Jaw

Chapter 4

 Silena stepped inside the war room and waved off the soldier who had escorted her. Her hands shook– nerves, or maybe anticipation– but she tried to ignore the feeling as she got settled.

This war room in particular was homier than any other military building Silena had been in: light blue walls, cozy furniture, and an abundance of windows made it feel like a sitting room. If it wasn't for the long oak table in the middle of the room, Silena might have been at ease.

Of course, it was more about who was sitting at the table than the furniture itself. Zeke sat at the head of it– their cold, calculating father– and Porco, looking ruffled, in an awkward seat in the middle. They were sitting simultaneously too close and too far away from each other.

"You took your sweet time," Zeke remarked. His expression was inscrutable behind his thick glasses and incoming facial hair. "Did your messenger get lost?"

Silena shrugged. How was she supposed to know that? With much debate, she chose a seat right across from Porco and stood behind it. He was looking at her disdainfully, but she tried not to see it.

Zeke chuckled. "Sit, cadet," he said. It was sometimes customary for a general to tell members of a meeting when and where to sit, though it was a bit formal for the context. When she sat, he offered her a cigarette from the pack in his hand; she refused.

He shrugged in a way that said 'more for me' and lit his own cigarette. Thin clouds of smoke rose up from it, making the young Warriors' lungs burn. Neither was willing to cough in front of him.

Never one to shy away from an awkward situation, he puffed contentedly on his cigarette, letting the young Warriors stew in silence. Their eyes kept meeting, and Silena would have to silently communicate to a glaring Porco that it had only been an accident.

Eventually, Zeke said, "You kids must be wondering what'll happen to you now that your position is of no importance."

He wasn't wrong. Accidentally, her eyes met Porco's again.

"Demotion. Demotion is going to happen to you."

Silena flinched, though it was about what she was expecting. All that work, and this was all she could amount to in the end.

Porco muttered something under his breath. Though Silena couldn't quite make it out, she heard his voice quite clearly– as did Zeke. The war chief raised his eyebrows as if he knew exactly what the cadet had said and found it very funny. Silena hadn't the foggiest what the Galliard boy said, but she had a feeling it had been profane.

Unperturbed, Zeke went on. "You two will be demoted to normal, but high-ranking, soldiers. You'll keep your special Warrior privileges, and if we should ever have need for a new Holder, you both will be the first candidates considered. It's just your duties that will change: in that, you won't have many. Due to the state of peace the motherland is at, you won't have much to do. You'll be able to return to regular school, and I'd recommend finding hobbies. Something light for you, Galliard."

Porco scowled, but said nothing. He was smart not to disrupt Zeke's good mood.

Zeke cracked a smile, enjoying the chaos he was sowing deep inside the cadets. He said, "How have you been enjoying your summer?"

It didn't take much thought to say that Silena wasn't enjoying it. The heat wreaked havoc on her curls, and she hadn't been selected for the one thing she wanted more than anything in the world.

She said, "Very well, thank you. You?"

Zeke puffed his cigarette in consideration. Around it, he said, "I don't enjoy sweating."

He probably wouldn't sweat so much if he wasn't constantly smoking and lighting fires under people, but Silena wouldn't say that to him even on a good day.

She wanted to ask him why he hadn't given her the Armored Titan– she hadn't gotten the chance yet– but she didn't want to do so with Porco around. At this point, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Generally, Zeke enjoyed making other people miserable too much to sugarcoat.

"What about you, Porco?" The Warchief asked. He gestured toward the strawberry blond with his cigarette until a fine ring of ash had formed on the table.

The boy glared at Zeke, but said with some modicum of respect, "I sunburn."

Zeke had the audacity to snort. "I know– I've seen it."

"Well then why did you ask?" Porco snapped. The apples of his cheeks were starting to flush with frustration; it was unfortunate for him to have that tell.

"Now, now, keep calm, you two. I'd hate to need backup. You can't see, but there are twenty camouflaged guards stationed in this room."

The claim was ridiculous, but the cadets were so used to Zeke's antics by now that they looked around anyway. He snorted.

"Not funny," said Porco, sinking back in his chair.

Zeke's beard twitched as if he begged to differ. "A little funny. But really, if either you have any concerns about your duties, then you have until tomorrow to talk to me about it or you'll have to find someone else. I'm leaving around noon and I'll be gone for a few months."

Well, that certainly complicated matters. Silena burned with curiosity about why she hadn't been chosen for the Armored, but she wasn't sure if she was willing to go to Zeke's home to find out. She could ask now, but Porco was still around. And she certainly didn't feel like following him to his house– that was almost worse than showing up unannounced.

So she stayed silent as Zeke finished, "But I imagine you won't have too many questions. You're jockeys, essentially: you'll run errands and help out at the academy."

"High-ranking my ass," muttered Porco mutinously, this time loud enough for Silena to hear.

And apparently Zeke had heard it too, because he said, "I'll miss you both greatly," in the most unbelievable tone possible, and left without another word.

Now that the prying ears were gone, Porco was spitting venom. It was deeply and creatively profane, and might have gotten him court martialed if the only other person in the room wasn't Silena. She considered tattling as he rounded on her.

"I bet you're thrilled about this."

Silena raised an eyebrow, wanting badly to rise above whatever he was about to say. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean, Galliard."

"Do you not?" He sneered. "I thought it was pretty obvious. I mean, if you're getting beaten out by Braun, of all people, then you must not be very dedicated."

She fought the urge to respond. Reiner got a Titan over you, too, jerk! Her mind screamed. But she was bigger than this.

"But you're one and the same, aren't you?" Porco continued, a malicious gleam in his eye. She'd only ever seen him like this when he was picking on Reiner. "Stupid, lazy, weak—"

She would not be the next Reiner. Without thinking about it too hard, Silena reared back and slammed her fist as hard as she could into him. She hadn't expected it to do much damage– he had been right about her being physically weak– but Porco cried out instinctively.

He glared at her through a bleeding nose, eyes streaming. Usually a glare from anyone would have made Silena want to crawl under the table, but she was really sick of him talking down to people. With as much confidence as she could muster, Silena said, "I'm not weak, and neither was Reiner. You should stop being such a hypocrite– it's not like you got a Titan either."

Then she turned toe and left the building, heart racing until she got home.