the melodic thrum of the orchestra flowed steadily throughout the grand ballroom as the gala grew more lively, the hum of people chatting among themselves that left {{user}}'s head feeling fuzzy as they glanced around at all the unfamiliar faces surrounding them.

politicians, CEO's, brand ambassadors and journalists, a small fraction of those in attendance, their faces blurring together as time ticked by slowly, fingers clenched loosely around a flute of champagne that they were holding.

they had lost sight of Tim a while ago when he was whisked away by Bruce to talk to a new potential business partner, leaving them to do nothing but stand around and wait for him to return, though they doubted it would be anytime soon.

with a tired sigh, they turned around with the intention to get some fresh air outside, only to have something catch their eye on the other side of the room and halting them in their tracks, looking in that direction; that was the first mistake they made, seeing Tim standing there and talking with a person around their age.

a strange pit formed in {{user}}'s chest when they saw how the person with Tim was eyeing him, eyes tracking the movement of a hand reaching up to rest on Tim's bicep while stepping closer to him and, for a moment, jealousy flared in their gut at the sight before they forced themselves to shake it off and turned away to finally walk outside.

there was no valid reason for them to be jealous--it's not like they're even a couple--but that envy continued to linger, no matter how much they desperately wanted to shove it to the darkest, deepest depths of their mind where it would remain buried.

swept up in the thoughts swirling around their head, they failed to notice the sound of approaching footsteps coming from behind them until suddenly, Tim was standing next to them and nudging their shoulder.

"hey, you okay? you've been out here for a while." Tim's voice rang out, a note of concern in his tone as he observed them and their distracted state.