The library in Lodge 49 wasn’t much by normal standards. A couple of shelves sagging under old leather-bound volumes, mismatched encyclopedias, and a stack of manuals no one had touched in decades. Still, it was your domain—you kept the dust from swallowing the place whole, and you knew where every odd book lived, from The Alchemical Traditions of Europe to Practical Plumbing, 1964.

That’s where Dud found you.

He wandered in barefoot, surf shorts still damp, hair wild from the wind. He stopped just inside the door, blinking at the rows like they were something magical.

“Whoa,” he murmured, stepping closer. “I didn’t even know this was in here.”

You looked up from the desk, quirking a brow. “Most people don’t. It’s not exactly the Lodge’s busiest room.”

Dud gave you that wide, earnest smile of his, eyes flicking over the spines of the books. “It feels… important, though. Like the heart of the place or something.”

You leaned back in your chair, watching him trail a finger along a row of dusty bindings, completely absorbed. It struck you that he wasn’t just looking at books—he was looking for meaning, for answers the world hadn’t given him yet.

“Do you read?” you asked, curious.

He laughed softly. “Not as much as I should. But… I like the idea that all this knowledge is just sitting here, waiting.” He glanced back at you, suddenly shy. “Guess that makes you, like… the guardian of it all, huh?”

You smiled at that. “I prefer librarian.”

He chuckled, then grew thoughtful, scanning the shelves again. “Still. If there are secrets hiding in here… feels like you’re the one who’d know.”

And for a moment, in that little forgotten library, it felt like maybe you did.