HI GUYS. I have to say, spending so much time away from posting gave me plenty of opportunity to add major and minor things to my planning that will greatly enhance things. I had a thought though, I want to sort of re-write this story at some point where I DEFINITELY make the first few chapters better. I notice it will get a good amount of hits but then the hits drop off which I can only assume is because people aren't drawn in by the introductory chapters. Plus I've always had "alternate scenarios" planned that I think would be fun to explore! Like some that are WILDLY different. I'll keep you guys updated on this idea in the future... Without Barricades: THE REDUX – coming... at some point. Definitely not until this is done as already planned. What do you guys think of that idea? Well, enjoy the chapter! Also, holy shit I was unaware that "Deep Longing" was all fucked up, I wish somebody told me. It's fixed now.
Chapter VIII: Close Quarters
So baby, come light me up and baby I'll let you on it
A little bit dangerous, but baby, that's how I want it
A little less conversation, and a little more touch my body
'Cause I'm so into you
Zeke was conducting his crude and simple examination under the watchful eye of Reiner. He looked in her eyes again and received no response, like there was no life behind them. Zeke placed his hand on her forehead briefly to gauge her body temperature – stone cold. He then moved his attention downward and firmly began pressing around on her stomach, followed by laying his head against it to listen for any noises. Despite it being clinical, Reiner couldn't help but feel uneasy about his girl getting felt up unknowingly by someone who was a stranger to her.
"How is she?" Reiner blurted out, unable to keep his concern contained.
"She's got no food in her... Safe to assume no water either..." Zeke detailed. The man brought his hands back up to the girl's face, where he carefully pulled her chin down to open up her mouth and look inside, "Hmm..."
"What is it?" A nervous Reiner pressed.
"It looks like there's bleeding of some sort..." Zeke assessed, slowly inserting two of his digits into her mouth to feel around, "Tongue is very dry though, source of the blood is from her gums."
At that moment, the clouds that filled the night sky began to part and allowed slivers of silver light to pierce through. A bolt of electricity shot through her and Priscilla's eyes flew open and her jaw clamped down hard. Her sudden and powerful bite crushed Zeke's fingers and severed them, leaving bits of them in her mouth. As Zeke backed off to examine his injury, Priscilla sat up and spat out his fingers with disgust. She looked around frantically as panic set in – where was she? How did she get there? Who was this weird guy and why was he putting his fingers in her mouth? She felt the instinct to attack him, but just before she pounced like an animal, someone firmly grabbed her from behind to hold her back.
"Calm down!" That familiar voice shouted, "You're safe here! He's not a threat!"
"Reiner..." She murmured weakly. She had instantly recognized not only his voice but the unmistakable feeling of his brawny arms around her.
Bertolt emerged from one of the tents and rushed over to Zeke, who's fingers were steaming... and regenerating. Priscilla took notice of this quickly. By now she knew enough about Shifters to deduce what was going on here.
"...You're all Titan Shifters, aren't you?" She asked, so weary that she couldn't hold her own head up. Bertolt looked over at Zeke nervously, who looked up from his freshly reformed fingers to the girl, who continued. "Look, I know Reiner is, no point in being secretive about it now."
"We are." Zeke confirmed without any hesitation, "Bertolt has the Colossus, and I have the Beast."
Priscilla hadn't encountered the Beast Titan herself, but she heard her former comrades mention it. The others spoke of it being larger than an abnormal and had fur covering much of it's body. As Priscilla grew calmer, Reiner released her and Zeke grabbed a canteen to offer her.
"Water." He spoke as he held it out, "We'll get you some food too. But don't eat too much or too fast, your body will reject it from being starved."
"...Thanks." She muttered, swiping the canteen away from him and taking a drink. Despite his kindness she was still suspicious about this man and his intentions.
She took a drink and the water washed over them and cleared out the blood that had accumulated in her mouth. Reiner had moved away from her to rummage through their supplies, quickly returning with some kind of military ration – it wasn't one she was familiar with though, Zeke must have brought it from wherever it was he came.
"I'm Zeke, by the way." The bespectacled man said, "Zeke Jaeger. I'm sure you know my younger brother."
"Somewhat. We weren't close... but we trained together." Priscilla responded between tiny bites of her ration, "Titan Shifting runs in the family, does it?"
"I guess you could say that..." He smirked, but Zeke didn't want to continue on that, not yet anyway, so he redirected back to her, "I bet there is much you want to know about us, but I'm actually quite curious about you as well."
"Why?" She responded with hostility.
"Reiner said you're... Different. Although anyone could deduce that from how you look," Zeke started, "I know a bit about about a strange pale race who abandoned this island to find solutions to their problems on the mainland, but they perished. They had great power, allegedly... I'm willing to bet you're one of these people."
"Perished?!" She exclaimed, eyes shooting wide open, "They're all dead?"
"I'm afraid so," Said Zeke, "But why would just one be left behind, I wonder..."
"Well, nobody ever told me why," Priscilla replied bitterly. Just as she was about to sink her teeth back into her food, her stomach began to grow uneasy so she put the ration aside for now, "They left but mama and papa said they'd be back for me someday... I was a dumb kid, and I kept believing it in the back of my mind."
"I'm sure this isn't easy for you to deal with right now, but could you tell me where you lived prior to being left by yourself?"
This was something she'd always kept to herself. Priscilla knew absolutely no-one would ever believe her if she told them, even Reiner surely would have laughed at her claim – and now she was feeling guilty for never even trying to tell him, but the subject never really came up. He never got into his hometown and she didn't either. It was unpleasant for her to think about what she lost and could only assume Reiner felt the same. With a sharp exhale, Priscilla looked directly into Zeke's eyes and let the truth be known.
"...Outside." She answered simply. All three men leaned in close.
"Outside?" Zeke pressed.
"The Walls." She clarified, "My home is outside the Walls."
While Zeke looked quite satisfied with this, Reiner and Bertolt were flabbergasted by her answer. There was NO way for humans to live outside of the Walls of this Island, they'd be hunted down by Titans and exterminated within hours. Any population out there would be obliterated. To live outside them would be breaking a fundamental rule of the Island's nature and it's inhabitants.
"It's against the law to be outside the Walls, how did you get inside them?" Bertolt asked.
"I was too young to understand anything, especially how they could have done that without getting into any trouble," She said, "No idea how they pulled it off, but... here we are!"
Here we are...
What Priscilla had just said lingered in her mind. They were 'here' – but where was 'here' anyway? She'd rather hear more from Reiner, as Zeke had been the more dominant conversation partner, so she turned to her dearest love instead. Priscilla lunged towards him and grabbed both of his hands tightly.
"Where are we, Reiner? How did I get here?" She asked desperately.
"Shiganshina District." He simply answered, "I found you wandering outside of Wall Rose while scouting to see if any of those dogs were coming for us, but I only found you."
"Shiganshina..." Priscilla murmured to herself, "This is where it all started..."
"What were you doing in Titan territory alone, anyway?" Zeke asked, inserting himself back into the exchange.
"Reiner told me about him being the Armored Titan and the other soldiers figured that I must have known about it, or at least their involvement with Annie, because of how close he and I are," Priscilla explained, "They imprisoned me, tortured me and put me on trial where they declared me a traitor to humanity and cast me out."
"You clearly went a long enough time without water that you should have died. It only takes a few days to die of intense dehydration," He responded, stroking his bearded chin, "That must be connected to your potential power..."
"What power?!" She shouted, "I don't have any power!"
Priscilla getting so worked up was sapping away the small amount of strength she had recovered from the food and her body started to drift backwards, thankfully Reiner was attentive enough to grab her again to keep her upright. She didn't mind the exhaustion because it meant she had an excuse to be laying against Reiner's firm body.
"That remains to be seen..." Zeke chuckled, and then looked to Reiner, "Search for her home. Bring her with you. We may find more answers that way."
"What kind of answers would we need?" Bertolt asked.
"An answer to destroying the devils. Forever."
"H-How?!" Bertolt exclaimed, "Are you saying she's a Shifter? All the Nine are accounted for."
"I don't have enough information yet, but we can rule out a shifter. If she is a member of this elusive pale race... then she is definitely not Eldian." Zeke explained. He then looked to Reiner, "Do you understand your orders?"
"I do." Reiner answered swiftly.
"Perfect. For now, we all need our rest, the lady especially... You two will depart at dawn," Zeke instructed. Zeke recalled that when he introduced himself, he never caught this strange girl's name, "How rude of me... What is your name, miss?"
"My name is Priscilla Ziegler." She answered.
"A pretty name for a pretty girl, I won't forget it." Zeke smiled warmly. Reiner was less than pleased with this flirtatious comment though, "Bertolt!" Zeke called to grab his comrade's attention.
"Yes sir!" Bertolt stood at attention.
"I'm sure Miss Ziegler won't want to share a tent with me, so why don't you let her sleep with Reiner and you move into my tent?"
"Y-Yes... of course."
Reiner then helped Priscilla to her feet. He made sure she brought along the ration and canteen so she could sip and nibble every so often if she needed to. Reiner escorted her to the tent he normally shared with Bertolt and showed her inside. It was just big enough for two people to sleep in, but being in close quarters wouldn't be an issue for the lovers. He laid her down gently and followed suit, pulling her in close to him. They faced one another, staring into each others eyes. A long silence fell between the two as they laid together.
"I'm sorry." Reiner said meekly after the tense silence. It was always strange when he took that tone.
"For what?" Priscilla asked. Reiner averted his eyes.
"If I never told you about me, you wouldn't have been exiled."
"...Do you believe in fate?" She asked seemingly out of the blue. Reiner looked at her curiously as she continued, "I do. You made me believe in it, and I think this whole situation is a clear example of fate in action."
"How do you mean?" He asked, returning his golden gaze to her. It was pretty cute when he was dense, it made Priscilla smirk.
"Like you said... If you didn't tell me, I would not have been exiled. I'd still be within the Walls, where everyone else would see you as an enemy, but how could I agree with that kind of thinking? I'd be miserable. I'd be made to fight against you. But instead... being thrown away and declared a traitor has lead me back to you," She explained with her tiny smirk evolving into a full-faced grin, "You see? Fate!"
"Heh... Suppose you're right." He agreed.
"Just like when we first met. Just like when I saw you on the street in my darkest days," She reminded him, "If we never met, where would I be? Still on the street? Still being sold to strange men for a night?"
Reiner's expression dropped and loathing churned inside him once more. He pulled her in closer to whisper in her ear.
"Don't... Talk about that." He said. She immediately felt like she was the dense one now.
"S-Sorry." Priscilla stammered, "I should have known you wouldn't want to hear about that anymore."
"It's fine," He dismissed the subject, "We're probably better off just going to sleep than sitting around talking."
"You're right..." Priscilla agreed, "Let's get comfy and rest."
Part of her ritual of getting comfy enough to sleep was to remove the more restricting clothing she wore, so she sat up and started to undress. Shoes and pants of course had to go, but the bra was the most crucial part of her attire that needed to be stripped off for her to sleep soundly. While she was undoing her shirt to get the bra off, Reiner ended up taking off his shirt as well. Priscilla noticed that he had discarded it and paused – a cute little thought came to mind.
"Hey..." She murmured, hearing a grunt of acknowledgment from behind her, "Lemme wear your shirt while we sleep?"
"I won't object to that." Reiner laughed softly.
With that, Priscilla shook off her own shirt and removed her bra before reaching for the shirt he had tossed away, which gave Reiner a quick glimpse of her breasts. She pulled it on and it was predictably huge on her, but it didn't matter, what mattered was that she was close to Reiner again. She looked down at herself with the large shirt covering her otherwise nearly bare body but was soon grabbed from behind by Reiner. He pulled her down into a tight spooning embrace with his ridiculously strong arms around her waist. Despite all that had transpired recently since revealing himself to everyone, Reiner felt at peace in that moment, a peace he had been longing for. Yet that wasn't all that he felt a desire for in that moment... but to call it a desire wasn't entirely accurate, it was more like a need.
"Hmm... Reiner?" Priscilla whispered.
"What is it?" He replied in a low voice as well. But he knew exactly what she was about to ask.
"Are you hard right now?" She teased, turning her head to face him as much as she could from that position. Whether or not he could see her smirk didn't matter to her much, "You've got it pressed up right against my ass, you think I don't feel it twitching?"
"Can't get anything past you, can I?" He responded with a hint of uncharacteristic embarrassment.
"Why so sheepish, Reiner?" Priscilla cooed as she turned her head back forward. She pressed her butt against him more and grinded up on his growing erection with a very satisfied look on her face, "We've already had sex twice now..."
Reiner exhaled heavily as she continued to apply more pressure with her plump rear end. If she kept it up he was going to end up losing control of himself, either by taking Priscilla for their third fuck or restrain himself from that and make a sticky mess in his pants. He struggled to find words, but the pale nymph in his arms had no problem filling the silence.
"Come on, let's do it." She urged in a quiet, sultry voice. Her hand crept to one of his and she laid hers atop it, then slowly started to guide it under her shirt.
"Now?" Reiner asked incredulously, "Zeke and Bertolt... They're practically right next to us."
"Then we'll just have to be discreet..." Priscilla murmured in response.
It was not at all unusual for her to be very forward in what she desired. Even before they were having sex, if she wanted his attention, she god damn got it. Priscilla was a woman who knew what she wanted, and once she wants something, she has to have it... and she will get it. Reiner's body was ready to take her up on her offer and his mind was following suit, his lover's wanting of him was quickly outweighing him feeling awkward about getting laid with his comrades so close by.
Priscilla still had her hand on Reiner's as it rested on her abdomen, but then she started to move it upwards in a tantalizingly slow manner, leading his hand to her breast. He didn't need any more guidance, as soon as he felt her breast in his hand he gave it a light squeeze which elicited a tiny exhale of satisfaction from his partner. Her head laid back as he gently fondled her, exposing her neck more. Reiner brought his face closer and planted soft kisses on Priscilla's neck, which earned him a just barely audible moan from her. By now he was rock hard and eager to be inside of her again.
Priscilla muttered "one sec" and swiftly adjusted so that she could pull her panties down. She was quick about it because she didn't want to break the established flow of things. Reiner had a flashback to his studying and recalled that the position they were in already would probably be the best to go with for discretion purposes. Now he had to make a brief adjustment, he took his hand back from teasing her breast and undid his pants enough so that his cock could be freed. He didn't even need to remove his pants all the way, which seemed to be a theme with them. With both of the times they fucked previously he was partially clothed – his pants never got all the way off.
Reiner took his dick into one of his hands while Priscilla bent and lifted her leg just slightly, he started feeling around with his head that became slick with her wetness. While he couldn't see what he was doing, he was certain he was in the right spot. The official confirmation came when Priscilla breathed out a longing "yes, there! to urge him forward. With that, Reiner began the initial penetrating push into her pussy. However, from this angle it was more difficult than how they'd done it previously. With Priscilla on top, she had the freedom to spread her legs wide and more easily take him in. This position presented a bit more difficulty, which wasn't helped by their anatomical structure in the sexual regard. A large cock into a tight hole was never easy.
Priscilla tried to adjust her semi-lifted leg in an attempt to give her lover easier access to her, it wasn't a great deal of help but at least it was something. Reiner realized fully then that he was the one dominating the encounter this time – he was the one dictating the pace as opposed to the past where his nymph-like partner would take full control... but in that moment, she was more than happy to let Reiner take the reigns this time, she was rather tired after all. Reiner pushed his head as far as it would easily go in and pulled it back. He continued this, eventually working up to being able to get all the way in.
Feeling him inside once again made her tense up and clench her walls around his erection. Now that he had gotten in, he pressed himself close against her back and his hand reached around to return his attention to her breasts. All at once he started to massage her tit again while also slowly and tenderly making love to her. Reiner's lips found their way back to her neck where he alternated between kisses and light nibbles, much to her delight. Priscilla at that point was breathing heavily and allowing quiet moans to escape from her as Reiner pleasured her. Even though they weren't face to face, this position had it's own sensual intimacy to it. The slow pace, the light kissing of her neck... it was more romantic, in a way, than what they'd done already.
Reiner moaned into her slender neck as he slid in and out of her. His hand was still focused on that sweet softness of her chest, but another idea occurred to him. He teasingly ran a finger across her nipple before moving his hand away, brought it down her abdomen and continued all the way to her clit. Up til now she had used her dominance to pleasure that part of her, but Reiner was keen on bringing her to climax on his own. Priscilla trusted him unquestionably and had no problem being submissive.
"Yes." She murmured as soon as she felt his fingertips make contact with her already sensitive clit.
She wanted Reiner to be in control of when and how she got off that night. He held her close as he continued to thrust in and out at a steady pace. Reiner lightly stroked at her, applying only a slight amount of pressure to start with. Priscilla bit her lip and exhaled sharply as he fingered her. Her growing arousal only further fueled his own, she had completely submitted to him – allowing him to do as he pleased with her while she just got to melt into him and enjoy it. She felt so at peace and comfortable while also so aroused. This, to her, was what love meant. Absolute trust and comfort while another person handles you sexually, accompanied by the fluttering in her chest she felt whenever he made any sort of noise or felt his hot breath on her neck.
Reiner kept his thrusting at the same, slow pace as he put most of his focus on the fingering. It required a bit more effort, and it was effort he wanted to put at the forefront. He circled his fingers around and around, and then would switch to up and down motions. Light pressure, harder pressure. When he would change up his movements he felt Priscilla tremble against him in pleasure. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was trying her damnedest not to make too much noise. Between chomping on her lower lip to stifle the noise to only allowing the tiniest, quietest whimpers to be heard otherwise.
Reiner continued to tease her clit, delighting the both of them. Priscilla considered teasing her own nipples to have as many of her erogenous zones stimulated as realistically possible, but she decided against it, because she wanted her orgasm to strictly be caused by Reiner alone that night. No assistance from herself, it was to belong only to him. It would be his and his alone, completely relinquishing control of her body over to him.
Because she loved him.
"Please, keep going." She said, although it was less of a command and more of a beg.
Reiner grunted and moved his fingers faster. As he continued to work her, Priscilla had a hard time containing a high pitched whine – but them being heard was not even a concern anymore now that they were consumed in one another. In a way Reiner started to get greedy, he wanted to bring her to orgasm and he wanted it now. He wanted the satisfaction of bringing her the ultimate pleasure while also feeling her climax on his cock again. He sped up and gradually added more pressure. He was overcome with carnal desire, to the point that he felt bold enough to command his lover.
"Cum for me." He spoke, his words quiet but still dripping with lust.
This made Priscilla gasp loudly and utter "yes, yes" quietly. Reiner kept his quick fingering pace, while still fucking her gently, and he felt her whole body go tense against his. She was locked in that state of erotic tension for just a few moments before she let out a cry of release and her whole body shook. Reiner then started thrusting into her as deep as he could from that position. It was still slow and sensual. But he didn't need a rough and fast fuck to cum, feeling her own climax while he was inside of her was so satisfying on a physical and emotional level that he easily ejaculated once he felt her squeeze around his cock combined with hearing her cry of ecstasy.
Both of them were breathing heavily now that they'd cum, both of them getting their satisfaction. Reiner spent the remaining time of his cock being hard post-ejaculation slowly going in and out a bit more, before slowing to a complete stop. The hand that he fingered with traveled back upwards so that he wrapped it across her stomach for a tight embrace.
For a while, neither of them moved at all anymore or even spoke. It was Priscilla who finally broke the silence.
"This... right now, this is perfect. I want this to last for eternity... For us to always be this way," She began, "I love you, Reiner."
Reiner squeezed her tightly before whispering in her ear:
"I love you too."
He heard her let out the most content sigh he'd ever heard, and he felt the same... However, something in the back of his mind started tying up his stomach in knots. He didn't want this moment to be ruined by that though and he forced himself not to think about it... But as much as he tried, the word 'eternity" wouldn't leave him – because he knew all to well there was no such thing as eternity.
Oh, my dearest Adrestia... He is not your fate, he's a disposable means to an end. I am your destiny. Only when we are together can we bring the reckoning and rid the world of the Eldian menace once and for all... The choice she's made to let that Eldian touch her is truly sickening. I'd rather not have to be subjected to more of that, but I can't help but watch her. Equal parts fascinating and disgusting. The Warriors are taking longer than I'd like to return to Marley, but the wait will be worth it.
Keep Adrestia safe for me, Reiner Braun, so she can be the one to kill you.
Priscilla awoke the next morning, but it was still dark. She slowly sat up and glanced over to Reiner, he was sleeping soundly so she was glad that she didn't wake him. Priscilla could smell coffee being brewed outside so she carefully exited the tent to see what was up. Zeke sat by their fire while he waited for the coffee to be done.
"Day won't break for another hour, go back to sleep." Said Zeke without even looking up at her.
"Too uncomfortable." Priscilla responded flatly.
"These sleeping arrangements don't live up to your standards, Miss Ziegler?" Zeke chuckled.
"It's not that... It's my..." She began sheepishly, but quickly realized she didn't want to tell Zeke any more about her discomfort, "Never mind, it's not important."
"Why do you assume I can't help make you more comfortable?" The blonde asked, finally looking up at her. Priscilla grimaced.
"It's personal." She sneered bitterly, "I know for a fact that you wouldn't be able to do anything, so forget I even mentioned it."
Zeke wasn't pleased with her keeping whatever was bothering her private since she had vaguely 'teased' her problem and then didn't follow through. The pale girl exhaled sharply and looked away from him and out towards the lands beyond the wall they sat atop. She knew that soon she and Reiner would be venturing out there to find her home and it filled her with anticipation as well as fear.
"Have it your way," Zeke sighed, trying not to sound too frustrated with her, "I know you don't trust me, but in all honesty your well being is in my best interests."
"...I have been a bit rude," Priscilla conceded, "Sorry."
"Apology accepted." Said Zeke.
Zeke inhaled the aroma of the coffee deeply as he reached for a small cup to pour the fresh brew into. After pouring some, he motioned for Priscilla to come have a seat next to him. The girl hesitated at first, but gradually made her way over and sat across from Zeke as opposed to right next to him. The blaze of not trusting strange men still burned within her.
"Where did you three come from?" Priscilla asked out of nowhere.
"We originally are from a country across the ocean called Marley," Zeke explained, "The world beyond the confines of Paradis Island is far larger than you could imagine – full of all sorts of different people with different ideologies."
"Are there Titans on the other side of the ocean?" Priscilla pressed on.
"There are us shifters from Marley." Zeke spoke and Priscilla's eyes went wide with wonder, "There are plenty of Eldians in Marley, but they're contained in Internment Zones. We do transform Eldian prisoners for our warfare though..."
"What is an Eldian, anyway?"
"The people of Eldia, the subjects of Ymir Fritz. Every Eldian carries the curse of Ymir which means they can be transformed into a Titan. There's no other race who bears this curse," Zeke went on, but then got ponderous, "A great way to prove you're not Eldian would be to try and transform you..."
"I'd rather not be made into your little science experiment." Priscilla responded curtly.
"My apologies, Miss Ziegler," Zeke laughed, "Just thinking out loud..."
"So let me try to piece this together..." Priscilla began, "The people of this island are Eldians, who are humans that can become Titans. That means you three are Eldians. Reiner said he was here to kill the devils on this island, so that means your goal is to kill the Eldians? When you're also Eldian?"
"The devils here don't understand the sins of their past, but we on the mainland do. We recognize we must atone for the sake of restoring the Eldian empire, which requires that the Eldians of Paradis Island are wiped out." Zeke continued, "Do you know what the Walls are made of, Miss Ziegler?"
"No..."
"Colossal Titans. Millions of them," Zeke revealed, "Eren possesses the Founding Titan, and when this shifter comes into contact with a descendant of the Fritz royal family, he can activate the 'coordinate' and awaken these Wall Titans. Then... they would destroy the entire world."
Priscilla was getting hit with a massive information dump and it was making her head spin. Her brows furrowed as she stared silently at Zeke while she processed everything, or at least tried to.
"Eliminating these devils is not our only goal. We need to retake the Founder to prevent them from terrorizing the rest of the world..." Zeke murmured, "It's for the greater good. Do you understand?"
"I really don't care about understanding your goals that much," Priscilla admitted bluntly, "I only care about Reiner..."
"Understanding his goals is a good way to further understand the man himself, is it not?" Zeke countered.
"...Fair enough." Priscilla replied. She agreed with him proving her wrong but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of saying the exact words 'you're right.' She then rose to her feet and started to shuffle back to the tent, "I think I've had enough talking for now."
The pale girl slouched down to enter the tent again where Reiner was still sleeping peacefully. He had shifted onto his side during his slumber since she had left. Priscilla carefully crawled over to him and laid beside him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and resting her head against his muscled back. The previous anxieties she felt about going back home flooded back to her and sent a shiver down her spine. While pressed up against him, she felt a pang of discomfort in her chest that made her wince slightly.
Why are they so sore...?