The junior common room is nearly empty. The fire has fallen to a red, uneven glow, and the lamps cast long shadows across abandoned chairs and scattered books.
Paul remains by the cold fireplace after assembly, while Willie Rushton and Christopher Brooker slip in from the dormitories. No prefect follows them; the door settles shut behind.
Willie Rushton
The official version is that your money order is safe. The unofficial version is that nobody intends to let you see it again soon.
Christopher Brooker
I heard the headmaster call it an inquiry, not a punishment. That distinction may matter, though Chenevix-Trench plainly hopes it will not.
Willie perches on an abandoned chair, his ink-stained fingers worrying a loose thread. Christopher remains standing, notebook tucked beneath one arm, listening toward the corridor.
Willie Rushton
We cannot overrule masters, Foot. But we can remember precisely what was said, and make it harder for them to improve the story afterward.
Christopher Brooker
Tell us what happened after we left the chapel. Then we can decide what, if anything, ought to be written down.
“I describe to Willie and Christopher how Chenevix-Trench said in the chapel that I will be summoned to his study later to receive a caning, and that he mentioned it would be "in the usual fashion", which all of us know means a bare bottom caning.”
SUCCESS (Great Well-read, rolled +1)
Paul Foot
In the chapel, Chenevix-Trench said I am to be summoned to his study later for a caning. He called it “in the usual fashion.”
The words settle between them. Beyond the common room, a door shuts and footsteps pass, but no prefect enters. The dying fire throws red light across their faces.
Paul Foot
You both know what he means. The usual fashion means I am to be made bare and caned, not merely warned or given extra work.
Willie Rushton
Yes. He has given the humiliation a timetable and dressed it up as routine. That is not the same as making it lawful.
Christopher Brooker
Write down the exact phrase while it is fresh. “Usual fashion” admits the custom, but it leaves him less room to pretend nobody understood what he announced.
Christopher opens his notebook on his knee and records the chapel, the witnesses, and the promised summons. Willie watches the corridor, already treating the phrase as evidence rather than fate.
Willie Rushton
When he summons you, do not let the wording disappear. Whatever happens afterward, we can make the school answer for what “usual” was supposed to mean.
“I mention to Rushton and Brooker that I no longer have my money order, and that I have little hope of ever getting it back.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Paul Foot
I no longer have the money order. I doubt very much that I shall ever see it again.
The statement leaves Paul quietly, without appeal. The red firelight catches the empty place where the receipt had been, while footsteps pass beyond the closed door.
Willie Rushton
Then we must stop treating it as money and start treating it as evidence. They may keep the paper, but they cannot make the fact disappear.
Christopher Brooker
The headmaster heard the order was disputed. That is a thin protection, but it is more than nothing, especially if we preserve the exact wording.
Willie Rushton
They have taken the document, and now they will try to take the story with it.
Christopher Brooker
Write down the date, the amount, the serial number, and every person who handled it. If the order never returns, the record may still survive.
Christopher turns to a clean page and begins listing the particulars. Willie keeps watch at the door, while the dying fire settles into a low red glow.
✓ Quest Accepted
Complete the unfinished Greek and Latin preparation
“Will I be punished if I use up all my ink writing ledgers and particulars and written records, and am thereby unable to complete the Greek and Latin prep that Chenevix-Trench has set for me?”
YES (Likely, rolled 14)
The ink dwindles as Christopher’s list grows. Each recorded detail strengthens their account, but the same pages consume the time and materials meant for Greek and Latin preparation.
Willie Rushton
There it is, Foot. The ledger may save the truth and still condemn you before the next lesson begins.
Christopher Brooker
If the work is incomplete, Chenevix-Trench will call it another failure. He will not care that the missing ink went into defending yourself.
The consequence becomes plain within the logic of the house: evidence can preserve what happened, but it cannot excuse neglected preparation. One protection creates the charge for another.
Willie Rushton
They have arranged it so every sensible precaution can be entered as disobedience.
Christopher Brooker
Keep the particulars exact, but understand the price. Tomorrow he can punish the unfinished prep and pretend the records had nothing to do with it.
Beyond the door, measured footsteps approach and pass without stopping. The fire sinks lower, while the unfinished schoolwork and the growing record lie together under the same red light.
“I timidly approach the senior boys' common room, enduring and accepting their considerable mirth at my predicament, reminding them of the chores and errands that I have completed for them, explaining the likely consequences if Chenevix-Trench finds my work lacking, and humbly begging if one of them could possibly help me with the prep.”
SUCCESS (Poor Oratory, rolled +3)
Paul approaches the senior common room timidly. Laughter rises from within as the older boys notice him, but he crosses the threshold and remains standing.
Paul Foot
I have run your errands and done the chores you gave me. If Chenevix-Trench finds my prep lacking, he will punish me again. Could one of you please help me finish the Greek and Latin?
Older Boy 1
Listen to him, reminding us of his services as though he were presenting an account at the bank.
The mirth continues, though Older Boy 1 takes the notebook Paul offers. Older Boy 2 leans over the table and reads the unfinished exercises by firelight.
Older Boy 2
Give it here. I will do the Greek, and he can manage the Latin. You will copy the corrections exactly, not decorate them with your own improvements.
Older Boy 1
There, Foot. You have your protection, purchased with chores and a suitably humble performance. Sit down before you make us regret generosity.
Paul sits at the table. Older Boy 2 supplies the Greek construction and Older Boy 1 dictates the Latin forms, while the laughter subsides into brisk, practical instruction.
“I copy the older boys' work faithfully, thanking them profusely for their help, and explaining to them that I am eternally grateful for their help that might have saved me from a bare bottom caning. I ask them to please call on me any time they want any chore or errand doing, or anything else they want. I awkwardly mention that they are my heroes and that I genuinely worship them as such.”
SUCCESS (Great Writing, rolled +1)
Paul bends over the notebook and copies each Greek correction and Latin form exactly as dictated. His cramped writing steadies as the unfinished pages fill beneath the firelight.
Paul Foot
Thank you, gentlemen, most profusely. You may have saved me from another caning, and I am eternally grateful.
Paul Foot
Please call on me whenever you require a chore, an errand, or anything else. You are my heroes, and I genuinely worship you as such.
Older Boy 1
Worship is excessive, Foot, but useful. Do not smudge the ablative while expressing it.
Older Boy 2 checks Paul’s Greek line by line, while Older Boy 1 scans the Latin. Neither finds an error, and the corrections become a complete, defensible piece of preparation.
Older Boy 2
You have copied it faithfully. Keep your gratitude practical, and remember who can rescue you when the next lesson threatens to become expensive.
Older Boy 1
We shall call when an errand presents itself. For tonight, close the book and leave before your gratitude becomes another performance.
Quest Complete
Complete the unfinished Greek and Latin preparation
Skill Upgrade: Oratory Poor→Mediocre