All things considered, Natalie’s first morning at Tenet started off well.

Which was to say, she didn’t wake up with her blanket thrown off, and her cock straining her pajama bottoms, proudly showcasing her secret to anybody walking by.

She’d set her alarm early, just in case. Unreasonably early. Early enough that even she, a habitual morning person, cracked her eyes open and thought, good gods, what time is it?

She tapped the alarm glyph, shutting off the vibrating motion that had woken her, but which had spared her many roommates. It was an interesting piece of magic, and it’d taken more minutes than she was willing to admit figuring out how to use it, and set a time for it to go off. The one she had back home was simpler, and used noise … which was the standard, far as she knew, but in a barracks, the vibrating glyph was the only way to wake just yourself, without dragging everyone nearby into your schedule.

Now, Natalie might not have thrown her covers off, but that wasn’t to say she’d been spared from her biology entirely.

Groggily coming into awareness, Natalie sat up in bed, her rock-hard cock rubbing around the confines of her pants. It was digging down her leg and toward her knee. Even in the worst case, it didn’t stick straight up, usually at an angle … although admittedly enough to give her away, hence her concerns.

She looked around to make sure she was the only one awake. There were one or two empty beds. Natalie was briefly astounded, and impressed, that there were maniacs who had woken up even earlier than her. Why? It would be hours before the day’s official schedule began. Natalie was only awake because she had to be.

For more than one reason, besides wanting to spare herself the embarrassment of being caught with a boner early in the morning. There was another event just as dangerous, which would also happen each morning … and probably each night, too, considering how sweaty a delver-in-training’s routine was.

Showers.

Public showers, even worse.

Natalie had scoped the bathroom out yesterday, and as she’d hoped, the showers at least had dividers, and pull-curtains. She didn’t have to let everything hang free. If it had been that way … Natalie didn’t know what she would have done.

But still. Risky. The showers might not be wholly open, but they were still very much not privacy-oriented. Natalie could probably get away with not being naked in her fellow student’s company, but only if she was careful, and earned a reputation for being embarrassed to show her body.

All things considered, hardly an unusual thing … nobody should think twice of Natalie’s modest tendencies.

But back to her current situation: the distinctly noticeable bulge in her pajama pants. Six inches wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t small, either. And with how poundingly at-attention it was, it made its presence known.

Why did this thing have to be so needy? She really, really wished she could just ignore it.

Which wouldn’t be something she could do forever, unfortunately. Her class had given it to her for a reason. But, ugh … later. She’d figure it out later.

She sat in bed, blinking blearily as she woke up, and letting her erection soften. It took a while. Finally, she got out of bed, collected her outfit for the day, and a towel, slipped on her shower-shoes (a highly suggested item on the provided preparation-for-Tenet shopping list), then set off for the public showers.

As with the barracks, the showers were an efficient public space, though split into smaller subsections of eight shower-stalls each. There was a bench and row of lockers across from the shower-blocks, and a pair of sinks closer to the entrance.

This early in the morning, Natalie had figured she’d be one of the only—if not the only—girls here. Unfortunately, that turned out wrong. The first block Natalie passed had someone inside.

A woman stood there, naked, digging into her locker … presumably having just dried herself off and starting to dress. Natalie’s eyes widened in surprise. She froze to the spot, taking the sight in, despite knowing she shouldn’t.

She was gorgeous. Sculpted … the perfect mixture of soft curves and hard muscles, as expected from an aspirant delver. Her arms and legs were a deep shade of bronze, tanned from long days in the sun, and several shades lighter on her body, nearly pale where her underwear would’ve covered. She had long, wavy auburn hair that cascaded to the small of her back.

And the parts that had Natalie frozen to the spot … her breasts, full and round, with perky nipples. Faced toward the locker, in profile, Natalie could only make them out from the side, but they were stunning, even then. And her ass. Ample, full, the perfect shape. Natalie’s heart quickened, her skin heating up as her gaze wandered the woman’s body. She was struck with a paralyzing need to touch her, to feel her, to taste her.

Natalie tore her eyes away. She scurried away.

What was she doing? She couldn’t just stand there and ogle a naked girl in the showers. What was wrong with her? Just … the sight had hit her like a lightning bolt.

And, unfortunately, provoked something. Her pajama bottoms were stiffening.

Natalie picked up the pace. She swerved into the first empty block of shower-stalls and lockers. No patter of water indicated there were occupants besides her. Undressing in a frenzy—before she found company, and her secret was revealed—she stripped off her pajamas and stuffed them into a locker. She wrapped a towel around her waist, then scooped up her shower supplies and change of clothes. Her erection poked out through the towel, making things rather obvious. Natalie fled into the stall, finding privacy. She sighed in relief, then tossed her towel and change of clothes over the stall’s ledge.

This is gonna get way more complicated in the evening, she internally lamented. There was no ‘waking up early’ to solve the problem, there. But skipping showers, and going to sleep gross, wasn’t an option either.

She turned the water on and let it patter to the floor, standing to the side and avoiding its freezing touch. The heating glyphs took a second to get the water to a reasonable temperature.

As she waited, she stared down at her cock. It was as angry as usual. That was the word that always came to mind. Thick, veiny, and twitching with need, her cock was distinctly unhappy that Natalie had been ignoring it the past few days. It wanted to be relieved. As maybe Natalie’s reaction to the girl getting dressed had shown. It’d sprung up, and her thoughts turned heated, way too easily.

There’d been a pressure building, growing each day, as Natalie refused to address the addition to her body. Maybe that needed to change. This situation was untenable. If Natalie was springing an erection this easily, then she’d give herself away for sure. During the actual school-day, or … some other time. It didn’t matter when.

So. Maybe it was time to face the facts. Natalie needed to take care of it.

She swallowed, then glanced backward at the shower curtains. They were obviously still closed. Then, she strained her ears … but no one had entered. Just Natalie, alone in her shower stall.

Well, Natalie thought, turning back forward, and admiring her veiny appendage. She might as well get to it.

It was something she’d been putting off too long.