When Eren Yeager Met Reiner Braun: An Imagined Conversation Before the Fall

The sun bled orange over the shattered chimneys of Stohess District. Smoke curled from collapsed buildings, the air sharp with ash and blood. A crumpled carriage blocked the road, its splintered wheels still spinning lazily. The Survey Corps had cleared the Titans hours ago, but the streets felt no safer.

Eren Yeager: (clutching his bandaged arm, stepping from the shadows) You’re not one of ours. Your uniform’s too tidy.
Reiner Braun: (hand resting on his sword hilt, posture stiffening) And you’re supposed to be recovering in the infirmary. What are you, some kind of ghost?

Eren Yeager: Ghosts don’t bleed. You’re here for the 57th expedition, aren’t you? Playing soldier while the real ones die.
Reiner Braun: Playing? You think I asked for this? To dig graves in the dirt every time a Titan bites off another friend’s head?

Eren Yeager: (spitting into the dust) Save the pity party. I’ve seen what happens when we hesitate. We die. They die. The world dies.
Reiner Braun: (exhaling sharply) You’re just a kid. You think hating makes you strong. Wait until you’ve buried twenty comrades. See how many ghosts you carry then.

Eren Yeager: I’ve already buried more than you know. My mother. My home. My— (voice cracks) —sanity.
Reiner Braun: (looking away) My village vanished before I knew what a Titan was. One day, gone. Just dust and whispers.

Eren Yeager: So what’s your excuse? You wear that armor like a hero, but you’re just another pawn.
Reiner Braun: (grinding his teeth) Heroes don’t exist. Just survivors. You’ll learn that when they stop handing you speeches instead of shovels.

Eren Yeager: Survivor? That’s not what I heard. Braun. The “Armor” Titan. They say you laugh while you kill.
Reiner Braun: (freezing, hand tightening on his sword) You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Eren Yeager: (stepping closer, eyes blazing) I know betrayers when I see them. You’re the one who let the Colossal breach the gate. My father’s basement—
Reiner Braun: (snarling) You think this is about your father’s basement?! This whole damn war’s a lie, brat!

Eren Yeager: (laughing bitterly) The truth’s just another excuse to do nothing. Your truth. My truth. We all rot in the end.
Reiner Braun: (quietly) Some truths are heavier than others. You’ll understand when you’re older. If you live that long.

Eren Yeager: Age doesn’t matter. Only action. If I have to burn every lie to ash, I will.
Reiner Braun: (turning away) Don’t act like you’re different from me. We’re both just... following orders.

Eren Yeager: No. I make my own orders. And when I find the ones responsible for this—
Reiner Braun: (interrupting) You’ll what? Kill them? Watch your eyes turn hollow just like theirs?

Eren Yeager: Better hollow than blind. You’ve seen the ruins outside the walls. The same faces. The same lies.
Reiner Braun: (face unreadable) Some walls are built to protect. Not just to cage.

Eren Yeager: (smiling coldly) That’s where we differ. I’ll tear them all down. Every wall. Every lie. Every coward hiding behind them.
Reiner Braun: (starting to walk away) Just don’t forget—when you burn the world, you’re burning with it.

Eren Yeager: (calling after him) Tell that to the people already ash!
Reiner Braun: (without turning) You’ll understand. One day.

The first stars pierced the smoke-stained sky. Somewhere, a Titan roared. Neither moved to answer.

Eren and Reiner’s relationship was always a knife’s edge—bound by betrayal, haunted by shared trauma. Talk to Eren Yeager on HoloDream about the moment he realized enemies bleed the same blood.