Lights, Camera, Act Right (CH 1)
Most men in Hanzo's line of work lived glamorously if not gaudy lives adorned with drugs, jewels, cars, and their personal preference of company to keep the lonely nights at bay. While it was undeniable that they might've had a passion for their art - he couldn't find it in himself to respect someone who blatantly threw their wealth around as if it contributed even an inch to their acting ability. Which led him to the predicament that he was in now. Staring into the eyes of a harpy who'd yelled herself hoarse and red-faced after he made it explicitly clear that no matter how much of a tantrum she threw or how many zeros she put in her offer, he would not be her eye candy to the premiere that evening. It wasn't her fault really, she was a lovely woman before all of the screaming and ranting, and Hanzo figured any man would've been happy to be on her arm.
However, he wasn't just any man and he certainly wasn't interested in someone who wanted to pay for his company. The very thought sent shivers down his spine. After all, he made enough money from the use of his likeness and the movies that he'd starred in along with the TV show cameos and other media outlets. And with the way the paparazzi were flashing their cameras, he could only assume that this would be another "cash cow" so to speak but also a headache for another time. His phone vibrated in his pocket, dragging his attention away from the fuming woman whose agent had scurried over to try and help her save face by calming her down.
The man's pleas fell on deaf ears as Hanzo took the call, plugging one of his ears with a knuckle to better hear the person on the other line.
"Hoho, you are in trouble, anija!" Genji said in a sing-song voice, the smug satisfaction practically dripping from his words.
"The news spread that quickly?" Hanzo asked, turning on his heel and ignoring the irate cry of 'Get back here!' as he left the lobby area of the hotel, making a beeline for the elevator.
"Yup," Genji replied, popping the 'p' in the way that Hanzo knew the situation was steadily going from bad to worse. "Says that you told her off and she was going to give you a piece of her mind."
Hanzo sighed, thankful that he was alone in the elevator. The commotion from outside paired with security hindered most of the traffic flow into the building allowing him to slip away unnoticed for the time being. With his own security guarding the entrance, a lack of people flooding the halls and the elevators, Genji’s voice was all he had to listen to.
Though that meant his plans for going out to get food were shot even if he was wearing a disguise.
"She offered to give me a small fortune, Genji."
"Oooh, wrong move," Genji tutted. "You know you're priceless, anija."
Hanzo rolled his eyes. While his fame and wealth had brought him a considerable amount of prestige, little brothers would always be little brothers. The elevator’s chime alerted him to reaching the uppermost level and he stepped off with a cursory glance down either side of the hall. Fishing his key card from his pocket, he headed to his room, listening to Genji chatter on about his day and the progress he’d made with editing and posting up his videos.
“Comments on YouTube are the funniest thing in the world, brother, I’m telling you,” Genji cackled, the clacking of keys carrying over the phone’s receiver.
Hanzo unlocked his room door and slipped inside, pulling off his shoes while balancing his phone between his shoulder and ear. “When they aren’t fighting against each other for ‘first’ or insulting one another’s mother?”
Stumbling forward after getting them off, he set them neatly by the door and made way for his bed, undoing his top knot as he went.
“Well, at least it’s a lot easier to get comments on YouTube than it is on fanfiction,” Genji answered, Hanzo’s sharp gasp eliciting raucous laughter, loud enough that he had to move the phone away from his ear.
If looks could kill, his phone would’ve been dead ten times over as he glared at the receiver as if it offended his entire family just by existing to relay such a horrendous message. “You swore to never mention that again,” he hissed, sitting down and slowly bringing it back to his ear. “Youswore Genji.”
“Yeah, well, all is fair in love and validation,” Genji said, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
Hanzo huffed and laid back on the duvet with a heavy thump, bouncing slightly as the mattress shifted beneath his weight. One hand combing through his hair while the other settled the phone between his shoulder and head again, he set to taking off his watch and wrist bracelet, pausing when he caught sight of the time. Genji’s laughter and chatter faded away as Hanzo sat up abruptly, knocking the phone across the bed. His head on a swivel towards the digital clock on his bedside table, 5:45 PM flashing at him in bright white letters.
Keeping his gaze on the clock, he slowly lifted up the phone to his ear and caught the tailwind of another of Genji’s stories about opening fan letters. There wasn’t any sound beyond his little brother’s ranting — as if he was home alone. Hanzo’s eyes narrowed.
“Genji,” Hanzo interrupted, voice eerily calm and quiet. “What time is it for you?”
“Uh.. about two forty-five, wh—” Genji paused mid sentence and Hanzo felt the other shoe drop when a muffled noise and sharp cry of ‘fuck’ came through on the other side.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hanzo groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling another raging headache coming on. “Genji, tell me you remembered to pick up the boys from school,” he pleaded, hoping that his little brother was just in his work room rather than home alone at 2:45 in the afternoon… on a school day.
“What was that…?” Genji asked, muffled crackling noises coming through and Hanzo held the phone a little ways from his ear, glaring at it with disdain. “Sorry Hanzo, I wasn’t.. Oh no, the connection is breaking… I…”
There was absolutely no way the connection could be breaking. Genji prided himself on his data and uploading speed, if even one of his videos or calls lagged, he would throw a fit. And Hanzo would never hear the end of it. Eyebrow twitching, Hanzo breathed in deeply and counted backwards from ten before exhaling.
“Genji, I swear to you,” he began, praying to the heavens for patience.
“Relax, brother,” Genji chided, although he sounded slightly out of breath, from running to the car if Hanzo’s guess was right. “I’m only… fifteen minutes late.”
Hanzo pursed his lips, sucking his teeth as a thought came to mind. “Do you remember that ‘Worlds Best Uncle’ mug I got for you?”
“Use it everyday,” Genji chirped.
Hanzo smiled thinly, whispering ominously. “I’m breaking it into pieces.”
“No, brother please, anything but the mug!”
“Then your face,” Hanzo said dryly, scowling at the wall. “I’m breaking your face.”
Genji sighed. “Well, the mug was nice while it lasted.”
It was moments like this that Hanzo wished he’d gotten the dog that he asked for instead of the screaming pink-faced raisin that was Genji Shimada. Alas, thirty-five years later, he was still stuck with him for better or worse. Right now though, it was worse.
“My face is what makes me money, brother!” Genji shouted, the sound of a car door unlocking making Hanzo roll his eyes. “And you know what they say about your money maker.”
“If you don’t pick up your nephews in the next ten minutes, your older brother will smash it?”
A beat of silence passed between them, only the sounds of Genji clicking his seatbelt to Hanzo’s relief filling the void before his brother spoke again with a deadpan tone. “....That was terribly literal.”
“The clock is ticking, Genji,” Hano replied, making a ‘tick tock’ noise, biting back laughter at Genji’s exaggerated groan.
“Okay, okay. I’ll call you back when I get them, Dadzo .”
Seizing up at the nickname, Hanzo shouted indiginantly, “Gen—” before three soft beeps punctuated the end of the call leaving him alone in his hotel room staring at the obnoxious display picture of his brother when he’d dyed his hair an eye-gouging shade of green. Sliding through his apps, Hanzo opened up one of his photo albums and shuffled backwards onto the bed until his back pressed against the headboard, thumbing through the photos until he found one of two boys smiling at the camera and waving.
The caption beneath it reading ‘Shingen and Hayao stole your phone - Genji’. Hanzo snorted, shaking his head as he switched from the photo album to his voice mails, scrolling through to one of the most recent saved ones. Pressing it, he waited for it to start playing, smiling as two young voices laughing and yelling filled the background with Genji’s trying to talk over them.
“Hanzo! Answer your phone! Ugh, hey guys, could you come here real fast?”
Dogs barking and loud footsteps followed, the noise muffled on the other end, Genji’s voice further away and hard to make out.
“On the count of three… real loud… home early…”
Hanzo knew what was coming and held his phone further from his ear when two loud voices yelled, “Dad, we miss you!”, at the same time. It nearly blew his eardrum the first time he listened in — afraid that something might’ve happened. Only to find that it was one of his brother’s pranks but also a heartfelt message. Genji’s laughter coming through as he said, “Come home soon, brother! And call me back, you do know how a phone works right?”
Hanzo rolled his eyes heavenward but his smile fell. The room seemed… so much bigger in the absence of voices or other persons. It was strange.
“Maybe I have been away from home too long,” he muttered, rewinding the message and laying his phone beside him, letting it play out again.
His eyes fluttered shut and he breathed in deeply. Perhaps if he just imagined it, it would feel like he was at home.
