Sam might roll his eyes a bit and snort softly at her attitude, but he's honestly missed her, even before this whole mess started. He doesn't get to see her family nearly as often as he'd like to - they're busy, him and Dean are busy, the world of hunting goes on and they've all got to keep up. It's far from the life that any of them wanted for her, but she's made it clear enough that this is her choice, and no one's going to take that away from her. He gets it, he really does. Knowing that this place hasn't broken her somehow is a relief beyond words.

"This is definitely where the crowd is tonight," he mutters, sipping his champagne as he follows her gaze toward the Submissive moving past them. It feels decidedly odd to be checking people out with her like this, as if scoping out potential dates from the same pool the way they're expected to here, but he can and will roll with it. There's nothing wrong with this dynamic, after all, nothing to draw too many judgmental looks.

"I've heard of another one you might like."

After the girl has walked past them, and is subsequently taken aside by a clearly interested Dominant. Sam figures that they're both new enough that no one will be surprised if they don't immediately latch onto anyone here, especially since that wasn't the specific purpose of the gala.

"From what I've heard it's got more of a casual dress code," he adds, with just enough of a dry tone to imply things.