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It was a nice evening in downtown Robloxia as Itrapped walked through the dim streets. His boots made little sound. The buildings were quaint and lively, even in the late hour. People chattered from inside, no one looked twice at him. Itrapped stopped outside the building he needed. A somewhat luxurious casino. It was standing a bit on its own, shorter and wider than the buildings on either side of it.
Before entering, Itrapped checked himself. He’s worn the most appropriate outfit he could scrounge up- despite his situation. He looked down at his suit and brushed it off a little. He wore sky blue,no jacket with a long sleeved dress-shirt. Itrapped ran his hand across his singular thick braid of blond hair. Everything was in place. He walked through the door of the casino.
As the indoor lights assaulted Itrapped’s eyes so did the sight of the flashy games and the sound of many people chatting. His gaze swept the faces that he could see from the doorway but none were the right person. He’d memorized their face in advance from what photos Itrapped could find online. Bringing a photo with him would have been a liability.
Itrapped stepped lightly through the rows of slot machines to reach the calmer area of the establishment. Here there were table games with dealers dishing out the cards. There was also a semi circle of a bar against the wall. It only took a quick glance for Itrapped to spot the lucky person. He smiled and glided over to the bar.
Sitting at the bar was a person in a suit and fedora talking energetically with a few men. Beneath their hat they had short shaggy hair that was silvery white (likely dyed since there’s no way he was older than 30). Well that’s the guy.
Itrapped sat in a seat a few away from the conversation. Now that he could see their face Itrapped noticed the person wore sunglasses and headphones despite being inside and talking. That really is him. Itrapped watched for a few minutes. The other guys were listening and reacting politely but they didn’t seem to know the one talking very well. Perfect.
Itrapped tilted his head, watching with curiosity.
So this is Chance.
Before Itrapped could find a way to approach, Chance turned and noticed him sitting nearby. They made eye contact and Chance smirked. Itrapped composed himself as Chance said a quick goodbye to his comrades. Then Chance sped over to Itrapped and sat down right in front of him.They grinned at Itrapped.
“Hey!” Chance’s glasses hid his eyes from view but their smile was bright.
“Hi” Itrapped responded. It was weird to not be able to see someone’s eyes. He wasn’t quite sure where to look.
“So eh what were you looking at?” Chance asked.
“You” he responded flatly.
“Heh- oh neat” they said, smile becoming more awkward. Chance didn't seem to have expected that. Maybe this would work, this guy had all this confidence but is slipping so quickly.
A bartender appeared to quickly leave a drink in front of Chance and then hurried away.
“Thanks mate!” Chance called after them. Then Chance noticed Itrapped looking at the drink in what (he hoped) was a blank expression.
Chance must not have taken it that way since they put an arm on Itrapped’s shoulder.
“Ah I’m sorry” They sipped the drink. “Did you want something?”
Itrapped froze and glanced slowly at where Chance’s hand was on his shoulder. He turned his gaze away and towards the menu. He gritted his teeth and hoped he wouldn’t betray his discomfort. Itrapped immediately looked to where the flashiest cocktails were on the menu and picked the one that sounded the best. He turned to Chance who was STILL holding his shoulder and smiling kindly.
“May I have the uh” Itrapped glanced back at the menu “a blue…moon”
Chance didn’t skip a beat, “yeah of course!”. He lifted his hand from Itrapped’s shoulder (yayyy) and beckoned to the bartender.
As Chance told the bartender the order, Itrapped glared at them. Chance was surprisingly enthusiastic about talking to some random person he didn’t know. Itrapped wondered if there was a reason behind it. Or he’s just like that. Whatever it was, it was making things a lot easier for him so Itrapped would just have to get used to Chance’s…
Chance turned around and slapped the cocktail in front of Itrapped, somehow not spilling much.
“This looks a bit radioactive but I’m sure you like that?” They said, ever smiling.
The drink was violently sky blue. And there was a lemon slice on it.
“It’s great thank you” Itrapped replied with as much earnestness as he could.
Chance looked really happy for what reason Itrapped assumed could only be “successfully buying stranger a drink”. Itrapped looked away and tried the drink. Definitely tasted radioactive but in a good way, he supposed.
Chance started tapping their nails against their drink glass. Itrapped kept his gaze on his drink. He was going to see what Chance decided to do. The tapping was starting to tick him off. But finally Chance stopped.
“Hey can I get your name?” He asked.
Itrapped looked up from his drink into the other’s sunglasses.
“Would I get to ask you a nosy question too?” Itrapped retorted.
Chance looked a bit taken aback “Names aren’t nosy?!” He went back to smiling,
“Well alright, my name is Chance, so you don’t uh have to waste your question on asking that”
They looked expectantly at Itrapped.
Itrapped gave in “It’s Isaac, why are you wearing sunglasses and headphones when you’re indoors?”
Itrapped had already decided he wouldn’t use his current name. There wasn’t a high likelihood that someone would connect that name to the crisis but he wasn’t taking any chances.
(Except this Chance ha haaa).
Chance sipped his drink chuckling a little (how is he not choking…)
“I wear headphones because of the noise” Chance tapped one of the sides of their headphones and gestured to the noisy side of the casino. “And sunglasses just because”
“Mmmhm” Itrapped muttered in response. Chance hadn’t seemed to be trying to hide anything when Itrapped had researched him online the past week. So why wasn’t there mention of how absolutely weird he was.
Itrapped stared into his drink wondering if he should just try a different approach. He knew he was getting desperate. His friends weren’t getting any more free and he hadn’t been much help. Yet Chance was not the nepo-baby rich-kid-leaching-off-his-parents that Itrapped had prepared for. Too weird and too nice.
Of course Chance distracted him again.
“So how’s the drink?” they asked, nervousness slipping into their expression again.
Whatever. Even if this is who Itrapped had to put up with…there weren't exactly better options.
Itrapped lightened his tone a bit. “Tastes wonderfully radioactive”
“Thats great” Chance’s smile was the most visible thing about him, Itrapped realized.
He wondered if that had intention behind it. His hat and glasses covered his eyes and only so many shiny tufts of hair could be seen.
“You smile a lot,” he commented.
Chance chugged the rest of his drink and slid the glass away from himself. They rested their chin on one hand.
“Heh well its hard not to when you’re winning so much”
“Yeah, are you winning right now?” Itrapped could not believe he was going to live like this.
“I hope so?” Chance kept god damn smiling.
Itrapped looked to the hand Chance was resting on and saw his nails were painted. They were black and a bit messy so Chance probably did it himself. What an exciting observation.
“Hurray” Itrapped said sarcastically and tried to finish his drink.
Chance immediately straightened in their seat.
“Oh no I didn't mean that in a mean way!” He wasn’t smiling for once.
“Mean mean” ITrapped muttered as the blue drink entered his digestive system.
“Uhhh” Chance looked awkward now.
Itrapped delicately removed the lemon slice from his drink and stood from his seat.
“Wait, you don’t have to leave!” Chance stood up too. “I genuinely didn’t intend to say I was…talking better than you..?”
Itrapped stared into Chance’s sunglasses.
“Chance, it is perfectly okay, I want to sleep though.”
Chance visibly relaxed. He sighed “Oh cool, can I walk out with you?”
Itrapped looked at the distance between them and the sidewalk outside.
“Sure”
trapped wound his way through the loud half of the casino. He held his lemon slice carefully with his fingers. He could see Chance following easily behind him, his all black outfit made him look a bit out of place in the bright slot machines.
Chance went in front of Itrapped before he could open the door. Chance then opened it and stood to the side so Itrapped could walk out. Itrapped tried not to look at his grinning face as he passed by.
Finally they were outside. Itrapped walked down the stairs and then stopped to observe his lemon slice. It still looked fresh. Chance hurried after him. They both stood for a second looking at the lemon.
Chance chuckled. “Why did you take that?” He asked
“It would be a shame to waste it” Itrapped looked up from the citrus.
Chance looked nervous. His face was shadowy since his accessories blocked the street lamp light above.The area outside the casino was quiet.
“Well I need to get going, thanks again for the drink” Itrapped started to walk past Chance.
Chance moved in front of him.
“Sorry, could I… give you my number?” They looked fully genuine for once.
Chance stopped blocking Itrapped's path and then continued “Isaac? I’d like to see you again, maybe somewhere you like?” He asked.
Itrapped was a little bit surprised that Chance had picked up that he didn’t enjoy the casino atmosphere. This could be more interesting than annoying. He hoped.
“Oh sure”
“Great!” Chance pulled a card from their coat pocket and handed it to Itrapped.
A business card… Itrapped squinted at it, there was a number, email, and a little icon of a rabbit.
“Great” Itrapped repeated. He started to leave again, lemon in one hand and business card in the other.
But Chance’s voice pierced the silence again.
“Hold on, how will I call you?” Chance asked.
Itrapped kept walking, smirking to himself.
“It’ll be alright, I’ll contact soon”