A/N: So first off, due to life still having been wild and weird hurting my creative ability this chapter got cut shorter than intended and actually may be for the better but time will tell as I work on the next. Second, I am very torn about whether to continue this draft or start actively working on the rewrite (which for right now would be chapter summaries and basic things like that) as I move along with this draft... since while it would add a ton of new and better content for current (and new?) readers to enjoy, leading to a conclusion that this draft is going towards anyway... it would feel unfair to those who have been waiting to see what our villains are up to and how it all ends. I don't know what to do. There's pros and cons on each side that I won't get into here since this is already getting lengthy for a 'note.' I also feel rusty and that this is weaker than usual due to the life nonsense hurting my creativity so I hope this chapter is alright enough for how long I've been away and everyone enjoys anyway. I will hit my stride again eventually.

Chapter 24: Intent

"Ohhhhhh my GOD!" Priscilla screamed as she sat up and crawled frantically to the regenerating Reiner, "This- This is- I'm so sorry!"

Her hands went for his face as she blubbered but she stopped just shy of touching him; she had no idea what to do, and it was all the more confusing since Reiner seemed to be pretty entertained after the initial shock of it. He was shaking his head side to side slowly, some blood falling from his face and dotting the sheets beneath them, while letting out a soft chuckle.

"Guess you don't know your own strength..." He laughed.

His wounds were quickly repairing themselves and it would only take a few minutes for him to bounce back completely, but Priss was still deathly worried that she'd ruined everything with her mega leg death grip from getting her pussy licked so good though.

She withdrew her arms and buried her face in her hands, not finding the same amusement in the situation that Reiner was, "I didn't mean to hurt you... I can't believe I did that, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Reiner, oh god, ohhh god..." She rambled behind her fingers, struggling to keep her thoughts organized.

"Don't worry about it, I'm a shifter, remember?" He said comfortingly, "And I don't think you're entirely to blame for it, I was the one getting you all worked up, wasn't I? I'll gladly take some of the heat for that."

Priss sighed and dropped her hands into her lap, following that up with a few calming deep breaths and seeing Reiner with a crooked by pleased grin; Reiner had done a pretty damn good job at getting her to calm down, and the more she thought about it, the more she could find the humor in it like he did, evident by the little smile that cautiously tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Well, when you put it that way... how many men out there have made their wife cum so hard with their mouth that they got their skull broken? Probably not anyone... and if there was someone, there's no way they lived to laugh about it."

"That's the spirit!" He encouraged.

Reiner was relieved to see Priss lighten up so easily, all things considered it'd be hard not to laugh about such an absurd situation that was effortlessly fixed anyway with his healing power. The real marvel that, despite what has just happened, his hardon was still raging – the man simply had unstoppable boners for her that couldn't be hindered even by the strange event that just happened.

"I'm just glad you didn't get hurt... those bone shards bursting out and all," He said with strong concern that was quite the contrast to his erection still blatantly hungering for her, "Wouldn't be able to forgive myself if one of 'em nicked you anywhere..."

In just moments Reiner's skull was back to normal and all the wounds were properly healed, since they weren't exactly devastating injuries it didn't take much time or stress to regenerate. Neither of them could really believe that what she did honestly happened, it was just such an over the top bizarre thing that couldn't be real, but the proof had very much been there, yet thankfully was all healed up now. With the signs of what she had accidentally done to him gone, Priss breathed a deep sigh of relief and threw herself at him. She attached herself to him in a tight hug while she buried her face in the crook of his neck silently. Then, also wordlessly, Reiner wrapped one arm around her waist and then used the other to run his fingers through her silky hair.

The two of them basked in this loving, tender embrace for a long time – despite that still present burning desire to want to have sex, but it was a feeling that definitely took a backseat at this point. After a while, Priss reluctantly pulled back so she could look at Reiner properly.

"Should we stop?" She asked nervously, "Was that a mood killer?"

"If you don't want to go on then that's fine with me," Reiner replied, then added with a smile, "But I promise you, I'm alright and you don't have to worry... in fact..."

Priss scrunched up her nose and repeated in confusion, "'in fact...?'"

"Why don't I prove it?" He finished with a sly grin.

Before Priscilla even had a chance to question him further, she was swept up as Reiner fluidly got to his feet on the floor, hoisting her up with his hands under her thighs. This feat of strength coming so effortlessly for Reiner wasn't surprising given his build, but Priss certainly wasn't prepared for such a dramatic shift. She naturally wrapped her legs around him in response to this and her mind jumped to what she thought was the logical conclusion:

"Against the wall?!" She asked and Reiner laughed, still with that sly look in his eyes.

"I don't need a wall," He assured her confidently.

If she wasn't being held up then Priss surely would have gotten so weak kneed from that bold statement she would have fallen over. The idea that Reiner could fuck her standing up like this without the use of a wall to hold her against for support? It was so thrilling to think about she felt herself get even more wet for him – which was good, considering at this angle it would be a lot harder to do any sort of slow 'easing in' compared to a more traditional position. They both of course realized this fact and Priss rested her forehead against Reiner's as she gripped his shoulders.

"It's gonna be a bit sudden..." Reiner warned, "but I'll do my best."

"I'm ready," She whispered, "And I trust you."

With that established, Reiner first carefully lowered her some until his head found her entrance that was more than ready for him. At that point, he let a combination of gravity and an upwards thrust of his hips move this forward. The sudden and deep penetration made Priss throw her head back and let out a half moan half shout while her nails dug into him, but she quickly uttered quiet assurances to him that she was fine. Reiner nodded and his own hands moved to her plump bottom to hold onto and support her by instead of her thighs, as it would provide better support for his thrusting and bouncing her up and down. His posture was a bit awkward to get this job done without a wall to press her against, but he was determined. With his fingers sinking into her thick rear end, he pulled her close and felt her inner warmth engulf his cock. Priscilla's head fell forward again and rested on his shoulder as he sank balls deep into her.

A quivering moan escaped her lips, drifting right into Reiner's ear, just over the feeling of him already being all the way inside her. Hardly any action had taken place yet; the two of them were just locked in place but still feeling so wonderful – and that little moan of hers both made Reiner's heart flutter and his balls throb, which ended up bringing a wholesome smile to his face too.

Now the trick to fucking like this would involve him having to bounce her up and down on top of him putting in the effort of thrusting into her as she came down, which was a bit awkward – but he had faith he could do it, that he could do it for her, and it would prove that he could accomplish even more feats of strength than he himself thought possible. Priscilla was no petite lady, just a mere couple inches shorter than him and... there was no beating around the bush, she carried a lot of 'feminine' weight in her tits, ass and thighs along with those wide hips complementing her tiny waist and so alluringly. Her muscle mass wasn't much at all, just what bare minimum she maintained from their training – which had likely diminished over time with her not using ODM gear anymore – but her thick areas were indeed not exactly light. In a word, her fat distribution and body proportions were downright perfect – like nothing he'd seen before even, and never would again.

Reiner had the same thought many times, but every time he got lost in thinking about her so much it all lead back to the same idea: that she was a creature of myth that had found her way to earth and fell into his life by sheer coincidence or luck; as if she herself was the unicorn, a divine being so sought after by many... but if this 'unicorn' chose him and only him, a man who felt like he had hurt her so much in the past, that maybe, just maybe... he could be wrong about himself, that he could be good enough for her if she, this once in a lifetime entity, chose him. The way his insecurities would lift when he thought of their situation that way wasn't guaranteed to be permanent, there was always something that seemed to bring him back down, but for now he wouldn't think of that possibility...

However, Reiner was worried he might be keeping his sweet lady waiting for more, even though she was quite content as they were – a peaceful smile had been on her face the whole time she laid on his shoulder, but they both knew that this wouldn't be how things came to an end. Reiner established a firm grip on her ass and lifted her slightly while he withdrew his dick a bit, never fully leaving her pussy, before letting her drop down again while he pushed into her. Again, her head flew backwards and sent her hair into a flurrying mess while she moaned louder than before as Reiner flexed his strength in this fuck style. He repeated this action, grunting as he did so with each completion of the movements.

Priscilla's breasts were squished firmly against his pecs and she tightly held onto him while she breathed heavily, feeling her clit being rubbed against his pelvis with how they were more or less glued together; she was sure she'd be cumming again from this with that added stimulation along with the deep penetration, including how Reiner's cock was perfectly angled to be hitting her g-spot magnificently – and Reiner's feat of strength by holding her up all on his own with no support was not lost on Priss, that in itself was still immensely arousing, even more so than before since she was seeing it in action now rather than just imagining it after he made his claim of being able to do it.

Her eyes were shut tight as she got that good dicking from him, breathing heavily and listening to his loud grunting as he went at her. Each time he thrust into her, his fingers would dig deeper into her juicy ass before relaxing again at a steady repetitive rate, and with every lift of her body that preceded his thrusts, Priss would inhale sharply and follow it up with a loud moan of ecstasy once they bodies collided to the closest extent they could once more. Reiner felt the strength of her legs around his torso begin to tighten and noticed her back arching as slightly as it could in this position – if he learned one thing about her legs squeezing together tightly, it was that she was getting close to orgasm; she didn't even need to verbalize it at this point with how familiar he was with her unspoken means of communication.

Reiner took a deep breath before he started fucking her harder, keeping her pulled close so her clit continued to rub against him so she could feel as much pleasure as she could in that position. He could hear her breaths turn into quick and shallow gasps – they both knew what was coming – and Reiner was intent on having it happen at the same time for both of them. There was no better sexual experience in the world to cum together with the one you love, and the two of them were pretty good at achieving that whether they meant to or not. An unreal, perhaps another mythical aspect of her, had the ability to connect them in many ways, much like they were in sync in that moment.

Priss would have no problem getting off with being held up, but Reiner had a brief moment of worry if he'd be able to remain standing as he let loose inside of her, but he didn't care. If he fell, he was confident he could land gracefully enough so nobody got hurt, but time was growing short as they both were on the brink and thinking wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do in that moment. As always, he heard his lover cry out as her pussy tightened rhythmically around his cock as if milking the cum out of it in an explosive flood within her. As Reiner came along with her, his knees grew weak and he fell to one, while being able maintain some sort of kneeling position for the sake of keeping Priss from being hurt by a fall. It took quite a deal of willpower to control his body in such a way while having an intense orgasm, but for his sweet princess, he would do what he must. Always.

The two of them were both left breathing heavily and sweaty while their faces found their way back to looking at one another. Reiner smiled at Priss, who let out quietly cute laugh with her own grin. With his wits about him returning, Reiner rose back to both feet and carried Priss over to their bed where he carefully peeled her off him and laid her down gently to let her rest, making sure to be mindful of her wounds. She looked so peaceful as she stared up at him with her honest eyes – it was undeniably true that her eyes told anyone anything they needed to know, and in that moment, her eyes displayed what she always felt for Reiner: true love, trust and a deep longing to always be with him, along with a silent beckoning for him to join her in the bed.

And how could he say no to such a simple and delightful request such as that?

Reiner happily sat down on the edge of the bed before swinging his legs on, and to make sure she would lay on her 'good' arm, he maneuvered to the other side of her before laying beside her. She turned from her back on to her right side to see him beaming at her, Reiner's golden eyes were honest too, but not to the degree that Priscilla's were. He could do a better job at hiding his emotions when the situation called for it, but there was no reason to hide anything right now.

They both had that familiar tired haze in their eyes after a nice round of lovemaking as they gazed longingly at each other, but a thought struck Reiner all of a sudden. He had remembered just how hard he was gripping her butt while he fucked her and suddenly worried he may have ended up hurting her a bit.

"I- I was holding onto you so tight, my fingers or even nails... did it hurt?" He awkwardly blurted out, "I didn't realize in the moment I may have been grabbing at you too tightly."

Priss let out a soft laugh, "I'm sure you left some red marks but I'll be fine," and she went on with a kind smile, "I was a bit too preoccupied to notice something like that."

"Ahh... good point," Reiner said, relieved, "Guess it was kind of a weird thing to bring up, sorry."

"I know you can't help but worry about me," She replied as she raised her hand up and started to trace along his brow line with her index finger, "You don't have to apologize."

The return of her touch put Reiner at ease even further, there were no worries or anxieties now as he felt her run her fingers along his features.

"You're so..." He said softly while he looked into her eyes, "Beautiful."

Priss giggled and pulled back her hand to point at her face, "What? Even with this big ugly bruise?"

"Nothing could ever make you anything close to ugly!" Reiner responded immediately and desperately, not caring that she was just joking, "and like you said, that thing will fade in time. So yes, of course you're still beautiful... nothing's gonna change that."

His utterly sincere answer made her laugh even more because it was just so damn cute of him, but it wasn't all that shocking that he responded in such a way. Reiner could take a joke, but on that subject... not so much, especially since it involved referencing her injury. The idea, even without a hint of being serious, that Priss could think of herself as ugly was not something he could take lightly – but in her light hearted mood, her mouth continued to run on without thinking.

"Ohh but what about when I'm all old and wrinkly-" She stopped herself as soon as she realized what she said. Priss even clamped one of her hands over her mouth as her eyes went wide and glittered with tears almost instantly as her own words sunk in. Reiner's expression softened, not upset with her, but that accidental reminder that they wouldn't get to grow old and live out their lives together was always inherently depressing to think about. She closed her eyes tightly and he heard her whisper 'I'm sorry' from behind her hand.

"Hey, hey... I know you didn't mean anything by it..." Reiner assured her soothingly, "And it is what it is. Just because we don't think or talk about it won't make it just go away."

Priss dropped her hand and opened up her eyes again, "It was still dumb. I-I'm sorry... I really do need to work on thinking before I speak more, don't I?" She said.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt..." Reiner agreed with a kind smile, "And we all say dumb things without thinking sometimes though... And for the record, I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be the most beautiful person to walk this earth no matter how old you get."

Priss sniffed quickly and wiped away the barely-formed tears in her eyes, Reiner had flawlessly gotten her to feel better yet again. Not just with his goofy comment about being a lovely old lady, but the fact that he didn't ignore her real criticisms of her own behavior and honestly agreed with them without being harsh. Reiner leaned in and kissed her forehead as one more gesture, though silent, to show that everything was okay despite her putting her foot in her mouth thoughtlessly.

At the same time, Reiner couldn't help but fear for his beloved Priscilla as the years went by once he was gone. She had told him she could never love again, but in a way he wanted to encourage her to be open to the possibility of it once he was dead; pursuing another partner for the sake of their child that he couldn't be around to raise wouldn't diminish the love Priss has for Reiner... But as much as he didn't want her to be alone, it was brutal to imagine her with another man in her life. He knew better than to put thought that forward though; Such a suggestion would only needlessly upset her and might give her the wrong idea. At the same time, he was confident in her ability to navigate the world once he was gone; he had faith that she could figure things out, even if it took time – and the fact that she was already making efforts to be more mature eased his worries about how she would handle the outside world.

Regardless of what the future held, it was still emotionally draining to dwell on too much on that ever-present doom hanging above them silently. Like Reiner had said just moments ago, avoiding thinking about it wouldn't make his fate magically disappear, but there was no need to ruminate longer than they already had, and he definitely didn't want to risk bringing Priss back down after he just helped her lift herself up after her quick misstep, so Reiner kept these negative thoughts to himself. It was a painful thing for Reiner to imagine, even if he wouldn't be alive to experience it, for Priss to go on in life alone or otherwise. He wanted to be there with her as much as she did; there was only so much they'd be able to do with just those six years of his life left, especially considering he had obligations with his military work.

"Reiner?" Her sweet and curious voice broke through his dwelling, "You alright? You had a weird look on your face."

"Just thinking too much about the future," He admitted, not wanting to lie and say it was nothing, "We've said it a million times, but what matters is right now. Don't need to think about what lies that far ahead just yet."

"I definitely agree," Priss responded, "There's a fine line between being prepared at a reasonable time and overthinking something too much to the point that it's distressing... We have time."

"We'll get there when he get there," Reiner added in.

Priss smiled warmly, "Exactly."

In unison, as if their minds were connected and willed both of them to do so, they brought their fingers to the other's lips and just lightly ran then across as they wearily stared into each other's eyes. The exhaustion from their sex was only really just setting in, so they took those moments to simply relax in the quiet.

Zeke had been found by two higher ranking officers while he had been aimlessly wandering, and he could tell right away what they wanted from him.

"As we approach the mainland, the Commander of this voyage wants a brief account of the Paradis Island Operation relayed to him in preparation for a full debrief once we make landfall," One of them said.

"Ah, yes of course, sir..." Zeke mumbled with his head down, but then raised his voice normally along with his head, "I'm ready anytime."

"Good, now come with us."

The second officer then scoffed and added in, "Not like declining was an option for you anyway, Warchief."

The way the officer used such a blatant mocking tone with his title reminded him of how Priscilla would do the same, which made the normal degradation he'd receive from the Marleyans sting even more. Despite this, he followed obediently to deliver the details of why the operation failed. As he was marched along, Zeke contemplated what exactly he had to say – he knew well that just saying 'we failed to recover the Founding Titan' wasn't going to cut it, any possible tiny detail that lead to this failure was crucial to share in this situation. For a mission that spanned years only to end in failure, something in depth was necessary.

Zeke had his own intentions hidden from the Marleyan government that lead to him abandoning any personal care for the Founding Titan's retrieval, but he had to make sure his secrets remained hidden and that he had to pin the blame on someone else as much as possible and try to gain something from this failure.

Just as they stood outside the Commander's quarters, it came to him. There was only one possibility to go with that protected himself and could act to further his plans with Anteros more easily.

Reiner... he thought as the door opened and he stood face to face with the Commander, You served well and brought me what I truly needed, so for that I am grateful... but I must do what I need to for the greater good, even if it means sacrificing you.

"Are you prepared?" The Commander asked.

Zeke calmly nodded and responded with confidence, "Yes, sir, I am."