A/N: There is a mention of a certain character's age in this chapter that might be seen as an error on my part, but it is due to changes I've made further along in the story and is deliberate. It seems though in my previous mention of Magath I called him general, but at this point in AOT he was just a commander I believe, but it had been a while since I was fresh on that section of the story – that is a mistake of mine. Whether I re-upload the chapter with that mention of him and fix his title is not decided yet because really? Who cares. It'll be fixed in the re-write for sure. Thanks for reading and enjoy.

Chapter 22: Trust In Me

"That is simply the stupidest plan I've ever heard."

A teen Zeke was taken aback by his new friend's bluntness after he shared the details of the idea he and Tom Ksaver had roughly plotted out recently. The boy was slender and very tall with shoulder-length white hair that was half pulled back, his vibrant green eyes looking forward into the sky instead of at Zeke as he spoke to him.

"What else can be done? I have the special power to make it happen like this, so I will..." Zeke insisted.

Zeke Yeager was still a cadet who was hoping to inherit one of the nine Titans; he specifically had grown close to the man who held the Beast Titan: Tom Ksaver. Both of them, even though Zeke was only about 15 at the present time, knew what an accursed history the Eldians had and how hated they are by the world at large. Ksaver had informed the young Zeke that he became a shifter as a slow form of suicide, which essentially is what becoming a shifter ultimately resulted in whether someone liked it or not. Anyone in training for being an inheritor knew that 13 years after receiving the power of a shifter, they die – in the case of the Warrior program run by the Marleyan government, once the 13 year 'term' is up, the power is passed down to one of the chosen candidates via being eaten by the candidate after being transformed into a pure Titan form; in the event that this standard protocol somehow goes wrong and the shifter dies without passing it on, the power is transferred to a random newborn Eldian – hence why Marley has a strict system in place to keep their Titan weaponry in their grasp.

"Ezekiel..." The slightly older boy murmured, "That name... it means 'God will strengthen' doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Zeke never really thought about the origins of his name, and rarely anyone ever used his full name instead of the short form of it, "What does that have to do with anything?"

The green eyed boy finally turned his face to look at Zeke; he was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes – instead they were clouded with a veil of mystery, "Tell me, what strength has your God given you?"

Zeke was even more confused now and couldn't summon any words at all, so he just stared into the bright green eyes of this friend of his. This wasn't their first time seeing each other, Zeke had seen this boy and a few other people who looked just like him make appearances at the Warrior Unit's HQ; he even spotted Tom Ksaver speaking with them at least once. They were people with an oddly mystical aura to them that Zeke couldn't put into words, he wasn't sure if they were alluring, frightening or something in between. This instance, however, was their first time really sitting and talking at length.

How they initially met was a bit unorthodox since it didn't start out on the most pleasant terms. In one of their many games of catch, Ksaver had told his protege that these strange beings came from Paradis Island; he also mentioned the youngest of them was only a year or two older than Zeke and maybe he should try to talk to him.

"You! Eldian scum, away from me!" He shouted when Zeke made his introduction, "What right do you have to speak to me?"

"I, uh, was just curious about you coming from Paradis."

"That's none of your business," The white haired boy spat, "If only I could exterminate your kind myself... I'd do it right now."

And that's when it became evident that they both were interested in the eradication of the Eldian race, in fact the foreign boy was especially passionate about it. Oddly enough, this proved to be a magnificent basis for a kinship between them. They sparsely spent time together due to their own lives dictating how much downtime they had to just meet up, but when they found the time, they would convene and start to get to know each other better.

"So, you're one of those Warrior cadets I've heard about?"

"Yes... it's my goal to inherit the Beast Titan, go to Paradis an-"

"What did you say?!" The boy shouted, grabbing Zeke by the shoulders, "You're going there?!"

"Yes, I must... it's part of my plan I made with Mr. Ksaver."

"Listen to me Yeager. There is someone very important on that island that would greatly benefit both of us to have... My sister... The next time we meet, you'll have to tell me everything about this plan you have with Ksaver. I think we can work something out. Something that involves you not having to die with all the other Eldians, but rather..."

"Tell me, what strength has your God given you?"

Zeke was snapped back into the present by those words echoing in his mind – he still didn't have an answer for this question, which was fine for his friend, as it allowed him to keep talking.

"Your 'God' has lead to you to nothing but a cursed existence that's left you hated by the world, and your idea with Ksaver is foolish. All that work, and you don't even personally gain anything from it? Not even to see the outcome? It's ludicrous!" The boy ranted, "I can promise your wildest dreams will come true with the God we ourselves create."

Zeke's blue eyes widened at this claim, "How... How can we create a God?"

"Truthfully, she already technically exists... she just needs a little help, a push so to speak," He explained. "If we work together, you will be rid of your beastly idiocy as an Eldian and will be granted what you've wanted all throughout your life: Companionship. Love. The things your parents never gave you. And so much more. Doesn't that sound much better than a pathetic and slow suicide? Will your God give you the strength I can promise mine will provide you with? When you've been giving nothing as it is? I don't think you should have to think all that hard about it... what do you have to lose by accepting my generous offer?"

Zeke's tired eyes stared out into the open ocean as he stood on the deck of the ship taking them back to Marley. From time to time, his eyes would travel over to the handrail that Priscilla had broken during the dramatic events of the night. The injuries he sustained in his fight with Reiner had healed up by now and as he stood out on deck by himself it gave him time to reflect on that whole mess.

"I..." He mumbled and hung his head, "I may have gone too far."

He closed his eyes and saw Reiner with his expression of hatred towards him and then the face of a devastated and sobbing Priscilla, the latter visual stinging him more than he ever expected it to. It was easy for him to dismiss her apology and then eventually start to mercilessly degrade her without seeing those eyes of hers since she had kept them downcast during her apology; those eyes that revealed it all, and then when we saw them in his memory of the aftermath, it was clear to him that she must have been genuine because her eyes could not lie. Zeke drove a knife into the poor girl's heart and twisted it so harshly for no good reason that he legitimately was feeling guilt now. Such thoughts roused an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, so he shook his head in an attempt to escape the remorse building in him.

On top of that, he feared that he may have done critical damage to how well his unit could function thanks to his tensions with Reiner; previously Reiner managed to hold himself back and remain as 'in his place' as he could with Zeke, even when he was angry with him, sometimes he would end up being the mediator between the other two as they fought – but at this point Reiner was not concerned with respecting his Warchief's authority, which could prove to be a problem. To patch things up would be ideal, but not just with Reiner, he did feel some obligation to extend an olive branch to Priss as well. He was doubtful she'd accept it from him after his needless cruelty though.

His heavy eyes opened and he once again found his gaze on the broken rail. The man thought back to her overall behavior, how familiar that surprising strength was as she stood under the moon that empowered her.

"So, she has it too..." He uttered. "Just like him."

Visions of a brutal massacre invaded his thoughts, a memory so violent that he could barely stomach thinking about it. Hysterical confusion, bloody bodies that writhed in agony before finally succumbing to the release of death... and that boy, his cohort that swayed him and seduced him into following his plan, presiding over it all. He was looking on the scene with pride and satisfaction before turning to Zeke and saying...

Now for you to prove your loyalty, Yeager.

It was perhaps the most harrowing moment of Zeke's life, and as such he didn't enjoy thinking back on it; it always sent a shiver down his spine, but he coped with it by convincing himself it was the right thing to do. Anteros insisted it needed to be done to further their quest in creating their own God and Zeke believed him. If that was what had to be done for his wishes to be granted, then so be it. With his hands as dirtied as they were now, there was no turning back for Zeke Yeager. Nothing would make the blood that stained his hands fade, so all there was to do was to move forward.

"I can't think about this anymore," He grumbled as he tried to dismiss those thoughts. "And I could really use a cigarette right now, damn it..."

Despite his itch for nicotine, Zeke knew he wouldn't be able to bum a cigarette from any of the Marleyans so the best he could do was fight it off. With all the time he spent on the island away from them, the Warchief had lost most of his cravings for having a smoke, but that brief whiff of it he got last night had him longing to light up again. That combined with the stress that was building up made having a cigarette even more desirable; it was his go-to activity when he got stressed out. The more he fantasized about it all only served to strengthen his craving, so he had to go find a way to get his mind off it before he went insane.

Reiner and Priss both sat on their bed facing each other; he had perfect posture and his legs were crossed while she was slumped in a defeated position where she was sitting with her legs in front of her but bent at the knees in an improper form, where instead of just sitting on them, her calves were angled so that they ran against the outside of her thighs. She still clutched the sheet around her tightly despite it being just the two of them in there. Her full-on crying had stopped but her eyes were still red and her cheeks still wet, on top of that every now and then she sniffled softly but she tried to keep it to a minimum.

"I really..." Priss began in a broken voice, shaking her head side to side slowly, "I don't understand why he acted like that. Was I wrong with what I said?"

Reiner reached out and placed his hand on her chin, lifting it up so he could look at her, "You didn't do anything wrong. You took the high road to make amends, and I know you meant it. I don't have any idea why he would react how he did though..."

"I honestly do think he's jealous that someone who isn't him is getting love and devotion and he just can't stand it," Priss bluntly put forth, but then her tone softened some, "Has he ever had anyone in his life who really loved him?"

"He's never talked about things like that. He didn't bring up his parents, girlfriends or any friends for that matter. I get that a Warrior wouldn't have time for romance, but the fact that he never brought up even just having friends at all..." Reiner spoke, "It makes me think you're right. That he has some sort of bitterness related to that. If he hadn't treated you the way he did then I might feel bad for him. I know what it's like to live a life without people caring about you much... Well, until you came along and made up for lost time."

That last bit got a smile out of Priscilla, which Reiner was happy to see.

"There it is..." He said, then leaned in and kissed her forehead, "That smile."

"I will always smile for my hero," She replied.

Suddenly his expression fell and his hand dropped he pulled back, leaving Priss perplexed.

"Can you really call me a hero when I failed you today?" Reiner began shamefully, "I couldn't keep a level head when Zeke said those things about you, and I've screwed up left and right during the mission, so I failed on that too. I'll have no choice but to face whatever consequences are waiting for me back home..."

"And I'll be right by your side," Priss assured him as she leaned forward, "No matter what, just like I've always been. My hero deserves nothing less, and no matter what you say, you will always be my hero."

Reiner's smile weakly returned, "You really are too good for this hell on Earth we've been trapped in, you know that?"

"But I'm here," She touched the tip of her finger to the left side of his chest, just above his heart, "And it's right where I belong, and that's what I'd call heaven. Wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."

Reiner's smile that he had been struggling to maintain grew stronger with those words from her. A peaceful silence fell over them as they just looked at each other adoringly, but then a thought came to Priss that she thought would be worth sharing with him.

"You know what I would do when I was alone in Hyperia and overwhelmed about all the... insanity of what I was finding out?" She asked, Reiner silently shook his head, "I'd think about our baby... stuff like what he's gonna look like, who's features he's gonna get... I found it to be very soothing."

"'He?' … how do you know it's gonna be a boy?"

"Hm, just a gut feeling I guess... Maybe one of those motherly instinct sorta things?" She suggested, "Whatever it is, I'm positive we're having a boy."

"So that's what got you through the tough times while we were apart, huh?" Reiner asked and Priss nodded in response. This brought to mind a question that could be a bit of a downer, but Reiner felt the need to ask anyway, "Don't you get scared about it at all? Nervous?"

"Oh uh, well... not really..." She admitted awkwardly, "Our boy was my source of comfort when things were bad, so thinking about the scarier aspects didn't cross my mind."

"I don't want to kill the mood but we are young and have never done anything like this before... It's gonna be a big change," Reiner said, "I'm sure my mom would help us learn the ropes. And I have a little cousin who might be able to help out, she's only about 10 now but it's possible she'd be interested in being apart of our baby's life."

"Yeah, and of course we'll have each other. We'll make it work," Priss said, trying to keep the optimism up, "I will admit though that I should have been thinking about the reality of being parents. I feel kinda dumb now... I just couldn't help getting caught up in my daydreams when I was upset."

"Whatever it takes to get you out of a slump, right? It's not the worst thing in the world, you're not dumb," Reiner assured her, "That reminds me, did you have anything else you wanted to tell me about what you learned in Hyperia?"

"Well yeah but..." She frowned as she recalled some of the details she hadn't relayed to him yet, specifically the human sacrifices. Priss shook away the gruesome thoughts and smiled pleasantly again, "I think we should spend this time just focusing on good things, on each other."

"I like the sound of that," Reiner agreed, his voice soft and caring.

Priscilla's hands gracefully found their way to his and she lightly pulled at him, beckoning Reiner to come and lay with her. The blonde didn't need any further invitation than that, so as she shifted to lie on her back, he followed suit and laid next to her on his side. Priss too turned on her side to face him once they were both down on the bed.

"...Oh! I shouldn't be hogging the blanket..." She laughed. With a bit of wiggling around, she was able to throw it over both of them – it made her arm sting with pain, but she was learning to live with it the best she could. Still, she hoped it would heal up soon, she also was eager for the bruise on her face to fade as well – sadly, she had no idea on how long either would take.

"You could have if you wanted to," Reiner replied jokingly, which earned him a lingering boop on the tip of his nose.

"Isn't this much better though?" She said with a smirk.

Priss drew back her finger so she could rest her chin on her hand while she gave him that familiar lovestruck stare. It was stunning to him how these subtle motions she made were all so fluid and elegant, but upon reflection, it was only fitting that a goddess would move like that.

"Oh trust me, it is," He assured his lover, giving her yet another kiss on the forehead, but he didn't linger long as he wanted to get back to gazing lovingly at her.

"Hmm..." Priss hummed curiously, "Do you know how much longer it'll take to get to Marley?"

"Based on when we left yesterday... maybe around six or seven hours," Reiner guessed, "It's hard to say exactly."

"Wow..." She replied in awe.

"Wow what?"

"In less than half a day I'll be in the outside world..." She mused, "It still felt so far away up until now..."

"Yeah, before you know it we'll be home," He said, "No doubt I'll have to go through a debriefing, I don't know how long that'll end up taking though, I just hope not too long. I'm not sure where we'll be able to keep you while I'm dealing with my military duties..."

"...Do you think I'll be handed over to that Tybur family or something?"

The thought didn't even cross Reiner's mind that she'd be taken to them as soon as possible, but now that it did, he worried about just how long they'd end up being separated. This whole business with the Tyburs had Reiner wondering what their intentions were with her exactly – would they seek to keep her away from Reiner for some reason? If he knew Priscilla, and he did more than anyone, she wouldn't let anybody separate them for any reason. There wasn't a great deal to gain from speculating on a situation he knew nothing about though.

"Or..." He heard her speak up again grimly, "What if my brother comes to claim me?"

Reiner saw the fear in her eyes grow as that thought sunk in, it was clear she definitely did not want to end up with her brother.

"We'll figure something out to keep you safe. Having you stay at Warrior HQ may not be doable, not for long anyway... If we could somehow get you to my mom's house then you should be able to lay low there until I get my post-mission obligations taken care of."

Priscilla sighed as she felt anxiety start to churn within her, "I hope you're right...I really hadn't been thinking about all this stuff that we'll need to work out once we get there."

"You've had to deal with a lot lately, Priss," Reiner comforted her by stroking her cheek, the one that was tragically bruised was what was available with how she was laying so he made sure to touch as lightly as possible, "Thinking ahead is good in this situation, but I don't want to get you more stressed than you already have been. At the end of the day, we'll be just fine."

"I believe you," Priss assured him with some quick nods, "I'm sure there's plenty more to consider even after that but... like I said before, let's just focus on the good things now. While things are still... relatively peaceful."

Reiner hummed in agreement as his hand came to rest cupping her cheek after stroking it for a while, but a sudden worry struck him, "Oh, that doesn't hurt does it?"

"No no, not at all, trust me!" She rushed to assure him.

The man sighed in relief – the last thing he wanted to do was make her hurt anymore than she already was. He could only imagine what she was enduring after her hellish night, but there she was still smiling at him as if nothing were wrong with the world.

"Priscilla..." He whispered, still with his hand on her face. She raised an eyebrow curiously to encourage him to keep going, "I want to say that I'm extremely proud of you. You took responsibility for your actions, you didn't make excuses... I'm not saying you deserved to be hurt, I would never imply that... but you took a mature stance with Zeke despite all the bad blood between you. That's worthy of admiration to me."

She grinned briefly but it didn't last long, "Thank you, Reiner... I just hope I can keep it up."

"Well if he went and provoked you enough I think I'd look the other way if you wanted to give him a good smack..."

"Reiner! Don't encourage me!" She laughed and pawed at his chest, which pulled a chuckle out of Reiner.

"Hey, hey that tickles a bit," He chortled and Priss's mouth fell wide open in amused disbelief.

"You?! Ticklish?" She exclaimed.

"I didn't know it myself... but I guess so," He replied a bit sheepishly, but his awkward demeanor didn't last long; instead, his lips curled into a sly smile as an idea sparked in his mind, "Now... what about you?"

Before Priss could even let out a 'huh?' she felt his hands on the move; one hand ran up along the curve of her waist and gently placed the palm of his other to her midsection – the threat of getting tickled made her stomach contract away from his touch briefly before relaxing again. He watched her face that was frozen in nervous anticipation as his feathery light touches teased her body – the agony of not knowing if and when he was going to launch into some kind of furious tickle attack or not. She stared at him with her breath held as she waited, and then it finally came – Reiner started to tickle her by vigorously wiggling his fingers against her stomach and waist.

"AHHH!" She shrieked playfully as she began to squirm around and laugh, "REINER!"

"Hah! Guess you didn't know you were ticklish either!" He grinned as he kept at it.

Priss managed to roll onto her back in an attempt to escape, but Reiner wouldn't let her get away so easily and it sent their blanket flying off them onto the ground. The blonde quickly followed and got on top of her, sitting on her pelvis, which gave him an even better and more comfortable angle of 'attack' – those strong fingers of his moving up and down her stomach rapidly while he laughed along with her, but her laughs were louder than his since she was the one enduring the barrage of tickles from him.

"Nooo, Reiner! No more! Reeeeeeeeeiner!" She begged playfully through her endless laughter that had become so extreme that she had tears in her eyes. Reiner snickered as he kept on tickling his girl, he loved hearing her laugh and seeing her face as she did so. After witnessing her endure not just physical but emotional suffering too, it was nothing short of beautiful to see her full on laughing again.

By that time her breathing had gotten so heavy that her heaving and bouncing breasts beneath him couldn't be ignored, leading to his playfulness slowing until his hands stopped to rest his palms flat on her abdomen. Reiner watched as her head fell to the side while she started to catch her breath, still making her bare chest rise up and down heavily.

She slowly turned her face, which was red from all her breathless, hysterical laughter and smiled up at him, "Truce?" She panted.

Reiner returned a warm smile to her and nodded, "Truce."

The man sighed contently as he looked down on his lovely lady, the goddess he still couldn't believe he had the honor of calling his soon-to-be wife. Much like she could with him, Reiner could just stare at this woman forever and never tire of it, but he was lucky enough to not be limited to just looking at her. This man got it all, not just the looks or physicality, but what were objectively the more important things; the aspects that weren't tangible like physical appearances: her heart, her love, her devotion – and in return, he gave all those right back to her. Reiner's expression softened into one of longing without him even realizing it, whenever he got lost in looking at and thinking about just how much he loves this girl, his face just fell into a natural state of lovestruck wanting.

Reiner raised one of his hands up to her face and ran his fingers across her full, plump lips – she had this cute thing she did, not always on purpose, but more like it was the way her mouth naturally ended up resting sometimes: her upper and lower lip would part ever so slightly, revealing a very faint showing of her top front teeth. He noticed it happen often when she wasn't thinking, or sometimes it was a deliberate expression – no matter what the reason was for it happening, Reiner just adored it since it was another one of those things, small as it may be, that made her uniquely 'her.' He'd never seen anyone else do this – hell, he'd never even seen anyone who looked like Priss at all before. It was nothing short of miraculous for an unearthly beauty such as her to exist, and to be sharing her life with him.

With his fingers brushing across her lower lip, Priss went and moved her head forward just enough to draw his index fingertip into her mouth. Reiner's eyes widened slightly since he didn't expect to suddenly feel her wet tongue licking the tip of his finger out of nowhere, but he was by no means against it. That simple act of sucking on and licking his finger officially got him noticeably hard, as if just checking her out didn't get his fires burning already anyway.

Priscilla's eyes closed and she sucked on his fingertip harder as if to beckon for him to stick it further in, so he obliged. As Reiner's finger slipped further into her warm mouth she let out a gratified moan and started to run her tongue along the length of it. Her mouth opened slightly again to draw in a breath that glided across his now wet finger in a strangely stimulating way, he then noticed her tongue motion towards his next finger, silently asking him to put another one in. Reiner gladly obliged and slide his middle finger into her mouth alongside his index finger; again her lips closed around them and she began to suck on them while humming erotically. Reiner watched her as she indulged in sucking his fingers and then switching between just playing with them with her tongue – licking them up and down, between them, around them and lapping at the tips before she would go back and give them a harder suck than she had yet done, which made Reiner shiver, along with making his dick twitch.

Priscilla's eyes opened up, not even for a second missing a beat with her oral work on his fingers, and she looked straight into his eyes with a gaze that was a blend of affection and lusty longing. She raised her own two hands swiftly and grabbed onto his that she had her mouth focused on, for no other reason than just to hold it and give it a loving squeeze as she went about suckling his fingers while her eyes closed again.

"Mmm..." He heard her hum loudly as she worked.

At this point Reiner was getting more than a little eager. He pulled his hand back from her and leaned down so his face hovered just above hers; her green eyes fluttered back open to see his golden ones in front of her, the eyes that made her heart soar whenever she got to see them.

Reiner gently placed both his hands on the sides of her face, still mindful of the bruise on the left cheek, and then whispered "I love you."

He immediately went in for a kiss, and feeling her lips against his again was as much of a delight as it always was. Lips that were lusciously soft no matter what and always inviting his kisses to them. It was slow and tenderly romantic with Reiner's hands traveling from her face to running through her hair and back again. He then shifted his position from having sitting on her pelvis to laying on top of her with one of his legs between hers and the other one outside hers to support himself, making it an easier position for their making out. This allowed Priss to easily wrap her arms around him as they continued to kiss.

"I..." She said breathlessly in the rare moment their lips parted, "I love you too."

Their insatiable need for each other never ended, even though just last night they engaged in sexual activity, neither of them could deny – nor did they want to deny – their hunger for one another. They kept on their slow yet passionate kissing for a while, just enjoying that piece of their pleasure before moving onto anything more. Even with Reiner's very apparent hardon to both of them, he wasn't in a hurry to just get to smashing her; despite his balls already aching to let his cum loose, he didn't want to reach that point just yet. For now, he just wanted to spend time with his lips locked with hers as they held each other tightly. It didn't matter that the room was dingy and the bed was uncomfortable, they had each other and that alone made it their own personal heaven.

They had been making out for so long and passionately, that they needed to take a moment to breathe, so Reiner pulled away and sat back on his haunches, fully revealing his erection that was trapped in his trousers and dying to be set free. The blonde looked down to his divine lover – the look in her eyes was sign enough that she wanted exactly what he did too.

"Are you sure...?" He asked, still a bit breathless from all the making out, he then referred to her injured arm, "With that?"

"I'll be just fine," She assured him in a loving whisper, "No matter what I do it'll be a pain, but the best comfort I could ask for is you, now and always... so let's make love."

Reiner nodded once, trusting that she was comfortable with this right now, and started to undress. Priscilla watched him remove his shirt, and merely seeing him shirtless was enough to get her heart racing again after it had only just started to relax after their heavy kissing. Then once he got to removing his pants and underwear, her face was flushed bright red while her whole body was overcome with arousal and burning with desire to be taken by her one true love.

Reiner leaned forward and starting to crawl back towards her, hands eventually resting on either side of her head while his body hovered above hers. Their eyes were intensely locked and, despite how much they both wanted to satisfy their lustful needs, they stayed their in a state of silent bliss for a while. They never truly needed words to express how they felt, especially when it came to their love; the way they would look at each other told them everything they needed to know with an unspoken connection.

...Yet still, speaking those words or adoration out loud made it all the more wonderful. There was no better sound in the world to them than to hear the other's voice, but the wondrous emotions and sensations were always there, whether things were spoken or not. There was no other way of describing all this as them having their own language of love that nobody else could decipher.

Reiner raised one of his hands up to her face slowly where he softly caressed her right cheek while he looked down upon her; she was smiling sweetly up at him as he touched her in that gentle way. He took a moment to just indulge in the simple act of running his hand up and down her face before he leaned down to press his lips to hers, again keeping things soft and slow for now – his hand remaining on the side of her face as he did so too. Priss soon raised her own hand to lay on top of his hand that rested on her cheek still, giving it a light squeeze as they kissed slowly.

His other hand instinctively made it's way up to her bruised cheek, but once he made contact and realized what he was doing, he abruptly pulled it back and broke away from the kiss slightly, looking away off to the side nervously.

"Hey..." Priss murmured, drawing his eyes back to her. "It's ok, I know you're not gonna hurt me. A little gentle touch isn't gonna do anything. You did it before after all."

"Are you sure...?" He asked, repeating the same exact words from moments ago with overwhelming uncertainty, prompting Priss to nod and let out a reassuring 'mhmm.' Reiner stirred in his worry about it, but ultimately went back to pushing down his anxieties in favor of trusting his love instead. "Just... if I end up accidentally hurting you at any point at all, tell me right away and I'll stop. Ok?"

"Of course," She responded sweetly as she leaned forward a bit to give him a peck on the lips. She then withdrew back to lay her head flat on the pillow again with a cheeky grin, "And hey, I survived your tickle attack before just fine, remember? I think we'll be good."

Bringing up how he went and made the discovery that she was ticklish moments ago got Reiner to laugh, which relieved Priscilla. Then with her familiar grace, she took the hand he had pulled away nervously and brought it back to her left cheek so he had his hands on both sides of her face. Her eyes closed and her full lips gradually spread into a contented smile as she took in the feeling of not just his hands on her, but their trust and faith in one another as well.