"What do you mean there's three more on file!? No, Tenzou, listen to me I cannot take any more- No! I'm already working on three, three more and I'll go crazy! You can take care of them right? Yes, you can and you will, don't worry I will aid you when necessary. No I'm not kidding. I will lend a hand…if I have time…." Kakashi laughed as his cute little intern freaked out and complained about the work load he is getting because Kakashi decided to ignore the last three scripts he was given.
Kakashi loves his job, he loves reading and writing things, he likes to see those words come to life, but sometimes one has got to take risks, and Kakashi is more than willing to take the risk and let Tenzou take care of the last three scripts he had been offered.
"Kakashi-senpai, please don't do this to me," begged Tenzou in dismay as he spoke through the phone to his senior screenwriter. He was elected by Kakashi to become his intern and he had been ecstatic about it, given that Kakashi is widely known in the industry for his talent and creativeness. He aspires to become like him one day, but sometimes he has to wonder whether Kakashi did things to help him out or to just dump the load he doesn't want to take…after years of working with him he can guess that is both (maybe a little more of the latter).
"Fine, fine, I'll take one you keep the other two," came Kakashi's lax response.
"Really?" asked Tenzou, perhaps a little too hopeful because Kakashi laughed from the other end of the phone and added:
"Yes, but you'll have to come and drop it off at my place"
"Kakashi-senpai! I am busy!" tried to reason Tenzou in a last attempt to get Kakashi back into their building and just give him the scripts.
"Saturday sounds amazing Tenzou, thanks! And don't overwork~" he answered a tad too gleeful for Tenzou to take it seriously, but then again he never took his senior screenwriter seriously unless they were editing. Grumbling under his breath Tenzou agreed and hanged up, Kakashi on the other end shook his head and headed for his own car to finally get home and get some rest. If he were to take another cup of coffee Kakashi is pretty damn sure he'll have a breakdown for the lack of sleep and food intake.
Deciding to check on Obito, Kakashi made a quick detour and took Hollywood Blvd. perhaps a grave mistake around five in the afternoon, but the clock is just hitting one and everything seems to be going rather smoothly. As he came to stop at a red light he looked out the window and watched the usual hot dog street vendor prepare the hot dogs for a mother of three, all three kids at different stages in their years the eldest being a girl followed by the two boys. He breathed through his nose and once again went on his way, by the time he made it to Obito's work the clock hit one-thirty. He parked right in front of the building's entrance just as the people started to exit. Obito came out laughing, followed by a smirking blue haired woman, and two males one of them blushing furiously and the other one just smiling in amusement. Kakashi honked and Obito waved to him, talking to the group one last time before heading his way.
"What's this? You don't usually get out so early," said Obito in amazement as he settled in on the passenger's side of the car. Kakashi rolled his eyes as he looked over his left shoulder for a few second before pulling away from the curb.
"I can let you out of the car now and have you take the Metro back home, or walk it," came Kakashi's crisp response.
"I'm kidding, geez. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"I woke up without you by my side," shot back Kakashi and he mourned for the fact that he couldn't really savor Obito's distressed face at his words.
"Oh shut up and drive," was all Obito could muster himself to say without stammering. Kakashi smirked from ear to ear as he drove home, and Obito did everything in his power to talk about anything and to avoid Kakashi's damn lines (so far no such luck).
... ... ... ...
"You two have to have some of this! It's sooo good!" shouted Rin as she busted through the door late in the afternoon, holding a white take out box with a smiley face on top of it, face glowing with gaiety. She came to an abrupt stop as her eyes widened when she took in the two kissing figures on the couch.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…I think…I'll come back later…"she said, slowly backing away and slamming the door after her. Obito and Kakashi stayed in awkward silence for a few seconds before Rin's attempt to make things better.
"And next time put the sock!" rang through her shout, muffled by the closed door. Kakashi looked down from his position above his lover, well aware that Obito is probably wishing to be swallowed whole, and if Obito's flushing face wasn't a sign to go by, he doesn't know what is.
"I-"
"Don't. Just don't say it. Dammit!" said Obito through his hands.
Kakashi has never taken pride for being compliant with Rin or Obito, especially Obito and he attributes it to their past as being friends, so that rivalry is still there and the satisfaction he gets from embarrassing Obito to his heart's content totally is worth the trouble.
"I did tell you we should have texted Rin. Now how are you going to look at her in the eyes?"
"Damn it Kakashi!" shouted Obito, face reddening even more, he pushed the other off him and Kakashi gladly allowed it—see, he does like sex with Obito, it's awesome, mind blowing, but he doesn't need it so to speak. When it does happen though, he's thoroughly enjoying himself and Obito too (if his pleasured moans are anything to go by).
"Well, there goes our dinner too…" he said flatly, standing up to fully take off his shirt and walked away to his shared room.
"Can you at least show some sort of embarrassment? Seriously, how can you handle this?"
"Because unlike you, I don't flail through life," called Kakashi from his room. Obito snorted and rolled his eyes and followed the other male.
"You're a mess," said Obito, not really having a good comeback after Rin's sudden appearance.
"And I'm hearing this from the train wreck?"
"Oh shut up!"
"Are you two done!?" came Rin's shout.
"Yes," they both called back, and Rin stormed in.
"Next time a little heads up would be appreciated, I don't want to be seen as the cock-block between you two," shouted back Rin with a huff, placing the box on the table, before going to fetch the two males.
"Rin," moaned Obito in embarrassment as the brown haired girl appeared with a smug face, eyes twinkling with glee.
"Hey Obito," she said just as teasingly.
"I'm going to eat," announced the black haired male, briskly standing up and heading out for the kitchen.
"Love you Obito~" egg on Rin with a smirk.
"You're terrible," said Kakashi as he put on a plain grey tee.
"Oh you're not off the hook so easily! Now let's go eat before it gets cold," said Rin, grabbing the grey haired male by the arm and dragging him to the kitchen.
.
.
Kakashi doesn't know what's worse, living with once-closet-musical-crazed roommates or having them sing along to the musical's songs.
"Work! Work! Angelica~"
"Work! Work! Eliza~"
"And PEGGY!"
Kakashi rubbed his temples as he heard his lover and Rin sing along to The Schuyler Sisters, and the soundtrack was just starting…oh he was going to be enjoying the next two hours and thirty minutes of hip hop rap and terrible off vocals. On a different note, when he looked at the lyrics without anything that could possibly trigger another bout of Hamilton at four in the morning, Kakashi appreciated the nicely written sentences, and the message behind them, he's got to give props to Lin-Manuel Miranda, that's his dude alright.
"Kakashi~"
"Look around, look around," sang Rin to the beat as she skidded into the kitchen on her socks, "we have done our chores!" she finished.
"Look around, look around, we are done with our chores!" sing-song Obito, draping an arm on Rin's shoulder, giving a lopsided smile to the gray haired male.
"Great, are you two done with your singing?" he questioned without looking up from his spot on the table as he read over a script; the second one of the three he had accepted to work on. Now that he was in the business and produced several successful works, Kakashi got to decide who he would work with, who gave him a better deal and most importantly, who had a good script or idea to implement and create a whole script from. He especially enjoys his job because he can take some liberties as to what the characters will say and how they will behave (this is especially pleasing when the creators give him full freedom to create what he will under an established Universe).
He may have a leisure pace, but he believes that when stress is in the way, nothing good comes out of writing. Revising, editing, drafting, researching, are just a few things that come along the job of a screenwriter, in order to become a screenwriter you have to commit and be absolutely sure that you will stick to it. Then you also have to be absolutely determined and proud that the piece of work you have created will make it into the market; once doubts start to rise then it becomes harder to focus and you lose sight of your goals and your own morals as a screenwriter.
He takes his job seriously and he is greatly disappointed when his own interns fail to meet his standards, so far only Tenzou decided to stick with him this far, all the other interns cowered away and took on different project that would conform to their own ideals—not that they are wrong to choose that path, but if they really want to make a difference in society then they should be more open minded. Perhaps the majority of the public won't understand the work's true meaning but there is always that 2% that will.
"Why do they get paid for singing and all we get are weird looks and you telling us to shut up," questioned Rin, crossing her arms as she looked at Kakashi expectantly.
"They got what it takes, you two don't. Now silence and let me work in peace," he said, standing up to grab a takeout box from the fridge and shove it in the microwave to heat up.
"We aren't throwing away our shot!" both declared, before heading back into the living room to renew their singing, much louder, jovial and off tune. Kakashi rolled his eyes and had to wonder why he was living with those two again.
Ah yeah, Rin. Rin somehow found out he was back in the neighborhood, so after two days of being back in LA, his sleep was disturbed by the incessant knocking on the door, to his surprise it was Rin. She chided him for not keeping in contact with them after HS, but then again he really isn't one to do such things he left that to Obito and Rin. One day, Obito just stopped texting altogether (at that time he hadn't known that his Grandmother had passed and he felt guilty for even assuming that Obito might just have found new friends along with Rin, since the two were like siblings to each other). Then he lost his phone to the toilet, so there went Rin, not much he could have done and he never opened a Facebook account—still hasn't even now.
Rin updated him on literally everything that had transpired, what they were doing and brought up the idea of sharing an apartment together, much closer to Hollywood since their work focused in that area, and of course he took the opportunity because he didn't wish to remain in his old house, too many happy memories and too many regrets to handle alone.
Kakashi had to braced himself for Obito's reaction, mainly because it'd be painfully awkward (and because of the crush he used to have on said black haired male). Obito is a good person, he has taught him more morale than any other living person in the world, Rin is the one person both could turn to when reality became too much for them, and at some point back in their HS years they had agreed to do something for Rin in return. In the end they couldn't do anything for Rin, and what little she had asked for had been lost by their own carelessness…well his own carelessness since Obito managed to keep in touch with Rin.
"Kakashi?" Kakashi did grimaced internally; just the way he said it…well it made his stomach drop a little because he could pick up the disappointment, the sadness, and the surprise with just his name being called. Kakashi offered a small smile to the other male and next thing he knew he found himself being crushed in a hug.
"You idiot, what took you so long…" whispered Obito, squeezing him as they stood there. Kakashi awkwardly brought his arms up and returned the gesture, much gentler and less brash.
"I didn't realize what I had," he answered simply, earning an airy laugh from the other male. Rin had smiled at the duo and left the room, leaving them to fix things on their own. As always, Rin had saved him from himself, saved Obito too, she always did everything for them because they are idiots and they have too much pride, but mainly because they are idiots.
And that was that...
Kakashi shook his head, took his food and decided to wait until the other two tired themselves out. Settling on the couch, he watched them do their version of the musical, blankets, pillows, chairs and all. They even managed to find costumes and change into them in between the song intermissions, Kakashi may or may not have helped with the living room's set up but by the time they were done performing, Kakashi sat on the floor, legs crossed, a Chinese takeout container placed in front of him as he clapped at the end of the last song.
Rin and Obito looked at each other, eyes twinkling and breathless after the stunts and dancing they did, before looking back at Kakashi and waving at him.
"That was great and sad! Now I'm ready for my performance!" said Rin, walking over to Kakashi and sitting across him, taking the takeout from his hand along with the fork to eat some of the noodles.
"It's…liberating! Kakashi, you should really do it too! It's very stress relieving," said Obito, going to join the two on the floor.
"No thanks, I think I'll stick to watching, but if you ever need better lines to come up with for your next performance, you know where to find me," replied Kakashi, snatching back his food and eating before Obito could get the chance to hog the food to himself.
"I don't do scripts! Everything is better when you do it on the spot!"
"Yeah, makes your excuses more believable too," replied Kakashi sarcastically, only to have his side jabbed at and his food taken from him, "go get your own!"
"Ah, but it's better when we all share!" said Rin, taking the container from Obito, pulling some noodles out and bringing it closer to Kakashi's face, he eyed her before reluctantly opening his mouth to eat.
"So what are you working on now?" inquired Rin from her spot, grabbing a fork full of noodles and feeding it to Obito.
"I have moved to the documentaries department, so not too sure how it'll work," said Kakashi with a shrug.
"Eh, really?"
"Yeah, I like it so far, the documentary themselves are interesting, right now I have to edit some of the Professor's scripts, they're talking about Terror Management Theory," explained Kakashi, delving deeper into the point of the film and the studies that the Professor has conducted.
"So…"trailed Obito, "the whole point is to explain TMT and how our psychology suppresses our feelings when we are reminded of our own death?"
"Pretty much," said Kakashi.
"Eeehh, maybe that's why Obito is particularly grumpy when you come home so late. He's reminded of your extra work hours and how little time you two spend, therefore making him crotchety " said Rin, not really processing her words until she looked up to see Obito's face flush and Kakashi pointedly looking at the far wall.
"I swear that's not what I meant…" said Rin apologetic, before a smile crept up her features, "but if it gets the point across then I couldn't have worded better!" she concluded triumphantly. Kakashi coughed before standing up to bring the rest of the takeout food, and Obito mentioned something about going to check the mail. When the two finally got back, Rin stayed silent for a few minutes, before finally snapping.
"Oh I can't believe you two! Years of knowing each other, two years of dating each other, and five years of living under the same roof and you two still act like little girls whose panties got stolen!"
"Rin!"
"Can't you see!? It's like a novela, an improv actor and a screen writer, childhood friends, elementary, middle and high school friends, college separates them and it is the future that unites them again! Don't you get it, love prevails!" said Rin dreamily, with a huge grin on her face. Savoring Obito's horrified and bashful look, Kakashi almost never had the decency to give her that pleasure so she's got to bask in what Obito gives her.
"I still can't believe you watch that stuff…much less believe that you watch it in Spanish, how did you even learn Spanish?"
"Obito, we're living in Hollywood, in Los Angeles County and a pretty diverse place to be at. Spanish is like a necessity nowadays! But that's not the point, you two are like start-crossed lovers!" said Rin with mirth.
"You know she's right, this could make a good story we'll get fan fiction written about us, they'll pair us up with our worst enemies or with people you couldn't phantom about, with Rin even, shipping wars will happen, fan art will be produced, it's the type of thing that could become a fandom," said Kakashi, holding down a smile when Obito turned to give him an alarmed look.
"Oh Kakashi, don't get me started because it's starting to sound too good. Maybe you should consider writing your life story and creating a movie about it, I know I would go and see it! Mikoto and her partner too! There are too many people I know who root for you two" said Rin mischievously and smirking at the abound possibilities.
"Rin!"
"Hehehe~"
"How do you two know about that stuff? I have heard middle school girls talking about that, squealing and all…" said Obito with a frown, a brewing suspicion rising as he looked at Kakashi and Rin, who turned to each other and grinned wickedly.
"Do you really want us to answer that?"
"…no, no, please don't" said Obito with a defeated sigh.
"Come on, you two promised me we would go to the park and walk, let's get to it!"
"But the livi-"
"Now!" said Rin, as she grabbed their hands and dragged both males out of the apartment. She is having way too much fun today and nothing—not even the mess they left behind in the living room—will change that, who knows maybe they can finally get Kakashi to perform with them again when they come back, and even if he doesn't, Obito and her will still dance.
Kakashi smiled as Rin and Obito bickered on their way out of the apartment building, following right behind them and thinking about how much his life has changed ever since he met those two. After his own father's death, he had become much more secluded, keeping to himself and giving to-the-point answers; which made him quite dislikeable among his coworkers, made him a nerve-racking among his interns, and apparently he also comes off as condescending and cold. He agreed to live with Rin and Obito because he didn't wish to reminisce about his past, about his father, about the regrets he carries after his father's death. Up to this day, he's surprised Obito and Rin didn't give up on him, the first few months with them had been the worst, mainly because he would just brush them off or snap at them, but this is Rin and Obito he's talking about and he has known them enough to know that those two are more stubborn than a mule.
Little by little they helped him heal, little by little he came to care and cherish the moments he spends with them, and little by little he gained the courage to finally ask Obito on a date. It didn't go as bad as he had expected, well at least not from his perspective. Rin cheered for them, and goaded Obito to no end (something he is also guilty of doing whenever possible), Obito was just mortified and embarrassed about the whole thing, but he nevertheless accepted Kakashi's request. Now they have been dating for two years out of the five years they have been living together, the best five years he has ever lived too.
"Kakashi, hurry up! It's starting to become darker and it gets so cold out here!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," said Kakashi, trotting over to them and listening to their chattering, every once in a while speaking up to input something in the conversation. He gave a small airy laugh, as Rin latched onto his left side and Obito on his right side; what a time to be alive.