Work Text:
Two weeks passed before Gerard's cut scabbed over completely. Frank was getting restless, but they decided to give it another week just to be safe.
Every weekend they visited the house and worked on their journals. Gerard had bought an aquamarine journal to document the ocean universe and in it they wrote out a guide for that world.
Finally, they prepared for another trip; eating, drinking, checking their rings, and agreeing on world number 3.
"Ready?" Frank asked. He had seemed to forget about having a cool explorer countdown after everything that had happened in the desert.
"Ready," Gerard nodded.
They both took a deep breath and Frank pressed the number 3 button.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They landed with a thump and Gerard reached out to steady himself. His hand wrapped around an old wooden fence post. He blinked in the bright sunlight and looked around.
Stretched out in front of them was a field of waist high grass, behind them was a forest of old trees with bright green leaves. The fence that Gerard held onto stretched between the field and the trees until it faded into the distance.
It was high summer in this world. Gerard could hear insects buzzing and birds chirping, far off across the field he could just make out the sound of machinery, like a lawn mower or something.
"Whoa," Frank muttered.
Gerard turned and raised his eyebrows at Frank's new look.
His hair was as long as it was in the desert universe, but natural brown and scrumptiously clean. Part of it was tied back, holding the rest out of his face. He was wearing a clean white shirt with laces at the neck. Over it he had a dark green vest with pockets and shiny brass buttons. His pants were brown, pressed and stiff-looking, ending just above scuffed leather boots.
Gerard looked down and found himself dressed similarly, except in black and with a silver watch chain disappearing into one of his vest pockets. He reached up and felt soft, clean hair, falling down to his shoulders but not tied back like Frank's.
"Uh," Gerard said.
"Are we in Pride and Prejudice?" Frank asked, a grin on his face.
"You and your books," Gerard chuckled.
They climbed the fence in short order, to get out of the trees, and started walking down the length of it, looking for someone or something.
"Do you think we should come up with a better excuse than being lost?" Frank asked after a few minutes.
"I never really know what to say," Gerard admitted. "We can't really get specific if we don't know anything about the people or the place."
"True," Frank admitted. He stopped and started going through his vest and pants pockets.
"What are you looking for?"
"Anything that might give us a clue about, you know, anything."
Gerard hmm'd in agreement and went about searching his own pockets. He lost a moment admiring the pocket watch; silver and delicately carved, with slim black hands ticking around the inside. In his pants pocket he found a key and a heavy card. He pulled the card out and saw that Frank had one as well.
"You are cordially invited," Frank read, "to the 150th annual masquerade ball."
Gerard's card read the same. He flipped it over but there was no date or address.
"So... it's probably tonight," Frank said, slipping the card back into his pocket. "If anyone asks who we are or where we're from, we can just say we're in town for the ball."
Gerard studied the card a second longer, then shrugged and put it back in his pocket. "All right."
They followed the wooden fence for maybe twenty minutes before they stepped onto a wide dirt road. The lawn mower-like noise was immediately revealed to be a carriage, but not like any carriage Gerard had seen in William's drawings.
It looked more like a car than anything, with a hood propped open to reveal an engine spitting black smoke. The whole thing was red and silver, soft curves and elegant windows. It was obviously designed for luxury.
There was a man leaning against the driver's side door, scuffing his boot in the dirt and puffing on a rolled up cigarette. He looked up and blinked at the sudden appearance of Gerard and Frank.
"Good afternoon, friends," he said, raising his voice over the rumbling engine.
"Good afternoon," Frank answered easily, striding across the road. "Engine trouble?"
The man scuffed his foot in the dirt again, scowling. "Blasted contraption. I could've bought myself a dozen horses for what I paid on it, and at least they would've gotten me all the way to town."
"Is there no way to fix it?" Gerard asked, trying to adopt the man's slight accent. He saw Frank shoot him a grin.
"I don't know the first thing about it," the man admitted, snuffing out his cigarette on the bottom of his boot and pocketing the butt.
"Is there anything we could do to help?" Frank asked.
"If you're on your way to town, I would surely appreciate it if you dropped in on the mech-man and sent him out my way."
"Is there..." Frank started, frowning at the smokey engine and then the rest of the carriage. "Maybe we could push it?"
"I couldn't ask that of you," he insisted.
Frank grinned. "You didn't ask, I offered."
It only took them a few minutes to sort it out, closing up the hood and deciding that Frank would steer while Gerard and the man, who introduced himself as James, would push.
James and Gerard rolled up their shirtsleeves and started shoving at the back of the carriage. For a moment nothing happened, then it jerked forward and started rolling.
"Forgot about the hand-break!" Frank shouted back through the open window.
Gerard and James shared a wry grin and got back to pushing. The carriage coasted along easily over the dirt road and Gerard had just begun to sweat by the time Frank called out that he spotted town.
Gerard peeked around the edge of the carriage while he pushed, getting a glimpse of tall wood and stone buildings clustered together. Steam and smoke rose from dozens of places, and the hum of machinery grew the closer they got.
As they slowly made their way closer, Gerard spotted a large wooden sign proclaiming that they were entering the town of Edgewood.
"Should be straight up ahead," James grunted, pushing his shoulder against the back of the carriage.
The road changed from dirt to cobblestones once they passed the sign. A minute or two later, Frank called back for them to stop.
Gerard stood up straight, rolled his shoulders, and wiped his brow. The building they had stopped in front of was two stories tall, with a wide door obviously meant for vehicles. Another wooden sign was nailed above the wide door, a carving of a carriage painted in bright colors. The tiny wheels spun on their own, shining in the sunlight.
Gerard looked around as Frank got out of the carriage and James went into the shop. All the buildings were clustered together and ranging from two to five stories. They were mostly made of wood and stones, but Gerard spotted metal glinting in several places.
The people that rushed to and fro were dressed similarly to himself and Frank; waistcoats and shiny boots on the men, billowing skirts and modest blouses on the women.
The strangest thing was the bits of technology scattered throughout the otherwise old-fashioned scene. Motorized carriages rumbled up and down the street. A robot dog was tied outside of a tea shop, barking at passersby. Some young boys were kicking around a ball that flashed different colored lights.
Frank stepped close to Gerard, eyes scanning over the tech all around them.
"Dude, steampunk Pride and Prejudice," he muttered.
"No shit," Gerard said. "There wasn't any technology in William's drawings."
"They must've developed it in the last two hundred years," Frank shrugged.
James exited the shop then, nodding to them as he walked over.
"Well, should have the carriage back up and running before tonight. Are you gentleman in town for the ball?"
"We are," Frank grinned. "Are you going?"
"That I am," James smiled back. "If you'd like, I could give you a ride up there tonight. Wouldn't do to show up covered in dust from walking," he chuckled.
"We'd appreciate that, thank you," Gerard said.
"Not at all, consider it my thanks for helping me out."
James told them where he was staying and they agreed to meet up just after dark.
"What do we do now?" Frank wondered as they walked away from the mech shop.
"Well, I've got a key in my pocket. Maybe we should figure out what it goes to?"
Frank whistled, spinning around to see all corners of the parlor.
The first hostel they had spotted had been the place. The boy at the front had nodded when they showed him their key, pointing them up the stairs to one of the rooms.
But it wasn't just a room, it was multiple rooms. A parlor, decorated richly with light fabrics to relieve the dark wood of the floor and walls, two bedrooms with large, fluffy beds and soft sheets. Even a private bathroom with plumbing, which Gerard had not been expecting.
"This is posh," Frank said, giggling. He plopped down on one of the couches and bounced. "We're made of money in this universe."
"No kidding, I wonder why we don't have a carriage?"
"Probably because we'd crash it," Frank said, still giggling. "Plus, if we had a carriage, we never would've met James and wouldn't have been able to help him."
"You're still on that?" Gerard asked, stepping close to a bookcase to examine the titles.
"Dude, in every universe so far, we've done something to help people," Frank pressed. "We saved Alicia's life, not to mention the mer-Mikey who needed the medicine we helped get. We helped James, who was stranded on the side of the road and probably would've missed the ball. We helped Acid Bomb and his crew, probably saved their lives."
"Okay, okay," Gerard relented, turning to look at Frank. "But does that mean us finding the desk and the rings was destiny or something? Does that mean we have to go to all the worlds and help someone? If we skip a world does that mean it's our fault if someone there dies?"
"You're thinking about it all wrong," Frank said, shaking his head. "If it is destiny, then we'll show up where and when we need to, no matter what. We haven't been trying to help people, it just happens. We just need to like, go with the flow."
"This is way too intense for me," Gerard sighed.
"Well, we don't have to worry about it right now," Frank assured him. "We just have to get ready for the ball and then go enjoy ourselves.
They took turns using the copper bathtub, then went to explore the dressers in their separate rooms.
Gerard found a soft black waistcoat and jacket hanging in his, with slacks to match and a starched white button-up and shiny black shoes. It was way more involved than the jeans and t-shirt he usually wore at home or even the church clothes his mom made him wear every Sunday.
On a little shelf in the dresser he found an intricate black mask that covered the upper half of his face with looping designs cut out and replaced with a thin silvery metal.
He transferred his pocket watch from his vest into the pocket of his waistcoat, then went into the parlor to find Frank.
"What do you think?" Frank asked, spinning to face him.
He hair was still damp, but Frank had managed to tie it back the same way it had been earlier. He wore a suit as well, only his waistcoat was a deep, blood red. He held his own mask up to his face and Gerard saw that it was covered in red feathers that fanned out from the center, little gems scattered throughout to make the whole thing shimmer.
Gerard swallowed and felt himself blush. He cleared his throat. "You look... really good, Frankie."
"Thanks Gee, you do too. Lemme see your mask."
Gerard held his mask up to his face and Frank grinned. "Suits you," he said.
Gerard had to clear his throat again and found himself feeling very awkward.
"So, uh. Should we go meet up with James?"
"Sure," Frank smiled. "I can't wait to check out this party."