Love Addict’s RPG Vol. 2 Ch 86

Whew, okay. It turns out I did not just have one line left like I said yesterday and I did another 1000+ words from there along with a lot of rewriting. I’m feeling real good today though, even better now that I got this done. I hope to have 87 done a lot sooner than this one took, although that’s a very low bar. There are some pretty big changes from my outline present and I’m quite happy with the direction it took. Anyway, here’s 5000 some words of two awkward nerds sitting together on a couch. Hope it was worth the wait.

***

What remained of breakfast didn't take Zoe long. She tore through it like a wood chipper, her gratitude increasing with every bite. She thanked Oliver once again before allowing herself to kick back and enjoy her full belly.

This sense of contentment didn't last long, as Zoe knew they had much to discuss.

"So, about last night..."

"We don't have to jump right into it," Oliver said. "I'm here to hang out, not put you on trial."

"I know you're not, dude. It just feels like a sword hanging over my head, and I wanna get it outta the way. So spill it, how's Mia? Is she mad at me or super mad at me?"

"Neither,"

"Neither? Pft. Okay. I'll believe that when I see it."

"No, really," Oliver told her as gently as he could. "None of us are mad at you."

Zoe went quiet, allowing herself a hint of optimism and a raised brow. "You're not?"

"Nope. You weren't just spouting shit about wanting to change. You put your money where your mouth is, and that counts for more than you think. If anything, we're proud of you."

"C'mon, Olive," she frowned. "I might've been distracted as fuck, but it's not like I didn't notice how annoyed Mia was. You and Becca didn't look too hot, either, so cut the shit and give it to me straight."

Oliver gave her a second to collect herself before looking away and giving her what she wanted. "Things aren't so black and white. Everyone's really conflicted about what happened, but I promise pride's in there somewhere."

"And anger isn't?"

"No. We were disappointed about the timing, not at how you handled it."

"Hm," Zoe considered. The weight lifted from her shoulders was small, doing little to clear her guilt. It still felt like there was more to it than just that. "She didn't say anything to you about all this, did she?"

"Not a lot, no. Although I kinda got the sense that she's more upset at herself than she is at you. Take from that what you will." Zoe gave him a funny look upon hearing that, prompting him to continue with, "Yeah, it was weird, and I didn't get a chance to ask her about it since she kicked us out not too long after you left. She wanted to decompress alone for the night."

Zoe slumped over in her seat, groaning. "Great. Another reason to feel guilty. Sorry, Olive. Far be it from me to get in the way of your nightly dick-sucking, or whatever the fuck goes on during your little sleepovers."

"Don't sweat it," Oliver flushed as he looked away with a stony face. "I'll have you know I can get by

just fine without Mia cranking one out for me twice a day, believe it or not."

The streamer eyed him with skepticism.

"Can you?"

"I mean, it's not my preference?" Oliver shrugged. "But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Zoe took his word for it, nodding along blankly. She still felt sorry but didn't want to get caught in a loop repeating herself. "And how'd Becca handle it?"

"After some impromptu counseling? Decently enough. Mia suggested I take Rebecca out before dropping her off, and we had a nice, long talk about our feelings over ice cream. It seemed like it helped a lot."

Oliver's smile was brighter the second Zoe got him talking about Rebecca, and his eyes were subtly shining, too. The dude really wore his emotions on his sleeve, and she thought it was funny. Maybe even a little cute.

"Huh. Well, at least something good came outta this whole fuckin' mess... and you said it was Mia's idea?"

"Yeah, why?"

Well played, kitty-cat. Well played.

Not even a sudden case of the blues could stop Mia from advancing her kinky agenda. From one hustler to another, Zoe respected the chick's dedication.

"No reason, just curious..." she lazily remarked, taking a meditative sip of her caffeinated bile. "Lucky you, salvaging the night with a cute little date. I'm glad you were there to help take care of her."

Oliver bristled at Zoe's use of the word 'date' but didn't make a thing of it. He instead pursed his lips and said, "Rebecca's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"Shit, yeah. You're right, I didn't mean to infantilize her. I'm just trying to be fuckin' cute about it since it's either that or moping around like a sad sack..."

"You're a big girl, too," Oliver said firmly. "So don't feel mopey about tripping over the starting line. You just need to take my hand, pick yourself up, and keep working on yourself."

Zoe looked him over momentarily, his confident words and comforting smile giving her funny feelings. She couldn't just push away all her doubts after fucking up so bad. Not when she still feared she'd potentially upset Oliver most of all.

"Is taking your hand really part of the equation, or is that just your pervy ass getting overly optimistic again?" Zoe struggled to grin back at him.

"I was just making a motivational metaphor. If you're so hung up on handholding, though, I wouldn't mind indulging your sick fantasies."

Zoe expected him to buckle at her little joke, but the guy was in rare form today and was barely affected by it. Worse, he bounced it back and made her feel even stranger. Her lips went all screwy as she twisted them in embarrassment.

Oliver sensed something was wrong when she suddenly turned away and frowned again.

"Zoe?"

Her eyelid twitched at the sound of her name. Beating around the bush was beginning to irritate her, so decided to just up and ask him.

"So you don't think Mia and Rebecca are mad at me, but what about you?"

Oliver went quiet for a few seconds, tilting his head. He then let out a tiny laugh, followed by a bigger one.

"What?" Zoe flared up. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just thought that me being here at all would've already answered that. You're really intent on beating yourself up over this, huh?"

"I- ugh, it's not fuckin' like that, I-" she huffed, forcing herself to face him again. "I feel bad, okay?"

"Think we've established that, yeah,"

"About what I did to you specifically, dumbass!"

"Huh?" Oliver blinked. "Uh. What did you do to me?"

Zoe didn't know whether to feel relieved or to slug him. It should've been comforting to discover her concerns were so off the mark, but guilt weighed her down, and she wasn't used to dealing with this pesky little emotion.

Who'd have thought it felt bad to feel bad about things?

"Seriously, dude? You gave a whole fuckin' speech about how much it meant to be friends with me and shit, getting me to say all those embarrassing things in the process, only for me fuck off and screw everything up!"

"...Oh," Oliver reddened. "That's what you're so hung up on?"

"Duh, why the fuck wouldn't I be?" Zoe leaned forward in her seat, sighed, and wove her fingers through her hair to grope at her scalp. "I look like a total fuckin' hypocrite after that, and I can't stand it because, believe it or not, I meant every damn word of it..."

Oliver went quiet. The truth was he didn't really care about all that. While the timing was admittedly awful, he still didn't blame Zoe for what she did. If anything, it felt oddly nice knowing how deeply concerned she was over him and the way he saw her.

Comforting her would be easy enough, but Oliver pushed himself to be more shameless. He scooted closer and placed a hand on her shoulder with a gentle smile. Zoe blushed and recoiled, though she quickly recovered after growing accustomed to his touch.

She was on the edge of her seat and awaiting his next words.

"Then prove it,"

"...Huh?"

"If you don't want to seem like a hypocrite, prove you aren't one by taking that guilt and making an effort to hang out with me. That's all I want."

Zoe tensed up as Oliver began to subtly rub her shoulder, though it wasn't long before she was leaning into his touch. This dude was good with his hands. Like, really good. Her red cheeks turned even redder as she melted against him.

"I can do that," Zoe groaned as he relieved her shoulder of an ache she didn't even know she had like it was nothing. "But is there anything else I can do? Not just to make it up to you- like, in general. I want to make a serious goddamn effort to get out of this fuckin' rut, so if you've got any tips for speedrunning that process, I'm all ears."

Normally, this wasn't the kind of thing you could rush through. Oliver having magical dating sim powers changed things. He was confident in his ability to help and made sure to sound like it as he said, "I think spending time away from your streams and with your friends instead should be enough to slowly break the hold that your addiction has over your life. Trying super hard to speed things up might just lead to another relapse."

Zoe bit her lip as Oliver dug his thumb into a pressure point, barely suppressing a moan. This felt so good that it almost scared her. Deciding the massage was too much, she scooted away before he could make her more vulnerable than she already was.

"Sorry, I should've asked-" Oliver said in a hurry, fearful that his shamelessness might've pushed the limits too fast.

"No, it's cool, dude. I liked it. Like, a lot, just... not right now, okay?" Zoe offered him a smile so humble that he almost couldn't believe who it was coming from. "Thanks, though. For everything."

[Zoe has gained +5 Affection!]

"It's what I'm here for," Oliver pridefully declared.

"Heh. Yeah, I know. Got a follow-up question for you, Mr. Therapist. Think it'd be rushing things if I hung out with Mia alone tomorrow so we can... y'know, talk? Because if you think it's too soon, I can..."

Oliver silently stared for an uncomfortably long time until Zoe nearly panicked.

"...Olive? Helloooo? Are you gonna say something, or what? You're starting to freak me the fuck out!" 

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to freeze up; it's just that I can't believe the day when you two sit the fuck down and talk through your bullshit might actually be upon us. Even more incredible is that you up and suggested it yourself." Oliver wiped a fake tear from his eye. "I couldn't be more proud."

"Gah- shut it, you fuckin' dumbass! I asked for your opinion, not your sarcasm. Do you think it's a good idea or not?"

Oliver wondered if Mia could even handle a solo confrontation. She'd all but begged him for help precisely because she struggled to express herself toward Zoe, but then again, she'd seemingly made big progress yesterday morning when he went back to his place. It was worth a shot.

"Of course I do, but I'll need to see where Mia's mentally at later today. I'll float the idea at her and see what she thinks. I doubt she'll say no, but are you sure you want it to be just the two of you?"

"Yeah, I wanna at least try without you having to hold our hands," Zoe looked away and hung her head. "Feels like I owe her that much, even though I'm scared as shit of what she might have to say..."

"Stressing out about it ahead of time will just make things worse. Try focusing on the here and now."

"I'll drink to that," Zoe raised her energy drink, tipped it toward Oliver, and took the tiniest of sips.

"Still trying to pace yourself?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I had this crash the other night while you two were doing your thing, and-" she stopped, her face getting really hot as her eyes darted away. "Fuck, man. I don't know. It was wild, and it got me thinking I should probably try to fuckin' cut back a bit..."

Oliver beamed.

Zoe just kept giving him more and more reasons to feel proud of her today. It was embarrassing how much he wanted to prop her up and spoil her with praise, but he knew better than to make things weird.

"Have you always been the type to drink a ton of caffeine?"

"Pretty much. I was a big coffee girl before I got a sponsorship from these fucks," she pointedly shook her can. "And it's been downhill ever since."

"I'll take a wild guess and assume you've got the same views on sleep that you do on sex?"

"What? Uh- I mean, y-yeah, basically. It's a waste of my precious time and all that. I did try to sleep a little last night, though, for whatever good it did. Only managed to sneak in about an hour..."

"Yikes, that's rough,"

"Eh, I'm used to it. I just hate closing my eyes, turning off the lights, and being alone with my thoughts, if that makes any sense?"

"Yes," Oliver laughed politely. "I'd say that's pretty damn common."

Zoe suddenly grew distant, her thoughts drifting away as she spoke. "Honestly, the loneliness is what sucks the most..."

Sensing the seriousness, Oliver chose his words carefully. Now wasn't the time to jokingly offer his company.

"And you don't feel lonely when you're gaming?"

"Nah, and streaming makes me feel even less lonely," she deigned to look over at him and said what he was thinking. "Too much of a good thing, I know, I know..."

Oliver took another chance. His hand slowly slid toward Zoe, then placed itself atop her own. It was casual and subtle, but Zoe flinched a little in surprise as she usually did before accepting the gesture.

"Why do you keep doing shit like this?" She asked, puzzled. "Swear to god, it feels like you're always trying to fuckin' put your hands all over me. I don't get it."

The question worried Oliver until he realized Zoe wasn't mad. She was genuinely trying to understand, her curious expression as she glanced between him and his hand making it obvious.

"It's partly compulsory, partly that I apparently have a thing for trying to comfort cute girls when they say sad shit," he thoughtlessly confessed, unsure about whether or not to take back his hand. "It's my fatal flaw."

"Kinda thought your fatal flaw was being an unapologetic manwhore," Zoe clicked her tongue.

"Oh, I'm very apologetic," he offered up a nervous yet sarcastic smile that got a cute laugh out of the piss goblin.

"But still a manwhore?"

Nothing Oliver could say would beat the allegations, so all he did was shrug. Shrug, and squeeze her hand a little tighter. Zoe smiled.

[Zoe has gained +5 Affection!]

"Points for honesty," she said, sadly taking her hand back. "Now, are we gonna do anything, or was your plan just to hold my hand and play therapist all day? Because as much as I appreciate you being here to help me through this, I ain't itching to open up old wounds and trauma dump all over you."

"But we've known each other for four days- haven't I earned access to your deepest, darkest secrets?"

"Nah. You know I like ya, Olive, but you gotta keep grinding away at me like I'm some kinda fuckin' dating sim character before we get that close."

"Hah," Oliver let out the most humorless laugh in the history of dramatic irony. "Right. Well. Luckily enough, I did have an idea or two."

"Great!" Zoe brightened up, fingers twitching and ready for action. "So, what are we playing?"

"Love that you just assume I want to play a video game,"

"Love that you just assume my attention span is capable of anything beyond that," Zoe countered. "And before you say anything, the board game didn't count since it was video game adjacent."

"Geez," Oliver involuntarily sighed. "I swear, you're about as well-rounded as a triangle."

The young woman pushed up her big, round glasses and slumped over, looking somewhere between annoyed and defeated. "Not much else appeals to me. I've never been much for movies or TV, music is great and all, but I can't sit still long enough to appreciate it if I'm not gaming, and forget the fuck about reading. If you can't sense a pattern here-"

"Oh, I can. You don't like doing things that don't actively engage with you, which is perfectly valid."

"Yet I still can't shake the feeling you're judging me,"

"I'm sorry if it came off that way. I'm not judging you so much as-"

"Pitying me?"

"Not pitying you, either. It's just hard to hear without wondering if it's part of the problem. I assume it's not, since Mia and Rebecca sound perfectly happy with the way you were before streaming entered the equation, but I didn't know you back then."

"Eh, fair. Sorry. I'm kinda self-conscious about it sometimes. I mean, compared to Rebecca, who's literally on the spectrum-"

"I had that same thought about you guys last night," Oliver let out a guilty laugh, earning a sharp smile from Zoe.

"Heh. Well, it's true. Her interests are so much broader than mine, it's not even funny! Chick plays tabletops, video games, paints minifigs, collects trading cards, reads books, she's a hell of a shot with an airsoft gun-"

"She's into airsoft?"

"Yup," Zoe laughed. "Don't fuck around with her if she's got one of those things in her hands. You'll lose a fuckin' eye, bare minimum."

"Huh," Oliver pictured the petite, stuttering little lass packing some serious heat. "That makes an unsettling amount of sense."

"Right? Meanwhile, there's boring ol' me..."

In no world would Oliver ever conceive of calling Zoe 'boring', though he comforted her regardless.

"I still don't personally think it's that big of a deal if you've only got the one hobby, but there's no reason you can't work on branching out if you're serious about it actually bothering you,"

"Go ahead and slap it on the growing list of shit that needs to change around here. I've gotta be up to item number... what, seven hundred by now?"

"I know it seems scary-"

"It doesn't seem scary, it is scary..." Zoe tapped her finger against her can's rim, frowning.

"I know, but don't think you need to tackle it all at once. In my experience, baby steps are the best steps."

"Yeah? How'd you figure that out?"

"Painfully," Oliver chuckled. "I've made some dumb mistakes ever since I started working to improve myself, most of which came down to biting off more than I could chew. I'd hate to see you repeat my fuck ups, so I've got a personal interest in helping out."

Zoe started to blush again as she shifted around in her seat and folded her arms. Something stupid popped into her head, and it wouldn't leave her be until she asked. The problem was how embarrassing the question was- but Zoe wanted to know, damn it.

"Damn, dude," Zoe said with a grin powered by false bravado. "You really do like me, don't you?"

The words hung there after she'd said them, and every silent second he stared back at her was torture on the soul. Zoe began feeling like she'd made a huge mistake. She tried hard not to show it, barely keeping cool.

Another chance, Oliver realized.

"In what way?"

"Uh," Zoe paused, not expecting she'd have to clarify. The question flip-flopped her perceived advantage. She'd thought he'd get tripped up much worse than her, but nope. He was chill about the whole thing. "You know...?"

"No, I don't. Not unless you elaborate."

"Forget it. I was just trying to fuck with you, same as always."

"Oh, okay," Oliver innocently smiled. "So you weren't hoping for a 'yes'?"

"Huh? W-Why the fuck would I be-"

"I dunno, it just sorta seemed that way to me..."

"Pft- what? Nuh-uh. You're just projecting."

"God, you're bad at this," Oliver failed to hold in a small laugh.

Zoe's competitiveness roared to life, her nerves twitching as she shot him a defiant look.

"Bad at what?!" She barked.

"Flirting. At least when you're taking it seriously. You're pretty good at it when you treat it like an IRL form of shitposting, but man, Zoe. You're the picture they've got next to 'all bark no bite' in the dictionary."

"T-That... that's an idiom, dumbass! It's not in the fuckin' dictionary!" Zoe defensively chugged the rest of her can and then threw it at Oliver's smirking face. It did nothing to stop him, and he just kept laughing. "And I'm not trying to flirt with you, either! You're so desperate with all this projecting, Olive. Knock it off already, or you're gonna piss me off!"

[Zoe has lost -3 Affection!]

Oliver wasn't surprised about the affection drop, but the results thankfully spoke for themselves. He'd called Zoe out, brought her feelings into the open, and made her face them a bit more. It was hard not to be happy knowing all that, but unfortunately for her, his intuition told him he could get away with more.

"So you wouldn't be happy if I told you I liked you in the way that Mia wants me to?"

"Wha... w-what do you..." Zoe stammered, heat filling her cheeks. She had to force herself to look away, scoffing, "I mean, no, of course not! Why would that make me happy? It's Mia's goal to make us into some kinda throuple, not mine. I'm just here to hang out with you, bro. It's not that deep."

"Hm, all right. Guess I'll keep my feelings to myself for now, then."

"W-Wait-" her gaze shot straight back to him. "Do you...?"

"Do I what?" Oliver cocked his head.

"Olive, don't even-"

"Don't even what?" He smiled.

"I give up. I'm not fighting this fuckin' battle, it ain't worth it." Zoe exhaled like a deflating tire.

Despite her words, Oliver noted the strange looks she kept giving him. Her violet eyes brimmed with confusion, curiosity, and so much more. Zoe was on edge, and the cutest part was that she didn't even understand why.

By the look of things, he'd probably get some affection points if he owned up to his crush on her. The attention whore clearly wanted to hear him say it, which is precisely why Oliver intended to keep that card in his pocket until the time was right.

Everything was falling into place, and it was hard not to laugh at the situation.

I can't believe I was ever worried about this. Compared to Mia, Zoe's so stupidly easy to read that it's downright adorable. Now all I've got to do is get her on board with the plan.

Zoe was getting agitated. Her restless leg thumped its foot, her finger tapped her armrest, and her lips got even screwier as her brows furrowed.

"So-" she started.

"What's the matter? Attention span giving out on you already?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. We've been sitting around talking for ages-"

"It's been like ten minutes since you finished breakfast. If that."

"A girl's got needs, Olive. I need to be doing something."

"More like you need an Adderall prescription," Oliver chuckled.

"Been there, done that," Zoe rolled her eyes. "You got like a minute or two before I whip out DokaDon Empire again, so hit me with those mysterious ideas of yours if that's a fate you wanna avoid."

Tempting. She'd presumably get an affection increase if he played with her again, which would get him very close to her first Heart Event. Maybe even trigger it.

Heart racing at the thought of progress, Oliver plotted things out. I can use this, he concluded with a smirk.

"That sounds fun and all, but I was actually hoping to take you out today,"

"Uh..." Zoe looked like he'd dumped a bucket of cold water over her head. "You know I don't really do the whole 'outside' thing, dude. That's like a core part of my pseudo-NEET persona."

"You can't drop the act long enough to visit Quarter's Up?"

Zoe subtly twitched.

"Who snitched?"

"Rebecca. I asked if she knew anywhere that might tempt you out of your cave for a few hours."

"Figures, that little rat..."

"So you are, in fact, tempted. Yes?"

"I don't fuckin' know, man. It might be fun, but it'll be awkward as hell for me since I haven't been there in years. I'd really rather we just stayed home, but that wouldn't be much of a baby step, would it?"

"Hey, I'm not gonna force you into anything you're uncomfortable with. Still. You aren't stupid, Zoe. We both know holing up indoors all day every day isn't doing you any favors. I thought we could maybe try working on that together- that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it was somewhere you liked- but it's ultimately your call. I'll understand if you're not up to it just yet."

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

Okay, more points for respecting her boundaries. That's good and all, but will she bite...? Oliver waited and watched Zoe slump over for the fortieth time this morning. 

"Zoe?"

"Sorry, ugh. Fuck. I can't make up my mind. It's... complicated, okay?"

"I can tell," Oliver frowned. She took his little suggestion way more seriously than expected, making him wonder what this arcade meant to her. "Like I said, if you don't want-"

"I do," Zoe interrupted, clenching her fists. "But..."

"But?"

Oliver waited for a response, but she went quiet and said nothing. Her hesitation brought to mind Julio's advice about taking charge and telling her what's what. While he had no intentions of callously manipulating her into this, he wasn't above using Zoe's competitive nature to nudge her in what he thought was the right direction.

"Well, if you can't make up your mind, why don't we just let luck decide?"

Zoe perked up ever-so-slightly. "You saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yup, go ahead and hook up DokaDon Empire. Win, and we stay home. Lose, and you're coming with me."

Zoe took a few seconds to respond, which made Oliver paranoid he'd come across as too much of a chud. His fears were eased as soon as the gamer girl rose from her seat wearing one of her trademark shit-eating grins fresh on her face.

"Now you're speaking my language, heh! You're on, Olive. Let's do this shit."

[Zoe has gained +5 Affection!]

Oliver assumed Zoe was just that happy to play with him again since he didn't get a Smooth Talker bonus. That, or she was super relieved he'd taken the decision out of her hands.

Might be something to mull over while we play, but I need to focus on winning this thing for now. Zoe's Heart Event is so close I can almost taste it, and I'll be damned if I lose out on my chance to poke this sloth into getting some sunlight.

With a single-minded determination for victory held close to his heart, Oliver took his controller the moment it was offered and readied himself to serve Zoe her ass on a silver platter.

***

Stat Changes

Zoe Myers | Status: Friend | 90/100 | ♡♡♡♡♡