Disco music sounded over high-quality speakers making the wall reverberate as they turned a corner. In front of them was a massive roller skating rink. People were scattered all over from the rink to the sidelines. A large disco ball hung from the ceiling and cast glittering spots around the area.
Tiza paled. He didn't know how to roller skate either. Well not good enough to where he wouldn't make a fool of himself. He didn't say anything though, thinking back to how embarrassed he was at the racing game. Tiza followed Aosh to the rental counter where he asked for two pairs of skates.
Aosh helped him find a pair that fit and they both laced them up at a bench. The Alpha then got up and rolled around to face Tiza.
"Alright, you ready?"
"..."
Tiza's gaze was set to the skates and he rolled his feet back and forth, a little afraid to get up and fall on his ass.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
He saw Tiza's lips move but couldn't hear a word. Leaning in close he brought his ear to the other's mouth.
"...I said I don't skate that well."
Tiza felt like his face was on fire just admitting it. Aosh pulled back a little so their eyes met.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he smiled and extended a hand to the Omega.
Aosh had let him fall a couple of times now, so logically he shouldn't trust him not to let it happen again, but Tiza found his hand reaching out to meet his. It stopped when their fingertips almost brushed, second-guessing if it was worth looking like a fool in front of all these strangers. That thought was only entertained shortly before Aosh grabbed his wrist, hauling him up and off the bench.
His balance was elusive as Aosh practically dragged him to the rink. Coming to the edge of where the carpet met the slick floors, Aosh turned around, stepping onto the rink. He brought the Omega's hands to his forearms.
"Just hold onto me until you feel like you can do it on your own, ok?" There was no time for Tiza to answer before Aosh rolled back pulling Tiza with him onto the rink.
They stayed out of the flow of people that congregated in the middle and skirted around the edge. Tiza's eyes immediately became glued to his feet. He was never good at things that hindered the feel of the ground underneath him. Ice skating, roller skating, bicycling, skateboarding, all of it was out of the question; not that he ever had the interest for such things anyway.
He kicked his feet a little to aid in propelling them forward, but it was mostly Aosh's moonwalking that kept them moving. After a while, the vibrant lights on the floor and the motion was making his head hurt to where he had to look up. To his left were tons of people roller skating, laughing, dancing, and even falling. His gaze shifted ahead to where Aosh was grinning at him.
"Hi. Feeling better?"
"Mnm."
Tiza tested taking one hand off of Aosh, in doing so making the other hand's grip tighten, clutching the sleeves of the other's button up until it wrinkled.
"I-I can do it, so just skate normally."
"If you say so," Aosh said, turning around still in Tiza's grasp.
Aosh led him around the rink, stealing occasional glances back to check up on the other. The Omega had stopped looking at his feet at this point and was now staring towards the center where quite a few people were dancing and doing skating tricks.
There were groups of people doing, what looked like, choreographed dances. Tiza watched their footwork and took mental notes. They glided with ease backward and sideways. Their feet crossed and swayed; some even did jumps, lunges, and splits. He wondered how much time they spent practicing. He had such a hard time with his balance that the thought of trying something like what they were doing was insane but also very appealing. Tiza was classically trained, ballet being the only thing he knew. He knew other forms of dance existed but wasn't interested in trying them until now.
"I knew you'd like to see this since you like to dance. You want to try?"
The DJ came over the sound system.
"All right all you cool cats, let's turn up the dance floor!"
A high energy song came over the speakers setting the whole roller rink alight in excitement as the music picked up, the electric rhythm sending everyone into a dancing mood. Aosh turned back around, swaying his body to the music, which in turn made Tiza sway as well. The swaying made him uneasy and out of reflex, he grabbed onto Aosh's arm again, his grip tight.
"What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like? I'm dancing," he says with a smile.
"That's not dancing. And quit it, I'm going to fall."
"I already told you I won't let you fall," Aosh pulls his arms into himself, pulling Tiza into his space, "And this is as much as I can dance with you holding onto me like this."
A blush spread like a wildfire across the Omega's face. He lets go immediately and then regrets it just as fast. Although he finds he has just enough balance to not fall, and rather clumsily he kicks himself forward to where Aosh has stopped just ahead.
"Look, you're doing it!" the Alpha chuckles, which earns him a glare as he slowly rolls beside the Omega.
"No thanks to you…" Tiza mumbles under his breath.
"Don't worry I'll stay right by you, but you're never going to get better if you hang onto me like that the entire time."
'Even though that's exactly what I want you to do.'
Tiza starts to get comfortable on the skates to the point he tries to cross his legs. He wobbles a bit and grabs onto Aosh again. Kicking off again, he tries to balance on one leg while still holding onto the Alpha. The Omega keeps testing the waters until he feels more confident and lets go of Aosh. Skating on his own now he studies those dancing around him and tries to mimic their moves to the best of his ability.
The music picks up again, but Aosh chooses not to dance, instead keeping a watchful eye on Tiza making sure he doesn't fall. He's amused at Tiza finding the confidence to skate on his own. He thought that Tiza would like to see the dancing that happened here and he was glad he was right.
Aosh is so preoccupied watching the other he doesn't notice when two women roll up to his other side. One of them taps his shoulder.
"Hey! Do I know you?" says a blonde Beta.
"Um, I don't think so?"
The other girl, a brunette Beta, chimes in.
"Yea you're Aosh right? From Horticulture One? You sit in the back."
"Oh, yea."
"Oh, I knew it! You stick out like a sore thumb here just like in class."
"You don't look like the type to roller skate, do you come here often?"
"Um, well-"
"Aosh."
The Alpha turned his attention to Tiza, who finally made his presence known to the two women. The Omega grabbed onto Aosh's forearm.
"I want to skate in the middle, cmon," he said, tugging Aosh away from the two intruders.
Nothing annoyed Tiza more than people like that. He was doing Aosh a favor pulling him away from them. Besides it was the Alpha's idea to come into the skating rink, he wasn't going to abandon the Omega to go off with some Betas to god knows where. He was the one who promised he wouldn't let him fall. Tiza almost faked a fall in front of the women just to prove a point. Was that petty of him? Probably. Did he care? Not at all.
They merged into the flow of people, having to skate closer together so as not to lose each other. Tiza slowly shifted until he was haphazardly skating backward. Aosh didn't make it look that hard so he was at least going to try it too.
"Looks like you're getting the hang of this."
"It's still not as easy as you make it look. Have you been skating for as long as you've been playing that game?"
"Well, there's only so much to do in this town." He chuckled.
"Hmm. I bet you've brought a couple of dates here then."
"Nope."
Aosh didn't know if it was worth mentioning he'd never been on a real date before.
" Oh, c'mon. You expect me to believe you didn't bring someone here at least once."
"I told you- look out!"
Tiza was grabbed abruptly and pulled into Aosh's chest just in time so he isn't taken out by two teenage boys who came flying by without paying attention to where they are going.
"Hey dip shits! Watch where you're going!" the Alpha calls out to them.
The DJ's voice sounds over the sound system again.
"All right all you lovers out there, it's the time of the night where couples take the stage! Ladies and gentlemen who are taken, grab your lover and skate to your heart's content, singles take a load off and watch love take over the rink!"
Slow romantic music plays. The pair look at each other from where Aosh still has Tiza trapped in an embrace.
"..."
"..."
Abruptly they part, pushing one another away.
Both men make their way out of the rink like so many other singles do. Tiza checks his phone after they exit the rink and sees it's almost time for Sean and Momo to arrive back home. He clumsily makes his way to a bench to take off his skates.
"I got to go."
Aosh makes a displeased face but understands he can't keep the man out all night.
"Can we do one more thing before you go?"
...…...….…........
Aosh leads him to a photo booth back in the arcade. It doesn't look too old but it's definitely been there for a couple of years.
"I had fun tonight. If you don't mind, um, can we take a picture together?" He was rather bashful in asking, his darker skin just a hint warmer in color.
Tiza on the other hand didn't see the point in using a photo booth when they had cameras on their phones. He had indulged the Alpha a lot tonight, probably more than he should have so what was one more thing. Besides, the image of Aosh's face, filled with tears and emotion, was still burned into Tiza's brain. The man was all smiles tonight and Tiza intended to keep it that way. A frown didn't suit Aosh.
He entered through the curtain and Aosh followed.
Aosh inserted the money and pressed the options on the screen to set it up. A countdown started and when it ended a series of pictures were taken. Two photo strips were dispensed and Aosh handed one to the Omega.
"Here. So we can both have one," he flashed his signature smile with those soft eyes that reflected neon lights. Tiza nodded grabbing the other set of photos. The pair walked out of the arcade and went their separate ways.
When Aosh got home he immediately found a pair of scissors, cut his favorite picture apart from the strip, and stuck it in his wallet. Aosh knew Tiza's smile in the picture was probably forced, but he still wanted to be able to look at it whenever he wanted. It seemed like a smile from the Omega was a rare occurrence, Aosh would even consider it the eighth wonder of the world, that's how breathtaking it was.
When Tiza got home he put the strip of photos inside a book on his bedside table. The book was just another terrible horror novel he had read a while back, but he had used it for something other than reading recently and so it still sat out from the bookcase. Alongside the photos, the only thing inside the book was a pressed and dried out white peony.