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Jacks White Oak Fundamentals Of Latin Final 240424

In the Latin Classroom at the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak, the stage is set for Jack's Fundamentals of Latin final. The atmosphere is steeped in the essence of ancient Rome, with leather-bound tomes and manuscripts adorning the space, and sunlight filtering through stained glass windows. Students, including Aristotle, Meridith, Julia, Lilah, and Esmeralda, gather, their tension palpable as Jack announces the format of the exam—short essays to be completed within an hour. As the exam begins, the students grapple with their nerves and the complexity of the questions, with Aristotle joking about the grading method, Lilah struggling with anxiety, and Julia meticulously planning her answers. A peculiar tension arises when Meridith interacts with an unseen presence, unsettling Lilah to the point of hysteria. Jack, maintaining control, dismisses the influence, allowing the test to proceed.

As the clock ticks down, the students, each with their peculiarities, navigate the final exam with varying degrees of seriousness and concern. Lilah, overwhelmed, hastily completes her exam and is the first to submit it to Jack, who reviews it with a hint of disappointment. Julia and Aristotle also turn in their tests, the latter joking about the repercussions of a potential poor grade. Meridith's test catches a small fire in a moment of peculiarity, adding to the odd occurrences. In the final moments, concerns are raised about Julia's well-being, with Jack suggesting a visit to the clinic that is met with resistance from both Julia and Meridith. The exam concludes with Meridith offering to ensure Julia gets home safely, leaving Jack with lingering concerns about his students' health and academic performance.
(Jack's [White Oak] Fundamentals of Latin Final)

[Tue Apr 23 2024]

In the Latin Classroom of the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak
Aged, leather-bound tomes and meticulously annotated manuscripts line the sturdy, oak bookshelves. The soft, filtered sunlight seeps through the stained glass windows, casting a colorful, ethereal glow that dances across the weathered, wooden desks and the intricate, Latin inscriptions adorning the walls. The faint scent of antiquity lingers in the air and the distant murmur of students poring over ancient texts can just barely be heard in the distance.
It is about 55F(12C) degrees.

"Probably the actual Roman Empire and not our own personal one, right?" Aristotle asks, his tone signaling a partial joke in his question. "Wild we actually made it to the end. Almost over."

Meridith smiles at Lilah and Julia, giving little waves.

Julia bobs a nod to Meridith.

"Not our own personal Roman Empire, no," Jack tells someone. "Miss Walker," he greets Meridith. He starts to pass out exams from the sheaf of papers in his hand, moving from Julia to Lilah to Esmeralda before returning to Aristotle and Meridith. "This exam is short essays," he says. "I'll give you a few minutes to read it over and ask questions, but we'll start the 1-hour clock at 10:15 sharp," he says. "Once you're done, you can turn it in."

"Not our own personal Roman Empire, no," Jack tells Aristotle. "Miss Walker," he greets Meridith. He starts to pass out exams from the sheaf of papers in his hand, moving from Julia to Lilah to Esmeralda before returning to Aristotle and Meridith. "This exam is short essays," he says. "I'll give you a few minutes to read it over and ask questions, but we'll start the 1-hour clock at 10:15 sharp," he says. "Once you're done, you can turn it in."

Meridith nods in response to Jack and reads over it.

Aristotle tugs his phone from his pocket for a brief moment to gander the time, and then nods to Jack. "Alright." Then, when the final exam is handed to him, he's looking it over. "Okay, seems straight-forward enough." He decides, though mostly to himself.

Lilah takes the paper, but takes one look at it and groans quietly. Briefly, she looks over and offers Aristotle a weak smile, and muses, "Caelum's not coming?" But she inevitably looks back down at the paper in front of her with a wrinkle of her nose.

"We just pick one, right?" Lilah asks, her tone tinging on pure frustration.

"I haven't heard from him yet, but maybe he'll be at the make up." Aristotle says, his phone being tugged out to tap briefly on the screen. "He might still be asleep. Or, waking up, actually."

As he distributes exams, Jack says, "You can fill in your short answers right on the exam." A pause. "And please, please, for the love of Pete put your name on it. I had an exam where none of the students put their names on it, and grading it was a chore." He pauses. "My grading method, after all, is to throw the papers down the stairs and see which one goes farthest, and if I need to do handwriting analysis?"

"I'm gonna turn mine in, then, already shaped like a plane so it goes a little further." Aristotle says to Jack with a little nod.

Jack chuckles at his own joke.

OOC: Just edit the object to put in your answers. It would be helpful if you rename the object to be 'a Latin final exam by Johnny Masters' in names and longstring so I can sort them easier. First name and lastname, please.

"No, Miss McFadden. Short answers to all three -- here I thought you were going to be a bright student," Jack says to Lilah, his tone a little disappointed.

The look Jack receives in response suggests that Lilah is either going to burst into tears or simply pass out and use the desk as a pillow and test paper as a pillowcase. She takes a deep breath, then lowers her head into her cupped palm and stares at the paper as if she can will answers to life.

Jack glances at the clock on the wall. "Five minutes until I start the exam," he says. "I can answer questions during the exam as well, of course, but..." He pauses. "Come now," he tells Lilah, gently. "It's not that bad."

Aristotle withdraws his pen, starting to fill his name into the line on his test. He glances briefly between Jack and Lilah, but doesn't say anything as he waits for the official start time. And then, his eyes glance once more to his phone before it's tucked away once more.

There's a tilt of Jack's head. "It seems you have a visitor, Miss Walker," he says. "I hope she's not filling in the answers for you," he says mildly, though there's a moment where he reaches to finger some amulet inside his shirt.

Julia taps her pencil on the desk, and scrawls out her name on the exam - making sure to include the date and the rest of the usual; course number, professor. She reads over the questions in silence, her lips pursing thinly as she gazes up then down and around, around those in the room.

Meridith says "If you think she knows Latin better than I do, Father. If anything I should receive some bonus marks"
Meridith grins coyly.

Something in what Jack says instills a look of comprehension in Aristotle's expression, as though he were pondering something earlier that an answer was just inadvertently given to. He looks to Meridith, then to everyone else, then at the room itself before his eyes draw back to the former. Contemplative, but nothing vocalized.

A quiet, raspy hiss comes from Meridith, "I know nothing of Latin, worry not."

Jack announces, "You may begin." A beat. "One hour."

And though the start was announced, Aristotle's eyes still linger on Meridith for a long moment.

"I don't know, Miss Walker," Jack tells Meridith after a moment. "When you're not working on your final, perhaps I'll scribe a binding circle and find out exactly how much she does know."

Julia's nostrils flare, the hackles of something skimming across her lips. She then sets to work.

"Fuck," Lilah breathes at the voice that comes from Meridith. Immediately, she's on her feet, her eyes wide and visibly discomfited. "I... I'm going to take my test in the hall, Father," she states, bending to gather up her bag.

Meridith gazes to Jack as she scribbles in answers. "Your gaze is better suited elsewhere, I assure you," she says with an even tone, so even it was definitely intentional.

Jack continues, "This isn't a class on eidolons, but they are vulnerable to being bound. They can escape, eventually... but you can hold them there long enough to keep a conversation." He pauses. "No, Miss McFadden. You can sit your pretty little behind in your chair like everyone else," he says.

Meridith says "Or father, you can simply invite her for a friendly conversation."
It's another beat that passes before Aristotle's eyes trail away from Meridith and towards his paper, and soon his pen begins to scribble away, though with how slowly he writes, its clear his attention is split in favor of the conversation around him.

"I can't. I can't," Lilah breathes, her tone rapidly climbing toward hysteria. The girl's clearly in no shape, emotionally or physically, in that moment. Trembling, she stares at Meridith for a long moment and then pleads, "Make it go. Make it go. Or I am. I'll fail, I don't care. I can't, Father..."

Meridith says "Oh... "
Meridith nods firmly. "Go, please."

There's a pause, and then Jack digs some golden ankh from his shirt. He looks directly at Meridith, glancing at Lilah with concern -- and then he pauses. "Thank you," he says, to the empty air.

Meridith tips her head, chastened, deeply in Lilah's direction, then to Jack she nods softly, then she turns to her test.

With tears now very visible in her eyes, Lilah drops heavily back into her seat. "Sorry..." she murmurs to Meridith, and then turns to stare at her test paper again for a long moment before starting to write in a messy, shaking hand.

Aristotle looks up from his paper after a moment, eyes glancing to Lilah. He gives her a small smile- genuine but sympathetic, and he offers a quiet, "Test'll be over before you know it." He says.

Julia's pencil is in a hard grip. She nods to Lilah, though who knows if its reassuring -- the young lady spends a lot of time gazing at her paper than the other students.

"Thanks," Lilah whispers to Aristotle this time, quickly wiping a hand across her eyes, then nodding to Julia too. Whatever she's writing on her paper may be more emotional than factual, at this point, but at least she's writing.

"Remember what I said," Jack tells Lilah. "This is about understanding your perspective, Miss McFadden."

Jack tells the students, "Forty-five minutes remaining." That won't provoke panic, will it? The priest looks around, studying Meridith, Lilah, Aristotle, Julia and Esmeralda as he begins to pace around, glancing down at their papers as he does.

Aristotle looks up to Jack as he updates on the time, and though he doesn't give much of a response afterwards, his eyes glance over to the other students before setting back to his paper.

Meridith humms quietly to herself.

Julia somehow meets Aristotle's gaze, but it is with the absence that comes with thoughts invisibly circling one's head or direction. She nods absently at the mention of time-keeping, and continues to write things down.

Once she started, it didn't take her very long at all. This is probably a bad sign for Lilah, the perfectionist that she is. But she wearily sets down her pencil, reads over her paper, makes a few quick changes, then sighs and slumps her head back into her hands.

Jack adds, "Though -- I do generally grade on a curve." He lets that linger as a threat. "Look at the bright side," he shares. "Someone is guaranteed an 'A'."

Meridith says "Eyyyy... "
Eventually, Lilah seems content to stop reading over her paper, and slides from her seat again. The exam is carried to the front of the room and handed to Jack. "Here," she says, tone dulled, intent on passing the paper and then turning to head back to collect her things.

With her attention span as intensely concentrated as it is, Julia begins reading over some of her phrases and answers for a short time. She adds a few things in the margins, but then her pencil breaks. A slight curse, and she carefully begins to process of re-sharpening it to a fine point.

"Let's take a look, Miss McFadden," Jack says, reaching for Lilah's test to scan over it. "Thirty more minutes," he says. "If this is a footrace, apparently Miss McFadden is the winner. Unfortunately, we're not in gym class." The snapping of Julia's pencil draws the priest's eyes.

"I'd fail that, if we were," Lilah says in a tone that suggests she's expecting similar from Jack. Though as she stands, waiting for him to glance over her paper, there's a snap of something fiery in her expression, however briefly.

Meridith tests briefly caught fire, but she fixed it. Probably

Aristotle sets his pen down as it seems he finishes, and he takes a moment to look it over. "If this essay messes up my average after this long, I'm gonna riot." He quietly affirms, before he's soon rising to his feet to turn the paper in.

"Thank you," Jack tells Lilah. "You're excused, Miss McFadden," he tells her, and then when Meridith approaches he looks at her exam, then Aristotle. "Why," he says. "No one thinks they need to check their spelling?"

Meridith shrugs somewhat indifferently. "We use computers, Father. Written tests have typos."

"We save the spell checks for English class." Aristotle says, nodding to Jack. "This is Latin. Spell check didn't exist back then."

"But bastardizations of latin did," Julia replies breezily as she sets down her pencil, scoops it up, and offers her paper to Jack.

Lilah nods to Jack, turns back to her desk to collect her things, then snickers softly at Meridith's commentary.

Jack says to Meridith, "You didn't write your name at the top. I should dock you for that alone," he says. "Mr. Wilson, thank you," he says to Aristotle, watching someone with a little concern.

Jack says to Meridith, "You didn't write your name at the top. I should dock you for that alone," he says. "Mr. Wilson, thank you," he says to Aristotle, watching Lilah go with a little concern.

"When do you think you'll be able to let us know our final grades?" Aristotle wonders, gathering his things after a moment.

Meridith scowls. "Did you not see the small fire!"

Meridith says "My name is on the line that says name, I'd never put my name on top, Father, too much respect for you!"
"Despite my instructions to the contrary," Jack clucks at Meridith. "Thank you, Miss Nolan," he tells Julia. "Are you feeling alright?" he asks her.

"I'm fine, Father," Julia says, her soprano a twinge reedy. "I'm with Wilson on this. When do we get our grades?" The inquiry eager, curious.

Jack tells Julia and Aristotle, "By the end of the week." He studies Julia for a longer moment, concerned. "Mmm." He pauses. "I am not so sure," he tells the girl. "You seem... off."

"Okay." Aristotle nods. He gives a little glance over to Julia, before his phone distracts him with a little buzz. "I should head out. I'll see you around, Father Jack." He says, and a wave is given to Julia before departing.

Julia bounces a shoulder to Jack, replying rather candidly, "Thoughts and prayers, I guess." She gives an upnod to the other boy, and crosses her arms. "Good to know by the end of the week. I appreciate it. I heard grading sucks."

"Fifteen minutes, Miss Rivera," Jack tells Esmeralda, before he looks back at Julia. Somewhat bluntly, he tells the girl, "I'm not sure I entirely believe you," he says. "I suppose we could always check you into the clinic and make sure you're feeling well."

Meridith scowls and stands up. "Father." She says sternly, eyes somewhat ablaze.

Jack turns to look at Meridith, "Yes, Miss Walker?"

Julia exhales lightly. "I'm fine, Father," she murmurs, though this is likely overpowered by Meridith's declarative voice.

Meridith glowers at Jack firmly, then shifts back some. "The clinic should not be used for frivolous fact checking," she insists, somewhat quietly but no less firm. "It's hardly surprising someone isn't exactly gung ho during a latin final..."

"Do you think finding out if Miss Nolan is ill is frivolous?" Jack asks Meridith. "Are you so cavalier about your fellow students?" He looks at Julia. "She's obviously a little pale."

"I just haven't eaten, it's common for me, especially so close to finals to forget," Julia intones blandly, her expression rather muted. "Sleeping is also difficult, with the hours I work. The Father is right to check up on me, I suppose."

"Five minutes, Miss Rivera," Jack tells Esmeralda, even as he looks back at Julia. His tone pitches just a little less stern. "I worry, Miss Nolan."

Meridith shifts some and remains quiet for a moment.

"I understand, sir," Julia replies to Jack, her eyes flitting to Meridith with a vague smile. "Thank you, Miss Walker."

Some frown, contemplating Julia for a moment, and there's some expression on the priest's face as Jack looks her over. "Perhaps I should check you in," he says, glancing over to where Esmeralda works as the last student.

"I would rather not, sir, I promise I'll look after myself," Julia mutters, tucking her hands into her trench coat pockets. She looks to Esmeralda, gazing at her hard as if she could magically be finished.

"May I be dismissed?" Julia voice lilts, prickling lightly.

Meridith moves a bit to Julia's side. "I'll walk her home, father. Make sure she's alright."

"For now," Jack tells Julia, somewhat suspicious. He looks at Esmeralda. "Time's up, Miss Rivera. Turn in what you have," he tells her, holding out his hand.

Jack nods to Meridith. "Thank you, Miss Walker."

Julia gathers her things, and slips out; likely trusting that Meridith will follow after her. "It's a short walk, but alright," she murmurs.