It then occurred to Bragi that he wasn't sure which of these men was the Ministry official his neighbour had fled to summon. Was it the lean, sprightly fellow who'd appeared first? Or was it the older one, this Mr Simeon Fox? It couldn't be both because they had not arrived together and were clearly not acquainted. In fact, there was a faint atmosphere of them being slightly... at odds.

As he hadn't been addressed or called upon to speak, Bragi held back and said nothing. At first he glanced between the two of them as if he were watching a lawn tennis match, and then he watched Mr Fox crouch down beside the thing. The lad wrapped his arms around himself as if he were cold, unsettled by the mess of organic and mechanic that had somehow found itself "dead" in the middle of a forest.