[ Reynir can see that something is going on inside Carlisle, but he can’t begin to accurately guess what it is. The theory he comes up with has much more to do with his own life than it does what’s actually bothering Carlisle. It occurs to him that Carlisle had seen his home again, the way it was before everything went wrong. And now, what with them talking about friendship… maybe he is thinking about friends of his who he had had at home, who he had lost when necromancers laid waste to the place. Did all of his friends die? Had Reynir reopened those wounds without meaning to?

There’s a softness of empathy in his face, because Reynir knows how awful it is to lose a friend. When Carlisle talks about needing to face the world after he wakes up, Reynir quietly offers: ]

Well… now that we’ve established we’re friends, can’t I – isn’t there anything I can do to help make the waking world less pale and cold, for you?

[ Some things are beyond his control. He can’t bring back Carlisle’s home or his old life, or do anything to make him not-cursed. But surely there is something, however small? ]