Title: Four Views Of Cutler Beckett
Mar. 13th, 2011 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmic_tuesdaysTitle: Four Views Of Cutler Beckett
Author: Hannah R. Orlove
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Rating: PG
Pairings: None
Notes: Originally written for a challenge at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rough_magic, forgotten, rediscovered, forgotten again, and then unearthed to post.
He had come directly from Vienna, the engagement having been made several weeks in advance. Commanding the audience as a virtuoso might command an instrument, he was just as fascinating as the tricks he cast and illusions he spun out of the air. The night wore on and on and he repeated nothing from his repertoire.
Soon after the performance was over, he realized that one of the sons of the household was standing in the doorway, waiting to be acknowledged. He turned to look at the boy, struck by the intensity in his eyes.
“Show me something real.”
“I’m sorry?”
“What you did on the stage was nothing but mirrors and wires. I’ve seen more genuine spells on market days.”
“Everything I did tonight was real.”
“Convince me.”
The man looked at the boy and nodded. He turned his back to the boy and pulled off his shirt, revealing the images that had been inked into his back. The tattoos seemed to move about in the candlelight, and the boy let out a small gasp when he saw they did.
Cutler Beckett believes in the unreal.
---
The party is at its height, women and men gliding as they move about the dance floor, servants bustling about with food and drink, idle conversation wafting throughout the room along with the music. There are many that do not dance. Cutler is one of them, sipping his champagne quietly while looking about at the other guests.
They make jokes about him, men and women alike. He knows this without having to hear them; he has been to this party before – only the season and foods change – and is well aware that his stature is the source of much jesting. It has been for many years, and he has gotten used to it.
One of the women catches his eye, and he smiles while he raises his glass to her. She turns back to her companions and a ripple of conversation spreads throughout the group. He takes a longer drinks and, finding his glass empty, seeks out a servant with the appropriate tray.
He knows the jests, and he knows exactly what is thought of him. And it could hardly be farther from the truth. So once again, he lets them enjoy their words, knowing he would never make the mistake of underestimation based on appearance alone.
Cutler Beckett appreciates his stature.
---
Beckett practices all forms of armed combat available to him. He knows how to use swords and daggers, all kinds, alone or together. He has impeccable aim with bullets and arrows.
And, should he be caught unarmed – the chance for such a thing should never be ruled out – he has learned ways to defeat a man without any tools other than his body. A good deal of his time in the East Indies was spent learning what it is they teach there.
He has practiced fighting for a very long time. Each night, prior to sleeping, he takes special care of his hands: washing them, soothing them, and sometimes using special creams or powders to ensure they remain as smooth and fine as society wishes them to be. It may be well and good for former soldiers and sailors to have dirty hands, but it is unbecoming for a gentleman.
Cutler Beckett has clean hands.
---
Predicting the future is not as difficult as one might think. Beckett has explained this many times, and on every occasion he is surprised and amused that others have not realized this. They tend to think that the future is some sort of holy entity that was not meant for mortal eyes. There are methods that can be called upon for glimpses – tea leaves, crystals, the movement of the moon and stars and planets – but all they are said to offer is glimpses, and little meaning is provided to what’s found out.
They do not understand that they can look to the past, and what is around them, to see what is going to occur. That is all he has done, all his life, and it has served him better than anything any scrivener or seer could devise.
So many people seem to think that there are forces out in the world that push and prod them to act in a pattern set up before their birth. They think that there is nothing that can be done to change what the world will turn into.
All Beckett has to do is consider his own life to know how little truth there is to that.
Cutler Beckett does not believe in destiny.
Author: Hannah R. Orlove
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Rating: PG
Pairings: None
Notes: Originally written for a challenge at
rough_magic, forgotten, rediscovered, forgotten again, and then unearthed to post.He had come directly from Vienna, the engagement having been made several weeks in advance. Commanding the audience as a virtuoso might command an instrument, he was just as fascinating as the tricks he cast and illusions he spun out of the air. The night wore on and on and he repeated nothing from his repertoire.
Soon after the performance was over, he realized that one of the sons of the household was standing in the doorway, waiting to be acknowledged. He turned to look at the boy, struck by the intensity in his eyes.
“Show me something real.”
“I’m sorry?”
“What you did on the stage was nothing but mirrors and wires. I’ve seen more genuine spells on market days.”
“Everything I did tonight was real.”
“Convince me.”
The man looked at the boy and nodded. He turned his back to the boy and pulled off his shirt, revealing the images that had been inked into his back. The tattoos seemed to move about in the candlelight, and the boy let out a small gasp when he saw they did.
Cutler Beckett believes in the unreal.
---
The party is at its height, women and men gliding as they move about the dance floor, servants bustling about with food and drink, idle conversation wafting throughout the room along with the music. There are many that do not dance. Cutler is one of them, sipping his champagne quietly while looking about at the other guests.
They make jokes about him, men and women alike. He knows this without having to hear them; he has been to this party before – only the season and foods change – and is well aware that his stature is the source of much jesting. It has been for many years, and he has gotten used to it.
One of the women catches his eye, and he smiles while he raises his glass to her. She turns back to her companions and a ripple of conversation spreads throughout the group. He takes a longer drinks and, finding his glass empty, seeks out a servant with the appropriate tray.
He knows the jests, and he knows exactly what is thought of him. And it could hardly be farther from the truth. So once again, he lets them enjoy their words, knowing he would never make the mistake of underestimation based on appearance alone.
Cutler Beckett appreciates his stature.
---
Beckett practices all forms of armed combat available to him. He knows how to use swords and daggers, all kinds, alone or together. He has impeccable aim with bullets and arrows.
And, should he be caught unarmed – the chance for such a thing should never be ruled out – he has learned ways to defeat a man without any tools other than his body. A good deal of his time in the East Indies was spent learning what it is they teach there.
He has practiced fighting for a very long time. Each night, prior to sleeping, he takes special care of his hands: washing them, soothing them, and sometimes using special creams or powders to ensure they remain as smooth and fine as society wishes them to be. It may be well and good for former soldiers and sailors to have dirty hands, but it is unbecoming for a gentleman.
Cutler Beckett has clean hands.
---
Predicting the future is not as difficult as one might think. Beckett has explained this many times, and on every occasion he is surprised and amused that others have not realized this. They tend to think that the future is some sort of holy entity that was not meant for mortal eyes. There are methods that can be called upon for glimpses – tea leaves, crystals, the movement of the moon and stars and planets – but all they are said to offer is glimpses, and little meaning is provided to what’s found out.
They do not understand that they can look to the past, and what is around them, to see what is going to occur. That is all he has done, all his life, and it has served him better than anything any scrivener or seer could devise.
So many people seem to think that there are forces out in the world that push and prod them to act in a pattern set up before their birth. They think that there is nothing that can be done to change what the world will turn into.
All Beckett has to do is consider his own life to know how little truth there is to that.
Cutler Beckett does not believe in destiny.
