Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.
As Arthur entered the Warehouse, Cobb watched him, carefully. There was a new cockiness to his walk, and he smiled at Cobb, almost ingratiatingly. "Morning."
"Arthur." Cobb nodded, noticing how the Point Man moved over to the desk with graceful ease. He looked at him, and realising he needed to get away from the younger man, began to move towards the back office. Arthur did not even look up, preferring instead to focus upon the files he was calling up on his laptop.
Cobb shut the door carefully, and sat down, breathing hard. He leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes. Then, he opened them again.
"Its not wrong to not want to be lonely," he told himself aloud, one ear listening for the entry of the Architect. "I need her."
He bit his lip, falling into reflective thought. He'd first met her through Miles - thought she was a little unsure but admired her originality and swift ability to learn how to manage the dreams. She'd grown in confidence, and he'd watched. He'd permitted her to break into his inner sanctury, to see the dreams and feelings he still harboured for Mal. Of his guilt over her death.
And then she'd helped him break free.
As he'd left her at the airport, preparing for an emotional reunion with his children, he'd told himself not to look back. But he had. And as he had done so, he'd watched Arthur smoothly appear next to Ariadne, offer to help her with her bag. Feeling a pang of jealousy, he'd turned and continued walking, his head held high.
He guessed he should have expected it. Ariadne would of course be more interested in Arthur. A young, handsome man with no ties - infinitely more attractive than a grief stricken widower with two children, who was, he thought ruefully, going slightly soft in the middle. He blinked - Arthur was in his prime.
And he, he thought, was not.
He remembered the lunch he'd suggested when Arthur and Ariadne had begun a tentative relationship. He'd listened to Arthur talk happily, as his steak and salad went untouched.
"So, you think this might have a future?" he'd asked, trying to appear casual.
"Well, possibly." Arthur almost blushed as he stared down at his plate. "I do..." As if sudddenly afraid of revealing too much, he used his fork to stab lettuce. "I'm just...well..."
Cobb nodded. "I see."
It had been hard, watching them together. The subtle smiles in the office, the little touches, stolen when no-one else was looking. Except one person, who was watching. And finding it hard to fight his jealousy.
It was easy to convince Arthur to start doing dream sharing. Cobb's excuse had been that he needed his help on a new project. All too easy to slip into Arthur's dreams, offering up projections of a whining, clinging Ariadne, subtly and carefully implanting the idea that he could do better.
And he'd noticed it had begun to work. Arthur had started to become increasingly cool to Ariadne, even terse. And, Cobb had noticed, he'd started to leer, openly, at other women.
Cobb realised it was working. The guilt he felt at incepting Arthur, at doing so for such a self-serving reason, was obliterated by the feeling of delight that it was causing a rift. That Ariadne was starting to have doubts.
And he, he thought, could be the person to try and soothe her wounded feelings.
A door creaked, and he got up. Walking into the warehouse, looking subdued, was the Architect. Feeling ready to approach her, and noticing how she eyed Arthur warily, he began to move out of the office.
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