mhfap

Mia Vibrator Pinup

A gift from Milly, and a fucking incredible one at that! I need more from this artist as soon as possible, like, goddamn. Calling the facial my favorite Mia pic might’ve been too soon. This high quality pic was only $75 and it was quite fast, too. Insanely good stuff.

Mental health update, still adjusting. Headaches weren’t as bad tonight but they aren’t fully gone yet, will see about getting some work done tomorrow but if not I won’t stress.

Art by https://twitter.com/38jxL

Taking a Quick Break/Venting/Good News Too

Hey guys, just an update on why the next chapter is taking a while. This week has seen my antidepressant withdrawal headaches get quite bad and I kind of hit a breaking point where I fought myself to realize this wasn’t worth it. I’m taking them again at a lower dose and while I still have the headaches/lethargy they’re much less intense and it should go away after I’m readjusted but today it’s just making me really really tired. I was stupid for trying to do this cold turkey and in the future I’ll do it the proper way and sloooooooowly taper off of them- but not for a long ass time as I’d much rather be stable and working on my work again like before.

What happened was I quite late December and for a while it seemed fine but then the last two months have just been career distractingly bad, but I kept thinking I could get through it and that it would get better and it just became this entire sunk cost fallacy thing. I already made it this far, just a little longer and it will go away, but it never really did and I forced myself to just fucking get over it.

So I’m just kinda gonna lay around today or however long I need to as my brain readjusts. I’m already feeling a big difference, the headaches are clearing up and my thoughts aren’t as jumbled, will just need some more time.

It’s not all bad news, though. The other reason I haven’t done much writing these last few days is that the audiobook for volume 1 has been fully recorded and I’ve been proofing it myself in addition to the publisher’s team. As you guys know how long vol 1 is, it’s taking me and my gf a while. On 34 out of 60 currently.

The good news is that I can’t praise the adaptation highly enough. Both narrators are phenomenal and almost every apprehension I had was unfounded. I can’t say anything about when it’s getting released yet as it’s undecided but when it does you can rest assured knowing it has my full seal of quality.

Mia Facial Pinup

A gift from my friend and patron HN, mostly! I admittedly chipped in a tiny bit for this one for once to elevate it from being a simple facial to something cuter with Oliver half in frame, and ah, I’m so glad I did. This might currently be my favorite lewd art of Mia yet. Not that there are that many, but still, I’m insanely happy with it!

Eager to get more from them as soon as I can, might be a bit though since my official sugar mommy Milly has been milked dry for now thanks to some other art in the pipeline.

Thank you so much again, HN!

Art by - https://twitter.com/teinokami 

Stacy Yoga Pinup

A new gift from Milly from a new artist I found recently! Similarly to how Mia will likely get tons of cat themed art, I would definitely like a lot more Stacy yoga art lol. This artist is one I really like to work with, though, and they’re very cheap so expect to see a lot more of them!

Work on the next chapter is coming out okayish. Been feeling a little fever-y so not perfect. It’s a short chapter though so I can’t imagine it not being out within 2 days.

Art by https://www.reddit.com/user/nyansteria/

Vol 2 Outline Part 3

Wakeup and Morning

• unsurprisingly

  2024-05-02 02:10:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Stacy in a Nice Dress Pinup

A gift from my friend Urban! It was a nice surprise, and I quite like the choice of dress the artist went with. Very bubbly take on her in general.

I’m currently working on the outline for the next chunk of the volume, I expect to be done with it in a day or two and then I’ll get to work on chapter 73!

Art by https://twitter.com/slimiiart

Love Addict's RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 72

Real big one this time, 7k words! Lot of lewd while also being a lot of cute. I got through it pretty fast for my current condition, but now I've got to write an outline for the next day of the book. If you've followed what I've been saying about what will happen during it, it's gonna be a pretty big and dramatic one topped off with some much needed comic relief.

Also, I think I have a pretty clear idea of the exact beat vol. 2 will end on, now. It came to me a bit ago and I was just like, yeah that makes sense. We're currently 54k words into vol 2. so we still have a long way to go.

---

Oliver's experience at modeling didn't prepare him for the nude variety. Though he was a lot more comfortable posing naked than he thought he'd be, the way Mia stared took some getting used to. Gone was her look of scholarly curiosity, replaced by lustful fascination scanning every inch of him.

He felt like a piece of meat, and it didn't help that Mia's pose requests were becoming increasingly lurid. It was an awkward spot to be in, as Oliver emotionally bounced back and forth between enjoying being objectified and feeling embarrassed over it.

On the one hand, it was nice to feel lusted after. On the other, his flaccid cock dangled unimpressively from his pelvis, nerves having clipped its wings.

I wonder what me from a week ago would say if I went back and told him Mia's gonna be drawing his limp dick in one of those sketchbooks she just bought, he wondered.

At least Mia hadn't been lying. As far as Oliver could tell, the massage had genuinely helped. She worked without interruption, no longer pausing to rub her wrist every few minutes.

It felt amazing to have helped with Mia's pain, even if only a little. Oliver resolved to pick up the third level of Massage as soon as he'd built back a bigger buffer. Zoe's first Heart Event wasn't too far off, and he had to be wary of Heart Locks.

For now, though, Oliver still had to finish this Heart Event.

"Mmmmmkay," Mia finished up her latest study, turning the page of her sketchbook to one primed for filling up with fuckboys. "Ready for the next one, mi amor?"

"Depends. How much time is left?"

"Still got twenty minutes,"

"Feels like it's been a lot longer than that..."

"You calling me a liar?" She picked up her phone, showing him the timer.

"No, I'm saying that time goes by really slow when you're just standing around with your dick out,"

"Wouldn't know, so I'll take your word for it. Got a request for this next one-"

"No, Mia. I'm still not spreading my asscheeks for you."

"Mn. Never say never." She teased, pointedly licking her lips in a way that gave him even more confusing chills than he already had. "Not what I wanted this time, though. Figured the halfway point would be as good a time as any for you to come a little closer."

"Oh. So, we're just skipping all pretenses, then?"

"Sí. Get over here and let me draw your dick."

He blushed but didn't protest. Oliver now stood about a foot to the left of her easel. He was so close that Mia could reach out and touch him if she wished.

"Let it be said that I'm nothing if not a gracious muse," Oliver sighed.

"That you are, mi amor. Have to ask, though. Any chance I can get my muse to be a little more gracious?"

Mia surprised him by lifting up his dick with the flat side of her pencil, but Oliver didn't let it get to him. He swatted it away, answering, "Performance anxiety is making that a tough order to fill."

"Poor guy," she clicked her tongue. "He wasn't so shy when you yanked your pants off the other night to show him off..."

"It was dark back then, and the mood was totally different," Oliver burned brighter.

"All I'm hearing is that you need some encouragement,"

"I mean... you can try, but I can't promise it'll help. Knowing you're gonna be staring at it as soon as you're done might send me right back to zero."

"Stopped listening after you said I could try," Mia smiled sweetly at him.

"Of course you did," he chuckled.

Mia picked up her phone and ensured Oliver saw her pause the timer. He didn't argue. Not then, and certainly not when her left hand grabbed his cock by the base.

"A-Ah,"

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just... your hand is really warm..."

"Mn. So sorry, mi amor. We'll see if I can't help with the chill."

Mia stroked him several times, going slowly and gently for each one. When she noticed him looking on with an enraptured expression, she blushed and pulled down the collar of her baggy shirt. Whatever bra she was wearing did wonders for her cleavage, pulling her breasts together nice and tight for his viewing pleasure.

"How's this? Feeling good?" Mia purred, switching from strokes to tracing the tips of her fingers along his shaft and balls.

"Yeah, it's... it's great... I just... sorry that it's not-"

"Silencio. Just try and relax, sí? Relax. You're stepping out of your comfort zone to help me out; it's no wonder you're a little nervous. Not gonna silently judge you if you can't perform here, mi amor. Last thing I want is for you to get a complex over this."

Oliver took a deep breath and nodded at her. "I won't. Keep going. I'll... I'll manage..."

True to his word, Mia started feeling some vigor in him. Oliver's cock surged with little throbs and tremors. It wasn't a full erection, but it was getting there. She kept it to herself out of concern she'd damage his ego, but Mia thought he was pretty cute like this. He wanted so badly to impress her and give her what she wanted that she knew she had to give back somehow.

Her hand suddenly left his shaft, leaving Oliver confused. Everything made sense a second later when Mia cupped it in front of her opened mouth and looked up at him adoringly, drool oozing out and onto her palm. His eyes widened at the erotic sight, but before he could say a word, his cock was engulfed by Mia's warm spit sliding along his length.

"A-Ahhh! Holy shit...!!"

"Thought you might like that," Mia giggled quietly.

"I love it,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. Now let's see how far this'll get us."

Mia continued her handjob for another minute straight, making good use of her improvised lube. She slathered it on him, massaging it against his cock and balls. Not a second went by where she wasn't squeezing, stroking, or caressing while also playing things up by giving him some exaggerated moans every now and again.

Her efforts weren't in vain. Oliver sprang to life even further, reaching about seventy-five percent of his full erection. It was as impressive to feel in Mia's hands as it was the first couple of times, and she doubted she'd ever grow tired of such a beast.

"So close," she purred. "So very, very close..."

"You can start now if you want," Olived sighed.

"That eager for me to stop?"

"No, far from it. It's just that I'll want you to keep going if you don't stop soon..."

"Mn. Fair, but you still haven't reached your full potential, and I'd prefer to capture you in all your glory, sí?"

"I think this might be the best I can do under current circumstances..."

Oliver brushed off his mild disappointment in himself as he watched Mia's expression slowly transition into one of embarrassment. She fell deeper and deeper into her thoughts, her eyes focused not on him but the middle distance.

"Mia?"

"Wasn't planning to go this far tonight," she confessed. "Didn't think I'd be ready for it, honestly, but... I really keep underestimating how safe and comfortable I feel when I'm with you..."

"Wait, hold on. I don't want you forcing yourself to do anything just to make me a little harder. We can do this again sometime, Mia. I'll get used to it by then, I-"

"Random thought, mi amor. How about you be quiet long enough for something nice to happen?" Mia glared stubbornly.

"Shutting up now," Oliver said with a nervous gulp and a nod.

"Mn. Much better." Mia smiled, but she wasn't any less nervous than him. Hell, she was even worse off. Her anxiety was off the charts- and she couldn't believe she was about to do this- but damn it, she had to try.

Her hands reached for the hem of her baggy shirt. Oliver's eyes nearly popped out as understanding dawned on him, watching enraptures as Mia slowly dragged the cloth up over her skin inch by enthralling inch. She paused halfway across her midriff to take some deep breaths and stabilize herself, then trudged on, revealing her stomach in its entirety.

Mia's midsection wasn't washboard flat, but it wasn't pudgy, either. He didn't see any stretch marks, acne, or anything else she might've felt ashamed of. It was normal. She had the perfectly ordinary tummy of a perfectly ordinary girl, and in that moment, it was the hottest thing he'd ever seen.

"Mia..." Oliver exhaled, his erection filling with greater and greater power. "You're... so pretty..."

"Ah- I, um..." Mia's face got redder than it already was. "T-Told you to shut up, didn't I? Not done yet, and if you keep distracting me, I... I might lose my confidence..."

"Sorry, but it's not like I can help it when you show yourself off like that..."

Mia's expression highlighted her inner turmoil. She was a mess, equally happy from being praised and fretful from displaying her body. Neither side won out over the other. She'd have to consciously choose between continuing on or backing out, and her ultimate decision took less deliberation than she'd expected.

External validation wasn't a cure for Mia's chronic self-doubt. That just wasn't how things worked- but knowing someone found her attractive- no- that the man who collared her found her as beautiful as he did...

It felt like an injection of liquid courage straight into her veins.

Mia drew her shirt over her head and threw it on the ground. She locked eyes with her boyfriend, seeing how he so obviously worshipped every aspect of her. Neither said a word as his gaze traveled toward the tight red bra supporting her chest. It wasn't the sluttiest bra in her arsenal, but it showed off more skin than most.

Oliver seemed hypnotized, which she would've teased him for if she didn't feel similarly about his erection.

"Well," Mia said, awkwardly trying to break the silence. "Looks like that did the trick."

"Uh, y-yeah, seems that it did..."

Oliver was so stimulated he could hardly breathe without feeling it in his dick. Seriously. It took a lot of restraint not to gush about how she shouldn't be so self-conscious because Mia could've been a supermodel in his biased opinion. Instead, he settled for old reliable.

"God, you're beautiful,"

Mia gulped. She shut her eyes as her hands disappeared behind her back. After eleven years of wearing these stupid things, she still occasionally fumbled when taking them off. Chalking it up to nerves, she freed the clasp and tossed it onto her discarded shirt.

"And how about now, mn...?"

Oliver looked like someone needed to reboot him.

No wonder the Heart Event wasn't over yet...

This was so much better than his sneak peek yesterday. She'd been lying on her side back then, so now he saw what her breasts looked like in their natural state. The twin mounds sat tall and firm, each one a little more than a handful. Her dark brown nipples stiffened in the open air, pointing straight at him as if begging for his touch.

No matter how hard he stared, Mia refused to hide.

She squirmed in her seat and found it hard to meet his gaze, but she didn't cover her chest. Her hands remained patiently on her lap, her torso thrust forward to better show off. If nothing else, she was proud of the girls.

"I think you already know my answer," he said upon finding his voice.

"Probably. Still want you to say it out loud."

"Feeling needy?"

"Very, so cough it up,"

"You're even more beautiful than I already thought you were, Mia. There's nothing I'm seeing that I don't absolutely love from the bottom of my heart."

[Mia has gained +5 Affection! +3 Smooth Talker]

Managing to look into his eyes, Mia smiled and relaxed her posture. "Guess that's good news for me, then. Thanks, mi amor. It's... nice to hear. Not that I couldn't already tell, but again, needy."

"I know how you feel. I'm feeling needy, too."

"Mn. Sí, I happened to notice that." Mia extended her pointer finger, swiping up a large, oozing drop of precum from his tip before lapping it up like honey. "Think you can keep 'focused' long enough for me to get my studies in?"

"Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem..."

"Good, good. Don't worry. It'll only be another twenty minutes. Not like I'll be able to keep my hands off you any longer than that, anyway."

Mia started the timer again and got to work, refining the way she drew penises with the best model a girl could ask for. The sexual tension between them was higher than ever. Oliver couldn't look away from Mia's bare tits, and her eyes were glued to his cock. They wanted each other, and restraint was the only thing holding them back.

She had him shift the angle of his hips, turn to the side, point his erection up and down, and just about everything else she could think of to get a good sketch. Her hand flew across the page, progressing rapidly. Mia was so inspired she was getting a rough study done a minute.

As the time limit grew closer and closer, their respective desires could no longer be ignored. Mia chewed her bottom lip as Oliver twitched, still spilling a steady stream of precum with every passing second. Magnificent, sweltering heat boiled within their bodies. He was begging to be touched, and she was begging to touch him.

When the alarm finally went off, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fuck, Mia. That was probably the longest twenty minutes of my life."

"No kidding..."

"Hope it was worth it,"

"Oh, it was," Mia smiled tenderly and handed him her sketchbook. "Safe to say that my inspiration has flown home to roost after everything you did for me tonight. Truly, there's no better reference than the real thing."

"Seems that way," Oliver raised a brow while flipping through pages upon pages worth of sketchy depictions of his cock. As was her style, Mia saw fit to exaggerate his already impressive features, turning his sizable but ultimately still realistic penis into a hulking behemoth. It was as flattering as it was utterly bizarre.

As he got past the dick drawings and moved on to the gesture drawings, Oliver felt a soft hand grabbing him by the base and lightly stroking upwards. He sighed at the pleasant sensation, closing his eyes in satisfaction.

"Thank you for being patient, mi amor," Mia told him in a gentle whisper. "In more ways than one."

Oliver closed the sketchbook and set it with her supplies. He could look at it tomorrow, as now was apparently their officially designated horny time. He saw the loving expression on her face as she teased him, savoring the way it melted through yet another layer of his lonely heart.

"I'm just happy I could help you out somehow," he confessed. "Are you still nervous about letting me see you half-naked?"

"Sí, a little. It's... weird."

"Go on,"

"Mn. How to put this... I guess I really love watching the way you look at me, if that makes sense? You look like you're tuning the rest of the world out until I'm the only thing in it that matters, and I've... well, never felt like that before."

"I get it. That's pretty much how I feel about all this, too, honestly."

"Figures. Guessing you can relate to part of me constantly asking 'what the hell do they see in me', then?"

"Like you wouldn't believe,"

"Poor us, eh?" Mia smiled, giving his cock a firmer tug.

"Ah... yeah... poor us," Oliver sighed, contented. With his guard as low as it was, he slipped up and asked something sappy. "Do you ever stop and think about how perfect we are for each other, Mia?"

She stopped what she was doing, but Oliver didn't immediately grow concerned for once. He merely met her gaze and awaited her reply. There was nothing to worry about. They were on the same wavelength tonight, and he let that comforting thought reassure him.

"Yes and no," Mia spoke softly. "I'm an artist, mi amor. Perfection is my enemy. It's too definitive- nowhere to go from it. Had some stray thoughts here and there about us being 'perfect' together, but it's not something I dwell on. Don't care for the implication that I can't just keep making you happier and happier."

The sheer amount of love Mia's heartfelt statement blasted at Oliver should've completely overwhelmed his affection-deficient brain. To some extent, it did, but not enough to drown out the tidal wave of determination rising up within his heart. She was right. There was no excuse to grow complacent with how things were, and there was always room for improvement. 

He didn't let his nerves get the best of him. Instead, Oliver looked his lover straight in the eyes and said, "I can think of a few ways you could accomplish that, kitten."

"Happen to have a couple ideas myself," Mia replied, her blush as red as her smile was wide.

"Yeah? Interesting. You should tell me all about them over on your bed."

With one hand, Mia scooted her easel off to the side, and with the other, she tugged the base of his penis toward her so that he had no choice but to step forward.

"A-Actually," Mia stammered, her courage wavering in light of the quivering cock radiating with heat and desire only inches away. "I was, mn... sort of thinking that maybe we'd hit the bed a little bit later, sí? Here's good, too, you know..."

There was no possible way to misinterpret Mia's implications. Oliver stood directly in front of his girlfriend, who stared straight up at him, purposefully emphasizing her naturally pouty lips as she pleaded for his attention. He was taken aback out of excitement.

"Mia... are you sure about this?"

"Why so surprised? You knew this was coming."

"You didn't say it would be tonight..."

"And I didn't think I'd be sitting here with my tits out tonight either, but here we are. Also, I may have severely underestimated how badly staring at your dick for a few hours straight would make me wanna suck it."

"Never in my entire life have I heard a more convincing argument for anything ever,"

"Be surprised if you had," Mia smirked. "Gonna give it a try, now..."

"Please," he urged. "By all means."

With her left hand angling Oliver's cock for easier access, Mia took the plunge and closed the distance. Her soft lips pushed against his red tip, wrapping him in a delicate kiss that sent pleasant electricity running through all the nerves in his sensitive body. She stayed where she was for a while, doing nothing but lavishing her lover with tiny kisses and occasionally stroking him softly for variety.

The pleasure was new and exciting, as was the sight of Mia beneath him with her mouth on his cock. It invigorated him as a man, bolstering his confidence. This effect would've been even better if he wasn't so worked up from all the sexual tension, but as things stood, he was just trying not to get too excited.

"Go slow," Oliver warned.

"Mn... mnnn... already planned on it... wanted to take my time and really savor this, mi amor..."

"You know it's not gonna taste as good as hentai makes it out to be, right?"

"That's for me to decide," Mia winked. "Now, then..."

Oliver watched as his girlfriend opened her mouth and extended her tongue. It emitted heat- he could feel her steamy breath before it even touched him. They locked eyes as she went for it- lashing a single, tiny lick from his frenulum up to his urethra, which she gave a little twist and swirl.

"A-Ahhh...!"

Mia found it so cute when Oliver moaned, which provided further encouragement to please him as best she could. She got to work on it, alternating between licks and kisses all around his cock, never in the same spot twice. It was a constant assault of ecstasy he had only ever dreamed of, but...

It wasn't enough.

She really was savoring this for all it was worth. Everything she did was slow and drawn out, which felt torturous when Oliver needed to pop off as badly as he did.

Truthfully, Mia was only doing what he'd done to her. She was studying, noting his reactions, memorizing what he liked and how he liked it. Serving her loved one and making herself useful filled Mia with unthinkable joy, and the more she learned, the better they would both feel.

Eventually, her methodical teasing began to frustrate Oliver.

"Mia..."

"Mn?" She pulled away after a hot, steamy lick across his balls.

"This is great, b-but-"

"Confidence, mi amor,"

Oliver sucked in some air and told it to her straight. "I need you to go a little harder than this, kitten. I still don't want to cum just yet, but... this? This isn't enough. Give me more."

Mia shivered at his authority, smiling a perverse smile. "Anything you want, Ollie," she said, kissing him one last time for good measure. "Anything." 

Then, his kitten gave him what he wanted.

She took him into her mouth for the first time, warm wetness overtaking his senses until Oliver became unable to think of anything else. His eyes bulged watching his topless girlfriend go down on him, his voice trembling and his breathing ragged. She'd only gone as far as the tip, and even that was far too stimulating for him to handle. 

And then she started to suck.

"Fuuuuck," Oliver groaned. He reached down with his hand and cupped the side of her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "T-That's... so... fucking... good..."

Mia couldn't take it much more, herself. Seeing the guy she loved losing his shit over practically nothing had her absolutely drenched. She was tempted to pleasure herself, but she trusted that Oliver would do something about that later.

Right now was about him.

She swirled her tongue along the underside of his cock while bobbing her head. Though she focused solely on his tip and didn't venture far beyond it, the constant stimulation to his sweet spot threatened to have him blow his load at any moment. 

Mia could tell how close he was. All the precum drooling onto her tongue made that apparent. She sucked him off harder, her right hand suddenly cradling his balls and giving them a soft squeeze as if to coax the contents out just that little bit faster.

"K-Kitten, stop...! I'm gonna cum any second now if you don't give me a break...!"

Mia popped off of him, the vacuum of her lips making the most delicious sound as she did. Though still eager to please, she could no longer ignore her own desires. She wanted him to finish.

"This isn't a one-time thing, mi amor," she purred, looking up at him with adoring eyes. "I'll gladly suck you off again tonight as soon as you're ready for it, so don't feel like you gotta try so hard, sí?"

Mia's gentle reassurance went a long way toward relaxing him. He felt the love in her words, which only added to his stimulation. That said, he couldn't just let her talk him into this. Not without some teasing.

"You... you're just saying that because you want my cum, aren't you, you slutty little kitten?"

"Mn. Might factor into it a little, yeah." Mia playfully grinned. "Might also just be that making you feel good satisfies me on a primal level, and I wanna see how happy you look when you're blasting ropes down my throat."

God, it was tough to keep up the domineering act when she said stuff like that. Oliver didn't falter, though. He leaned into what she wanted to hear.

"Fine. Get me off, and I'll give you what you want. Make me cum for you. Hard."

"Mnnn... can do, mi amor..."

It didn't take her long. Mia jerked him off into her mouth as she sucked harder and harder on his tip, tongue thrashing every step of the way. The pleasure was so all-encompassing that nothing they'd done thus far could compare, save only for yesterday's intercrural sex. Her bright blue eyes begged him with all her soul, pleading as sloppy sucking sounds echoed throughout the bedroom.

Oliver's head rolled back as he cried, "Mia...!" and gave her what she wanted.

Thick streams of semen exploded out of him, cascading into her mouth and down her throat like a waterfall. The experience was so intense that it surprised the hentai-obsessed kitten. His shaft throbbed in her hands, his balls clenched, and he gave her everything he had as she sucked and sucked and sucked so hard that it was a miracle Oliver managed to remain standing.

Much to her disappointment, he had more to give than Mia knew how to take. She had to surface for air, causing the last two ropes to splatter across her face and glasses. Cum dripped off of her as she jerked him to completion until Oliver's first load was completely and utterly spent.

It took him a good half a minute to come down from his unbelievable high. During that time, he was hit with some expected notifications.

[Milestone Achieved! Blowjob from Mia +50LP]

[Mia has gained +3 Affection!]

"That... was... oh my God, Mia, I..." Oliver looked down to face her in a daze, only to be met with an unexpected sight. "Wait, what's wrong? Why do you look so grumpy?"

"Because I botched the landing," his kitten grumbled, wiping her glasses with her discarded shirt. "Meant to swallow all of it."

"Seriously? That blowjob was the best thing ever just now, Mia. You can't possibly tell me you're upset you didn't-" he paused, noticing her deadpan glare. "Okay, I guess that is pretty in character for your horny ass..."

"I want a do-over," she pouted. "Get on the bed."

"I'm not even hard again yet," 

"Gonna make you hard. Get on the bed."

"Mia,"

"Get. On-"

"Okay, okay," Oliver sighed, knowing better than to argue with her when she was like this. The idea didn't exactly displease him in the first place, anyway. He laid flat on his back, ready for her to do as she pleased. "There. Get to it, kitten."

"You too, mi amor," Mia suddenly surprised him by swinging her hips over his torso and entering a position he'd dreamed about his entire life. Her ass now hovered in front of his face- a gigantic, steaming wet spot clearly visible through her pajama pants.

"B-But don't get ahead of yourself, I mean. Don't, mn... don't take my pants off or try and use your mouth, sí? Already pushed myself a lot farther than I planned, s-so..."

She was asking a lot out of him. Nothing would've made him happier than peeling off those messy pants and eating her out, and God, if he wasn’t tempted. The warm, stuffy smell of his kitten in heat had him questioning his sanity, but no.

Mia trusted him not to, and that was that.

“I understand. Plenty of other ways for me to keep myself busy in the meantime, anyway.” He said, his hands slipping around her torso to cup her naked breasts.

“Mn,” Mia whimpered. “Go on, then. I’ll get you ready for round two.”

They pleasured each other in tandem. Mia took Oliver’s half-erect cock into her mouth and practiced her sucking while he unleashed the full power of his new massage skills on her breasts. It would’ve been even better if he could look at her from the front with Weakness Exploit - Pleasure while he did this, but he remembered more than enough of how Mia liked things to stimulate her tits better than any ordinary guy could've pulled off.

Her mouth felt amazing despite how sensitive he still was from his climax, and the more he teased her, the more worked up Mia became. She ran her hands up and down his inner thighs, stroked both sides of his groin, squeezed his balls, and did everything she could to bring the blood back to where he needed it.

Mia moaned against his cock once his fingers fixated on her pebbly nipples. The way he circled and teased them at just the right time made her quiver and twitch in front of him. It didn't just feel good. It felt distractingly good.

She pulled away, asking, "Jesus, mi amor. These massage tutorials of yours let you in on how to touch a woman, or what?"

"Maybe you're just that sensitive? You did cum from me playing with your tits the other day."

"Sí, not denying that, but I was a lot more sexually frustrated than tonight..."

Oliver stared point blank at the sopping-wet outline of Mia's steaming pussy.

"Could've fooled me,"

"Was backed up on Wednesday," Mia insisted. "Right now, I'm just normal horny. There's a difference."

"If you say so," he smiled, timing his words with a double nipple pinch to get the kitten purring.

"Mn-ahhh! Fuck, that's... so good... you... you really are getting better at this, aren't you, Ollie...? Keep it up. It's, mn... it's just about perfect..."

"I'm an artist, kitten. I don't believe in perfect."

He couldn't see it, but he could tell she rolled her eyes. "Gonna suck you off so hard you forget your own fucking name, estupido..."

"Jokes on you, kitten. I've always wanted to become the world's first blowjob-induced amnesiac." Oliver laughed, unable to keep a straight face. He loved this girl so much that he just couldn't bear it, and his love manifested itself physically in a new and exciting way.

Acting without thinking, Oliver's right hand swatted Mia's ass. The padding rippled at his hefty smack, and it probably would've stung if Physical Conditioning hadn't dulled his pain.

Mia wasn't so lucky. The impact stung her fairly hard, triggering a curious reaction.

"NYAH?!" She cried, back arching and collar jingling. 

Everyone went dead quiet after that. It gave Oliver plenty of time to process the two annoying alerts temporarily blocking the view of his girlfriend's butt. At least they were good ones.

[Milestone Achieved! Spanked Mia +25LP]

[Mia has gained +1 Affection!]

Once both notifications faded away, Oliver broke the silence.

"Did you just-"

"No,"

"Pretty sure you just-"

"Pretty sure I didn't,"

"Tell the truth," Oliver spanked Mia again, this time with greater strength. The second smack resounded throughout the room, stung her ass, and made her repeat the phenomenon.

"NYAH!!"

"Ho-lee-shit, you make catgirl noises when I spank you,"

"N-No, I... I-"

Smack.

"NYAH- d-damn it, Ollie!!"

"This is the cutest shit ever. Why are you so embarrassed about it?"

"Mn, I fucking wonder? How's about I press some of your buttons and tease you about whatever silly sounds come outta your mouth, estupido?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Oliver laughed, barely able to keep it together. He then threw out some very obvious bait. "I've learned my lesson, and now I know better than to spank you. My bad. It won't happen again."

"Now hold on there just a minute-"

"Wow. Zero hesitation."

"It feels good, okay?!" Mia hissed.

"That's exactly what a cat would say,"

"Dios mio... forget your memories, mi amor. You'll be lucky to still have your soul when I'm done with-" Mia paused, finally looking away from his face and back to his lower half. "Fucking really...?"

"Yep..."

"You're even harder than you were before..."

"I have a thing, Mia. You know this."

"You have a problem, more like..."

"Maybe I do. The question is whether or not my kitten's gonna solve it or just keep mouthing off at me."

After a moment of awkward silence caused by his dominant outburst, Mia responded softly, "Suppose I don't have much of a choice when it's staring me in the face like this..."

"Good girl," Oliver rubbed the area he'd spanked with a satisfied grin. "Get to work."

Mia did so after mumbling something sassy under her breath. All her added frustration gave her an explicit goal- blowing his goddamn mind as a way of playfully getting back at him. Her mouth descended on Oliver's cock once more, and it was so much better the second time around.

Mia's speed increased, as did the amount of him she managed to cram in her mouth. She got up to the point where it hit the back of her throat, but not even that could stop her. On and on she went, a new sloppy sound slipping out from her vacuum-tight lips every second. Things were so ungodly pleasurable that Oliver worried she might not have been kidding. Maybe she really was gunning for his soul.

If that's how she wants to do this, fine, he decided. Two can play at that game.

Oliver activated Weakness Exploit - Pleasure to gain better insight on the parts of Mia he could actually see. The familiar icons popped up all over Mia's ass and pussy, giving him hints on what to do. He purposefully ignored the ones telling him she wanted more spankings. She was already going ham on him- no need to dig himself an even deeper hole.

His left hand continued its work teasing Mia's exposed breast while his right retreated back to the drenched outline of her pussy. She moaned and whimpered against his cock, every little thing he did to her only adding to Mia's wetness. Rivulets of her juices soaked through her pajama pants before cascading onto his torso.

Oliver proved just how powerful a combination Massage Lv. 2 was with Weakness Exploit - Pleasure. His fingers working their magic, he rubbed, caressed, massaged, and teased his kitten's most sensitive spots in dozens of different ways that he'd never dreamed of trying. He avoided actual fingering since there was no good way to do it without pulling off Mia's pants, but it's not like he even needed to go that far.

He had her cumming a lot sooner than before, and harder than he'd ever pulled off until now, to boot.

"Mn- MN- MNNNGH!" Mia's hand squeezed the base of his cock, her tremendous climax shocking her to her core. It made her take another inch of him down the hatch, his head now prodding at the back of her tight, tight throat. She gagged against it, constricting him in wet, velvety softness.

More juices rained down on him as he continued stroking her through her pleasure, but Oliver couldn't stand Mia's assault for much longer as things currently stood. His jaw fell slack in absolute awe of how stupidly good it felt getting his dick sucked. The constant moans coming out of his throat sounded just as desperate as any of Mia's, and he could feel his impending climax barreling toward him like an unavoidable tsunami.

"Ah- fuuuuck- kitten... I-I... I'm... gonna cum...!!" Oliver warned as if his endless throbbing hadn't already spelled that out for her.

Mia popped off him again, giving him the only break he'd had since she'd started. "Hold me down, mi amor," she pleaded. "I'll scratch your thigh if I need you to let go, b-but... I wanna try this..."

Even given his current state, Oliver knew that probably wasn't the best idea. He could tell from her tone of voice how badly she wanted it, though, and he wasn't lucid enough to turn Mia down. All he could think about was how good busting straight down his girlfriend's throat might feel and how badly he wanted to find out.

"Finish me off," he commanded, grabbing Mia's collar and pulling down on it.

"Mnph-!" Mia yelped, then provided what little work was needed to push Oliver over the edge.

He came almost instantly.

"A-Ahhhhh...!!"

Oliver kept Mia firmly in place while he burst. His cock exploded with pure ecstasy, shot after shot of hot cum gushing out. He finished with just over half his cock in her mouth, and Mia took every last one of those four inches like a total champ, refusing to crack under pressure like she had before.

This was no longer about getting back at him for his teasing- Mia was back to her usual self. All the kitten wanted was to be a good girl and make her precious Ollie feel as good as physically possible. She sucked him all the way through, stroked his shaft, thumbed against his tight ball sack, and did everything she could to show her love.

She didn't end up taking his soul, but she sure as hell came close.

Mia rolled off of him once Oliver finished firing, gasping for air. He was a total wreck, as well. Neither could speak for well over a minute. Aside from his hallucinatory guitars and maracas, they had only the sound of their relentless panting to fill the silence.

"Well?" Mia asked once she was able. "You learn your lesson, mi amor?"

"Nah. If there was supposed to be some kind of moral here, it probably flew over my head while you were giving me head."

Mia drudged herself up and collapsed against his chest after lazily dropping her glasses off on her nightstand and turning off the lamp. "Fair enough. Kind of lost the plot myself for a minute, there."

"So you're not actually embarrassed that your butt triggers you to dispense catgirl noises whenever I slap it?"

"Sorta, but it's whatever. Long as you're happy-"

"I am. Incredibly."

"Then so am I," Mia smiled warmly down at him, nuzzling into his neck. While there, she took the opportunity to whisper into his ear, "You were wrong, by the by."

"You'll need to be a lot more specific, kitten,"

"Your cock tastes even better than hentai made me think it would,"

Oliver laughed softly, rolling his eyes. "Pretty sure that's just a 'you' thing."

"Probably. Doesn't make it untrue, though. Hope you know this is gonna be a habit from now on, mi amor."

"I don't know how to process that information in a way that doesn't make me break down and cry like a little girl over how happy I am to hear it,"

Mia smirked. "Could start by telling me your position on waking up with your dick in my mouth. Don't wanna assume, sí?"

"Are you trying to make me hard again?"

"Not my fault if you can't handle simple questions,"

"You've got my permission to wake me however you'd like from here until the end of time. I can't see myself ever turning you down."

"Mn. Handed me a lot of power just now, mi amor."

"I did, and I'm expecting you to use it,"

Her catlike grin smiled even wider at that.

"Can do," she said, then let out a yawn. "Mn... think I'm gonna crash any second now..."

"Same. Before you pass out... I, um... I had so much fun with you tonight, Mia. I just wanted you to know that."

Mia looked at him quietly for a couple seconds, her lazy eyes almost shining in the darkness before mashing their torsos together by hugging him tight. "Sí. I know, and I'm happy to hear it. Want you to remember that I'm not through with you yet, though. It's just gonna keep on getting better from here, Ollie. I promise."

A couple of tears spontaneously trailed down the side of his face. He wasn't anywhere close to crying beforehand- it just happened out of nowhere. He hugged her tighter, hoping to distract her from noticing.

Mia pretended she didn't and squeezed him back.

"Same goes for you," Oliver declared with conviction. "I'm going to give you everything you've ever wanted and more, Mia. Just you wait."

Finally nodding off after nuzzling into his neck, Mia whispered, "Looking forward... to... it..." before succumbing to one final yawn, her BGM quieting with her consciousness.

Oliver's powers ruined the moment. A shotgun blast of notifications hit him straight in the face as soon as Mia went lights out, making him momentarily curse the gamification of his life. He supposed things could always be worse. At least none of them were telling him he was out of energy and needed to buy more stamina potions.

First came the expected ones,

[Milestones Achieved! Mia's third Heart Event +30LP, Gave Mia a Throatpie +30LP]

[Mia has gained +10 Affection!]

And then came the kicker,

[Mia's Affection cap raised from 100 to 300!]

Guess that's what I get for hoping to coast along on easy mode forever, Oliver forced himself not to sigh.

Healing Mia's wrist was farther off than he thought, but he wasn't too discouraged. This only meant he had to double down even harder, and tomorrow was the perfect time to start. He closed his eyes, rushing to meet the new day head-on so he could work on deepening his bond with both Mia and Zoe.

***

Stat Changes

Oliver Chase | Strength 9 | Style 5 | Spark 1 | Smarts 3
Cash: $1070 | LP: 250

Mia Rosas | Status: Girlfriend | 36/300 | ❤❤❤♡♡

Stacy Pixel Pinup

Next one in this series, came out nicely once again!

Good news as well, next chapter should be later today.

Art by https://www.fiverr.com/koirai

Rebecca Post Sex Pinup

Thank you to Milly for this pic again! Rebecca is still far from getting focus but I’m excited for when we get there.

Art by - https://twitter.com/teinokami 

Mia NSFW Study Session

A gift from Milly, came out really nice! Mia is getting in some practice and is thankful for her models.

Work on the next chapter is going okayish. Probably going to take another two days or so. Might be progressing a little faster since it’s a lewd chapter but ugh I’m so sick of these constant night headaches slowing me down.

Art by https://www.fiverr.com/erojiji3

Love Addict's RPG Vol. 2 Ch 71

Ugh, I shouldn't have forced myself to edit this tonight. Feel like junk after pushing through it. I do think my overall condition is improving but doing stuff at night is just still not happening very well yet. Looking forward to the next chapter since it's a lewd one and those are always easier for me, but we'll see how it goes.

---

Since no one was hungry for anything in particular, they picked something at random and ended up with Chinese food. Farming continued as Oliver and the girls awaited its arrival, ate when it got there, and then went back to farming as soon as they were done. The ceaseless grind of planting and watering crops went on for another two hours.

Mia escaped the addicting influence of Moondrop Mountain before anyone else, pausing the game right after it was saved. She stretched out with a yawn and said, "Mn, okay. Think I'm good."

"Wait, really? But the potatoes'll be ready for harvest in another day or two!" Oliver protested.

"And I gotta catch another ten carps before I can finish Jeremy's bulletin board quest!" Zoe whined.

"You know how this game works, perezosa. We won't stop at all if we don't stop now."

"So? It's not like you gotta work tomorrow. Come onnnn! I thought you wanted to hang out with me!"

"I do," Mia threw off her blanket and undid the recliner. "But there's other stuff I wanna do tonight, too."

Zoe raised a brow. "Sex stuff?"

"Drawing stuff, but we might go down that road while we're at it, sí. Depends."

"Ugh. Come on, Olive. Back me up here."

"Sorry," Oliver offered Zoe a pity smile. "Girlfriend said we might be going down the sex stuff road, and I just don't have the strength of will to say no to that."

Zoe crossed her arms, looking away and pouting. "Fine. Be that way, you fuckin' normies. I'll just go back to my room and play games by myself all night."

[Zoe has lost -1 Affection!]

Oliver almost did a double take, unable to believe Zoe had lost affection over this. It usually upset him whenever he saw number go down, but this time, it came across as more cute than anything else. Zoe's pettiness called to him, begging him to tease.

"Man, are you really gonna be that lonely without us?"

"Lonely?" Zoe scoffed. "Pft. Right. I'm not fuckin' lonely. That's stupid! It's just that I'm having a lot of fun with you guys and... I dunno. I think it'd suck to call it quits so early in the night. That's all."

"Sure, sure," Oliver nodded, then nudged Mia in a way Zoe couldn't see.

She turned her head to look at him, reading his encouraging expression. He wanted her to say something, Mia realized. The pressure was suddenly on. She struggled to get something out but ultimately did her best.

"You know we can play together literally whenever you want, right?" Mia asked quietly. "You just have to take a break once in a while and maybe find some more games that my... that I can handle. Doesn't gotta be all the time, maybe just a day or two here and there? If you let us know ahead of time, then it's not like we can't plan around it, sí?"

Zoe frowned as she looked at Mia and her big, bright, sleepy eyes. You'd have to be willfully ignorant to not notice they shimmered with hope, and Zoe wasn't that far gone. Maybe Olive was onto something with the whole 'kitten' thing.

Mia's pleading expression was the kind of look that made sinners out of saints.

A tiny crack formed as Zoe weighed how much fun she had tonight playing games with real people who liked and enjoyed her company against performing for the adoration of her fans. The answer wasn't clear-cut. One felt like a warm hug, the other felt like a drug.

Zoe lowered her head.

"I'll think about it..." was the best the addict could do.

Mia frowned, but Oliver rubbed her shoulder and smiled reassuringly. This was okay for now. It wasn't a battle they could win on day two, yet Zoe had already gone from dismissive to seemingly conflicted. All they had to do was keep chipping away.

She'd come around.

"Thank you, Zoe," Mia finally smiled and stood from Oliver's lap. "See you in the morning?"

Zoe sighed, pulled herself together, and returned to her trademark smirk. "Given that I live here? Yeah, you probably will. Better take good care of my simp in the meantime, though. Poor guy's been staring at my tits all night, so he's probably gonna pop as soon as you touch him."

Oliver felt the urge to defend himself but suppressed it and tried something more daring. Naturally, his compulsivity got in the way, and what was meant to be a simple flirtatious retort ended up about a thousand times more suggestive than intended.

"Well, it's never too late to join us for that pile-up if you're really that worried about me. Right, Mia?"

Mia and Zoe stared at him in dead silence as Oliver replayed the sentence in his mind, hearing it for the first time. The temptation to shrivel up and die was massive as the quiet stretched on, but he suffered through it and was rewarded for not cracking under pressure.

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

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

"R-Right," Mia blushed. "It was an open offer..."

"I'm sure it fuckin' was," Zoe laughed and shook her head. "Sorry. Gonna be a hard pass on any potential threesome shit for now, but I liked the attempt."

"For now?" He asked, showing much more restraint than Mia, whose eyes were so wide with bisexual hype that she looked like an owl.

"Oh, don't get your hopes up. Either of you. It was a slip of the tongue, I didn't... ugh, just fuck off, why don't you?" The gamer grumbled before burying her flushed face in her phone.

Oliver found the attempt to ignore them pretty adorable, but he also knew when to leave well enough alone. Mia's disappointment was wiped away when he took her hand and led her to her bedroom, replaced by a soft, satisfied smile.

Along with a BGM shift to Mia's theme, a notification awaited him the moment he closed the door- a big one.

[Mia's third Heart Event is now underway!]

His heart stopped, then raced excitedly once it properly processed the memo. It was finally here, taking place during the modeling session just like he'd assumed. Oliver could only imagine where this was heading and forced himself to chill so things could play out naturally.

Mia walked over to her work desk proudly displaying her new tablet. Then, she opened a large, vertical drawer on its side. She lingered, not taking anything out yet. "Just realized I didn't really ask. Are you still up for helping me with my art block tonight, mi amor? Cause we can always do this another time if you'd rather-"

"No, no, it's cool. The sooner, the better, right?"

"Mn, yeah. I'm raring to go, just... making sure you are..."

"You seem a little anxious. Have you ever done this kind of study before?"

"Only anxious 'cause it's you," she admitted. "I've done some work with live models in the past."

"Oh? Did you rope Zoe or Rebecca into posing for you, or what?"

"Becca's way too shy for this, and as much as I'd like to draw her, do you really think Zoe could stay still long enough for me to get a halfway decent sketch in?"

"...No, probably not,"

"Exactly," Mia started removing art supplies from the drawer, stacking them up. “Vista Venus University occasionally offers some figure drawing classes to the general public, and Zoe paid for a few weeks' worths for my birthday last year.”

“Oh, wow. That was really nice of her.”

“Sí. She's been spoiling me ever since her career took off. Hardly a week goes by without at least a box or two of unexpected anime merch showing up with my name on it..."

Oliver looked around the room, taking in all of Mia's posters, manga, figurines, and plushies. "And here I thought you were just an avid collector. Is that why you're so weird about it whenever I get you presents?"

"Might have something to do with it," she hung her head. "I like being useful and doing nice things for the people I care about. Never really sits right with me when I'm on the receiving end. Makes me feel self-conscious. Like I gotta pay things back somehow."

"I think paying back Zoe for all the presents she's gotten you after everything you've done for her should be the last thing on your mind,"

"Oh, it is," Mia expressed a mild laugh, then gestured at all the nice things in their surroundings. "Even my self-conscious ass knows I deserve all this shit, and I enjoy having it. Would just prefer Zoe to show her appreciation by spending her time on me and not her money."

"We're getting there. I feel like we made some major progress tonight."

"Think we did," Mia gently smiled as she finished preparing her tools. "But we've dwelled on Zoe enough for one night. Rather we got down to business."

"Can do. One last thing while we're still on the topic, though?"

"Mn?"

"Don't stress out about paying me back for the collar. You already did," he smirked. "In spades."

"Silencio," Mia blushed. "Now is work time. Horny time is later."

"Does that mean I won't be nude modeling?"

The fierceness of her blush instantly tripled. "Ah, um. Were you, ah... were you expecting to?"

"I don't know," Oliver joined her in her awkwardness, his confidence slipping as he worked hard to maintain his smile. "You never specified how we'd do this, so I was ready for anything."

"Mn, okay... wouldn't be against working up to it so long as you're comfortable, then. We'll stick to your underwear in the meantime."

"Working up to it sounds good,"

"You sure? Don't think I can't tell you're nervous about this, mi amor."

"I'm nervous about everything, Mia," Oliver laughed. "But I can't stand idly by while you struggle with your passion. Not when there's something I could be doing about it."

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

"Thank you," Mia smiled gently despite feeling overwhelmed beyond words. "Now go ahead and strip for me while I set up."

"Yes, kitten," he teased while slipping out of his work clothes and tossing them in a hamper stationed in the corner.

Mia looked him up and down before setting about her task, approving of what she saw. It was subtle, but Oliver didn't look like a twig anymore. More like a twig and a half. It made her excited to see where all his newfound forward momentum would take him, even if she worried about him becoming too handsome for her.

Mia cast these useless and harmful thoughts off and knelt down. She pulled something out from under her bed- a big, rustling box of anime pins- before setting it aside and yanking a folded easel hidden behind it. A few seconds later, she'd erected it in front of her chair, splaying open a brand new sketchbook on its rack.

Oliver couldn't help noticing her anxiety seemed to melt away the closer she got to drawing him. She was now back in her chair, a broad, placid smile on her calm face.

"Almost ready?"

"Sí," Mia chimed. "Just need to get everything where I want it and sharpen some pencils."

He watched her take a footstool from under her desk that she then transferred all her art supplies onto followed by a small trash bin for pencil shavings. Oliver cringed as she took up her hobby knife and dragged it against a pencil, shaving off a sliver like she'd taught him.

"Careful," he warned.

"Been doing this all my life, mi amor," she scoffed. "Happens to runs in the family, in case you- mierda!"

Oliver closed his eyes as Mia sucked on her freshly cut pointer finger. She glared at him to ensure he knew to keep his mouth shut. He did, keeping quiet as Mia applied a bandage to her wound. It only just occurred to him that an entire box of bandaids was mixed in among her assorted art supplies. 

"Okay, there," Mia grumbled after finishing her setup procedures and making herself comfortable. She'd only cut herself the one time as she focused harder to prevent a second embarrassment. "You good, mi amor? Not too cold? Would prefer you didn't, but you can always throw on a shirt if you absolutely need to."

"And deprive you of my stiff, chilly nipples?"

"Mn. Would be a crying shame, wouldn't it?"

"I'm good," he laughed. "Just tell me how you want me to pose."

Mia told him to start things off with something casual, so Oliver did his best and struck a pose. He went with one meant to look like he was walking along, noticed someone, and raised his hand to greet them. It came to him unconsciously, his body acting on the inherited knowledge of Vogueing Lv. 2 to pull this off.

She stared at him blankly for several moments, making him worry this wasn't what she was looking for. Then he noticed the stars in her eyes. Mia was perfectly content with his pose, getting right to work after opening a music player on her desktop to play a J-rock playlist.

Oliver's mind music melted away, replaced by catchy, incomprehensible vocals and the furious scritching of Mia's pencil.

As she worked through her first sketch, Oliver slowly realized this was much more difficult than expected. It wasn't that he was embarrassed or that maintaining the same pose was difficult. The problem was how distracting he suddenly found Mia while witnessing a brand new side to her he'd yet to encounter.

She currently stood in stark contrast to the chill, low-energy girl he'd come to know and love, as well as the fiery, sexed-up version of herself she devolved into whenever they had their fun. This Mia was focused, serious, and determined. Her sleepy eyes narrowed in concentration, exuding scholarly curiosity.

She was a girl on a mission of artistic improvement, and simply put, it was the cutest shit.

Oliver wanted nothing more than to tease her over how adorable she was, but despite his persistent urge, he knew better. Mia was taking this seriously, and far be it from him to disrespect her like that. He kept quiet, changed poses when asked, and let Mia work while admiring her from afar.

Staying silent became increasingly difficult once Mia's wrist problems reared their ugly head, however.

It was subtle at first.

Mia stopped drawing here and there, saying she needed to sit up and stretch. She tried hiding that she was rubbing her wrists during these breaks, but it was hard not to notice since Oliver was already on the lookout. Mia had no problems playing a low-intensity game like Moondrop Mountain, but he knew her issues would crop up sooner or later tonight. The breaks became more frequent, and she stopped hiding what she was doing after about an hour.

Oliver didn't just stand there doing nothing. He asked multiple times if she was all right but was continually dismissed. He even tried pulling 'kitten' on her and taking a forceful tone, but all that did was annoy her.

It sucked, but he knew he had to rein it in until she reached a tipping point where she'd have no choice but to open up. Thankfully, it only took her another half hour to get there. Any longer, and Oliver would've stopped her- consequences be damned. 

"Chingada madre...!" Mia hissed. She dropped her pencil as her left hand grasped her opposite wrist.

"Jesus, Mia," Oliver set aside the cheap katana she gave him to pose with a while ago and rushed to her side. "Are you okay?”

“I… yeah, I’ll be fine in a minute or two…”

“Come on. I’m not that stupid.”

“Didn’t say you were…” she looked away. “Just pushed myself a little too hard. It’s nothing to worry about, mi amor.”

“Mia…”

“Oliver,”

“Mia,” he repeated with conviction.

She shrank a little, her eyes finding the floor.

“Look,” Oliver sighed and sat down on Mia’s bed. He rubbed his forehead, thinking of how best to speak his mind. Everything spilled out of him in one big burst.

“I didn’t wanna push you into discussing this until you were ready. Really, I didn’t. I dropped it yesterday when you asked me to, and I didn’t bring it up all day today until a bit ago, and even then, I still backed off. That said, I can’t just sit here when that happens in front of me and not ask what the fuck is going on. I’ve been nothing but respectful, so I’d like it if you recognized that, sat down with me, and we talked this out the way you’re always advocating for- like adults.”

Oliver patted the spot next to him, awaiting her answer.

Mia was quiet for a long time until she made an eerily similar expression to the ones her brothers had made when he was beating them up. Equal parts pained, angry, and annoyed, she heaved her shoulders and sighed, joining him on the bed after turning off her J-rock music. Silence was superseded by an emotional remix of Mia's BGM, the acoustic guitars tugging his heartstrings.

Oliver put his arm around her hip once Mia was at his side. She didn't resist.

"...Not much to talk about, really. Got a couple of pinched nerves." Mia said.

"Is that as bad as it sounds?"

"Well, it's not good. My elbow's fucked, and I've got carpal tunnel in my wrist."

"Christ. How do you even deal with that?"

"It's not too bad most of the time," she frowned, rubbing the wrist in question. "Just feels like dead weight whenever I'm not using it, and it only drags me down after extended use."

"Have you tried physical therapy?"

"Six months straight. Didn't help."

"Shit. Did you look into surgery after that, or what?"

"Sí. Had some tests done a few years back, but after multiple second opinions, the consensus was that things are so thoroughly fucked in such a weird, specific way that I'd need a ridiculously expensive specialist to even have a chance of success. Kicker's that they think there's a chance of making it worse even if I had the money to go through with it."

"How expensive are we talking about here?"

"More than you could win from clearing out every arcade in the state," she gave him her best approximation of a playful smile. "Wouldn't wanna risk it at this point, anyway. I've more or less learned to live with it."

"I'm sorry, Mia. I-"

"Please, don't even start. Can't stand it when people apologize for stuff that's got nothing to do with them."

"Makes sense," Oliver frowned. "I'd probably get sick and tired of that, too."

"You would," Mia agreed.

"How did it get this bad in the first place? Too much drawing?"

There was a long silence eventually broken by three simple words.

"...Among other things,"

"Oh," Oliver noticed the sudden red on Mia's cheeks mixing with her ashamed expression. "Oh, no."

Mia looked like she'd jump at the chance to curl into a cocoon if that was an option. Her silence resumed.

"Fuck. Sorry, I didn't mean to react like that. It's just that, I..." Oliver started sweating. Mia felt worse the longer he lingered on this, so he knew he had to pivot and try to cheer her up. The question became; how?

He got a random idea and threw the dice as soon as they were in his hands.

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you something embarrassing about myself? Something I've never really told anyone about before?"

Her reaction was several seconds late, but Mia subtly perked up. It was only a bit, but it was noticeable enough to Oliver to give him some hope.

"Wouldn't hurt," she said.

Oliver had her- he could tell that Mia was trying to sound less interested than she actually was. Now came the hard part. Steeling his nerves by sucking in a lungful of air, he got the hell on with it and pushed ahead.

"I've been addicted to dating sims since I was thirteen years old," Oliver confessed. "I got into them thinking they would teach me how to talk to girls, and I've probably played hundreds of them by now."

Mia slowly turned to face him. Her face was blanker than usual, looking like an unreadable marble statue. It conveyed no implications regarding her thoughts toward his abrupt revelation, leading Oliver to draw his own inevitable conclusion.

Naturally, he thought he fucked it up and was now mentally kicking himself over his stupidity.

Shit. Not good, not good, not good- fuck, fuck, fu-

The marble statue snorted as it cracked a smile.

"Mi amor?" She asked, sounding vaguely amused.

"...Yes?"

"Did you seriously just try and-" Mia paused to crack up again, then continued, "Try and comfort me by letting me in on your porn game addiction?"

"I was trying to cheer you up by telling a secret I'm embarrassed about," he insisted, blushing.

"Sorry, sorry," Mia continued to laugh, unable to help herself until taking a deep breath. "I'm not laughing at you, just at whatever train of thought made you think now was the best time to dump that on me."

"Was it not? Cause the mood seems a lot lighter now than it was a second ago."

"Oh, no. It totally worked." Mia admitted. "Also happen to be laughing at myself over this, don't get me wrong."

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

Oliver felt better after seeing the notification, but he definitely didn't feel like a smooth talker. He felt like he'd failed upwards. Not the worst thing in the world, he reasoned. If it worked, it worked.

"Please don't tell me the whole reason you came to work with a weed hangover last Thursday was because that new release of yours was a hentai game you were up late edging yourself to,"

"...Okay," he said, stone-faced. "I won't tell you that."

"Dios mio, I can't believe you," Mia shook her head. Thankfully, the tone of her voice suggested she meant it fondly. That, or maybe he was coping. "Why are you ashamed, mi amor? We're both weebs. That shit's normal to me, and I’ve happened to play a few myself over the years.”

“I’m not ashamed of admitting it to you, it’s just… not something I’d want getting out, you know? I was emotionally dependent on shitty porn games for a long, long time, and I took the wrong message from some really nasty ones when I was at my lowest.”

Sensing the sudden seriousness in his tone, Mia scooted closer and leaned her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Sounds like we’ll have to unpack that last part sometime.”

“…Yeah, we will,”

“Can a girl get a TL;DR?”

“Nah. You’ll eventually get an unabridged, rambling, half-hour-long lecture on my troubled past, and that’s that.”

“Damn. Sounds like a whole lot of ‘sad white boy’ ground to for me to cover.”

“Oh, I’ve got an entire continent’s worth of ‘sad white boy’ ground for you to cover,” Oliver laughed.

“As if that wasn’t firmly established, estupido,” she nuzzled his shoulder, smiling.

The two sat together in silence for a few moments. Mia felt better thanks to Oliver putting himself on the spot, and now she wanted to even the score. It sucked, but she spat it out after a quick sigh.

“You’re partially right,”

“About?”

“The reason you assume my arm is fucked up,”

“Ah, so…”

“Sí. It’s just… it’s not wholly from chronic masturbation, okay?”

“No, of course not,” Oliver nodded, averting his eyes.

“There’s a trifecta- two other pieces to the puzzle,” Mia pouted. “I used to play a lot more kinds of video games than life sims and JRPGs. I’d touch anything Zoe wanted me to, more or less. Shooters, fighting games, kart racers, whatever. Point is that if I wasn’t playing games, then I was working on my art…”

“And if you weren’t working on your art…?”

“Then I was masturbating,” Mia admitted with a sigh so deep that Oliver felt her pain and embarrassment in his very soul. “There was never a time when my right arm wasn’t in use, essentially. Didn’t know what I was doing to myself, but it caught up with me all the same…”

“Christ… and there’s no chance it’ll heal on its own if you let it rest, I’m guessing?”

“Mn, yeah. It’s way too late for that. Pretty sure the only thing that could give me another shot is an honest-to-god miracle, but… ah… Ollie?”

“Huh?” Oliver shook his head. “What?”

“The second I said the word ‘miracle’, your face tensed up and got all determined. Like you took it as a challenge.”

“…Am I really that transparent?”

“Sí. About as much as one of those fucked up deep-sea fishes with the see-through skin and shit.”

“Fuck, that’s bad…” Oliver mumbled, cursing himself. “I mean- don’t worry about it so much, it’s just a guy thing. When you tell me there’s no hope, it makes me want to work even harder to try and make your life better regardless of whether it’s possible.”

“Guess I can understand that. Would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath. Imagine you’d have to flirt with a lot of other girls to power up enough to pull that one off, mn?”

“More or less,” Oliver laughed, mainly to hide how much it sucked not being able to tell her his determination wasn't as unfounded as it might've seemed. Rather than looking toward the future, however, he wanted to see if he could help Mia in the here and now. "Does it actually help when you rub your wrist, or is that just a habit?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... a little of both," Mia looked down at her wrist and lazily rubbed it a few times. "Takes some of the pressure off if I do it hard enough, but it also became a habit somewhere along the way. Why?"

"Can I see it?"

Mia held her right hand closer to her chest. "Not too sure that's a good idea, mi amor..."

Oliver expected her resistance, but the knowledge imparted by Massage Lv. 2 should've been more than enough to provide minor relief. He had to convince her to let him try.

"I didn't bring it up until now, but I never really stopped thinking about your wrist after you brushed me off. I was so worried about it that I ended up watching some massage tutorials last night before I got sucked into Zoe's stream."

"...You did?"

No, my psychically-created henchman convinced me to spend points that I got from doing kinky shit with you and your best friend to download a massage therapy license into my brain, he thought to himself before committing to his white lie.

"Yeah. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I think you might be surprised if you gave me a chance." Oliver punctuated his persuasion attempt with the gentlest smile that Smiling Lv. 1 could muster, a flourish that proved devastatingly effective.

Mia's defenses softened. She turned to face him on the bed and extended her right arm toward him, her face mired with trepidation and the color red. "Well... Zoe has bought me a couple of professional massage sessions before, and they do help, so..." she said softly. "Suppose we can give it a shot."

And I'm in, Oliver celebrated his little victory by taking Mia's arm and getting to work. He activated Weakness Exploit - Pain to see all the black crosshairs, giving him a good roadmap when coupled with his new massage expertise.

"Just tell me if you need me to stop," he said with all his confidence.

"Trust me, you'll be the first to know mi am-AHHHH!!" Mia yelped the second he tenderly ran his thumb along the biggest of her weak points. He'd only brushed against it, and things were already this bad.

"Is that the pinched nerve?"

"S-Sí... the main one, anyway... gotta be careful with it..."

"I will. I promise."

Oliver poured all his concentration into relieving Mia's pain as best he could. His hands ran on autopilot, knowing precisely what to do. While lacking the advanced knowledge the skill's third level bestowed, level two was more than enough to make an impact.

Mia howled, shivered, and shook at his touch, though she never told him to stop. The longer he worked on her, the more her palm started to sweat. A good sign. Her circulation was improving, and a couple of the big, black crosshairs subtly shrank in size.

While Oliver knew fully erasing Mia's weak points was beyond even the greatest masseuse's capabilities, this was still a massive victory in his eyes. He'd have to thank Bradley for the suggestion, somehow. It turned out to be one of his best ideas yet.  

After twenty minutes of vigorous massaging, Mia gasped, "Ah... hah... hah... o-okay, mi amor... I... mn, can't... t-take much more than that..."

"You got it," Oliver took back his hands, eager to hear her thoughts while trying not to look too closely at Mia's face. Her mouth gaped, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes hazy, and she was sweating up a storm. Now was not the time for an erection, but damn it, if this hadn't accidentally maxed out her sexiness.

"How does it feel?"

"Honestly?" She clenched her fist a couple times. "Almost as good as a professional..."

[Mia has gained +5 Affection!]

"Yeah?" Oliver's heart soared. "That's great! I'll work on it a little more and see if I can't get to the point where you can't even tell the difference."

"Cocky. I like it. Those must be some tutorials, mi amor."

"Um. Y-Yeah, they were pretty in-depth, I guess..."

"First gambling, then boxing, and now massage therapy... any ideas on what miraculous talent you'll next be adding to your repertoire, or are we still playing dumb?"

"Playing dumb," Oliver spat out instantly and looked away so fast that Mia actually laughed.

"Gonna let that slide for now solely because of how funny it was that you up and admitted to it," she said. "That, and I'm more focused on what a great job you did. Gonna have to pay you back for this, you know."

"Come on, Mia. You know I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything."

"And you know I'm gonna feel that way regardless, so you might as well enjoy what's coming to you,"

Oliver found it hard to argue with that, so he relented with a sigh. "And what might that be?"

"You'll find out soon enough. First things first, though," Mia looked away, anticipating the reception to what she was about to ask. "I'd like it if we picked things up again for another round." 

His response was exactly as expected.

"What? No way, you're done sketching for tonight. I didn't do all that work just for you to go and make things worse again."

"Ollie-"

"Mia-"

"No, Ollie," Mia declared with authority surpassing his own, glaring at him stubbornly. "Don't fight me on this. I know my arm better than you do; if I say I can handle it, I can. You got that?"

He respected Mia enough to drop the cutesy kitten stuff and not try to control her, but she was asking a lot from him. "I get that you're unreasonably stubborn, yeah. Can't we just try this again tomorrow after you've had some rest?"

"I'm close to getting over my art block, mi amor. Just a little bit longer. Please?"

Oliver could've turned her down if he really wanted to, even if it cost him some affection. The problem was that he hadn't gotten a notification telling him the Heart Event was over. His hands were tied since he didn't want to discover what would happen if he opted out halfway through.

He could still play hard to get, though.

"Why are you in such a rush, Mia? You know I'll model for you whenever you want, right?"

"I'm in a rush because I've watched too many shitty anime shows with ten-year-old kids shouting bullshit about never giving up on their dreams," she continued to grump at him. "Don't want to work at a shitty grocery store my entire life, and the same goes for letting Zoe be my eternal sugar mommy. Need you to respect me over this, mi amor. You know I don't ask for much."

Okay, maybe Oliver was a little too weak to play hard to get in the face of such conviction. He cracked like an egg, convincing himself it was acceptable if Mia wanted to be stupid just this once.

I'm gonna heal the damn thing, anyway...

"Fine. But you've got a half hour, tops."

"An hour,"

"Really?" Oliver scoffed. "You're seriously gonna try and haggle with me?"

She blinked innocently, awaiting his reply.

"...Forty minutes, and that's final. Set a timer on your phone."

"I'll take it," Mia smirked.

Sighing, Oliver got up to walk over to his designated modeling spot. Something stopped him from getting further than a single step. A finger hooked his underwear's elastic band. He looked over his shoulder to be met with a still smirking little kitten with adorably red cheeks and a glimmer of mischief in her bright blue eyes.

"Think I'll be taking these, too, while I'm at it..."

***

Stat Changes

Mia Rosas | Status: Girlfriend | 114/100 | ❤❤♡♡♡

Zoe Myers | Status: Friend | 49/100 | ♡♡♡♡♡

Follow Up

The chapter is done I just don't feel like editing it right away since I've been working on it for like 5 hours now. I'll try and do it sometime after midnight but we'll see if I feel up to it. If not, tomorrow. It's like 6k words and I just don't wanna right now lol

Small Update

Work overall went better this week and I should have the next chapter done by tomorrow. There’s not too much left on it.

Mia Pixel Pinup by Koirai

Another one of these courtesy of my patron Kinzler, thank you for getting this! I had to get Mia in this sort of outfit at least once, but who am I kidding, I'll probably end up with many pics of her in cat-themed lingerie.

Kinzler is also helping me get pics like these for the rest of the cast so expect more soon.

Art by https://www.fiverr.com/koirai

Zoe Post Sex Pinup

Very pleased with this one, genuinely feel it came out even better than the last! Looking forward to more from them.

Art by - https://twitter.com/teinokami 

Random Q&A

I got 2k words done today, decent progress. My concentration is still doing terrible at night though so I’m just sitting here not really having the motivation to do anything. I thought I would see if anyone wanted to ask me anything about the story and upcoming plans and things. Just be wary of spoilers since I’ll answer pretty much anything, though nothing is 100% set in stone.

Mia Post Sex Pinup

Another gift from Milly, and I'm extremely happy with how it turned out! Going to get more post creampie pics from the artist. Not sure if we'll get the full set since these ones are expensive but we'll see, and Zoe is already paid for at least.

Art by https://twitter.com/teinokami

Love Addict's RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 70

Whew, there we go. Another good day today. I'm focusing a little better than I was a few days ago but getting stuff done at night is still not going well. Still, I'm thankful for any improvement no matter how small.

I think this chapter came out well despite the trouble I had getting through it, though I do have something on my mind. I feel like I fucked up slightly with all the heroines being centered around two locations, essentially. 'Work' and 'Mia's house'.

A big thing in sandbox dating sims RPGs is that there are heroines all over the map with their own schedules and shit, but only those two locations are relevant. It's not a huge problem since I had stuff like meeting Stacy out in the wild last volume, but the problem feels bigger to me than it actually is since Zoe is the big focus right now and her being a shut in has confined the current plot to one location.

I like the big netflix and chill vibes we've had for like 10 chapters now but getting them out of the house would be nice soon. Thankfully I plan on that being somewhat solved after Zoe's first heart event.

I also have ideas for a few other heroines that would require more location variety but I don't really think bloating things any time soon is a good idea even if they were like roaming characters that would only pop up from time to time, giving him a limited window to interract with them. Just spitballing some of my thoughts, enjoy the chapter.

---

Work went by well once Oliver returned to Mia's side. A little too well. Fancy Footwork and Physical Conditioning kept him light on his toes and raring to go, leaving his slow, laid-back partner to waddle along after him, trying to keep up with his ruthless efficiency while nursing her morning headache.

It got to a point where he recognized he needed to dial it back. Oliver only wanted to ensure Tessa saw there'd be no need to split them up, not run Mia ragged. He slowed down, and his workday became quite enjoyable afterward. As enjoyable as eight hours of sweeping floors, stocking shelves, and directing customers with his girlfriend could be, anyway.

Eight hours passed in the blink of an eye. Tessa checked in with them a couple times during their shift but only said 'good job' and 'keep it up', which Oliver took as a good sign. For now, though, his work performance was the last thing on his mind.

It was four in the afternoon, and thus, now officially the weekend. They hung up their aprons. Mia clocked out first, followed by Oliver, who savored his newest notification.

[Gained $170]

"There we go," he exhaled with pride. "You ready to head home?"

"Mn. So my apartment is 'home' now, is it?" Mia observed. "Planning on taking up Zoe's offer?"

"You know what I meant..."

"Sí, sí. I know." Mia smiled, then took his hand. "Only teasing, mi amor. Would love to go home with you."

His spirits soaring to somehow even higher heights, they exited the building together and made for Oliver's car.

Before getting in, Mia asked, "Is it lame that I've fantasized about this?"

"About what, exactly? I can't make fun of you by saying 'yes' if you're not specific."

She nudged him in the ribs. "About going home together after work, estupido."

"Oh, no. Not really. I love all the crazy sex shit we've gotten up to so far, but... I don't know," he squeezed her hand a little tighter. "The little things mean just as much to me, too. Stuff like holding hands, talking to you, being around you... hell, even just looking at you makes me feel like I'm on a sugar rush."

“Fair enough…” she squeezed back.

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

Five more to go, Oliver celebrated. I can totally get that much before tonight's up.

His good vibes were soured when Mia spoke up with mild concern, asking, "...You’re not worried all this is gonna get old, though?"

"I have an obsessive personality," Oliver hung his head. "I don't think I'm capable of not feeling like this. ‘Crazy about Mia’ is like my new default state of being."

"Mn... you know that would've been the biggest red flag if it was coming from anyone else, right?"

"But since it is coming from me?"

"Still a red flag," Mia shrugged. “Just an oddly romantic one. Happy to hear it, though. Don’t really see myself ever getting tired of the small stuff, and I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

As they reached the car, Mia surprised him by taking her hand away and leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. She was smiling from ear to ear.

“Drive us home, fuckboy?”

“In the blink of an eye,”

As always, Oliver wasn’t exaggerating. Fast travel got them there as soon as he clicked the option, Mia remaining none the wiser that no time had passed. She returned to Oliver's side after getting out of the car, gluing their hands together again as they entered the building.

This was his life, now, velcro girlfriend and all.

Of course, this weekend wasn’t solely about Oliver and his clingy little Latina. It was about Oliver, Mia, and their stupidly sexy third wheel.

He wondered if Zoe would even be awake or if she’d slipped into another three-day coma, but he got his answer right after walking in. Zoe was present and accounted for, currently kicking back on the couch.

The temp-banned streamer hadn’t skipped a beat since yesterday. She’d changed clothes but still rocked pajama pants and another skimpy tank top. On top of that, she was up to the same shit as before. Her Vapor Dock was clutched tightly in her hands, her phone at her side, still rapidly switching between them.

The only significant difference was that Zoe appeared more strung out on caffeine, her sharp eyes sharper and her twitching even twitchier. Oliver thought seeing his new crush would make his heart go all stupid, but his initial reaction to today’s Zoe was simply; Yikes.

“Afternoon, perezosa,” Mia greeted her favorite pet.

“Huh?” Zoe jolted upright with a start, one of her tits nearly falling out of her shirt as per usual. “Oh, hey. Back already?”

“If by ‘already’ you mean ‘eight hours after I left’, sí,” Mia gave Zoe a deadpan look. Zoe blinked and tilted her head, prompting Mia to sigh and move on. “Brought home company again by the by, so you might wanna cover up. Or don’t. Think he’d like it better that way.”

“Mia-”

“Shit. Didn’t see you there! Welcome back, Olive.” Zoe smirked, making no attempt to fix her tank top’s strip.

“H-Hey, Zoe,” now his heart was going all stupid. “You doing okay today?”

“Uh. Yeah? Why do you-” Zoe’s phone buzzed. She pounced on it like a feral beast. They watched her type something at the speed of light, then let out a sigh of satisfaction after setting it back down.

“Sorry, fan… anyway, you were saying?”

Oliver and Mia exchanged troubled looks. They weren’t yet at the level of being an obnoxious couple that they could read each other's minds, though Mia understood that Oliver would try and chat Zoe up, while Oliver understood that Mia needed a fucking drink.

He headed toward the couch, and she toward her bedroom to change before hitting the fridge.

Oliver sat opposite Zoe and said, “Nothing, just couldn’t help noticing you’re looking a little rough today. Sleep okay?”

“Like a fuckin’ rock. Not sure what you’re on about. I’m doing great. Just fuckin’ great.” She kept eying her phone until something caught her eye- Oliver himself. “What’s going on with you, though? Did you do something to your hair, or what? Feels like you’ve got a different vibe going on today.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Oliver flashed her a powered-up smile to see if it worked. Zoe didn’t react, though she still stared at him funny. “Been trying to look nicer lately. Mostly for Mia, but also just in general.”

“Hm. Not bad, Olive. Not bad.” Zoe mumbled, sounding almost confused. 

[Zoe has gained +1 Affection!]

Oliver’s heart raced at the tiny bump. It was stupid, but he couldn’t help feeling starstruck now that he’d become a fan. Sitting here with the streamer was surreal, especially after everything they got up to. 

The pressure was nothing he couldn’t handle, though, and knowing Zoe felt compelled to comment on his increased style gave Oliver the confidence to push on.

“Thanks, it’s pretty motivating to hear that from someone who’s not as biased as my girlfriend,” he laughed. “How’s day two of the temp ban going?”

Zoe’s eyelid twitched as she dropped her gaming device, letting out a groan. “Honestly? I’m not doing so hot today. Feels like I’m going through withdrawal here. Like there’s an itch inside my brain telling me ‘more, more, more’, and I can’t do jack shit to scratch it!”

“Fucking yikes, that sounds worse than I thought… what do you miss so badly about streaming that’s making the wait so unbearable?”

“Fuck if I know,” she scoffed. “Sitting in front of a camera while playing games in my undies is my happy place, I guess.”

“Is that really all there is to it? Cause I could always pull out my phone and record you messing around on your Dock. Hell, you could even change into your work clothes if that’d help.”

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

“Give me another day or two, and I might just take you up on that… wonder how your girlfriend would feel if I gave you a private stream, though?”

“Thrilled, presumably…”

“True enough, heh…” Zoe shot him a playful smirk, then slammed a nearby can of gulpies. Her body shivered as she sighed and crumpled the can. “I’ll be fine, though. Thanks. I just miss the spotlight, that’s all.”

Mia came out of her room wearing heart-patterned pajama pants, a baggy top with a three-eyed cat graphic, and fuzzy slippers. She’d entered her weekend form and was as unrepentant about it as she was about grabbing an alcoholic raspberry lemonade from the fridge at four in the afternoon.

Cracking open the bottle, she shuffled over to the couch and plopped down on Oliver’s lap.

“What’d I miss? Any good flirting, or no?”

“Just a joke about Zoe giving me a private stream,” Oliver said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Nothing too crazy.”

“Mn,” she savored her first sip. “Bet you’d like that, mi amor. Especially after last night.”

“Huh? What’s so special about last night?” Zoe raised a brow.

“He didn’t tell you yet?”

“No?”

Mia nudged him gently, prompting Oliver to sigh and get on with it. “I watched a couple of your streams after I went home last night.”

An immediate ping.

[Zoe has gained +3 Affection!]

“No shit?” Zoe sat up and leaned closer. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as if all her stress melted away. “Why didn’t you say so sooner, Olive? You cheeky little shit! What did you think, huh? Come on, come on! I gotta know!”

“I liked it way more than I thought I would,” he confessed. “That said, I don’t think I should watch much more of your content…”

“Huh? Why the fuck not?” Zoe soured, suddenly making a pouty face.

“Mi amor enjoyed himself so much he blanked out,”

“Uh…?”

Oliver groaned at Mia putting him on the spot, then came clean. “I zoned out. Four hours zipped straight past me before I even knew it…

“Oh, shit,” Zoe rubbed her elbow. “I don’t know whether I should say sorry or feel flattered. Of course, as a certified selfish bitch, I’m leaning more toward feeling flattered. Still, though. Sorry?”

“You don’t need to feel sorry. It’s not your fault that I literally couldn’t take my eyes off of you. For the record, it was your KaneMon Techno Version stream, and I was constantly blown away by all the little game design tangents you went on. I already knew the game sucked, but you put it to words better than anyone else I’ve ever seen while somehow managing to make things funny every step of the way. I loved all the ways you involved your chat, too. Like-”

“Mi amor,”

“The whole thing where you let them pick your KaneMon’s nicknames was gold. I laughed so hard when you named your Fidration-”

“Mi amor,”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, just thought I’d stop you short of professing your love to another woman while your girlfriend's sitting on your lap,” Mia casually sipped her drink.

“Oh, uh… shit…” Oliver’s cheeks went red, and he wasn’t the only one.

A quick look at Zoe revealed an adorable sight. The streamer had a big, screwy smile from trying to contain her happiness and failing miserably. She’d taken his rambling well, apparently.

[Zoe has gained +5 Affection! +3 Smooth Talker]

Very well.

“Damn, dude. Tell me what you really think, why don’t you? Fuck.” Zoe laughed. “It’s… kinda weird to hear you say all that, actually. I mean, I get tons of praise all the time from my fans and shit, but… I don’t know. I guess I really needed that right about now. Thanks, Olive.”

Receiving Zoe’s heartfelt gratitude had a significant effect on Oliver. His heart raced as he struggled to find his words. “No problem. Maybe I’ll watch more sometime if I ever learn some self-control.”

“Heh. I'd like that." She smirked. "Sorry, Mia. I think your boyfriend is one of my simps now.”

“Sí. All according to keikaku.” Mia nodded sagely.

Zoe looked at her newest simp. “This weeb shit mean anything to you?”

“Keikaku means plan,” he said, prompting a chuckle from his girlfriend. “Speaking of, do we have any for tonight, or are we playing it by ear?”

“Depends. Still waiting to hear back from-” Mia’s phone buzzed. She continued speaking after checking it, saying, “Mn. Speak of the devil. Becca says she’ll be coming over tomorrow, not tonight. Figured. Guess we’re free for whatever, then.”

“I’d ask if you guys wanted to grab dinner later, but one of you is drinking, and you’re both already in your pajamas…”

"Burned through all my social batteries for today," Mia said. "Don't feel like going out and about."

“Same,” Zoe agreed.

"And how'd you burn through your social batteries?" Oliver asked.

"Eh, it's more like I don't have any to begin with. I'm not much for leaving the house."

Oliver figured he already knew the answer but had to ask. “What, like... ever?”

“Pretty much, yeah," Zoe shrugged.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because I'm nothing if not consistent?"

"That you are," Oliver had to agree. He found it mildly disappointing that Zoe wasn't up for venturing beyond her apartment. It boxed them in, limiting what they could get up to. That, and he felt Mia was right in thinking that touching grass would do Zoe some good.

Maybe it was something they could work on once he'd built up more affection, but for now, Oliver would take what he could get.

"So I assume we're gonna sit around and play video games again?" He asked.

"Is that gonna be a problem?"

"I'm not against it. I'd just prefer something that included Mia."

"Mn? Oh, don't worry about that, mi amor. I'm happy just to be here with you both." Mia smiled placidly, but Oliver remained firm.

"I'd have more fun if you didn't get left out, kitten,"

"Ah... well... suppose I can't argue with that..." she melted at his insistence, causing Zoe to roll her eyes.

"You two, I swear..." she sighed. "Gimme some credit, Olive. I already planned ahead for this."

"You did?"

"Duh? I can't exactly make things up to Mia if I don't fuckin' include her, now, can I? Figured we'd break out one of her favorites and see how it goes."

Mia squirmed in his lap. She still struggled when people did nice things for her, but Oliver thought he noticed excitement as she asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, nothing much... it just hit me how long it's been since we last played Moondrop Mountain together, and-"

Okay, Mia was definitely excited. She just about jumped off his lap to look at Zoe with sparkles in her eyes. "Better not be getting my hopes up, perezosa. Hasn't just been 'a long time', it's been like two years! You seriously telling me you're up for it?"

"I am if he is," Zoe shot Oliver a cheeky smile.

Mia then gave him a look that implied that the future of their relationship relied on him saying yes. He almost laughed at how adorably serious she took this but held back to give her what she wanted.

"You already know what I'm gonna say,"

"I do," Mia softened up. "But I still wanna hear it."

Oliver flashed his girlfriend a powerful smile as he spoke from the heart, saying, "Yes, Mia. I'm in. I'd love to play one of your favorite games with you."

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

[Mia's third Heart Event now available!]

And there it was, exactly what he'd been waiting for. Oliver held back his reaction despite all but trembling in excitement. He hoped the Heart Event would happen later on tonight during his modeling session, but for now, he'd have to have patience.

Mia was over the moon and even more excited than he was. "Gonna be a lot of fun, mi amor. Trust me. If you liked Hellagers, you're gonna love this. Wait- did you bring your Odyssey?"

"I did, yeah," he'd smartly been stashing it in his inventory ever since they started playing together, just in case he needed it. He removed it from the confines of his personal hammerspace and booted it up, navigating to the online store.

Mia let out a relieved sigh. "Dope, I'll go and grab mine, then."

"Mine too, while you're at it?" Zoe asked. "Since you're already up."

Mia agreed and zipped off to gather their consoles. He wondered where all this energy was coming from. She might've given him a run for his money at work today if she'd bothered to make the effort, but he supposed this just meant that much to her.

"Just so we're clear, Moondrop Mountain is that really popular farming game, right?"

"Dude, have you seriously never played it?" Zoe looked at him like she'd found a caveman.

"You know that not everyone lives with their asses glued to a fifteen-hundred-dollar gaming chair, right?"

"Heh! I'll have you know my gaming chair is worth twenty-five hundo, Olive. Get your shit straight."

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

"Wow, big difference. Consider my shit straightened." Oliver chuckled, his inner simp delighted at the minuscule progress while the rest of him internally balked at the concept of such an expensive chair. "Seriously, though. What did I just sign up for?"

"It's probably the game you're thinking of, yeah. Some dude got tired of those old Harvest Season games never improving and said, 'fuck it, I can do better than this', and he wasn't fuckin' kidding."

"Okay, cool. I've heard of it, then, yeah." He got to its page on his Odyssey's digital storefront and then skimmed the blurb. Start a new life as a farmer, befriend and flirt with the townsfolk, play co-op with your friends... it all sounded about as he'd expected. "Guessing you two have played this a lot?"

"Tons. Especially back in high school." Zoe sighed fondly.

"I'm almost jealous,"

"Heh, you should be. It was a lot of fun. I'd go over to her place a couple times a week, and we must've racked up hundreds of hours over the years..." 

Oliver could feel the nostalgia radiating off of her. Sensing an opportunity to make a sly suggestion, he subtly stated, "It sounds like you miss doing stuff with Mia."

"I..." Zoe furrowed her brows and glanced at her phone. "Never said I didn't, did I? I'd love more free time, but... you've seen my streams, Olive. I'm a busy gal."

"Fair enough," Oliver expected such a deflection and nodded. He'd accomplished his goal, at least. His comment left Zoe vaguely conflicted, making him think that planting seeds of doubt was better than calling her out.

He wanted to dig in deeper, but Mia was on her way back, and he figured he should get the download started. The game only cost twenty bucks, so Oliver hit the 'buy' button without hesitation.

[Spent $20]

[Item Received(?)! Digital Copy of Moondrop Valley - One of indie gaming's biggest success stories. As a digital copy, you don't technically own this but instead a license to play it. The price of convenience.]

Mia approached, carrying a pair of handheld game consoles and the comforter from her bed. Thankfully, it smelled like it’d been freshly washed since they’d last ruined it.

“All squared off?” She asked.

“Yup. It’s downloading as we speak.”

“Excelente,” Mia smiled, then handed Zoe her Odyssey before hovering in front of Oliver. She gestured for him to pull a lever on the couch's side, turning their seat into a recliner.

Once he'd laid back, Mia slotted her booze into the drink holder and laid halfway across Oliver. He had just enough room to hold his game up without it sitting on her head. She then draped the blanket over them, sighing snugly.

“Geez, and you call me lazy. Could you get any more comfy?”

“Short of you joining us for a pileup? Don’t think so, no.”

"Pft," Zoe looked askance. "You wish..."

"Now that was a mental image I could've gone without..." Oliver mumbled, distracted.

Mia smiled back at him from over her shoulder. "You'll live. Almost done with the download?"

"Yeah, any second now. Is there anything I need to know before we start?"

"Suppose a little handholding might do you some good, sí. How 'bout it, Zoe? Wanna give mi amor the rundown on all the little tips and tricks?" 

"Naturally," Zoe puffed out her chest with pride. "I am something of an expert."

"By all means, then. Carry on, Professor Moondrop." Oliver teased, unknowingly inspiring a lecture.

Zoe gave him a quick, easy-to-follow tutorial on the controls, helpful shortcuts, and the day-to-day gameplay loop. The basics didn't take long to cover, so she soon moved on to more advanced advice. Stuff like what materials he'd need to watch for, which townsfolk offered the best friendship rewards, and so on.

It was a lot to take in, but Zoe's way with words got him through her TED talk. Oliver was surprised by how much this seemingly simple game had going for it. Booting it up left him more excited to start planting digital crops than he ever expected to be.

Mia started a new save file on her device, and they joined her once they could. Thus, Oliver was sucked into the wholesome world of Moondrop Mountain, where the simple act of farming became a meditative experience.

One hour in, Oliver totally understood the game's popularity.

Two hours in, he began to feel like it might become one of his favorite games.

Three hours in, it felt like he was taking meth.

Moondrop Mountain was addictive, especially for someone like Oliver. Every action contributed to a progress bar or got you closer to a new reward, making every in-game day feel like an accomplishment. He would've been fully absorbed if he'd been playing solo.

Luckily, Mia and Zoe's presence kept him grounded. He loved cuddling with his girlfriend and hanging out with his girlfriend-approved crush, and the fun, relaxing vibe between them was even better than yesterday's- barring Zoe's constant temptation to look at her phone.

It helped that Mia was somewhat buzzed for an hour after her lemonade, acting clingier and cutesier than average. At one point, she nuzzled against Oliver's chest while purring like a cat. Zoe wouldn't let that one go, but drunk Mia took it in stride by hissing until the sloth shut up. Oliver was legitimately sad after Mia sobered up, but the game continued regardless.

They took a break at 7:30.

Mia got up to use the restroom before they discussed dinner plans. She winked at him as she walked off, Oliver taking this as a signal that she'd intentionally be a while and that he should chat with Zoe. He winked back, prompting her to smirk.

The first thing Zoe did when they were alone was reach for her phone.

"And to think you were doing so good until now,"

"Oh, fuck off," Zoe rolled her eyes, then playfully jabbed his thigh with her foot. "I ignored my phone for over three hours. What more do you want from me?"

"I wouldn't say you ignored it," he teased. "Every time it buzzed, you stared like a dog eying a freshly cooked steak."

"Yeah, me and every other girl my age. Everyone's got social media brainrot these days, Olive. Get with the times!"

"I'm good, thanks. I kicked that habit a few years ago. I did see your Xitter profile before checking out your stream, though. Hope that's not weird."

"Nah. Not unless you fapped to me?" Zoe smirked.

The smirk got bigger when Oliver answered with silence and a blush.

"You fucking fapped to me-"

"I did not,"

"Mia's gonna cream herself when she hears this!"

"I fapped to Mia before bed, and- shockingly- I had some intrusive thoughts about the stupidly hot e-girl I made out with earlier that day," Oliver huffed. "Sue me."

"I'd need fuck-off billionaire bucks if I was gonna sue every dude that's ever jerked off to me, heh. Chill. I hope it was a good one, perv."

He sighed and collapsed against the reclined seat. "I'll leave that to your imagination. What about you, though? You ever make up your mind on that kiss?"

"Uh, no. Not really... I mean, I know I liked parts of it, but it didn't make me suddenly understand why people obsess over sex so much when they could be doing other shit."

"What parts did you like...?"

Biting her lip, Zoe fidgeted and looked away.

"I guess the physical contact was kinda nice..." she confessed. "It just feels like I was missing out on something. Like some kinda 'aha' moment slipped through my fingers, which frustrates me."

"Shit, I'm sorry. If I knew it was gonna upset you so much-"

"Frustrated. Not upset. I'm interested in knowing what I'm missing out on, but I'm not crying about it..." Zoe sighed, kicking off a few moments of silence. She eventually turned to him with a curious expression, asking, "What does it feel like when you kiss Mia?"

He didn't need to think about the question for long.

"Like I’m on fire, and the only way to put it out is by drowning myself in her. Her lips burn away every stupid thought in my head until all I can think about is how much I... um..."

"What, you not using the l-word yet?" Zoe cocked her head.

"It's only been five days..."

"She literally calls you 'mi amor', dumbass,"

"It's just a nickname," he deflected, burning brighter. "We'll get there."

"Heh. Whatever you say, dude. Still. That kinda kiss sounds pretty fuckin' intense. As for me? I didn't feel anything like that..."

"And that frustrates you?"

"Wouldn't you be frustrated if everyone else in the world was in on a joke you didn't understand?"

"I guess so. Not to state the obvious, though, but… you know it's so intense for us because we have feelings for each other, right?"

"Well, yeah, I... obviously I get that, but... ugh, I don't fuckin’ know, Olive..."

"Zoe?"

"Sorry. Just starting to think I'm never gonna understand this shit. Not if I really have to love someone for it to click…”

"...Geez, this got heavy," Oliver laughed awkwardly.

Zoe did the same. "Right? Fuck. Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to go off like that, but it’s been ages since I’ve talked about my feelings, and I guess everything spilled out of me...”

"Maybe we should do this again sometime? You and Mia would be better off if at least one of you learned how to open up."

"Probably. I've always sucked at that even worse than Mia, though, and I doubt I've got it in me to improve... but... it did happen naturally now with you just now..."

"Some people find it easier to confide in someone they hardly know," Oliver shrugged. "Not that I understand why. A total stranger is the last person I'd ever want to discuss my problems with."

"Heh. Don't sell yourself short, Olive. You're a step above a 'total stranger' by now."

"I am?" Oliver couldn't restrain his smile.

"Of course, silly. You're one of my precious fans." She smirked back. "And my fuckin' therapist, apparently."

Oliver laughed. First Tessa, now Zoe. If this trend continued, he'd have to look into charging for his services. Knowing Zoe considered him more than a stranger felt great, though, and he was eager to cement their friendship.

"It's a rough job, but someone's gotta do it. You know where to find me if you ever want to vent."

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

He was happy over the notification, but it didn't align with Zoe's expression. She stared at him pretty intently, and he didn't know why.

"Hm..." narrowing her eyes, Zoe rested a finger on her bottom lip. "Appreciate the offer, but it's kinda inconvenient if I gotta go through Mia every time I need to talk with you and you're not here, don't you think? Gimme your phone."

His heart sped up upon realizing where this was going. Oliver's new crush wanted his phone number, and at that moment, nothing could've made the simple, shallow lad happier.

She took it when offered, added herself, and sent herself a message so she could do the same on her end.

[Milestone Achieved! Got Zoe's Number +5LP]

"There ya go," Zoe flashed him a sharp grin and lazily tossed back his phone. "Try not to lose your shit, simp."

That was a tall order. His excitement almost made him fuck up the catch, and he would've fumbled if not for Hyper Reflexes alerting him and Boxing Lv. 2's jab. The skills saved him, allowing Oliver to pluck the oncoming phone from the sky effortlessly.

"Nice catch," Mia said from the hallway. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. "You just score some digits, mi amor?"

"You know it," Oliver smiled, projecting confidence.

"Mn. Love to hear it."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal, you perv. Olive's chill. Figured I should have his number in case you're busy with shit and I'm running low on gulpies."

"Yeah, no. I'm deleting your number if you ever ask me to grab you more canned heart attacks."

"Your loss," she shrugged. "Guess that just means you'll miss out on all the extra spicy pics I send the rest of my biggest fans..."

Oliver got real quiet as his face flushed. It was stupid, and he wasn't proud of it, but her comment made him jealous. "Uh..."

"I'm joking, Olive," Zoe's evil grin widened. "Mostly."

"...Mostly?"

"I don't send jack shit to random creeps on the net, no matter how much they tip me. As for you, though? Well... I guess you'll just have to throw the dice and see what happens when you nab me a six-pack, won't you, Olive?"

His reaction was immediate.

Oliver didn't just have a frog in his throat- he had an entire swamp's worth, and his face burned so hot he was close to sweating. Zoe cackled at him while Mia smiled smugly. She might've been his sub, but that didn't mean she couldn't find him adorable when he got like this.

"No matter what you try and tempt me with, I'm still not getting you any gulpies..."

"Yeah, right. Follow your own advice and be fuckin' honest with yourself. You'll cave."

"Damn it, I fucking will..." ashamed, Oliver slumped over and sighed.

Mia felt buzzed again despite her sobriety. Every time she stepped aside for fifteen minutes, Oliver and Zoe wound up closer and closer. It did wonders for her soul, leaving a wide, satisfied grin across her face. And to think tomorrow would be even better once Becca joined the fun.

Though naive, all the rampant positivity swirling about the three of them inspired Mia to make a humble, spur-of-the-moment wish.

I hope this lasts forever.

"Yo, Mia? You doing okay over there, or are you suddenly rethinking things now that you know how thirsty your boyfriend is for my nudes? Oh, yeah. He also said he fapped to me last night, by the way."

"I did fucking not. I said that I was mainly thinking about Mia and that I then had some intrusive-"

Mia laughed loud enough to cut her boyfriend off before he could finish digging himself a deeper hole.

"Sí," she said, reclaiming her seat and snuggling up to Oliver. "Doing great. Know what'd make things even better, though?"

"What?"

"For you two idiotas to dial down the sexual tension long enough for us to figure out dinner."

***

Stat Changes

Oliver Chase | Strength 9 | Style 5 | Spark 1 | Smarts 3
Cash: $1070 | LP: 115

Mia Rosas | Status: Girlfriend | 100/100 | ❤❤♡♡♡

Zoe Myers | Status: Friend | 48/100 | ♡♡♡♡♡

Small Update

Had a good day today. I think today is the first time I got 3k in about two weeks, and 3k was average workday before all this. The bare minimum I need to reach to feel halfway decent about myself lol.

That said, chapter isn’t done like I thought it’d be. It went off rails from the outline so it’s taking longer- Oliver and Zoe now talk about the kiss and not her need for attention when they’re alone together. It felt too soon for it and it’ll probably get moved to her encounter on Sunday where it’ll be a lot more relevant, anyway.

I’ll try and work on it again in a few hours but if I’m not feeling it it’ll come out tomorrow most likely. There’s hardly any of it left honestly I’ve just been stuck on the ending bit and none of it was working so I’m gonna let it sit instead of forcing the conclusion.

Not going to celebrate early in case it gets worse again but I’ve felt a lot better since I posted about my struggles yesterday, thank you again to everyone who showed support! Especially the one who donated money for us to get pixel pinups of the rest of the girls. You know who you are!

Zoe Pixel Pinup by Koirai

A gift from my friend Milly. Really like how it turned out! Would love to get more of the girls done by this artist sometime as I think it's an interesting style.

Art by - https://www.fiverr.com/koirai

Been Delayed This Week

I should've said something sooner but I kept thinking it would get better but it really hasn't. My mood has been very low this week and it's made working on the next chapter rough. It's almost done, though, so I'm hoping tonight or tomorrow.

I haven't explicitly said so but in the interest of transparency I've been tapering down from an antidepressant for like 4 months now and this entire last month has seen some pretty rough withdrawal side effects. Nothing serious- I don't want people to worry- just headaches, lethargy, and issues with concentration being the big one that's slowing me down. It's what I meant when I said brain fog before.

I'm only bringing it up because I have an explicit reason things are taking me longer and I'd rather be upfront about that since it will presumably get better within a few weeks. I'm just really upset about the timing since I didn't know I would put out a hugely successful book while going through this, so now that my readership (i.e. you patrons) has exploded in numbers I'm stressed that it's happening at a time I'm not able to deliver at my fullest.

If it doesn't improve within a few weeks I'll bite the bullet and taper at a slower pace but I would rather give it some more time so that I didn't just waste 4 months getting to this point. It's just a shitty situation and not the best time for it career-wise but it is what it is.

At least I'll have some new art to post for you guys soon and as I said the next chapter is mostly done and I hope to get it up within the next day.

Suggest Art Ideas

If anyone has any fun ideas they’d want to see as a pinup, let me know! Friend was getting me some art and will do so in the future again so I figured I would see there were any requests that caught my interest.

Things like outfits you’d want to see Mia in, a sexy pose you saw, generally whatever. Minimal backgrounds and probably a two character limit for now.

Examples of things I just ordered; one with Mia giving a pov blowjob while Oliver holds a leash, and one where he has sex with Zoe while Mia sketches them.

I don’t have a specific artist in mind, just looking for potential ideas to store for later.

Love Addict's RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 69

Sorry this one took me a while. It's a mix of poor moods and it just being a difficult chapter to write. I didn't want to overplay my hand or imply too much, so I scrutinized it very heavily as I went along. Hopefully the next one goes smoother.

***

Despite his initial annoyance at Bradley pushing him into this, Oliver was glad he did. The bonus was welcome, but the chance to impress Tessa was even better. He needed it now that she'd be watching him and his girlfriend like a hawk.

There goes all my sexy workplace fantasies, Oliver laughed to himself.

While bummed he'd be having no secret make-out sessions, Tessa was more polite about this than he'd expected. She could've just shuffled them off to different partners, but no. She was giving them a chance, which made him not want to blow it.

Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't off to a great start.

Skills notwithstanding, he wasn't good with his hands. Assembling furniture was outside his narrow expertise, and the instruction books weren't helping. He could barely follow along, convincing him that the designer got off on making things purposefully unintuitive.

It might've also been that Oliver was just dim, but what can you do?

Buy a magical skill, that's what.

Oliver really didn't want to waste any more of his LP. He'd already burned through a whopping two hundred points today, and he had no idea how fast he'd regain that sum. Botching such a simple task would probably earn Tessa's ire, though, which wasn't a risk he wanted to take when he was already on thin ice.

He caved and settled on making one last purchase for the day.

Oliver sifted through his available skills quickly, unsure how long he had until Tessa's return. His initial thoughts were something along the lines of woodworking, but that was more focused on assembling things from scratch. Might be helpful if he ever wanted to impress Mia's dad or show up the twins again, though.

He eventually landed on a skill that more accurately fit the bill.

[House Husbandry Lv. 1 | * | Smarts | Learn the Way of the Dad and gain expertise in household tasks that are traditionally expected of men. Grants beginner proficiency in various fields such as lawn mowing, unclogging toilets, killing spiders, minor home repairs, assembling store-bought furniture, and more. Does not increase pun or cooking proficiency, save for barbecue. +1 to Smarts.]

At least this one gives me a lot of bang for the buck, Oliver sighed as he did the deed.

[Skill Purchased! House Husbandry Lv. 1 -25LP]

[Gained +1 Smarts]

Immediately upon doing so, what could only be described as a massive influx of Dadergy permeated throughout him. His soul yearned to invite his neighbors over for a barbecue, watch football, and play poker with the boys while they all made sexist jokes about their wives- the ever-present fear of divorce hanging like the sword of Damocles above his head.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck...!!" Oliver gasped repeatedly as the skill installation was completed. The introverted weeb shivered like a naked man in freezing rain, his brief exposure to the lifestyle of your average, run-of-the-mill, middle-aged American male shaking him to his core. "That was the worst one yet, Jesus Christ. I hope it was worth it..."

It was. The instruction manuals made sense now, so Oliver got to work. He worked swiftly, practically on autopilot. Thankfully, it didn't seem like he'd need level two. The last thing he wanted was to drop more points on another injection of... that.

Oliver noticed his mind felt a little 'lighter' as he built. It was hard to explain. He wondered if his new stat increase was the cause. Smarts might not have made him directly made him more intelligent, but he did feel somewhat... sharper, maybe?

On second thought, probably not. If I can't even describe the feeling, then I can't exactly claim I'm feeling more clever... Oliver shrugged. Whatever it was, progress was progress, and he was happy to observe the phenomenon until it eventually passed.

Oliver got through both bookshelves and was halfway through the desk when the door opened. The mind-numbing Payless Foods BGM swapped over to a familiar melancholic piano number so dreary that it ratcheted his energy levels down a notch or two.

"How's everything coming along, Oliver?" Tessa asked. Lacking her apron, she wore a fashionable brown jacket to protect her from the mild sixty-degree temperature outside while carrying a paper drink holder with two cups.

"Not too bad, I think. Feel free to check if the bookshelves came out all right, though. If not, I'll see if I can't tighten the screws a little more."

Tessa placed the coffee on her old desk, which had been conveniently cleared off before Oliver arrived. She grabbed both sides of the first new bookshelf and applied pressure to see if it wobbled. It didn't, and neither did the second one.

"No need. It seems you've done a fine job thus far. Thank you."

"Just trying to put my best foot forward," Oliver nervously gave Tessa one of his newly powered-up smiles, hoping it helped.

"Admirable," she hummed, looking away. "Though I'm assuming you're feeling pressured to get on my good side after our little talk this morning..."

Those new juices in Oliver's brain got pumping, inspiring him to fire off with, "What, I need a reason to suck up to you?"

"I suppose not, but you've never 'sucked up' to me before,"

"And you've never bought me coffee before, either. Guess there's a first time for everything?"

Tessa glared at him, her steely eyes stoking fear in Oliver's heart the same as ever. This time, however, he found the mental resilience to maintain a poker face.

"Funny. I don't recall ever saying that second coffee was for you."

"You didn't, but you usually come in through the back,"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you passed the lounge on your way here and didn't stop to stash it in the fridge for later. Instead, you brought both cups back to your office."

Tessa glared at him a little harder. His mask almost slipped, but it lasted long enough to see her crack an odd smirk that looked halfway between annoyed and amused.

"Take the coffee, you little shit," Tessa said, handing it to him.

[Tessa has Gained +1 Affection! +1 Smooth Talker]

Oliver was surprised to learn that he could get away with a bit of cheekiness, and even more so, Tessa actually enjoyed it. He almost couldn't hide how dumbfounded he was, so he quickly took a sip to cover it up. The brew's quality impressed him. It didn't come from any of the shitty coffee shops on this street, that's for sure.

"...Damn. Thanks, Boss. This is really good."

"You're welcome. I was already irritated this morning even before our chat, so I decided to treat myself to something a cut above the nearby swill. While there, I figured I'd be... nice, I suppose."

"I feel like you've been trying to do that more often lately,"

"And I feel like you've grown more of a spine lately," Tessa shrugged. "Your point being?"

Oliver was taken aback out of habit but quickly recovered. Then, still feeling daring post-affection boost, he prodded her a tiny bit. "I wasn't trying to make a point, but now I have to ask. Would I get fired for pointing out how badly you suck at this?"

The world went silent save for Tessa's atmospheric theme song. Oliver panicked, immediately believing he'd flown too close to the sun. His firing was imminent; he could feel it in the air.

"Case in point," her expression softened ever-so-slightly. "No, Oliver. I'm not so small as to lash out upon hearing the truth. Indeed, I'm awful at showing kindness, and it's been a long, long while since I've even made a token effort..."

Oliver hadn't expected such an honest admission. He decided to keep himself from expecting the worst and try engaging Tessa calmly to see what he could get from this conversation.

"What changed?"

"You reminded me of your personal struggles," Tessa sighed. "And I went home that night feeling like an even bigger sack of shit than usual.”

“…Oh,”

“I’m not going to make excuses for myself. I treated you and many of my other employees harshly, and I’m ashamed that it took what it did to pull me out of my downward spiral long enough for me to realize I was behaving unacceptably.”

“Can I ask a question, Tessa?”

“If you want to know why I was rough on you specifically, then I’m sorry to say there’s no easy answer,”

“But there is a complicated one?”

She started giving him her evil-eyed glare before realizing she was doing it and stopping herself short, her cheeks red from irritation.

“It’s a mix of things…”

“Name one or two?”

Tessa’s frustration boiled over, causing her to growl, “Fucking- ugh, fine. Look. Men piss me off, all right? I’m not proud of it, and it’s unprofessional as all hell, but it’s the honest-to-goodness truth. I have a short fuse, and men burn through it faster than women.”

“…Wow,” Oliver stared at his boss, feeling like he saw her for the first time. “I can’t believe you just outright admitted that. I always thought you went easy on Stacy and some of the others, but-”

“I’m lenient with Stacy because she attracts potential HR disasters like moths to a flame and then snuffs them out before they become a problem. That, and she’s a good employee. No, I try not to let my issues affect how I run my business.”

“Keyword being ‘try’?”

“It’s like I already told you, the longer you have a bias, the more it colors the world around you until you no longer notice it’s there. Mine has blinded me for a long while now, and I’m trying to do something about it.”

“Okay, I get that, but… is sexism seriously the only reason you’d always get on my ass whenever I was running a few minutes late or working a little slower than you’d like? Because I don’t know what to say if that’s really the case.”

“You could say the truth,” Tessa suggested. “That it reflects poorly on me. That I’m a shitty boss and an even shittier person. I wouldn’t disagree.”

Oliver gave her a conflicted smile. “I’m good, thanks. Just because you’re owning up to it doesn’t mean I’m gonna risk shoving my hand into an open flame.” 

“Good call,” Tessa laughed dryly. “Though I’d honestly prefer it if you did. If you haven’t noticed, I lose sight of myself more often than I’d care to admit. The thing is, I want to improve. I really, truly do. It's just…”

Oliver watched as his employer’s expression darkened. Her grip on her coffee grew tighter and tighter, causing some to spill out of the lid and splash onto her hand. It clearly burned, but she didn’t react beyond minor trembling.

“…Tessa?”

“It’s so fucking hard to give a shit about anything anymore,” she sighed, setting her cup aside to rub her wound.

Though still upset that her harsh treatment came from where it did, Oliver was more empathetic than other people in his shoes might've been. He recognized a mental health crisis when he saw one, especially one so similar to his own. He'd been there before, sexism and all.

It made him want to reach out, or at least try.

"It's not all bad, is it? There's always your sister's cats."

Another sigh. "They're my fucking cats, Oliver. I don't have a sister."

"Still. You give a shit about them, don't you?"

"I do, yes, but they're just about all I'm capable of caring about these days..."

"What about your store?"

"This old place?" Tessa laughed and looked around her. "Never wanted it, but I'm not about to trust anyone else with it, either. All it's ever been as a burden, but it's my burden."

Oliver wasn't making any headway. Whatever was going on with Tessa ran deep. Real deep. He was out of his depth, and although it risked offending her, he played the last move he had at his disposal.

"Have you ever considered therapy, boss?"

"...What?"

"I know this is none of my business, but it might do you some good. I could give you my old therapist's number. They got me through some hard times, and-"

"No. No, I've... already been through four and don't see any point in hedging my bets on lucky number five. It was kind of you to offer, however. Perhaps kinder than I deserve." Feeling awkward, Tessa chugged her coffee and slammed it on her old desk. "Forgive me, Oliver. I'm unsure how I ended up unloading my emotional baggage onto you, but I didn't mean to put you through that."

"You shouldn't feel sorry for venting. Keeping all those nasty thoughts bottled up inside clearly hasn't done you any good. I'm happy to help you air them all out."

"...Why, though? I don't understand why you'd act as if you care."

"I'm guessing you need a reminder since it's been a while, but people don't generally have easily explainable reasons for caring about the things they do. They just... do. As for me, I guess you could say I'm paying things forward. People showed me much more patience than I deserved when I was at my worst, so I feel it's the least I can do. I probably wouldn't care if it didn't sound like you actually wanted to change, though. But you do, right?"

"...Yes," Tessa confessed. "I just don't know if it's even possible at this point..."

"I didn't think I'd ever get any better, either, but here I am. The first step is always the hardest, and you’ve already made it past that. Nothing to do from here on out but to keep trying your best.”

Tessa closed her eyes, wondering how she ended up getting a lecture on mental health by an employee twelve years younger. She’d misjudged Oliver, though she supposed she already knew that much. It was more the extent of her wrongness that surprised her.

Her preconceptions always made Tessa think of him as something of a slacker. Maybe a little dim, too. The truth was, in fact, the opposite. Oliver was wiser than his years, and she stood something to gain from his heeding his advice.

“...Right. I suppose that’s exactly what I’ll do, then. I’ll try my best to treat you and everyone else more fairly while endeavoring to rediscover how to go about giving a shit again.” Tessa showed her resolve by clenching her fist and taking a deep breath, her self-reflection prompting a shocking notification.

[Tessa has Gained +30 Affection!]

Oliver was stunned. He’d never seen a heroine’s affection go up so much in a single tick before, which said a lot about Tessa’s convictions. It didn’t result in his typical dopamine rush from seeing the numbers increase. He was mostly just happy for her. Genuinely happy.

“Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do to help,” he said. “I know it probably doesn’t mean much coming from me, but-”

“It means more than you’d think. Thank you, Oliver. That said, I’d prefer this conversation didn’t leave the confines of my office.”

“No, of course not,”

“I’m asking for you not to tell Mia. Just in case that wasn’t clear.”

“Oh. Sure.” He thought that was fair enough, though he wasn’t planning to gossip about Tessa’s secrets.

“Good, good,” Tessa finished her coffee, nodding. Oliver was starting work on the desk again, and although she probably should’ve left him to it, bringing Mia up made Tessa suddenly curious. “Speaking of, did you have anything to do with her absence yesterday?”

“Uh, I’m assuming she won’t be in trouble if I answer honestly?”

“You assume correctly,”

“Then sort of, yeah,” since the conversation’s heaviness had significantly lowered, Oliver began assembling the desk as he spoke. “We had a weird week and didn’t get to hang out until yesterday. It’s a long story, but her older brothers were giving us shit and I…”

Not immune to intrigue, Tessa raised a brow. “You what?”

“Nothing, this is just gonna sound really stupid…”

“Try me,”

“I… sort of had to beat them in a boxing match to get their approval...”

Well, he wasn’t kidding. It did sound pretty stupid. Tessa held back laughter at the thought, wanting to be polite and not immediately rude right after she’d resolved to be better.

Her restraint failed. Tessa chuckled, but it sounded polite enough.

“Come on, now. I wasn’t fucking born yesterday. That sounds like a plotline out of some poorly-written romantic comedy.”

“I know, but it really happened," Oliver sighed. "Stacy and Bradley were there, too. Ask them if you don’t believe me.”

“You... aren't kidding, are you?" Tessa paused, her expression growing distant. "How did it go, then?”

“I spent yesterday with Mia, didn’t I?” He said, unable to hold back a small smile.

“Huh,” Tessa imagined the unlikely scenario. She felt odd as she did, her guard slipping a little lower. “You really are just full of surprises lately, aren’t you? Talk about romantic..."

[Tessa has Gained +1 Affection!]

Wait, what? Where the heck did that just come from?

Oliver looked at his boss, finding a strange look on her face. She seemed deep in thought, though the somber piano melody following her around everywhere amplified that vibe. This felt like a valuable topic worth pursuing, but pulling it off in a natural way would be tricky.

He didn’t want to outright ask if she liked romantic guys, but… maybe if he prompted her to talk about her own experiences?

Yeah, that oughta do it…

“It wasn’t that big of a deal; I only did what I had to. I’m sure you’ve seen way more romantic junk in your time.”

“Hardly,” she laughed. “I can’t imagine any of the men I’ve known stepping up to the plate like that… rotten bastards, the lot of them…”

“That’s rough,” Oliver said. It also explained a lot, but he kept that to himself. “Maybe you just haven’t gotten to know the right kind of guy?”

“More like the ones worth getting to know are in such short supply they might as well be nonexistent. Mia should count herself lucky.”

Olive blushed a little and smiled obnoxiously. “I personally think I’m the lucky one, but that’s just me,”

“You’re only proving my point, kid…" Tessa sighed. "Anyways, are you about done yet?”

“Yeah, just gotta get this last screw in, and the new desk should be good to go. Wait a sec, and then you can check it out.”

Tessa performed her inspection after Oliver finished his job. She didn’t find anything wrong and was quite pleased with his results.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but you did better than I expected. Excellent work, Oliver.”

[Tessa has gained +5 Affection!]

Oliver was happy to see his skill investment pay off so well. Five affection was a bigger deal coming from Tessa than Mia, meaning it felt even nicer than usual.

“As thanks, I’ll be sure to tack on an extra fifty to your wages today, minus the cost of your coffee,” Tessa said flatly. So flatly that Oliver couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not. He thought it was, but she’d never joked around with him before now, and it hadn't landed.

There was an awkward pause.

“I was kidding,” Tessa mumbled, her brows furrowed and her cheeks red. “Coffee is the least you deserve for putting up with my bullshit…”

“No problem, Tessa. Again, I’m glad I could help.” Oliver gave his boss a pity laugh. Then, he suddenly had an idea that might earn him an additional bonus. It was a very low-risk gambit, so he went for it.

“I’ll go ahead and take out the old furniture after I’ve transferred the books between shelves, but first, would you mind giving me a hand? My leg’s asleep.”

It wasn’t, but the lie was innocent and not hard to sell. Tessa still didn’t immediately go for it, though.

“Bold of you to assume I don’t have back problems,” she stated with an amused scoff.

“Come on,” Oliver smiled up at her and extended his hand. “You’re not that old.”

“You say that like age is the only reason I’d have back problems…”

“…Oh,”

Tessa rolled her eyes at the dumb boy and subtly smiled back. She took his hand, helping to hoist him onto his feet.

“Thanks, boss…”

“Of course. You can let go of my hand now.”

“Huh?”

The smile went away.

“The hand you’re holding…?”

A few more seconds. Just to make sure it counts…

“Oh, duh,” Oliver laughed at himself, playing it up. “Silly me. Blanked out for a second.”

“Well, hurry up and let go, already! I’m trying to be polite, but… you’re really testing my patience here!”

Shit. Didn’t think she’d react that badly.

“Sorry, sorry!” Oliver let go, hoping he hadn’t just undone any of his progress with Tessa.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed something weird. He’d thought her reddened face meant she was angry at him, but that wasn’t the case.

“You’re fine, just… be more careful next time…”

Tessa was flustered. She rubbed her hand and stared at it awkwardly as Oliver pondered what he was looking at. Thankfully, his notifications spelled things out in a way he couldn’t misinterpret.

[Milestone Achieved! Held Tessa’s Hand +10LP]

[Tessa has gained +1 Affection!]

“I’m going to check the floor,” Tessa grumbled as she stomped away. A bit of her old frustration was cropping up, but she turned around at her door and forced herself to tone it back. “Feel free to ask someone else for help if you can’t carry them out on your own, and again, thanks for the help…”

She left in a hurry before, leaving him in utter confusion. There was really only one conclusion he could draw.

“That affection boost just now… Tessa liked holding my hand, didn’t she…?”

It was a big discovery. He should’ve felt happy about it, but he didn’t. Oliver’s first reaction was to feel sorry for his boss. His gut instinct told him Tessa was less happy that he’d held her hand and more that someone had at all.

Was she really so starved for physical contact?

The thought made him frown.

I’ll still try to get LP whenever I see a chance, but I definitely need to take things slow with Tessa. She’s been hurt enough.

Oliver didn’t want to add to her pain. He didn’t know what he wanted from her, really. The idea of romantically pursuing Tessa was still pretty far-fetched, though he found himself more open to the possibility now that he saw her as an actual person and not his boss.

It got him curious about what else he’d find if he took the time to get to know her. He wondered what Tessa used to be like before life chewed her up and spat her out, but he stopped himself from going off the rails. If he didn’t, he’d end with stupid, silly thoughts like ‘I can fix her’…

The sound of a ticking clock on Tessa’s wall was barely audible over Oliver’s monotonous mind music. He listened as a single second passed, followed by another.

But… maybe I-

Oliver shoved his face into his palms with a heavy sigh, remaining nothing if not predictable. He forced himself to start moving the books, putting Tessa out of his mind to focus on his girlfriend and the fun weekend he had ahead of him.

One thing at a time, Oliver. One thing at a time.

***

Stat Changes

Oliver Chase | Strength 9 | Style 5 | Spark 1 | Smarts 3
Cash: $920 | LP: 110

Tessa Robinson | Status: Boss | -159/100 | ♡♡♡♡♡

Update

Next chapter is still a day or two out, I had to visit family on Sunday which fucking sucked and drained me of the will to be productive that day. Farther along now, though, just don’t know when I’ll be done specifically.

Zoe Revisions Complete

I’ve edited and rewritten large chunks of 62 and 65 so that Zoe’s budding sexuality is portrayed in a more palatable manner. I don’t expect to make big changes to the story I want to tell based solely on feedback very often, but this is a notable exception since I agreed with the people who felt it was somewhat off-putting and I thought I could do better.

If you were one of those people, I recommend rereading those chapters.

Ostensibly, the narrative is 100% the same and will follow the same ideas I had planned. It’s just the presentation is better now and Zoe is starting off at a higher level of sensitivity than ‘hardly any’. You can read more of my thought process in the notes I made in the individual chapters.

Love Addict's RPG Vol. 2 Ch. 68

Later than I meant to get this up. I'll try and do the Zoe edits tomorrow.

---

Friday, February 24th

Oliver awakened the following day to the smell of breakfast, which was weird, considering he lived alone. Sitting up and checking the disturbance, his tired eyes revealed no cause for alarm. Only an artificial man in his kitchen cooking up a storm.

“Good MORNING, [Best Friend]!” Bradley’s distorted voice warbled out of his throat. “I arrived precisely at [Seven on the Dot] for OUR scheduled [Strategy Meeting], and you would not OPEN the [Door]! Thus, I took the [Liberty] of letting MYSELF in and got to [Work] on readying your [Nutritional Intake]!”

“I see you also took the liberty of assuming I wouldn’t mind the breaking and entry,”

“Do YOU?”

“…At this point? No, not really.” Oliver sighed. “So what’s on the menu?”

After shambling out of bed, throwing on a shirt, and sitting at his table, Bradley served a plate of breakfast biscuits and some coffee. They weren’t made from scratch but whipped together from store-bought stuff that Oliver’s Free Ride skill provided. Still good, though. It just made him miss Mia’s cooking.

Bradley picked up something was amiss, stating, “I know that my skills ARE lacking compared to [Second Heroine turned First Girlfriend Mia Rosas], but I shall ENDEAVOR to improve and pack your NEXT meal with as MUCH [Love] as I can muster!”

“…I think you packed in more than enough, thanks. Don’t worry about it.” Oliver gave him an appreciative- if weary- smile after finishing the last biscuit. “Speaking of love, though,”

Next came the detailed breakdown of yesterday’s events. Oliver told his right-hand man everything he’d glossed over last night, barring lewd stuff as usual. He stressed how different things were with Zoe since he’d made his anxious call yesterday morning and even informed Bradley of last night's intel gathering.

The synthetic smile on Bradley's face widened at every word.

"I STILL can't tell you ENOUGH how proud I AM to see you accepting your [Bigamist Inclinations]!"

"Yeah, well... I couldn't swim upstream forever..."

"So just to [Clarify], you do NOT deny your interest in [Fourth Heroine Zoe Myers]?"

"...No, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a crush on Zoe. I'll be making an honest attempt to casually raise her affection, and it won't just be for Mia's sake."

"Excellent, Oliver! MOST excellent! With that in MIND, I shouldn't have to [Stress] how important this weekend IS for your [Progression], yes?"

"Yeah. Mia's close to her third Heart Event, and I might get Zoe to her first sometime in the next couple of days, too. I feel a little sorry that I won't have much time to do anything with you, though..."

Bradley looked at him strangely. "Why feel SORRY? My role is to SERVE as your trusty [Support Character], which means fading into [The Background] whenever I'm unneeded! You've got a weekend ripe with [Romantic Potential] ahead of you, Oliver. I should be the LAST thing on your mind!"

"I feel sorry because your uncanny ass has somehow managed to become a source of comfort for me. I like having you around." Oliver confessed.

The strange look was replaced by another smile and a pair of finger guns. "Worry NOT, for I am ALWAYS just around [The Corner]!"

"For the sake of my mental health, I'm going to assume that wasn't meant literally..."

"It both WAS and WASN'T!" Bradley winked, making Oliver reconsider about finding him comforting. "I appear WHEN you require [Help] or when things need [Doing], my FRIEND. You will SEE me this weekend if EITHER of these [Scenarios] occur. Otherwise, I'll be staying OUT of it! Focus on the [Task at Hand], Oliver. Deepen your [Relationships], gain [Love Points], and don't PAY me so much as a [Stray Thought]! Understood?"

Bradley's words confidently afflicted Oliver's heart, pumping him up for the weekend ahead.

"Got it. Anything else before we wrap this up?"

"Yes, actually! I DID have a [Small Idea] I wanted to float!"

"Shoot,"

"Have you by ANY chance PERUSED your [Purchasable Skills] to see if there's ANYTHING that might help alleviate [Mia's Wrist Problem] in the [Short Term]?"

"No, I haven't," Oliver cupped his chin. "I was planning to, but yesterday was pretty hectic and it must've slipped my mind after I got home. Was there something specific you wanted to suggest?"

"Indeed there WAS! Nothing fancy, only the [Tier One] SKILL, [Massage]!"

“Good idea,”

Oliver booted up his skill menu and located Massage Lv. 1. He didn't need to familiarize himself with it, as Massage was a skill he'd always planned on acquiring sooner or later since it felt like giving a good massage was something any good boyfriend should know how to do.

“It says that it’s a smarts skill,” Oliver noted. “Been meaning to ask about that. Will putting more points in smarts actively make me more intelligent, or is it more like the wisdom stat in an RPG?”

“[Wisdom] from [Dice Rolls and Dungeons] is a good WAY to look at it, YES!” Bradley confirmed. “It’s related, but NOT a clear indication of [Intelligence]!”

“Well, that makes me feel a little bit better about having zero, then…”

“It’s probably for the BEST that [Smarts] is not outright [Intelligence], anyway!”

“How do you figure?”

“You are ALREADY a [Chronic Over-thinker]. Think of how much WORSE things would be if YOU developed a [Genius-Level Intellect]!”

Oliver froze, imagining the scenario and dreading what he saw. “Yeah, might’ve dodged a bullet on that one… thanks for the suggestion, though. I’ll go ahead and get up to level two of Massage since even if it doesn’t end up helping Mia out, it’ll still make for a good investment.”

He hit the buy button twice in rapid suggestion, getting him what he wanted.

[Skills Purchased! Massage Lv. 1+2 -75LP]

[Massage Lv. 2 | * | Smarts | Idle hands are the devil’s playthings, so why not learn how to put yours to good use? Grants intermediate knowledge of massage techniques and gives you the skills to perform them. +1 to Smarts.]

[Gained +2 to Smarts!]

Oliver’s brain rattled around as it sucked up the requisite knowledge from wherever it came from. Once it finished, he looked down at his hands and clenched them into fists several times. “They feel a little bit more dexterous, but I guess I won’t know for sure until I get a chance to try it out.”

“All in [Due Time]!” Bradley beamed, proud to have given a good suggestion. “Now, WHY don’t we go and GET ready to [Exchange Labor for Dollars], my FRIEND?”

“Might as well,” Oliver shrugged and went through his morning routine while Bradley tidied up around the place. The two then waited until 7:45 before warping to Payless Foods with Oliver’s powers, leaving a little early in case Mia was already there.

They made it to the employee’s lounge with plenty of time to spare. Of his coworkers who mattered, Stacy wasn’t currently present, but Mia was. She appeared grumpy this morning and didn’t notice him as he approached. Too busy scrolling through her phone.

“Hey,” Oliver called out to her. “Everything okay?”

“Mn?” Mia raised her head, then stuffed her phone into her pocket. “Ah. Morning, mi amor… and friend. I’m fine. Just a little headache.”

“Good MORNING [Miss Rosas]!” Bradley bowed as if he were a butler.

Usually, people didn’t react when Bradley did weird shit or spoke over-enthusiastically, but Mia shut her eyes upon hearing his voice and rubbed her forehead. “You too, Brad… mind giving us some space? You’re… too much for me right now…”

“Can DO!”

Mia winced at Bradley’s voice and was relieved to see the guy go off and mingle with their other coworkers. She was even more pleased when her boyfriend stepped forward and took her hand.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“No, it’s not a big deal. Just didn’t sleep good…” Mia sighed. “Should clear up after an hour or two.”

“Fair enough. I didn’t sleep great, either.”

“No?” She squeezed his hand, making him blush. God, Oliver loved having a girlfriend. “And why’s that?”

“I gave one of Zoe’s streams a shot last night like you suggested. One thing led to another, and I guess I'm now an official fan..."

“Mn. She’ll be happy to hear that. Knowing you, I’m assuming you got a little too into it?”

“It was like I blinked, and four hours of my life suddenly disappeared…” Oliver sighed, feeling very small. “What's your excuse?”

"Artist's block," Mia grumbled, rubbing her aching forehead. "Sat down to work and nothing came to me. Thought I'd try and force my way out of it, but that didn't go so well."

"Aw, that sucks. Does this happen a lot?"

"No, so I get pretty frustrated when it does... I'll be fine, though. It'll either go away on its own or I'll get inspired by something, same as always. Just gotta suck it up and deal with it until then." Mia pouted, coinciding with the appearance of a notification that soured Oliver's mood faster than milk left out in the sun.

Mia's mini profile popped up, and a padlock icon manifested over the third empty heart. Last time, the padlock had a little dumbbell representing his strength stat. This one had a small sparkle- the symbol for style.

[Mia's Third Heart Event Locked!]

"Ollie?"

"Huh?" Oliver hurriedly shook himself out of it. "Sorry. Lost my train of thought there. Would you mind giving me a second? I need to use the bathroom before Tessa gets here and starts drilling everyone."

"Free country," she shrugged. "Go for it."

Oliver darted off to the nearest restroom, hoping Mia didn't find his hasty retreat too suspicious. Once alone, he focused on the current predicament. Now wasn't a great time for a Heart Lock. Mia was right on the cusp of her third Heart Event, which probably would've happened later that day if this hadn't cropped up.

Luckily, Oliver still had 250LP left after his last purchase.

Should be more than enough to brute force my way through this, he figured.

Oliver didn't have much time to dig through his enormous skill menu, so he had to compromise. He'd buy enough style skills to raise his stat total to five, see if it cleared the lock, and buy some more later on if it didn't.

Common sense gave Oliver a good idea of how to solve this. Mia sought inspiration, and style being a key factor hinted he should probably offer himself as a model. The thought of doing so was embarrassing, but he wouldn't argue when the path forward was so straightforward.

If nothing else, at least I don't have to get punched this time...

To transform into Mia's muse, Oliver looked for style skills that would instantly make him more interesting to draw. Things like makeup or fashion knowledge wouldn't help, but a few options stood out. The first was similar to Massage in that he'd made a mental note of it a while ago, albeit for a different reason.

At the time, Oliver found it extremely funny that a skill called 'Vogueing' existed. His piss-poor creativity couldn't imagine a situation where posing like a fashion model would ever come in handy. Now look at him, feeling like an idiot with his finger on the 'buy' button.

I'll get up to level two of Vogueing, Oliver sighed. It feels like it's probably the most valuable skill in this specific scenario like Boxing was to the boxing match, so I might as well. Then, I'll pick out two other skills and only get their first level for now.   

Oliver did the thing.

[Skills Purchased! Vogueing Lv. 1+2 -75LP]

[Vogueing Lv. 2 | * | Style | If you've got it, flaunt it. Grants intermediate knowledge on the art of being professionally good-looking, teaching you how to strike a pose, run the catwalk, and hit 'em with your best Blue Steel. +1 to Style.]

Once the new information was done doing its thing, Oliver shrugged off the strange visions and focused on finding two other style skills to suit his needs. The ones he ultimately decided on were Smiling and Hairstyling. Both were straightforward, so he bought them and didn’t look back.

[Skills Purchased! Smiling Lv. 1, Hairdressing Lv. 1 -50LP]

[Smiling Lv. 1 | * | Style | Yes, smiling is a skill, and it’s one you’re currently bad at. Change this sad fact about yourself by gaining beginner knowledge on showing off your pearly whites. +1 to Style.]

[Hairstyling Lv. 1 | * | Style | Taking care of your hair is an art in and of itself. Gain beginner knowledge on the basics of proper mane maintenance and instantly know more about the topic than half the male population. +1 to Style.]

The biggest change Oliver experienced after these acquisitions was that he retroactively understood the tips Stacy and Jordan shared with him. Most of them flew straight over his head at the time, but not anymore. He looked at himself in the mirror and watered his hand, quickly working on his perm with what he had.

He then flashed his reflection a smile and struck a pose to test everything out.

Oliver cringed at the result. Maybe he did objectively look more stylish, but he couldn’t face his reflection without feeling embarrassed. If this was anything like what Mia described to him about what she saw in the mirror, he felt even more sorry for her than he already did.

Okay, embarrassing or not, I’ve got to push forward. I just need to go out there, bring up the idea of modeling, and see if it gets me past the lock. No big deal.

Conflicted about his purchases but refusing to back down, Oliver returned to the lounge and thanked God that Stacy still wasn’t here to see this. He approached Mia, who tilted her head when she saw him.

“…You do something with your hair while you were in there, mi amor?”

“I did,” Oliver pushed past the awkwardness and gave her one of his new smiles. “I noticed it was a little off and tried to fix it. Does it look all right?”

The sudden flash of his smile, coupled with the hair, hit Mia hard. Her heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks flushed. "I'd say so, yeah. Looking good today in general. Real good."

[Mia has gained +1 Affection!]

Sweet, that's a good sign. Just gotta bring it home now...

"You really think so?"

"Sí, is that so surprising?"

"No, it just gave me an idea. Do you think there might be any chance you'll snap out of your funk if I... I don't know, did a little modeling for you or something?"

"Mn. That's... an interesting proposal, mi amor. Might be worth a shot... so long as you think you can handle it? Gonna have to be ok with me staring at you for a long time. That, and be able to hold a pose."

Oliver forced himself to exude maximum confidence as he cut a subtle yet dramatic pose. He shifted his hips, leaning on his right leg while extending his left. One hand dug its thumb under his belt buckle, the other lazily ran its fingers through his hair.

"How hard could it be?" He asked, still smiling his heart out.

Mia's blush deepened as she lit up like a bonfire under the night sky. "...Not as hard as I thought, apparently. Thinking you'll do just fine. Maybe we can try it tonight after hanging out with Zoe?"

"Sounds great. I'd be happy to help!" Oliver said calmly, mentally pumping his fists in victory.

He caught Bradley giving him a thumbs up from the sidelines, where he was chatting up some unenthused coworkers. Oliver gave him a subtle nod before more notifications popped up, including the one he had hoped for.

[Mia has gained +3 Affection!]

[Heart Lock completed! Mia's second Heart Event enabled!]

Mia's mini profile popped up again, and the padlock shattered like he'd seen before. There was so little fanfare that he almost couldn't believe it happened. At least this meant that not every Heart Lock was some massive event like her first one. It also further reinforced his growing suspicions regarding his progression system.

Training his stats manually wasn't the primary way he was meant to solve problems. Unless tier one skills ever became more expensive, it was easier to just buy a bunch of them in a pinch and brute force it. All the more reason to stick with his plans to bond with all available heroines and hoard LP.

A voice called out to him that slightly shook Oliver's conviction.

"Well, well, well. Look at you, Champ. That hair? That pose? Someone's been doing their homework. Keep it up. You're getting more and more stylish by the day!" Stacy appeared on the scene with a fox-like smirk.

With everything else he had going on yesterday, Oliver still hadn't fully processed her apology. It meant something to him, though, and seeing genuine kindness in her deep, sapphire eyes changed things.

He didn't recoil from her mere presence like he used to. He fought against his shaken conviction and redoubled it, fortifying himself to face his first heroine not as an enemy but as an acquaintance.

"That's the idea," he shrugged. "Morning, Stacy."

"Morning, hon. So did you two enjoy your little day off together, or-" Stacy noticed Mia's collar and paused.

The awkward lovers blushed and looked away. His horniness made Oliver forget until now that ordering Mia to wear her special choker everywhere meant people would see him with his girlfriend and draw their own conclusions. It was almost as bad as wearing one of those matching shirts for pregnant couples where the woman's says she's stuffed with a little turkey and the man's says he made the stuffing.

Mia stood her ground, however. She crossed her arms and gave Stacy a sideways glance. "Just so happens we did. Got a problem with that, mn? Something you'd like to say?"

"No, no. Not at all. Cat got my tongue, that's all. Happens to the best of us."

Oliver closed his eyes, ashamed.

Mia audibly grumbled.

Amused, Stacy giggled to herself and suddenly leaned toward Mia, invading her personal space. Mia stepped back and blushed even harder, thanks to her... complicated feelings towards the busty blonde.

"You know, Mia, you and I should really hang out sometime..."

"The hell would I ever want to do that for, perra?"

"So I can teach you a trick or two," Stacy lifted Mia's chin, causing the meek Mexican to completely freeze up out of bisexual distress. "I'm sure it looked just fine back in front of your bathroom mirror, but you can still see the bite marks under the store's shitty fluorescent lighting. Right, Ollie?"

Oliver looked at Mia's neck and nearly died of embarrassment after noticing the makeup along with his. "Yeah," he confessed. "It's pretty hard to miss..."

Mia rapidly fluctuated between shame and irritation until she lowered her head and sucked up enough pride to ask, "...Can you fix this for me?"

"I don't exactly carry around a ton of makeup that goes with your skin tone," Stacy smiled sweetly. "But I can certainly do my best."

Before Mia could begrudgingly mumble so much as a thank you, the clock struck eight AM, and the big bad boss lady barged in. Wasting no time, Tessa sucked in a lungful of air and prepared to herd her sheep.

"All right, associates. Nothing much in the way of announcements for today, but I'm gonna need one of you to-" Tessa paused, squinting at a silver gleam across the room. Everyone stared at her while she gaped at Mia's collar, Oliver anxious that his stupid idea might've cost him and his girlfriend their jobs.

Tessa removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes, and sighed.

"...I bought myself a new desk and some bookshelves, and I'll give whoever assembles them a small bonus. The kicker's that I also need you to transfer the books over and drag the old shit out back. Any takers?"

A couple of Oliver's male coworkers almost raised their hands, but the world's best wingman had other plans. This seemed like it had potential, and since Oliver was currently too anxious to nominate himself... "My BEST friend, Oliver Chase, would be [Overjoyed] TO [Make Himself Useful]!"

"Is this true, Oliver?"

Damn it, Bradley...

Though mildly annoyed, Oliver rolled over and accepted his fate. "Sure is, boss."

"Fuck it, whatever... but not before I've had a word with you and your... partner," Tessa said. "Everyone else, get a move on. You know what to do."

Bradley shot Oliver a thumbs up and left with Stacy after she let Mia know she'd be waiting in the restroom. Oliver didn't return the gesture. Not this time.

Tessa walked to the nervous couple and stared straight at the collar. After a long, drawn-out silence, she followed up with a long, drawn-out sigh. "Kids, what the fuck am I looking at?"

Oliver tried to do the manly thing and defend his timid girlfriend, saying, "...A choker? Mia's worn one for ages now, you know that."

"Mia's last choker didn't have a fucking nametag and a clasp for hooking a leash, Oliver. Christ. It hasn't even been a week since you two got trapped in that truck together, and now you're showing up with this master-slave shit and bite marks on Mia's neck?"

Oliver shrank in place, failing and feeling very small about it.

"I'm sorry," Mia fumbled with the collar's clasp and also her words. "I just... it was a present from mi amor- er, Oliver, I mean, and wearing it makes me feel-"

"Stop, stop, stop. I didn't come here to tell you you had to take it off."

Oliver and Mia looked at each other and then at her.

"You didn't?" Mia asked.

"No. You know I generally don't give a shit about tattoos, dyed hair, jewelry, and what have you. The choker's just barely classy enough that I'll give it a pass-"

"It's real silver," Oliver thoughtlessly blurted.

Mia smiled. Tessa didn't.

"...Look, kids. It's great that you two are dating now, and I'm happy for you both. Really. The thing is, you're both still my employees, and that forces me to have this conversation with you. Let's just get it out of the way; don't give me a reason to be the villain. I don't want to be a hardass, but I will split you up if you make me. Is that clear?"

"Um. Yeah, totally. Mia?"

"Sí. Crystal."

"Wonderful. Thank you for being reasonable." Tessa sighed, relieved. "Now, then. I'm taking off to grab some coffee from somewhere nice, so I'll check on you as soon as I'm back, Oliver. Mia, go help one of the other teams with stocking shelves."

Tessa left through the lounge's backmost entrance, allowing the couple a moment alone to regroup. Unsurprisingly, they were both thinking the exact same thing.

"I can't believe we didn't get in trouble..." Oliver said.

"Same. Figured wearing the collar at work might be pushing it, but I still wanted to try."

"Sorry about the bite marks, by the way..."

"No big deal," Mia shrugged. "I'll see what Stacy says and get better at hiding them, so don't even think about holding back next time, sí?"

"Didn't plan on it for a second, kitten,"

"Good. Best to lay off the pet names for now, though. Wouldn't want to get in trouble with HR, would we?" She gave him a quick smirk, then patted him on the ass. "Get going, mi amor. Make that desk well enough, and maybe you'll impress the scary boss lady enough to earn more of your precious little satisfaction pings."

"I'm gonna give you a satisfaction ping if you don't stop teasing me about that," Oliver blushed.

"Sounds tempting. Maybe later tonight?"

Mia's smile gave Oliver some temptation of his own. He fell to its siren call, giving her a quick kiss in secret before separating from her to begin his work day. Hitting 'Manual' as soon as the notification popped up, Oliver started toward Tessa's office.

***

Stat Changes

Oliver Chase | Strength 9 | Style 5 | Spark 1 | Smart 2
Cash: $920 | LP: 125

Mia Rosas | Status: Girlfriend |93/100 | ❤❤♡♡♡

Minor Chapter Delay

I thought I'd be done by now but the chapter is longer than I thought it'd be. I'll finish it after midnight my time, I've just been working for several hours and need a break. So not today like I said it'd be, but close enough.

Slight Revisions Incoming

I’m still working on the next chapter but enough people have said something about it that I’m going to slightly revise 65 to make Zoe a little more into it. My intentions didn’t come through very well with the wording and I wrote it the way I did so that we’d get a bigger contrast with when she starts feeling more sexual, but it’s definitely not worth it if it alienates a few readers before that. I’ll be changing the wording so that she doesn’t feel ‘nothing’ and make it clearer that she’s into it on some level and that by the end she’s curious about more, but is still a little dismissive about it. Shouldn’t take me long to accomplish this, so I’ll probably do it after wrapping up next chapter.

Minor Update

Next chapter should be tomorrow sometime. Nothing much else to say, just wanted to touch base.

Love Addict’s RPG Vol 2 Outline Part 2

Morning

• Oliver wakes up, smells breakfast. Since he wouldn’t open the door, Bradley let himself in and started cooking. Asks if Oliver minds. It takes him a sec to answer no, not really. He’s just used to Bradley by now.

• Breakfast is good but he feels a little bad since it makes him want Mia’s cooking. Bradley endeavors to pack it with more love next time around and Oliver says please don’t.

• On the topic of love, he fills Bradley in on some more of the details he skipped out on and tells him about watching Zoe’s stream last night. Bradley is proud of Oliver’s progress on accepting his bigamist inclinations. Oliver is disgruntled but says he was getting tired of swimming upstream, and… he can’t really deny that he gets crushes fast. Openly admits his interest in Zoe.

• Bradley does his job and helps Oliver feel better about it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone, which Oliver never would.

• Bradley encourages him to make the most of this weekend. Oliver feels a little bad that Bradley will be left out. Says maybe he can see if Bradley can come over on Saturday since it sounds like Becca might be coming over that day too but Bradley is genre savvy and has no intention of cockblocking.

• He has a chance to get closer to Zoe and Mia this weekend so Bradley should be the last thing on his mind. He will appear if things need to be done. Otherwise, he’ll stay out of it. Focus on the task at hand. Develop your heroines and gain LP.

• This gets Oliver’s conviction going. Bradley proposes an idea while they’re at it. Asks if Oliver has looked into ways to alleviate Mia’s wrist pain in his skill tree. He hasn’t. Bradley recommends Massage. Oliver is easily swayed because it is an indispensable skill for any boyfriend to have, regardless of Mia’s wrist pain or not.

• It’s a Smarts skill. He buys lvl 2 and asks Bradley about Smarts, if they actively make him smarter or what. Bradley says it’s more like a wisdom stat. Gotcha. Bradley points out how much of a chronic over thinker Oliver is and says that him getting smarter would likely only make that worse. The thought actively terrifies Oliver.

• They go to work and we get a quick scene pre morning meeting. Mia is there, but she’s visibly grumpy. Oliver asks what’s up and she didn’t enough sleep. Him too. What’s your excuse? I was up watching Zoe’s stream. Mia asks him about it. He sees what Mia meant, Zoe seems… very into her work.

•  He asks why Mia slept bad. Too absorbed in your work? Kind of. She hit an artists block and kept trying to force herself out of it. Still isn’t feeling very inspired today, either. Could really use a flash of inspiration.

• This triggers another heart lock and Oliver is very annoyed. It’s a style one. He excuses himself for a second and goes to the bathroom to try and brute force this lock. He buys 4 style skills to get his stat up to 5. Vogueing 1&2 (posing good), hairstyling 1, and smiling 1.

• He comes back out and decides to go in swinging, asking if maybe having a model would snap her out of her funk. She’s interested. To make his point he but strikes a dashing pose and smiles. He’s embarrassed but it works and Mia’s 2nd heart lock shatters. He wishes the first one was this easy.

• It reinforces to him that the answer to all his problems really is just to save up LP and spend it reactionarily like so.

• Stacy comes in now and comments on how things seem like they’re going good. She then notices Mia’s collar, looks at Oliver, and makes a joke about it. Mia isn’t ashamed.

• Oliver has a small moment with Stacy where they touch base, we get reminded that things are a little awkward now after her official apology. He’s still not in a rush to farm LP from her, but he isn’t against it anymore, either.

• Tessa comes in frustrated as ever. She, too, pauses after seeing Mia’s collar. She looks between her and Oliver, both blushing. She goes over to them before the meeting and tries to politely ask if this is going to be a problem. She doesn’t want to be the bad boss and split them up, but-

• Oliver tries to get on her good side, saying if you think you have to then we aren’t gonna argue or something like that. Tessa appreciates him treating it maturely, small aff boost. She gives them the benefit of the doubt and isn’t gonna do anything for now.

• Starts morning meeting but has nothing really to say except for that she needs someone’s help with something extra this morning. She has some office furniture that needs building and offers to kick someone a few extra bucks for it. Bradley nudges him but Oliver was gonna volunteer anyway. He makes sure Mia wouldn’t mind, gets teased for chasing his satisfaction pings but gets the go ahead.

• Tessa is mildly surprised. Has no objections. Everyone goes off to do their things, Oliver is told to drag some furniture out where some guys are gonna pick it up later.

Tessa

• Dragging the furniture out was easy, his new strength coming in handy all the time. It’s the building part that sucks. He’s not very good at this and is worried it’s gonna cost him some points for doing a shitty job. He’s tempted to look and see if there’s a furniture assembly skill but he’s wasted enough LP for today.

• He gets through everything despite it all and Tessa comes back (music change) as he’s almost finished with the last bit, building her desk. She actually went and got coffee from one of the recent shops. She’s having a rough start and got him one too, to be nice.

• Oliver notices she’s trying to do that more lately.

• Tessa counters noting that he’s had more balls lately. He gets nervous and she clarifies that yeah, she’s been too harsh on him and she’s felt pretty bad that it took him reminding her of his mental illness to realize that.

• Oliver feels like this might be a chance to learn more about her and asks why she was rough on him. Tessa is hesitant to answer. He gets it out of her, though. It’s a mix of things. Most of all, men generally annoy her. It’s not you, it’s me.

• He’s stunned that she’s so blatant about it. She brings up their talk about biases the other day. It’s hard not to let them color your world after a certain point.

• He asks why him, though. She doesn’t have an answer, just rubbed her the wrong way. Seriously? I guess it bothered me seeing you squander your youth. Until lately you’ve given off the impression of someone who goes home every day, gets high, and jacks off. 

• You’re… not wrong. He still thinks it’s shitty to dislike him for that.

• Yeah well I never said I wasn’t shitty. Only that I’m going to try and be better. If you catch me being a bitch again or I disregard your feelings, please point it out. I’m not going to fire you for it. She wants to be better, but…

• He feels pain from her when Tessa explains that it’s so fucking hard to give a damn about anything these days.

• You care about your sister’s cats.

• She sighs. They’re my fucking cats, Oliver, I don’t have a sister. And they’re all she has. He asks what about this store. She laughs, she never fucking wanted this place. She’s just stuck with it and doesn’t want to trust it to anyone else.

• Things have gotten a little heavy and it’s awkward now. She apologizes. Reiterates that she really does want to start trying to give a shit again. Feels a little inspired by seeing him get his shit together.

• There’s a pretty big aff boost to reflect this, like 25 or so. Her issues run really deep but it’s big progress. He thanks her and promises to try and hold her to it.

• Tessa asks if he’s almost done, still needs a few more minutes. She awkwardly tries to make casual conversation with him. Asks if he had anything to do with Mia’s ‘sick day’ yesterday. He asks if she’ll get in trouble depending on his answer. No, just curious.

• Oliver says they kind of needed a day off together after some stressful with her brothers. Tessa is mildly interested, asks. Is told about the boxing match and she laughs him off. Stacy and Bradley were there, too, though they can back me up.

• She’s a little floored that he beat up two much bigger dudes just for Mia. Tessa even gets somewhat dreamy just thinking about it. Her guard slips and there’s a +5 aff boost as makes a comment about how she didn’t know he had it in him to be so romantic.

• Oliver pursues this topic, asking if she has a thing for romantic shit like that. Just didn’t think people actually did things like that is all. Weren’t you married before?

• Oliver obviously steps on a nerve but she reins it in and says three times, and none of them ever did anything half as romantic for her. Fourth times the charm? She laughs, having long since given up. He thoughtlessly jokes about the cats having given him that impression.

• He worries this was too far but she lets it go. He’s just about done. It looks sturdy enough. Promises him an extra 25 for his work, minus how much his coffee cost. This is a joke and it’s awkward since he’s not used to that and it needs to be pointed out.

• Oliver has a tricky idea to get some LP. He pretends his legs are asleep and asks if she’ll help him up. Bold of you to assume I don’t have back problems. You’re still young, boss. Wasn’t referring to my age.

• He blushes and she is amused, offers him her hand and helps pull him up. He lingers, holding it for a couple seconds so that he gets the milestone for sure. He thanks her, she’s like you can let go now. What? She starts to blush and says if this is a game it’s not funny, he finally lets go.

• Something weird happens. She is dazed and gets a small AFF boost from the skin to skin contact. Tessa dismisses him and the scene ends as he rejoins Mia. She teasingly asks any progress and Oliver considers the question and thinks he’s actually. She might not be as much of an ice queen as he thought.

After work

• We get a brief rundown of how his day went. In short, well. All his new physical skills and increased strength meant that Mia had trouble keeping up with him and he didn’t have to focus hard to do his job. It was a breeze and 8 hours passed in a blink, for once.

• They clock out together, gets paid, and Oliver asks Mia if she’s ready to go home. She teases him over calling her apartment home, asks if he’s thinking of taking up Zoe’s offer. He dismisses the idea but Mia backs off, taking his hand and smiling. Would love to go home with him.

• So they do. Fast travel there and Zoe is on the couch playing her dock and going back between the phone again. She greets them casually (seems a little more irritable today) and Mia collapses on the couch, tired. Zoe should remark on him seeming more stylish.

•  Oliver tries to be casual but he feels a little weirder about Zoe now. Like almost starstruck. Then he reminds himself that’s stupid, I made out with her yesterday. No reason to be afraid.

• He sits with them and greets Zoe back, asks her about what she’s playing today and gets an answer. He asks if she’s doing good and she’s starting to get more stressed about not getting to stream. Mia points out that he watched a few of her streams last night.

• Zoe is interested in this, it perks her up. She teases him asking if he liked it and so on. He did, she asks so what are you one of my simps now or what. He unintentionally blurts out yes and panics internally but decides to own it. She likes this, small aff boost. Everyone is vibing.

• Oliver asks if they had any concrete plans for what they wanted to do today. Mia says she’s still waiting to hear from- gets a message from Rebecca, verifying she’ll come over tomorrow. It’s just the three of them tonight. Oliver tries to take initiative, says they could go out to eat.

• Zoe shoots this down. She doesn’t really like leaving the house. What, like, ever? If I can help it, yeah. He isn’t surprised but it’s still disappointing. Assumes they’re gonna play a video game again, he gets the feeling it’s the only way to really interact with Zoe. Hopefully it’s something they can work on when her affection is further along.

• Zoe finally sets all her shit down, though she looks visibly triggered by trying to ignore new messages. She figured they could play a game Mia could join in on today. Mia is interested, Zoe says it’s been a while since they played [stardew valley parody] and Mia is very excited at the prospect.

• They used to play this a lot together back in high school. Oliver has heard of it, hasn’t played. Oliver says not everyone is like Zoe playing non stop all the time and she counters fair. Can get it on his Odyssey, he buys it for like $15 and it starts downloading.

• They start playing once it’s done and Oliver gets told the basics and we see brief examples given about the game. Zoe is very helpful, her intimate knowledge about games is on display again. They all have a really good time messing around together on their farm.

• If she’s not already there, Mia has full aff by now and heart event is pending.

• At some point, Mia excuses herself to the bathroom and they pause. Zoe breaths a sigh of relief and takes the chance to look at her phone again. Oliver talks to her about it. She seems to really take pleasing her fans seriously. Zoe talks about it being important. He gives some examples from her stream that he liked, things that helped fan engagement.

• That kinda stuff is basic she claims. Everyone does it. He asks her a bit more bluntly about why she is always in such a rush to reply to everyone. Cause it’s my job? He’s not trying to judge he just points out that she’s really serious about it.

• Zoe looks like she might lose some aff but she doesn’t. She responds so much because she’s an attention whore who likes it when everyone is giving her praise and shit. Oliver is like wow you came out and said it. Laughs him off. 

• Zoe talks about the thrill and Oliver picks up her addiction. Actually says he can kind of relate to an extent. She doesn’t follow. He says he thinks he has some kind of psychological need to feel loved and it’s been out of control lately. You got Mia, don’t you? Yeah and she knows about all this. It’s just that he’s been through a lot, so…

• Zoe says so has she and that normal people don’t end up like the two of them. Luckily, they both have ways of getting their fix. You’ve got Mia, I’ve got my fans. Oliver thinks about it and ends up asking her if they’re enough. She looks like she might get mad again but asks what he means. He downplays it, saying he’s just worried about her, one attention whore to another.

• Zoe accepts this, small aff boost. They’re enough, but even if they aren’t she’s got Mia, Rebecca, and you, my latest simp, I guess. He playfully goes along with it but still thinks it should be the other way around- irl first, fans second. Doesn’t actually say it. Hopes he can get her to see how it’s affecting her relationship with her friends.

• Mia comes back and gets comfy, they chat about dinner Mia says they can play for a few more hours before she wants to do that thing with Oliver. The drawing stuff. He’s excited for it, knowing it’s her next heart event, and Zoe teases them for planning secret stuff without her, asking if it’s lewd. Oliver says no, Mia shrugs, it might be. This is news to him, even more excited.

HE3

• They play till ten or so and Oliver has earned some off screen aff from this time. Not a bunch just a little. Mia reckons shes had enough for now and she’s happy they got to hang out with Zoe.

• Oliver tries to encourage Mia into saying she’d like it if they did this more often even after her ban is up and Zoe is a little flustered saying we’ll see again. She had fun, too. It makes it look like there might be some progress and Oliver is satisfied. Maybe they just need to keep hanging out with her and she’ll come to the decision to stream less on her own? That would be the best outcome.

• Mia leads Oliver to her room and he gets the notification that the HE is beginning. She asks if he really wants to do this, making sure. He does. He asks if she’s ever done this kind of live study before. Yeah, a few times. Zoe’s paid for some figure drawing classes for Mia before as a present. That’s nice of her.

• Oliver asks the big question, is this a nude study, or… Mia gets flustered. Not at first, no. Maybe after we’ve been at it for a while and you’re comfortable. Oliver is flustered too but he is just happy to help his girlfriend with her passion. He is concerned about the wrist but doesn’t say it yet.

• She has him undress to his boxers saying she needs to study the muscle definition. He says he doesn’t have any but when he strips she comments that he actually looks like he’s starting to build some up. Not a lot, but he doesn’t look like a total twig anymore. Oliver feels good about his progress and she tells him not to let it get to him.

• She gets set up with a canvas and one of her sketchbooks while he stands in the center of the room waiting for instructions. She tells him to go for something casual and he uses Vogueing 2 and pulls something off. Mia doesn’t know where he’s getting this from, he says something about some men’s fashion articles he read about body language or whatever. Well, keep it up. I like it.

• She sharpens her pencil with a hobby knife the way she told him, resulting in another gag where she cuts herself like her brothers. He asks if she’s fine, she has bandaids on hand, not a big deal. 

• Mia starts sketching and Oliver sees a new side of her. She’s serious, determined expression. Very at odds with her normal self. He thinks it’s extremely cute. Every now and then she stops to rub her wrist and Oliver doesn’t comment about it initially. He lets her do her thing, eventually she has him pose with a sword prop from under her bed, where he finds a big tote of anime pins and is like ah that’s where you were keeping them.

• About an and a half in, Mia’s wrist is hurting more obviously. She gets frustrated and sighs. Oliver asks if they can finally talk about it. Mia is mildly upset and just says she’s got some nerve damage from the elbow down, not much to say. That sounds bad. It is.

• He asks what it feels like. It either hurts or feels like dead weight most of the time. Not much inbetween. He asks basic questions. Physical therapy? Didn’t help. Surgery? High chance of making it worse. Oliver is really sorry, asks how it got that bad. She doesn’t want to say, it’s embarrassing.

• He kind of has an idea and if so he gets why she’d feel that way. He says he’ll share something embarrassing with her if she tells him. This has her interested but it has to be really something to get her to speak. Oliver opens up about his obsession with dating sims. This gets her off guard and he elaborates how crazy he is about them.

• Mia correctly guesses that the new game he talked about playing on Valentine’s Day and the weed hangover was from a night long edging session. He admits it, and this gets her to laugh. Aff boost.

• Liking porn games isn’t that embarrassing. Happen to like a few of them myself. He asks if she means otome games but she clarifies, bringing up a few of the fucked up games he’s referenced before as mentally distancing himself from. He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised she’s into them, he references playing them maybe once or twice. She likes to hear this.

• Mia opens up and sighs, saying she’ll tell him. She starts off by saying it’s not just from chronic masturbation. Oliver never said a word about it. No but you were thinking it. I was, but continue. She used to play more games than just cozy farming sims and RPGs and junk, and if she wasn’t playing games, she was drawing, and if she wasn’t drawing she was touching herself. There was basically never a time when her right hand wasn’t in use and it fucked her up.

• She’s really upset. He’s sorry, not his fault. Is there ever any chance of it getting better? Not really, short of a miracle. This gets his determination burning and she notices it, commenting he looks like he took that as a challenge. He shakes it off and says it’s just a guy thing. Hearing her say all this makes him want to work hard to fix it, even if it’s not possible. Mia says it would be nice but not holding her breath.

• Oliver asks if he can see it. Huh? He watched some video tutorials on massaging he claims. Before Zoe’s stream last night. She’s confused. Why would he do that. Because it’s an essential skill that any boyfriend must have. This gets him AFF and she hesitantly offers it to him, saying that massages do help, if only a little.

• He tries out the new skill on her and it works pretty well but she’s obviously in a lot of pain throughout the whole thing. She tells him not to worry, to keep going, until she says she’s had enough. It hurts but it feels good. She thinks she can handle some more drawing. Oliver looks a little disappointed that she wants to jump back into it but she gets stubborn with him.

• She doesn’t want to work at a grocery store her whole life, or let Zoe be her sugar mama and pay all my bills or whatever. Tell me I’ve watched too much anime or whatever but I want to make a living through my art and I’m not the type to give up on what I want. Oliver respects this, and she gets aff boost from it.

• He promises to study some more massage vids for her, I.e. buy the last level of the skill. She jokes how playing his cards like this means she’s going to want them all the time from now on. He thinks he can handle it.

• In the meantime, Zoe wants something else. Mind taking off your pants?

HE3 p2

• It’s been another hour and Oliver still isn’t used to nude modeling. He’s blushing, nervous, but still posing like an amateur god. Mia has had a very different expression as she worked, now more fascinated and vaguely turned on. He’s had to turn down a few of her requests because the poses she wanted were just too embarrassing, but what matters is that her wrist breaks have been much more infrequent. Massage genuinely helped and he’ll have to thank Bradley for the suggestion.

• He is also a little surprised that the HE ending notification hasn’t come up yet. He thought that the wrist talk would’ve been enough of a special moment, but he guessed there was more coming up.

• Mia finishes the latest sketch and has a new request. No, Mia. I’m still not spreading my ass cheeks for you. She jokes never say never, but that’s not what she wants. She’d like him to come closer so she can do some detailed studies. Exactly what it sounds like. You just want me to stand next to you while you stare at my dick? Essentially.

• He does so and it’s very weird watching her stare so intently at him and draw it. He’s flaccid and after a couple studies Mia wants him to get hard. Performance anxiety is kind of making that difficult for him. She reminds him how quick he was to show off his dick Wednesday night. The mood was totally different back then he argues.

• Don’t have to beat around the bush, Ollie. If I need to do anything I’ll do it. He says she can try and she starts giving him a handjob. It feels nice but it’s not really doing the trick. He’s still nervous. Mia thinks she needs to try something more daring and she drools into her hand and rubs him with it. This somewhat works. He’s half erect but it’s not getting any bigger.

• Mia is disappointed. Not at him, she is very gentle and doesn’t want him getting a complex or anything. He’s just not comfortable at this kinda thing. She gets it. That’s why…

• Why what?

• She starts to breathe really heavily. That’s why she’s gonna try and make things even. Might be easier on him if he wasn’t the only one put on the spot. He gets the implication and doesn’t believe it’s happening. He tries to say are you sure but she cuts him off, saying she’s gonna second guess herself if he doesn’t shut up so just let me do this. Oliver acknowledges this and watches.

• Mia fights against herself and slooooowly lifts her shirt over her head, revealing a red bra that pushed her tits together nice. He doesn’t see anything that she should be ashamed of. She’s skinny, no stretch marks, no major acne. It really is just a self image problem- she wasn’t hiding anything. This is said in a way that doesn’t imply stretch marks are a ‘problem’, just that he might’ve expected some.

• His body responds and he’s most of the way now. She asks him her thoughts. Does she really want to know? I asked, didn’t I? He calls her beautiful as usual, and it carries some weight, good AFF boost. He’s still not fully hard, though. I’m still hard enough for you to sketch though right?

• She wants the full thing, no matter what it takes. Another deep breath, and then Mia’s arms swing behind her back. Fumbles with her bra’s clasp. Oliver loses his breath as she peels it off and tosses it away, exposing her chest. She’s shy about it but still looks determined. How bout now? You’ve never looked more beautiful in your entire life. Aff boost. Mia sees proof, his dick is fully hard now. Asks if he can behave herself for a little while as she works.

• How long? Not super long. She’s not gonna be able to keep herself away from him forever when he’s waving it around a foot away from her face. Mia nervously tells him if he waits then she promises it’ll be worth it, then reaches out with her fingertip to touch his precum and sucks it off her to tease him. Sound good? Yes.

• The sexual tension is insane as Mia sketches him. She has him hold it in different angles, stand at different places, and so on. She is focused, but there are little flashes arousal here and there. Lip biting. Idling with her pencil. Lingering gaze. It gets to him as well, he’s so hard and every now and then he twitches. Mia comments on how that’s not helping. Can’t control it, she’s too hot.

• Just let me finish this one and we’ll do something about it… she manages to get there and lets out a relieved sigh. There. No better reference than the real thing. Thank you for being patient… in more ways than one. He’s happy to be of service, asks if she’s still nervous. Not as much as I thought I’d be.

• They’re cute with each other here, smiling, and then Mia says they need to do something about him. He asks to meet her on the bed, and after a moment and a blush she says she’d rather he get a little closer. Grabs his cock and pulls forward so that he takes a step toward her, then leans down and gives his tip a kiss.

• It’s the best thing ever and his entire body feels electric. She looks up at him, noticing the reaction. What? I told you this would happen soon. He knows, it just felt really good. She hasn’t even started yet. He warns her to take it slow, and she planned to. Wants to savor it. He says you know it’s not gonna be as delicious as they make it out to be in hentai, right? That’s for me to decide.

• Mia gets started, and she focuses a lot on licking and kissing to begin with. Her touches are very light but that makes them even better as they draw out the anticipation, making things tense. She makes light conversation every now and then. She thinks he’s really cute, loves the sounds he’s making and thinks it’s hot seeing him try and hold back.

• She doesn’t understand, it’s so much better than porn made it out to be. Mia is really happy she can serve him so good, but wants to do even better. She starts taking him into her mouth and we get a description. Mostly focusing on the tip, only an inch or two, lot of tongue swirling. Oliver is losing his shit.

• Her free hand massages his balls and he shivers, warns her not to. She teases a little. But they’re so full and begging to come out. Don’t need to be so stingy with your first load, it’s not like this is a one time thing. I’ll suck out another one in a bit if you want. The thought makes him overstimulated and he cums, Mia dutifully sucking and stroking. It overwhelms her, but she’s so passionate that she refuses to stop even as it blasts down her throat.

• He’s left totally dazed. Very appreciative. Mia says he can show his appreciation on the bed while he recovers. He follows her there and he’s up close with her breasts now. She gestured that it’s okay for him to touch them and he starts giving Mia a breast massage. She’s very receptive to it, noting the increase in his massage skills. Using it with weakness exploit is a very powerful combination, but it’s not enough for Mia.

• She urges one of his hands downward and he slips it into her pajama pants to start fingering her. Meanwhile, he starts sucking on a breast and it tastes so much better without a shirt in the way. The massage skill is helping down there, too, with Mia noting how his fingers are hitting all these new spots. He gets her off once and keeps going, only taking another few minutes to do it again.

• She’s a little scared at how good he is getting at this. Oliver is addicted to pleasuring Mia so he’s excited to invest in massage 3. In the meantime, she makes good on her promise to suck another one out. Mia is a lot more heated up by now, and her blowjob is more intense. She’s going deeper and faster, sucking harder. Lot of dirty talk. Really likes being praised so he gets into that pretty fast.

• Mia surprises him by taking his hand and placing it on her head, looking up at him expectantly. She wants him to be a little rough so he dictates the pace. It’s so addictive and amazing. No matter what he does to her, she doesn’t fall behind. Constantly licking and sucking in time with his motions. She’s only able to take about half of him but it’s more than enough. He warns her he’s gonna blow and does, holding her in place as he does.

• She sucks it out and surfaces for air, some gets on her face before she goes back down and sucks more until he’s dry. So good. If he was dazed before, he’s even more so now. Verge of passing out. They share a lovely moment, aff increases, gets notifications for he3 ending and such. She encourages him to rest, lays on his chest while stroking his hair. Her gentle smile gets him to sleep.

• This was the first time he’d fallen asleep before her, so she appreciates how cute he is for quite some time before closing her eyes and joining him.

Notes - Got that done a lot faster than I expected. I wouldn’t take the Tessa chapter 100% at face value as is, it’s a mature, adult conversation and I expect the way it turns out to better reflect that.

After these chapters are up we’ll have a big scene on Saturday I’ve alluded to when Rebecca is over. Not sure what all four of them will do together yet (kind of limiting when at this point in the story Zoe only ever plays games) but there’ll be a twist that Zoe gets unbanned and she’ll try to leave to go stream but this kicks off Mia actually asserting herself. It’s gonna make Zoe look bad, even though I’m gonna try and portray it as Zoe being addicted. I can’t escape that but it needs to happen for her to grow.

After that he’ll probably drive Rebecca home, Mia will want to be alone for the rest of the night, and I have a funny idea in mind for that night. He might try to talk strategy with Bradley but Bradley will instead have a better idea and get Mia’s brothers to pick Oliver up to go out drinking. Juan and Julio will provide insight about Mia and Zoe’s relationship as well as giving him advice about being a playboy. It’ll be very comedic but they both get that their sister has weird tastes and that her happiness involves Zoe somehow so they’re supportive.

Sunday will be a fun, as of yet undecided scheme between Oliver and Bradley to force a bonding opportunity by making Zoe unable to stream. Like Bradley pretends to be an internet guy here to fix their modem or some shit, something along those lines. Still pretty up in the air, just laying out some ideas on where I plan to take things.