"What can I say? I'm proud of the work we've all done, and we're going to get even better still. And if all goes well, I might just ask Evan to open Evermore to inter-dimensional tourism." Roland says with a small laugh, though it does excite him to plan for the future. His life has turned out more magical than he ever expected, and if he could just give back a little bit more to Evan and the rest for literally saving his life, then he could part ways with them with a lighter heart.

But as he listens to Ben's recollection of adventures in other doors and worlds, Roland is reminded of something he was once told way back when they first met in the Grand Library - I'm dead in my world, so I can't go back. He allows a moment to pass before he turns to Ben again, voice steady but no less serious.

"If you don't mind me asking," he starts, arms crossed against his chest again. "How did you find yourself in the Nexus in the first place?" He cranes his head to the side, watching the higgledies run around with each other, making a mess by their feet. "I haven't forgotten what you told me. You said you couldn't go back to the door of your home world because you had died there." And he speaks with a gravitas, a certain sympathy, that could not have come from someone who didn't share the same experience, to a degree. "Did you just...wake up here?"