Over the next few weeks following the ball, Ingrid and Dorothea begun spending much more of their free time together. Since the ball, they had also been out on several more dates together, though none quite as extravagant as the ball both Dorothea and Ingrid still enjoyed their time together just the same.
It was late one evening when Dorothea and Ingrid returned to the monastery after having gone into town to have dinner together at one of the small, local restaurants. They slowly crossed the monastery grounds, all too soon ending up outside of Dorothea's dormitory room, as they usually did. Ingrid had always been adamant about seeing Dorothea to her room. Especially late at night, Ingrid never allowed the former songstress to walk unescorted.
"Thank you for taking me to dinner tonight, Ingrid." Dorothea said. "I had a wonderful time."
"My pleasure. Thank you for joining me. I had a great time as well. Um, before I go, I wanted to ask you something..."
"Oh. You want to see me again, yes?" Dorothea asked, playfully.
"I'd love to." Ingrid nodded. "I was wondering...there's a small opera house just outside of town and I was thinking maybe you would like to see a show with me? I'm sure it won't be nearly as extravagant as the operas you've performed in, but I thought it might still be something you'd enjoy..."
"I'd love to see an opera with you. You're so thoughtful."
"I'll get tickets the next time I go into town for supplies." Ingrid said.
Dorothea stared into Ingrid's eyes, waiting for the blonde to kiss her goodnight as she usually did when they returned from a date, but this particular evening Ingrid seemed more nervous than usual as she fidgeted from one foot to the other.
"Are you all right?" Dorothea asked. "You seem uneasy."
"To be honest, there's something else on my mind that I wanted to talk with you about..."
"And what might that be?"
"Well...we've been on several dates now and I was just wondering...um..."
"If I was planning to put out?" Dorothea asked.
"No." Ingrid's eyes went wide and her heart began pounding in her chest. "Oh Goddess no. That's not what I was thinking at all. I-" Ingrid said, stumbling over her words.
Ingrid didn't realize that Dorothea was kidding with her and immediately began to panic. She knew that many men and women often had less than the best of intentions when they had asked Dorothea on a date and Ingrid desperately didn't want to be perceived that way. She thought she had been perfectly polite on all of their dates and worried about what she possibly could have said or done for Dorothea to assume that she wanted sex.
"I know. I'm just teasing." Dorothea giggled. "I'm sorry. What is it that you wanted to say?"
Ingrid exhaled a relieved sigh as her heart rate slowly began to return to normal.
"Since the ball, we've been out together a number of times...I wanted to know if you consider yourself to be my...you know...girlfriend. Sylvain keeps asking and I'm not sure what to tell him...a lot of the other students assume that we're a couple..."
"I know you asked me first, but why don't you tell me how you feel. Do you think of me as your girlfriend?" Dorothea asked.
"I want to." Ingrid said. "I think we've been having a good time together and everything, but I didn't want to be so bold as to confirm it to anyone without first speaking to you."
"Ingrid. I would absolutely love to be your girlfriend." Dorothea said. "Honestly, I've wanted to ask you the same question, but I didn't want to move too quickly. I wasn't sure if you were ready to officially label our relationship."
"I am. I would be quite happy to be able to call you my girlfriend."
"In that case, I won't hesitate to brag to everyone that I'm happily taken by the most handsome and gallant future knight at this academy." Dorothea smiled.
Ingrid blushed, grinning sheepishly. "That's awfully kind...well...um...it's getting late. I guess I should head back to my room. It's almost curfew."
"I don't want you to get into trouble for being out so late." Dorothea nodded.
Ingrid took Dorothea's hand in her own and leaned forward to kiss the former songstress goodnight. She gently pressed her lips to Dorothea's for a short, chaste kiss.
"Goodnight." Ingrid said when the kiss was broken. "I'll see you-"
Ingrid took a small step back and the heel of her boot slipped off of the stone platform and caught the downhill slope of the ledge behind her, causing her to lose her balance. Everything happened in a split second and Dorothea was unable to do anything except watch as Ingrid fell backward down the small slope and landed flat on her backside in the grass below.
"Ingrid." Dorothea quickly descended the adjacent short set of stairs and rushed over to her girlfriend. She knelt down on the ground next to her girlfriend. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Embarrassed, but otherwise fine." Ingrid groaned.
"Oh. You poor thing." Dorothea chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Ingrid's shoulders and hugged her. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't hurt anything?"
"Only my dignity." Ingrid shook her head.
"Aaww. It's okay. Maybe I can help you feel better." Dorothea placed both of her hands on either side of Ingrid's face and kissed her.
As they kissed, Dorothea slowly opened her mouth, encouraging Ingrid to follow suit. Dorothea then tentatively dipped her tongue into Ingrid's mouth and waited to gauge her reaction to the gesture. A chill ran up Ingrid's spine and she placed her hand firmly on the small of Dorothea's back as her own tongue met Dorothea's for the first time. Taking control of the kiss, the former songstress gently rolled her tongue against Ingrid's, making sure that the kiss still remained relatively innocent as she didn't want to overwhelm Ingrid.
"Do you feel any better?" Dorothea asked, placing her hands on Ingrid's shoulders when the kiss was broken.
"Yes. I feel pretty good, actually." Ingrid said, grinning wildly.
"I'm glad." Dorothea smiled as she flicked the tip of Ingrid's nose with her index finger. "Now, let's get you up."
Dorothea stood up and helped Ingrid to her feet.
"I'll walk you to class in the morning?" Ingrid asked.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Dorothea said in the flirtiest tone of voice she could muster.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Ingrid nodded. "Sleep well."
"You too. Goodnight."
Ingrid leaned forward and placed one last kiss to Dorothea cheek. "Goodnight." Ingrid stood still, her eyes focused on Dorothea as she turned and walked up the stone stairs toward her room. Dorothea opened her door and turned around to look at Ingrid. Ingrid waved and Dorothea happily waved back. Ingrid waited to leave until Dorothea had safely disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her.
"So...you and Ingrid finally made things official, huh?" Hilda asked, sitting down next to Dorothea in the dining hall.
"Mmhm." Dorothea nodded. "Last night after our date, she was so cute. She asked me if I thought of myself as her girlfriend."
"It's about time you two put a label on it. You've been out together a bunch of times. I mean you've had three dates with her just this week alone."
"I didn't want to rush things. I want Ingrid to be comfortable with the pace of everything. I didn't want to push her into taking a step she wasn't ready for."
"So you think it'll be a while before you two really seal the deal then?"
"I think so." Dorothea nodded. "But, I don't mind waiting. Ingrid's the only person I've gone out with recently who hasn't tried to immediately get me in bed. It's actually kind of nice to be with someone who's interested in more than my body. We'll just take things one step at a time. She still seems pretty nervous with me."
"She's always so uptight about everything. She needs to learn to relax. Since we don't have any other classes until later...after lunch why don't we all hit the sauna?"
"That sounds great." Dorothea said. "Sword practice has really been doing a number on my muscles lately."
Dorothea turned around when she heard the large set of wooden doors creak open behind her. A smile quickly spread across her face when she noticed Ingrid entering the room.
"I've never seen you smile like that." Hilda said. "You really are head over heels for her, aren't you?"
"I am." Dorothea nodded. "I can't help it. No one else has ever made me feel the way that she does."
Ingrid walked to the front of the dining hall and picked up her meal before heading to the table to join Hilda and Dorothea.
"Hi." Ingrid said as she sat down next to Dorothea. "I'm sorry I'm so late. My training session ran longer than expected."
"It's okay." Dorothea said. "I'm glad you could join us."
Ingrid picked up her fork and began eating, quickly stuffing bite after bite into her mouth.
"You're really shoveling it in..." Hilda said looking across the table at Ingrid.
"My apologies. I didn't mean to be rude." Ingrid set her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin. "This is really good. I couldn't help myself."
"You like the meal?" Dorothea asked.
"It's wonderful." Ingrid picked up her fork again and took a few more bites. "I know I'm late for lunch today, but I hope I can still get seconds."
"You actually want seconds?" Dorothea asked. "Everyone usually dreads when I'm on cooking duty. I'm not much of a chef..."
"Wait. Dorothea, you made this?" Ingrid asked, looking over at her girlfriend.
"Yes." Dorothea nodded. "You really like my cooking?"
"Of course. This is great."
"I'll go get you some more." Very surprised, Dorothea stood up and headed to the front of the dining hall, where she retrieved a generous second helping of food for her girlfriend.
"Here." Dorothea set the plate down in front of Ingrid.
"Thank you." Ingrid happily began to work on the new plate of food, savoring each bite.
"I can't believe you like it." Dorothea said.
"I'd happily eat anything you prepared." Ingrid smiled.
"I knew I always liked you." Dorothea laughed, placing a kiss to Ingrid's cheek. "So...besides longer than usual, how was training today?"
"It went well. It was incredibly strenuous today though. Felix never relents whenever we spar together, not that I would want him to. He always gives me a challenge. I usually end up sore and tired afterward. I need to get stronger."
"You will. Don't overdo it." Dorothea said, placing her hand on Ingrid's thigh.
"I'll try not to." Ingrid nodded. "I don't want to end up getting injured and having to miss training."
"Exactly. You need to take breaks sometimes." Dorothea said.
"Dorothea and I were planning on heading to the sauna after lunch." Hilda said. "Why don't you join us?"
"Oh. I um..."
"You've been training so hard lately. You deserve a break." Dorothea said, gently stroking Ingrid's thigh. "I think a little relaxation would do you a lot of good. I always feel refreshed after visiting the sauna. Besides, I wouldn't mind getting you in just a towel."
Ingrid blushed deeply as she cleared her throat. "I would like to...but I can't today-"
"Why not?" Hilda asked.
"It's...uh..." Ingrid panicked, trying to think of an excuse. "My turn on dining hall cleaning duty. After lunch..."
"No it's not. I saw the schedule. It's Mercedes' turn." Hilda said. "She's right there." Hilda motioned toward Mercedes who was wiping down an adjacent empty table.
"Well...yes, but-"
"Hello, girls." Mercedes said, stepping over to the table where Ingrid, Dorothea and Hilda were seated. "Are you finished eating?"
"I'm done." Hilda nodded.
"Me too." Dorothea said.
"I'll just gather up all of your dishes then." Mercedes said as she reached over and began to stack up both Hilda and Dorothea's empty dishes and silverware.
"Ingrid. Are you still able to give me a hand with cleaning duty today?" Mercedes asked.
"Yes. Of course." Ingrid nodded eagerly.
"Thank you." Mercedes smiled. "This will go so much quicker with someone to help carry all of these dishes back to the kitchen. I injured my wrist yesterday and Ingrid was so sweet to offer her assistance with my chores today."
"Um, anything to help a fellow member of our class." Ingrid said. "I'm sorry I can't join you at the sauna, but I did promise Mercedes I'd give her a hand."
"Okay." Hilda shrugged. "You could have just said that. You didn't have to be all shady and awkward about it."
"I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind…"
"Is everything all right?" Dorothea asked, concerned.
"Yes. Nothing to worry about. I have an important exam later this afternoon. I'm nervous about that. It's difficult to focus on other things."
"Oh. I'm sure you'll do just fine." Dorothea said. "Try not to stress so much. It's not good for you."
"Let's get up to the sauna before it gets too crowded." Hilda said.
"Okay." Dorothea nodded.
Dorothea and Hilda both stood up from their chairs.
"Good luck with your exam." Dorothea said. "You'll pass with flying colors. I know it." She then leaned forward and pressed her lips to Ingrid's. "I'll see you later."
"Thank you."
Ingrid exhaled heavily as she watched Hilda and Dorothea exit the dining hall.
"Thank you so much, Mercedes." Ingrid said. "I really owe you for covering for me."
"No need to thank me. I didn't intend to eavesdrop, but you sounded like you were struggling. I thought I could help. I take it you haven't told her yet?"
"Not yet. I just haven't found the right time...I only asked her to be my girlfriend last night. I don't know how to tell her about-"
"I wasn't being judgmental." Mercedes said, kindly. "Only asking. I know this is difficult for you."
"I really don't like making excuses for myself and I hate lying. But, there's no way I can undress in front of them in the changing room-"
"It's okay. Having Dorothea accidentally find out in the changing room and in front of Hilda isn't the best way to have that conversation."
"No." Ingrid shook her head. "I want to tell her. I hate feeling like I'm being dishonest-"
"You're not being dishonest. This is still a very new relationship. You should wait until you feel comfortable enough to talk about it and when you have the opportunity to discuss it privately."
"I wish this didn't have to be so complicated…" Ingrid sighed.
It was early one evening when Ingrid, Dorothea and Hilda returned to Dorothea's room from having their evening meal at the dining hall.
"Do we really have to work on this report right now?" Hilda groaned, flopping down on Dorothea's bed. "I ate too much. I'm too full to concentrate."
"We can't keep putting it off." Ingrid said. "We're almost finished. Let's get it done."
"Ugh. We never get to do anything fun around here."
"It'll be fine." Dorothea said. "If we all work together, we'll have it done in no time at all."
"Do you have your textbook?" Ingrid asked, looking over to Dorothea.
"Somewhere. I'll look for it in a minute, just let me change my clothes first. I have to get out of this uniform."
Dorothea unbuttoned her uniform jacket and tossed it aside. She then also removed her undershirt and discarded it as well. Ingrid couldn't manage to take her eyes off of her girlfriend, now standing in only her bra and uniform skirt. Dorothea's stomach was flat and toned, her skin was absolutely flawless. Dorothea's large, round breasts were pushed upward and together in her silky black bra and Ingrid could just barely detect the subtle outlines of Dorothea's nipples beneath the fabric.
"Your boobs look fantastic in that bra." Hilda said.
"You think so?" Dorothea asked, she placed her hands on her own breasts and glanced downward at her cleavage. "It feels a little small."
As Ingrid watched Dorothea touch her own breasts, she began to panic as she felt herself start to stiffen beneath her uniform skirt, her eyes darted around the room for something that she could hide herself with.
"No way. It's perfect." Hilda said.
"Thanks. I was sure that Seteth was going to yell at me to button my jacket when I passed him on my way to class this morning, but surprisingly he didn't say anything."
"Then he'd have to admit to looking at your tits." Hilda laughed.
"True." Dorothea also laughed as she slipped on a tank top and then sat down on the bed.
Ingrid spotted Dorothea's textbook lying on the floor next to the desk. She quickly picked it up and sat down on the chair in front of the desk and opened the book across her lap.
"I guess you're pretty anxious to get started, huh?" Dorothea said, glancing across the room at her girlfriend.
"Mmhm." Ingrid nodded.
"Do you want to come sit over here with us? You're kinda far away." Dorothea said.
"I...I'm okay. I'll do the writing. It'll be easier if I can sit at the desk."
"I can do it..." Dorothea said.
"It's okay. I really don't mind at all." Ingrid said.
"All right." Dorothea shrugged. "If you really want to."
Ingrid clutched the textbook tightly in her lap, her eyes skimmed over the words, quickly flipping page after page.
"Are you actually reading that fast or…" Hilda said.
"Just skimming through the chapter." Ingrid replied, she stared down at the words on the page, though she was unable to actually focus on any of the text.
For the time being, Ingrid kept the book perched in her lap as she tried to calm herself down. She desperately hoped that her erection would quickly subside so that she would be able to better concentrate on her work.
Approximately one month later.
Ingrid was at the training grounds, practicing lancing drills with both Leonie and Sylvain. Ingrid had been sparring with Leonie, easily dodging jab after jab as Sylvain observed. After a few minutes, Ingrid backed Leonie into a corner, gently pressing her lance toward her sparring partner, preventing her from moving.
"Geez. You're impossible today." Leonie said. "I just can't get near you."
"You're doing well. Keep going. Try to anticipate my next move." Ingrid lowered her lance and moved back toward the middle of the arena.
Before they could begin again, Ingrid noticed Dorothea entering the training grounds.
"Hold on one second." Ingrid said as she jogged over toward her girlfriend.
"Hi Ingrid." Dorothea smiled.
"Hi." Ingrid retuned the smile. "What brings you here?"
"I have a little free time before my next lecture, so I thought I'd come watch you train for a bit."
"Oh? Well, you should be in for a treat. We've been having a pretty good session today."
"Great. You look so fierce with your lance and shield." Dorothea said, placing her index finger underneath Ingrid's chin and drawing her closer for a kiss. "I just love seeing you in action."
"Hey! Did you come here to train or to flirt!?" Leonie called out. "Come on!"
Ingrid blushed. "I'm coming!" She called back.
Ingrid set her lance and shield down for a moment while she unbuttoned her uniform jacket and handed it to Dorothea. "Would you mind holding onto this for me?"
"Not at all." Dorothea said.
Dorothea watched as Ingrid slowly rolled up the sleeves of her white uniform shirt above her elbows. Ingrid then bent down retrieved her weapons.
"Be careful." Dorothea said.
"I will." Ingrid nodded.
Ingrid quickly rejoined Leonie in the middle of the room, lance in hand.
"Ready?" Leonie asked.
"Ready when you are." Ingrid said.
As they continued to spar, Ingrid had been doing well avoiding Leonie's attacks, but eventually became slightly distracted by Dorothea's presence in the room. Hoping to impress her girlfriend, Ingrid doubled her efforts, moving even more swiftly and evasively, determined to do even better. Ingrid turned her head only for a moment, attempting to gauge Dorothea's reaction. She caught Dorothea's eye only to be met with a look of horror on her girlfriend's face.
"Ingrid! Look out!" Dorothea cried out from across the room.
Ingrid's head snapped back toward Leonie, but it was already too late to dodge the incoming jab or deflect it with her shield. Though the spearhead of the wooden training lance wasn't particularly sharp, it was still enough to cut through the sleeve of her uniform shirt and graze the flesh of her bicep. Due to the shock of the impact, Ingrid dropped her lance and shield as she stumbled backward and fell flat on her backside. Leonie immediately discarded her lance and knelt down next to Ingrid as Dorothea and Sylvain rushed over.
"I'm so sorry." Leonie extended her hand to the blonde. "I didn't realize you weren't looking-"
"It's okay. It was completely my fault. I let myself get distracted." Ingrid said as she took Leonie's hand and stood up.
"Are you all right?" Sylvain asked.
"I'm fine." Ingrid said, brushing some dirt off of her clothing. "No harm done."
"You're injured." Dorothea took Ingrid's arm in her hands, looking at the tear in her sleeve.
"I'm okay. It's nothing serious." Ingrid said, dismissively. "Don't worry."
"I want to have a better look at the wound." Dorothea said. "I'll make that decision."
Dorothea undid the buttons on Ingrid's shirt and helped her slip her injured arm out of the sleeve.
"Maybe you should go to the infirmary and have Professor Manuela take a look at that." Leonie said. "It looks kind of bad."
"No. Really. It's fine." Ingrid said. "I can just bandage it later."
"Let me try something." Dorothea said. "I've been studying and practicing some healing spells. I may be able to help."
Dorothea gently took Ingrid's arm in her hands, focused all of her attention and performed a white magic healing spell that she had learned during one of Manuela's lectures. Ingrid watched as the minor gash closed up and completely disappeared without a trace.
"Such a gentle bedside manner." Sylvain said. "You can feel free to heal me any time."
Dorothea and Ingrid both rolled their eyes.
"Is that better, Ingrid?" Dorothea asked.
"Yes. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Ingrid smiled. "Thank you."
"I'm happy to be of assistance." Dorothea then helped Ingrid to slip her arm back into her shirt sleeve before rebuttoning the shirt for her. "But, I thought I specifically asked you to be careful." She playfully scolded.
"Sorry. I got a little distracted. I wasn't paying enough attention."
"Well, I suppose it was partly my fault. I'm sure you're not used to having an audience." Dorothea leaned in and placed a kiss to Ingrid's lips.
"Usually it's just Sylvain or Felix. They're definitely nowhere near as pretty as you are." Ingrid said in her flirtiest possible tone.
"Well...you can come to my room later." Dorothea said, playfully. "No audience there. Just you and me. Sound good?" She flicked the tip of Ingrid's nose with her index finger. "I'm sure you could give a much better performance, don't you think?"
"Uh..." Ingrid's skin flushed and she swallowed audibly as she felt herself inadvertently begin to stiffen. As of late, Ingrid had been finding herself very embarrassed by how easy it was for Dorothea to turn her on. Ingrid quickly took her jacket back from her girlfriend, clutching it tightly in front of her body to conceal what was likely about to be a noticeable erection beneath her uniform skirt.
"Are you okay?" Dorothea asked, noticing Ingrid uncomfortably shift her weight from one leg to the other as she tightly clutched her jacket.
"Of course." Ingrid nodded. "I'm fine."
"All right. Well, I should get to my lecture then. Let's meet for dinner. Maybe we can go into town to one of the restaurants? We have a later curfew tonight..."
"Sure. Sounds great. Anything you want."
"I'll see you later." Dorothea placed her hand on Ingrid's shoulder and kissed her one more time before making her way toward the doorway. Ingrid exhaled heavily, her eyes fixed on Dorothea's backside and long legs as she watched her girlfriend walk away.
"Dude. I can't believe you still haven't hit that yet." Sylvain shook his head as Dorothea disappeared from view. "What are you waiting for?"
"Do you have to say it that way?" Ingrid narrowed her eyes at Sylvain. "It sounds so disrespectful."
"Sorry. But, seriously I don't know how you can stand it, by now your balls have gotta be bluer than our house banner." He laughed.
"Pretty much." Ingrid sighed.
"I have to admit, I'm pretty surprised you haven't slept with her." Leonie agreed. "If someone was throwing themself at me the way Dorothea obviously is with you, I think I'd have a hard time resisting."
"Oh, I'm sure she's having a very hard time all right." Sylvain laughed. "Aren't you, Ingrid?"
"You don't...know the half of it." Ingrid groaned.
"Oh no. I'm sorry." Leonie chuckled, realizing the way Ingrid was awkwardly clutching her jacket in front of her body to hide her erection. "I guess that was a bad choice of words, huh? Do you need a few minutes?"
"Yeah. I think I do. Sorry."
"No problem. We can all use a break." Leonie shrugged. "I'll go get us some water in the meantime."
"Goddess. This is so frustrating." Ingrid sighed heavily, sitting down on the cement ledge between two large pillars, with her jacket in her lap.
"I get it. I've been there too." Sylvain said. "Plenty of times."
"How do I stop it from happening? I haven't been able to come up with a good way..."
"I hate to break it to you bud, but there's really not much you can do." Sylvain said, sitting down next to Ingrid. "Inconvenient boners are just a part of life for anyone with a dick. You have to learn to live with it. Are you using the tips I gave you?"
"Yes. But, whether Dorothea and I are alone or with other people it's difficult to try to adjust myself without her or anyone else noticing. And I certainly don't always have the opportunity to...take care of it when I need to. It's becoming really bothersome." Ingrid rolled her eyes.
"It is sometimes." Sylvain agreed. "But, when the right time comes, you'll be glad the equipment works. Trust me, the only thing worse than an unwanted boner is not being able to get it up when you want to no matter how much you try."
"I guess so." Ingrid nodded. "This never used to happen to me. At least not so much and never in public. Usually just when I'd wake up in the morning, but ever since I came to the academy now it's all too often. A lot of times it's happening when I'm not even thinking about anything sexual at all. One minute I'm fine and then all of a sudden-"
"Your soldier's at full attention?" Sylvain laughed.
"Yeah." Ingrid groaned.
"There are a lot of hot girls around here and your friend unfortunately sometimes has a mind of its own. That's what's happening to you." Sylvain said matter-of-factly. "It won't be that way forever though. I'm sure you're just wound especially tight right now. I mean, Dorothea's your first girlfriend and everything, your hormones are probably all going haywire. You can't help it. Even when you're not consciously thinking about sex, it's still always there in the back of your mind."
"Maybe." Ingrid nodded.
When Leonie returned, she handed two of the three canteens of water she was holding to Ingrid and Sylvain before joining them on the ledge.
"Thank you." Ingrid took a long drink and then poured some of the remaining water into her hand, which she splashed against her face.
The cold sting of the water quickly helped to quell much of her residual arousal.
"You okay?" Leonie asked.
"I'm fine. Just extremely embarrassed. That's all."
"You shouldn't be." Leonie said. "It's a completely normal bodily function that you can't control. Besides, it's only Sylvain and I here. At least it didn't happen in front of the whole class or something."
"It still makes me feel awkward though. I don't want anyone to notice. Even if it's someone who already knows..."
"Honestly, most people probably can't even tell." Sylvain said. "I know when this happens in public it's uncomfortable and you feel like everyone's staring at it. But, it's a lot more noticeable to you than it is to them."
"I hope so." Ingrid said. "This has been happening a lot when I'm alone with Dorothea though, she's bound to notice sooner or later."
"Why don't you just go ahead and sleep with her?" Leonie said. "You know she wants to and that would no doubt relieve a lot of the daily tension and stress you're feeling. I know you're probably a little nervous. I'm a virgin too so I get it, but you do want to, don't you?"
"I do." Ingrid nodded. "I'm just worried about what she'll think when she finds out that I'm...different. We haven't talked about it yet. What if she gets upset and never wants to see me again? I don't want to lose her...I like her too much."
"I admit I don't know her all that well, but Dorothea's always seemed pretty open-minded to me." Leonie said. "I don't think something like that would bother her. But, on the off chance, she would have a problem with it, then she's not someone you'd want to be with anyway." Leonie shrugged. "You should want someone to accept you just as you are."
"True. But, I'm telling you, there's no way she's gonna care." Sylvain said. "Dorothea's way too cool to be bothered by this. Don't waste your time worrying so much. The sooner you tell her and get that part over with, the sooner you can get to the fun stuff." He winked and elbowed Ingrid in the ribs.
"And It's not like you can hide this from her forever." Leonie said. "If you're planning on being with her long term you're gonna have to talk about it eventually. The sooner the better."
"I know. I know." Ingrid nodded. "What do you think I should say to her? Do I just blurt it out or do I try to hint around...?"
"You wouldn't even have to say anything, if you don't want to." Sylvain said. "Once you guys start messing around, it won't take long for her to figure it out."
"No. I can't do that. I don't want to surprise her that way. I wouldn't feel right. I already feel like I'm lying to her and all we've really done is kiss. The longer we're together, the more difficult it's becoming to tell her."
"Just have an honest conversation with her." Leonie said. "You told me and that wasn't the end of the world."
"Well, yes...but only because Sylvain caught me with the pole of his lance during training and I nearly ended up in the infirmary. I felt obligated to explain once I regained my composure."
"That was an accident and I apologized a million times. I felt terrible about it. I still do." Sylvain said. "It was a new lance, I was still getting used to handling it. I told you I'd give you a free shot at me, but you wouldn't take it."
"I couldn't. I know how painful it is. I would never do that on purpose."
"Well...I guess that was sort of a unique situation." Leonie said. "I understand that you don't want to run around telling everyone because they don't have a reason to know, but Dorothea does. I honestly think it'll go over better than you think."
"I hope so." Ingrid said. "I'll just have to figure it out somehow."
"You will." Leonie said. "So...are you good now? Can we get back to training or should I spar with Sylvain instead?"
"I'm all right now." Ingrid stood up.
"Great. Let's get to it." Leonie said. "I'm gonna beat you fair and square this time."
A few weeks later.
Late one evening, Ingrid and Dorothea had been in Dorothea's room studying together for an upcoming exam. Ingrid sat across from Dorotha on the bed, reading an excerpt from her textbook aloud. When Ingrid glanced up from her book, she noticed a dazed look in Dorothea's eyes as she stared at her.
"You're not listening to a single word I'm saying, are you?" Ingrid laughed.
"I'm sorry. I can't help it. You're just so cute when you read." Dorothea smiled. "Let's take a break. Shall we?"
Dorothea closed the textbook in Ingrid's hands and kissed her girlfriend.
"I guess a short break couldn't hurt." Ingrid shrugged and uncrossed her legs to stretch out her muscles.
"I'm glad we're on the same page." Dorothea leaned forward and kissed Ingrid again.
Ingrid ran her fingers through Dorothea's hair as they kissed. Dorothea then slowly trailed her hand up Ingrid's knee and to the inside of her thigh. Ingrid quickly intercepted Dorothea's hand and laced their fingers together to occupy her. Dorothea then took Ingrid's hands and slowly placed them over top of her breasts. Ingrid gently massaged Dorothea's breasts in her hands. This wasn't the first time Ingrid had ever touched Dorothea this way. Right now, her mind told to her stop before things went too far, but she couldn't. Against her better judgement, Ingrid continued to touch Dorothea.
"Ingrid." Dorothea moaned slightly. "That feels nice."
Dorothea then moved to straddle Ingrid's lap and began gently kissing her neck, slowly making her way back to Ingrid's lips. Dorothea dipped her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth and leaned hard into Ingrid's body. Ingrid's heart raced and she shifted underneath Dorothea's body as she felt herself slowly beginning to stiffen. Ingrid quickly broke the kiss.
"On second thought, it's getting late. Maybe we should call it a night." Ingrid said, her face flushed.
"You wanna just sleep here tonight?" Dorothea asked. "It would be nice to have someone to cuddle up with for a change."
"Oh I uh...I would like to, but I really shouldn't. You know how Seteth sometimes does random bed checks. He'll be furious if he catches us-"
Ingrid grabbed her jacket and quickly got up off of the bed, holding it in front of her body to hide the visible tent that she was sure her erection had created with her uniform skirt.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Ingrid said, heading toward the door.
"Ingrid. Wait. You don't have to go..."
"I don't want to get you into trouble. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Dorothea sighed heavily as Ingrid hurried out of the room without so much as a goodnight kiss.
As soon as Ingrid got outside into the cool night air, she reached into her skirt and pinned her erection back against her abdomen with the waistband of her underwear and tights before continuing to slowly make her way to her second floor dorm room. Ingrid was greatly relieved that she was able to reach her own room without encountering any other students or faculty along the way. She opened the door and stepped inside, making sure to lock it behind her. She tossed her jacket away and the moment her back hit the door, she quickly slipped out of her uniform skirt, letting it fall to the floor and pool around her boots. She then yanked her tights and underwear down her thighs, releasing her member. Ingrid breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the cool air of the bedroom swept across her erect penis. Ingrid gently twisted her hand around the sensitive head of her member and used her other hand to gently squeeze her own testicles, which ached painfully with arousal, desperately needing release. Ingrid's hand wrapped itself securely around her shaft and began pumping up and down her length.
"Mmm..." Ingrid released a quiet groan as she slightly tightened her grip.
As Ingrid continued to stroke herself, a small bead of pre-ejaculate began leaking from her tip. She gathered as much of the moisture as possible in her palm and used it to lubricate her shaft as she worked herself with shorter and quicker strokes. Ingrid closed her eyes, her mind began to wander, fantasizing about her girlfriend. As she often did, Ingrid began to imagine being inside of Dorothea while she pleasured herself. After a few minutes, she had taken to holding her hand still as she instead began roughly thrusting herself into her fist. She fantasied about Dorothea's body drawing her in and tightly squeezing around her member. The more Ingrid thought about Dorothea, the faster her hips began to thrust. Ingrid moaned softly, feeling a strong tightening sensation manifest itself in both her stomach and testicles as she approached orgasm much sooner than she had expected to. Ordinarily, she would have preferred to prolong this pleasure, edging herself until she couldn't physically stand it any longer, but tonight she found herself extremely desperate for a quick and what she hoped would be a satisfying release. Ingrid abruptly stopped thrusting for only as long as it took to reach underneath the corner of her mattress and retrieve the handkerchief that she used specifically for masturbatory purposes. She then wrapped her hand around her shaft again, closed her eyes and resumed steadily thrusting into her fist.
"Uuhhh..." Ingrid groaned much more loudly than she intended to.
When she felt herself getting close to reaching her peak, Ingrid discontinued thrusting her hips and reverted instead to quickly pumping her hand up and down her length again. She bit her lip to stifle another moan and quickly moved the handkerchief she was holding over her tip, to prepare for her now inevitable climax.
"Dorothea." Ingrid whispered under her breath. Her muscles stiffened, her back arched and her hips bucked forward as she ejaculated into the cloth, an overwhelming sense of pleasure and relief washed over her, a feeling that only sexual release could ever provide.
Once she had finished, Ingrid cleaned herself up and stuffed her now flaccid member back into her underwear. She stepped out of her skirt and discarded the soiled handkerchief to the floor, kicking it underneath the bed while mentally noting to launder it as soon as she possibly could. She then sat down on the edge of the bed, slumping over, leaning her chin in her hand. While thinking about Dorothea had always greatly intensified her climaxes, Ingrid couldn't help but feel guilty and disgusted with herself afterward.
"I have to tell her the truth." Ingrid sighed. "I can't keep doing this."
The next morning.
Dorothea walked through the monastery as she made her way to the stable, hoping to find Ingrid. When she arrived, Dorothea did indeed find her girlfriend tending to the horses along with Marianne.
"Good morning, Marianne." Dorothea said, cheerfully.
"Hello Dorothea." Marianne replied.
"Ingrid. I'm glad I found you." Dorothea walked over to her girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek.
"You're in an awfully good mood this morning." Ingrid smiled.
"It's a beautiful day and I'm with you. Of course I'm in a good mood."
"I can finish up here, Marianne." Ingrid said. "Thank you for your help."
"Are you sure? Dorte still needs his bandage changed."
"I'll take good care of him." Ingrid nodded. "Don't worry."
"All right then. Don't forget about his supplements with his food."
"Of course. I'll be sure that he gets them."
"Thank you. I'll check on him later. Let me know if you need anything." Marianne said.
Ingrid bent down and picked up one of the horses' saddles from the ground.
"Can I lend you a hand?" Dorothea asked.
"Oh no. It's all right. I've got it. Thank you though."
Dorothea followed Ingrid into the barn where she put the saddle away.
"So...what brings you here this morning?" Ingrid asked.
"I went to your room, but you weren't there so I guessed you might be here. I brought your textbook. You left it in my room last night."
"Oh. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Dorothea said, setting the book down on a shelf in the barn. "But, more importantly, I wanted to make sure you were all right."
"What do you mean? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Ingrid asked, confused.
"Well, you left in such a hurry last night. I thought I must have done something to upset you-"
"No. No. No. Of course not." Ingrid took Dorothea's hands in her own. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to run out on you like that. I just didn't realize how late it had gotten and-"
"Are you sure that's it? You didn't seem to mind until we started making out. It seems like you've been getting extra nervous any time things start to get intimate between us."
"No. I'm fine. Honest." Ingrid quickly turned away and focused her attention to several saddles and other equipment that hadn't been stored properly since the last time they had been used. "I can always tell when Felix and Sylvain have stable duty." Ingrid grumbled as she began to tidy up the tack area. "They never put anything back where it belongs. Idiots." She shook her head and lifted one of the saddles up onto its proper storage unit followed by another.
Ingrid turned around, rubbing the junction between her shoulder and neck.
"A bit stiff, huh?" Dorothea asked.
"Wha-what?" Ingrid's eyes went wide and her heart thumped in her chest. She subtly glanced downward at the front of her pants, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. She didn't even feel slightly hard.
"Your muscles must be sore from lugging around this heavy equipment all the time."
"Oh." Ingrid exhaled a heavily. "Yes. They are a little sore today, I suppose."
"I'll gladly help you clean up." Dorothea bent down and picked up one of the bridles from the floor. "But, you're kind of avoiding talking about the real issue here...about last night...listen, Ingrid...if you're not ready to have sex with me, it's okay. I understand. You don't have to be embarrassed about it."
"Dorothea. Please believe me. It's not that I don't want to...I do...and to be honest I've been thinking about it a lot lately...I just-it hasn't been the right time yet..."
"Maybe not." Dorothea agreed. "But, I have to admit, I am finding myself a bit confused..."
"Confused? What about?" Ingrid asked, nervously.
"Well...you don't seem to have any problems when we start making out, you've even felt me up a few times. It seems like you want to go further, but then you seem to get very uncomfortable. As soon as things start to get more intimate, you always shut down. I just feel like I've been getting some mixed signals."
"I understand how you might feel that way. I suppose I have been giving off some mixed signals. I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry. Just talk to me. Is there something you want to talk about?" Dorothea asked. "Whatever reservations you might have...you can tell me." She urged. "You don't have to be afraid..."
"I-well-um...I'm..." Ingrid stuttered, contemplating just blurting out the truth here and now to get it over with, but she quickly decided against the idea. "Actually, would you mind if we talked about this another time? I still have some work to get done before class."
"We can talk any time you want to." Dorothea placed her hand on Ingrid's shoulder and kissed her cheek.
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"You want me to help you with the horses? Then we could walk to class together."
"That would be great. Let me grab some gauze, so I can rewrap Dorte's leg."
Ingrid opened the stall door and walked inside. "Would you mind giving him his feed while I take care of this? His bucket is right over there. I just have to mix in his supplements."
"Where are they? I can do that."
"He gets these." Ingrid pulled some herbs from the pocket of her jacket. "And one scoop of the stuff on the shelf over there."
"Got it." Dorothea nodded. "So, I just mix it all together and give it to him?"
"Yep. That's it."
Dorothea watched as Ingrid crouched down and unwrapped the gauze from the horse's leg, which was stained with now dried blood that had soaked through the bandage when the wound was fresh.
"So what happened to his leg anyway?" Dorothea asked.
"I guess he got attacked by a pack of wolves out in the woods a few days ago when Marianne took him out to gather some berries and herbs."
"Wolves? Poor thing."
"Yeah." Ingrid nodded. "Marianne's room is right next door to mine. I heard her crying, so I went to see what was wrong and she told me what happened. They got surrounded. She was fighting them off as best as she could and he protected her. Scared the whole pack away."
"Wow. Marianne's lucky that she didn't get seriously hurt. That could have been much worse."
"Yes. She was very upset. She feels like it's her fault that Dorte got injured. After she calmed down I told her that I would be happy to accompany her next time she needs to leave the monastery. No one should go out into the woods alone. It's too dangerous."
"You're right. But, I worry about you too, you know." Dorothea said as she poured the contents of the bucket into Dorte's feed bin. "Something like that could happen to anyone even in a group. If it's not wild animals, it could easily be bandits."
Ingrid nodded. "I'll be all right though. No need to worry. I'm pretty tough."
"That you are." Dorothea agreed. "But, I'll still worry. It's my obligation as your girlfriend."
"My girlfriend." Ingrid said as she began to carefully clean around the wound on the horse's leg. "Have I mentioned how much I like being able to call you that?"
Dorothea smiled. "I can't believe we've been together three months already." Dorothea leaned on the stall door as she watched Ingrid inspect the horse's wound.
"I've been counting the days." Ingrid said as she glanced up at Dorothea.
Dorothea then quickly backed up from the stall door when Dorte flinched in pain as Ingrid pressed a clean handkerchief to his wound.
"Easy. It's all right." Ingrid said, comfortingly patting Dorte's leg to calm him down. "Sshh..."
Once the wound was clean and dry, Ingrid slowly began to wrap some fresh gauze around Dorte's leg.
"I'm so glad he didn't get hurt worse than just a moderate leg laceration." Ingrid said.
"Me too. It looks like it's healing well though."
"Mmhm." Ingrid nodded. "He's limping a bit, but it shouldn't be long until he's completely back to normal."
Once Ingrid finished wrapping his leg, she securely tied the bandage in place, stood up and patted Dorte's head as he happily crunched his grain. "There you go, big guy." Ingrid rubbed the horse's neck and then exited the stall, closing and locking the door behind her.
"You're so gentle and sweet with him." Dorothea smiled. "It's really sexy."
"Oh...re...really? You think so?" Ingrid blushed slightly.
"Of course." Dorothea draped her arms over Ingrid's shoulders, leaned forward and pressed her lips to her girlfriend's.
Ingrid placed her hands on Dorothea's hips and gently deepened the kiss. Without thinking much about it, Ingrid instinctively slipped her tongue into Dorothea's mouth. After just a few minutes, Ingrid felt a sudden wave of arousal sneak up on her. She inadvertently began to stiffen. Feeling her riding pants quickly beginning to grow uncomfortably tight, Ingrid broke the kiss.
"We should head to class. I don't want to be late." Ingrid said.
Although Ingrid certainly wasn't anywhere close to being fully hard, she worried that even a partial erection would likely still be easily visible in her riding trousers.
"Everything okay?" Dorothea asked as Ingrid quickly snatched her textbook from the ledge that it had been perched on.
"Yes. Of course."
As Ingrid moved her book in front of her body, Dorothea's gaze wandered downward where she very briefly caught a glimpse of the noticeable bulge in the crotch area of Ingrid's riding pants. Dorothea smiled to herself. Over the past three months, she had come to suspect that there was something different about Ingrid. It hadn't taken long for Dorothea's curiosity and suspicions to get the best of her and now exactly what she had already suspected was finally confirmed beyond doubt. Dorothea was happy to have confirmation of what had certainly been the source of Ingrid's increasing tension and uneasiness surrounding intimacy, although she couldn't help but feel slightly upset that Ingrid had yet to find the confidence and trust to confide in her regarding the situation.
"Let's walk slowly." Dorothea said, lacing her fingers with Ingrid's, hoping to give her girlfriend some extra time to calm down before they got to class. "We can take our time, we still have a little while before class."
"Sure." Ingrid nodded. "It's a beautiful morning, we should enjoy it."
"Hey, Ingrid...you know you can talk to me about anything, right? You do trust me, don't you?"
"Of course I do." Ingrid narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Where is this coming from all of a sudden? Why would you think I don't trust you?"
"I just want to be sure that you feel completely comfortable with me, that's all."
"I do." Ingrid nodded.
"Okay." Dorothea leaned over and placed a kiss to Ingrid's cheek.