Eddy was glad to know that the man recognized the sword. Honestly it wasnt that obscure, the book came out in 73, the movie in 87, and it was the type of cult classic that many had a passing knowledge of just from how prevalent it was in pop culture. But not many in Eddy's immediate social circle (a very inaccurate term, he wasn't sociable enough to even have a circle, he had a social scatter plot) bothered with such things. Needless to say, Eddy had no idea what the kids were into these days.<br/><br/>It was heartwarming to know that the Princess Bride was still relevant, though, that people still loved that campy magic of a happy ending. He let his arm relax as he began to explain, his voice a gentle rumble not unlike the rain pouring outside.<br/><br/>"It's no argument that Inigo Montoya is the most iconic character of the movie, the swordsmanship, the revenge arc..." Eddy's voice dropped an octave as he lazily imitated the accent "'...Prepare to die...' I almost got the quote instead, but then I saw an interview of Mandy Patinkin, the man who played Inigo.<br/><br/>"Mandy's dad died of cancer, you see, and so when he was doing the avenging scene with the six fingered man he said that he wasnt killing the man but killing the cancer that had taken his dad. He wanted his dad back just as badly as Inigo did, so in that moment when the six fingered man died, he said he felt like his father was alive again and I just..."<br/><br/>Eddy's voice trailed off, still affected by the scene despite having watched it a thousand times. It was almost like prodding a bruise if he thought too hard about why it was so important to him, but the pain was proof that something had touched him, had gotten past his defences to leave something deep and lasting beneath his skin. That the ache was still there after all this time was almost a comfort. He could still care about something that much.<br/><br/>"My grandmother died of cancer."<br/><br/>Eddy remembered how he felt when he first watched that scene, barely 20 years old and his sweet mimaw gone 2 years beforehand. He remembered how Inigo bellowed that line, 'Give me back my father, you son of a bitch!' and how it stuck with him.<br/><br/>Eddy hadn't thought of his own father, the man had abandoned him when he was barely 5 and to this day Eddy didnt care if the bastard was alive or not. But mimaw was the one that had loved him, the one that had raised him, and he had helplessly watched as she faded away just as he was becoming a full grown man.<br/><br/>The way that Inigo had acted, the raw anger and grief of having someone he loved taken away from him before he was ready, before he was prepared to live without them... there were too many parallels for Eddy not to resonate with the character. And then later when he had learned that the trauma of cancer had fueled Mandy's heartwrenching performance, Eddy had cried.<br/><br/>He hadnt even cried at the funeral, but it was years later and a dumb movie about true love that had him bawling like a child. Because he wanted his mimaw back too no matter how old he got.<br/><br/>But that was a too embarrassing to explain and too personal to share with a complete stranger, so he shrugged and left the rest unsaid. He wasn't even sure why he shared in the first place. He reached for his whiskey and gulped the rest down to wash out the tiny lump that was forming in his throat.<br/><br/>Eddy just had a lot of complicated feelings about Princess Bride, okay?