Families

The thought that he should have been the one sent away made Michael ask himself a question that hadn't crossed his mind before this: would he have preferred that last ten years of his life to not happen as they had? He didn't have a clear-cut answer, but he could tell that the idea that someone else could have ended up in his position if he had been sent away didn't sit well with him. In spite of his older memories having gone fuzzy, he remembered spending a long time afraid that the trolls would decide to eat him from one day to the next. That the fact that he could no longer keep himself from reciting the story when a certain point of the evening came stemmed from that. But he also felt that the price he had had to pay for his survival was a fairly low one. Over the years, he had discovered that they would feed him whether he told the same story each night or rotated between more than a dozen different ones. He had never dared try to go a single night without telling the story, even on days he was quite sure he had been sick. It had been far from being all bad, but the bad aspects were things he wouldn't wish upon other people. He also suspected than someone else than him would have dealt with the trolls in a way that would have gotten them eaten instead. As for the good aspects, he had figured out that he was going to a place treating crazy people in part because he was seeing any at all. Spending ten years living among trolls had to be an entirely bad experience, and nobody seemed to want to hear about it being anything else, unless it was part of the explanation of one of his recent actions. Sigrun had looked like she would listen, if only briefly. He had almost started speaking to her, before part of him had realized that she was probably going to use whatever he told her to kill trolls. If he couldn't help those among which he had lived, he could at least avoid helping people kill them. Despite the fact that his sentences, and even thoughts, were already much better and more complex than the day he had returned to the outpost for the first time in years, Michael was reminded of how limited his vocabulary still was when he tried to convey all those feelings into spoken words to Mikkel. His mind fortunately reminded him of the initial reason Mikkel had told him about the incident, so he decided to simply tell him there were no bad feelings about the incident, at least now. Mikkel soon had to leave, saying he'd be back with dinner later in the day, and told him to try to do both the family tree and counting exercises at least once during the day if he could. Little after Mikkel left, Michael looked at the pieces of paper with names written on them, alongside a bunch of blank ones that had been left in the room along with a pen in case he remembered any other people he could have known in his previous life. He got an idea, and had no time to lose wondering what the chances of it working actually were.

Mikkel almost reached the barracks before realizing the weight that had been taken off his shoulders after hearing Michael's answer. It must have shown on his face, as Reynir looked slightly worried when he saw him come in. Mikkel reassured him:
-Don't worry, I'm just a little tired. It won't become a problem before we have nothing to do but rest for two weeks. Have any of you eaten yet?
-No. Everyone else is having a nap and it's a little awkward to move much when my hair is like this.
Mikkel really wasn't that surprised that Reynir's hair required two towels and its own chair to dry, but getting a good look at the scene that resulted from that fact gave Mikkel amusement that was much needed. He grabbed a can of fish for himself and another for Reynir, who was already sitting at the table.
-It really is long. Even when it's never cut, hair usually falls out on its own before getting that long.
Reynir looked at the chair supporting his hair with a raised eyebrow:
-Then how come it got so long? Could magic have something to do with it?
-You'd have to ask your sister about this. But to my knowledge, it can just happen from having the right genes.
Thirty seconds later, Mikkel was relieved that Reynir hadn't actually choked on the piece of fish he had been eating when the statement had been made. It looked like today was a day of people hearing something they needed to hear without knowing it.

xxxx

Sigrun was woken up to a surprisingly good smell and opened her eyes to the surprisingly pleasing sight of Reynir's hair already re-braided. The young man seemed to be helping Mikkel arrange things on the table, which her brain took a while to register as actual food on actual plates. Mikkel admitted to have used some of the time he had spent outside setting up fish traps and collecting edible seaweed, having guessed that the others would soon get tired of the canned fish, and that he could manage to make one freshly-prepared meal before they got picked up if he spread the preparations over the rest of the week. The meal was good enough, at least compared to what Mikkel had produced during most of the expedition, while Lalli reluctantly let himself be spoon-fed by Emil. Sigrun didn't comment on the fact that the mush Lalli's food had been reduced to for the sake of his stomach looked oddly like the stuff Mikkel had fed the cat. The only solid food Lalli was allowed that evening was a single cookie from the handful Mikkel still had and decided to add to the meal. There was a toast to Tuuri, during which Emil helped Lalli hold a glass and raise his somewhat in the same direction as everyone else's.

Mikkel had found a covered plate, and enough ingredients to make a portion for Michael in addition to everyone else. There had even been a cookie to spare for him, despite him being quite sure there had been just enough left for each member of the crew to have one when the trek had started. He briefly considered the reason he could have counted one too many without meaning to, but decided it wasn't the time to go into too deep thought about it. As he entered the infirmary, he found one of the beds Michael wasn't using covered with a bunch of the pieces of paper, each bearing a very short name. He put the tray down:
-What are those supposed to be?
-Names I gave to trolls. Arranged like you told me.
Mikkel only then noticed that most of the papers were arranged into groups, each more or less following the pattern in which Michael was supposed to re-arrange the names of their parents and siblings. Upon closer examination, he found Michael's name in one of the groups. He put his hand next to it to show Michael he had noticed it.
-Always the same six. Got food for me. Shared theirs if there was less than usual. Slept next to me. Said no when the ones from other groups wanted to eat me. Some in other groups are scary. Was sure they would eat me if stories stopped. I followed your friend to get away from them. But those six are good. Some in the other groups too.
Michael picked up the six pieces of paper that were surrounding his name, and another handful among the other groups. He gave them to Mikkel:
-I'm trying hard to remember the people back home. I want someone else to know about the good trolls. Someone who won't use what I say to kill them. Someone who knows it's important. Can it be you?
It took a few moments for Mikkel to process what Michael was asking him. Part of him questioned how good an idea it was to let Michael trust him with this in the long run. A much bigger part felt like the was no way of refusing his request without feeling like he was letting his brother down the very first time he was somewhat treating him like family on his own accord since they had reunited. He stifled a sigh of resignation:
-You can tell me all about them. After you eat.

xxxx

By the time Mikkel crept back into the barracks, it was almost too dark to do so. To his surprise, he was greeted by Reynir's voice whispering voice when he came in:
-You're back. I was starting to think you had decided to sleep there.
-Speaking of sleep, how come you are still awake? I hope you weren't that worried about me not coming back, even if the sentiment is appreciated.
-I guess it was half that, half being too exited about actually seeing Hildur tomorrow. Ah, I just remembered she wanted to tell me something tonight. Guess it will have to wait a little if I can't fall asleep.
-I don't feel like going to sleep right now either. It's a shame we can't have a conversation without running the risk of waking the others.
-Yeah… wait, we have the chessboard and the stove is still giving off a little light.

xxxx

Despite the fact that it would take the better part of the day for the boat to be even visible in the distance, everyone else had decided that "taking a breath of fresh air" was a worthy activity for the day. Once he had made sure the less in shape half of the crew had blankets and something warm to drink, Mikkel had seen the more rational reason to be out there. When you were about to be locked in small room for at least two weeks in less than a day, any time you could spend outside suddenly became precious. However, when it came to go get various objects from inside the barracks, the feverish ones suddenly remembered that they needed rest, Emil's plan for staying warm involved Lalli and a shared blanket, and the requested item was frequently one Mikkel preferred to not trust Reynir with. By the time he noticed that Michael had been hanging on one of the sheltered benches facing the harbor with a sleeping kitten on his lap since an uncertain amount of time, he felt he couldn't ask him to go back to the infirmary without someone protesting that Michael hadn't done anything to warrant such an order. Mikkel settled for sitting next to him, which enabled him to keep an eye on him, stop him if he suddenly acted inappropriately and simply answer any questions he could have about the others. Due to the thoughts that had gone though his head as he had been playing chess with Reynir during the previous night, Mikkel ended up being the one with a question of Michael:
-I've been wondering if those six could have been that close to each other because they were family, or at least friends, before they turned.
-I don't know. They don't seem to remember things from before getting sick. Maybe they were friends before. Maybe they hated each other before. They are like a troll-family now.
-Uh?
A quick survey of the shelter revealed the voice to have been that of Emil, whom, Mikkel was just realizing, was probably hearing Michael speak for the first time. Mikkel also noticed that Lalli was starting to look a little sleepy, and decided to make sure that he was just tired and not needing to be taken back inside. Although he found nothing worrying, he decided that Lalli would still be more comfortable sleeping inside, which turned out to be the ticket to get Emil to spend a little time between four walls as well. Soon, everyone got hungry for lunch, and the perpetual back and fourth between the barracks and the harbor shelter started anew.