Love Addict’s RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 83

Well, I didn’t MEAN to tell a lie yesterday, but it turned out my estimation was wrong in two regards. First was that I’m in quite a good mood today and got more done than expected, second was that this scene is very long and I noticed a clear cutoff point. I’m glad I got it done today, comments always make me feel better and the funeral tomorrow is going to suck.

I doubt any of you will be complaining about an additional chapter with the twins, anyway. I’m very happy with their antics in this chapter lol.

***

Oliver's face was punctuated by a bigass grin as he looked at the text Mia just sent him. Pictured was a selfie of his girlfriend sitting at Ramenryu, his friend Akira's food cart. Eight empty bowls of ramen sat on the counter behind her, as did the chef, who smiled and waved.

---

Mia:

ran into ur friend, dude's chill

as u can see I treated myself 4 once

feelin a lot better, prolly gonna get high when I get home lol

have fun with w/e ur doin mi amor

oh and b4 I forget I wanna hang out tmrw night

see u then

---

Her message couldn't have come at a better time. Oliver needed a shot in the arm of morale right about now since he currently found himself in hell. He was led to a dive bar called Cuno's, and man, Julio wasn't kidding. This place would certainly put some hair on his chest...

If it didn't kill him first.

Rock and roll music exploded from a nearby jukebox only to be drowned out by the sounds of the bar's patrons- a mix of bikers, gangbangers, and a couple hookers- yelling and rough-housing with each other. Even the hookers. The possibility of a free-for-all seemed perpetually just around the corner. Oliver figured there was probably a good reason the gruff-looking bartender had a shotgun prominently displayed on the wall behind him.

Oliver didn't just feel out of place at Cuno's, he felt like he'd stepped into another dimension. Thankfully, he and the twins were tucked in safe and sound in a corner booth away from almost everyone else. Their presence was strangely comforting in this unfamiliar environment, but still. Mia's text helped a lot.

"Fuck you looking at all of a sudden, huh?" Juan glared, leaning over the counter.

Oliver flashed the twins Mia's selfie.

"Mia. The dude behind her is a friend of mine. He runs a ramen cart, and she's doing much better after treating herself."

"Oh," Juan softened and sat back down. Then, he smiled sharply and thumped the table. "Well, shit, man. Good for Mimi. Ain't that right, Julio?"

"That's right," Julio took a massive drag from an equally enormous joint before giving a solemn nod. "Good for Mimi."

A scantily clad server approached their booth with the drinks they'd ordered, a round of beers for the three of them. Oliver didn't traditionally drink beer on the rare occasions he drank, preferring fruity wine coolers much like Mia, but when in Rome.

He had a taste while Juan flirted semi-successfully with the waitress who knew them both by name. She seemed dismissive at first, but instead of freaking out when Juan reached over to slap her on the ass, she simply rolled her eyes and told him to give her a call when she was off.

Oliver almost spat out his drink when it happened. You couldn't do that shit anymore. This wasn't the 60's, but he supposed it was fine so long as she was into it.

"Something on your mind, hermanito?" Julio blew some smoke.

"Huh? Uh, n-no, just... got a little scared for a second there..."

"Come on, man. You think I don't know what I'm doing? Been at this shit long enough to read the room, pendejo. Some chicas like that kinda shit- and Cindy? Just so happens to be the type who can't help herself around charming rogues such as myself, hah! Ain't that right?"

Julio waited several moments before answering.

"Complex creatures, women. A few here and there have a thing for men who fancy themselves 'charming rogues', sí. Makes 'em feel good about themselves. Like feeding a stray cat."

"Damn straight!" Juan chugged half his drink, the veiled insult flying so high over his head it hit the stratosphere.

Oliver cracked a smile, and for a split second, so did Julio. The older twin then flicked his joint onto a small plate serving as a makeshift ashtray. Smoking indoors was illegal in California, but no one here seemed to care.

Least of all, Julio.

"So," he spoke, his quiet voice somehow booming over the raucous. "Heard there's been shit going on with Zoe, mn?"

"You could say that..."

"And you wanted our advice?"

"Yeah. Rebecca said you knew her pretty well since Zoe spent so much time at your place growing up, and I figured now was as good a time as any to get some drinks, so..."

"Before we get into specifics, I want you to know two things. First? You made the right call. Second? Call us faster next time." Julio slid a small piece of paper toward Oliver- their phone numbers. "Our fucked up little hermana chose you, and we've come to respect that decision. Come to respect you-"

"I don't respect shit-"

Julio paused his speech to grab his twin by the jacket and give the asshole a no-holds-barred headbutt. It was the most brutal thing Oliver had ever seen, and he felt secondhand pain just from witnessing it.

"Ow- OW- fucking shit, you motherfucking bastard of bastards-"

"Fuck's your problem, cabron? Huh? Thought we agreed that bros support bros?"

"That was before I knew the little shit was going after Zoe, too!"

"Like you didn't fucking know they're a two-for-one," Julio shoved his brother.

"Thought I'd have some time to mentally fucking prepare myself!" Juan growled, shoving back.

"Guys- guys-" Oliver raised his hands on the verge of a panic attack. "Can you both just chill for a second so we can talk this out?"

At his request, the rowdy twins looked each other in the eyes, scowled, and reacted accordingly. Julio took a drag and rubbed his brow in frustration while Juan pulled out his butterfly knife to stab the fucking table. It's fine. It already had about ten other knife marks.

Oliver closed his eyes, pretended he was somewhere else, and then confirmed they were both good to continue. "You were saying, Julio?"

"Was saying that we've got your back from now on, so next time you feel like we might be able to help you out? Call. Don't even think about it. Just do it."

Oliver looked down at the phone number and then at the twins.

"That's... really kind of you, Julio. I don't know what to say."

"Don't have to say anything. Just have to do it. Family helps family. Sí?" Julio elbowed his grumpy twin, who dropped his foul mood long enough to nod in agreement.

"Sí, sí. La familia lo es todo." Juan grumbled.

When faced with such resolve, Oliver swallowed his pride and pocketed the twin's phone numbers. It didn't matter to these guys that he was just their sister's boyfriend. They were willing to go out on a limb for him, and despite their quirks and moral failings, Oliver's opinion of the twins was thoroughly reinforced.

Julio- and even Juan- were pretty cool dudes.

Assholes, to be sure, but cool dudes nonetheless.

"I'll keep that in mind next time around. Thanks," Oliver smiled softly, the dingy, dangerous aura in the bar clearing up long enough to make room for tranquility as the brothers smiled right back at him in their own ways.

And then-

A spark of danger ran down his spine.

Oliver's Hyper Reflexes kicked in. He ducked in the nick of time, successfully evading a glass bottle whizzing through the air on a collision course with his face. The bottle shattered on the wall behind him with a piercing crash.

No debris hit him, thank God, but it led to a chain reaction.

Juan jolted up and ripped out his knife to go argue and threaten the barely-conscious biker who randomly threw his bottle, shouting about how the pendejo almost hit his hermanito. At the same time, Oliver chugged his beer in despair after wiping away the glass shards.

"Could we not have gotten drinks anywhere else...?"

"Could've," Julio smirked. "Wouldn't have been as fun, though."

Juan returned after miraculously putting the guy in his place without relying on violence, as did Cindy with a complimentary refill for Oliver. She wiped up the residue with an exasperated expression that suggested this was par for the course, then left before Juan could sneak in another ass slap.

The brotherly bonding session thus resumed, with Julio asking for more details on the situation. Oliver explained the tension between Mia and Zoe, how he'd been taking steps to fix their friendship, and how today was a mixed bag when it should've been a slam dunk. Neither seemed all that shocked.

"Bout what I expected," Julio mused.

"But this fucking soon...? Fucking really, hermanito?"

"Spit it out already," Oliver pleaded. "Why aren't you guys surprised?"

"Don't see why we would be," Juan pulled out a block of wood and began carving his stress away. "Shit was a ticking time bomb. Right, Julio?"

"Mn. Soon as Mimi told us about her kink, felt like it was only a matter of time before Zoe came into the picture. So how'd it happen? She push you into it, or did you make the call yourself? Wouldn't blame you if you did. Not with Zoe."

"Making a lot of assumptions, guys. I said I was trying to fix their friendship, not seduce my girlfriend's roommate." Oliver looked away with a mild blush.

"Thought we already fucking established we can see straight through you, estupido! Don't tell me I kicked your ass so hard the other day you went and got some brain damage, huh?"

"You're the one with brain damage if you can't remember that I kicked your ass, estupido," Oliver unconsciously snapped back, causing Juan to swear incoherently and slice off several vast chunks of his woodblock.

"Mierda-" Juan hissed, nicking his thumb.

Julio smirked, then took a drag from his joint. "Point still stands. Don't have to hear you outright say it to know you have a thing for Mimi's little roommate. It's in your voice whenever you talk about her. Your eyes, too."

"Again with this crap about my eyes? I swear to God, you talk like I've got a set of magic eight balls up there..."

"I'll stop bringing it up when it stops being relevant, hermanito. Not my fault they sparkle like a Disney princess whenever you're thinking about a girl you're crushing on."

"I... will not be dignifying that with a response..."

"No?" Julio hummed. "Rather you owned up to it. Respect you more if you did."

Oliver looked into Julio's bright eyes, so serene and tranquil he could almost see himself in them. This man was his friend, as was the dumbass with a bleeding thumb sitting next to him. They only wanted to help, and he did need to practice being more shameless, so...

"Okay. Fine. I'm trying to make something happen with Zoe, too, yes, and it's not just because Mia wants me to. Zoe's hot and all, but I can't bring myself to go after someone if I don't feel a spark, you know?"

The twins looked at him like he'd asked them to translate the Voynich Manuscript.

"Right. Forgot who I was talking to." Oliver sighed. "Whatever. I'm just saying Zoe's a super fun person to be around. She's funny, charismatic, talented, and so much more. It also helps that I, um... I really relate to everything she's going through..."

"Sounds about right," Julio remarked with a noted lack of surprise.

"Yeah. I wouldn't sit right with me if I didn't try to help to the best of my ability. Also, there's just honestly been a lot of good vibes between the three of us, and I'm all for it."

"Puta madre!" Juan howled. "Don't go fucking using the word 'vibes' when you're talking about our hermanita, you little-"

Julio shoved him with his elbow, then slammed his cast in Juan's face after he predictably snapped back in retaliation. The brutal mistake quieted the idiot at the cost of Julio scrunching his face. He let out a single 'Mierda' before chugging some beer.

"Think before we get into advice that I should start by saying I support the throuple you're trying to build," Julio stated.

"I fucking don't," Juan spat out, never learning his lesson.

His brother was about to lay on some pain when Oliver raised his hand and stopped him, looking straight at Juan as he asked, "Dude, Juan. This is getting old. I thought we were cool after the match?"

"...We were,"

"Then what the hell is up your ass?"

"What's up my ass?" Juan scoffed. "Nothing, pendejo! I don't put shit up there- fucking freaks me out. Not that I got anything against-"

"Wasn't being literal," Oliver's eyelid twitched.

"Whatever... I... argh... we still are cool, hermanito. I just ain't the best at sorting out my stupid fucking feelings, sí? Got too many of them- all the time, every hour of the day- just raging around inside me like a motherfucking hornet's nest..."

Julio placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, and this simple gesture gave Juan the strength to continue after a moment spent collecting himself.

"Bad enough that I have to deal with one hermana growing up and finding herself a man..." Juan stabbed his knife into the table again, chugged the rest of his beer, and drunkenly threw the bottle on the ground. "Let alone two!"

His emotions exploding, Juan unzipped his leather jacket. Hidden beneath was a black graphic tee of a sickly green cartoon sloth with its arms wrapped around a controller.

Oliver smirked, laughing at the surprisingly pure rationale behind Juan's big feelings.

Julio wasn't as charmed, elbowing his brother. "Fuck did we say about simping, mn?"

"It ain't simping-" Juan elbowed back. "Shit's called supporting my honorary hermana, asshole!"

"You wear a titty streamer's shirt in public; it's simping, estupido. Doesn't matter if it's our honorary hermana."

"Like you don't have the same fucking shirt-"

"Not saying I don't. It's just that I keep that shit to myself, sí?"

Oliver interrupted before their routine could escalate any further, asking, "So I take it you guys are pretty close to Zoe?"

"Somewhat," Julio took point after calming down. "We were good to her whenever she was around. Treated her right, looked out for her. You know how it goes."

"Been a long fucking while since we've seen her in the flesh, though," Juan added.

"After they moved in together, used to be that Mimi'd bring her along on Sundays,"

"Fuck, man. Can't even remember the last time that happened."

"Bout a year and a half ago," Julio took a somber drag from his joint and closed his eyes. "Could tell something was going on behind the scenes, but Mimi wouldn't open up no matter how many times we asked. Imagine that."

"Well, now you know the whole story..." Oliver sighed. "Zoe got wrapped up in her career to the point where it started rotting her brain and ruining her real-life relationships."

"Shit's rough, but it is what it is... ain't that right, Julio?"

"Doesn't have to be. You've already made a pretty solid dent in Zoe's defenses from the sound of things. Just gotta keep cracking."

"So you really weren't kidding when you said you supported the whole throuple thing, huh?" Oliver asked.

Juan held his tongue, channeling his frustrations into his little wooden block, letting Julio speak for them both.

"Mn. For all I care, you two can get up to whatever polyamorous bullshit you want so long as everything is consensual and you aren't actually hurting her in a way she doesn't like."

"Ugh. You really gotta talk about Mimi like that? I'm right fucking here, Julio." Juan groaned, nearly scraping his knife against his finger the moment he looked away.

"She's a grown-ass woman, idiota. Shit's only weird if you make it."

"Chica gets off on sharing her man, estupido. Shit's very fucking weird without me making it."

Julio pondered this for a moment and conceded with a shoulder shrug. "Weirdness aside, I'm so supportive because I know mi hermanita. Maybe not as well as I thought, but enough to know that getting sandwiched between you two'd be the ideal outcome for her, sí?"

Juan gagged at the mental image- the exact opposite of Oliver's reaction. "You... sound very confident about that..."

"Knew Mimi was bi before all this," Julio said, to which his brother agreed. "Not hard to figure out between the glimpses we've had of her art and her crush on Zoe."

"How long has that been a thing, anyway?"

"Since the Zoe hit puberty," Juan added with a laugh. "Give you two guesses as to why."

"Nah, I'm good. That'd do it."

Julio's expression tensed as he looked to Juan and then to Oliver. He leaned slightly over the table. "Truth is, half the reason we poked around about you was because we were surprised to hear Mimi bringing up a boy. Family had our own assumptions about the whole 'roommates' situation up until that."

Oliver stared back, blinked, and then laughed while looking away.

"No, it wasn't like that. I'm not even sure what Zoe thinks about Mia in that context, anyway. She hasn't given any indication that she's-" he paused, remembering the thigh incident. "Um, well... I think Zoe was basically indifferent to sex until just the other day, and now she's stuck figuring herself out."

"Just the other day, huh?" Juan asked, smiling dangerously once again. "What a fucking coincidence. Ain't that right, Julio?"

Julio ignored him. "Not asking you to kiss and tell, but..."

"There was a thing," Oliver lowered his head, speaking softly as if he hoped the rowdy bar would cover him up. "Some... kissing... lap sitting... n-nothing huge or anything- really! Zoe just thought it'd make a nice apology gift to Mia."

"And she liked it?"

"The FUCK are you asking that for, pendejo? Why would you wanna hear if Mimi-"

"Twenty-eight fucking years on this rotating hell rock, and your dumbass still hasn't learned to piece together a single fucking context clue- not even to save your life," Julio blew a cloud of smoke against his brother's face. "Wasn't fucking asking about Mimi, idiota. Was asking about Zoe."

It was awkward talking about this, but Oliver knew Julio wasn't asking because the details thrilled him. He only wanted to give better advice, so he spoke up quick to cut off Juan's oncoming tirade.

"She's been very confused since it happened. It apparently felt good, but it upset her because she felt it maybe wasn't as good as it was supposed to feel. Does that make any sense to you?"

"None of this fucking makes sense to me," Juan exhaled, glancing across the bar to check out Cindy's ass.

"Sí. As you've made abundantly clear. Luckily, I think I know what's going on. 'Seen' a few girls in my time- nerds, mostly, but you also get the occasional athlete- who felt similar after their first time putting down their hobby long enough to get some action."

"Yeah? And what happened after that?"

"Not the type to kiss and tell... but in my experience, they get more curious. End up wanting to explore. Can be real fun, long as you don't push them into anything they're uncomfortable with-"

"I would never,"

"No. Don't think you would." Julio agreed. "Couple different things can happen from there on. Might be that after enough experimentation they figure out sex still isn't for them. Fair enough. Might also be the opposite, and they find out they absolutely love sex. If that's the case, they'll go down one of two roads."

Oliver sat on the edge of his seat, mentally carving these words into his mind like holy gospel onto a stone tablet. "Those being?"

"Less common- again, in my own experience- is that they get tired of you and want to expand. Seek out other partners. Make up for lost time."

A pit suddenly formed in Oliver's stomach. Childish jealousy from a boy desperate for love. Mn, nope. Don't like the thought of that one.

"And the more common one?"

"Could also imprint on you. End up with feelings, hermanito. Strong ones. Makes sense, right? You showed 'em the ropes. Only figures they'd learn to fall in love somewhere along the way..."

"At which point Julio fucking dips," Juan cackled and was summarily punched with his brother's full force behind it. The sickening crunching sound the impact made forced Oliver to cringe. He wondered if there was a slim chance Julio held back the other day.

"Gah! Fucking asshole-"

"Like you don't also have a fucking fear of commitment, pendejo. Least I'm honest about it. Don't lead women on, unlike you."

Juan rubbed his face and adjusted his eyepatch, revealing a new glass eye that replaced the one Oliver shattered. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about- I'm just as upfront about that shit as you are!"

"You are, huh? That's new." Cindy returned with a fresh batch of beers for the boys. "Or maybe I missed that part? I was pretty distracted when you were droning on about how I'd be your one and only..."

Juan went pale and started making excuses himself- claiming that Cindy was his one and only because other girls were a 'half' compared to her and therefore didn't count. Julio smirked, and Oliver wiped the sweat from his brow with a weary smile.

Cindy brushed him off entirely and turned to Oliver, ensuring the kid was doing okay and that he wanted to be here. She expressed a look of pure sympathy upon explaining that the twins were his girlfriend's brothers.

"You poor thing, trapped with these two scumbags on the sidelines so long as you're together..." Cindy sighed, shook her head, and walked away.

Juan took that kinda hard, but Julio was still smiling.

As for Oliver, he could think of much worse things he'd be willing to put up with if it meant dating Mia. They weren't so bad.

"Anyway... thanks for the advice, Julio. I hope I'm able to keep helping Zoe-"

"Yeah, I fucking bet you are, fucking pervert," Juan grumbled, going back to channeling all his big-boy feelings into his whittling. He appeared to be working on a flower.

"Not just because of the potential sex," Oliver insisted. "It's more that I'd feel pretty good about myself if I had a hand in helping someone figure themselves out. We're getting ahead of ourselves, though. Talking about Zoe's budding sexuality isn't exactly gonna help me out when I'm still trying to get to know her and fix things up with Mia."

Julio gave him a subtle nod. "Should probably dial things back and focus on the here and now, sí. Can't say I'm an expert, but I probably know enough about Zoe to answer any questions you might have. So ask."

"There's two big things I want to know. While I've gotten bits and pieces of this first question from Mia and Rebecca, I think asking someone less close and more impartial would paint me a better picture. What was Zoe like before she became a streamer? Back in high school, I mean."

Julio and Juan exchanged concerning looks. Oliver didn't like that one bit- and he didn't care for the prolonged silence, either. They were both mulling over the best way to put this.

"Feral," Juan suggested.

Oliver almost laughed. He was confident Julio was about to punch him again for saying something as stupid as that.

He didn't.

"Feral," Julio agreed. "And clingy."

"Feral and clingy?" Oliver tried picturing it, ending up with a mental image of a sharp-toothed, foaming-mouthed, teenaged Zoe velcro hugging herself to the chubby, pimpled Mia of days gone by.

A funny thought, to be sure, but...

"You can't just drop those two crazy words back to back and expect me to run with it, guys. I'm gonna need some elaboration."

"Be happy to tell you all about it- in a minute, anyway. Think you should see for yourself first."

"Huh? But how could I-" the twins silently stared long enough for Oliver to realize his stupidity. "Oh, duh. I'm guessing there's an archive of her first-ever stream somewhere?"

"Should be on her main channel," Juan said. "Your fucking robot mime dude gave us your number, so hold on. I'll send a link. Got it saved."

"Of course you do..." Oliver joked, eying the branded shirt.

"Fuck off, ese. I like to look back on that stream every now and then. Feels good seeing how far she's come, sí? Or at least it did before I knew what all that success was doing to Mimi..."

Oliver frowned at the downtrodden response. He had to remember that just because the guy was usually the butt of every joke didn't mean Juan was devoid of feelings.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Juan was silent for a few moments before nodding his head. "S'all good, hermanito. S'all good. There-" Oliver's phone buzzed. "Check it out."

Oliver opened up the text- adding Juan as a contact in the process- and then looked at the video's thumbnail. It featured Zoe's channel mascot superimposed over a screenshot of the first Eternalus Souls of all games instead of her more modern, cleavage-based thumbnails.

Clicking it opened the app on his phone, and the video started playing automatically a few seconds later. There was nothing but a black screen.

"Skip to about six and a half minutes in," Juan advised. "They had to fix her recording software or some other stupid tech shit."

Oliver did just that, and wouldn't you know it, a girl that could undoubtedly be described as feral and clingy showed up on screen. He recognized her immediately as Zoe, but that didn't make her appearance any less surprising. She'd changed more in four years than Mia did in eight.

"What the fuck...?"