Lalli had woken up in morning while they were all outside waiting for breakfast to be ready. They had all, except for Mikkel, been too distracted by naming Kitty to notice him leaving the tank and going to lean against a nearby tree. Emil had had a big smile on his face when had Mikkel pointed out Lalli's presence to the others, and brought Lalli his breakfast, but had come back covered in the tasteless, but filling substance Mikkel dared to call breakfast. Emil had ended up standing right next to Reynir while he was cleaning up the mess on his uniform jacket.
-What happened? Reynir asked.
-I wish I knew, replied Emil.
It took both of them a while to realize it was the first time they had spoken to each other in a while. By pure chance, Lalli's more conspicuous use of magic had so far been away from both Mikkel and Emil's eyes and ears, while the more discrete part of it was very easy to mistake for "Lalli being Lalli". Reynir's own magic practice had resulted in runes drawn on pieces of paper, drawn on the ground and sometimes carved into slates of wood, which were much more visible in comparison. Emil had figured out that openly criticizing it was not a good idea, but that had reduced their outside the field relationship to Emil periodically glancing at him with what seemed to be a curiosity to which he refused to admit. Reynir, on the other hand, was so bemused by the fact that Emil was somehow befriending Lalli that he had taken to keep a studying eye on them each time he happened to be around when they interacted. The only form of understanding he and Emil seemed to have reached was to not complain about each other's "spying" to each other, Sigrun or Mikkel, or else risk getting called out on their own practice of it. The morning on which Lalli had fallen into unconsciousness, Emil had lent him his coat a couple of times. He had spent most of yesterday sitting next to a sleeping Lalli, a worried look on his face. Getting food dumped on himself was probably one of the last things Emil expected to happen after this.
-Do something about your hair, it's a disgrace of a mess.
Every single strand not kept in Reynir's braid had indeed started a mutiny during their short night of sleep.
-Having a bad hair day, not my fault.
-It's a bad hair week you're having, in that case. You could really use a comb. Hey, where did Tuuri go?
-She's speaking to Lalli.
Soon after, Emil gave up on cleaning with a rag and walked to the tank, presumably to get his spare jacket.
When Tuuri asked for someone to keep Onni busy over the radio while she was working with Lalli, Reynir jumped to the opportunity, both to thank him for his help in person and to spare him the experience of having small talk with Mikkel. Even without Mikkel's teasing, Reynir didn't like the idea of a discussion between him and a professional mage who could actually understand what he said. Hildur joined in the conversation, and both of them had been very interested in the fact that the very first site that Reynir had visited didn't seem to have any ghosts, despite being an old Rash hospital. They eventually came up with an idea:
-Do not actively look for places that have ghosts. If you do end up in such place anyway, do your best to not disturb them. Try having at least Lalli or yourself in the group visiting as many sites as possible. Take note of where you see them. Take note of where you do not see them. Write down which of you saw them, just in case. If you start seeing a pattern, either in their presence or their absence, tell us. If they follow, use the runes and spells to keep them away from your vehicle.
Just as Reynir was noting these instructions down, Tuuri was ready to speak with Onni, who said he had to speak to Lalli first. Emil took that opportunity to ask Tuuri why Lalli was snubbing him, only to be told that he just seemed in a bad mood, and that Tuuri usually waited out since he never told her the reason of it anyway. Emil's response sparked Reynir's interest:
-Honestly, if I were ignored when I'm angry, that would make me even angrier. I'm not going to do that.
Emil noticed Reynir was in the room, and gave him their silently agreed-upon "the time I'll tolerate you watching me has run out" look. That was Reynir's cue to leave the room.
For the first time in the morning, Reynir had time to properly think about the vision that he had had the previous night. He quickly realized, from the details he remembered, that he must have been inside a church. There had been such buildings near where he lived, all dedicated to a single Old World god that was no longer worshipped, but had been very popular at the time right before the Rash. He remembered the voice of unknown source he had heard before waking up, and what it had asked. "Is somebody there?" indeed. He definitely didn't know enough to act on that particular vision anytime soon. Most importantly, why would that god want to do anything with someone chosen by the Old Gods? Did his the Old Gods really want nothing to do with the worshippers of the others, or had he simply spent too much time around his father's friends, some of whom believed that all Swedes, Danes and Finns should be converted by force for their own good? Things to figure out were piling up at an alarming rate.
