Natalie was, at least, good at bluster. She strode from the church, her unlocking completed, with a grin on her face, as if nothing had happened—as if she’d received a class she’d been expecting.

As if she didn’t have a cock between her legs.

Her friends—and a decent portion of Tinford—were there, waiting for her. The cheers came out, and Natalie was pressed in by a sea of congratulating bodies. The mood was infectious, piercing even through the strangeness of what she’d been through. For a second, Natalie pretended the farce wasn’t a farce; she let her unlocking be celebrated, as if nothing was amiss.

And really, it deserved celebration, didn’t it? Weird her circumstances might be, but she’d received a powerful class. One even The Bestower had said would be potent, and unique. Natalie didn’t know what to make of it all … but it deserved celebration.

The following minutes passed in a blur. As the ultimate event of the night—and unlockings occurring at midnight, well past when decent folk had gone to bed—the festivities petered off.

It wasn’t more than a half-hour before Natalie had, rather than following her parents home, ended up with Jordan, in her bedroom. That didn’t draw any odd looks, from either her, Natalie’s parents, or anyone else. The two of them had been inseparable since they could string words together. Of course Natalie had ended up in Jordan’s room after her unlocking. Jordan had ended up in Natalie’s room, back when it’d been hers.

“So,” Jordan said, closing her door, and spinning on Natalie. “What happened? What is it?”

Natalie’s plastered-on facade melted. She stared, distraught, at her dark-haired best friend, not having a clue how to even broach the subject. Of course Jordan had seen through her. That, at least, Natalie had expected. She’d been getting odd looks from Jordan since she’d walked through the church’s double doors. Jordan had always been able to see right through her.

“I got a weird class.”

How else would she phrase it?

Jordan wasn’t surprised by the announcement. Because, obviously she’d known something was up, and what else, arriving from the church post-unlocking?

“Spill it.”

Natalie laughed, then rubbed her face.

“I don’t even know how.”

“Start anywhere. What, not a fighter type?”

“It’s, uh. A fighter type.” Then, broaching the least-strange part of her situation, she said, “Fighter-mage mix, looks like.”

Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah.” Then they furrowed back down. “That isn’t it?”

“Not remotely.”

“I’m waiting.”

“I seriously don’t know where to start.”

Jordan pulled Natalie to the bed, and they sat down. She gave Natalie a serious look. “Start anywhere. We’ll figure it out together. Promise.”

It was hard to explain, really, how the words struck Natalie. She couldn’t articulate why, but they hit her like a thunderbolt.  Natalie had to force her gaze away from Jordan’s green eyes. Her heart slammed in her chest, all of a sudden, and it wasn’t even from the imminent conversation—and all the awkwardness, and strangeness, it would entail.

Natalie cleared her throat.

“It’s uh. It’s a sex class.”

The lack of grace was intentional. She’d grasped for a way to stop Jordan from staring at her with those intense, concerned eyes, and landed on the absurd sentence.

It worked. Jordan leaned away, taken aback, and said, “What?”

“It’s a sex class. A, um. Fighter-mage-sex-type class.” Now that Natalie was saying it out loud, she couldn’t help but be amused at the absurdity of everything. “What? Never heard of them?”

“Excuse me?”

Somehow, Jordan didn’t take offense—didn’t become angry that Natalie was inventing things, deflecting. Because she could tell Natalie wasn’t. Seriously, how did this girl have such a good read on her? She knew Natalie was telling the truth, even when what she was saying was ridiculous—impossible.

“Um.” She shrugged. “Yeah. A sex class.” Natalie wasn’t timid, normally; it was a state-of-mind drawn out by her insane situation. But in the presence of Jordan, and having had a half hour—not nearly enough, but something—to digest things, she was regaining some of her confidence. “I guess I should start from the beginning.”

Natalie explained.

The Bestower, the three options she’d been given, then the bizarre fourth. Her acceptance, then her unlocking’s abrupt ending—and the skills she’d received.

And, of course … the last skill.

The weirdest part of everything, somehow.

Her cock.

She hesitated, not sure how to even broach it.

No tactful way, was there?

“And [Heavy Weaponry],” Natalie finally said, after a long pause. “Which, uh, gives me …”

Jordan waited.

“A cock,” she finished. “It, uh, gave me a cock.”

Jordan had absorbed her announcements patiently, with that same concerned, attentive look the whole way through, minimizing her commentary even though she’d visibly had questions. Natalie’s skills were strange, and there were tons of things to talk about for each of them.

Now, though, Jordan stared blankly.

“What?”

“Yeah. It gave me a cock.”

“What?”

“Elder Britt’s always going on about how the gods are capricious, isn’t he?” She shrugged. “Guess they’re having a laugh at my expense.”

What else would she say?

“A … cock?”

“What, need me to prove it?”

The words left her mouth without forethought. The first thing that had popped into her head.

“Uh,” Natalie said. “Not that—I don’t mean—“

“Can I?” Jordan asked.

A long, frozen moment. Jordan blinked, as if her words, too, had escaped without her thinking about them.

“Not that I don’t believe you—?“

“You want to—?”

“Only if—?”

“Really?”

“Uh,” Jordan said. “Just … I believe you … but proof? Would be … nice?”

Natalie wasn’t offended. It was such an insane, mind-bending scenario, wasn’t it? Jordan believed Natalie—but at the same time, proof would help settle things.

“Okay. Uh. Yeah?” Natalie said.

It wasn’t like it was weird, or anything. Jordan was her best friend … and sure, both of them preferred girls over boys, but the two of them had never been interested romantically in one another. They were totally comfortable with each other.

What was showing off her new cock?

Just … part of the explanation.