Special Snowflakes (Danni)

[Chuck Miller]

Chuck had never done online dating before, and he was a bit excited that he'd had a bite so soon after signing up. He didn't know much about the person he was meeting except that she was bisexual (since her account had said looking for either men or women), that she was a teacher, and that her name was Danni.

They had chatted briefly online, and then almost immediately set up a date to go ice skating.

Chuck was not an especially athletic person. He didn't dislike athletic activity, but he also didn't generally seek it out. But it was winter in Vermont and ice skating had sounded like a nice romantic date when he had suggested it, which was why he was pacing around the outside of the skating rink waiting for his date. He had told her that he would be wearing a cream and navy fair isle sweater, so he hoped that she would be able to recognize him when she arrived.

[Daniel Taylor]

Dan got off the bus. He crossed the street from the bus stop to the ice rink. Dan waited outside the ice rink for his dad, Ken. His dad wanted to spend time with his son. Dan lived just a couple of towns over from his family. It was still nice to have some time with them. Although, this meet up had made Dan a little suspicious of Ken’s motives. There were two things that made Dan a little wary. One was the location. Ken knew that his son was a walking disaster. Ice rink plus Dan equaled not good. The second thing was Ken told Dan to look for a cream and navy fair isle sweater. It seemed off to Dan that his dad would tell him that. Coincidentally, a man pacing wore the same thing.

Dan’s phone chimed with a text from Ken.

Danni, met this guy online. He’s wearing a cream and navy sweater. Name is Chuck Miller. Have fun on your date.

Dan was flabbergasted. His dad set him up. Dan was a grown man and his dad still set him up. Sure, his last date was when he was in high school. It would be nice to go on a date. His dad was going to get a good ear full later. Right now, apparently, Dan had a date waiting for him. Dan pocketed the cell phone.

He took a deep breath. He went over to the pacing gentleman that fit the description. “Excuse me, are you Chuck Miller?”

[Chuck Miller]

Chuck paused when someone addressed him, turning to look at the other man. "I am," He conceded, wondering what the other man wanted. Typically people didn't recognize him even on the off chance they recognized his name from the local newspaper. But perhaps this person was a news junkie. Or - no! -- what if his date couldn't make it and had sent her brother or someone instead?

What if he'd been catfished?

But no, that couldn't be. Not in a small town like Pilot Ridge, everyone would hear about this and the liar would be cast out from polite society forever.

Probably.

"I'm waiting on someone," He explained, not realizing that the person he was waiting on was right there. Perhaps that should have been obvious given that people didn't typically walk up to him and double check his name, but his expectations and reality were not in alignment.

[Daniel Taylor]

Well, this was awkward. It was clear that Chuck didn’t know his date was standing right in front of him. Dan had no clue what his father said about him. Ken must of told Chuck about things Dan likes and dislike and things like that, not what he looks like. He scratched the back of his head.

“I know. I’m Daniel Taylor.” At this point Dan assumed the light blub would turn on over Chuck’s head. He offered a hand to shake hands.

[Chuck Miller]

Oh.

Oh.

Chuck accepted Daniel's hand, trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt about that.

"Oh! It's nice to meet you!"

Even if he was definitely straight, and thus this date was doomed before it even began. He wondered how he had managed to overlook the fact that the person he had looked at online was a guy. Had he accidentally checked looking for men instead of looking for women? He was definitely going to check his profile when he got home.

In the meantime, he had to figure out the best way to politely extricate himself from this situation. He couldn't just explain the situation to the other man, that would be rude. So instead he said, "So, ready to ice skate?"

[Daniel Taylor]

Now that the awkward introductions were done, it was time to let the date commence! “Yes.” No. “Let’s go.” Let’s not. Daniel was not ready, but his date had waited for him and ice skating was plan. Even though Daniel was set up he wasn’t about to flake.

Dan entered the building with Chuck. He went to the rental counter. “Do you need rentals?” Dan asked while he waited for a worker to come to the counter.

He eyed the rows of skates. He figured he would spend more time on his butt than his feet. I ski, Dan remembered. He was no pro but he had experience. With his new-found confidence Dan attempted at small talk. “How are you today?”

[Chuck Miller]

"Yeah. Do you?"

Chuck wondered how finances worked on same sex dates. If Dan had been Danielle, like he'd been expecting, he would have offered to pay, but now he wasn't sure. Would that be seen as rudely denigrating his date's manliness? Or would it still be considered polite?

"I can pay if you do," He offered, opting to treat Dan the same way he would a woman.

Hopefully that wouldn't be too weird.

As for the question as to how he was....

"I'm okay. You know. Umm. Had a lot of work after the holiday bash, though, what about you?"

[Daniel Taylor]

“Yes.” If they were going skiing then Dan would have been all set. He was going to offer to pay when Chuck beat him to it. “Are you sure?” Dan had been in a relationship with another guy before. Their relation didn’t involved going out on dates. Dan wasn’t sure what the rules were. Now, if he was with a woman Dan knew what to do. He had been on dates with his ex-girlfriend way back in high school.

Ah, the Holiday Bash. Dan didn’t attend, but there was a mandatory staff meeting about what went down at the bash. “I’ve been well. Been trying to keep up with grading.” That was one of things Dan hated the most about his job.

“Are you a good ice skater, Chuck?” There was a chance that Dan didn’t want to know the answer. If Chuck was good ice skater then it would all the more embarrassing for the klutz. If Chuck was on more equal grounds with Dan then things wouldn’t be as embarrassing.

A worker came to the counter. Dan told her the size he needed for rentals.

[Chuck Miller]

"Errr," Chuck scratched his chin in embarrassment at Dan's question regarding ice skating skills. "I mean, you know...it's umm...it's been awhile since I've gone ice skating."

The last time he had gone ice skating had been more than eight years ago, when he and Genevieve had first begun dating. Maybe he should mention that? It would be just a subtle hint.

Or...wait, Daniel's profile had mentioned being bi, so he might just think that Chuck was bi, too, if he said that.

Maybe he wouldn't mention her, after all. It wasn't like he wanted to remember her, anyway. Not with how things had ended.

"What about you?" He asked as he grabbed the skates the person at the counter handed to him.

[Daniel Taylor]

The two of them were kind of on the same page. “Same. It has been a while.” Dan thought for a moment. He couldn’t even remember the last time he went ice-skating. Maybe this was his first time. If he did went it was when he was much younger.

The girl worker came back with the skates for Dan. She waited for Chuck. Then it would be the awkward who pays again, although, Chuck did offer. Dan would be sure he paid for the next thing they did, if the date goes that far. Or maybe they should just go Dutch. Was dating this complicated when he was high school?

[Chuck Miller]

Chuck took his skates to the bench after paying, trying them on with some hesitance. But despite his concerns they seemed to fit, after all. Standing in them was another matter entirely; ice skating had seemed like a romantic idea, but now he had to actually balance in them, which.........

didn't go so well.

Instead as soon as he stepped out onto the ice he wobbled and fell.

Good, was this going to be a repeat of his disaster of a date with Mallory, only with someone he wasn't even capable of being attracted to?

[Daniel Taylor]

Danni switched his shoes to the skates. He laced them up snug. Going from the bench to the entrance of the rink wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t the same feeling as if he was wearing skis. Danni watched the other people on the rink. There were little kids zipping and zooming like pros.

His eyes got wide when Chuck fell. “Are you okay?” Danni still stood outside the rink. Danni wasn’t totally stable with the skates on. He offered a hand to help Chuck up. Once Chuck was back on his feet Danni stepped out on the ice. He too made himself acquaintances with the ice.

The probability of the two men having aches and pains at the end of this was pretty high. “This is going to be fun.”

[Chuck Miller]

Chuck accepted Daniel's hand with an embarrassed grimace.

"I'm fine," He mumbled, wobbling with arms outstretched. However, after the initial fall he managed to skate across the rink a few feet before realizing he had left his date behind. He turned just in time to see Daniel hit the ice.

Wincing, he skated back towards the other man, growing slightly more confident in his skating abilities right up until he tried to stop and fell on top of Daniel.

"I'm sorry!" He apologized, scrambling off his date.

This was already a disaster.

[Daniel Taylor]

Dan’s breath got knocked out of him when Chuck’s weight landed on him. He was going to feel this ice-skating tomorrow. “It’s alright.” Dan was able to get back on his feet without landing on the ice again. Even though he hadn’t gone very far it was clear to Dan that ice-skating and skiing are two very different things.

“Shall we try and stay on our feet now?”

[Chuck Miller]

"Yeah," Chuck huffed, brushing gloved hands against his jeans. "Hopefully we'll stay upright this time."

This hope proved to be short-lived, however; a giggling, happy couple too wrapped up in one another to notice anyone else came skating towards them, and Chuck wasn't fast enough on his feet to move out of the way. He went down with an Oof, careening backwards into Daniel.

"Watch where you're going!" The woman yelled behind her shoulder before turning her attention back towards her boyfriend.

Chuck rubbed his head with a moan.

This was not his day.