Work Text:
Slice-of-life
Every person that knew Pieck Finger and Porco Galliard knew one thing for certain: they were always together.
Everyone had their questions but no one ever dared to ask the Jaw Titan holder if he had any involvement with the Cart Titan holder beyond a friendship for fear of his wrath. But in truth, not even they knew. They were always together in the battlefield, in Liberio, they trusted and had each other’s back all the time... their lives, as well, were tied by the curse of the devil’s blood, it was a time bomb none of them could scape, so it never mattered if they were ‘something’ because they were ‘everything’.
That’s what Pieck thought until that day inside the walls of the Shiganshina District, before the rumbling shattered the walls and threatened the world. At that moment her world crumbled before her eyes. They were always together until they weren’t, they were ‘everything’ until there was ‘nothing’.
The last time they saw each other she was going up the stairs behind Eren Jaeger, chained to Gabi as a security measure; he was on the first floor among the Jaegerists waiting for her signal to transform and attempt to eat the Founding Titan. They fought together after that but Pieck never had a chance to say goodbye to Porco and even less time to mourn his loss because the rumbling started and the world needed to be saved.
When your plans unravel in the sand
What would you wish for, if you had one chance?
First, he felt heat followed by excruciating pain then nothing, darkness claimed him with its tendrils like claws.
When Porco opened his unfocused eyes he felt tired and drained and there was something heavy on his chest, he blinked a few times until clarity came to view: he was laying on a bed — provided to him after he lost consciousness when he inherited the Jaw Titan, he guessed — and Pieck’s black hair invaded his sight. She was laying next to him with her head on his chest, so close that he could smell the scent of lavender and jasmines from her hair and he loved it, she was also breathing slowly, probably asleep.
He inhaled slowly, savoring the quiet in the room while the first rays of light came through the window.
“What happened?” He wondered in his mind until everything came crashing down on him. Reiner’s failure, his brother’s loss, Marley’s defeat on the devil’s island, that girl Ymir, the Jaw Titan...
He couldn’t remember anything after they injected his neck with titan’s spinal fluid, he couldn’t remember what he thought or felt at the moment, there was a gap on his recollection and... he looked at Pieck then. She looked pale and tired, there were dark circles under her eyes and her general image was slightly disheveled no doubt as a result of her being on her titan for months without break.
He moved his right arm slowly and stroked the black hair with care, almost without a touch. He was numb but Pieck’s reassuring presence was enough to endure what was about to come, in that moment he felt content, calm like never before.
“Pokko?”
Pieck’s sleepy voice brought him back from his musings.
“Hey...” he greeted tiredly while Pieck shifted to look at him better, he kept his hand on her hair.
“How do you feel?”
“Tired, numb...” he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and feelings and then looked her in the eye. “and scared, there is no turning back from this, huh?”
She shook her head. “There isn’t, but you’re not alone” and she booped his nose sweetly, he frowned but didn’t comment on it like he used to. That seemed to alert Pieck because she started to shift to a sitting position on the bed and started to play with Porco’s hair.
Then: “Your hair is a mess...”
“I can’t look perfect all the time, give me a break, Pieck.” she giggled and ruffled his hair even more. “Hey!” He protested half heartedly, grabbing the hand on his hair with his and putting it over his heart. Without much thinking, Pieck entwined their fingers.
They stared silently at nothing in particular for a while, basking in the peace and quiet that the trust in each other allowed, before they had to go to endless battles and serve their purpose as monster weapons.
“Tell me my titan is not as ugly as the Cart.”
Pieck snorted slightly at Porco’s uneasy question, or maybe it was the fact that he dared to call her titan ugly so shamelessly. She just sat there watching intently as he shifted on the bed. She could tease him about it but it’s resemblance to Marcel’s was heartbreaking.
“Pieck?” he asked, bringing her back to reality.
She sighed, she wanted to lighten the mood and tease him but he needed to know.
“It’s similar to Marcel’s...”
Porco gasped silently to himself and then left the weight of everything that’s happened to fall over him once again: he was now a Warrior.
“You’ll be fine, Pokko.”
“Pieck, d-don’t...” he tried to admonish her for using that godforsaken nickname this time but his voice broke before he had any chance to bark an angry remark at her.
Marcel’s absence haunted the Galliards for years, he was destined to greater things but left this world too young. Marcel was the one that gave Porco that nickname when they were little, and despite his protests, his big brother kept calling him that way. “It means ‘little’, and you are my little brother, Pokko.”, that’s what Marcel said when he finally gave up and resigned himself to be called by that nickname but not before an explanation of its meaning. Then, they joined the Warrior Program and everytime Reiner had it in him to tease him, he called him ‘Pokko’. It hurt the most the day all of them inherited the power of the Nine Titans except for him, when Reiner also called him ‘Pokko’ but instead of a frightened smile, he received a little condescending smirk. He hated the nickname with acid rage that day.
As Marcel’s brother he received a red armand too, but he felt nothing when he became an honorary Marleyan. He was happy for his parents and proud of his brother but most of all, he felt numb, betrayed by the army and lonely. Marcel was going to be a hero and he had to stay and watch from the sidelines instead of assist him.
He felt like a failure. Marcel was a leader, Pieck was smart, Zeke was the “Boy Wonder”, Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner were already heroes but what about him?
A hand on his hair brought Porco back from his trip down memory lane. He wiped his eyes with freshly shed tears and let himself get lost in the soft caresses Pieck's hands made in his hair. Few minutes later, he got some courage and actually hugged her, inhaling once again the calming scent of her hair.
When he lost Marcel, he got Pieck and in return she got him. Since then they have always been together.
They were deployed to assist in the frontlines when the other nations got word of Marley’s failure to secure Paradis Island and launched an attack on the continent.
Porco had no time to mourn Marcel with his parents. His quick thinking and bravery saved many eldian lives in the trenches, including Reiner’s, whose loyalty and honor were tarnished by his failure. As a Unit, the Warriors spent years on the battlefield away from home fighting for a nation that treated them like scum no matter what, so they could serve their purpose. In the battlefield, the Jaw Titan and the Cart Titan were a force to be reckoned with: they read each other's movements easily, they fought in tandem and smashed armies with claws and guns, they were a team created for success.
And when they had scarce moments to take a rest, even if Pieck was inside the Cart Titan for months on a row, they were always together.
“Do you think our titan could kiss?” Porco asked out of nowhere while he was having a drink besides the Cart.
“You're drunk, Pokko.” The Cart’s grave and almost metallic voice shot back at him.
“Shut up, I’m not.” He took another sip from the bottle and rested his head on the titan’s arm, letting its warmth engulf him. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment that if they were in Liberio, Pieck could be able to have a drink with him and walk through the streets while talking nonsense about a random story told by one of the guys on the Panzer Unit or update him on her father’s treatment. He missed her, she was there but wasn’t, he wanted to hug her, smell her hair and touch her soft skin not the calloused skin of the titan, the smell of gunpowder and an otherworldly voice.
All of a sudden, the sound of steam came to his ears but before he could react to it he felt a boop to his nose and a feminine and soft giggle, his eyes as big as plates.
“You came out, huh?” He said once he recovered, angling his head upwards to watch Pieck, that still was attached to the Cart’s nape, and offered her the bottle. “It’s a cheap beer, so...”
“It’s fine, Pokko!” She chided happily ignoring Porco’s angry glare while having a sip for herself and gulping audibly.
“Pieck...” He admonished.
“What, Pokko?” He sighed, she did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and he was incapable of denying her anything. The truth was... Porco wasn’t really sure, but he had the strange thought that maybe, just maybe , he started to feel other things for Pieck, even if he wasn’t sure what her thoughts on the matter would be. Would she like him back? Does it even matter? She was going to die before him anyways or so he thought.
What would you wish for, if you had one chance?
In another time, in another lifetime they could have been anything. Maybe he would be his angry self and she would be as odd as ever, but they could have a chance to go on dates like normal people and walk near the pier and watch the sunset holding hands without fear of being reported, beaten and sent back to the Interment zone. Marley wouldn’t exist and maybe the devil’s curse of Ymir Fritz either... Marcel would be alive, he would be more popular with girls — maybe, arguably — because he was an easygoing person and that was fine with Porco because he would have Pieck and Pieck alone: they would talk, kiss and make love without rush and they would move in together and then get married and have children, one at least, hopefully a girl... and god she would be spoiled, because nothing would stop him to try and give his baby girl anything she wanted, the world if he could, and Marcel would spoiled to no end as well, and his parents and Pieck’s father and... and their days would be spent counting memories and dreams, treasuring moments lived in happiness and freedom instead of killing soldiers and counting the days before their deaths.
“Daydreaming, Pokko?” he admonished himself and blushed profusely after being caught off guard by the subject of his dreaming.
He sighed “Sort of...” he admitted quietly, Pieck giggled again.
“Happy things?” she pressed, her curiosity picked at Porco’s blushed cheeks.
“Impossible things, you mean...” he sighed tiredly once more, then looked at her again. “GIve me my beer back, I’m not drunk enough right now.”
“Spoilsport” she grumbled and went back inside the Cart’s nape once more. He shifted uncomfortably, feeling somehow guilty but there was a burning in his chest that he had no idea how to treat at the moment, he rather be drunk beside his friend than wishing for something that was forbidden for them.
The only respite, he thought, the only resemblance to this wishful thinking were the little Warriors. Zofia, Udo, Falco and Gabi already behaved like their children: they would fuss over Pieck and she would play with them if she was not too tired to fall asleep on the spot and he would take pictures and blackmail Pieck into stopping her name calling for a few days, and then she would steal the photos from him and he would be “Pokko” once again and they all would be normal people bonding over jokes and meals until Magath or Koslow demanded the monsters back to annihilate Marley’s enemies.
Those days were the hardest, because they were fighting together but he missed Pieck for months. After the failure of Paradis, on the battlefield, they were always together.
From the very beginning Porco knew that the title of honorary Marleyan was a farce, but it was better than to be an average Eldian. He knew it from the stories Pieck told him after training. Her father was very ill and only after she became the holder of the Cart Titan was he allowed medical treatment by the Marleyan government, something her mother didn’t have a chance when she died. His parents were able to improve their lives as well, they could sell their vegetables on Marleyan markets, but he was forced to stay in the army in waiting for a chance to be a Warrior.
The title, however, came with its perks. Marleyan girls would flirt with him shamelessly and he would, more or less, return the favour a few times, but he knew that it wasn’t something he could do freely nor something he wanted, but at least he could go out of the fences and walls of the Internment zone to have a drink if he so desired.
“What’s the deal with you two?” Colt’s voice grew louder after the third bottle of beer and Porco started to regret his decision to chaperone him for once. Beside them, a few heads turned to look at him and some winks flew his way but he ignored them, flustered. Once, he would’ve felt proud of his success with girls, but nowadays most of them only saw the handsome face, the bad boy attitude and the red armband.
Pieck, however, saw him , she always had.
“What are we, you ask?” Colt nodded, he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters, half the Panzer and Eldian Units have a crush on her.” He almost shouted once again and Porco nudged him to be quiet, feeling too self conscious for his liking. “Besides, even if our lives are going to end, we all deserve some respite, dontcha think?”
“You are drunk, Colt, and I’m too sober for this conversation.”
“C’mon, Porco!” Colt whined.
In times like this, Marcel’s absence hurt the most and his resentment for Reiner grew as well. These were the times where he wished he could rely on his brother’s observational skills and company, share a drink together and have girl-talk or whatever, but here he was, acting as the adult with a young and uptight Colt.
Fucking Reiner and his incompetence.
“I wanna be in love, too.” Colt continued with his rambling, words slurring incoherently. “I know I’m the next in line, I wanna save my family from my uncle’s crime but still... isn’t it unfair?”
Beer was starting to feel like water at this point, he needed something stronger.
“Yeah... it is, Colt, it is.”
Paradis was the devil’s island but not because of the terrors that came from that place, but from the nightmares that would play in Pieck’s mind afterwards. When Zeke’s treason was revealed to them by an outraged Magath, she knew in her heart that she should’ve suspected more of him and when she and Porco were tasked with finding as much information on Zeke’s and his accomplices’ pasts as they could, she felt sick to her stomach with everything they found.
Porco put to good use his handsome features here and there while she weaseled her way into Marley’s influential circles, they were allowed to go out without the armband for a few hours and they would spend the night at Pieck’s house trying to connect the dots of this complicated scheme that started four years ago and was on the planning for almost a decade. Her father was in the hospital, so they used the living room to lay all the papers and pieces on the floor, attaching pictures, names, dates... then Pieck would copy it into something they could present to Magath while Porco cooked them some meal and poured some needed coffee. They needed to retrieve Falco and Gabi to safety, they needed to take the Founding Titan from Eren Jaeger, they needed to make Zeke pay for the raid on Liberio, for his betrayal, for the trust that was lost.
“Give it a break, Pieck” Porco’s voice startled her, she was on the floor writing everything in order when he approached her with a cup of tea.
“What happened with coffee?” she asked absentmindedly taking the steaming cup from him, their fingers brushing slightly.
“There’s plenty but I can’t have you overcaffeinated, you need to rest.”
“I’ll rest when I die, Pokko.” she whined.
“Don’t say that.” he barked in a hushed tone and sat beside her on the floor. Pieck leaned on him and he ran his hand over her shoulders while they both siped their tea in silence until Pieck leaned further on his shoulder, almost caressing it with her cheek and nose and he leaned as well and pressed his cheek on the top of her head and sighed.
“Porco...” Pieck started but stopped herself.
“Hmm?” he hummed, the waves of his voice reaching her cheek and chest, filling her stomach with a tingling feeling that Pieck couldn’t explain. “What’s wrong?” He pressed. Pieck remained quiet for some seconds before she raised her head to look at him, he seemed to sense what was going on because he raised the hand that was holding his tea and touched Pieck’s cheek with his thumb looking into her eyes as well.
They shared a silent conversation before Pieck mirrored his gesture and closed the distance between them. Without missing a beat, Porco embraced her and held her on his lap while they kissed. It was tender and hesitant but full of trust and love.
They were always together, but they became one that night.
In a blink of an eye, the dream shattered and they sailed to Paradis. Reiner guided them through the walls and helped them infiltrate the Jaegerists’ lines. They were so full of themselves, so immersed in the illusion of Eren’s triumph that they never noticed the Marleyan soldiers and Warriors who joined their lines. That was fine with Pieck, fanaticism often made people sloppy and careless, but for Porco it wasn’t that easy.
“You have to be kidding me!” he complained to her in private. “You can’t be sure that he won’t eat you there, he won’t trust you, you know that.”
“But you’ll be there with me.” she reasoned.
“Pieck...”
“It’s not the wisest plan, but they have Gabi, they won’t notice you are there... if you eat Eren Jaeger while he is distracted by my ploy, we can go home, Porco, please.”
They followed Pieck’s plan at the end, they got Eren where they wanted him, Reiner came on time to fight against him and they almost made it, but with Zeke’s appearance all was lost. Colt died and Porco sacrificed himself in order to save Reiner and Falco, and before Pieck could even think of it or mourn him, two squads of Jaegerist soldiers attacked her and then the world trembled, the walls crumbled and her heart was shattered.
Survival after the battle was never an option, but Pieck never wished to be gone more than in the days after Eren’s defeat. She went back to Marley to heal her physical wounds, to spend time with her father and the little Warriors, but most of all, to grieve and cry and feel everything that she was forced to push aside with the rumbling. She now knew all Eldians were connected through Paths, and she dreamed many times of the moment her soul and essence would join Porco’s on that ethereal place.
They were always together, they were ‘something’ and ‘everything’ until there was ‘nothing’ but memories.