Love Addict’s RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 88

Surprise. I had a very productive day today, finishing this over three whole sessions and getting 3k words done. That’s very comparable to me at my prime. I do feel kind of weird about the slow pacing since this whole chapter is just a walk to the car and then standing in front of the car, but I think it’s justified and on top of that I don’t care about bad pacing since I’m the ‘extremely slow paced slide of life fluff’ specialist guy lol. It’s mostly that I can’t help myself when writing Oliver and Zoe bouncing off each other. Hope you enjoy!

***

Zoe took her sweet time getting ready, and every second spent waiting agonized Oliver. Reaching another heroine's first Heart Event had his heart pumping something fierce. He just hoped it would actually happen today. There was always a chance the event wouldn't trigger, but this was all still a significant step forward, even if nothing happened.

He kept wondering about what she was getting up to in there. Mia dolled herself up when they first went out as friends, didn't she? Maybe Zoe was doing the same?

Nah. On second thought, probably not. Oliver dismissed the notion.

Zoe didn't strike him as the type to invest tons of effort over something like this, and putting on her face wouldn't explain the lengthy delay, anyway. She still had the makeup from her last stream on, so topping it off should only take a minute or two.

Ah, well.

A boy could dream. It was all Mia's fault for making him like this, anyway. When she fancied herself up the other day just to impress him, it made Oliver feel like the most special guy in the world, and he wouldn't turn down a second dose of that. Honestly, though? Zoe could strut out wearing a fursuit, and he'd still be hyped as all hell.

But what if she asked me to wear one, too? Mind still spinning with nonsensical thoughts, Oliver cocked his head. I mean, so long as it made her happy-

The tingle of Hyper Reflexes danced down his spine, alerting Oliver the instant Zoe's door cracked. His thoughts emptied like air from a popped balloon as he looked down the hall.

"Sorry that fuckin' took me so long. Forgot where I put this stupid thing." Zoe grumbled, tugging her sleeve. "That, and I had to take my face off."

It was good Oliver hadn't let himself get carried away as Zoe went in the opposite direction he'd envisioned. She'd thrown on a baggy purple track jacket to go with her pants, and her sharp eyes looked even sharper sans makeup. To keep things inconspicuous, she wore a black facemask, a black baseball cap pulled down over her bangs, sunglasses resting above her brows, and flip-flops.

"No problem. Looking good, Zoe. You didn't get the wrong memo, though, did you?"

"Fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"I asked you out to an arcade. Not to go sell drugs with me at the nearest McDonald's parking lot."

Zoe flicked his forehead.

Oliver could've dodged, but he didn't. All he did was smirk.

"C'mon, dude! Use your brain for half a second. I'm a decently popular titty streamer living in one of California's biggest fuckin' cities. Shouldn't take a rocket scientist to suss out why I might wanna keep a low profile, yeah?"

"Right, makes sense. So you've actually run into some fans before?"

"A couple of times, yeah," Zoe heaved her shoulders, then slumped against the nearest wall.

"Well, that sounds ominous."

"Eh. It's a mixed bag. Most just wanted a picture together, and that's like, sure, whatever, but then you have the haters, or even worse, the catcallers. A few crazy fucks even came right up and hit on me right while Mia was like right fuckin' there, man. Shit's wild."

"Jesus. I'd be lying if I said I'm surprised. No wonder you hide in your room so much."

"Yeah, well... that might have something to do with it, but it's not like I ever really loved getting out of the house even before I got internet famous."

"Internet famous, wow. Everyone knows that's the best kind."

"Heh. Damn straight."

[Zoe has gained +1 Affection! +1 Smooth Talker]

"Sad to say it's not all sunshine and unicorns, though. Putting up with this shit is just part and parcel when you're big online. Doubly so when you're a sexy bitch such as yours truly."

"You won't need to put up with jack shit when you're with me," Oliver clenched his fist, staring her dead on. He worried about looking too serious, so he threw in a smile and punched his open palm. "I can't help myself whenever I catch a whiff of harassment, remember?"

Zoe sized up the scrawny guy and his cute little grin. Wait, cute? She squinted for a split second. Okay, sure, maybe it is a little cute. Whatever, moving on.

While you couldn't call Oliver physically imposing without stretching those words by a mile and a half, his confidence more than made up for in Zoe's eyes. It didn't hurt knowing those fists got results, either.

She shot a weird, screwy smile back at him from beneath her mask and scratched her neck.

[Zoe has gained +1 Affection! +1 Smooth Talker]

"Yeah, yeah. Kinda hard to forget that about you, my guy. Just keep in mind I'm not like Mia and Becca, okay? I can take care of myself. Search hard enough, and you'll find footage of me kicking some dude's balls after he came up and tried to grope me. Christ, that was a good day! Thank fuck Mia was already recording me for a promo vid because I'm pretty damn sure that's still my most viral xeet to this day..."

"Zoe," Oliver snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Stop thinking about work."

"Fuck. Okay, yeah, right. So, are you ready to blow this joint, or-" Zoe stopped after noticing Oliver's hand inching toward her. "Bruh. You serious with this shit right now? Because trying to feel me up RIGHT after I told you about my dope-ass skills in the field of unscheduled vasectomies is a BOLD fuckin' move."

Oliver called her bluff. His hand sank into her jacket's pocket, returning with Zoe's phone moments later. The boys down south remained gloriously intact.

"Part of not thinking about work means leaving your cell behind."

Zoe's hand itched and twitched. She yearned to yank back her attention dispenser from Oliver's clutches, but she knew these feelings for what they were. Stupid, selfish impulses. All it'd take to power through them was some good old-fashioned mental fortitude. A resource Zoe scarcely possessed.

Good thing Oliver's influence helped her dredge some up.

Peer pressure- it never fails.

"Look at you, all ten steps ahead and shit. Whatever, dude. Chuck it on the coffee table, and let's go."

Oliver obliged with a satisfied grin, and it wasn't long until Zoe had one, too. Smiling over something so silly made her feel dumb and down on herself. Luckily, she had the rest of the afternoon to practice getting used to it, supposing she ever could.

One way to find out, Zoe thought as the two left for their romantically-coded platonic not-a-date.

They were walking down the hall past the rows of other apartments when Oliver realized seeing Zoe outside the apartment felt uncanny. Almost like he'd clipped out of bounds and glimpsed something he shouldn't. She was also invading his personal space by hovering right next to him, and they weren't even halfway down the hall yet.

"Everything okay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Just making sure you're not too nervous or whatever," Oliver said. "Since you're clinging pretty close for someone who insisted they could take care of themselves."

"You think I won't fight back if someone starts shit with us? Because I fuckin' will, Olive. I'll tell you that right now! It's just that I'm always a little nervous about this kind of shit, and it's been a while since the last time I went out, so..."

"I get it," Oliver laughed. Feral, yet clingy. He supposed some things never change. "I don't mind. Get as close as you want. I'll even walk arm in arm with you like a proper gentleman if it helps."

"Pft. Right. Proper gentleman don't go on dates with their girlfriend's BFF, y'know."

"Historically speaking, proper gentlemen have mistresses. Besides, I thought this wasn't a date?"

"It's not. Fuck you." She all but growled, adding a few seconds later, "But I wouldn't say no if you wanted to, like, hold my hand or some shit..."

"You wouldn't, would you?" Oliver tried not to sound smug.

"Mia usually holds my hand whenever we go out, okay? It centers me!"

Oliver could only imagine what all that handholding did to his poor little bisexual disaster.

"Consider yourself centered."

"I already know I'm self-centered, dummy. You don't have to rub-" Zoe paused as Oliver took her hand. "Oh. Right. Uh. Thanks, dude."

Oliver kept quiet, only smiling in response.

He figured treating this as nothing special would help his flailing friend adjust. As for him, he was just happy to be holding her hand again. It was bigger than Mia's, and her grip was a lot tighter, too. It felt so nice to share this casual intimacy with another increasingly special girl to his heart, and he couldn't help thinking how lucky he was.

His shameless side reminded him he could always be luckier. His mind raced with fanciful fantasies about what it might be like to hold Mia and Zoe's hands simultaneously. Since this was by far the most wholesome activity he'd pictured the three of them getting up to, he cut himself some slack and rode guilt-free on this one.

Zoe didn't appreciate the silence. Her racing thoughts weren't eased one bit by the quiet. If anything, treating this so casually only drew more attention to it. This was way different than holding Mia's hand- it didn't center her at all. Her goopy gamer brain ran an endless spiral of circles within circles.

So why hadn't the thought of letting go crossed her mind a single time?

Zoe looked at Oliver's face, saw the dopey grin, and got her answer.

Ugh. He's so fuckin' cute when he gets like that. I don't fuckin' get it. That smirk makes him look like a drooling idiot, but every time single time I see it, my heart just-

"This one's mine," Oliver said, taking out his keys and hitting a button on the pad.

The satisfying sound of car doors unlocking awakened Zoe from her near illumination. She'd gotten pretty close to figuring something out just now. It was enough pieces of the puzzle for any normal person to slap two and two together- the keyword being 'normal'- something which noted caffeine gremlin Zoe Myers was not.

The girl was a complex chimera. Forged of equal parts stubborn, oblivious, and arrested development, looking herself in the mirror came to her about as easily as it did for a male betta fish. It was already a miracle she'd done so much self-reflecting these last few days. Expecting more from her wasn't fair.

This egg wasn't ready to hatch just yet, but its surface now had noticeable cracks. Light trickled in from them, frightening the delicate creature hiding within. This led straight to more of what Mia would label 'tsundere bullshit'.

"And what're you smiling about, nerd?" Zoe whipped out a fake smile, which rivaled a sheet of cellophane in its transparency. "You look like you're drunk off your tits and someone just told you the funniest fuckin' joke you've ever heard."

The only joke was Zoe's predictability, but Oliver knew better than to point that out. He honestly liked her silly attempts at deflection. Found them cute, even, and it made him a lot less nervous knowing she was a thousand times worse off.

"Maybe that's because I'm out here holding hands with California's number one hottest titty streamer in broad daylight where everyone can see me. Really does wonders for a guy's confidence, you know? Even if you look like you're about to go shank someone on a subway."

"Geez. Number one is kind've a stretch, even for my precious little simp." Zoe scratched her ear. She didn't look displeased by the compliment but brushed it aside. "Not sure why you'd get an ego boost from being seen with me like this, anyway. It's not like anyone even knows I'm hot."

"I do."

"Walked riiiight the fuck into that one, didn't I...?"

"Yeah, but you totally liked it."

"Bold assumption you got there, my guy. Prove it."

Oliver said nothing, staring her in the eyes for six seconds straight. That was all it took to get Zoe's face flushed and make her look away.

[Zoe has gained +3 Affection! +2 Smooth Talker]

"Fuckin' damn it all to hell, ugh..."

"I rest my case."

"Yeah, you better. Let's get this show on the road already before I regret this."

"One second," Oliver fished out his phone, drawing Zoe's immediate skepticism when she saw him going into photo mode.

"Jesus Christ, Olive. All I did was leave the house! It's not such a big fuckin' deal that we gotta document it with a selfie. Are you really that desperate for more pics of me?"

"I'll leave that to your imagination," he smirked, holding the phone at arm's length.

Then Oliver took a risk. He let go of Zoe's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close until they were hip to hip. It all happened so fast. There was definitely a chance he'd overstepped his bounds, but something in the back of his mind told him this was a good idea, and that was enough for him.

"Now how about you give Mia a big ol' smile under that mask of yours? C'mon, it'll be funny. You know she'll lose her shit if we send her some pics of us while we're out today."

Oliver awaited Zoe's response for much longer than he thought he'd have to.

His brain cranked out predictions on where things might go once the silence broke. Maybe she'd push him away and tell him off for getting handsy, maybe she'd begrudgingly go along with it for the sake of messing with Mia, or perhaps she'd even keep the stream of tsundere bullshit going strong by playing hot and cold with him? It was hard to say.

He certainly never imagined she'd casually hug him back, take off her glasses and mask, and shoot the camera a meek smile while making a peace sign with her free hand.

"I guess that would be pretty funny," she muttered in a tone he'd almost dare to call shy. "Go on, then. Let's make her day."

Oliver had no idea where this demure side of Zoe came from, but it was so distracting he almost forgot to take the picture. Seriously, she was cute as hell like this. Thank God he had permission to preserve the moment for all time.

Snap.

[Milestone Achieved! Took a selfie with Zoe +10LP]

Oh, shit. That was a nice surprise. I guess I haven't actually taken a picture with Mia yet, have I? Now I know I'll have to fix that as soon as I can.

"Olive?" Zoe asked, biting her lip. "Did you get it, or what...?"

"Sorry, yeah, just, um... got a little too into the hug, ahaha..."

That was very much the incorrect thing to say in this situation. Even worse was that he patted Zoe's love handle for comedic emphasis. He felt stupid after doing it and expected her to get on his case any second.

She never did.

Oliver took the silence as Zoe throwing him a bone and moved right the hell along.

"Anyway, thanks for that," Olive let go of Zoe to lean against his car door. He was careful not to stare at the picture too much since he didn't want to slip up and show his special friend here how suddenly overwhelmed he was by her charms. She'd never let him hear the end of it. "Give me just a sec to send it to Mia, and we can be on our-"

"-too..." Zoe uttered with barely more than a whisper.

"Huh?" Oliver looked up from his phone to see Zoe now rubbing her elbow and staring at the pavement. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Yeah, I... I said make sure you send it to me too while you're at it..."

Oliver's heart skipped a beat as he watched the bashful young woman in front of him like he'd never seen her before in his life. Seriously, did he blink and miss Zoe getting replaced by a skinwalker or something? The possibility seemed more and more likely.

But he knew that wasn't the case, and that made him smile that smile she loved so damn much wider than ever before.

"You got it," Oliver beamed. He added Zoe to the text's recipient and hit send. "Okay, done. It'll be right there waiting for you as soon as we get back."

[Zoe has gained +5 Affection!]

Oliver's addiction only got so much worse when he saw the screwed-up grin on Zoe's face following the affection bump. She was stupidly happy that he sent her that selfie, and it just wasn't fair.

The mood between them was so weird right now. Neither said a word; Oliver was too drunk on Zoe being adorable, and Zoe was too embarrassed by her thoughts and feelings. They might've stayed like this for hours if Oliver hadn't gotten a second notification.

[Mia has gained +3 Affection!]

Right on cue... Oliver chuckled after looking at his now buzzing phone and the accompanying text.

Suddenly curious enough that it recaptured her attention span, Zoe leaned in to inspect the situation after putting back on her mask and glasses.

"Well? What'd Mia say? Did she like it, or what? C'mon! Don't keep me in suspense, man. I got zero chill over here."

"Take a wild guess," Oliver tipped the screen toward his date so she could see the eggplant and sweat drop emojis Mia had sent him.

"Heh. Bout what I expected. Oh, Mia, you little fuckin' perv..." Zoe sighed. More than anything else, she was just glad Oliver was telling the truth. If Mia really was mad, she probably wouldn't be so ecstatic about her boyfriend taking her out and snapping selfies with her. Then again, what did she know?

Not a whole lot, but I can't say part of me isn't itching to start filling in the blanks...

Oliver interrupted Zoe's thoughts by opening the passenger side door and gesturing toward her seat.

"That's a bit much, dude. Especially for a car as crappy as... er, no offense."

"None taken. This lemon was already halfway to rusting as Rome burned. You ready?"

"I've been ready for like fifteen minutes now, but swear to God, you've got this magical way of stretching out time whenever we're together..."

Oliver stared.

"Fuck- argh! I didn't mean it like that...!"

"No, of course not," he laughed. "Now how about we get in my wheeled deathtrap before one of us shoves our foot in our mouth again?"

"Now you're speaking my language..."

---

Stat Changes

Oliver Chase | Strength 9 | Style 5 | Spark 1 | Smarts 4
Cash: $826 | LP: 145

Mia Rosas | Status: Girlfriend | 95/300 | ❤❤❤♡♡

Zoe Myers | Status: Friend(?) | 115/100 | ♡♡♡♡♡