Chapter XIII Part II: Animals

Heaven is a place on earth with you

They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you

"Priss?" Reiner asked in a tired voice. He heard her hum curiously below him in response, "Are you... really happy?"

"What kind of question is that, Reiner?" She looked up at him with a tired but still genuine smile, "Of course I am."

"I just get so scared for you... What's going to happen to you when I-"

Priss quickly pressed one of her fingers to his lips before he could go on. She knew well what he was about to say and she was certain nothing productive or positive could come from it for either of them to address it at the moment.

"Don't think about that right now..." She whispered. She started to run her finger along his bottom lip, her eyes following it as it went, "I know we have to eventually but... let's take this time to enjoy these moments we have right here... and now."

"You're right," He agreed, giving her finger a kiss as she slowly ran it along before she reluctantly pulled it away and he added "...Sorry, I feel like an idiot for bringing that up now."

"You're not an idiot... I know it must be a constant worry on your mind, and it is something important we have to think about eventually..." She sweetly assured him as she just barely held back a yawn, "So I can't blame you... but for now... mmm..."

Reiner sighed deeply and a look of anguish appeared on his face. He held onto her tightly, trying to keep the words he so wanted to say within him. He knew there was no point in saying what was thinking in that moment, but it came to a point where he couldn't help himself and he could hold it back no longer. He pulled her closer to him as the rising emotions in him spilled over.

"I just wish things were different, but if I never took the Armor, I never would have come here and met you.. But I also wouldn't have destroyed your orphanage in the attack either... I love you and I want you to live the best life you possibly can... And part of me wonders... if being with me is the best choice for you. I don't want to let you go, but the idea of leaving you once my term is up... I can't stand to think about it. I've seen you hurt so much already and to know that I'm going to just add to that... it's unbearable... I've always thought you deserved better than me, but I would never force you away. I couldn't. I can't live without you, but deep in my soul I wish... for your own good... that you could live without me."

By the time he reached the end of his monologue his voice was breaking, but there was no response from Priss. In fact, she had been silent all throughout it and didn't even make any sort of movement. He immediately felt stupid, "...I'm sorry. I'll never leave your side as long as you want me by yours."

Still silence. Reiner worried he had made a critical error with what he said, but it soon became apparent what happened: Priss fell asleep, very suddenly at that. He had no idea how long she'd been out for but he was immensely relieved that what he said went unheard. It was good to get the anxieties off his chest, but they would undoubtedly creep back up over time and one day they would have to face them together. Each time she told him she loved him brought the painful reminder that one day he'd never get to hear her saying those words to him again, and that he'd never get to smile back at her warmly, lift her into the air and profess his love right back to her. Reiner suddenly wanted their relationship to have "officially" started before it did. They were pretty much dating in every way but name only before that night at the lake. The flirtation and innocent physical affection was there along with the obvious care they had for each other for years.

He just wanted to have all time he could with her and Reiner felt like so much had been wasted for so long. Reiner was sure as hell happy they eventually did really get together, despite all the unique struggles that came with it for both of them – and ones that would come in the future – all that he knew that Priss having his heart is what made her happy... and what he wanted – all he ever wanted to do – was make her happy. So that meant moving forward together because as long as they had each other, everything would be alright.

He journeyed through his memories of their entire relationship until he found himself at their very first kiss. Back when they were children and he brought her clothes to wear since she had nothing but a raggedy dress, not even a pair of shoes. At that point they'd already established a bit of a friendship and showed they had the empathy to care for one another in basic ways... like how she cleaned up his bloody nose after he took the heat off her from those bullies. But as he thought about it, he remembered that this was around when their first kiss occurred.

"The hero deserves a kiss from the princess, don'tcha think?" She grinned, "At least, that's how I think the fairy tales go."

It wasn't one of those "for real" kisses on the lips, just his cheek, but to him it was very much their first whether it fit the typical definition of a first kiss or not. It was an innocent act of affection one would expect from a child, but from that moment on is when they had woven each other into their hearts for good. Their feelings wouldn't do more than boil under the surface, unbearably so at times, for years to follow... but here they were now. Reiner leaned down a bit to give her a kiss on the forehead and then closed his eyes, he didn't expect he'd fall asleep like Priss did but he chose to just be at rest with her regardless. He had no idea how long it would be until they got to lay together like this again... or even when they're get to so much as see each other again.

There was also the very real worry in his mind of whether he'd even survive this mission. Dwelling on this left him with a knot in his stomach – if he were just a Warrior fighting for his nation, then he would give his life if he absolutely had to if there were no other choice... but now with this sweet lady in his arms, failure was not an option for him – he had to make sure he came back to her no matter what it took.

–

"Hmph..." The weary shifter grunted as he laid flat on his back in his tent. Zeke could hear what had been going on in the other – it was impossible to ignore at this point. It had been at least twenty five minutes of the audible erotic activity, but things had finally quieted down.

On top of hearing the lewd noises nearby, his mind was fixed on the direct interactions from before as well. He could vividly visualize the reluctant and uncomfortable posture of Priscilla as he issued his command to her – he could still see her jaw tensed up and her fists clenched as she forced herself not to give into her usual disobedient urges. It felt like such a fantastic win for him, even if it was objectively minor, for her to finally submit to him in some way. To control her actions. He was right and she couldn't dispute it. It may have only been a verbal submission to a logical request, but the fact that he finally got her to bend to his will in any form at all was thrilling to him. Zeke grinned weakly, the pleasure he felt for triumphing over her was overwhelming.

He wanted to continue to exert dominance over her and have her under his thumb to whatever he demanded of her, but this small victory would have to do for now. After the annoyance she had consistently been to him, just this alone pleased him enough.

At this point he felt rejuvenated enough to face the world again, and with the fucking in the text next to his having come to an end it would be much easier to deal with being out in the open. However there was just one problem... while the fact that those two had stopped having sex and that in itself was a relief, he was left with a feeling of lingering frustration – a stifling one of the sexual variety, something that would definitely not allow him to walk freely out in the open. The urge to masturbate was strong with the strange but potent attraction he had undeniably developed to that girl. Not only had Zeke heard those two fucking, but he had previously seen a brief glimpse of it too – something he wouldn't soon forget. The sights and sounds of it, even when they were just a memory, caused him to ache... but to him if he relieved himself of the sexual frustration with his hand, that would be a victory for her. Priscilla wouldn't know about it, yet in his mind she would have triumphed yet again over him – but if she didn't know about it... would it be so bad?

–

About an hour had gone by before Zeke finally emerged from his tent after initially retreating to it. He had finally reached a fairly collected state, and part of that came from the relief he gave himself, as if all he needed to do was get the poison she infected him with out of his system. Unfortunately, he didn't have the foresight to remove his shirt beforehand and since he was laying down on his back as he did it, Zeke ended up with a blatantly obvious stain on what he was wearing. He thought it would be best to just go without a shirt for now, he wasn't about to be walking around with his cum stained shirt on for the world to see. It wouldn't be the first time he went shirtless around camp anyway, in fact he seemed to take off his shirt almost every time he shifts into his Titan. Nobody questioned this habit of his though, so it really benefited him at that moment – plus he had the decency to put his coat on so he wasn't totally topless.

Bertolt was tending to the campfire where he was brewing some more coffee in anticipation for the group to inevitably convene again. Zeke's eyes fell on the other tent – things were quiet, in fact the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Bertolt took notice of his gaze.

"I think they're sleeping," He said meekly.

Zeke didn't look away from the tent when Bertolt spoke, "Sleeping?" He echoed in a low and annoyed tone.

The Warchief wouldn't stand for that. Pieck could return at any moment and he wanted to make sure Priscilla was prepared to go. He couldn't allow any lollygagging, if only for his own sanity. He had to get her away from him and it had to be soon. Zeke approached their tent but had no plans to actually look inside unless he felt it was absolutely necessary based on his experience with doing that last time.

Zeke cleared his throat loudly and followed it up with a firm, "Reiner, out."

Light shuffling was heard within and some seconds later Reiner parted the fabric of the tent and poked just his head out.

"Sir?" He responded rather softly.

"I don't recall giving you permission to jack off with your girlfriend," Said Zeke sternly.

Bertolt swiftly turned to face Zeke and Reiner's eyes went wide with confusion. Zeke just stood there, not realizing what he said at first but then the fact that he made such a critical slip came to him eventually.

"W-What...?" Reiner stammered.

Zeke needed to cover himself as much as he could, "I said slack off, are you deaf Braun?" he corrected himself, hoping to god that everyone else took it as a mistake... but since both Reiner and Bertolt heard it there was no way he could possibly recover in their minds. He took solace in the fact that as their leader they wouldn't question him. He took as much of a glance into their tent as possible and saw Priscilla's legs covered by a blanket, but there was no movement which to him supported Bertolt's hypothesis that she was asleep.

"Right, sorry Warchief Zeke..." Reiner apologized

"Wake her up. She needs to be ready to go at anytime, I won't tolerate any delays. Our time is growing short and we have to make sure we are prepared to finish this mission," he commanded.

Reiner nodded and retreated back into his tent where his sweet lady was sound asleep. He felt awful having to wake her up, but an order is an order – an order that ultimately had her best interests at heart. He could at least go about it gently...

"Hey..." He said softly. Reiner reached out and stroked her cheek a few times, "It's time to wake up."

Priscilla let out a soft moan and her brows furrowed before her eyes slowly opened. Her vision wasn't clear at first but she could tell it was Reiner without a doubt. She smiled at him warmly as her eyes finally focused.

"Hi there..." She whispered sweetly. She reached out and caressed his cheek as well, "What's going on?"

Reiner's expression fell, "Zeke says we need to make sure you're ready to go as soon as possible... I didn't want to wake you, but..."

"It's ok... I get it, I get it..." She sighed as she sat up.

The blanket that covered her fell and exposed her bare top half. Reiner averted his eyes – he didn't want to get all worked up again at such an inconvenient time so he did what he could to deny himself that urge. Priss noticed his sudden sheepishness and instantly realized exactly why he was starting to turn red. She giggled quietly and raised her hand to his cheek where she gently turned him to face her again, then moved in to give him a tender kiss. They lingered like that for just a moment before the reluctantly parted to get ready to go outside. Reiner fully clothed himself properly, but Priss went with the bare minimum. When it came to the 'bare minimum' for her dressing herself, Priss opted to forgo pants in favor of just Reiner's shirt as always. That was good enough for now. Once she stepped out Priss immediately noticed Zeke's lack of shirt and grimaced.

"What's the deal with that?" She asked as she pointed at him, referring to his lack of shirt "Cover up, ape!"

Zeke groaned, he was so eager to get her out of there since there was never any end to the annoyance she would incite, "I'm really not in the mood for you to be getting breasty with me, Ziegler."

Once more everyone gawked at him for his choice of words, there was no way they could have misheard him a second time... and Priscilla was happy to call him out on his slip, accidental as it was, and not have to worry about repercussions.

"Getting breasty with you, huh?" She asked, "Don't worry, I will never be getting breasty with you Zeke. I can promise you that."

"I said testy, I really don't need you to be getting testy with me," Zeke yet again tried to correct himself, but Priscilla knew better.

"Right, sure, ok Zeke..." She scoffed with a roll of her eyes and then added with even more sarcasm, "Whatever you say."

Not even five minutes elapsed since these two started interacting again and the atmosphere of the camp was already tense – it was as if they just couldn't help themselves when it came to getting, for lack of a better word, bitchy. At this point it seemed like a damn near impossible task for either of them to walk away from the petty conflicts they generated and be the bigger person. For Zeke this reflected very poorly on him given him being so much older than Priss, and such childishness is a regrettably acceptable trait for a girl of Priscilla's age. Thankfully for the Warchief's sanity there was a bit of an end was in sight for him, removing her from the camp may only be a brief reprieve but at least it was... something.

"I see you're not ready..." Zeke sneered, "Your ride could be here at any moment, I need you to be perfectly prepared."

"You are really excited to get rid of me, aren't you?" She responded as she folded her arms.

"Just get dressed," He commanded with sharp enunciation at the end of each word, something he thought would compel her to listen to him, but Zeke should have known better by now that any attempt at verbal intimidation was useless against the pettish witch that tormented him.

"You first," She growled with contempt as she gestured to his mostly bare torso, "Nobody wants to see that."

At that point Zeke was losing composure, "And who wants to see that?!" He exclaimed with his own gesture towards her thighs.

What could only be cum had slowly oozed out of her after she and Reiner finished fucking and it had gotten onto her inner thighs. Reiner's heavy loads always filled her completely and it was only natural for some to seep out after... but typically one would be wearing clothes and the issue of it being on display like it was now wouldn't arise.

Priss snickered and took on a condescending tone, "Oh no, does that offend you Mr. Warchief?"

Thus began yet another quarrel, possibly their most absurd one to date. Reiner was more than a little embarrassed by his goddamn cum being part of it. Priss kept going on and on about how Zeke should put a shirt on because he's not nice to look at like she is, and to her this justified her wearing only Reiner's big flowing shirt that was more like a dress, albeit a short dress, but one that covered her indecent parts nonetheless. They went back and forth on "you get dressed" and "no YOU get dressed" as if they were literal children. It ended up boiling back down to him declaring his word being law because he is the Warchief and Priss happily proclaiming she doesn't care at all since she is not one of his subordinates. His 'breasty' slip from moments ago certainly popped up again. Reiner watched helplessly as their argument went on and on – he tried to figure out something neutral he could interject with to calm both of these beasts but it was futile. At one point all of it just degenerated into dull white noise as he struggled to find the right words.

Reiner had reality thrust back onto him when it suddenly became physical though.

He saw Priscilla throw her arms out and shove Zeke hard. Reiner didn't know if they were arguing about the same topic anymore or if it had shifted somewhat while he was in his brief daze, either way it was clearly escalating. However, Reiner couldn't act fast enough. He wasn't able to get between them when Priss gave Zeke the first push, nor was he able to when he saw the glint of danger in Zeke's eyes spark up. Priss didn't notice it, or maybe she just didn't care, because she went ahead and advanced upon Zeke to go give him another shove. Everything went down in the blink of an eye...

Reiner clearly saw in Zeke's face that his next act was inspired by more than just this most recent argument, but by some combination of all the ones that came before it as well,"Stop!" He called out, but things were already in motion by the time Reiner was able to act.

Zeke stepped forward and grabbed the girl by the arms before she could shove him again – his grip was painfully firm and it made her wince as he applied pressure to her. Faster than anyone could process the situation, Zeke threw her to the ground. In his anger he definitely did it harder than he should have, evident by the gasp she let out upon colliding with the hard surface. Priss kept her face turned down, she didn't want him to see the shocked and frightened expression she had. The harsh reality of the fact that he was far stronger and could easily overpower her if he so chose set in. All four members of the camp were speechless for their own reasons until a faint laugh broke the silence.

"Wow," Priscilla snickered darkly as she raised her head to look at him now that she banished her shocked look and replaced it with a smug one, there was no way she would let him see her frightened of him if she could help it – she refused to give him that kind of satisfaction, "What kind of man throws around a pregnant girl?"

The best way she could fight him now was with her words, "Or... would you treat any lady that way?" she added.

"Lady?" Zeke repeated back in what could only be called amazed disbelief, "You're not a lady... you're a bitch."

Nobody had a chance to react before Reiner launched himself at Zeke where he grabbed him by his coat. He was furious, so much so that he had to use all his will power to contain himself from punching Zeke square in the jaw and knocking out as many of his teeth as he could. What would it matter, as they would just regenerate anyway... but with his transgression previously during their duel, Reiner knew very well that a completely unprovoked and violent assault would land him in hot water without a doubt – and for his sweet Priscilla's sake he couldn't let himself get so careless.

"Don't..." He growled with the anger within him threatening to boil over, "Don't you ever call her that again."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Once Zeke collected himself he planned to chide Reiner, who was still gripping his coat tightly and giving him a death glare. Lucky for Reiner – and for everyone there – something, as if sent from God to defuse the situation, arrived at the scene.

"Warchief Zeke...!"

A distorted voice echoed from the ground below. The Warriors knew the source but Priscilla was struck with fear and was frozen on the ground at the inhuman noise. Zeke shook Reiner off of him and jogged to the edge of the wall that lead to the lands beyond and Bertolt followed. Reiner sighed and tried to shake off his anger that still burned it him. He turned to see Priscilla still on the ground, so Reiner knelt down and took both her hands in his, held them tightly and pulled her back up to her feet as he stood. Priss looked up at Reiner with a mix of curiosity and unease.

"What... was that?" She asked, referring to the odd call out to Zeke from down on the ground.

"That's Pieck," Reiner answered simply.

Reiner put an arm around her and escorted her to the edge where she could see Pieck for herself. Far below them was a titan with an elongated face that was walking on all fours, which was odd considering how just about all titans Priscilla had seen up to that point were closer to human than animal, with the clear exception being the Beast titan. Pieck's titan form looked more like a human/horse hybrid and it left the girl feeling unsettled just looking at it. On the titan's back was a cart, presumably stocked with the supplies that sustained the three Warriors at the camp. Words were being exchanged between Zeke and Pieck but Priss was too distracted by the ugliness of the thing to pay attention to whatever was being said.

"I've told Pieck what she needs to do for you, you just have to guide her." Zeke said without looking in Priscilla's direction as he addressed her.

Priscilla took a few deep breaths as anxiety started to creep up on her, but Reiner kept his hold on her just as firm to comfort her. The despair of being away from Reiner was sinking back in; it had been clouded by her bitter bickering with the Warchief but now it was back in full swing.

"Let me just get myself together..." She murmured to Reiner, so he released her.

She had stowed away her sack of the items she brought from Hyperia in their tent. Once she retrieved it, she took a quick look to make sure everything was there: the various books, the family portrait and... the item she entirely forgot about: the unicorn stuffed animal from her youth. Once she made sure everything was there, she put her proper clothing on and exited the tent to stand with Reiner one last time before she had to go. Her face twitched as she tried to hold back her intense emotions over having to go.

"Hey," He said quietly as he took her hands in his once more, prompting her to look into his eyes, "It won't be long. We'll get the Founding Titan and come get you before you know it."

"I trust you," She responded as she squeezed his hands tightly, "And I love you."

"I love you too, stay safe Priss."

With those words exchanged, Reiner pulled Priss in close to him and she followed his lead by throwing her arms around him. Perfectly in sync, the lovers kissed each other good bye deeply and passionately as if nobody else was there. Bertolt looked away from them as he always felt awkward about their blatant, shameless and over the top displays of affection. The kiss wasn't exactly a quick thing, and after a few moments it seemed like they weren't going to knock it off, so Zeke cleared his throat loudly – which accomplished the task of getting them to stop borderline making out.

"Take her down to Pieck," Zeke ordered sternly, "No more wasting time."

The pair reluctantly peeled away from each other with both of them locking eyes to silently say their final farewell... for now. Reiner did as he was ordered, bringing her down safely with his ODM. Priss climbed into the cart on Pieck's back and without hesitation and it started to move out, so Reiner returned up the wall.

"I have to ask..." Zeke began as soon as Reiner came back, "The only one who was concerned about retrieving Annie was Bertolt, wasn't it? I'm getting the feeling you only backed him up because you wanted to go back for your girlfriend."

"...Yes sir. You're right," Reiner admitted, "But I couldn't exactly say that at the time."

"How convenient for you that things transpired as they did," Zeke said with a smirk, "And to have that girl fall right into my lap like that is beyond lucky. So far beyond it that I'm convinced it was meant to happen."

"Warchief Zeke... I don't understand why you're so fixated on Priss."

"And I don't understand why you love that girl," Zeke replied, effortlessly diverting the subject from his own interest in her.

"...Sir, I could spend the next hour straight answering that question... so I'll try to sum it up for you instead," He said, "Up until I met her not many people thought of me highly, not even close to that. Just my mom really. But to Priss I was always the best thing in the world, pretty much right from the start. The way she put me above everyone else made me feel wanted and special – nobody else did that for me... and I wanted to make her feel the same way. I wanted to be the reason for her to smile just like she was my reason to. Even after I told her the horrible things I had done and how I wouldn't live for many more years, nothing changed for her. For either of us. I was still her princely hero."

"Hm," Zeke responded while sounding rather uninterested. He didn't expect Reiner to have a meaningful answer. In fact he just chalked up to their relationship as being something shallow and based on sex. He then added, with an equal amount of disinterest as before, "That's really something."

"She's really something. I'd never met anyone like her before... someone so wild and exciting... and..." Reiner paused, allowing for a warm smile to appear on his face, "Free."

That last word caught Zeke's attention, "Free?"

"Priss lives how she wants and takes what she wants when she wants it," Reiner went on, "And I promised to make sure she stays living free with a smile on her face – a Goddess like her deserves nothing less. So I'll love and worship her until the day I die... I won't let anyone put her in a cage as a tool to be used only when it's convenient for someone."

Zeke glanced over to Reiner with a dark look in his eyes, "...Sounds like you know someone like that."

"I do," Reiner responded without any hesitation, or even looking to Zeke.

"Bold thing to say, Reiner..." Zeke said flatly and returned his gaze forward, "For the sake of keeping things running smoothly with the mission... I'll pretend I didn't hear it."

Down on the ground as she rode away it wasn't exactly smooth going, but off Priscilla went. She looked back with longing at the silhouette of Reiner that grew further and further away until she couldn't see any of the figures atop the wall anymore. Priscilla turned her head forward once more, feeling that sinking feeling of loneliness and emptiness already taking hold of her, but she had to focus on directing Pieck like she directed Reiner to her home.

–

"What are you smirking for?"

Two men occupied a vehicle making it's way through a busy city. They sat in the back while it was driven by a hired driver. One of the men had long free flowing hair that went down past his shoulders while the other had mid length white hair that was partially pulled back. The white haired man glanced over to his companion and his smile grew even wider.

"The time draws near, Willy..." He said in a hushed voice, "My sister is coming soon. I can feel it."

"You sound awfully confident..." The man identified as Willy responded, sounding a bit doubtful.

"I can feel her," The other said with certainty while he raised a hand to tap his temple, "She may not be able to feel me, but I'm positive we'll be seeing her soon."

"I hope you're right about that," Willy sighed, but then continued after a pensive pause, "You know, you've been talking her up for a long time. I have high expectations for this sister of yours."

The white haired man scoffed which lead to a wry chuckle at Willy's words, "Oh she'll exceed them, trust me. Exceed them beyond your wildest dreams."