swain. 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘥.

chapter two.

"i have to tell you something, i was supposed to tell you earlier but you were busy," she hesitantly breathed out, knowing he'd start to get suspicious with all of these random questions, especially given the woods training trip.

"shoot." his eyes fell closed, he was relaxed, and he wasn't even suspicious, at least, outwardly. he was starting to get some suspicions of what she was hinting at, but was too comfortable in her lap to try and guess them.

she hesitated, why was she so nervous? she knew he'd never judge her, perhaps it's just the fact that these words were literal treason, but she wasn't afraid of the government. "i found a cure." she finally spit the words out, like she was choking on them.

"a cure?" he questioned, eyes remaining closed, enjoying her soft, loving strokes of his hair.

"to the titans, our 13 year deadline before we kick the bucket." his eyes flew open at that, what the fuck?

"what?! are you serious?" he sat up, turning towards her, the copied paper falling down through a crack in the bench, only to be swept away by the wind, excitement flowing through his veins, his voice a little hoarse at the sudden raise of it.

"deadass." she blinked, which he followed suit, blinking blankly at her calm reaction.

"well, we have to tell monkey bitch, and the others!" he was about to stand up when Nila pulled on the sleeve of his jacket, keeping him in place.

"it's not complete, but it works as somewhat of a reverser to the mindless titans. i think with our two brains combined, we could get it to work for us shifters. and with it working... we could run away, live normal lives, have kids, get married, forget all about Marley and Eldia and their stupid war." she looked down at the wooden bench they were sitting on, she'd miss their home with everything in her, but she knew they'd have a better chance of life this way. a blush crept up on her face as she imagined little Galliard kids running around an island off in the distance, away from all of this violence.

his thumb met the bottom of her chin, his forefinger on top, as he lifted her head to look at him. "what do you need?"

"a lab where we can experiment without being interrupted, and that cute face of yours." she smugly grinned at her own complement, which came out of seemingly nowhere.

he lightly blushed, "i know just the place," he stroked her jaw for just a second before standing up, "c'mon, let's go." he held his hand out to her again, she grabbed it, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. once she was steady, he took off running through the streets of the city, dragging Nila along with him.

her laughter filled the city's alleys as they passed by them, the two wove through the crowds of people murmuring and shopping. the baggy fabric pants she was wearing whipped around her legs as the wind was blowing towards them. Porco's jacket puffed up in the back with extra air, he turned towards her with a huge grin on his face and she couldn't help but return the smile.

"where are we going?" she laughed, giggling as she spoke and he looked back at her again,

"you'll see!" he replied, raising his voice so she could hear him over the crowd. Nila giggled and her feet finally fell into rhythm with his and the pace of which they were running.

suddenly Pock pulled Nils' arm and the two swiftly turned a corner, and what met them was thick woods. Nila trusted Porco more than anything, but she had never heard of any form of research building hidden away in the stuffy and thick woods. then again, Pock did know a lot of random (useful, yet random) things so she didn't question it too much.

as they continued traveling deeper into the forest, Nila saw the very top of a white building up ahead and she smugly grinned at the sight; this is where she woke up out of titan form three days ago, not in the infirmary, but in a giant building in the woods. her memory was still hazy from the encounter.

Pock had brought her there to recover safely for slight fear of what their commanders would do to her for saving him. which was stupid, though they already established that. he turned to her, slowing to that of a small jog, her pace meeting his, Pock had a huge smile on his face, although it felt melancholy.

suddenly, he stopped, and so did she, he crouched down and Nila understood immediately. his arms were extended behind his back and Nila jumped onto his back, hoisting her legs around his waist and her arms over his shoulders, feeling as he wrapped his hands around her thighs and took off hurrying inside the building, carrying a very happy Nila.

it wasn't everyday that she got a piggyback ride from Pock; though he'd disagree. who was she kidding, its every other day that she gets one, even in titan form he carries her in that fashion.

and oh god, to him, her titan form was just.. absolutely astonishing, it was actually gorgeous, despite the usual disgustingness of titans. and the scenery of Nila, head thrown back in bliss from having the cool air of the outside world on her sweaty, singed skin, the steam of the now rotting titan corpse emitting from around her, hair all messy and tangled; it was definitely a sight to see.

oh, and then there were her titan marks, the small strips of skin starting on the apple of her cheeks and traveling up to just under her eyes; each mark was unique to her and her alone.

although sometimes they did make her already increasing under eye bags worse, but that just added to the look if you were asking Porco.

he paused, setting Nila down onto her feet, making sure she was steady before grabbing her hand and tugging her along to a room in specifics. the feel of his hand wrapped securely around hers was enough to send butterflies to her stomach in the best of ways.

"where are we going now, oh wise one?" she teased and he scowled, clicking his tongue at her.

"you're impatient, y'know that?" she giggled and stuck her tongue out at him when he looked back at her.

"you know you love me." Nila said in too much of a teasing voice, Porco turned around and looked at her with the strangest of expressions.

"...yeah." and with that, he turned back around and continued leading her into the room they need to be in.

after a full day of transferring materials from Nila's office to the new worksite that Porco had found the previous week, the two "warriors" were exhausted.

the two of them had a very long day ahead of them the next morning. in their exhaustive states, neither were entirely sure of how they got to their separate rooms, but they were grateful nonetheless.

the bright morning sun wasn't clouded, like it usually was. Nila stopped to think that maybe it was a sign of good fortune, adding to their luck of curing these hilariously ridiculous deadlines before the remaining Eight all die a horrific death.

she got up from her messy bed, leaving the sheets crumpled and mislaid behind her, she buttoned her shirt back up and searched around the floor for pants, since she clearly wasn't wearing any.

that's when she realized the problem, there were a few sets of clothes on the floor; two pairs were hers, and the third pair looked like Porco's. which was strange, since he clearly had his own housing and wasn't anywhere near hers.

she must've still been half-asleep, there's no way his clothes could've ended up in her house, much less her bedroom.

and... then she heard the shuffling and small groaning noises of a person hidden beneath the sheets and mountain of pillows she kept on her bed.

".... oh please don't tell me i did what i think i did.." she sung to herself in a worried tone, her forefront thoughts were swimming with horror-filled images she wished to erase from her mind.

"did what?" Porco's voice sounded out from under the pillows, Nila screamed at the sudden voice, other than her own, of course.

what the fuck. this can't be happening, Nila turned around, quickly slipping her cargo pants on as she kinda ducked behind the coverage of the bed, that way Pock couldn't see her, no matter if she had just possibly slept with him.

why me.