Love Addict's RPG Ch. 41 (Patreon)

I was feeling extra inspired so I managed to get this chapter done today after starting it last night. Yay. Probably only like 3 chapters until I'm done with the material in my outline, it got padded a bit because I included Rebecca. After that I'll need a brief break to write the final volume 1 outline but that shouldn't take so long because I don't want this book to be that much longer. It'll just consist of figuring out how to deal with Mia's brothers, training chapter, boxing match, and she should have enough to end at the second heart event after all that.

---

Oliver was hit with a new reward before he could process what the hell just happened.

--- Milestone Achieved! Visited Mia's Room +10LP ---

It didn't help him with his composure, but it did make him wonder about the timing of these notifications. Most of the time, it seemed like they waited for a lull in whatever conversation he was having before popping up. Oliver was grateful for that. It would've been challenging to suppress his reactions all the time when he was in other people's company.

Like his girlfriend's, whose company he was in right now.

Oliver had no idea what Mia was on about or how he was supposed to interpret it. Not only had Mia grilled him about his thoughts on her friend, but she was so pleased to hear he found Rebecca cute that it earned him an entire affection point. What could that even begin to mean? Was he stupid? Missing some vital context clue? Perhaps, but whatever the answer, Mia had no interest in telling.

Knowing that he wouldn't get to the bottom of this anytime soon, Oliver had no choice but to give up. Mia was probably just teasing him, anyway. She'd tell him sooner or later if this strange moment had any bearing on their relationship. As she already said, Mia would remember this, and until whatever consequences his decision had made themselves apparent, Oliver decided to put it out of his mind.

More than anything else, he wanted to play his new game with his new girlfriend.

Oliver quickly took out his Odyssey and plugged the My Cute Hellagers and Me cart in after removing the game already inside, his copy of KaneMon Techno Version that he never finished. He stared at the monster battler, momentarily conflicted. Mia was lying back on her bed when she looked up over her handheld game console, wondering what was taking so long.

"Went with Organic Version myself last time," she commented. "It was all right."

"Yeah, but 'all right' is all they ever are these days, if that..." Oliver managed a weary laugh. "KaneMon is like... the most popular media franchise in the fucking world, and yet they're stuck with a sad little dev team of two hundred people, and their execs are goddamn mega losers who think children don't want good games with tons of side content because they all have terminal smartphone brain. That's not even taking into consideration the fuckery with the anime, the trading cards, and all the other merchandise all relying on the games to come out like clockwork on time every year or so, making it so they never have enough time in the oven, and-"

Oliver abruptly stopped his monologue when he noticed the smirk Mia was giving him. "Sorry," Oliver sighed. "Didn't mean to go all Rebecca on you."

"Actually, you went all Zoe on me."

"How so?"

"She's up in arms about the state of KaneMon these days, too. Sounded almost like you were quoting her for a second."

"Yeah? Hopefully, that means we'll get along."

"Who knows," Mia shrugged. "She's a prickly one."

"Are you gonna be all weird after I meet her and ask me if I think Zoe's cute, too?"

"Yeah, probably," Mia replied with total nonchalance. "Now hurry up already. Waiting for you at the start screen."

Oliver hung his head for a moment in defeat, then brushed himself off, asking, "Isn't it going to take a couple hours before we get to multiplayer?"

Betraying her cold exterior for a moment, Mia looked him in the eyes and said, "Doesn't mean I didn't want to start at the same time..."

It was an arrow straight to his heart. He was no longer able to keep Mia waiting, so he stashed his KaneMon cartridge in the Hellagers box and swapped them out. Oliver wondered if he was put to sit upright on her bed for the next couple of hours, but Mia answered him with a kind smile after scooting up against the wall and patting the space right next to her. Blushing heavily while knowing what she expected of him, Oliver gave her what she wanted and nervously reclined his back to lay side-by-side.

He was on Mia's bed. His head was on her pillow, the very same one she slept on every day of her life. Various plushies of mascot characters from anime and video games swarmed them on every side, including a couple Kanemon, speak of the devil. Mia had touched everything here in one way or another, and they all smelled just as sweet as she did.

God, Oliver hated being a virgin. He wanted to relax and chill by her side and pretend all this was normal and easy for him to do, but it wasn't. He was anxious, worried he might still fuck this up, and then she laid her head on his shoulder without saying a word. Somehow, that made things better. A lot better.

Oliver managed a smile and finally booted up his Odyssey, joining Mia at the start screen in no time. Eerie music started playing, his internal BGM quieting down now that he was experiencing the audio of something his mind was focused on. A scream echoed out of the game console as they pressed the new game button together, Mia even giving a lazy countdown before he was allowed to do it.

Oliver had never played one of its entries but had cursory knowledge of the My Hellagers series. He knew going into it that the player was almost always a damned soul sent to live out their strangely cozy afterlife with a bunch of cute and highly merchandisable anthropomorphic critters. Starting from the very first release, it became a worldwide phenomenon and one of Synthstation's flagship series. Players had been building houses and arranging furniture in hell ever since.

The game began with a bizarre framing device, if Oliver had ever seen one. First, you had to customize a little chibi avatar of yourself before it could get rolling. After you did, the player character started their story with an admirable pursuit: tax fraud. The bad news is that while trying to evade the police, the player trips down the stairs, breaks their neck, and winds up in a remote region of hell known as Dantalia.

Because of the constant influx of sinners flooding into the infernal realm every hour of every day, Satan has turned towards expanding his domain into stranger and wilder expenses to keep up with the real estate demand. Through a series of wacky coincidences, the player is tasked with becoming the Duke or Duchess of Dantalia. The core gameplay loop involved building houses, collecting furniture and clothing items, hunting for devil bugs or demon fish, tracking down demons called Hellagers to invite them to your Hellage so that they might contribute to the local economy and worshiping Satan in numerous ways to earn his favor.

Oliver thought the game would be cutesy about it, but no, you're literally just worshiping Satan, sacrifices and all. As he reached the end of the tutorial explaining the mechanics of offering Hellagers to his unholy Majesty, a question popped into Oliver's mind right as he plunged a dagger into an innocent deer, watching as its soul transformed into a cheap, rickety-looking antlered bookshelf.

"...Wasn't this supposed to be a kids game?"

"A cool one, yeah."

"Mia, this bookshelf has eyes. Sad eyes, and... oh, amazing. My new bookshelf is crying."

"Like I said, a cool one."

Oliver wasn't uptight about this kind of thing. He just thought it was strange no one was up in pitchforks about a children's game so blatantly and unapologetically satanic in nature. Then again, it wasn't like parents ever paid attention to the crap their kids got up to on their little 'game stations' or whatever they thought they were called. Personally, he felt the game was downright hilarious in its own dark and morbid way.

For the next few hours, Oliver and Mia worked through much of the early tutorial content, where basic game mechanics were explained. Some of these tutorials bordered on offensively stupid, though never enough to make him feel outright belittled. He thought it was something the devs of KaneMon could stand to learn from.

Along the way, the two of them kept idly chatting between themselves. Never anything groundbreaking, just passive comments about the game, showing each other their Hellagers, arguing over whose furniture was better, and so on. Going out to the arcade with Mia was tremendously fun, but something about staying in and laying side-by-side was even more exciting than the heart-pumping adrenaline Oliver got from going crazy winning tickets and prizes to impress her.

Mia was always so laid-back and relaxed, which had a calming effect on him. She made him feel as if nothing mattered other than the two of them at that moment in time. Oliver wished he could always feel like this. Maybe he would if they kept getting closer and closer.

The thought made him smile.

This peacefulness was broken every so often by the muffled yelling coming from the next room over. Mia apologized whenever it happened, explaining that Zoe's room was decently soundproofed, but there's only so much you can do without an actual studio, and sometimes some of her patented gamer rage leaks out. Oliver didn't mind the noise since it wasn't obnoxiously loud. It was the last piece of the puzzle he needed to solve the Zoe mystery, though.

"So... is she streaming in there, or what?"

Mia looked up from her game to answer his question directly. "Figured it out, did you?"

"Not much else a shut-in could do for money while she sitting around in a soundproofed room all day playing video games."

"Well, you're right. Zoe is a full-time streamer."

"That's cool. I'm not personally a big stream guy, but there are a few I enjoy every now and then. She's not anyone I've heard of, is she?"

"Probably not. Maybe, though? Not sure. She isn't famous, but she does all right for herself."

"What's her account?"

"Mn... think I'm gonna keep that one close to my chest for now," Mia turned back to her game, continuing to build a house for a newly arrived hellager. "If it's all the same to you."

Oliver was puzzled. "Is it a big deal or something? Did you not want me watching her?"

"No, it's not like that," she shook her head mildly. "I'm definitely not the kind of girl who's gonna tell you what you can or can't watch. It's just that she's my friend, and I'd prefer you actually meet Zoe before seeing her content. That's all."

Though Oliver still felt Mia enjoyed playing up the mystery, he at least understood where she was coming from. It was fair that she didn't want him to develop any preconceived notions of her close friend before getting to know her in person, but it did make him wonder what kind of biases Mia feared he might develop if he caught one of Zoe's streams. He wondered if it was all a cover for Zoe being a camgirl, but the occasional screams he heard didn't seem like they were of the pleasured variety, sounding a touch too basement dweller for that.

Whatever Zoe's streams were like, it really wasn't his business, and Oliver quickly put it out of his mind and got back to gaming.

It was now 6:30 PM, and they'd been playing for nearly three hours. They weren't going to get to the multiplayer stuff today; neither of their respective hellages had developed enough to build the Devil Train required for that, but that didn't mean grinding towards and getting through the tutorial together wasn't fun.

Suddenly, Mia yawned and stretched out on her bed as she put her Odyssey off to the side, where it got swallowed into the void between plushies. Oliver realized she looked like a sleepy cat, and then the cat turned on her side to drape her arm across his chest. "Think I'm good for now, Ollie."

"You sure? We've still got a half-hour before seven."

"Been a long and crazy day. Would prefer if we just chilled out for the rest of our time together."

"...Yeah," Oliver turned his Odyssey to sleep mode, then stored it in his inventory. He hadn't forgotten what he was supposed to do before leaving Mia today, even if the game had delayed it and momentarily pushed it out of his active thoughts. He still had every intention to do it.

To seal the deal.

"That's fine with me. Great, actually."

"Yeah?" She smiled.

"Yeah," he smiled back. "Totally."

For several seconds, that was all they did. Smiling, smiling, and smiling until it became apparent they were both a little uncomfortable, and each broke out into minor laughter. Mia's theme song appeared and shifted into a new variation of itself once again, becoming more sweet and tender. With every guitar string plucked, an overwhelming sense of intimacy cascaded through every inch of his awareness.

"How am I ever going to get used to this?" He asked half-jokingly.

"Same way anyone gets used to anything. Experience."

"While true, that's not exactly helpful advice..."

"Helpful, hm? That the kind of advice you want? Because I can do helpful, but you might not like what I have to say."

"Give it your best shot," Oliver shrugged. "What doesn't kill me, etcetera..."

"Then my advice is to stop thinking about everything so much. Think, think, think. Too much of that goes on in here for your own good," Mia tapped the base of his forehead several times. "I know you've got your demons and that being in a relationship is gonna take a lot of adjusting for you, mi amor, but I hope you know that you don't need to overthink every last thing I say or do."

Oliver didn't back down, instead raising an eyebrow. "That would probably sound a lot more convincing coming from someone who doesn't play mind games with me over whether or not I think their friend is cute."

Mia blushed softly and looked away. "Didn't mean anything by it. Just think you're cute when you squirm."

"Funny, I think the same thing about you."

"And when have I ever squirmed, hm?" Mia snapped back.

"The prize room?" Oliver countered with a cheeky smirk.

"Doesn't count," she grumbled. "You were trying to get me a thirteen hundred dollar drawing tablet on our first date. Course I had trouble accepting that without feeling a little awkward, estúpido. Try again."

"Well, you were awful squirmy when I had you up against my..."

"Do you really want to bring up the car right now?" Mia cautioned him. Her eyes briefly widened in surprise as Oliver turned on his side to face her.

"Yeah," Oliver forced himself not to nervously swallow. "I kind of do."

"Oh..." Mia was at a rare loss for words and merely observed her boyfriend in close detail, wondering what would come next. She had a good feeling about this and hoped it wasn't misplaced.

"It really was my intention to go for it back then, Mia. From everything you've told me, I get that you're into guys who are all reckless, confident, and who take what they want. It's gonna take me a while to get to that point, but I hope you know I'm trying my best."

Frowning, Mia wrapped her arm around his waist and kept staring at him straight in the eyes. "This is exactly the kind of overthinking I'm talking about, Ollie. You don't have to change for me. I would've been perfectly happy if you kept your shaggy-ass emo cut and your dollar store clothes-"

"Dollar store?" Oliver asked, deeply embarrassed.

"...Okay, maybe switching things up was the right call in that department," she offered a weak smile, feeling sorry for pointing out how bad his wardrobe used to be. "What I mean is that I don't want this growing into one of your compulsions. I already like you, so you shouldn't feel rushed to make me like you even more. You're already accomplishing that with every second you spend at my side. I know I gave you shit earlier for messing up your chance to kiss me, but I only said that because I... ah... how do I put this? I have my own compulsions, too, mi amor, and when it comes to such matters, I can get rather... heated, so..."

"What are you trying to say?"

Mia sighed. She knew she was rambling but couldn't help herself, so she tried to reach her point. "Just that if you don't feel like you're ready, then you shouldn't-"

Oliver scooted closer until there was no distance between them, closed his eyes, and pressed their lips together. Mia lost her breath as redness consumed her cheeks. The lazy hug they had going on became less lazy as Oliver hooked his arm under Mia's ribs, pulling her closer until her chest was flattened against him.

Once the initial shock wore out, Mia closed her eyes and instinctively raised her leg to drape over his, partially pinning Oliver in place. He didn't complain, too busy enjoying his first kiss. Nothing he'd ever read about kissing could have prepared him for just how soft Mia's lips were, and that was just one of the many factors in play that made this experience so indescribable. Her lipstick was delicious and cherry flavored, her breath was hot as it poured into his mouth, and her lusciously sweet smell was more powerful now that his nose was pressed into the side of her dusky face.

Oliver didn't even like cherries, and yet Mia's lips were the sweetest goddamn thing he'd ever tasted.

Things escalated. Slowly. Their hands idly ran along each other's backs, the first kiss coming to an end only for a second to begin in its place following a soft smacking sound. And then a third. This one lasted a while, and although they hadn't moved on to exploring beyond only their lips, Oliver and Mia allowed themselves to melt and truly appreciate what it meant to be one with another person.

When Oliver pulled away two minutes later, he saw Mia wearing the most arousing expression he'd ever seen on a girl, 2D or otherwise. Her lips were parted, opened in want of more, her face was crimson, and her eyes were swelling with uncompromising desire. Maybe even love.

--- Milestone Achieved! First Kiss with Mia +25LP

Mia Gained 10 Affection ---

Oliver took back everything he thought to himself about the convenient timing of his notifications. This one would've completely ruined the mood if that particular milestone wasn't so inspiring. Thankfully, he hid his reaction well enough, and Mia was still completely absorbed in the moment, as was he.

"Oliver..." Mia whispered in a breathy, reverent tone. The very way she spoke made him feel wanted, adored, even.

"There's something I want to say to you, Mia."

"...Sí?"

"The reason I'm trying to change isn't just so that I'll be closer to your ideal type. It's because it's long overdue for me to start giving a shit. I really don't want to get into everything that went down between high school and now, but you've probably guessed it wasn't good."

Mia remained silent but nodded in understanding, urging him to continue his pace.

"The long and short of it is I made a bunch of stupid decisions that fucked up my mental health, and I just kept finding lower and lower lows to sink to. I got better, sure, but everything I went through sucked all the ambition out of me, and for the longest time, I felt like there wasn't anything left. Like I was nothing more than a half-empty husk who didn't have it in him to try anymore. For a while, I thought I would spend the rest of my life like that... but... look, I know this is going to sound really weird, but..."

Oliver closed his eyes, the gravity of his words overpowering him. He was fighting against himself to keep emotions out of this and sound as confident and sure of himself as he could. He wasn't perfect, though, and Mia could sense how hard this was on him. She waited patiently, giving him as much time as he needed.

"That weed hangover last Thursday really shook me up, and it fundamentally changed everything I thought I knew about reality."

"That doesn't sound weird at all," Mia spoke softly, raising her hand to stroke the side of his cheek with all her affection. "Plenty of people go through life-changing experiences when they're high, Ollie. Sometimes, you can't see things from a new perspective without a little outside help."

Oliver felt more comforted than ever, losing himself in a smile while gazing at his lover. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you how insane my new perspective actually is."

"I'd believe a lot more than you might think. You're free to try me as soon as you're comfortable."

"Not today," Oliver said, not wanting to keep his powers a secret forever. He didn't know how long he could continue having such a secret weighing on his conscience, but he just wasn't at a point where he could openly talk about it to her yet, either. "I promise I'll tell you everything that happened to me because of that trip someday soon, though. Really. For now, I just want you to know that despite how many steps forward I've taken in my life these past couple of days, I'm still not satisfied."

"Getting a girlfriend isn't enough for you?" Mia asked in a gentle voice. It was a question that would've sounded accusatory coming from any other girl, but there wasn't so much as a hint of that from Mia. Her intention was solely to sate her curiosity.

"It's a start. The best start I could've ever asked for, don't get me wrong, but... no, it isn't enough. I want more."

Mia bit her lower lip, face flushing even redder as she hung on his words. "...More girlfriends?"

"What?" Oliver laughed awkwardly after losing his breath from sudden shock. "No, that's... not what I was getting at, not at all. Wow. Fuck, I'm sorry if that's where it sounded like I was going..."

"Oh," Mia looked away for a split second, the strangest fit of embarrassment coloring her face as she forced out a couple of tiny laughs that somehow sounded even more awkward than Oliver's. "Yeah, no, I... ah... should've assumed that wasn't what you meant. Go on, then."

Something about the way she spoke struck Oliver as odd. Almost like there was a slight tinge of disappointment beneath the awkwardness, but he had to have been imagining that. Whatever it was, he continued his explanation without putting much stock into it.

"What I want more than anything is to keep pushing myself to improve from here on out. Part of it is to appeal to you, yeah, but in a roundabout way, that's still me doing this for myself. Knowing you liked the haircut and new clothes, I felt better about myself, which makes me want to keep trying to impress you because I've never felt good about myself. You get what I mean?"

"Uh..." Mia thought about it for a few seconds, thinking it should've been obvious. "Well, duh? I used to be fat, and my skin looked like pus-filled bubble wrap. The first time I ever felt attractive in my whole-ass life was when you called me cute the other day..."

"Seriously? You didn't look that excited about it..." Oliver blushed, remembering she didn't so much as smile at the time.

"Some of us have poker faces, and some of us don't," Mia looked at him pointedly, her face completely and utterly blank. "Just because I don't look like I'm on heroin every time I'm with you doesn't mean I don't feel like I am."

"I hope you're not speaking from experience."

"Told you I don't fuck with anything harder than weed," Mia grumbled, playfully punching his shoulder.

"Anything other than weed and love, apparently," he corrected.

"Well, yeah..." she sighed. "You got me there, mi amor. More importantly, you've made your point. Not gonna stand in your way if you want to keep working on yourself, and, mn... well... if changing to better suit my interests really makes you feel better about yourself, there's... certainly a discussion to be had there, but it sure as hell isn't one we're having today."

"You referring to that sick and twisted shit you're allegedly into?" Oliver smirked.

"Could be. What all do you remember from my sketchbook back in the day?"

"I only saw like two pages, and that was eight years ago..." Oliver thought. "If I remember right, there were some naked anime girls, some dicks, and I'm pretty sure you drew that one guy with all the belts from that old JRPG having a foursome with all the girls in his party, I think?"

"Descriptive. You know 'that one guy with all the belts' describes almost every JRPG protagonist ever, right?"

"Didn't think his name was relevant," Oliver laughed. "Anyway, that was the craziest thing I remember seeing. Everything looked like pretty straightforward hentai, and even the foursome wasn't that crazy. I mean, it's not the kind of stuff I would expect a girl to draw, but who am I to judge?"

Mia went quiet for a few moments, and Oliver wondered if he'd said something wrong. Eventually, a tiny smile proved his worries misplaced. "I'll show you more of my art soon, mi amor. It's just like with Zoe. Don't want you to see it and start drawing conclusions about me before I'm ready to talk to you about it."

Since Oliver was also keeping secrets, he didn't see anything wrong with allowing Mia to have her own. He smiled teasingly, telling her, "I'm the last person who has any right to be judgmental when it comes to porn stuff. Whatever you're into, we'll make it work... so long as you aren't hiding an NTR fetish that you're hoping I'll go along with, that is. That's pretty much the only line in the sand I'd draw."

"Ollie," Mia sat up and looked down at him with a smirk. Her hand caressed his cheek again as she narrowed her pretty, bright blue eyes. "You guessed so far in the opposite direction you almost circled back and hit the bullseye."

The casual contact distracted him from what should've been an easy observation to make. Instead, he panicked after having only half understood her comment. "Wait, you don't have an NTR fetish, right? I, um... I know I said I wouldn't be judgmental, but that's literally the only thing I absolutely can't gel with, so I'd kind of like to know before-"

Mia placed the tip of her index finger on his lips, stopping him from speaking. "Relax, estúpido. Very much a one-man-only type of girl, trust me."

"Hey, I don't think it's a stupid thing to be worried about when you're always being so vague..." Oliver was put at ease by her words, trusting her completely

"I'm not being vague. You're just being stupid. Thus, estúpido." Mia's smile widened by several degrees. Honestly, she hoped Oliver's dumb ass never learned how to piece together context clues. Things were so much more fun this way... but they could always be more fun. She hefted one leg over his waist and straddled him out of the blue.

Oliver's eyes shot open as Mia leaned forward until their faces were only inches apart. "Mia?"

"Ollie."

"Hey, there. Can I help you?" He asked, heart rate speeding up by the second. His hands were already wrapping around her slender midsection, hugging her tight and pushing her to his body.

Mia didn't have many reservations after Oliver had taken the initiative and given her their first kiss. All she wanted was for him to man up. Now that he had, it was time for a little positive reinforcement to help build up his confidence.

"Figured I'd help you, actually. Said you wanted more chances to improve yourself, yeah? I'm pretty new when it comes to kissing, but something tells me you could probably do better. Either way, wouldn't hurt to try..."

Every last little thing about this girl captivated Oliver's body and soul. It didn't matter if you were talking about her quiet voice, petite frame, or half-lidded eyes; there wasn't a single thing about Mia Rosas that he wasn't crazy about. Pretty high up on the list were her lips, still painted red and begging for further attention from the only man they longed for. Him.

Oliver didn't waste any of his precious breath on unnecessary words. He went straight for it, locking their lips and kissing Mia with ever-increasing passion and confidence until it threatened to swallow him whole. Mia kissed back even harder, refusing to yield. This was paradise, everything he ever hoped it would be, and so much more.

If only he'd been listening closer when Mia warned him she had a habit of getting heated.