he opted instead for honesty.

"For now, yeah. Still getting the hang of this, so..."

"Silencio," Mia interrupted. She suddenly looked fierce and determined, drastically different from her anxious yet excited expression mere moments ago. "Everyone chokes, and it'd be especially hypocritical of me if I held that against you, mi amor. Only reason I'm upset is because that shit just now? Gold, Ollie. Shining, shimmering, motherfucking gold. You almost had it, yeah? Focus on the positive part of that statement. You almost had it, so next time, you will have it, sí?"

"I..." Oliver stared at Mia, surprised by how easily she could flip his mental defeat around. Usually, that was the kind of stupid mistake he'd be hung up on for the rest of the day, if not longer. Instead, he could only see the positives she was pointing out. "Damn it, you're right. Really need to stop letting my negativity get the best of me."

"Won't be easy, but I'll be there every step of the way. Come on. The quicker we get back to my place, the quicker you'll get another chance to set the mood." Mia smiled at him supportively, then threw in an affectionate shoulder touch for good measure. "Already shown me you got teeth, Ollie. Don't be afraid of using 'em."

She didn't regain her affection point despite her understanding, which suggested to Oliver that she was still let down by his mistake. A positive takeaway from that knowledge was the implication that Mia really wanted him to kiss her. Just thinking about it filled him with the resolve to make up for his mistake and get it right.

He undid the lock, and Mia entered his car. Right before his fast travel map showed up, Oliver received another motivational notification reminding him of his progress.

--- Milestone Achieved! First Date with Mia +15LP ---

At that, Oliver smiled. Mia was right.

There was nothing to be upset about, not after how far he'd come and not when he realized how much more excitement was waiting for him in his future with her. If Mia wanted gold, then gold, she would have. Oliver vowed he would seal the deal with her and wouldn't leave her side today until he had.