[sebbie]

It is Saturday. Randall and Shawn are planning on hitting the shopping mall and some of the stores on the shopping mall pad, including the big-box sporting goods store. They are going to be searching out a number of different items that they will be able to use in various ways. Shawn has already indicated that he wants to shop for a swim brief like Randall has. Shawn intends to use the brief in the same way that has worked for Randall the past several weeks.

There are two ways guys in the men’s dorm head to the showers down the hall. Some of them have a towel-like pile bathrobe that does a good job not only for covering up in the hallway but also drying off your back right after the shower. The other common option is to just wrap a large towel around your lower body and wander down the hall wearing only flip flops and the towel. Actually, more guys wander around the dorm that way than wear the pile bathrobes.

Shawn has both a pile bathrobe and a couple big off-white towels. Occasionally he has worn a towel and then put a bathrobe over that, but that seems maybe a bit too much cover up under the circumstances. After all, this is a men’s dorm and these are all guys.

Shawn likes Randall’s strategy better. The swim brief seems like a bit more of a cover up than just wearing nothing under the bathrobe, but still not the overkill of the towel plus bathrobe scheme.

Having said that, Shawn has never had an occasion to actually wear a swim brief like Randall has been wearing. And therein (ahem) lies a bit of a problem for Shawn. Shawn is suffering from something that could best be called apprehension about getting himself into a swim brief. This problem is commonplace for guys who have not had the experience of doing so at all during their short lives.

The fact that the brief is, well, brief, is one issue. It doesn’t cover much, but still manages to cover all the male body parts that “need” to be covered for “modesty” purposes. Except, of course, a swim brief is not only brief in size, but also quite snug fitting. Shawn realizes that his male body parts are not always the same size. The apprehension centers on “What will happen if I get something of a hard-on going while I am inside the brief?” and “will others be able to see what my situation is?”

The shopping mall is a few miles from the campus and the two of them will be taking Randall’s vehicle. Shawn has a number of questions for Randall about what happens when a guy gets into a snug-fitting swim brief, and Shawn is hoping he can come up with a way of phrasing each of the questions in a manner that gets to the center of his concerns without being too blunt.

How should such questions be phrased, anyway? If Shawn words the questions to generally (“Randall, what’s it like to wear a swim brief, anyway?”) he may not find out what he really wants to know. On the other hand, if he asks each question too bluntly (“Randall, do you tend to get a big hard-on every time you get into a swim brief?”) maybe that will be too forward and perhaps make Randall uncomfortable.

How about an intermediate approach (“Randall, does getting in and out of a swim brief ever give you any problems that could be embarrassing to you?”) maybe Randall will take the hint about what is actually concerning Shawn without having to be too blunt and Shawn might get an answer to his question that way.

Shawn considers each of these options and decides that the third option is the best one to try.

So as the two of them are driving toward the mall Shawn says “Randall, does getting in and out of a swim brief ever give you any problems that could be potentially embarrassing to you?”

Randall replies “Oh, you mean like getting an unexpected hard-on?” Randall has a silly grin on his face now too.

Shawn replies “Yah, that was one of the things that concerns me about doing this”

Randall responds “That happens pretty regularly to me. You ought to have seen me the first time I tried on a swim brief. I was 14 then, I think. The whole idea was just instant hard-on. Nowadays, I am ‘used’ to wearing them, but that doesn’t mean that wearing one doesn’t still ‘get’ to me sometimes. But the prospect doesn’t scare me quite like it did when I was 14. Still, I can see why you might be more than a little apprehensive about the entire idea."

Shawn replies “ That is what has been kinda bothering me. At one level I think wearing a swim brief into the showers is an interesting way to deal with the situation we are in, you know, the showers down the hall with very little privacy. Still, you can understand why I might be a little up tight about the whole idea. You seem to be so ‘together’ on all of this."

Randall says “I’ve learned to just accept what my body wants to do to me and work my way around the situations that are potentially uncomfortable or embarrassing. I find that the more I fixate on the issues and problems, the more difficult they are to deal with.”

Randall continues “It’s more than that. Sometimes my body tells me stuff it likes and I wish it would not. I’ve never found a way to turn this off and on with my own mind. I’ve learned that a key is learning how to deal comfortably with respect to what is happening, and particularly not feeling sorry for yourself if things seem to not be completely under my own control.”

Shawn replies “That’s quite an answer. I’m not sure I completely understand what you are trying to tell me.”

Randall replies with a stupid grin on his face. “Maybe you will understand what I am saying better once you get into your own swim brief.”

Randall says. “Here we are, at the big box sporting goods store!”

To be continued…