The dormitory door opens onto the cold corridor, and the boys move as one small, careful knot. Boots thunder past in the distance, but no one looks twice at the cluster of younger fellows keeping close together.
Lewis stays near the middle, guiding the pace by inches rather than orders. Francis keeps to the shelter of the group, head lowered, while Parsley and Edwin drift close enough to hide him from any passing glance.
John
This is easier when we do not hurry.
Morris
We make a convincing procession, I think. Almost respectable.
Parsley
If anyone asks, we are all merely late on purpose.
Edwin gives a small, relieved smile, and Francis finally lifts his eyes from the flagstones. The corridor remains busy, but the boys have found a pocket of quiet in the press of the morning.
C. S. Lewis
The cold makes the stone smell sharper.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect Francis from being singled out
“Lewis leads them into the dining hall, making sure no one gets separated.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -1)
The boys pass through the dining hall door together, the shift from corridor chill to warm noise coming all at once. Lewis keeps them bunched in a narrow line, letting each younger boy feel the one beside him before the next step is taken.
Ahead, the hall opens in benches and steam and scraping feet, but the cluster does not break. Francis stays half a pace inside the circle, and Parsley and Edwin angle their shoulders to keep him covered as they enter.
John
Keep the line tight, then let it breathe.
Morris
A neat little file. It will do.
A few boys at nearby tables glance up, then back down to their food. No one is singled out, and the small procession keeps its shape across the threshold.
Edwin touches the dark pebble in his pocket as he walks, as if counting the company by touch. Lewis guides them toward an empty stretch of bench where they can sit without splitting.
Parsley
There, all together.
Quest Complete
Protect Francis from being singled out
“They take a seat to start eating and begin to relax. Lewis says that Francis should probably just go to chapel with them and stock together after too, if he doesn't mind. Lewis would like to visit the library today if they can too. But he won't push it of the Bloods are prowling to heavily. They could instead walk back to town and meet Francis's folks if he wants.”
SUCCESS (Superb Etiquette, rolled +2)
The boys drop onto the bench in a loose, breathing knot, shoulders finally lowering as tin plates scrape across the table. Lewis’s question lands gently in the warmth, and the others turn toward Francis to hear his answer.
Francis
Aye, I can do that. Chapel and company both, if there’s room enough for me.
John
There is room. We make it, that is the point.
Edwin’s fingers brush the pebble in his pocket, a small private habit against the clatter around them. Morris takes the far end of the bench and leaves space without fuss, as though that too is part of the arrangement.
Parsley
Then we keep together after chapel as well. Library, if it is clear enough for it.
Francis
I would like that.
A passing prefect cuts between the tables, and the younger boys instinctively tighten. For a breath the line breaks into two clusters, then reforms as Parsley and Edwin are shifted aside by the prefect’s stride, Francis left just within Lewis’s reach.
Morris
We shall have to gather again after he passes.
“I gather us back together after the prefect passes, taking Parsley's hand to keep us from getting separated again.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
As the prefect’s shadow clears the table, Lewis reaches out and catches Parsley by the hand. The loose split at the bench snaps back together at once, boys and shoulders sliding inward until Francis is sheltered again between them.
Edwin steps in from the side and the dark pebble shifts against his palm as he closes the gap. John leans his weight toward the middle, making room without a word, while Morris angles his end of the bench to hold the line.
Parsley gives Lewis’s hand a quick squeeze and comes back to his place, face set with quiet agreement. The small disturbance dies under the clatter of plates and talk around them.
Francis looks from one boy to the next, then settles his shoulders as if the room has finally been told where he belongs. The company is whole again, and the prefect passes on without taking anything from them.
Morris
There, then. That is better.
John
We stay as we are.
Across the hall, a few older boys glance over, but the younger group keeps its shape, hand to hand and knee to knee, waiting for the next move.
“Lewis asks Parsley quietly of he minds holding hands in public more often, not just when they are trying to hold the line. He favors Parsley with a warm smile.”
SUCCESS (Superb Etiquette, rolled +0)
C. S. Lewis
Lewis asks Parsley, very quietly, whether he minds holding hands in public more often, not only when they need to hold the line.
He lets the question hang in the warm noise of the hall, then gives Parsley a warm, open smile.
Parsley
Parsley’s mouth flickers, then settles into something pleased and shy. Not at all, if it is you.
John
John looks down the bench once, then back to them. It is useful, he says, and plainly not unwelcome.
Morris
Morris snorts under his breath, but his eyes are amused. The school will survive it, he says dryly.
Edwin
Edwin watches the joined hands, then glances at his own dark pebble, looking quietly content to be included.
The younger boys do not break apart. Instead, the bench stays close and still, as if the answer itself has joined the company.