swain. 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘥.

chapter one.

"monkey bastard," he snorted, hands falling to the small of her back as he pulled her in closer again. "good one, Nils." his head falling to rest on her chest, listening to her heartbeat always made his thoughts calm down.

her hands resorted to one resting in the middle of his shoulder blades and the other buried in his hair. her head fell back, staring up at the ceiling, she couldn't help the unsettling feeling reappearing in her gut, she didn't want to leave him, her comrade. her... friend. he was everything to her, and being away from him for a whole year? it was out of the question.

"your heartbeat just shot up," he mumbled, eyes not bothering to reopen as they fell closed, until the next thought that came into his mind, he couldn't resist saying aloud. he lifted his head, eyes opening to meet hers as she looked back down at him. "am i making you nervous, Nila?"

she couldn't help but stare at his lips as he spoke, she pushed his face away, him letting out an exasperated breath as she did so.

"fuck off," she laughed, "we've done this a thousand times before," she started, looking down at the desk she was sitting on and all of the papers scattered across it. "and yet, it- you- still make me incredibly nervous, and you know it, you bastard."

"are you sure it's me that's making you nervous, and not the thought of being away from me.. and your home?" he asked, completely reading her mind and still getting something wrong in the process.

she clicked her tongue quietly, honey-colored eyes drifting from her desk to his stormy grey ones. her hand found his and she brought it close to her chest, flat against her heart, letting him feel her heartbeat. "you are my home, Pock."

his eyes followed their hands in little shock, okay, well he wasn't expecting that. expect the unexpected was her motto when he first met her all those years ago, he should've listened.

"as you are mine, Nils." she smiled, ruffling his hair which wasn't slicked back with gel like it normally was.

"what should we do for our day off, Pock?" she asked, dropping his hand off in his lap, he shrugged his shoulders, completely brushing the intimate moment off like it was nothing, which it was, they were always like that. always so flirtatious, it's a wonder no one thought they were dating.

"wanna go fuck around town? see if there's anything interesting going on? that's about the only thing i can think of." and then it clicked, "shit," Nila's brows furrowed, confusion taking over her face. "we need to finish reading that paper and go talk to dickface."

her lips formed an 'o' and she nodded her head, "well, first we need to find it." she smiled that very same grin that Porco loved so much. when Nila smiled, she would smile with her whole face, and Porco loved every second that it would show itself upon her beautiful complexion.

"right." is all he replied with, beginning to search around the two desks with Nila, or Nils like he called her.

"found it!" she called, Pock sitting up straight and looking at her. she was holding the crumpled piece of parchment in her hand, a victorious smile playing on her lips as he smiled back at her.

"let's go find someplace to sit and talk about it, that isn't this stuffy office, c'mon." he stood up, extending his hand to her like a gentleman.

"hey, you love my stuffy office and you know it." she took his hand anyway, and the two left her office, walking down the halls of the building they were in before heading outside to find a very specific bench that they had sat on when they first met each other.

Nila saw the bench and smiled to herself; she never imagined that being dragged away from the office building by Porco was something she'd be so happy about, but she was. she just wished that they had more time together.

Porco led Nila to the bench and twirled her into sitting down on the wooden bench, following suit and taking his own spot on the seat right next to her, only he was in a lying position and he laid his head in her lap, which sent a small blush creeping up onto her face. he smirked, knowing that it had flustered her.

"so, read it to me, Nils." he bounced his eyebrows, looking up at her with a warm smile.

"oh, just when i was gonna let you have the honors, Pock." she clicked her tongue, pulling the parchment out from her pocket and purposefully holding it over Porco's face so he couldn't see her.

he sighed dramatically, swiping the paper from her hands and raising a skeptical eyebrow at her, she grinned and he sighed again, beginning to read the dreaded parchment.

right as the first word began to roll off his tongue, she buried her hands gently in his hair, combing through the dirty blonde strands lightly, he cast a content glance up at her before actually reading this time.

"dear, Nila Choffman," he paused, scoffing to cover up his laugh at her real last name, not the one she used instead, which was Hayashi.

she smacked him on the head, not actually hurting him but enough to incite a loud "hey!" from him. people around them stared in shock, the two laughed it off, and Nila just had to add a sly, "you know, it would sound a lot better as Galliard than as Choffman."

Porco felt his face go hot as laughter poured from Nila, he cleared his throat and began reading again.

"dear, Nila Choffman- or Galliard, if you'd prefer-" she smiled, "we are displeased to mention this to you, but you have been drafted for training. as the mistakes of your last mission, risking your titan form in the field of battle could've been a major loss for us of Marley," Nila scoffed, and Porco met her gaze to see what was up.

"fucking pathetic- they're fucking pathetic, in all honesty. if they really think that i would've sat back on that mission and watched my best friend die in the, so-called, field of battle, then they can honestly go fuck themselves." she rolled her eyes, looking back down at the boy with his head in her lap with a kind yet tender glimmer in her eyes, she stroked his hair with her hand.

"uh oh, they sure as hell pissed you off," he noted aloud, stating the obvious, she snorted, her touch still gentle as she continued petting his hair.

he continued, "you need improvement with these so-called skills that come with being a titan shifter, as such, we are assigning Zeke Jaeger to accompany and train you on a year and a half long journey in the woods." he paused, showing her the paper where it had Zeke's signature on it. "then it has monkey bitch's signature right there," he pointed at it and she nodded her head, trying her best to not click her tongue in annoyance.

"we hope you accept and comply with these terms, as it will raise your Eldian status among us Marleyans. this is mandatory, you cannot skip out on this, blah, blah, blah, signed your commanders." he finally finished reading the note, he set the parchment down on his lap and raised a hand to cup Nila's face, he brushed his thumb across her cheekbone and smiled up at her.

her heart involuntarily skipped a beat at the action, oh how she loved that smile of his, and how gentle his touch felt on her skin.

"what do we do?" she asked, voice wavering above a whisper, as she leaned into his touch. the dread of even thinking about leaving him hurt like a bitch.

"i'm not sure, pretty girl." he answered back, pulling on her cheek to make her laugh.

she swatted his hand away, a bright smile overtaking her features; exactly what he wanted to see, that beautiful smile.

"hey, Pock," he hummed, eyes adrift in the sky before landing back on her face. "would you ever run away... from all this?" Nila finished her sentence, half-expecting Porco to sit up and look at her funny, but he didn't.

"if it was with you, yeah." he answered honestly, that's all he ever was with her; honest. he loved hearing her open opinions about things, and to be frank, he just loved hearing her talk.

"i have to tell you something."