Love Addict's RPG Ch. 23

He expected Mia to be there already. His talk and subsequent roasting with Tessa took a couple of minutes, enough time for her to clock out, throw on her trademark hoodie, and freshen up if she had to. She was nowhere to be found, so Oliver sat at the front bench and picked up the pieces of his ego.

As he did, he thought about his interaction with Tessa in more detail.

She was snarky with him, sure, but there was a marked improvement in her attitude toward him. Did the five points of affection he gained yesterday really go so far, or was she suppressing her general distaste for him during that entire conversation? It was odd because he didn't get a sense of dishonesty from Tessa just now. He wondered if there was more to 'affection' than simply liking him or not.

The things she said about biases and past experiences stuck out to Oliver the more he thought about it. He felt like he was onto something there, but his train of thought was interrupted when the automatic door opened, and a mellow yet deceptively feisty Spanish guitar song broke out in his mind's ear.

"Hey. Sorry about the wait."

Oliver snapped out of it and looked over to Mia. "Oh. Hey, no worries, I was just-"

He froze mid-sentence the second he realized what took so long. He expected Mia to look the same as she always did after work, wearing a red hoodie and jeans, so there was a big mental disconnect when she didn't match his expectations.

Mia wore black denim shorts, red-and-black striped thigh highs, a graphic tee of the popular cyberpunk action anime Grind City Cyber, and a red vest. A huge messenger bag was slung over one shoulder, and between the bag and her vest, she was wearing more anime pins than he'd ever seen on a single person- the bag more so than the vest. He recognized a couple of them from her apron, but most were brand-new, which made him wonder how many she even had.

She must've changed into this getup as soon as she got off. Her jeans and polo were probably in that bag of hers.

It didn't make sense to him. All Mia did was put on casual clothes, yet he'd never seen her looking so damn cute before. It intimidated him, honestly. More so when he realized she was trying to look pretty for him.

Oliver wasn't that fucking dense. Mia hadn't ever dressed up after work before. Not a single time... until the day that they just so happened to have plans, that is. Lucky Bastard, indeed.

"Just got lost in my thoughts for a second there..." Oliver hastily shot out after having frozen for around three seconds.

He thought he saw a smile on Mia's lips, but it was gone. "Kind of looks like you still are."

"A little," he admitted.

"This spot taken?" Mia asked, not waiting for an answer as she sat herself down ahead of time. "Could use a breather while you pull yourself together."

Like that, they snapped back into the dynamic they'd formed over the last two days, and Oliver felt dumb because of it. Things were easier when they were texting. He could actually tease her when he didn't have to look Mia in the eyes. Worse, it felt like she was distinctly aware of the advantage she had in person. Oliver didn't know how she did it, but Mia appeared like a smug cat looking down on its owner despite her blank expression.

"You good?" She tilted her head.

"Better than good, I'm great," Oliver replied with an awkward amount of enthusiasm, trying to mask how he really felt.

"Glad to hear it," Mia regarded him, then performed a strikingly efficient jab with surgical precision. "Can't help noticing you can't take your eyes off me, though. Wonder why that is."

"God, you're evil..." he sighed and averted his eyes.

"Hm. Didn't know it was evil to notice things. Guess Abuelito was onto something when he said I'd be going to hell."

"Um-"

Mia developed another fleeting smile while clarifying. "Joking. He's not that bad. Mostly."

Oliver laughed a little and tried to make himself say what he was supposed to. He knew what she was fishing for, what was expected of him, but knowing didn't make it any easier. Quite the opposite. He opened his mouth, paused, closed it, and then blushed.

Goddamnit.

"Take your time," Mia reclined on the bench and looked at the sky. "There's no rush."

Her sleepy voice provided reassurance and comfort to Oliver. She meant it. Mia would wait as long as it took for him to tell her. Even forever if she had to. Ironically, this staggering amount of patience only motivated Oliver to work through his nerves as fast as he could, unwilling to keep her waiting.

As he was about to make his attempt, he noticed something across the street that interrupted his valiant endeavor before he could utter a single syllable. How he got there without fast-traveling, Oliver didn't know, but Bradley was standing on the curb in front of a PC repair shop holding up one of those obnoxiously large cardboard signs, waving it at Oliver from afar.

At first, the sign read, 'Tell Her She's Cute!', only for Bradley to flip it over to the other side, revealing the words, 'You Got This!'. Great. His own personal cheerleader. While Oliver appreciated the sentiment, Bradley showing up to assist in a way that would only draw attention to himself was something he could've done without.

"Ollie?" Mia noticed the sudden change in his demeanor and was on the verge of looking off into the distance to see what Oliver was staring at.

No way. Under no circumstance did Oliver want to have to explain why there was a robot mime trying to pull some Disney musical 'Kiss the Girl' shit with them. He jolted into action, thoughtlessly grabbing Mia's right hand to steal her attention.

"Sorry, I..." Oliver almost froze, but it was significantly easier than he thought it would be to get on with it. She was staring at him expectantly, and he wasn't the type who could let a girl down like that. "Thought I saw something in the sky for a second. Anyway, I was about to say you look, ah... well, really cute today."

Mia went quiet for a few seconds, then tilted her head. Her grip around his hand tightened. "Did we have to hold hands for you to tell me that, or were you just looking for an excuse?"

Oliver saw her teasing for what it was and refused to back down, squeezing back, undaunted. "It's for emphasis."

"Hm. Gonna give you points for that one." Mia nodded in approval, a hint of red on her cheeks. "Didn't beat around the bush this time. You're learning."

-- Mia Gained 3 Affection!

Milestone Achieved! Held Mia's Hand 10LP --

Even more than the affection increase, Oliver was in awe of how nice it was to hold hands with a girl. He didn't think about it when it happened; he just did it to stop her from looking at Bradley. Guess he had his best bro to thank for inspiring this specific impulse if nothing else. It wouldn't have felt as good if Mia didn't like it, though, and her subtle smile told him she did.

This really did feel like a milestone, and he savored the points he got for it.

After a few seconds, Mia's smile stopped. Oliver wondered if he did something wrong, made worse by the frown that cropped up.

"Mind letting go? You're hurting me a little."

"Huh? Oh, shit. Sorry." He stopped immediately and felt like an idiot. Oliver could've sworn he wasn't using that much strength, but maybe he wasn't the best judge of that when he was so excited to be sitting next to her.

"It's cool, no big deal," Mia looked away and rubbed her wrist. "Anyway, you're looking better today. Tired, but better."

"Guess I can't hide anything from those well-trained artist's eyes of yours, huh?"

"Correct. Don't even try." She proudly adjusted her glasses.

Oliver blinked and rubbed his chin. "Hey, wait a sec. Nice glasses. When'd you get those?"

Mia's facade cracked somewhat as a tiny smirk lifted up the corner of her mouth. She nudged him with her elbow. "You're hilarious."

"I try," he laughed. "You're right, though. Pretty much all the mental junk passed."

"So why do you look like you just finished a triathlon?"

"Had this stupid idea earlier, bit me in the ass. I thought I'd try and do something new like you were going on about, so I called up my friend, and we took a huge walk through the city together."

"For how long?" Mia narrowed her eyes.

"Like... five and a half hours? Not all at once, we took some breaks along the way, but-"

She reached toward his head with her left fist, bonking Oliver. The impact was soft, no force behind it. "Estúpido. You tore yourself a new one yesterday. Should've been obvious that was a bad idea."

Laughing at Mia's comedic violence and rubbing his forehead in jest, Oliver looked away out of shame. "My friend was saying the same thing, but I thought I healed up already... stupid, I know, but I was overexcited and wanted to push myself."

"Mn," Mia slumped back in her seat. "Amateur move, especially when you're first trying to break out of your shell. Willing to overlook this one, but don't make the same mistake twice. This friend of yours should've known better and tried to stop you."

"He did," Oliver's eyes scanned the other side of the street, briefly catching the sight of a now signless Bradley waving at him. "I just didn't listen... do you ever get compulsions, Mia? Like, have you ever gotten trapped in repetitive behaviors because you can't wrangle your attention span out of it?"

Mia stared at him briefly, blushed, and gazed at the clouds. "Might know something about that, yeah. Still should've listened to your friend." After a few seconds of quiet, she added with nonchalance, "Speaking of, you said 'he', right?"

"...Yeah. Just someone I went to high school with and recently ran into again. Why?"

"No reason at all, Ollie. Not a one." Mia looked him in the eyes in a suggestive way to hint there was definitely a reason. He didn't understand how half the time her blank face communicated nothing while saying more than an open book precisely when she wanted it to.

--- Mia Gained 1 Affection! ---

There was no meaning in trying to dissect the implications here. Oliver was past that point. She dressed up cute for him after work, and now she was happy to hear that the friend he was hanging out with was a guy. Heart pounding, Oliver ripped himself from her empty yet piercing gaze. Mia liked him. It didn't seem worth internally debating that anymore. The knowledge both emboldened and embarrassed him simultaneously.

These contradictory emotions comically canceled each other out, making Oliver feel the same as ever. That wasn't what he wanted out of this. Regardless of how hard it would be, it fell to Oliver to grasp the catalyst for change and make something of it.

He caught eyes with Bradley across the street again. Bradley must've been on the same wavelength because he offered a solemn bro nod in solidarity. He didn't need a big sign to spell it out for him. Oliver knew the score.

"Hey, I've been thinking..."

"Been known to do that myself from time to time."

Her quip made Oliver smile, providing another boost to his confidence. "Did you have any plans for after we're done at the art store?"

"None at all," Mia eyed him like a cat. "Suppose it'd be a waste of a Friday night if I went straight home, though."

"Exactly what I was thinking," he clung to the rope she'd thrown him, using it to pull himself over the finish line. "Figured I'd ask if, I don't know, you want to grab dinner or something...?" Mia continued staring at him and was on the verge of replying before he went back and sharpened his delivery. "No, not 'or something'. I'm asking if you want to grab dinner while we're out."

"How specific," a subtle, catlike grin appeared, matching her eyes.

"You were gonna get on my case for being vague again."

"Smart call. I totally was." Mia's smile deepened, and she looked him in the eyes for a few seconds. And then a few more. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Silent all the way through.

"Mia...?" Oliver asked, ignoring his burning embarrassment, no longer an option.

"Got a different vibe going on today, Ollie. I like it. Would it be in poor taste if I suggested you have mental health episodes more often?"

He laughed pretty hard at her innocent yet edgy joke. "Extremely, but I'll take the compliment."

Mia scooted a little closer to him on the bench. Not too close, but not far, either. Her right-hand pinky brushed against his outer thigh. "Everywhere is gonna be busy. Not only is it Friday, but lots of couples'll be having a late Valentine's Day, too."

Shit. That part slipped Oliver's mind. Not like there was any backing out now, though. Bradley said he'd have it covered, and Oliver chose to believe in the power of his best bro.

"We'll figure something out, but I'm willing to wait if we have to. That cool with you?"

"Sure thing," Mia grinned. "I guess it's a...?"

The unspoken word hung in the air like a chilling phantom. Mia found it adorable how flustered the mere suggestion that this was a date made Oliver look. Seemed like it might be too much for him. He was trying to say it, but it wasn't going anywhere. A shame, but Mia knew when not to push it.

"Friendly coworker hang out session?" She finished, to his relief.

"Something like that..." Oliver laughed even as he beat himself internally for fumbling the most crucial part.

Really, it didn't matter what they called it. Words were just that. Words. Mia and Oliver both knew what this was. Not explicitly calling it a date didn't change that it was one. They were awkward, nervous kids, Oliver more so than Mia, and neither had ever done this before.

They'd get there.