Roller Skate Date

Honestly,  Ione could strangle their best friend sometimes! Limon had gotten Ione  unwittingly signed up for the dating scene so they could meet new people  and make friends much to their chagrin. Their next blind date would be  located at a rollerskating rink and Ione was intrigued about that. They  dressed in their usual jeans and a sweater as they left their home with a  pair of simple socks shoved away in a pocket as they preferred to  remain hooved. 

It was a matter of comfort for the  gluttony as they made their way toward the rink. Their blind date had  been described as a teal-haired doll with red and white polka dots ears.  They hoped that their date would not be difficult to find.

As they arrived at the rink, they made  the decision to wait near the entrance so they could wait for their  date as it was evident that they were not around at the moment. Ione  found it polite to wait and get started together instead of going on  ahead. They did however scour the area for the benches, the food  counters and the skate rentals. There was a sign saying that all dolls  must use doll feet not hooves when skating as Ione had suspected.

Ione pulled their braids into high  ponytail as they had elected to leave their ears down while they waited  for their date to show up.

Why did I sign up for this thing again?  Nameko thought to herself as she hurriedly ran to the skating rink.  Oh  yeah, I thought it sounded cool… Dang it, Past-Me, why’d you plan  something that you actually have to meet with someone for?!  Ever  the impulsive type, Nameko had seen an ad for a meet-and-greet  Matentines event at the local rollerskating rink, and signed up without a  second thought.  The site partnered them with a bun described as having  glass coffee-filled gluttony horns - cool!  Who doesn’t love coffee?   Nameko then proceeded to forget all about it until they received a  reminder email this morning.  Now, she was surely going to arrive to her  blind date sweaty and disheveled, though at least her sporty shorts and  tank-top will still look cute.

As she approached the entrance, she undid her hair buns, shook the sweat off of her head, and hastily put her hair back up.  I wonder if anyone saw that… she thought.  There were plenty of bun couples already here, hand-in-hand as they either walked around or skated in the rink.  Aww, so cute!  Hmm, will my date enjoy hand-holding?  As Nameko became lost in thought, she didn't even notice that she was right next to a bun with coffee-filled horns.

When Ione noticed the doll with teal  hair up in twin buns and red and white dotted ears; they frowned at how  distracted they had seemed.

Must have something on their mind,  or hurried here. Probably the latter. A sloth huh? At least they won’t  get overly flirty with me.

Shaking themselves off that thought  train, Ione moved around to face the shorter…much shorter sloth doll  head on…Well, Ione had to crack their neck downwards. How was it they  just so happen to get paired with someone with a huge height  difference? 

“Hello. Are you the one I got paired  with for the Matentines event?” Ione kept their face and voice carefully  neutral. Their best friend had told them that they could come across as  very cold with their usual grumpy demeanor and Ione had promised to try  their best.

“Eh?” chirped Nameko as she was  suddenly snapped out of her daydream.  She turned around and was greeted  with a nice sweater - craning her head up, she found that it was on a  very tall bun with a bit of a sour expression.  More important than  that, though, was their horns.

“Oh sweet, coffee-filled glass  gluttony horns!  Yeah, you gotta be my partner for this thing!  There's  no way that there's another bun that sticks out like you do!” Nameko  grinned, not realizing how brazen her statement was.  “My name is  Nameko!  This thing sounded fun, so I signed up!  At least I think  that's why I signed up… So what brings you here?  Are you into skating,  dating, or both?”

Great. She’s cheerful. And brazen too.

Ione raised an eyebrow at that statement about their horns. Well that was a first. They huffed in slight amusement at that

“Ione. I got signed up because  according to a friend of mine I need to socialize more. But this place  does look nice so may as well have some fun” Then they noted that she  was also hooved like them.

“....This place requires us to have feet to use the skates. Will you be okay?” They observed.

“Ohhh, we need feet instead of  hooves?  Give me a moment…” With a dramatic little hop, Nameko leaps  into the air and squeaks.  In the blink of an eye, their hooves turn  into humanoid feet, jointed with the marionette trait.  “Whew, that’s  hard to do sometimes…!  Okay, I think I have socks somewhere…” 

Suddenly dropping on their knees,  Nameko reaches into their backpack, and thrusts her arm into it.  “Hmm  that’s a shirt… That’s a Game Bun Pocket… I’m not sure what THAT is…  Oh!  Socks!”  Nameko excitedly pulls out two pairs of socks.  “Look, I  have a pair for you, too!  Assuming you can turn your hooves into feet,  too.. If not, I’m sure they have rollerskates that’ll fit hooves just in  case - it’s illegal not to, I think!”

….Okay that was a cute squeak. Ione  then looked rather concerned at how Nameko rummaged around in her  backpack. So much in there….. Two pairs of socks? That’s….handy.

“I brought my own over just in case  but thank you for the offer…Let’s go over and rent our skates. I’ll  change my hooves into feet once we’re sitting down. I hate to walk  barefoot or in socks.” Ione led Nameko over to the rentals and paid for  their rental roller skates. Once they had found a bench to sit down on,  Ione’s hooves instantly shifted into feet and were immediately covered  up in the socks they had brought along.

Ione bent over to pull the roller  skates on with some struggle as they really weren’t used to wearing  footwear. Luckily they weren’t too out of practise when it came to tying  the shoelaces. Glancing to the sloth doll to see if she was ready to  head into the rink to skate now.

After putting on their rental skates,  Nameko shakily stands up.  “Ooooh, okay, I kind of got this!”  they  say.  They strategically sat on a bench near the gate to the rink, but  they still hobbled awkwardly over to it quite slowly.  “Eheh.. Okay… I’m  ready!”

Nameko’s expression suddenly became a  bit more unsure, and her face flushed into a deep red.  “Sooo… uh… have  you actually been roller skating before?  Because I haven’t!”  She put a  cheeky grin on her face.  “Maybe we could, um, hold hands?  You’re  pretty tall, so I mean, you could probably hold me up… if you wanna…”

It took Ione a bit to get their  footing with the roller skates on once they got up. Cursing their tall  height for the off balance but Ione caught on quickly, thankfully. As  they moved to the gate, they paused at Nameko’s question and glanced  back to see her blushing deeply. They stared in surprise at her  questions then glanced away with a soft huff in mild discomfort.

“I’m not really the one for physical  contact, sorry..….This is also my first time roller skating. We can stay  near the walls for balance…..” They answered quietly and  apologetically. It was often rather awkward to have to tell others that  physical contact made Ione uncomfortable for most part.

Ione glanced toward others in the  rink, observing how they moved in the awkward roller skates and maybe  picking up a few tips on how to skate.

“Ohhh you haven't been, either?  Well  gosh, we'd just end up falling over each other, hehe!” Unphased by  Ione’s awkward rejection of hand-holding, Nameko stood up and wobbled  their way to the rink.  After stepping out onto it, they immediately  grabbed onto the wall surrounding it and clung for dear life.

After a few moments, Nameko's feet  started rolling out from under herself.  Almost in slow motion, she fell  forward while still clinging to the wall, barely stopping herself from  smacking her face against it.  “Uhhh… I think I'm stuck…” In a very  inelegant fashion, Nameko flailed her legs wildly until she managed to  get them back underneath her body to stand up.  “Nope, nevermind, I'm  good!  Come on, Ione, join the party!” she shouted as she carefully  scooted around the rink’s perimeter.

Well they took it in stride….

Ione stared at the way Nameko fell  down as if she’s in a cartoon. Sighing softly, they moved onto the rink  and immediately grabbed onto the wall with muttered curses under their  breath. 

“I hate feet” They muttered in disdain  as they carefully scooted forward with their hand on the wall and  slowly moved their roller skates back and to the side, almost in  diagonal line like they had seen others do. Slowly they got used to the  motions and pushed away from the wall as they moved forward with some  fumbling. Ione found themselves feeling rather off balance and had to  grab the wall when they felt like they were veering dangerously forward  or backwards. Eventually their knees bent down a bit and- 

Oh that definitely helped.

The gluttony gilded their way over to the sloth, abet clumsily but definitely more smoother now. Still slowly however. I should have taken the pads for my elbows and knees through. Just in case…

“Bend knees for better balance….Move  skates in diagonal….” They offered some tips once they reached Nameko  “See how others are skating…?” 

Nameko's jaw dropped upon seeing Ione  skate out closer to the middle of the rink.  “Wooow, you're so brave!   Bend my knees…?  I'll try!”

As she let go of the wall, Nameko bent  her legs until she was squatting almost comically low.  She very slowly  drifted out into the open rink, only to lose balance and fall forward  on her knees.  “Oof!  Hold on…” Hoisting herself back up, she continued  her journey across the rink, falling multiple times and drawing the  attention of other skaters.  

Despite this, she bravely pressed on,  until she got to the opposite side and stood up against the wall.  She  rubbed her knees and groaned a bit, as unfortunately, her limbs being  marionette-based didn't make them immune to pain.  “Aw man, maybe I  should've wore some pants or knee pads or something… LOOK, IONE!  I made  it across the rink!!” she shouted obnoxiously loudly.

…..Limon really should be here.

Ione stared at how comedic Nameko was being as the sloth made her way across the rink. 

She would find this delightful….

Ione sighed softly and made their way around the rink to Nameko

“Not that low” They shook their head  “But that was a good try. Maybe less bending?” They demonstrated how  they bent their knees slightly and they did appear more balanced.

“You okay though? Your knees seem to  be taking quite the beating….” Their voice had a tint of amusement. They  had seen how Nameko had fallen on her knees repeatedly.

“Uhhh yeah, totally!” Nameko said with  a grin that clearly hid her pain.  “Less bending… Alright…” Grimacing  as she turned away from Ione, Nameko bent her legs just enough and  started slowly skating forward.  They stayed close to the wall this  time, and reached out to stabilize themselves when they got too wobbly.   This time, although they still looked rather silly, Nameko was able to  circle around the perimeter of the rink without falling down.  

“Ohhhh I did it!!  Thanks, Ione!   You're super good at figuring stuff out!  Ow ow ow… Wish I had figured  that out a little sooner, hehe!” Nameko bent down to rub her knees  again, which were now visibly bruised.  “Oof… Oh uh, don't worry about  me, I can still skate if you're having fun!”

Ione followed them carefully, watching  them skate the perimeter and offered a small smile once she had spoken  before frowning at the knees rubbing
“...We’re going to take a break. I’m getting thirsty and my feet are killing me”
They  were far too used to hooves that being on feet was definitely hurting.  “And I figured out by watching others…Apparently I’m quick learner” They  shrugged lightly as they guided her to the exit so they could both get  out of the rink and to a bench

“It is fun but you shouldn’t strain  yourself for my sake” Ione clicked their tongue as they bent over to  untie the skates and get them off.

“Ow. Shoes really are too restraining” they grumbled as they slipped socks off before their feet turned into hooves. 

“....Are you also hungry or just  thirsty?” Ione asked her as they eyed the nearby kiosk selling some food  such as pizza, sandwiches, veggie dogs and the like.

Nameko’s face perked up when they  heard Ione mention a break, despite them trying not to make it too  obvious.  “Oh, okay!  If you’re okay with that, then I am too!”  At an  almost alarming speed, they exited the rink, sat on a bench, and  practically kicked off their skates.  “Ahhh, that’s the stuff!” They  sighed as their feet changed into hooves.  “Dang, I wish doing that  would’ve fixed my knees…”

With a groan, Nameko hoisted herself  onto her cloven feet.  “Weeeell, I’m thirsty, but I could definitely get  something to eat, too!”  Following Ione’s gaze, she spotted the kiosk.   “Oh oh look, I LOVE pizza!  And there’s even a few tables nearby for  SITTING!”

As they waited for Ione to make a  decision about food, they thought about how much fun they’ve had so far  today.  They not only learned a fun (but painful) new activity, but they  made a cool friend!  Would it eventually blossom into something more…?   Even if it didn’t, Nameko was glad to have met Ione.  They should sign  up to random events on a whim more often!

Ione looked rather impressed at  Nameko’s speed in transitioning from rink to kicking off their skates.  Hooves really were the best to be in. Ione got up and stretched,  cracking their back slightly with a wince. 

“Pizza it is. I’m craving some  milkshakes as well” Well that was an easy decision to make so Ione  easily led Nameko over to the rentals so they could return the skates  and Ione did apologize for the short time use but they were just too  used to having hooves. The employee smiled in sympathy as they processed  the return. 

The gluttony then led Nameko over to  the kiosk where they easily ordered one extra large pizza to share and  some drinks so they could settle down, relax, eat and bun watch. 

It really had been a lovely time at the skate rink even if Ione hated how their feet had hurt.