The Half-Blood Giant

Chapter 18: Sanctuary

Eren could tell that Joey had a rough day at work. When he came home, he swept her up off the couch and gave her a sumptuous kiss, lingering on her with his lips for longer than usual. He set her back down and went to take a hot, soothing shower to clean any remaining dust and blood off his skin. He changed into a light T-shirt and shorts, then returned to Eren, placing her on his chest as he sprawled his massive body out on the couch and watched TV.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Eren probed, sensing his distress and fatigue.

"Oh, you know. Just the usual," Joey replied dismissively. Actually, he had witnessed some pretty horrible carnage today, but he didn't want to burden Eren with the grisly details. She didn't need to know about a crazed giant going on a rampage on the other side of the wall, slaughtering and devouring humans. Joey thought about the humans he wasn't able to save, their squished and battered bodies that he found in the debris. His entrails cramped up in knots with the reminder. He considered the humans that had been eaten or stepped on, and his blood boiled. He wondered to himself, with a pang of regret, if he could have done anything to save them. If Ray and Joey had responded faster, and gotten to the scene of the crime earlier, lives could have been spared.

Maybe he should've shot the giant as soon as he saw him, rather than trying to take him into custody alive. That response would've contradicted his police training, but could've saved lives. When Joey tackled the evil giant and grappled to arrest him, the nearby buildings had been demolished, the people inside killed, injured, or trapped. Joey could've prevented that. He could've saved those people, if only he had responded differently. He was partially responsible for killing those defenseless little humans.

Could've, would've, should've. All his thoughts were mere speculation, after all. Joey couldn't see into an alternate reality. If he shot the giant, events still could've gone sour. His dying body might have fallen and crushed more buildings and people. Or, Joey might've just wounded and angered him, and then the giant might've retaliated, with devastating consequences. Even worse, Joey could've missed altogether, and the big giant might've tried to run or attack. Joey couldn't save everyone.

Whenever he was faced with his own inadequacies as a police officer and as a man, he had to remind himself that he wasn't perfect, and he was doing his best. He had done a lot of good in his profession, and he couldn't discount his accomplishments. He glanced down at Eren on his chest, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a caring smile. At least she was safe. Joey couldn't change the past, sadly, but he could try his very hardest to protect what was important to him. Eren was his most precious treasure. She gave him the strength to continue on.

Eren, unaware of Joey's troubled thoughts, snuggled up to his vast, soft chest, imbibing his pleasant body heat and natural scent. She rose and fell with his mighty breathing, his lungs inflating to oxygenate his blood. She listened to the steady thumping of his heart as it circulated blood through the labyrinth of veins within his gigantic body. She felt close to him, right up against him, but somehow she wanted to be closer. She loved him so much, just contacting his skin didn't feel like enough: She wanted to be of one flesh with him, deeply intimate with him, inside him. She was greedy for him, thirsted for every inch of his huge body inside and out, alight with an unbearable carnal passion that needed satiation immediately.

She wanted to make Joey feel better, after whatever it was that upset him today. She hopped to her feet and ventured down Joey's chest to his belly. Joey wasn't sure what she was doing but didn't think much of it. He was comfortable just laying down, and having his tiny fiancée climb all over his mass was normal for him. Eren walked down his belly to the base of his shirt, but she didn't stop there. She kept going, down to his shorts. She briskly threw off her clothes, then crawled under his waistband into his underwear.