Snow crunched underfoot as Sammy left the coffee shop, holding a tall cup of coffee in her mitten-covered right hand. Only the short otter's face was exposed to the cold winter weather, her whiskers bouncing with her steps, the rest of her body covered up by red woolen mittens, a green knitted hat, a pair of light brown snow boots, and a thick black winter jacket that went down past her knees. The only bit of her clothing that could be seen was the part of her lilac dress that covered the gap between the bottom of her jacket and the top of her boots.

Her pace was leisurely; she was in no particular rush, finding herself on a two-hour lunch break. Not from work, strictly speaking, but from classes. Her new job had been going well – so well, in fact, that they had decided to send her to a three-week training seminar at the local community college. They'd even covered the cost of a stay somewhere local to the college – not a hotel, but a small apartment. It was normally for use by students, but the previous resident had dropped out, leaving the place vacant, and so the owner had listed it online for anyone who needed it.

Sammy certainly preferred that arrangement to having to drive to the college through wintery weather every morning. Her friend Felicia had agreed to stop by her house and check in on it periodically, so she had nothing to worry about there. Plus, the campus was in a nice part of town, and very close to a local mall, so she could take the opportunity to get some shopping done.

Right now, though, she had an hour to kill. The long break between classes certainly wasn't unwelcome, but she had little else to do after eating her lunch, so she had elected to walk around the area. There were some small parks, a disturbingly high number of coffee shops, the college bookstore, and several bars that weren't open this early, even in an area with so many students.

Sammy's breath condensed in the air in front of her as she made her way towards the mall, navigating her way past other pedestrians who were just as bundled up as she was. As soon as she passed through the revolving doors at the front of the building, she was hit by the warm air inside, a refreshing relief from the frigid temperatures she had just taken refuge from. She took a moment to remove her hat and gloves and open up the front of her jacket so that she wouldn't get too hot, scraping her boots on the big rubber mat before continuing.

The mall was a lot larger than she expected: a large building with four floors, though it looked like the top floor was all offices. She could spend hours here and not even get through half the building – her friends would love to pay it a visit, she was sure. Wandering around, sipping from her coffee and mostly window shopping, she gradually got a feel for the layout of the mall while keeping an eye out for any sales or other deals that wouldn't be there if she came back another day. She couldn't help but notice that almost all of the cashiers were on the young side, too, but it made sense; a lot of the college's students likely worked part-time at the mall to help cover their bills.

Although she was trying her best not to buy anything yet, an offer of 70% off on sweaters at a store on the third floor was too good to ignore, and she soon had a big paper bag with the store's logo on it held in her left hand. She took out her phone to tell her friends about it, but noticed the time: 1:32.

Plenty of time to get back before her next class started at 2:00 – or, more likely, 2:05 – but she still ought to start heading back so that she wouldn't have to run and risk slipping on the ice and snow. Tossing her empty coffee cup into the trash, Sammy looked around for the signs to the nearest bathrooms so she could stop in and pee before braving the winter weather outside once more. A lit-up sign depicting a stick figure in a dress guided her onward, and she made her way to the side corridor where the bathrooms were, pushing open the door.

While there wasn't a line, there wasn't much else to be said in favor of that particular women's room. Tracked-in snow and dirt were all over the floors, much like the rest of the mall was at the moment – but the situation was made worse by several paper towels that had fallen on the floor and water from people's hands that had dripped down. Despite the lack of a line, it was still quite busy, too: she could hear flushes, hand driers, and the crying of a baby being changed, all together indicating several other people in there. In the reflection of the big mirror just around the corner from the entrance, she could see the closed stall doors, each one looking cramped and small.

Sammy bit her lip and quickly turned around, going back the way she had come. The narrow space would be an annoyance, and the dirty floors unpleasant, but she could deal with them if she absolutely, really had to... but having to pee around several other people was a bit too much for her. She had always been self-conscious about the splashing noise she made on account of her tendency to piss in a spray rather than a stream, but at least at work the bathrooms were often vacant and there was rarely more than one other person around, if that.

Trying not to let her unease show, she turned and went further down the corridor to the stairwell, rather than going all the way out to the escalators or elevator. She took a deep breath and relaxed, calming her nerves; everything was fine. She could just stop in at the bathrooms on-campus when she got back.

The heavy door closed behind Sammy as she began descending the stairs, muting the ambient sounds of the mall beyond it. It was nearly silent in the stairwell now, and Sammy's footsteps echoed slightly, accompanied by the wet sounds of her squishing more tracked-in dirty snow under her boots.

At the second turn in the stairwell, halfway down to the second floor, Sammy stopped. She could barely hear anything. Very few people came this way, clearly, except for whoever had tracked in the snow – probably the staff and the occasional visitor. It was probably the quietest place in the mall that was still accessible to the public.

Sammy turned and looked back up the stairs. The door was just out of sight above her, but if someone opened any of the heavy fire doors in the stairwell, it would be impossible not to hear. Glancing around, she listened for footsteps, but there was clearly nobody else in the stairwell either. She had it all to herself.

Her gaze lowered to the stairs she had just walked down. They were solid concrete, and each step had two parallel strips of rubber on each for grip. They were heavily dirtied by the snow and mud brought in on people's shoes... which meant that it would be hard for her to -really- make them any dirtier than they already were.

Her heart raced as she contemplated whether or not to go through with what she was planning – she still wasn't really used to peeing away from a toilet without Felicia's encouragement. But she could imagine what Felicia would say: "You'll hear anyone coming well in advance. And the floor's already dirty! Some janitor's going to come along with a big mop to wipe it all up anyway, whether you pee here or not. So, why not?"

Setting her bag down behind her, on a dry spot next to the solid wall, Sammy took a breath and steeled herself before walking to the top of the downward flight of stairs. Squatting at the edge of it, she pushed the open halves of her jacket apart so she could grab onto the front of her dress, lifting it up and tugging it up over her knees. Hanging onto the stair rail with her left hand to steady herself, she used her right hand to tug her panties to the side, exposing her slit to the open air. It was fortunate that even in the stairwell, the building's central heating kept the air decently warm, but Sammy still shivered – just from anticipation, rather than from the cold.

She took several deep breaths to calm herself, focusing on relaxing her bladder. A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she felt herself starting to pee, but she realized her mistake as she saw her spray overshoot the top step and arch through the air. Numerous droplets of golden otter urine rained down across the whole flight of stairs, filling the stairwell with a loud pattering sound. Sammy squeaked in surprise and embarrassment and quickly leaned forward, directing her stream downwards so that it only landed on the top two steps, splashing much more quietly.

With the crisis averted, Sammy exhaled and un-tensed her body, continuing to piss onto the stair. Her pee pooled up on the concrete step and started to spill downwards, mixing with snow and water on each step, melting some of the snow and staining other bits of it yellow. As she emptied her bladder, she listened out for anyone coming, but all she could hear was the pattering of her own piss on the concrete – a lot quieter a sound than the splashing she would have made in the bathroom, though.

Her excess urine continued to spill down the stairs one by one like a pale yellow waterfall, until her spray finally began to lose strength as Sammy emptied herself out completely. Still breathing deeply to calm her nerves from doing this on her own, she clenched her muscles to get every last drop out of her in a couple of final squirts, with nothing coming from her on the third. Releasing the railing, she reached into an inner pocket of her jacket and tugged out a tissue to wipe up the last drops from her slit.

And then she heard the sound of one of the bars on the heavy doors being pressed. She froze on the spot, listening carefully – it was coming from somewhere below her! Dropping the wet tissue in her haste as she stood back up, she quickly slipped her panties back into place, then grabbed her shopping bag and went back up the stairs. She had to resist the urge to start running, as it would only draw suspicion.

Pushing the door at the top of the stairs open and exiting back onto the third floor, she let out the breath she had been holding in as the door closed behind her. Nobody was looking her way, so she went back to the main area to take the escalators down instead.

Still, even with the scare at the end, it was a much better experience than if she had used the bathrooms. She took her hat and mittens from her jacket pockets as she went back down to the ground floor, putting them on while on the escalators, and headed back out the revolving door without any trouble befalling her. As far as she was concerned, everything had gone just fine.

--------------------

Despite reassuring herself that she hadn't been caught, it still took Sammy a few more days to work up the courage to go back to the mall during her lunch break. The weather was nicer, in that it hadn't snowed again, so the sidewalks were mostly clear and there was no longer dirty snow all over the floors. It was still cold enough outside to warrant her winter gear, though.

Sammy wandered around on the ground floor, her racing heart slowly calmed as each minute went past without her suddenly getting accosted by security. It seemed she had gotten away with marking the stairwell and had gone unseen during her hasty exit.

It didn't help that she had had her lunch and another coffee already, making her acutely aware that she needed to pee again, but despite her success in the stairwell last time she was a little nervous about trying it again. Besides, the stairs probably weren't nearly as messy as they were before, since the weather had improved. 

She decided to try and see if the bathrooms were any better, but there was a line leading outside of the women's room, so she gave up immediately and left – this time, she told herself, she would just wait until she got back to the campus. Even if the bathrooms were clear, if they were -that- busy, her chances of being able to get time to pee without having several people around to hear it were basically nil.

So, she wandered around, sending a few texts to her friends here and there to ask about items she saw on sale or to take pictures of things she thought they'd like. There was certainly no shortage of holiday decorations around the mall either, and some of them were photo-worthy.

As she explored, Sammy got deeper into the mall, and found a section that was a little more neglected than the rest of it – there were no doors leading directly outside, or at least, none that weren't sealed off. It looked like some other expansion of the mall had cut off the section she was in from the street, making it much more out of the way to get to. As a result, most of the stores that remained were closed down and shuttered, or were niche stores that had no competition in the rest of the mall, like the tabletop games store close to the front of the run-down wing.

Still, there was almost no-one around. It was a bit of a pity as it looked like it had once been a nice part of the mall, with a big tree in the center of the open atrium and several benches around it, but it had clearly become neglected and mostly forgotten. There was an escalator up, but it was stopped and had a chain across the front to bar entry. A kiosk in the aisle had long been cleared out, leaving just some bare cabinets. A coin-operated children's ride had had a tarp thrown over it, with an "out of order" sign taped on the side.

Momentarily hopeful, Sammy took a look in one of the side corridors – if there were bathrooms here, they were surely empty. Unfortunately they, too, had an "out of order" sign on them, and the door was locked when she tried it. Walking back out to the atrium, Sammy resigned herself to her original plan of returning to the campus. She was getting low on time, anyway.

As she started walking back, she noticed the one thing that wasn't out of order: a photo booth. A poster on the side was covered by a sheet of plexiglass, and though it was scratched and dirty, it still promised "Photos developed in minutes!!!" that were "Suitable for passports and driver's licenses!!!", excessive exclamation marks and all.

Out of curiosity, she approached the booth. She had expected to find yet another 'out of order' sign on the inside, but to her surprise, it was not only operational, but when she pushed back the curtain over the door to the booth, a motion sensor triggered and an overhead light turned on, surprising her and making her squeak.

"I haven't seen one of these in years," she muttered to herself as she poked her head inside and peeked around. Against all odds, the photo booth had remained operational, either because it was low-maintenance or because it still got used. It had a single faux-leather stool bolted to the floor that she took a seat on, and despite a few scratches on the plexiglass covering the screen in front of her, it still seemed quite functional.

She chuckled to herself; the last time she'd been in one of these, she'd been a teenager on a date taking mushy pictures for fun. But a mild twinge in her belly brought her back to the present, reminding her that while she was technically a student once again, she had other things to be concerned about.

She was about to get up and leave when she got an idea, and pulled the curtain closed as she thought it over. The part of the mall she was in was basically dead; the whole time she'd been wandering around, she'd only seen one other person, who had immediately gone for the games store. She was on the opposite side of the wing from it now, and effectively had her own little private booth that nobody could see into.

Of course, it wasn't exactly dirty either... she bit her lip as she looked down at the floor. It was solid stainless steel, and despite some scuffing, it seemed clean enough, meaning that the janitors, at least, still came this way. And unlike the stairwell, there was no existing mess for her to use as cover if she decided to relieve herself here – if anyone came to the booth, they would step in the puddle and instantly notice it.

Sammy fidgeted nervously in her seat, fingers toying with the zipper on her jacket. It would be nice to not have to hold her bladder for the whole walk back, and there was still no guarantee she would be able to get any privacy in the bathroom at the campus. Even if someone did find her puddle on the floor, a janitor would get called to clean it up anyway, so what was the harm...?

Cautiously, she pulled the booth curtain back, stepped out, and looked around, but there were no signs of anyone nearby. Satisfied in her privacy, she tugged a tissue out from her jacket pocket, holding it firmly against the big camera lens as she slipped back into the booth – it was probably not recording all the time, but better to be safe than sorry.

Tugging the curtain closed, she kept the tissue held over the lens with her left hand as she used her right to tug the back of her dress up and out of the way, ensuring it was behind the stool. She perched her rump at the very edge of the seat and tugged her panties aside with two fingers, shifting and wiggling as she did, keeping her legs spread apart.

Once in position, Sammy listened out, but she couldn't hear any nearby footsteps. So, taking a few breaths, she did her best to relax, focusing on her mildly aching bladder. It didn't take long before she felt a tingle running through her body as her release began, a short stream gushing from her urethra that quickly broke up into a shower of droplets.

There was only a short distance between her and the stainless steel panel in front of her, which her spray drummed against. The otter's pee poured down it in several rivers that wove back and forth, running all the way down to the floor where it began to pool up. Sammy didn't care, though; she was enjoying the sensation of relief, and the knowledge that she wouldn't have to worry about how many other students were in the bathroom when she got back.

Her piss continued to cascade downward, the pattering of pee against metal quiet but steady like rain on a window. The puddle on the floor grew, but Sammy's feet were slightly off the ground, sparing her boot soles from getting wet. Even though she knew she should have been nervous, with the potential to be caught at any moment, Sammy only felt contentment from being able to relieve herself somewhere quiet where no-one could overhear her. She had all the comfort and privacy of her home, without having to travel all the way over there.

Soon enough, her spray began to taper off, the spray of droplets falling further downward as the pressure inside her waned, even with her squeezing her muscles to force it all out. The last few drops landed on the puddle on the floor, splashing a little and snapping Sammy back to attention. Quickly swapping her hands around, she kept one palm over the camera lens as the other hand wiped herself clean.

The tissue slipped from her hand by accident, and landed in the puddle, soaking it in moments. Sammy cursed under her breath, eyes widening a moment later as she saw just how big a puddle she had made – it was completely covering the entire floor of the booth, held inside by the slightly raised edge at the door. It would be impossible not to notice. She quickly tugged her panties back into position, shifted on the stool, grabbed the curtain, and then hopped out from the booth in one quick motion so that her boots stayed clear of the puddle.

She did her best to act nonchalant as she walked away from the photo booth, but thankfully, there was still no sign of anyone nearby. She hastened her steps slightly, eager to get back to class, cheeks burning brightly – but at least she wouldn't have to deal with a full bladder for the walk back.

--------------------

Sammy didn't intend to return to the mall again quite so soon, but the next morning's discovery of a broken clasp on one of her bras forced a change of plans. She'd only brought the bare minimum amount of clothing with her, so while she did have some spares, she'd need to get a replacement for the broken one.

After having her lunch, she made her way back to the mall, grateful that the wind had calmed to just a chill breeze that didn't require her to bury her snout in her scarf. Already quite familiar with its layout by now, she made her way upstairs to a women's clothing store. Over half an hour later, she was still there – there was a sale going on, and her initial plans to get one garment and leave had been abandoned in favor of checking every rack and shelf to see what sort of deals she might be able to find.

She felt her phone buzz in her jacket pocket, and with the accumulated clothes she'd picked up slung across one arm, she reached into her jacket to pull it out. It was just a friendly check-in from Felicia, but Sammy's eyes caught the clock in the top right of her phone's display, and her eyes widened. She'd spent a lot longer than she had thought at the store, and though she still had plenty of time, she needed to get a move on. Glancing at the pile of clothes hung over her arm, she also realized it would be a good idea to stop now before she spent too much.

She made her way to the changing rooms, of which there were exactly two, since it was a small store. Both were vacant, since the lunch hour for most people was over. In addition, the other customers that had been in the store when she had entered had all left, leaving only the husky cashier who was tapping away at her phone with both thumbs.

Slipping into the closer changing room, Sammy quickly started trying on the various garments she had accumulated, save for the bra which she had simply gone by the measurements of. As she got to the end of the pile, she became more aware of her need to pee, not unusual for the end of her lunch break. But she still had a few clothes to try on; she'd have to leave them all at the counter and come back, since she wouldn't be able to take them with her out of the store without paying.

But when Sammy opened the door, she saw that the cashier was gone. She took a quick look around the store, but there was nobody – the cashier must have been on her own break. Sammy frowned; that would delay her even more if she had to wait for the cashier to come back. Not to mention that since it was such a small store, it was highly unlikely it even had its own bathrooms to begin with, and even if it did, they wouldn't be available to her. She'd need to walk to the public bathrooms and back... an unpleasant experience in and of itself.

But what if she didn't wait? Sammy glanced around again; the store was completely empty. The cashier must not have noticed her in the changing room and had thought the store was clear. Quickly, Sammy slipped out from the first changing room, leaving her clothes pile behind, and moved to the other stall. She didn't have a surplus of time, after all, so why wait? She looked downward as she closed the door behind her; the floor had a dark blue carpet covering it just like the other one. Carpeting wouldn't be the easiest thing to clean, and it looked like it already was fairly clean... but on the other hand, she told herself, cleaning the floors was probably part of the standard procedure anyway. The mall was very well-kept, so it probably got a thorough cleaning on a regular basis.

Unsure of how long it would be before the cashier returned, Sammy quickly tugged up her dress, sliding her panties to her knees, and squatted down low, putting her other hand on the wall to steady herself. Wanting to minimize the potential noise, she lowered herself down, knees close to each other but with her feet spread apart, pressing her back against the wall of the changing room, until her rump was barely an inch off the floor. She hoped it would be enough to keep the noise down.

She listened out, but she couldn't hear any signs of anyone nearby, just the distant ambience of the mall itself, the humming of the overhead fluorescent lights, and the quiet music that was playing inside the store. She really felt like she was alone... enough so that, to her surprise, it took very little time for her to relax enough to start peeing onto the floor, and she suppressed a small gasp, keeping her back pressed firmly to the wall.

At first she could only hear the hissing of her spray leaving her urethra as it silently struck the soft fibers of the dry carpet. But as she continued showering it with her pee, the sound of wet pattering gradually began to pick up. Sammy bit her lip, nervous and anxious, but the sound was still quiet enough that she could barely make it out, and it didn't seem to be getting any louder. Even as it began to transition into a steady splashing, on account of her completely saturating the carpet and forming a puddle, the sound of it was still barely audible on account of how closely she was squatting to the ground.

Sammy held that position, breathing heavily, until she heard a door open – the cashier must have returned from her break. Sammy put a hand over her muzzle as she tried not to panic, afraid she was going to be caught, but she soon heard a beep from the cash register as the cashier signed back into it. She'd apparently gone straight back to the front, and Sammy let out a small, nearly inaudible sigh of relief – both from no longer worrying, and from her continuing piss spray splashing onto the carpet.

The otter looked down, leaning forward slightly to see past the knees she had tucked close to her chest. If anyone came in, it was going to be obvious; even though the carpet was already dark, the growing puddle was even darker, and quite reflective in some parts that were extremely wet. On top of that, right where she was spraying, the liquid was foaming a little very noticeably. Furthermore, her puddle was forming right in the middle of the carpet; even if someone didn't spot it, they'd notice the wetness when they stepped in it.

Still, she didn't stop, nor did she want to. Taking an effort to steady her breaths, Sammy remained in her low squat until she felt her spray wane in strength, and she quickly squeezed her muscles to get the last of it out. It took her a moment to get a tissue from her pocket due to her position and her dress being held up, but she managed it all the same, quickly wiping her slit clean. There was going to be no hiding her mess, so she left the tissue on the big wet stain – now that she was no longer peeing onto it, the last of her urine was soaking in and making it a tiny bit less noticeable. The foam would take longer to go away, though.

Standing up, she pulled her panties back up into position and made herself presentable. Now for the hard part.

Slowly and carefully, she pushed the door open a crack and peeked out of it. The cashier was oblivious, eyes fixed on her phone, tapping out a message to someone. Sammy took the opportunity and slipped out of the changing room she had peed in, and back into the other one, where the clothes she had collected were waiting.

Not wanting to stick around the scene of the crime any longer than necessary, she took the remaining few clothes she hadn't tried on and gave them only a quick check, holding them against her body to gauge the fit as she did her best to calm her breathing. They all looked good, so she gathered everything up and, steeling herself and trying to act normal, she pushed open the changing room door. It creaked slightly as she opened it all the way, and the cashier glanced up for just a moment.

"Find everything you needed?" she asked, putting down her phone.

Sammy gave a quick nod, setting the clothes down on the counter before reaching into her purse. "Yes I did, thank you," she managed.

--------------------

Come Friday morning, Sammy was shivering even under all her winter gear as she pushed open the doors to the building her classes were held in. The wind chill outside had been absolutely brutal – if not for the extra length of her jacket combined with her short stature, she was sure her legs would have frozen, still heavily chilled regardless. The bit of her face that had been exposed felt numb, but the warmth of the building's air felt wonderful to walk into.

Checking her phone, she realized she had some time to spare, thanks to the traffic being fortuitous for once. Contemplating whether or not to make herself some coffee, she made her way to the student lounge, grateful that even a temporary student like herself was still allowed inside. Like most of the doors in the building, it was the kind with a pushable bar across the middle; she put her weight against it so she could enter. She figured she could get herself a drink and then head to the bathroom before making her way to the lecture hall – not being in a rush for once was nice.

It was a bit surprising to find the lounge empty, but then again, these were college students – anything prior to 9 AM was asking a lot, especially on a Friday. The big sofa and the smaller chairs near it were vacant, as well as the big table and all the chairs around it that study groups sometimes used, all clean and tidy after the janitors' work the previous night. Some potted plants – probably fake, but she couldn't tell – and a big whiteboard on wheels completed the room's decoration. From a glance at the whiteboard, it had last been used for decidedly non-educational purposes, showing a tournament bracket of some kind in illegible writing.

Sammy started to walk to the countertop at the back where machines for making coffee and tea had been set up, but stopped when she noticed a heating vent in the floor, hearing a steady hum coming from it. Still barely able to feel her legs, she walked over to the vent and stood over it.

The warm air flowing out billowed out the bottom part of her coat slightly, and sent a tingle running up her spine as it defrosted her legs. She couldn't stop an "Oooh..." escaping her lips, and though she quickly put a hand to her mouth, grateful that nobody had heard, she was smiling behind it. Shifting a little in place, she relaxed as the warm air flowed up under her dress, caressing her legs and inner thighs.

Her rudder swished behind her under her jacket as she got a devious idea. She slipped her left hand into the cuff of her right arm and grabbed onto not just her jacket sleeve, but the dress sleeve underneath, pulling her arm back. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but she managed to get her arm under her clothing without having to open it up.

She glanced to the side; though part of the student lounge was glass-fronted, the whiteboard gave her cover from the outdoor area. She'd be able to hear if anyone was coming, not least because they would have to open the fire door to get in – the sound of the bar being pushed would give her some warning if someone showed up, and the door was heavy and would take a couple seconds to open. Confident that she was safe, Sammy knelt down over the vent entirely with her legs on either side of it, dress and jacket covering it and a good section of carpet to the sides.

Another quiet moan escaped her as she felt the warm air blowing up under her jacket, all the way to her collar. It was a fantastic way to warm back up after being outside. Still feeling devious, she used the hand under her jacket to tug at her panties out of sight, exposing her slit to the warm air.

She bit her lip as she felt it caressing her nethers, making her cheeks flush from more than just warmth. She had only even thought to try it because her jacket covered her completely; the instant she heard someone coming, she could just stand up, turn away, and nobody would be any the wiser.

As she knelt there, enjoying the warmth running over her body, her body reminded her that she had other things she needed to do before the lecture, like relieve her bladder. She would have normally gone at the apartment, but the frigid weather had frozen the pipes and the water wasn't running, so she had been forced to skip it.

She had plenty of time, and the bathrooms would almost certainly be empty at this hour. But they certainly wouldn't have a heating vent in the floor underneath... rather, it would be quite the opposite, with the seats being cold.

But what if she just stayed here...? The thought crossed Sammy's mind, and she blushed deeply. She couldn't deny that she really, really wanted to just stay over the heating vent for a couple more minutes. So what if she used those couple minutes to take care of something else, too? On the one hand, the vent would probably be really hard to clean... but she'd never seen anyone clean them at any place she'd ever been, either. Almost always the screws were screwed on so tightly that power tools would be needed to unfasten them. So what difference would it make if she gave it an impromptu washing?

She glanced sideways again, but couldn't see anything past the big whiteboard, which meant she couldn't be seen either. Keeping her panties held aside under her jacket with her thumb, and spreading her slit lips with two fingers, she shuffled slightly closer to the vent and began to relax, her heart pounding.

Despite her nervousness, Sammy soon felt the tingle of her release starting. The gentle airflow was not strong enough to push her forceful spray any noticeable amount, and the hum of the HVAC system almost drowned out the sound of her piss hitting the grate covering the vent. It rained down onto the slatted metal, some stray droplets striking the carpet surrounding it, but Sammy didn't care; getting her relief while enjoying the warmth of the air vent was making all her worries melt away.

She breathed heavily as she continued to piss, letting it go at its own pace and basking in the sensation as her spray rained down into the vent. It was certainly one way to avoid a puddle, she thought to herself – if it ever got this cold again, she might have to give this another try. Kneeling on a soft carpet certainly beat sitting on a frigid porcelain seat listening to her pee splashing on water.

The flow of air suddenly stopped, and the humming sound faded away. Sammy huffed in annoyance; the room must have gotten warm enough that the heating had shut off temporarily. Without the background noise of the HVAC, she could now clearly hear her piss striking the metal vent cover, and dripping down into the vent itself, pattering steadily on the metal below. Thankfully, it was still a lot quieter than peeing in a toilet would have been, so she remained where she was until her bladder was empty, giving a few final clenches to get the last of her pee out.

She felt pleasantly warm all over after all that, and used her left hand to unzip her jacket so she could fetch a tissue from her dress pocket. Shuffling back from the vent slightly, she slipped the tissue under her dress to her right hand so she could wipe herself clean, taking a look at the damage afterwards.

The vent itself was soaked, with beads of her nearly-clear urine all over the metal. The carpet around it hadn't been spared either, though only the very edges at the top and bottom had been hit by her spray, darkening the fibers. Worse still was the steady dripping sound of her excess pee falling into the vent, though now that she was no longer constantly adding to it, the frequency of the drops was getting much slower.

She dropped the tissue without a thought as she quickly stood up, getting her right arm back through her sleeves. She had expected someone to interrupt her at some point, but was grateful that she seemed to have gotten away with it. Not wanting to push her luck, however, and no longer in need of a coffee to warm herself up, Sammy quickly made sure she was presentable before making a quick exit, briskly walking off to her class.

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Sunday found Sammy off on a more routine shopping trip: this time, she had taken her car to a nearby superstore – she needed to get some food for the week more than anything else, but she was strongly considering investing in a pair of snow pants. Although she greatly preferred skirts and dresses to pants, both the weather and the wind chill being in double-digit negatives were a very persuasive argument in favor of something insulated and leg-covering. Thankfully it was warmer today, and the parking lot and pavement outside had been shoveled, but that didn't mean it would stay warm much longer.

With her shopping cart loaded with enough boxes and packages of food and drink to last the rest of her stay, and a promising pair of snow pants folded up in the upper basket, she took out her phone and gave her shopping list another quick look-over to make sure she'd gotten everything. She shifted a little bit from foot to foot as she slid her thumb over the screen repeatedly, scrolling through the items, acutely aware that she needed to pee but determined to finish her shopping first.

"De-icer spray, right," she muttered under her breath as she spotted an item on the list she had overlooked. Looking at the overhead signs, she turned and wheeled her way towards where the various car supplies were kept.

As she looked over the shelves of handheld tools, fluids, waxes, sprays and decorations for cars, trying to find what she was after, she squirmed a little and pressed her legs together. She'd hoped she could wait until she got home, but it wasn't looking like she'd be able to make it – she'd just have to resign herself to the store's bathrooms. With any luck there wouldn't be a line; the last thing she needed was a repeat of what had happened on that one Black Friday.

Finally spotting the de-icer spray, Sammy grabbed the closest can of it and began pushing her shopping cart, tossing the can in on top of a bag of frozen shrimp. Like most stores in the chain – even if everything was in a slightly different place at this one compared to the one she usually went to – all the registers were at the front, with the bathrooms beyond. She could see them clearly enough past the express checkout lane, and she watched as someone pushed the door open and went inside. There was no line, but that didn't mean she'd be able to get any time alone in there, especially with the store being extra-busy from all the holiday shoppers.

Sammy's whiskers drooped for just a moment, but she spotted the changing rooms at the center of the store out of the corner of her eye. Did she really have to brave the bathrooms? Her last use of a changing room as a toilet at the mall had gone well enough, after all. Would it hurt to do it a second time?

Casually walking through the store, Sammy wheeled her cart to the area around the changing rooms, picking up her snow pants as a pretense to enter them. They weren't actively staffed, however, so she walked straight in and found an empty one in the middle of the row, closing and latching the door behind her.

This changing room wasn't quite as nice as the one at the mall, with a hard linoleum floor and no mirror in it, and several scuffs and scrapes on the walls from the numerous previous customers that had come and gone over time. Opposite the door was a very simple and lightly padded bench with a faded green and black plaid pattern, firmly anchored to the wall. The floor was quite clean thanks to the snow being cleared outside, meaning it wasn't getting tracked into the store, or at least, not all the way to the changing rooms. 

Sammy immediately latched the door shut and hung her snow pants on a hook on the wall to keep them out of the way, taking off her jacket to do the same afterwards. Still not sufficiently undressed for what she had planned, she unfastened her pink skirt as well, dropping it on the bench, with only her rose-colored silk panties keeping her decent. But only for a moment, as next she stepped out of her snow boots long enough to slip her panties off, dropping them on top of her skirt.

Now bottomless but for her socks and boots, Sammy lowered herself into a squatting position, with one hand on the bench to help keep herself steady. A small part of her was surprised at how easy this was becoming for her, but she was just glad she could finally find a way to avoid having to pee around other-

Nearby footsteps made her freeze just before she could start trying to relax her muscles. She glanced at the door, but the slats were angled downward from the inside, so she couldn't see anything through them from this angle, only the shadow that she could see past the half-inch gap at the bottom of the door. Whoever it was walked past, and then she heard the door closing and latching in the cubicle directly next to her.

Sammy bit her lip nervously. She could maybe have gotten away with it if there was a carpet, but the floor was hard linoleum – whoever was next to her would hear the splashing for sure. And even if she were able to position herself extremely low to the ground, the cubicle walls didn't quite reach the floor, so her puddle would probably reach underneath the wall and be noticeable on the other side.

Considering her options, she glanced around anxiously. It didn't help that she was now making a conscious effort to avoid relieving herself, since she was squatting bottomless with her legs spread, her body subconsciously accepting it as a perfect position to pee in. As she was considering whether or not to try turning around, she heard someone entering the cubicle on the other side of her. Silently cursing, Sammy realized it wasn't going to work out, but at least she had found that out before she'd started peeing; causing a scene and getting in trouble with the store security would be only the beginning of her problems in that case.

Standing up, Sammy grabbed her panties off the bench to put them back on, only to stop for a moment, and then pick her skirt up off the bench as well to take a look at it. The padding wasn't much to speak of, and though it was a little faded, it wasn't dirty or stained. She hesitated, knowing that that might certainly change if she drenched it... but her only other alternative was the store bathroom, which would definitely be less clean, and where her splashing would almost certainly be audible to everyone in there.

She glanced down at the floor again – clearly the cleaning staff here made regular visits. And there was no way it would be the first time SOME liquid had been spilled on the benches, right? It was inconceivable that they'd be able to keep them in a decent condition without proper cleaning supplies to use on them, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

But how would she do this...? If she just stood in a sitting position over the bench, she might end up missing with her spray and hitting the floor. The same would happen if she tried to stand facing the bench, too. Experimentally, she clutched her skirt and panties close to her chest as she raised one leg, setting her boot-covered foot on one end of the bench and trying to lean over. It was better, but the bench wasn't particularly wide, and she'd probably still risk missing the bench.

Sammy's whiskers drooped, but then she got an idea. If it was for someone to sit on, then it surely could take her weight, right? Putting her hands against the walls to brace herself, her right hand pinning her clothes against the wall, she carefully lifted her other leg, positioning her feet at opposite ends of the bench while facing the wall in a low squat. Glancing downwards, she could see she was now completely positioned over the bench – it would be perfect!

Keeping her hands pressed to the walls to hold herself steady, Sammy relaxed her body, half-closing her eyes and slowly breathing out. Taking another slow breath, the second time she exhaled, she could feel herself starting to pee, a momentary tingle in her loins followed by the sound, thankfully very quiet, of her hissing spray exiting her.

The shower of droplets didn't have far to go to hit the bench, soaking into the fabric, landing on it almost silently. Sammy bit her lip and lowered her hips a little further to minimize the noise as much as she could, listening carefully to the background noise of the store – people walking around outside, background conversation, and the sounds of the people in the adjacent cubicles occasionally rustling clothes or clattering a clothes hanger.

She started to hear a quiet splashing as her piss fully saturated the fabric, and Sammy quickly shifted her hips to her left to try and spray a dry part of the bench. Not only did she want to avoid making noise, but she was concerned that if she overdid it in one spot, it would start dripping onto the floor – and that would be both loud and it could potentially spread into the next cubicle. Her breaths came more quickly as she kept peeing, hoping that she would run out before the entire cushion was saturated. The heavy spray of her pale yellow droplets kept gushing from her urethra and raining onto the bench, utterly soaking the cushion.

As far as she could tell, neither of her neighbors could hear her. She was acutely aware of every little scrape of plastic or metal, and every last footprint, but there was no reason the other customers were paying nearly as much attention to their surroundings.

Suddenly the store announcement system crackled to life with a periodic reminder about one of the special offers currently going on. Startled at first, Sammy was grateful that it easily drowned out all of the noise she was making. She quickly shifted her hips all the way to the right to pee on the last dry part of the bench, and took advantage of the sound cover to clench her muscles, pushing her spray out harder in an attempt to finish faster. A few seconds later her stream came to a sudden end as a result of her pushing it out, and she only needed one extra clench of her muscles to get the last squirt out of her bladder.

Untensing her body, Sammy gave a small sigh of relief, the store announcement coming to an end. She hadn't paid attention to an actual word of it, but all she wanted was to make her exit. She carefully slipped one foot back and onto the floor before following suit with the other, leaving her standing. A glance down confirmed what she had expected; from one end to the other, but for the tiniest patches in the corners, the bench cushion was completely drenched. There were some stray droplets around the edges and against the wall it was anchored to, but other than that, it had done a remarkable job of containing her mess.

Stuffing her clothes under one arm for a moment, Sammy reached into an inner jacket pocket to pull out a tissue and quickly wipe herself clean of the last droplet between her legs. Since it wouldn't make a difference at that point, she tossed it onto the bench and quickly began dressing. Within a minute, she was exiting the changing room, acting as naturally as she could, returning to her shopping cart and heading for the registers.

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The lump under the bedcovers shifted as Sammy slowly woke. She stayed snuggled up under the blankets for a little longer, mildly surprised that she wasn't waking up to her alarm, since she'd been up late studying for her final exam today. It didn't make sense that she would be waking up before her alarm...

A brown-furred arm emerged from under the blankets and groped blindly for the phone on the bedside table, her fingers eventually closing around it. Blearily, Sammy pulled it under the bedcovers, pressing the button on the side to turn on the screen and check the time: 8:34 AM. Suppressing a yawn, she turned the screen off again and...

Suddenly, her eyes opened wide and she turned the screen back on to double-check. 8:34 AM?! Her exam was at 9!

Sammy spun around on the bed, flinging the covers halfway off it and exposing her naked body. Cursing aloud as she all but jumped out of bed in a panic, she tried to shake off the last vestiges of sleep to focus on the task at hand: getting to the exam on time.

Priority one: She had to get dressed, ASAP. Her suitcase lay open nearby, since she had intended to pack in the morning and head home after the exam. She dashed over to it, reaching in and grabbing whatever bits of clothing she could find without paying any attention to whether they matched or not.

With an armful of clothes, she turned and dropped them onto the bed. But she had another problem: just like every other morning, her bladder was full, and the exam was going to be two hours long; she didn't want to try and hold her morning pee through the entire exam. But if she went to the bathroom, that would be wasting precious time...

Sammy tried to think what she could do as she grabbed her bra off the top of the clothes pile. Well, nothing was really stopping her from just going where she stood, but she'd probably end up splashing her inner legs, and then she'd have to clean herself. Maybe if she got one leg up on something...? 

Her eyes fell on the bed in front of her. It would work, but her clothes were there. She grabbed the pile again and looked around quickly - the bedside table was covered in stuff, but there was a chair next to it. It would have to do; she dumped the pile of clothes on the chair, still clutching the bra. As she brought it up and reached behind herself with the straps, she then turned, lifted her right foot, and planted it on the bed as far in as she could put it. She didn't have time to consider anything else.

As her fingers fiddled with the clasp on her bra, a hard stream of her pee shot out from her, breaking up into a spray after barely an inch as it always did. The room was filled with the pattering sound of the golden droplets on the bed, some landing on the rumpled white blankets, while most struck the light gray sheet directly. The fabric grew darker under the rain of her urine, the underside of the blankets yellowing as they were soaked, but Sammy was too busy getting dressed to care. The instant she snapped the bra clasp into place, she twisted slightly to grab her shirt, sending her spray splashing onto the side of the bed for a brief moment until she turned back and leaned further over the mattress.

While she was pulling her right arm through the sleeve of her shirt, the drumming of her piss on the bed became more of a splashing sound from the fabric growing saturated. Sparing only a momentary glance down, Sammy took a breath and clenched her muscles to force her piss out faster, causing the spray to widen for a few moments and rain down on more of the bed – but all she could care about in that moment was speeding up the process, her stream wobbling about as she twisted her upper body to get her arm in the other sleeve.

Going as fast as she could, she fastened only every other button on her shirt, intending to do the others in her car. Close to the bottom of her shirt, she started to run low on pee, and gave another squeeze of her muscles to try and force out the last of it. Snatching a sock from the chair, she leaned her upper body forward as she stretched out to tug the sock over the toes of her foot on the bed, with a second clench of her abdomen proving enough to get the final droplets out from her.

Not missing a beat, Sammy tugged the sock up her foot and ankle, then quickly stepped back from the bed. She grabbed the other sock, lifting her left foot as she surveyed the mess – the bed was heavily soaked on her side of it, and the blankets had gotten a good splashing too. She frowned as she saw that when she had grabbed her shirt, the stray splashing that struck the side of the bed had dripped down onto the floor – where the panties she had been wearing the previous day had been left, getting them partly wet.

Sammy pulled up her second sock and then bent over to grab the panties from the floor. They were still mostly dry, but she had no intention of stuffing them into her luggage. Instead, she pressed the dry part against her pussy and quickly wiped off the remaining moisture with the silken fabric, tossing them towards the bed afterwards without even looking to see where they landed.

Grabbing her clean panties from the chair, she pulled them on as quickly as she could, then grabbed her skirt and fastened it hastily, ignoring that her shirt was untucked – she could fix it in the car. She grabbed her wallet, car keys, and phone from the bedside table, stuffing them into her pockets, before finally turning to the rest of the floor. In a flurry of motion she grabbed each discarded item of clothing from the night before – except the panties she had already abandoned – and hurled them into her suitcase, the toiletries bag from the bathroom soon joining them. She didn't have time to tidy herself up now; she'd have to do the best she could with the brush and mirror she had in her purse while she was in the car if she got the chance at a red light.

Slamming the top of the suitcase closed, she didn't even zip it up, instead just snapping the fastenings on the outside together; she only needed to get it to the car, it wasn't like it was going on an airplane or anything. Standing the suitcase up on its side, she hauled it to the bedroom door and pulled her winter jacket off the hook on the back of it, pulling it on as fast as she could, and then dashing out the door without another look back. She stopped in the kitchen only long enough to grab a granola bar from the cupboard; it was the only thing she had that required no preparation, so it would have to suffice for her breakfast.

She dropped the apartment keys in the mailbox outside for the landlord to pick up, breath misting in the wintery air. Sammy quickly turned and tugged her suitcase down the flagstone path to the driveway, its wheels clattering and rattling on the concrete. She was extremely grateful that the weather hadn't iced over everything the previous night, or else she would have been forced to go much more slowly.

Shoving her suitcase into the back seat rather than taking the extra time to open the trunk, Sammy quickly climbed in the front, glancing at the dashboard clock as she started the engine.

08:41. She could still make it. She backed out of the driveway, and though she wasn't so panicked as to run any red lights or break the speed limit, she still made good time and got to the building where the exam was with ten minutes to spare.

'I probably could have just used the bathroom,' she thought to herself, but just gave a shrug as she turned off the engine. 'But I had no way to know traffic would be light this morning. Better than missing my final because of a bathroom break!'

Opening the door and using the button on the keys to lock it as she walked away, she mused, 'Besides, it's a student residence. I'm sure it's had worse things happen to it. And they'll wash everything anyway before the next person comes in, so it'll be fine!'
