The Parebant Hall was rancid, positively disgusting, and getting worse as the day went on. The hot sun, rotting the eggs worse and worse. In response to this, students were moved into St. Margaret Hall, which was airing out faster than Regina Coelum, and were instructed to spend down time in the library as opposed to the common room. George and Francois had been discovered missing, and due to the events of the day, Madame Jean-Claire was noticeably suspicious.

"And where were you two off to?" She asked when the missing pair turned up.

"George was feeling homesick, so I escorted him to the Church so he might feel better." Francois lied, "What's happened, it smells positively dreadful."

"A Parebant escorting another Parebant is not appropriate. There's a private Parebant Chapel if you wish to enrich your prayer life, otherwise seek me out, and I will assign you an escort. How did you even get over there, wasn't it locked?" Madame Jean Claire continued.

"Locked?" Francois faked shock, "It's supposed to be locked?"

"Oh dear. I'll get maintenance on that right away." She began to walk away, then turned back, "If I catch you sneaking out again It's a detention."

"That was a close one." Francois chuckled after she was out of sight. "We could've gotten blamed for all this." He said wrinkling his nose.

"It was too close." George remarked.

"Lighten up. We're at boarding school now. No parents, we get to be independent." Francois mused.

"I'm not sure I like being independent. Come on, we've got to brave the smell back to our rooms for fresh clothes." George reminded. The two boys walked quickly to their rooms, remembering to breathe from their mouths of of necessity. Regina Hall was deserted, so they made it to their rooms quickly. The hallways were open to the courtyard, and the boys had't gotten into their rooms, so the bulk of the issue lay in the lounge, kitchens, and dining areas. George laced himself into his stays, and pulled on a fresh pair of white knee socks for the day. With that he changed to new knickers, a clean peter pan collared shirt, a navy blue tucked sweater, plus a red ribbon tie. Since it was a regular day he didn't need his caplet or beret, though he did need some kind of hat, and he settled on a straw bonnet with a red ribbon that secured back behind his head. Then he attempted to mask the slight hint of sulfur clinging to his clothes with rose water, and paused to rouge his cheeks and nose.

George exited his room to see Francois waiting in the hallway. Francois was wearing a tight fitting navy vest, that met his pants slightly above the natural waist in observance of the regency style, with puffy white sleeves peaking out, along with a larger bow around his neck, which held a standing collar. He had a slighter wider brimmed hat on, and they both had matching white lace gloves.

"Where'd they tell us to go?" Francois asked.

"We're going to the library." George affirmed, and the two of them began the walk over. The old building was filled to the brim with displaced Parebants anxiously awaiting the ability to go back to their rooms. Once there, the two friends sat down at a table. Though it was a library, on the particular day they were there it was quite noisy.

"I'm going for a walk." George said after two hours of studying, though he didn't realize that Francois was already asleep, his face partially buried in a book. George rolled his eyes, and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" The librarian asked as he stood up.

"Just for a walk." He replied.

"Don't be long... shall I fetch you an escort?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"I'll be fine." George insisted, but the lady's face twisted in confusion; Walking alone was frowned upon. Not banned, but frowned upon. Once he'd gotten outside Freddy popped out of the Maior side door.

"So where're we off to?" Freddy asked.

"Just a walk."

"You disrupted my studies for a 'walk?" Freddy teased.

"I didn't ask you to come. How did you even know I was leaving?"

"I saw you from the window. I can make myself scarce if you'd prefer it?" Freddy suggested.

"As long as you're here..." George trailed off. "But we need to be careful. Technically we aren't even permitted to begin a conversation until we've been formally introduced, never mind being together without a supervisor."

"We'll be fine. Besides I can protect you. It's dangerous for a Parebant to be out alone, you might fall and crack your little ankle." Freddy joked as they progressed slightly deeper into the surrounding area. there were a few trees, but mostly just grassy slopes. George sat to rest a moment on a fallen tree, and Freddy stood a few feet away.

"You can sit down, you know?" George reminded Freddy.

"You're sure? What if someone sees us?"

"We're all alone." George said pulling off one of his white gloves, and placing it in his lap.

"Would you like me to go back and get your parasol? It's quite sunny?" Freddy suggested.

"I'm fine, thank you." George stated, then went silent for a moment, "You're new at this? Aren't you?"

"Escorting Parebants? Sure, not really supposed to be doing it anyway." Freddy rambled slightly, staring down at George's bare pale hand.

"No, I mean just being around us in general. You haven't done that before, have you? Not alone I'd guess."

"I have a question," Freddy said, in an attempt to change the subject, "You speak French with an English accent, and you said your father's in the English Parliament?"

"I believe I said that, yes." George confirmed.

"So what are you doing at a Catholic school in France?"

"Oh... well. I come from a Catholic family, but it's more or less outlawed in England, so my father's been lying to everyone, and calling himself and Anglican... but they're trying to pass a Catholic Relief act, and there's been a couple of hate crimes in our area, so my father wanted to get me as far away as possible before somebody went sniffing around where they weren't supposed to." George paused and pushed a short stray blonde hair out of his face, as he did this Freddy casually reached down and took the little glove from his lap. "This is foreign to me..."

"What?" Freddy asked.

"Well, I've always been a Parebant, but my father wanted a Maior, so we never really played much at the customs. It's strange to me to see how strict things really are."

"Hmm." Freddy hummed in agreement, "You're all Catholic? Your whole family?"

"Yes. That's new to me too. Public profession of Catholicism is banned in England, so I'm not used to people being so forward about it... I like it, it's just strange to me." George explained.

"It's strange to me too." Freddy said thoughtfully. He attempted to put George's glove on his hand, but found he couldn't get it past his fingers.

"Why? Weren't you born here? Isn't this how things have always been for you?" George asked.

"Well.. I'm sort of an Atheist." Freddy stated, and George stared at him for a moment, with his eyes huge as the sun.

"Why? What's wrong with you?" George whispered after a moment.

"Nothing's wrong with me. I just don't believe in God." Freddy's voice rose slightly with nerves, and he fidgeted with George's glove.

"I should go. Goodbye Mr. Olivier." George said standing up. He nodded to Freddy slightly, and racing back towards the school, leaving Freddy in his dust. Freddy sat on the branch watching George go, as he clutched the little white glove.