i had an idea for a rlly short scene tho so im just gonna put it here real quick bc. thinking about it and i think crystal would like it

Sam trailed behind his business partner into the old, slightly run down casino they now technically owned. There was a slight remaining smell of mildew in the air that he had been assured would dissipate. Perhaps replaced by the smell of a variety of alcohol, because no one would want to go there sober. In fact, Sam wasn't even actually sober. It had been a long night, and sometimes he needed to cope in an unhealthy way. He hoped no one could notice the dark circles under his eyes, or the fact that it looked like he had just been crying. It was painfully obvious to him, but Quackity seemed oblivious as usual. "You alright today, Sam?" Maybe not. "Yeah, yeah, just stayed up late," Sam said with a wave of his hand. He decided that his hands looked a bit too shaky and stuck them in the pockets of his slacks. "Well straighten out, the guy we're meeting today is famous and fancy and he's getting paid a pretty penny for this," Quackity said, also putting his hands in his pockets.

"Oh shit, there he is, there he is," Quackity whispered, dropping back to elbow Sam in the side. He jabbed his chin at a guy standing in the parking lot who looked entirely unassuming to Sam. A contractor, perhaps, maybe a supervisor. He held a thermos which he took a sip from as he walked towards the door. He was dressed in those pants guys wore when they were planning to kneel a lot. The phrase double front came to Sam but he wasn't quite sure, and only had a pair because he hated to ruin a pair of good pants when he worked on his car. "Where?" Sam asked, confused. Quackity shot him a look that could have killed him in that moment. The guy pulled the door open and stepped through, then looked expectantly from Quackity to Sam. Quackity gave Sam a look as though to tell him not to **** this up, and stepped towards the man with his hand out to shake. "Foolish, right?" Quackity asked with his best businessman smile. Sam definitely remembered that name, it was weird enough.

Quackity had shown him pictures of cathedral-esque buildings and laid out for him grand plans that clearly had not come together. Sam had thought that the man behind buildings like that would be wearing a three piece suit at all times and turning up his nose at Sam's mismatched sport coat and slacks, but the supposed architect gave him a warm smile and a nod. Sam suddenly realized that he was staring. Not intentionally, but he definitely was. "...And this is my business partner, Sam," he heard Quackity say, which was a prompt for him to step forward and shake hands, but he found that it took more effort than he expected. Suddenly, he desperately wanted to impress this contractor-looking guy. It was because he was attractive. Sam tried to admit that to himself as he shook hands and vaguely introduced himself with something about small business ventures and his day job. He had intelligent blue eyes and a slim face, and he seemed to always be smiling somehow.

He seemed perfectly content with where he was, standing in a musty old casino talking to eccentric clients and occasionally taking sips from his coffee. Sam wished he could be so well-adjusted. Unfortunately, he wasn't, so he pushed all thoughts of getting with a guy completely out of his league so shortly after ending his previous relationship out of his mind. That didn't mean the stupid high school crush went away, though, and he tried to avoid saying much the rest of the discussion. "I'll be seeing you on the site, Quackity?" Foolish asked at the end of the talk, and Quackity mumbled something about scheduling conflicts. "And I'll be seeing you around, right Sam?" he said with the same warm smile. "Yeah," Sam said with a nod and, perhaps for the first time in recent memory, a desire to make the statement come true.