#anyway 'well-intentioned' torture is worse than maliciously intended. thanks

[bitegore]

pointing yelling pointing some more. yelling. harm done doesnt give a damn about your intentions it just gives a damn about where you point the gun.

[fanmoose12]

He's invited to their engagement party. Levi doesn't know if it's a cruel joke or a horrible misunderstanding. Quite frankly, he's not sure what's worse. He decides not to go either way. He doesn't think his heart can take it. And he doubts he'd be a welcomed guest there anyway.

But then Moblit visits their office. He doesn't come to Hange, doesn't bring flowers or other gifts. No, he goes straight to him.

"Can we talk, Levi?" he pocks his head inside, smiling slightly. The smile is painfully awkward, and yet endlessly sincere. What a fucking sweetheart, Levi thinks bitterly. So different from him. Perhaps, that's why Hange chose him in the end.

"What do you want?" he grunts, staring at his computer screen and trying to appear busier than he actually is. But Moblit either doesn't get the hint, or doesn't care. Wearing that same damn smile, he walks further into Levi's office and sits down on a chair that stands by his desk.

"It's about the engagement party," he gets straight to the point, almost leaving Levi breathless. The audacity... And he thought the other man was a sweetheart. "You're the only one who didn't give an answer..."

Levi hopes Moblit doesn't ask for his reason. Calling Hange's fiance a fucking moron would probably destroy what little relationship they still have.

"I know your history with Hange isn't the simplest one..." the smile falters for a second, but doesn't leave Moblit's face completely. "But she still holds you in high regard. She would want you to be there for her."

What an insolent fucking bastard. Wants him to be there? Wants to have his heart ripped out, more likely. Levi doesn't believe Hange is that cruel.

But if what Moblit tells him is true... If Hange really wants him to come, then he simply has no choice. He always had trouble with saying no to her, after all.

He makes this hard decision surprisingly easy.

"I'll be there, don't worry," he tells Moblit.

The man beams. He reaches out and catches Levi's hand, shaking it heartily. "Thank you so much," he says. "It'll mean so much to Hange, and I just want to make her happy, you know?"

More than you'll ever know, Levi thinks.

But, truth be told, he doesn't understand Moblit. If he was in his place - and there was a time where he almost was - he would never invite Hange's assholish ex to their engagement party, he'd rather kick his ass, and hard. But, perhaps, that's the difference between them, the difference that made Hange choose Moblit over him. Moblit places her happiness well above his own. And Levi can't thank him enough for that.

He can try, though.

"Thank you as well," he murmurs, and for a moment, Moblit's eyes fill with confusion. But then that second passes, and he seems to understand him, and his gaze softens, as he gives Levi a small nod.

"See you soon," he says, and leaves Levi's office.

He stares at the closed door for another minute, trying to understand what had possessed him to agree to it. To willingly go and celebrate Hange's engagement to another man... Something is definitely wrong with him.

That's called torturing yourself, a malicious voice in his head whispers.

Levi's intent to agree.

***

He realizes what a mistake he made pretty quickly. Two seconds after entering the café Moblit had rented out for the occasion, to be exact.

He walks in, sees Hange and Moblit in a middle of a room, dancing, while everyone cheers on them, and wants to walk out immediately.

The song choice is awful as well. He always hated Walk the Moon.

He's still by the door, and, maybe, if he leaves now, no one would notice. He almost turns back but then-

Then he remembers.

She would want you to be there for her

With a deep sigh that gets lost in a loud beat of music, he walks inside. He moves as discreetly as possible, avoiding everyone's curious eyes, as he tries to find a seat in the deepest, darkest corner of the café.

He finds it, fortunately. And, surprisingly, someone is already occupying it. His eyes widen, as he recognizes Petra. Soft-spoken and sweet, she can't exactly be called a life of the party. Yet for her to be hiding in the corner... It's a little bit strange, Levi can't deny it.

His thoughts about Petra are chased away when a new song comes in.

Oh, her eyes, her eyes

Make the stars look like they're not shinin'

God, if there is someone he hates more than Walk the Moon, it's Bruno Mars. The song is fitting though, he can't deny.

She is perfect just the way she is.

He turns away from Petra and heads for the bar.

He orders vodka on the rocks for himself, and - because he can be a gentleman sometimes - he also asks for a cocktail that is so sugary it can probably give one cavities for Petra.

When he sits next to her, handing her a drink, Petra smiles and thanks him. A faint blush colors her cheeks too, but Levi ignores it, churning it up to the poor lighting of the room. He ignores Petra's attempt at conversation as well, gladly he has all the reason to - the music is too loud to hear anything else. For once, Levi is thankful for that.

Petra keeps glancing at him, though, and the red on her face gets more prominent, and with a deep sigh Levi turns to her.

Petra is pretty, incredibly so. Only a blind wouldn't see it. Only a blind wouldn't see her obvious crush on him as well. Petra is sweet and pretty, maybe, he should talk to her. Maybe, it'd ease some of his heartbreak. Not all of it, obviously. Only one person can do it. The person who is still twirling around with the man who is not him.

His hand is almost reaching to her, his fingers are almost at her forearm, when a fucking photo montage begins.

Set to A Thousand Years.

He curses and bolts out of his place. Even he is not masochistic enough to watch hundreds of photos with the love of his fucking life in the arms of another man.

He walks outside and takes a deep breath. His tense muscles relaxe instantly when the sounds of music and laughter and delighted cheering fades away. He leans against the bricked wall and directs his gaze up to the sky. Stars aren't visible yet, the wind is slightly too harsh to be standing in just jacket and shirt and he forgot his cigarette pack, but Levi chases those complaints away.

He's almost content and he intends to stay this way, but then-

The door opens, and Levi turns to it with a scowl, thinking that it's Petra who decided to follow him. He realizes his mistake immediately, and his breath hitches, when he is met with those brown deep eyes.

Fuck.

He swiftly tears his gaze away, suddenly extremely aware of his heartbeat.

"Sorry!" Hange chuckles, the sound too hollow to be genuine. Out of the corner of his eyes, Levi sees her running a hand through her hair, messing it up even more. "I didn't wish to-"

"You didn't," he breathes out. He closes his eyes for a second, mustering all of his courage, and then looks up at her. "The street is wide enough to fit both of us. Stop being an idiot, four-eyes."

The nickname slips easily from his lips. It is only after he said it, only after he sees the shaken expression on Hange's face that realizes he hasn't called her that ever since their breakup.

He doesn't acknowledge his mistake. Bringing it up now means opening another can of worms he's not sure he can get through. Having Hange so close to him is already hard enough.

"Why aren't you inside?" he asks, attempting to sound nonchalant and not getting even close to achieving it. "A fience shouldn't skip her own engagement party. Especially when the photo montage is on..."

"Oh please," Hange huffs. "I stared so much at these photos while we selected them, I am getting sick just by looking at them. Besides," she pouts. "Moblit didn't let me share our private photos."

In spite of himself, Levi chuckles. "Are you saying photos like that exist?"

Hange snickers too. "Oh god, of course, they do not. I think Moblit would have a heart attack should I even offer to take a photo like that."

"So you're saying your fiancé is boring?"

Hange scoffs, and elbows him in a side. "I'm saying he's orderly."

"Same thing," Levi shrugs, and Hange laughs.

His treacherous heart skips a beat. Something warm spreads through him, as he listens to Hange's laughter. It grows warmer and spreads further, until it feels like he's enveloped by a sunlight - he's content, relaxed and happy. Hange always had such an effect on him.

She was the only who ever did.

"Thanks for coming," she tells him, after her laughter subdues. "I know it's probably awkward..."

"It's fine," he shakes his head.

"It's good to see you, Levi," a smile plays on her lips, the sweet and soft one that Levi always thought was reserved exclusively for him. He wonders if that is still true.

"It's good to see you too," he murmurs. "I'm glad you're happy, Hange," he adds, looking at her. There is a stray lock of hair right next to her nose, and he gently pushes it away, tucking it behind her ear. "If you need anything, know that I'm here for you. I always will be."

He turns away and leaves after that, before he does something stupid like confess his undying love.

That's probably the last thing Hange wants to hear anyway.

He walks inside the cafe and returns to Petra's side. He looks at her, the words "want to ditch that shitty party?" almost at the tip of his tongue. But then Hange walks back in and their eyes meet across the room. She lifts her lips in a smile and tentatively raises her hand, waving at him. Levi nods, fighting back a smile of his own. His eyes still soften, though.

The hand he had outstretched towards Petra falls limply to his side.

Maybe, she'd help him forget, maybe, she'd ease some - not all, obviously - of his heartache.

But, apparently, he's not a complete asshole, because he can't do it - not to Petra, not to himself.

Not to Hange.

He lifts a glass to his lips and turns his gaze to the small stage. There Moblit is telling some story - either about their first kiss or their first date, Levi doesn't listen to him at all. Instead his eyes are focused on Hange - the faint blush on her cheeks, her glistening eyes, as she keeps laughing, laughing, laughing. Their gazes lock for a second, and her eyes turn just a little bit brighter.

At least one of them is happy. Levi revels in that.

[incoherentbabblings]

Is it too late to ask for more asks? 'Cos if not how about (separate pls), 2, 20, 43, 70, 77, 87, 95, 100 if possible? Thanks, I love your writing and all your AO3 fics, they are just so well written.

Last one! Anon I won't do all of these, as some were requested in previous asks, and I have written a bit too much over this week, but here's one last one for this fic game. Consider it a preview? A taster? A possibility? Of a fic I wanna write over the winter. Subject to many changes certainly, or not being written at all. I dunno. Anyway, last one! The fics from the past two weeks will be going up on Ao3 over the weekend, thank you for playing guys!

Birthday Ask Game

70. “After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t think that I love you?”

He found her in the library. He should have expected as much. It was where they first met, where they had spent most of their time getting to know each other. It was where Tim had developed a crush on her, guiltily broken up with his boyfriend, met her boyfriend, learned she was Robin, learned that her boyfriend was about six stops from crazy town, had their first kiss, first fight… honestly, how Miss Gordon hadn’t fired Stephanie and banned Tim for life was beyond him.

Still, his heart broke as he wandered up into the reference library, and found her crumpled up on the floor, tucked away and hidden in an aisle that was so rarely visited. She had a textbook of some kind open on her lap, and her cheeks were ruddy and wet.

“Steph…” Tim whispered.

She looked up at him, mournful but not surprised, then returned to reading. She spoke quietly, and Tim stood still at the end of the aisle, listening intently to her speech.

“You know, they once did group therapy sessions, at some Ivy League school, for people with narcissistic personality disorder. It took three weeks before their first names were mentioned. That’s how self-involved they can be. I mean, it’s not malicious always. Not in that group, definitely. It just never crossed their minds to ask what the other members were called. They’re not bad people. One person left and never came back because the group leader yawned, and they thought it was at them, despite them not even speaking at the time. They were so embarrassed at the thought that they were being made fun of. And we all think like that sometimes, right? That anxiety and worry at how others see you. But you try and remind yourself, the world and its people don’t revolve around you. You train yourself to learn perspective. So… it’s not that they’re bad people, it’s just… certain behaviours can crop up. And if no-one calls it out, or, worse, if they’re rewarded for thinking and behaving a certain way… why change? You know? It can lead to entitlement, and jealousy, and manipulative behaviour. You can’t control your emotions and how you feel a lot of the time, but you can… you can control your actions and behaviour. At least, that’s what I think.”

Tim moved to sit next to her. He closed the heavy book, then took her hand.

“You aren’t responsible for him. What he did. What he said. What he will keep doing.”

She nodded, gnawing her lip. She had a feeling Bruce would disagree. Weakly, she muttered a simple, “Yeah.”

Daringly, Tim reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He didn’t miss the way she leaned towards his hand as he did so.

“And no playing armchair psychologist Steph. No good comes of that. The guy is not your responsibility. Nothing you could have said or done would have made him… made him better.”

She screwed up her eyes. “Yeah.”

Tim looked up and down the aisle, hearing no-one else wandering around. “Did you come here for the quiet?” he asked. “Do you want to go back to your dorm?”

“I don’t feel safe there anymore.”

Stephanie scrubbed at her red eyes, and Tim's heart broke.

“Mine then?”

Her expression splintered, and she gave a horrible wheezy breath, air strangling in her throat. She gaped at him, disbelieving.

“You can’t want anything to do with me after all of this.”

“What? Will you consider me as crazy as one of your psychology case studies if I say yes?”

“That’s a shitty thing to say. It’s not a joke, Tim,” she chided. “Don’t say things like that. My ex, my… my job. You nearly died. For the sake of what?”

“For you.”

What he intended to be reassuring only further distressed her. “Stop it.”

“I’m not lying,” he urged, voice rising a bit too high. “After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t think that I love you?”

“Oh! Oh! Oh my God.” She began to fidget, tossing the book far away from herself, fingers twitching wildly and gasping wildly, like there wasn't enough air in the room.

“I’m serious!”

Her eyes, pretty blue eyes, were as wide as dinner plates when she responded, voice a paradoxically loud hiss. “I know you are! But what on Earth are you doing saying it like that? You can't just... declare things in that manner!”

“What? Honestly?” He watched as Stephanie got to her feet, marching up and down the aisle. She stepped so firmly she was leaving imprints in the stained carpet. He remained cross legged on the floor. “I wouldn’t have put myself through that if I didn’t think you were worth it. I love you Steph. I want to help people. I think we can do that together.”

She stopped her incessant marching at the end of the aisle, and looked back at him. The affection was shining in her eyes.

“I love you too,” she whispered, only to resume marching. “But”-

“But…” Tim quietly repeated.

“But you two need to leave. We’re closing in five minutes.”

The pair jumped, Stephanie squeaking, Tim leaping to his feet. A wheelchair rolled into view at Stephanie’s end of the aisle, and Miss Gordon was staring at them, unimpressed.

“Bad breakups and tortured declarations are all very fitting of this setting, but it’s past ten. Go home already, Stephanie.”

“But Babs”—

Barbara blinked behind her thick glasses. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles, and there were distinct dark circles reaching her cheek bones. Seemed she’d had a rough day too.

“For the love of God, Stephanie. There’s a nice boy wanting to help you. Maybe say yes and stop overcomplicating things, hmm?”

The two women had some unspoken conversation, until finally, Barbara rolled backwards, away and out of sight.

“Get out of my library you two! Come on lovebirds! Hurry up!” she called. There was a threat in her tone, but also something maternal and good humoured too.

Stephanie whirled back around, having been forced into a decision by the college librarian. “I’ll go to yours if you promise no funny business.”

Tim shook his head and held up his hands. “I’ll be saint-like.”

Stephanie narrowed her eyes. “You’re not a member of some weird cult?”

“Not even Scientology.”

“You’re not interested in me because of… my-my boss… are you?”

Tim clicked his tongue. “He’s more of a negative than a perk to being with you. To be honest.”

“And you won’t go after any friends of mine if we have a fight?”

“Friends? Not… not more?”

Stephanie pressed her hands to her mouth and nose, cupping her face so he couldn’t see her blush.

“Stop flirting.”

Tim took off his denim jacket, holding out the arms for her. “Can’t help it. I said I’d be saint-like, not made of stone. Come on, it’s cold out.”

She observed him for a short while, a tentative hopefulness in her expression. Tim resolved to nurture it. Slowly, she nodded, smiling softly to herself, and allowed him to slide her arms into the sleeves. Pulling it in close, she inhaled deeply. Tim grinned jauntily.

“Let’s go home?”

She leapt into his arms. He caught her and squeezed tight. It felt like he had been doing the action for all his life, so easily and comfortably she fit in his hold. He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied,

“Home.”

[talkoverfrenchfries]

That’s Angel Dust

I guess, since I posted a post already at the time of this one, I might as well continue my little on-off series! So here’s the next one

--------

Zu was let into the hotel lobby. Alastor had his arm draped over his shoulders still. It was not exactly uncomfortable but he would rather not be this close to a stranger, regardless of how well-known or how infamous this stranger is. The only reason Zu didn’t make a fuss was because of something he’s learned a long time ago, back when he was still alive. If you let people know you don’t want to be touched, it just makes them want to touch you more.

Charlie was excited and started rambling on about the hotel. How Zu would be happy here if he checked in, how they’d be such great friends, etc.

“Oh, but let’s not forget how rewarding it’d be if you redeemed herself and checked out, moving into heaven!”

Zu couldn’t help but flinch when he heard that. He also couldn’t help but ask, “with those angels?”

Charlie’s smile grew bigger, clearly more excited at what seemed to be interest in Zu. Of course, Alastor was still smiling all creepy as ever but gave no other reaction. Particularly since he’s still draping his arm and would have likely noticed the flinch even if he wasn’t looking at Zu directly or even in peripheral vision.

Well, Zu wasn’t having that. He intended to leave as soon as possible. So he squirmed out of Alastor’s embrace, the latter of which not even fighting against the squirming.

Zu was about to walk out but then he did a double-take. He saw a vision of beauty on the stool. The vision of beauty had white fur with a heart-shaped spot on the back of his head. He wore a suit jacket with a pink and white stripe pattern, pink gloves on each of his four arms, and a pair of thigh-high boots.

The vision of beauty then turned his head, probably having sensed from being watched. He gave a rather smug smile, gold tooth visible in it, and sent a wink in Zu’s direction. The eyes were appealing, too, one eye seeming like a regular eye with a pink iris and the other eye being black with a pink iris but without a pupil.

Zu wasn’t sure how to react. The vision of beauty may be incredibly attractive but he wasn’t attracted enough to flirt back or have an one-night stand. However, that’s when Alastor got animated, talking once more.

“You know, my dear boy, there’s more to this hotel than just the wonderful interior of which you’re seeing. You can also indulge yourself in entertainment here. In fact, let me give you a tour! What do you say?”

Zu was about to ask what does Alastor mean by ‘entertainment’. However, he stilled and hesitated, wondering if he even wants to know. It didn’t really matter in the end, though, because Alastor had grabbed Zu’s wrist and started moving him throughout the hotel.

“Here we are! The first room I’m showing has an acquaintance of mine! They’re not exactly well but they’d love to meet you!”

Alastor opened the door and, at that, Zu let out a scream of horror and disgust. The door had revealed some kind of deformed mass of scales, fur, feathers, eyes, mouths, and beaks. It really didn’t help that, upon noticing Zu, the deformed mass moved itself towards him. It was done at such a fast pace, too, like Zu was a lifeline for it and it had to grab him quickly.

Zu backed away and began to run. However, Alastor laughed and grabbed his wrist again and moved to another room.

“If you liked the last room, then this one will be right up your alley!”

“Wait- no! Wait!”

Alastor just simply opened the door like Zu never said anything. This door had let out floating eyeballs that surrounded Zu. These eyeballs were mostly surrounded by flesh but had wings in the back. They seemed intent watching Zu and Zu felt like they were viewing him with malicious intent.

“Sorry that you showed you two rooms already but I think I won’t be checking in after all.”

Zu tried getting through the eyeballs. However, not only did they not move, even when he tried getting them to move himself, but they watched Zu even more closely and with more obvious malicious intent.

Alastor made the eyeballs go away but grabbed Zu’s wrist once more. “Well, I don’t accept your apology. In order to make up for it, I’ll have to take you to more rooms!”

And so it went on like for a while. Zu was subjected to rooms that didn’t make the tour better as it went on. Charlie and Vaggie have been trying to find Zu and Alastor but the latter keeps using his powers to slip away. Apparently, he wanted to continue his fun. Zu hasn’t had luck getting away, either. Alastor was always teleporting next to him or using his powers in some shape or form to keep Zu from slipping away.

The latest room wasn’t any more fun than all of the others. It just had Zu in the dark and surrounded by black widow spiders. Those spiders weren’t even humanoid demons. They were flat-out actual black widow spiders. That room was personal torture for Zu. In fact, he’s whipped out his gun and tried shooting them.

The noise had alerted Charlie and Vaggie to his whereabouts. Alastor decided then that he’s had enough fun for today. So Zu stumbled out of the room and backed away ten feet away from the black widow spider room. He was on his hands and knees, taking deep breaths.

Charlie ran over to where she found Zu, followed closely by Vaggie.

“Zu, I’m so sorry we lost you. I promise that this will be the last of trouble for today. I hope whatever Alastor did won’t give you a bad impression of the Happy Hotel.”

Zu whipped his head up, clearly angry and upset. “Whatever he di- BAD IMPRESSION?! I just got of a room full of spiders! I even got bit a shit ton of times!”

Vaggie groaned, mumbling out “damn it, Alastor...”

Charlie tried doing damage control, apologizing and offering to take over on the tour. Of course, Zu didn’t want any more and slapped Charlie’s hand away.

“Hey! Do not hurt her! I don’t care how mad you are!”

Zu turned his anger towards her and a heated argument broke out. Charlie tried to defuse the situation but, obviously, she wasn’t very successful.

Then another voice broke into it. “Hey there, handsome. How about giving me some your time instead to the girls? Those two are already dating, anyway.”

Zu now snapped his attention to whoever talked just now. “Do you really think I’m-”

He was surprised to find that it was the vision of beauty from before. Apparently, that’s what his voice sounds like.

“Wait, it’s you? What are you doing here?”

“If I’m lucky, then I’ll be fucking with you.”

Zu was surprised by the direct invitation for sex that his anger ended up decreasing a little. Although, it probably helped that he let it out at first, arguing with Vaggie and snapping at Charlie.

The vision of beauty walked towards him with a kind of look on his face, all the while ignoring Vaggie’s protests to not make this worse and Charlie’s pleas to not to make things worse.

Then Zu was face to face with the vision of beauty, the latter bending over enough to be face to face in the first place. Then he introduced himself to him.

“My name’s Angel Dust but you’ll probably be calling me the best fuck of her life.”

Zu felt rather uncomfortable then, even as he thought the smile he was given was just as beautiful as the body itself.

-------

Thanks to anyone’s who’s bothered to read this! I promise to post more when I have time!