Electric Touch ϟ 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙮

s e v e n - 𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜

and when i grow up, i'm gonna look up from my phone and see my life

-Garden Song by Phoebe Bridgers

【☆】★【☆】

March 1st, 2022

"You have a tattoo." noted Conan, nodding toward Charlie's shoulder which moments before had revealed the design of a flower inked onto his skin. Looking down at his shoulder with a slight smile at the observation, Charlie pulled up his sleeve revealing his tattoo to Conan.

The flower, made up of thin black lines, was truly a work of art, thought Conan. The way it expanded from the bottom of Charlie's shoulder to the base of his neck, with its winding leaves and petals, was expertly done and had clearly been designed with someone with a true eye for art.

"Yeah, I actually drew it myself and a friend of mine whose training to be a tattoo artist did it for me. It was a bit of an impulsive decision actually!" laughed Charlie, thrilled to be recounting the story. Despite how he made it sound, the tattoo truly wasn't as impulsive as he made it out to be. He had spent months designing the flower in his sketchbook and after weeks and weeks of bugging, his friend finally agreed to begrudging do it for a discounted rate.

"You really drew that? That's so fucking cool. You should show me some of your stuff sometime!" replied Conan, mouth dropping slightly at the story. Against his better judgment, he was slowly starting to believe that Charlie was the coolest person he had ever met. Deep down, not that he would ever admit it, Conan had been absolutely shocked that Charlie had decided to join his world tour. Having discovered Charlie's music completely on chance during one of his many nights scrolling through TikTok, he had become completely enamored with him.

After their fateful first meeting though, where Conan had been so outrageously rude to Charlie, he was sure he had ruined any chance of ever seeing Charlie again. He he had been complaining about this to any of his friends that would listen, much to their annoyance.

"Do you have any other tattoos?" Conan suddenly asked, snapping himself from his thoughts as he watched Charlie pull the sleeve of his tee shirt down. "Or do you just have the flower?"

"I have a couple others, since you're asking." said Charlie, "but they're in less visible places. If you want to see those you're gonna have to get to know me a bit better."

Charlie winked at Conan as he said the last bit, causing Conan to promptly flush a bright shade of crimson. Charlie felt unsure where he had acquired the confidence to flirt so boldly with Conan, but then felt confused by his own confusion. He flirted with all of his friends like that, thought Charlie, and if he was to become friends with Conan why would he speak to him any differently? Despite this, he couldn't help but feel that when he had spoken to Conan in such a flirtatious manner it felt different than when he spoke to his friends.

Shrugging off his odd feelings, he decided to change the topic before he accidentally made himself overthink everything he was saying.

"What were you listening to on your phone when I sat down?" asked Charlie, curious to learn more about Conan. Despite having felt like he had known him for years in a certain way, Charlie had already figured out that he knew nothing about Conan other than what he had chosen to share online. That was all well and good but he was determined to get to know the curly haired musician in his own right, as more than someone who just watched his videos as a teenager.

Despite his earlier anger and annoyance towards Conan, Charlie couldn't help but realize as he looked at the blushing man sitting next to him, he was determined to befriend him.

"Uh...let's see." muttered Conan as he turned his attention to his Spotify, eager to answer Charlie's question. "I was listening to Melodrama by Lorde. I grew up listening to her and I always find that album pretty comforting. Especially when I'm heading off to do something as insane as headlining a world tour."

At the mention of Lorde, Charlie sat up.

"Oh my god, that's one of my favorite albums! I also grew up listening to her!" said Charlie, as he internally cheered. They had something in common!!!

"Really?  What's your favorite song on the album?"

"You tell me yours first."

"That's literally so unfair. You're out. That's cheating."

"Since when were we playing a board game?"

This final comment from Charlie made the two of them burst into uncontrollable giggles. It felt nice to him, laughing so easily with someone.

Despite the distraction of Conan laughing with him, when the plane began its descent Charlie couldn't help but feel his stomach lurch violently. For a moment he feared he would throw up, but in his opinion what he did instead was by far more embarrassing.

Hand jerking toward the arm rest to clutch onto it, Charlie found himself grabbing not hard plastic but instead a warm hand. Immediately he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, his fear of the plane landing momentarily forgotten.

"Uh Charlie...that's my hand?" said Conan awkwardly with a confused look on his face at Charlie suddenly aggressively grabbing his hand that had been resting next to him. Almost at the exact same moment as Conan began to pull away from Charlie's hand, Charlie did the same.

Never in his life had Charlie felt so embarrassed then he did in that moment on the plane. Not when he was 8, and had been the only student out of uniform at school, having been tricked into believing it was a non-uniform day. Not when he was 11, and spent his entire birthday crying in his room as his family laughed at him since he had been so convinced he was going to receive his Hogwarts letter. Not at 15, when he was the only person to come to school in a Halloween costume. None of these experiences held a candle to how Charlie felt in that moment as the plane hit the tarmac in Dallas.

Sitting in dead silence as the plane taxied, Charlie was afraid to speak. All he could think about was how he had definitely completely ruined any chance at a friendship with Conan. Despite this though, in the back of his mind Charlie couldn't help but think of how nice it felt for the moment he held Conan's hand. Conan's hand was really soft and warm but not in a gross or sweaty way and the way his fingers intertwined with Charlies just felt...right. Cursing himself under his breath Charlie couldn't help but hate himself for thinking that.

Once he felt the plane stop moving, Charlie stood up from his chair as quick as he could, giving himself a bit of a head rush from standing up after sitting for so long. Grabbing onto a bag to steady himself, he began to make his way over to his backpack that was still seated next to Kai. Swiftly pulling it on despite its weight, Charlie took a breath and began to wait for the plane door to open. Never in his life had he wanted to get out of a plane so fast, even with his lifelong fear of height.

Little did Charlie know, since he was too stuck in his own panic and embarrassment, across the plane still in his seat Conan was looking at Charlie with a curious expression on his face.

【☆】★【☆】

a/n

Hello lovelies!! First real new chapter of Electric Touch in nearly a year! Shout out to my friend Amelia for finally breaking my writers block since I am SO BACK. Also what are you all thinking of Found Heaven? Personally I'm obsessed and its by far my favorite Conan album yet and I can't wait to see him at MSG in September!! Lemme know what your favorite song on FH is in the comments and if you're enjoying the new chapter and what you're hoping for in future chapters!

Word Count

1378

Date Published

April 10th, 2024