(It has been a long time since I saw the movie or read the book. But wow, this was fun.)
...
Four years after Buttercup dies on the high seas, victim of the Dread Pirate Roberts, Prince Humperdinck offers Westley a deal: to become the Prince Consort.
Westley's back still aches when it rains, a terrible reminder of the injury that led to Buttercup seeking their fortune, and there is nothing for him on the farm that is a memorial all he once had.
"I'll never love you," he tells the prince.
The prince laughs. "Or I you," the prince says. "This is a contract of convenience, nothing more."
.
Westley dreams of her, always. The way she haughtily said farm boy and watched him, the way she kissed, the way she fell into his arms. The way she took to hard labor when he injured himself so stupidly, how her body (which had never been soft) tightened into something new, something so strong.
The way she said goodbye, hair cut short, wearing his clothes altered to her frame. “I’ll come home,” she promised, leaning down to kiss him, one hand cupping his cheek. “Dearest Westley, I’ll always come home to you.”
But she never did. She never did, and he dreams of her, wrapped in thick blankets, tucked into the softest bed.
He always wakes with the promise, I’ll never love again. He never does.
.
He is out walking because his back is acting up, so he couldn’t stand a horse’s gait. He is out walking to escape the castle’s stuffy atmosphere and the courtiers’ disdain.
A farm boy can be dressed in finery, but he will still be a farm boy. A farm boy can be taught elocution and memorize dictionaries but he will still be a farm boy.
Westley is out walking when the ruffians abduct him. He almost relishes the adventure.
.
A genius, a swordsman, and a giant plan to start a war with Westley’s body as the spark.
“The prince doesn’t love me,” he tries explaining but that does not matter. Humperdinck might not, or the courtiers – but the people do. He is charming. He is handsome. He is one of their own.
“We are being followed,” the swordsman says, interrupting Westley’s argument with the genius.
“Inconceivable!” the genius whines.
Westley rolls his eyes.
.
The giant carries Westley, the genius, and the swordsman up the towering Cliffs of Insanity and then they all watch in shock as the stranger in black follows them up the rope.
“Inconceivable!” the genius repeats, and then orders the swordsman to deal with it because they have a schedule to keep.
When they look back half an hour later, the stranger in black is following them and the genius shouts, “Inconceivable!”
“Stop saying that!” Westley shouts back. “It is clearly conceivable!”
The genius backhands him and orders the giant to deal with it since the swordsman failed. “Keep up, your highness,” the genius says snottily. “You’ll die either way but it’s up to you how painfully.”
Westley keeps his head down and lets the genius drag him along by his bound hands, stumbling after him since the genius decides to blindfold his eyes – probably because it didn’t take a genius to figure out that since the giant and swordsman were gone, chronic back pain or not, Westley could utterly crush the genius.
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1/2: Buttercup/Westley, AU
Date: 2014-09-29 04:46 pm (UTC)(It has been a long time since I saw the movie or read the book. But wow, this was fun.)
...
Four years after Buttercup dies on the high seas, victim of the Dread Pirate Roberts, Prince Humperdinck offers Westley a deal: to become the Prince Consort.
Westley's back still aches when it rains, a terrible reminder of the injury that led to Buttercup seeking their fortune, and there is nothing for him on the farm that is a memorial all he once had.
"I'll never love you," he tells the prince.
The prince laughs. "Or I you," the prince says. "This is a contract of convenience, nothing more."
.
Westley dreams of her, always. The way she haughtily said farm boy and watched him, the way she kissed, the way she fell into his arms. The way she took to hard labor when he injured himself so stupidly, how her body (which had never been soft) tightened into something new, something so strong.
The way she said goodbye, hair cut short, wearing his clothes altered to her frame. “I’ll come home,” she promised, leaning down to kiss him, one hand cupping his cheek. “Dearest Westley, I’ll always come home to you.”
But she never did. She never did, and he dreams of her, wrapped in thick blankets, tucked into the softest bed.
He always wakes with the promise, I’ll never love again. He never does.
.
He is out walking because his back is acting up, so he couldn’t stand a horse’s gait. He is out walking to escape the castle’s stuffy atmosphere and the courtiers’ disdain.
A farm boy can be dressed in finery, but he will still be a farm boy. A farm boy can be taught elocution and memorize dictionaries but he will still be a farm boy.
Westley is out walking when the ruffians abduct him. He almost relishes the adventure.
.
A genius, a swordsman, and a giant plan to start a war with Westley’s body as the spark.
“The prince doesn’t love me,” he tries explaining but that does not matter. Humperdinck might not, or the courtiers – but the people do. He is charming. He is handsome. He is one of their own.
“We are being followed,” the swordsman says, interrupting Westley’s argument with the genius.
“Inconceivable!” the genius whines.
Westley rolls his eyes.
.
The giant carries Westley, the genius, and the swordsman up the towering Cliffs of Insanity and then they all watch in shock as the stranger in black follows them up the rope.
“Inconceivable!” the genius repeats, and then orders the swordsman to deal with it because they have a schedule to keep.
When they look back half an hour later, the stranger in black is following them and the genius shouts, “Inconceivable!”
“Stop saying that!” Westley shouts back. “It is clearly conceivable!”
The genius backhands him and orders the giant to deal with it since the swordsman failed. “Keep up, your highness,” the genius says snottily. “You’ll die either way but it’s up to you how painfully.”
Westley keeps his head down and lets the genius drag him along by his bound hands, stumbling after him since the genius decides to blindfold his eyes – probably because it didn’t take a genius to figure out that since the giant and swordsman were gone, chronic back pain or not, Westley could utterly crush the genius.
.