swain. 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘥.

chapter one.

the sky was tainted that same grey color like it always was, the smell of fresh coffee and old parchment was swirling through the small office. there she sat, on a desk with a book on her lap and cup of coffee in her hand. eyes adrift outside, getting lost in the vast sea of skylines.

long dark hair pulled messily into a top bun, clearly she didn't care what it looked like at the moment, that's just how it was on her days off. what use was she when she wasn't in her titan form? apparently none, despite her being a highly educated scholar in medicine, the Marleyans didn't want their pure medicine tainted with her mixed blood, supposedly.

a knock on the open doorframe caught her attention, pulling her feet from the other one of her desks and buttoning the top button of her white button-up back again, before looking at who was visiting her at the moment. Porco.

Porco Galliard. her rival in all things, and closest friend in many more.

"hey Pock." she addressed him kindly, watching as he deadpanned, adjusting his classic leather jacket and entering the room, taking a seat on the desk opposite to her.

"hey little bitch." he addressed her harshly, both of them falling out in laughter at the random insult.

"Jesus Christ, Pokko" she started, setting her coffee down to wipe at her eyes to stop the tears forming from her sudden laughter. "what was that for?"

"i dunno," he chuckled, "seemed like you needed a little nudge in the right direction."

"by insulting me? you gave me that nudge?" she raised an eyebrow to which he scrunched his nose up.

"precisely," he looked down at the desk he was sitting on, seeing an important looking paper signed with that Jaeger prick's name on it. "what does Jaeger want this time?" he asked, pulling the paper from the desk and waving it around.

"couldn't tell ya, i never read it." she shrugged, laughing at herself.

"Jesus, woman. you're worse than i am." he flipped the paper around towards himself, and began reading it.

"damn straight." his eyes went wide and she sighed inwardly, knowing she should've read it when she got it. "what's it say?"

"someone's getting drafted to another mission." his voice wavered, and she didn't like the sound of it.

"Pock," she warily started, voice starting to crack already. "what does it say? talk to me." she set her hand on his knee, fingers brushing skin through the rips in the fabric.

his eyes met hers and she could've swore that she saw the faintest shimmer of tears. "you're leaving me," her breath hitched, "you're leaving me, for a fucking year?!" his hands tightened around the paper accidentally, almost crushing it.

she pulled the parchment from his hands and she pulled him in towards her, the book sliding from her lap and hitting the ground with a thud. his hands wove under her arms and around her back, holding her incredibly close to him. her arms looped over his shoulders, their temples pressing together.

"i'm not leaving you," she breathed out, shaken. "i won't, Pock, i swear."

"that bitch Zeke is gonna force you, and you know it. all because your titan is... well, pretty damn amazing." he pulled away from her, just enough to look her in the eyes again. "we can convince him to let me come, please, Nils." you're all i have left. you're everything to me. he wanted to add so badly, but he didn't.

Nila breathed in, her hands sliding to cup Porco's face, a small smile overtaking her features as she nodded her head. "alright, Pock. lets do it." he grinned, eyes searching hers almost desperately. "and if we can't," she raised her eyebrows almost skeptically. "i'm not going, that monkey bastard can kiss my ass."