On the 56th expedition outside the walls, Lovino expected to find himself in the brunt of the action, blades slicing the necks of ten-meter class titans. Instead, he found himself on lookout in the trees above. It was his duty to send flares up if titans were spotted in the nearby area to warn the others.
"I signed up for the survey corps to try to kill the damn titans, not sit around and stare at bark," Lovino griped.
Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, his best friend with whom he had had far too many near-romantic experiences with, occupied the tree next to him. He sat in a lax position with his back resting against the bark and dirtying the white pants that was assigned to their uniform. "This is better than being dead," he gently reminded.
Lovino scoffed. "At this rate I'm going to die of boredom," he said. "You know, you might want to get your ass up off the bark. Levi will kill you for dirtying the pants again. Whose brilliant fucking idea was it to have white pants anyway? We're fighting literal monsters and yet we're expected to keep our pants tidy." His partner simply smiled.
The two had met during training, and the three years had flown by in the blink of an eye without either of them realizing how close they had become. He and Antonio had formed a small group with two others, a beautiful girl named Charlotte and her stoic older brother, Dan. Lovino had developed a small crush on the girl, though their friendship was kept intact despite awkward feelings. It was lonely without the two of them though. After graduation, despite her small and cute physique, Charlotte proved lethal and dangerous enough to graduate in the top ten of their class, and therefore made her niche among the royal police in the sanctity of Wall Sina. Dan joined the Garrison.
Antonio, unsurprisingly, graduated at the very top of their class, and Lovino had expected to say goodbye to his best friend as well. That wasn't the case though, because just when Lovino thought he would be alone in joining the survey corps, Antonio had announced that he would be following.
Lovino had called him an idiot, naturally, but inside was bursting with the joy that he wouldn't be alone; he'd have that support system that had gotten him through the grueling three years of training.
"I'll wash them later," Antonio said nonchalantly. "Just relax Lovino, there isn't a titan in sight."
"Shut up! They could come out of fucking nowhere, I mean, hell there could be a titan right next to me for all I know."
Antonio visibly cringed at those words, but Lovino paid no mind.
"Hey uh…I think I'm going to go scope out the treeline a bit further down. There's no point in having two good pairs of eyes watching one spot." Antonio stood up and released his 3D-maneuver gear, gracefully maneuvering through the trees without a second thought. He looked so natural gliding through the air, just as if that's what he was meant to do.
Lovino found himself staring much longer than was deemed socially acceptable, and he tore his gaze away while mentally berating himself. "Damn bastard, leaving me all alone." Inside he was wondering what it was that had caused Antonio to depart so suddenly, but he was clueless.
He stood watched for a little longer, keeping his eyes on the horizon, but eventually he decided that if titans were coming, they would have been here by now. Doing what he did best, he rested back against the bark, dirtying his pants much like Antonio did, and allowed his eyes to slip closed.
A clawing sound at the base of the tree snapped Lovino from his slumber. Staring up at him with an inhuman smile was a four-meter class titan, not enough to worry about; it wasn't tall enough to reach him on the branch he was resting on. Nevertheless, he knew the small titan would be like a beacon to other taller ones.
Lovino soon sent up a red flare, alerting the others traveling on horseback of the titan's position.
His heart was racing slightly, trying to convince himself that as long as he stayed in the tree he would be safe, but it didn't change the fact that a titan was clawing at the tree, literally thirsting to eat him.
That's when he saw it, coming towards him at inhuman speed. An aberrant. "Shit!" He exclaimed as he watched the titan rush towards him. Its actions were almost…human in a way. Where other titans would run without a sense of direction or motion, this one seemed to have a goal, a purpose. It ran with knowledge.
Lovino realized that if he did not take the chance to escape, he would be killed. He jolted from the branch and allowed the cables of his maneuver gear to be released from their confinement, latching onto a tree so that he could quickly escape.
Adrenaline kicked in, and he was no longer thinking, instead letting instinct take over. He had never been in this situation before: solace. When he had been on previous missions, he had a team to help him. He always had a partner, Antonio, someone to guide him and help him take the life of another titan. And though Antonio did much of the work, he allowed Lovino to take most of the credit, seeing how proud he was every time he saw that he had taken down another titan.
Now Lovino was alone, relying solely on himself to escape the situation alive.
The aberrant was gaining speed, and its target seemed to be him of all people.
Sparing a glance behind him, he caught a glimpse of the eyes: crimson red. There was knowledge in them, the titan knew exactly what he was doing, and that was the scariest thought. The titan was coming right towards him.
Lovino pushed himself forward, faster, but it was only a matter of time before he encountered a ten-meter class titan rushing towards him, and if he didn't move, he would be sandwiched between the aberrant and other titan.
In a split decision, he shot upwards above the ten-meter class, and bolted down to slice his blades into the neck of the titan, effectively stopping its actions.
Lovino only had a moment to rest on a nearby branch as the titan faltered to the ground. The aberrant was still after him, and he caught a glimpse of the white hair of it glinting in the sunlight. "Fuck," he hissed, taking off once more.
But soon enough his gas faltered and he found a firm hand closing around his body. The hand was abnormally hot, searing even, and he knew that it was over. Struggle as he might, the hand was clamped too tightly around him to break free. "D-Dammit…Antonio! Feli!" He called out, hoping to all gods above that that wasn't going to be his last breath, calling for help from two of the people he cared the most about.
He knew it was futile though, he was too far away, out of reach from help. This was it, he was going to die.
Just as the hand raised Lovino to the lips of the titan, an ungodly sound echoed from the trees, and the woods around them seemed to collapse as another being broke through the trees.
Lovino didn't have time to even look or react to the sound until he found himself falling, the hand opened around him. If the titan wasn't going to kill him, the fall surely would. "Ah-gh!" He exclaimed, his cry of fear on the way down blocked by a thud on his back.
Death was the first thing on Lovino's mind. He couldn't have survived that fall, it wasn't possible, but there he was, pain-free and alive. His eyes opened hesitantly to find himself lying in the open palm of yet another titan. This one was different. The figure was prominently male, muscles showing across his collarbones and neckline, but everything else was covered with smooth skin. Lovino noticed that the jawline was incredibly sharp alongside equally strong cheekbones. These weren't the features that struck him the most. What caught his attention were the incredibly green, incredibly human eyes.
For a split moment the eyes moved down to look at Lovino, really look at him. His blood ran cold, his heart began to pound in his chest. There he was, resting in the palm of a titan, and he wasn't being harmed.
Lovino had expected this titan to kill him, but instead it had done the exact opposite: save his life.
The hand closed around him, gently, as if the titan didn't want to harm him. With his free hand, the titan reared a fist behind his head and sent it flying towards the other titan's chest.
The one with the pale hair and crimson eyes was sent flying back, and before it had time to regain itself, the gentler titan began to run off with Lovino still clasped in his palm. Lovino was right; its intentions were not to harm him, rather protect him.
Slowly, piece by piece, the puzzle formed the full image in his head. "A-Antonio!" He exclaimed, eyes staring up at him in bewilderment. "No…no way, there's no fucking way you are! Let me go before I slice your damn hand off!" Lovino attempted to struggle once more, wishing that he could reach his blades, but it was futile considering that his arms were locked in the other's grasp as well.
Lovino was powerless as the trees rolled by.
Eventually the two of them reached a safe area, a small clearing void of any titans or other humans.
To Lovino's surprise (or perhaps not), he was set down gently on the grass. He had a few bruises from where the aberrant handled him, but other than that he was unscathed.
He didn't have long to think, because there was a titan kneeling in front of him, looking at him with expectant and imploring eyes. Lovino drew his blades out. "Antonio!" He called out, because he didn't think that he could take down the titan all by himself…and those eyes were just an illusion. Right?
"Antonio get your ass over here!"
The titan seemed to take noted of that before he lowered his head, and then, the last thing Lovino expected to see happened.
The titan shifted back into Antonio. Silence followed. "Uh…hi," said Antonio a bit awkwardly, unsure of what exactly to say.
Lovino dropped his blades in shock and scurried back, eyes wide in horror.
"Lovino please, listen to me," begged Antonio. "Yes, that's me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I never wanted you to know…I-I never…" He trailed off, hanging his head.
Lovino could only manage a whisper. "Y-You're a monster," he said in realization.
The Spaniard's head snapped up. "N-No!" He exclaimed. "I'm not I…I don't want this. I saved you, does that make me a monster?" He asked softly, eyes pleading with Lovino to understand. "I heard you were in danger a-and…and you mean too much to me to let you go."
Silence.
Lovino could only process a few things in that moment. One, Antonio was a titan shifter. Two, he had saved his life. The only emotion he felt was conflict.
Seeing the boy's hesitancy, Antonio walked forward, placing a hand on Lovino's arms before bringing him into a hug, knowing full well that Lovino would be unresponsive. "Hate me if you will, I won't blame you. But I won't let you die, not ever, not by…not by them."
"You say 'them' as if you're separate," Lovino said, pushing Antonio away. "You saved my life a-and I owe you for that, but don't think for a damn moment that I don't think you're a monster."
The words left deeper wounds than anyone would ever know. Antonio was torn, and even though he wanted to rush forward, to insist that he was no monster like Lovino insisted, he knew he could say nothing. Antonio knew exactly what he was. He was a beast that drove humanity to cower behind walls. He had killed. He was a monster no matter how he may have tried to deny it. "…I'm sorry," he whispered. What more could he say?
Moments after, the sounds of horses could be heard galloping towards them, Corporal Levi leading. "What the hell is going on here?" He demanded.
Lovino was hesitant to answer for a moment, but knew not to keep Levi waiting too long for a reply. "Titans were following us, we took care of the bastards though," he answered smoothly.
Levi's eyes scanned between the two of them. "Fine. Is there a problem here? If not get back to your posts," he demanded.
Lovino looked right to Antonio, then back to Levi. "No sir, no problem."