It's no secret that Galliard and him don't get along.
The camaraderie between them is solely based on their shared interest of protecting Marley and bringing peace.
Galliard's indignation has only grown stronger after his return from the island and he's not afraid to show it. Pieck becomes a mediator, calming his rage with her gentle words, sparing Reiner contrite looks and apologizing on Galliard's behalf.
The first thing that Reiner notices after his return to Marley is that they're together most of the time.
At first he doesn't think much about how Pieck is there to support Galliard after his first titan shifts, while he's still getting the hang of it. She wipes away the blood under his nose, places an icepack on his nape and sits at the side of his bed when he's too weak to move, reading the newspaper aloud. Galliard doesn't seem to register anything but he reaches out and his hand find hers. Reiner reasons that it's because they've known each other for such a long time.
When he does start paying attention it becomes as clear as morning dew.
A lingering touch, intertwined fingers when they think no one is watching, a goodbye hug that lasts a moment too long, Galliard’s frown when the Panzer Unit swarms around her.
Galliard carrying her back to headquarters when she’s been in her titan form for so long that not even the crutches help. Pieck placing a hand on his shoulder when his brows furrow in annoyance.
Galliard gently lifting a crawling Pieck from the floor, supporting her weight so she can stand on two legs and setting her down on his bed.
"Pieck, love, you need to stop crawling around," he'd whisper softly, thinking that Reiner is asleep.
It shouldn't be a surprise, not really. When you spend so much time with someone a bond forms. Something so indisputably theirs that Reiner can almost grasp it when they're together.
Pieck is a habitual visitor in the room he shares with Galliard and she never sits on Reiner's bed. Sometimes when he comes back from training he finds her sleeping in Galliard's bed while he's reading a book or filing a report.
Other times he stops with his hand on the door handle because he can hear the bed creaking, Pieck giggling and the faintest resemblance of a moan. So he turns around and grants them this little privacy.
There are times when he forgets, of course, barges into the room too deep in his own thoughts to pay attention to his surroundings and catches them making out on the bed, more often than he can count. Pieck laughs whereas Galliard would probably kill him if he could.
There's also been a rather unfortunate time for all of them when Reiner forgot his wallet and had to go back to their room because he really needed it. He finds Galliard laying between Pieck's thighs, face buried in her hair, both naked and panting and Reiner is left stupefied for a split second before he turns on his heels.
"I'm –"
"Get out!" Porco snarls, throwing a pillow at him while trying to pull the covers over a laughing Pieck.
Reiner hurries out of the room, embarrassed and huffing.
But the problem of the wallet remains so he knocks on the door and clears his throat.
"I forgot my wallet," he says. "It should be on the nightstand."
He can hear shuffling in the room, Pieck's laughter before Galliard opens the door and throws his wallet at him. His face is a few shades redder than normal and as Galliard closes the door, Reiner can see Pieck waving at him.
They don't make an effort to hide after that and a peculiar sense of pride takes over Reiner when he becomes aware of the trust they've placed in him.
Love, Reiner realizes, is not grand gestures.
Love is the way Galliard gazes at Pieck when she casually wraps an arm over his shoulder after one of their missions, as if she's given him the whole world.
Love is the way Pieck looks up at him with wonder and admiration in her eyes.
Love is the trust and respect they have for each other, both on the battlefield and in the comfort of their privacy. There's something between them, something that Reiner hasn't seen before, something so completely captivating and gentle that he feels as though he's violating something sacred by witnessing moments so intimate and theirs.
Love is the grief Pieck carries around after Galliard's death, a burden so heavy for her frail shoulders that Reiner fears it will break her.
