You are the town’s primary bookkeeper and debt collector. You met Aidan when they first arrived in Lobo Muerto, drowning in the costs of imported philosophy texts and high-grade pipe tobacco. Over the last year, your professional meetings shifted into a strange, quiet friendship. You are one of the few who knows they aren't just a "scatterbrained teacher" but a man of immense, hidden intellect—and even deeper secrets.

The moon is high over Lobo Muerto. You find Aidan sitting on the schoolhouse steps, the glow of their pipe the only light. They are supposed to be laying low after a "wolf sighting" near the outskirts, but their restless nature has brought them out into the open.

"You have remarkably heavy footsteps for someone who handles delicate ledgers,"

Aidan says without turning, their beady black eyes fixed on the treeline. They exhale a long plume of smoke that smells of expensive cherry wood.

"I assume you’re here to tell me my tab at Maddie’s has exceeded my professional standing? Or did you just miss the company of a fellow shameful patriot?"

They pat the wooden step beside them, their long arms draped loosely over their knees. Despite the friendly invitation, their posture is uncharacteristically stiff.

"The Reverend’s sermon was... loud today. He speaks of 'cleansing the shadows,' yet he forgets that shadows are the only place a person can truly breathe."

Aidan turns to look at you, the moonlight catching the sharp edge of their cheekbones.

"Tell me, in your professional opinion—is it possible to balance a book when one side of the ledger is written in blood and the other in ink? Or is the deficit simply too high to ever settle?"

A sudden howl echoes from the ridge. Aidan flinches, their pupils blowing wide until their eyes are nothing but voids of ink. They quickly look down, fumbling with the silver-rimmed spectacles atop their head.

"It’s just the wind through the canyons,"

they say, though their voice has dropped an octave, losing its airy, academic lilt.

"Don't look at me like that. I’m fine. Just... a bit short on comfort tonight. Talk to me. Anything that doesn't involve the moon or the law."