A/N:
Hi everyone 👋
Well while I'm writing this last chapter Taylor's song Ours just randomly play on my phone and I thought it was perfect song for this I guest?
So yeah!
Enjoy the last chapter of JAWS and there's an announcement on the end so yeah enjoy the chapter and music.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
TWO YEARS LATER
Reiner pulls the car up under the tree outside Galliard’s job, and just sits in the shade for a moment, enjoying the sunshine filtering through the leaves. After living his entire life in Trost’s city center, he’d never realized how much he would enjoy trees, and being somewhere with more natural spaces. The streets of Jinae are lined with lush shade trees, mature and thick-trunked, and Reiner still hasn’t gotten over the novelty.
He climbs out of the car—still the Mercedes, long paid off and still purring along—and walks across the parking lot, a brisk bounce in his step. A bell chimes as he walks into the office, and the receptionist looks up. She grins, recognizing him.
“Hi, Reiner!”
“Hey, Hannah.” Reiner strolls to the counter and leans against it. “How’s it going? Less morning sickness?”
“Oh, yes!” Her smile is so megawatt that Reiner almost wants to shield his eyes. “That stopped a few weeks ago.” She drops a hand to the small, gentle curve of her abdomen, cradling it protectively. “It’s going to be a boy.”
“That’s terrific!” Reiner knows that she and Franz both wanted a boy, and that the child will be deeply, deeply loved. “Have you considered Reiner for a name?”
“Ew, who’d name their kid that?” Galliard comes out of the back, his duffel bag already slung over his shoulder, the collar of his leather jacket—finally broken in, sitting properly across his shoulders—turned up rakishly.
“It’s a great name.”
“Uh huh.” Galliard stretches up for a kiss, one Reiner is happy to deliver. “Sounds like the kind of guy who’d meet his boyfriend at a strip club.”
Hannah giggles behind her hand and waves them out. “You guys have fun today.”
Galliard almost runs out to the car, and Reiner has to hustle to keep up. He wasn’t sure if Galliard was ready for this, but he already has the car turned on, the seat adjusted, and his seatbelt buckled by the time Reiner climbs into the passenger side.
“How was your day?” Galliard asks as he backs the car up and Reiner fastens his seatbelt.
“Good! I think we’ve finally reached a deal with that one case I was telling you about, the one with the two kids.” Leaving the intellectual property law firm had been an enormous leap of faith, one Reiner wouldn’t have been able to do without Galliard’s support, and he’d had to do supplemental work with them for six months while Reiner Braun: Family Law had gotten off the ground. But word of mouth has spread, he’s getting more business everyday, and Leo Magath, an old coworker from Reiner’s clerking days, is joining on next month as partner. The firm is small but growing and thriving, and while Reiner comes home exhausted everyday, he comes back satisfied and content in a way he’s never been before.
“Yeah? Glad to hear it; those kids deserve better.”
“They do.” Reiner leans back into his seat and watches Galliard from the corner of his eye. The beard is long gone, from when Galliard realized that it made him look intimidating during his internship. He stays clean-shaven now, his hair always neatly combed, and the only coffee he makes these days is with their Keurig. He has his own little cult following at the physical therapy clinic where it works: old women love him and ask for him by name, which amuses Reiner no end. Galliard had been baffled by it at first, but now he just runs with it, and their mailbox gets regular holidays cards from all his old patients.
Conversation flows easily between them, so full of patter and old jokes by this point that it’s practically another language. Reiner notices that Galliard gets quieter and quieter the longer they drive, and by the time he pulls up the car and stops it, Galliard has gone completely silent.
“Hey.” Reiner reaches across the car and puts his hand on Galliard’s. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Galliard breathes out in one long sigh, then nods, turning to look at Reiner as he takes his hand and squeezes it. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s time.”
“All right.” Reiner gets out of the car, and a few moments later, Galliard is standing beside him. Reiner takes his hand, and they walk into the animal shelter together.
“Hi!” They’re greeting by the sound of barking, the scent of antiseptic, and slightly frazzled woman. “What can I help you with today?”
Galliard swallows, and Reiner squeezes his hand.
“We’re here for a dog,” he tells her, and she smiles and leads them towards the back.
“What kind of dog are you gentlemen looking for?”
“Not a lab.” That is Galliard’s only requirement; he loves labradors, and always will, but he’s not ready for another one. He and Reiner had determined that after several long talks, usually in the darkness of their bedroom when they’re going to sleep, so Galliard can sniffle a little about Sarge and not feel embarrassed.
The woman laughs. “Labs always go so fast. They’re really popular with the kids.”
Galliard nods in understanding. “Yeah. They’re… they’re great with kids.”
His voice only cracks a little, not enough for the woman to notice, and Reiner squeezes his hand again.
“Are you thinking about a puppy, or an adult?”
“Uh… can we just go play with them, and see which one clicks?”
“Of course!” She smiles as she lets them into the area with the dog runs. “That’s the best way to choose, after all!”
The room is a riot of barking and wagging tails, and Galliard sticks close to Reiner’s side at first. Then, once he’s determined that there aren’t any yellow labs in the kennels—if there had been, Reiner had had a hunch that they’d have come home with it, Galliard’s proclamations to the contrary or not—he drifts away, going from kennel to kennel, talking quietly to each tenant.
Reiner finds himself standing next to a kennel with a big, block-headed pit bull, white with brown spots, who wags his tail endearingly and slobbers all over his hands.
“Hey, good boy. Who’s a good boy?” The dog wags his tail and offers Reiner a paw, confirming that yes, he is a good boy.
“That’s Mac.” The woman is back, and standing at Reiner’s elbow. “He’s about four years old, so out of that puppy phase. He gets along really well with all the other dogs, even the little ones, and doesn’t have any food aggression issues.”
“Why’d he get turned in?” Reiner slips a finger through the mesh gate to scratch the dog—Mac’s—ear, and he leans against the mesh and groans quietly at the attention.
“His family was moving, and couldn’t take him along.” The woman’s face clouds over a little. “We get a lot of that, these days. Not as much as we used to, but it still happens.”
“Poor guy.”
“Yes.” The woman’s voice is warm; Mac is clearly a favorite of hers. “He’s a real sweetheart. A great breed ambassador.”
“Ma’am?” Galliard is at the kennels with the smaller dogs. “Can I get this one out?”
“Of course, dear!” She hurries over to help him, and Reiner looks back down at Mac, who is watching him with huge, hopeful eyes.
“Stop that. We’re not here for me.” Mac wags his tail. “Someone will take you, buddy. You’re a good boy. You’ll get your home.”
Wag way, and another paw at the mesh.
Reiner has to walk away before Mac breaks his heart, but he’s too late; the little whine he hears as he walks away does it for him.
“What’ve you got?”
“Look.” Galliard holds up a little black dog, some kind of spaniel with woeful eyes and long, floppy ears. “This is…” He glances at the woman for confirmation.
“Dixie.”
“Dixie.” Galliard offers her to Reiner, and he takes her. She’s barely bigger than a cat, but far calmer about being held, and stretches up to lick Reiner’s chin.
“She’s cute.” She’s very cute, but far smaller than Reiner thought Galliard was looking for, and he arches a brow at him.
“Diane said that black dogs are the last ones to be adopted.”
Diane, the shelter worker, nods her head. “Black dogs and pitbulls. Especially older pitbulls.”
Knife to the heart, the both of them. Reiner looks down at Dixie, and she stretches up to lick at him again.
When Reiner looks up, the soft, gentle look in Galliard’s eyes is almost too much for him, and he’s temporarily overwhelmed by how much he loves him, and how much he wants him to be happy. “Can we take her for a walk?”
“Of course! She’d love that!” And then Diane looks directly at Reiner, smiles sweetly, and asks, “Would you mind taking Mac too? He could use the exercise.”
Dammit, Diane.
~*~
After much wagging and play-bowing, Mac and Dixie walk nicely together. Dixie tugs more than Mac does, and Galliard laughs as he hustles after her, a bright, unaffected laugh that just makes Reiner’s heart pound. When Dixie pulls him ahead to sniff at a tree, Reiner looks down at Mac, trotting sedately beside him, and tells the dog a secret.
“I’m going to marry him someday.” Mac’s ears perk up, and his mouth splits open in a doggy grin. Reiner reaches down to ruffle his ears, and Mac leans against his leg.
“Hey, Reiner!” Galliard comes back, Dixie cradled against his chest, half-stuffed into his jacket. “Her. I want her.”
“All right.” Reiner forces himself to smile; Dixie is a good dog, and she’ll make Galliard happy. “She’s a cutie.”
“Yeah.” Galliard looks down at Mac, still leaning on Reiner’s leg, then back up at Reiner. He tilts his head to the side, his brows knitting together, and then he sighs before smiling. “You want him, too, don’t you?”
Reiner looks down, and Mac is watching him again, with those sweet, innocent eyes, and he thinks about what Diane said: pitbulls, especially older pitbulls, are the last ones to get adopted. The only way things could be worse for Mac were if he were a black dog. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
“All right.”
Reiner looks up, surprised. “What?”
“All right.” Galliard steps closer, shifting Dixie to one arm so he can put the other one around Reiner’s waist. Dixie, delighted at being between them, wags her stumpy tail and tries to lick both their faces at the same time. “All right, let’s get two dogs.” He shrugs with his free shoulder, and the way he looks up at Reiner melts his heart. “I figured we might end up with two anyway.”
Reiner looks down at Galliard, and Galliard’s face is sweet and unlined and unburdened, free and untroubled and happy, and Reiner will do anything to keep it that way.
“I love you.”
Galliard blinks, surprised, and then he smiles as Reiner lifts one hand to cradle his cheek. “I love you too, you big dork.”
As Reiner lowers his head to kiss him, and Galliard stretches up to meet his lips, he thinks about the small box he has hidden in his sock drawer back home, and the simple gold band inside it. Dixie tries to lick their faces, and Mac barks and jumps in excitement around them, and Reiner knows: he’s home.
This is the home he’s always wanted.
~THE END
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Hi everyone 👋
The Jaws has officially ended 😭
But! there's more porco x Reiner in my sleeves hahaha😆
Well one of them is this
It's not not the final cover but I think it's ok I guess, I'm not that great on editing so yeah good luck to me😅
Heat is just a short story, it has 6 chapters but it's worth reading and Marcel is there "ALIVE"😆
I donno when I will post this story
so follow me for more announcements
The next one is Echoes, it's not done yet I don't know how many chapters
it contains, this story is cannon so yeah depression is coming 😅
That's all guys!
Thank you for reading JAWS!!