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Being a mercenary, eliminating threats, collecting the cash, that was his deal.
It was supposed to be an easy job: to eliminate Rod Reiss's brother. A meek, frail, ill-looking man who couldn't possibly oppose any resistance. It was supposed to be easy. Maybe too easy.
Next thing he knew lightning blinded his eyes and thunder deafened his ears, smoke appeared from nowhere and the earth was swept from under his feet. Kenny expected his instinct to kick in and save him as usual, always finding him a way out of the trickiest situations.
For the first time in his life, he got nothing.
A titan. In the center of the walls. And the little guy staring into his eyes like he was trying to dissect him and take every bit out of him. No wonder why he lost his mind, spitting blasphemies and trying to create an opening, since nothing else came to mind.
And when he thought he had created one, his target caught his knife in his arm without the slightest flinch.
Who's this man?
To that day, Kenny had no idea what part of Uri gave him a strongest impression: his absolute power over him or the fact that he ended up on his knees begging for forgiveness once he knew about Kenny's lineage. Uri Reiss, the true king inside the walls, could have crushed him to death at any moment, but he chose to bow before him instead. Not out of submission of surrender, but out of compassion.
Is he a man or a god?
Kenny was used to feeling intense surges of energy inside his body, shaking him to the core and always showing him a path to get things done, especially if his life was in danger. A sudden ray of light when he was at the brink of complete darkness. But for the first time he felt a different surge inside of him.
One that fought against his impulse to run away and never step into the Reiss estate again. One that forced him to stay on his knees in front of the man who bowed in front of him. One that told him he was the key. He was the one worth fighting for.
He was the one that gave meaning to his life.The piece of the puzzle he didn't know he was missing. It felt like gears suddenly clicked in, his vision became clear and the right choice was inescapable.
Kenny took Uri's proposition, to help him build his paradise on Earth, without even thinking about it. If he wasn't a god, at least that was the closest he'd be to it.
"You don't seem to be having much fun in your new position," Uri said, months after Kenny had taken his last client's position at the Assembly that ruled inside the walls, as Uri's representative.
Among his many quirks, Uri was a great judge of character. Kenny always had a hard time shaking off the feeling that his mind was being read, even if he was well aware of his Ackerman bloodline was one of the few exceptions to Uri's powers. Still, whenever he stared back at those piercing eyes in front of him, he felt there was no way for him to hide anything from Uri.
"Who said I signed up because it was fun?"
Uri giggled and stopped shortly, turning his head towards the pond in front of him. He patted the space by his side on the old log he liked to sit on every afternoon. And Kenny obliged, leaving his legs straight on the grass, already annoyed that he was too tall for it. "So why did you take it?"
Kenny pondered for a bit. His glance followed Uri's profile furtively, noticing how his stare now followed the ducks on the pond. And the right answer came to his head. Because I can't say no to you since that day. But he felt stupid saying that, he was Kenny Ackerman, he took his hat off to no one.
"I like the benefits," he said at last, much quieter than he usually spoke.
"Which benefits?" Uri quickly followed up. Kenny didn't know if it had always been there, but Uri's hand had closened up to his, their pinky fingers touching as Uri kept moving his against the log.
"Not having the the Military Police suckers up my ass," Kenny said, trying to distract himself from the incidental caress on his finger. "And getting a shit ton of money, maybe?"
"They're glad you're not snapping their necks anymore," Uri giggled again. His finger stopped moving to hook itself on Kenny's "Is it really money? Because Rod offered you a big apartment right in the central district as a form of payment but you insist on staying at mine."
It's not, you're just too powerful and I can't stay away from you for long before I ache to run back to your side, another truth that rang in his head but he wouldn't dare to say out loud.
"The air's cleaner out here in the country, it doesn't stink of rich pig as much," Kenny said, convinced that half-truths were better than outright lies. "Are you kicking me out now, geezer? I'm a clean bastard, ain't I?"
A sudden breeze ruffled the ducks' feathers and threatened to send his hat flying before Kenny lifted his hand from the log and held it in place, and something dropped to his stomach when he noticed the loss of Uri's touch.
"You know that's not what I mean," Uri giggled again. Do you laugh that much when I'm not around?, Kenny wondered. It was so hard to catch the true King of the Walls off-guard, but his guard completely lowered whenever he was around. "Rod has tried to sway me into it, though. I think it's the bloodstained coat, maybe the badly conceived knives. Or the permanently cocked gun."
Uri moved closer, taking shelter from the breeze by leaning to his side, now that his arm was away. Kenny felt warm on his side, noticing Uri's side was completely stuck to his, and his hand reached Kenny's waist. The breeze stopped and the ducks swam again
"That fucker can mind his own fucking business" Kenny said, still holding his hat. "And I don't want no fuckers catching me off-guard around the king."
"Don't you feel safe with me?" Uri asked, glancing up to him. His expression looked more worried than usual. "I promised I wouldn't do that thing again."
The thing you do when you become a titan that could smash me like a bug? Why wouldn't you? It's not your fault to be powerful, it's not mine to be drawn to you.
"That's not it."
"So what is it?" He inquired again, and Kenny sighed. There was no way of shaking a thought off Uri once it had got a hold on him.
Kenny finally let go of his hat and lowered his arm, extending it until he rested his hand on Uri's, keeping him hugged, a false sense of protection invading him. Uri needed no protection, but he seemed to enjoy the sense of safety that being by Kenny's side brought him. And Kenny couldn't help but indulge in it as well, telling himself that he was strong enough to protect Uri.
Uri's fingers moved under his, and Kenny felt how they fell between the thin phalanges to the log, perfectly interlocked despite their differences.
Kenny looked back to the pond, as the ducks started leaving and sunset dyed everything orange. "Maybe… I just found a paradise of my own."