Assistance Required

Roller Skating

TW cursing

Sat Feb 20

Virgil shifted in his seat as he looked out the window. He glanced at Patton and Logan in the front seats before turning back to the window. He could hear Roman and Patton talking, but he didn't feel like joining the conversation. He was a little nervous about all of this. Remy wanted to introduce him to their boyfriend and they were meeting Logan for the first time. How Patton convinced Logan to come, Virgil will never know. Patton did help convince him to come, so he wasn't too surprised in his abilities.

Virgil still wasn't sure how many other people were coming to this outing or why Remy decided to have this outing. They just wanted to go roller skating? Just for fun? Who left the safety of their room for something other than a major event or necessary things like school and work? Remy was far too extroverted for his lifestyle. He was going to have to decline the next outing or he'd end up spending too much of his time actively doing things with strangers. That sounded like a lot of work. The idea of him having any sort of social life sounded absolutely exhausting.

They parked the car and got out. Logan locked the doors and they all walked into the building together.

"Did they say where they were meeting us?" Logan asked as they looked around at the small crowd of people walking around.

"We'll find them," Patton said. "I already told Emile we're here."

"We could probably go ahead and rent our skates," Roman said.

"Yeah, I'm sure we could," Patton said as he looked at his phone. "Oh. Emile just told me where they are. Why don't we go say hi first?"

"Have you ever been roller skating?" Roman asked quietly as Patton led them away.

"Um... no," Virgil said softly. "I didn't really do much."

"Want me to teach you?" Roman asked.

"I could probably use the lessons," Virgil said as he felt his cheeks slightly burning.

"It's not too hard. I'm sure you'll pick it up."

"I'm going to fall flat on my ass within the first two minutes and it's going to be hilarious. Watch."

Roman laughed and Virgil couldn't help but smile. It was true, he was probably going to fall immediately upon trying, but as long as he could laugh about it, it'd be fine. He found it was a lot less embarrassing if he laughed it off.

Virgil noticed Patton hug a stranger and then noticed Remy talking to them both. Roman and Virgil joined the others. Virgil grabbed Roman's hand. Roman gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Virgil! You came!" Remy said. "Roman! Hello!"

"Hi," Roman said, "it's Remy, right?"

Remy nodded.

"Yup! This is my boyfriend, Emile. The sweetest thing this planet has to offer," Remy said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't go that far," he said with a slight blush.

Patton smiled as he gave Remy a quick hug.

"Did you say there were going to be others?" Patton asked.

"Oh, yeah! James is already skating with Matt and Elaine hasn't arrived yet. We're hoping she'll bring her partner, but she thinks they won't want to. They're a little shy," Remy said.

"Well, you're also a little intimidating, Rem," Emile said.

"En, maybe. Is this your boyfriend, Patton?" Remy said pointing to Logan.

"Hm? Oh! Yes! This is Logan!"

"Wow! I don't know why, but I picture you taller than me. How tall are you?" Remy said.

"Oh, uh- 5'9."

"I'm two inches taller than you!" Remy laughed.

"You're both taller than me," Patton said.

"Everyone's taller than you," Remy said.

"Yeah," Patton shrugged.

"How tall even are you?" Roman asked.

"5'4," Patton said.

"Oh wow," Roman said.

"I'm only 5'6, but... yeah. I didn't think I'd meet someone shorter than me," Virgil said.

"With a little extra height you can use Patton as an elbow rest," Remy said as they put their arm on his shoulder.

"No! You can't use me as your arm rest!" Patton giggled as he moved away.

"Why don't you guys go ahead and get your skates, we'll be here to greet Elaine whenever she arrives," Emile said.

The others nodded and walked away to rent some skates. The skates were really heavy and he was struggling to tie them right. Roman told him to make sure they were tight. After Virgil got them tied, Roman helped him stand. Virgil refused to let go of Roman as he tried to find his balance. Roman laughed as Virgil stood awkwardly. Roman instructed him on how to move forward and held on to him as he tried.

Virgil wobbled as he moved forward and he was afraid he'd fall, but Roman still didn't let go. They moved slowly until Roman let go.

"How are you doing that?" Virgil asked as Roman backed up.

"Doing what?" Roman asked.

"Skating backwards!"

"Oh! I've been skating for years. I'm a bit rusty, but I can still sort of skate backwards. I recommend learning how to move forwards
first."

"Yeah, that might help."

Virgil slowly moved forward and caught up to Roman who smiled.

"You did it!"

"Don't patronize me!"

"I'm not! You're doing good! Do you want to go out on the actual rink now?"

"Is it easier to skate on?"

"Um... no, but it's where most of the skating happens."

"Sounds like pain."

"It's not so bad! Come on!"

Roman led him to the rink. Virgil looked at the slick wood floor. He could already feel the wood slamming into his ass. Roman waited for him to join him inside and held his hand. He wobbled again as he entered the rink and they started moving. Roman made sure they stayed by the edge where apparently all the beginners liked to stay. Virgil was fine with that.

They moved slowly and Virgil ended up falling over a few times and dragged Roman down with him once. He didn't intend to, but it happened. Roman laughed about it though so he didn't feel too guilty. Virgil caught glimpses of Patton and Logan going around. Logan was faring better than Virgil but he also seemed a little rusty. Patton seemed to be having a good time though. He never seemed to stop smiling. They probably didn't fall as often as Virgil did either.

Eventually, Remy caught up with them and chatted for a bit before moving on to the next group. He didn't envy them. Moving around and talking to so many people sounded exhausting, but Remy seemed to be having a good time. They spent most of their time with Emile though.

They skated for a few hours before everyone decided to go out for pizza. Virgil held onto Roman's hand tightly while they were in the pizza place. He still didn't know Emile very well, but now there were three other people in the mix. He couldn't exactly avoid them with his poor skating skills anymore either, he had to actually sit down at a table with them while they spoke in his direction. He sat between Roman and Logan.

Patton talked to the rest of the group more than the other three. Roman and Logan would join in from time to time but Virgil tried his best to stay out of the conversation unless he was dragged in. He decided it would be better to focus on his pizza and the familiar face near him than anything else.

Overall, it wasn't a bad time. Would he do it again? Probably not any time soon. Maybe in a year or so after he's recovered from this social exhaustion. But it wasn't the worst experience. Maybe socialization want the worst thing in the world when done right.