Older Boy 1 slides a folded scrap of paper across the refectory table, pinning it beneath two fingers as if sealing a wager. The cavern hums around him, cutlery clinking, boys muttering, but his eyes stay fixed on Paul Foot.
Older Boy 1
You want the Plato line. I want the money order. Let us not waste one another's time.
He tips the paper toward Paul, not releasing it, making the offer feel like a hook rather than a gift. Older Boy 2 watches from beside him, bored but attentive, while nearby boys lower their voices.
Paul Foot
He has it here, then.
Paul does not reach for the scrap. The older boy's smile sharpens, pleased by the hesitation, and he keeps one hand on the paper as though the answer itself can be withheld.
Older Boy 1
Say it plainly, and tomorrow I tell you where Chenevix-Trench means to strike.
The table holds still for a beat, all that noise around them suddenly distant, while the note waits under Older Boy 1's hand and the bargain narrows to a single, dangerous choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Delay handing over the money order
“Am I strong enough to resist if they physically take hold of me and take the money order from me?”
NO, BUT (VeryUnlikely, rolled 32)
Paul looks at the older boy's hands, realizing that his own frame is too slight to withstand the weight of the older boys if they decide to take what is his by force. The realization settles in his chest, cold and heavy, as he understands that his only defense is the thin hope of a bargain.
“Will the older boys take the money order from me and teach me a lesson for resisting by telling the Housemaster that I have been insolent?”
YES, AND MORE (Likely, rolled 6)
Older Boy 1 snatches the money order from Paul's pocket with a swift, practiced motion, his expression hardening into a mask of predatory triumph. He leans in close, his voice a low rasp as he promises to inform Chenevix-Trench that Paul was caught attempting to bribe a senior student with stolen funds.
Older Boy 1
You thought you could bargain with me, Foot. Now you will learn exactly what happens to insolent boys who try to play the system.
Paul Foot
The money is gone, and the housemaster will be waiting for me before the morning bell.
“I wait obediently outside Chenevix-Trench's study so that he can punish me.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Willpower, rolled -1)
Paul stands where the corridor narrows outside Chenevix-Trench’s study, small in his blazer, waiting as if waiting itself were the punishment.
He does not knock. He keeps his hands still and his eyes on the door, obeying the order the housemaster has not yet given.
The silence stretches, but nothing answers it. The study stays shut, and the strict little tally of school discipline seems to exist elsewhere, beyond this moment.
Paul Foot
He is not coming yet.
Paul holds his place until the waiting becomes its own fact, not a promise of rescue, just a corridor full of shadow and a closed door.
At last, he turns away from the study, because standing there any longer changes nothing except where the shame sits.
Quest Complete
Delay handing over the money order