I swear, I got up bright and early that Spring morning. As bright and early as I possibly could have. But he'd still beaten me there by a mile. Heh... how metaphorical.
The sky was a gentle but serious of pink. When I got to the dock, there he was, on his back, bathed in that beautiful pink color. Even his golden locks were tinted with the pink of the sunrise.
There Sam was, taking in that Spring's first morning birds, dewdrops, and sunrise. Well, color me baffled.
"Hey," he said lazily as soon as I got there. "Probably wondering what I'm doing here, huh?"
His voice was warm, somewhere between sleepy and refreshed. My heart was set right the fuck on fire.
"Well, hey," I said back. "I'd be lying, I suppose, if I said I wasn't. N-Not that there's anything wrong with it! I always enjoy your company! But I am... curious."
...Wow... I'd never started the day by being weird before. That was a new one.
"Oh, well... I-I just wanted to enjoy the Spring weather before it can kick my ass," Sam said, sitting up and dangling his legs off the edge of the dock. "I think I can already feel myself starting to get stuffy."
"Oof," I replied, sitting down in my usual spot beside him.
"In way better news, though," Sam continued, his voice waking up a little bit. "I got the job!"
"Huh?" I replied, initially forgetting what he was talking about. When I quickly remembered, though, I said "Oh, at the museum! Awesome!"
"Yeah!" said Sam. "For some reason, I got the vibe that the guy that runs it was planning on hiring me even before I walked in. But who knows?"
"I'm so happy you got a better job," I smiled.
"Me too," Sam said, audibly relieved. "Dude, I felt so badass on my last day at Joja. If I had just a little less restraint, I totally would've TPed the place."
"Gone out with a bang, huh?" I said with a chuckle. "I would've paid to see that."
"Well, shit, then I should've done it," said Sam.
"The shithole's still standing," I remarked. "You could still do it."
Sam was legitimately laughing, before he said "Good one!"
"...What... OH," I replied, only then realizing the pun I'd made. "Yeah, we're gonna need plenty of toilet paper to TP that shithole."
"You've got that right," he agreed. "...But wait." He looked directly at me in a jokingly skeptical manner. "Since when do you condone that kinda thing?"
"Since the same company that fucked me over also fucked over my best friend," I replied, though please believe me when I tell you I hadn't meant for that statement to end that way. The words came to me one by one and all worked out.
"...That's right," Sam recalled. "Give me a date and a time, and we'll TP that bitch."
"Alright, admittedly, I'm a bit too much of a pussy to actually do it, or actually condone it," I said. "But... the sentiment is there."
"Yeah, I probably shouldn't tack any more service hours onto my record than I already have," he shrugged. "Sebastian probably wasted no time telling you I've got the most in the town, huh?"
"...Well..." I replied. "He didn't waste no time..."
Sam snickered. I wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut.
"Well..." he said, a little quieter, as if he hadn't really meant for me to hear. "Your first impression of me is already that I suck at pool, so how much worse can it get?"
I opened my mouth to say something encouraging, but my mouth was already open by the time I realized I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound out of place. I quickly shut it.
The sky was starting to look a little more blue before I knew it. For a good amount of time, Sam and I just existed there, looking out at the same horizon.
My muscle memory taking the wheel when it came to the fishing, the rest of my brain wandered off to a Sam-themed la la land.
He looked happy, just being there. I had to wonder what was on his mind. I hoped and imagined it was all good, considering how peaceful he looked. He deserved any peace he could get.
If the rising sun wasn't illuminating Sam's features and reflecting off his eyes in such a dramatic, anime-like way, this would've been just another morning. He normally didn't pop by until the sun was all the way up, if he was even free, so this was a rare occasion. A... rare sighting, if you will.
Maybe that's why it felt like my heart was about to implode. Why Sam was so especially goddamn gorgeous. Why there was an air of romance I felt like I had to keep alive. Like... Like maybe I should... try to flirt a little? I couldn't think of anything subtle, though, not even anything that sounded like a joke but was secretly true.
My wits had gone silent. I thus had to deal with my heart's wrath.
Not that I would've traded it for the world, though. It was one of the most intoxicating "problems" I'd ever had.