This was a prompt from wunderboo on tumblr for the au ship meme, and was originally posted on my own tumblr. It's more pre-slash than slash, but eh. I had a lot of fun writing this, and part of me wants to continue this AU, but I guess that partially depends on whether anyone would be interested in reading it (so please let me know if you'd be interested in more). I've become oddly invested in the fictional characters they portray, too, even though they're vague outlines in my head right now.

-x-

Globe

Working with Edelstein was just as frustrating as it always was, Gilbert thought with a scowl as he jammed his hands into his pockets and resisted the urge to kick over one of the props. On-screen, however, he was one of the darlings of the cinema world, something that confused Gilbert to no end. Wherever he went there were people who followed him, and Edelstein's talent for silencing and calming crowds full of boisterous people had made Gilbert splutter unattractively the first time he'd witnessed it firsthand, but in the end it had only served to confuse him further as he wondered how in the hell Edelstein had so many fans in the first place.

The fact that Edelstein had the real-life emotional depth of a done-up rock should have ended his career years ago, in Gilbert's awesome opinion, but the fact of the matter was that the man was fucking good, even to the point where Gilbert had to acknowledge it. Sure, Edelstein wasn't known for his grand gestures during any of the films he did, nor was he known for being overly dramatic, but there was a subtly about him that could be perfectly exploited by a good writer, and of course only the best was provided for the scripts Edelstein actually deigned to accept. Gilbert rolled his eyes at the thought, and leaned against a wall. Edelstein was running through his lines with one of the minor characters, and Gilbert watched the relaxed curve of the man's mouth and the smooth, elegant gesture he made while saying something Gilbert couldn't hear, so like the real-life Edelstein while also containing elements of the fictional Richard Satz.

Of course, the real Edelstein wouldn't have known what it meant to be relaxed if it reared up and punched him in the nose.

The thought made him laugh, which earned him a confused look from one of the extras as they passed, but Gilbert ignored it. Instead, he waited patiently for Edelstein to finish up whatever the hell he was doing before he sauntered over, suppressing a twinge of irritation when Edelstein's eyes flicked up to him and looked away dismissively. He straightened his cravat—officially part of the costume, but Gilbert would bet a year's earnings that Edelstein wore them recreationally as well—and turned to leave, but Gilbert's hand on his wrist stopped him.

Edelstein gave him a cool, perfunctory look, but when Gilbert's grip on his wrist didn't desist he sighed and angled his body towards him, reaching up to adjust his glasses.

"Can I help you?" he said, voice crisp and even, and if Gilbert hadn't heard Edelstein slip up that one time when the extra had spilt hot coffee on his arm he wouldn't have known Edelstein actively hid an accent and a different first language under the clean words. German last names (or German-Jewish ones, in Edelstein's case) were common in North America, after all, and having one didn't automatically mean you were taught the language.

Suddenly realising he had no idea why he had come over here in the first place, Gilbert opened his mouth soundlessly, and the moment grew awkward as Edelstein's expression flickered from cool disinterest to resigned irritation.

"Gilbert—"

"We need to go over our lines," Gilbert cut in, and Edelstein had the gall to look vaguely surprised. Gilbert scowled at him.

"What, am I not good enough?" he snipped. "We are the focal point of this film, you know." Really, he didn't know whether to feel insulted at Edelstein's surprise or pleased that he had garnered a new reaction, but the irritation was winning out. Edelstein gave a light tug and sent Gilbert another look, and Gilbert grumbled and released his wrist, moving to shove his hands into the pockets of his costume, only to scowl when he missed them.

"The last time I wanted to run through lines you said, and I quote, 'my awesome self doesn't need to practice!'" Edelstein said flatly, looking distinctly unimpressed, and Gilbert's mind boggled at hearing his own words said without a hint of inflection.

"Yeah, well, I lied. I do have a work ethic, you know, and maybe if you weren't such a priss about it earlier I would've accepted."

Edelstein's eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. "I beg your pardon?" he said, then sighed, brows knitting together. "I know you have a work ethic." If he tried, Gilbert almost thought he could hear a slight "v" sound when Edelstein said "work". He smirked, and Edelstein eyed him warily. "I have seen you when you are dedicated to something, Gilbert. You are clearly… capable, else you wouldn't be here."

"Yeah, well, gotta keep some of the mystery," Gilbert said, infusing his voice with cocky bravado. Edelstein was back to looking unimpressed.

"Don't be a fool."

Gilbert snorted. "Right. Come on, little master, before the director kills me for wasting more money on another blooper reel." If he thought Edelstein had looked unimpressed before, the look he received at those words corrected him. The irritation was back, and he grabbed the other man's wrist again, giving it a light tug. "Come on," he grumbled, "we don't have all day."

Edelstein sighed, but he nodded, and when they seated themselves on one of the half-finished sets—part of a wall, perhaps, or maybe it was an epic ode to a rock god, Gilbert didn't know—he pulled out his script, adjusting his glasses again.

"You're not as funny as you think you are, Abraham," he read flawlessly, and Gilbert snorted once more before picking up his own script, rattling off the lines whilst lounging lazily against the set, a smirk on his face. He was already calculating the many ways he could throw Edelstein off his game, almost disturbed by the sudden need to see Edelstein as less than pristine and perfect. He had months to do that, though, and Gilbert could plan for the future. For now he let the familiarity of reading lines wash over him until Edelstein was no longer Edelstein but Satz, and the mindset of Abraham had fully consumed him.

"Well, sir, I guess you don't know as much as you thought you did," Abraham crowed later on, when Gilbert was reviewing the take, and when Satz's eyes flashed and his jaw clenched Gilbert thought he could see something familiar glimmering in the man's violet eyes, something entirely Satz and Edelstein at the same time.

"You are so certain?" Satz said, his body radiating tension, and Gilbert's lips curved into a shit-eating grin when he recognised the expression on Edelstein-Satz's face.

A challenge.