A Roller Skating Rink, Baltimore, Late Sunday Afternoon

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie needed to be doing something. Yeah, she'd done laundry earlier but she needed to be doing something else. Something productive in another way. She'd been stuck in a gloomy rut for a while now and especially after some of the things she'd voiced to Peter earlier, she seriously needed a change. She wanted to do something that would net her a bunch of points. A challenge.

And why had she picked going out to try roller skating? Pretty much by chance. Just because she'd watched some bit of anime recently where people were skating and it seemed like a thing to do. It was a great excuse to go off the island, too. Maybe she needed that, and couldn't wait until next week.

As for her companion, no, she hadn't actually asked Jim to come with her. But she'd run into him as she'd been leaving, and hadn't told him he couldn't come when he'd decided to alleviate his boredom by tagging along.

So here they were, entering an establishment that looked a little bit like it had fallen straight out of the eighties. "Well, so far this is exactly what I expected."

[ooc: NFB, and for the future captain mentioned above!]

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[pursuedthestars]

Jim didn't really know what to think. Roller skating was something he'd never done. And though he'd never admit that, most people could probably figure it out.

"Where have you brought us?" Jim asked, glancing around.

[whenshewasnice]

"The eighties," Natalie replied without missing a beat as she took in their surroundings with a glance. "I'm almost surprised I'm not seeing too many perms around."

[pursuedthestars]

"And this is actually something you're voluntarily choosing to do?" Jim asked, stepping a little further into the rink and looking around for something, anything, interesting.

[whenshewasnice]

Whereas Natalie, ever practical, was taking note of where the skate rental was. And also the snack bar. They were naturally pretty close together.

"Yes," she said. "It's not the ambience I came here for."

[pursuedthestars]

"I don't know if I'm gonna get on those things," Jim said. They looked unwieldy and unattractive. "Maybe I'll just watch you."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie raised an eyebrow at him as she started for the skate rental area. "Too scared?"

[pursuedthestars]

"No, it just looks dumb," Jim said, following behind her and trying to find something that he could be good at in this place. It was all so foreign. "I'm from the future, we don't have this kind of stuff there."

[whenshewasnice]

"No, I suppose you have hoverboards and stuff," Natalie drawled as she moved past people. She would've expected this place to be a little less crowded, but maybe there were others who were looking to gain new experiences.

Or they were just roller skating enthusiasts. Guess that was possible.

[pursuedthestars]

"We have cars. They got a lot faster than this," Jim said, gesturing to the people on the rink. Some of them were hot, sure, and he got a little caught up looking at them while Natalie did...whatever she was doing.

[whenshewasnice]

What Natalie was doing was making her way to the counter to get skates in her size. Which was about as far as she got with things going smoothly. Because that was when someone moving behind her back towards the Staff Only door to the side decided to get very clumsy indeed. By tripping and spilling his snack bar lunch all over her back.

Which meant Natalie gasped as she felt something suddenly soaking through her shirt and the back of her pants. Coke and salsa. Those were the only things that stuck, anyway. The fries fell on the floor relatively harmlessly.

The poor staff member who'd just lost his snacks looked mortified and started apologizing profusely.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim had turned around just as the whole incident happened. For a second, he just stared at the whole thing before he bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

He turned away for a second, hand over his mouth while he chuckled before he straightened up and came over towards them. "You okay?"

She looked fine but the clothes were...probably not.

[whenshewasnice]

They really weren't. The person behind the counter and the poor fool who'd caused this incident were both concluding about the same thought. Along with still apologizing and trying to come up with a solution.

"Just wet and gross," said Natalie, having to force her neutral tone a little more than usual.

[pursuedthestars]

"You wear salsa well," Jim quipped, coming up to look at the mess on her clothes. "I'd lick it off you if we weren't in public."

Well, he could make the employees feel a little weird. That was fun.

[whenshewasnice]

The lady behind the counter looked scandalized. Natalie would have been amused under different circumstances, although right now the best she could manage was a mild look in Jim's direction.

The staff offered to at least rinse her clothes and give her something to wear. "Yeah, sure," she said, mostly so she could get everyone to stop freaking out around her.

The guy left to get something for her from the back room, almost tripping over someone else on the way.

[pursuedthestars]

"I think you've scared them all," Jim said, stepping around her and picking some of the clumpier bits of salsa off her shirt. "It didn't get your hair, at least."

He slid his fingers through it just to make sure before he wrapped it around one of his hands and pushed it over her shoulder to get it out of the way.

[whenshewasnice]

"Good," Natalie sighed, and shook her head. "I don't think salsa is a good conditioner."

See, that was a joke, she was fine. Just mildly uncomfortable.

[pursuedthestars]

"Don't worry, your hair remains lustrous," Jim told her, leaning over her shoulder so he could smile at her. He made sure not to lean against her though because he didn't want to get salsa on his shirt. "You okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm fine," she replied with a glance at him. Not a smile but then those didn't come easily and often anyway. "Icky. But fine."

[pursuedthestars]

"Probably not what you had in mind when you mentioned food play," Jim said, stepping back and glancing at the door the staff person had disappeared into. "Wonder what they're gonna bring you."

[whenshewasnice]

"Salsa has no place in the bedroom," Natalie replied absently as she turned to look towards the door as well. "Well, except maybe the dance."

The guy re-emerged, carrying a few articles of clothing over one arm. It didn't... look like a whole lot of fabric. Still, he continued to be amazingly apologetic, so Natalie accepted them without closer inspection. The guy was already getting to showing her where she could change out of her ruined outfit, and she glanced back at Jim.

"See you in a sec."

[pursuedthestars]

"I'll be here," he said, giving her a little wave before leaning against a nearby wall to wait. He chatted up a few girls as they passed and maybe even got a phone number or two.

He was good, okay?

[whenshewasnice]

As it turned out, a place like this wasn't super well equipped to handle a mishap like the one that had just happened. The poor guy had done his best, and the end result were still not quite what she would've gone for. T-shirt, sure. But shorts? Maybe not.

For one, the shirt felt at least a size too small to her. It was stretchy and fit fine as far as breathing and anything else important went, she just wasn't terribly used to wearing something that form-fitting. Plus, it was actually a large kids' shirt, with the rink's name and BIRTHDAY HERO printed on the front. Of course, after pulling the shorts on, she had KILLER in big bold letter emblazoned over her ass, so maybe the shirt wasn't so bad. Yeah, the shorts were some kind of a promotional item for the local roller derby team. Miraculously, they fit perfectly. But they were also really short. Good thing she had such nice legs.

And the guy also brought her the right size skates – no rental fee, naturally – so when she made her way back out and gave her messy clothes to the guy so he could try doing something about them, she was ready to go.

... Kind of looking like Bambi, making her way on her skinny, long legs unsurely across the floor. But still.

[pursuedthestars]

Her reappearance wasn't exactly what Jim expected. He'd gotten a little bored waiting and was almost considering taking a nap when she did come back out.

And his eyebrows shot up and he looked taken aback in all the good ways. "That is the best outfit you have ever worn," Jim declared.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie raised one eyebrow at his reaction, though only once she was safely standing in front of him and her feet didn't feel like they were about to roll off on their own.

"Well, of course you'd think that."

[pursuedthestars]

"I'm predictable," he said, looking her up and down and smirking as he did. "Nice legs, Natalie. Very nice."