#armandoiannucci

sharon must have loved him, at one point. they got married, after all, stayed married for - how long again? 24 years? there had to have been love there. matt doesn’t know, he and jim started being good friends during the tail end of the marriage. during the ‘let’s try and see if we can make this work for the kids’ phase. but there had been a time, matt presumes, when there had been more affection than obligation.

after he gets divorced, jim gets...well, not love, but a decent one night imitation of it, from a variety of women. possibly a few men too, matt doesn’t really hawk over jim’s sex life. he hears rumors and there’s a literal article about jim’s exploits but other than that, nothing. 

eventually, he gets liz to love him. are they in love? matt’s not sure, he doesn’t really ask about it. that’s private. but still...matt thinks of skeleton keys, keys that open any lock. it seems like jim can unlock anyone’s legs, anyone’s heart, with relative ease. his relationships, his conquests, even the people who care about him from the shadows. 

anyone with eyes knows that jim’s gotten tapper to love him, to fall in love with him, completely and wholeheartedly. at least they should, matt thinks. how can anyone watch tapper give jim those looks, those heartbroken, beautifully affectionate, love-me-tender eyed looks, and not realize that tapper’s all but handed his heart to jim on a silver platter. he has, with almost no hesitation, no scruples, like his devotion is the most natural thing in the world. 

( the worst part is that while jim is the skeleton key for everyone’s heart, there’s none for his, it’s just that guarded, he has to let you in. and he threw the door open for tapper, with his smiles and fondness. )

as for matt. well, jim’s had matt’s love since practically day one. jim’s gotten matt to love him for years now. how can he not? jim’s beautiful, and he’s funny, and he’s eclectic, and he has these moments of sharp insight that all come together in this wonderful combination of a man. matt loves him so he takes pictures, matt loves him so he goes out with him frequently, matt loves him so they’re good friends, matt loves him. how can he not, with the way jim’s eyes light up when he laughs, making matt’s heart flutter? how can he not, with the way jim says fuck in a low tone and makes him weak at the knees? how can he not, when jim’s always at the corner of his mind?