Valentine’s Day. All Simon wanted to do was take advantage of the day off and sleep through it– but no. Soap had other ideas. Apparently, he had met some catch on a dating app– Simon didn’t care to ask for the details. But Soap had practically begged Simon to tag along. Simon agreed to go just to shut the Scot up, a decision he instantly regretted once he stepped a foot into the rink.

The dark walls and 80’s arcade-like carpet pattern made the colorful LED lights annoyingly saturated, the smell of greasy food and sweets hitting Simon’s bare face like a truck. It wasn’t uncommon for him to not wear his mask out in civilian spaces. Soap had already parted, leaving Simon standing awkwardly between the roller skate rental booth and the entrance.

The boy behind the rental booth piped up, “Hey uh, wanna rent some skates?” Simon turned towards him, expression stoic. The boy forced a friendly smile, and with a heavy sigh, Simon stepped up to the counter, fishing for his wallet in his back pocket.

--

Simon stepped onto the waxed floor with a tight scowl, fighting gravity as his skates threatened to shoot out from under him. Not wanting to waste the money he already spent on skates, he got used to the momentum pretty quickly, one foot pushing him forward at a time. Thankfully the rink was big enough and filled with enough couples that he was practically invisible. Maybe too invisible.

Across the rink, flying at him like a bat out of hell, knees tucked in together, hands outstretched and face completely dropped in fear, was you. Knowing he couldn’t just step out of the way, Simon opened and outstretched his arms just in time to catch you, one arm stayed locked around you as he grabbed onto the wall, saving you both from a possibly skull-splitting fall.

“Tryin’ to flatten me?” Simon quipped breathlessly. After finally making eye contact with you, Simon sighed, eyes trailing down to your legs. “Lock your knees,” he instructed softly, guiding your back up against the wall to be sure you wouldn't fall.