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.