Chapter Text
Most theater sound technicians all have one day they dread the most: Mic day.
Even in the best circumstances it was awkward. Charlie hardly knew any of the actors and properly putting mics on them meant you had to really get up close to them and in their face, otherwise the mics wouldn't be able to properly pick up the actor's voice or would slip and fall off mid act.
Again, he hardly knew most of these actors, all but one.
Pim was definitely a character to say the least. He stood out from the rest of the actors thanks to his hair which was dyed a neon pink. He was incredibly social and was honestly probably friends with every actor and theater tech alike. He definitely had a sort of contagious optimism and was quite charming, the perfect personality for an actor really.
Charlie definitely wasn't like Pim at all, his hair was a natural dirty blonde color, he wasn't very optimistic and didn't really choose to socialize much. He wasn't afraid to, he just didn't really feel like it.
Despite this, they got along surprisingly well over the years.
The blonde had almost finished securing all the actor's mics, the final one being Pim.
"Alright dude you know the drill, just list off some of your lines so we can test your mic, if you can't remember them just start talking at a normal level and we'll adjust it from there," Charlie stated in a very monotone voice.
"Oh yeah! Speaking of lines, do you think you and I could practice after you get this done? I can't really practice much at home and everyone else is a bit busy!"
"You sure dude? I'm not gonna be able to give you a Broadway level practice session if that's what you want,"
"N-no it's quite alright! I just need to learn the lines is all"
Charlie had to bend down a bit to reach Pim's face. Was he blushing?
"You've actually really helped me learn my lines before," Pim looked down and let out a small smile. He was absolutely blushing at this point. Charlie felt his heart flutter a bit. Why was he getting flustered like this? He's been doing this all day.
"Y-yeah thanks man, let's just test the mic so we can hurry up and practice your lines,". 'Smooth as sandpaper dude, definitely didn't make it more awkward'. It definitely wasn't obvious he had a crush on the actor. Definitely not, no one would ever be able to guess in a million years.
Charlie leaned into his walkie talkie, "Hey Glep can you listen to the speakers for a bit? We're testing Pim's mic and the backup right now,"
"Brletueqxjfh wjdueu wcjrj meble"
"Thanks dude"
"Alright Pim, it's scene 3 act 1, ready when you are,"
"Oh Jay! I think we should look for a frog by this fountain and keep it as our first pet!"
Charlie looked down and fumbled with his script a bit, "Uh, waitwhatpartisthis.. Uh, What would we even name it? What would we keep it in?" The blonde read out his lines in a flat voice, it was a bit embarrassing to say but they've been working on this play for nearly a month and he still never bothered to read the script.
The pink haired actor jumped in without missing a beat. "We could name it Pudding! You said you never cared for cutesy pet names but what about a cutesy name for a pet?". He was surprisingly confident in his lines for someone who supposedly never got to practice.
The sound tech looked down for a moment and leaned into his walkie talkie "You hearing any of that Glep?"
"Wefblo eienwa dga"
He looked back up, "Dude could you try turning your mic up a bit? They're not really catching your lines as loudly as they could in the booth,"
A look of slight panic washed over the actor for a moment, "I kinda forgot how, could you come over and do it?"
"It's easy dude it's just the little dial on the side of the battery pack, turn it to the right"
Pim fidgeted with the small device hidden in his pocket.
"Just talk normally or make noises or something real quick dude."
"Glep can you hear him yet?"
"Wdgeas ffie anxw"
"What do you mean you can't hear him anymore?" Charlie shot a look over at the actor, "you turned it up right?"
Another look of panic visibly washed over the actor. "Y-yeah, it's been a bit buggy today hasn't it? I th-think the mic you have on was giving us some trouble today too, wasn't it?"
Charlie felt some frustration boil within him and marched over to see what the problem was. He plucked the battery pack out of Pim's pocket and let out an angered scoff, "it's not even turned on dude, how did you even manage to do that?".
Pim couldn't meet Charlie’s gaze. He shoved his hand into the pocket the mic pack was in and began to mess with something.
The blonde eyed the actor suspiciously, "what's in your pocket dude?"
Without a word he took his hand out of his pocket, revealing the batteries for his microphone.
Charlie stood dumbfounded for a moment.
"What is your deal today dude? You clearly know your lines and you’re literally sabotaging your own performance by fucking with your mic,"
"I wasn't going to mess with it the day of, I just-, I just really like practicing with you,,," Pim's tone was soft and quiet.
"You what?"
"Yeah! You're favorite person! I love practicing with you but you're always so busy," Pim was starting to regain his more chipper tone.
Charlie blinked in surprise, "Well, here, we can practice until rehearsals are over today I guess, just let me actually fix your mic, don't mess with it this time please,". Pim smiled "I'll try my best,". The sound tech bent over one last time to secure the microphone to the side of the actors face and properly hide it behind his electric pink hair.
Just as Charlie had nearly finished securing the equipment, the two made direct eye contact. The blonde was absolutely stunned, had Pims eyes always been this big and blindingly blue? They were absolutely hypnotic.
He realized they were both starting into eachothers eyes while blushing and immediately looked away.
Pim was the first to speak up, "I-im sorry, I just never realized how dark brown your eyes are, they almost looked like an off red in this light"
"I-its fine dude, can I tell you something after we get done practicing?"
"Sure!"
They were both blushing messes. They were so focused on eachother they barely noticed the static comming from the techie's walkie talkie.
A voice from stage left pulled them out of their soft and sweet moment.
"Pim! Meet me in my office, we have to talk!". It was their director.
"See you in a bit! We can talk about whatever it was you wanted to discuss after I get done with this!" Pim called as he walked away.
Charlie finally noticed the static erupting from his radio.
"Sorry I was uh-, I was a little busy, whats up?"
"Yeah, everyone in the booth knows you and Pim were busy," Alan answered.
"W-what?"
"Charlie, your mic was on and so was Pim's, we could hear you two talking about eachothers eyes and how much you love eachother or whatever"
"Shit,"