» INCEPTION FIC: my own worst enemy (r)
.my own worst enemy (r)
the one where cobb is a coward, but arthur is arguably worse.
They have this mutual understanding, that when Cobb presses Arthur into the sheets and elicits moans from the slighter man, that it’s nothing serious; it’s only a mindless fuck for Cobb-to rid himself of his stressful job as an architect while running an underground dreaming network that is definitely illegal. When Cobb slides into Arthur without much thought or remorse, it’s understood that Cobb isn’t there to take care of him, that he never has been, because at the root of it all (as Arthur had realized as soon as he had met the man years before) he’s selfish and inconsiderate and only cares about what’s closest to him.
Arthur, though his best friend, isn’t one of those things.
And inside his head, Arthur will scream, and thrash, will call Cobb a coward of a man for cheating on Mal, who is lovely and possibly the best thing that a man like Cobb could ever have-what he never really deserves. Inside his head, Arthur will lash out, punch, scratch, and bite every inch of spare skin because Cobb’s the only person that he will ever love in the way that a man could only love.
He never does any of these though, because on his best days, Arthur’s able to admit that he’s just as much of a coward as Cobb is, for not putting a stop to his months ago, for not telling Mal that he’s fucking her husband behind her back (best friends usually share these things, but then again, best friends usually don’t fuck their best friend’s husbands). At the back of his mind, he knows it’s wrong.
But Arthur, behind the passive face that he wears as a mask, is not much more of a man than Cobb is. He’s selfish and reckless and likes Cobb more than he should, and is willing to take advantage of the fact that Cobb’s lonely and looking for a release that isn’t his wife (“Not like this, Arthur,” Cobb grunts into sweat-slick skin, “it’s never like this.”).
Sometimes, Arthur thinks he’s the lesser man out of both of them.
the one where cobb is a coward, but arthur is arguably worse.
They have this mutual understanding, that when Cobb presses Arthur into the sheets and elicits moans from the slighter man, that it’s nothing serious; it’s only a mindless fuck for Cobb-to rid himself of his stressful job as an architect while running an underground dreaming network that is definitely illegal. When Cobb slides into Arthur without much thought or remorse, it’s understood that Cobb isn’t there to take care of him, that he never has been, because at the root of it all (as Arthur had realized as soon as he had met the man years before) he’s selfish and inconsiderate and only cares about what’s closest to him.
Arthur, though his best friend, isn’t one of those things.
And inside his head, Arthur will scream, and thrash, will call Cobb a coward of a man for cheating on Mal, who is lovely and possibly the best thing that a man like Cobb could ever have-what he never really deserves. Inside his head, Arthur will lash out, punch, scratch, and bite every inch of spare skin because Cobb’s the only person that he will ever love in the way that a man could only love.
He never does any of these though, because on his best days, Arthur’s able to admit that he’s just as much of a coward as Cobb is, for not putting a stop to his months ago, for not telling Mal that he’s fucking her husband behind her back (best friends usually share these things, but then again, best friends usually don’t fuck their best friend’s husbands). At the back of his mind, he knows it’s wrong.
But Arthur, behind the passive face that he wears as a mask, is not much more of a man than Cobb is. He’s selfish and reckless and likes Cobb more than he should, and is willing to take advantage of the fact that Cobb’s lonely and looking for a release that isn’t his wife (“Not like this, Arthur,” Cobb grunts into sweat-slick skin, “it’s never like this.”).
Sometimes, Arthur thinks he’s the lesser man out of both of them.