Pressure Points 001

 Being on your feet for hours on end really was the worst.

Ruby groaned as she sat down on a fallen tree, her feet burning with a deep ache that refused to quit. The beautiful orange and red foliage of Forever Fall swayed in the gentle breeze above head, a sight she would ordinarily admire. But running leadership drills for the better part of a day was enough to sap the enthusiasm of even the brightest spark and so Ruby barely gifted the magnificent sight a glance before hastily unlacing her boots.

Yanking off her boots and stockings, she sighed in bliss, wiggling her toes. The pain didn’t abate completely but there was a noticeable lessening of pressure, the chill air helping to cool her overheated feet.

“That bad, huh?” a familiar voice asked and looking to her left, she saw Jaune approaching with a bottle of water. Reaching out with greedy fingers, he snickered before passing her the bottle. Uncapping it, she downed half of it in a single pull, almost choking on it as it rushed down her throat. It wasn’t cold but it didn’t matter.

A cute gasp escaped her as she pulled the lip from her mouth.

“This sucks,” she complained, kicking her legs gently. The fallen trunk was big enough that she was elevated off the ground by a decent amount, feet swinging through the air without touching the ground.

“Yeah, Peach can be a bit of a slave driver when she wants to be, can’t she?” Jaune agreed with a grimace. “At least we’re finished now. If I had to work with Cardin for a minute longer, I was going to scream.”

Ruby giggled, crossing her ankles.

“He looked like he was sucking on a lemon the entire time,” she smirked. “Somehow I think this was worse for him than it was for you.”

“Hey, you’re meant to be on my side,” he said with mock outrage.

Ruby poked her tongue out childishly.

Every week, the team leaders would assemble for a class entirely unique to their positions. Most of the time, it was simple theory work. Drawing up mission plans, learning how to file reports, and studying local governmental procedure for several jurisdictions they were likely to operate in the near future. In other words, all the boring but important knowledge that Huntsmen needed to know in order to do their jobs professionally.

But then occasionally, they had a practical lesson.

Those were much better.

But Professor Peach might look like a kind, soft spoken woman but they knew the truth. She was a Grimm in disguise, one bent on exhausting them by working them into the ground. Ruby was positive that when she went to sleep tonight, all she would see in her dreams were the various scenarios she made them all work through, several times over until their brains melted and their limbs felt like lead.

Their latest lesson was all about leading their squad against ever changing battle field conditions. It was to test their ability to think on their feet and command people under pressure. When one test was done, the leader would rotate out and someone else took their place, repeating this over and over until everyone had had their turn many times over. Not only did Ruby’s feet ache but her throat was dry from so much talking.

It was horrible.

“When does the Bullhead get here?” she moaned pitifully.

Jaune leaned his hip against the trunk. “She said it’ll be here in about thirty minutes. Until then, we can just rest and recover.”

Ruby groaned. “I need a shower, I stink. I’m hungry. We haven’t eaten since breakfast. I want my bed. I’m tired.”

She continued to list off all the things she wanted or needed, uncaring if she sounded like a brat.

“I want ice cream. Chocolate mint swirl. Cookies. All the chocolate chip cookies at Beacon, please. I need sugar. Urgh – look at my ankles,” she thrust one of her legs out, waving it around. “They’re totally swollen! It looks like I’m fat!”

“I don’t know about that,” Jaune said, following her foot with his eyes. “But you aren’t wrong. They are a little swollen.”

Ruby pouted, admiring the glossy black polish she had applied just that morning. That felt like an age ago. Biting her lip, she spread her toes a few times before arching her foot. A twinge of pain raced up her leg, sudden and sharp.

“Ow,” she whined, flinching. “I need a foot rub.”

Much to Ruby’s surprise, Jaune said, “I could give you one.”

Silver eyes blinked at him, taken aback. “What?”

“I could give you a foot rub,” he offered. “If you want. I used to do it for my mom all the time when I was younger. She was always on her feet, running around after us and sometimes dad wasn’t around to do it, so it fell to me.”

“You’ll really do it?” she asked, a great welling of affection rising up inside her chest. Jaune was the best friend ever! “You don’t care that my feet are all sweaty?”

Jaune laughed, pushing off the trunk and moving in front of her. “A little sweat never hurt anyone. Just tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”

Ruby watched as he knelt in front of her, feeling butterflies erupt in her tummy for some reason. Squirming, she pushed down the front of her combat skirt and held out her left foot, humming at his hands cupped her heel. When the pad of his thumb caressed the underside of her foot, she giggled.

“That tickles,” she accused, squirming even more.

“Sorry,” he apologized, encompassing her foot with both of his hands. Ruby had never noticed before just how big Jaune was. His fingers were long, his hands wide as he slowly rotated her ankle, being gentle. “How does that feel?”

“O-Okay,” she stuttered, unsure why. Clearing her throat, she helped direct him. “It hurts a little in the ankle and – um, the arch.”

She wasn’t sure why but she suddenly felt a little self conscious. Ruby was rather pale, her skin covered in layers upon layers, the sun kept at bay. It meant that her feet were practically white, almost translucent around the side of her soles. You could easily make out the small blue veins and she couldn’t help but wonder if Jaune would find that ugly.

That was a strange thought. Ruby wasn’t one to care about her appearance overly much.

It must be because of how tired she was.

“You have nice feet,” Jaune complimented.

“Uh, do I?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, holding it firmly as he positioned his thumbs underneath. “They’re small and cute. Your big toe is rounded and you have space between each toe, they aren’t forced together. I like what you’ve done with your nails.”

Ruby smiled happily.

“They’re really cool, right?” she preened. “I was thinking about doing my hands as well.”

“You should,” he said. “That would look really good. It’s totally you.”

She was about to say something else when he suddenly pressed with his thumbs, applying a light pressure to the underside of her foot. Ruby moaned in surprise, the sudden sensation causing a tingle to race up her leg.

“Ah~!”

“Does this feel okay?” he asked but she barely heard him as Jaune began to rub with his thumbs in a circular motion, digging in just enough that it caused nothing but bliss. He had found the first spot, the place it ached most and Ruby felt heat rush through her as her foot flexed, something akin to pleasure blooming where he touched her.

“Mhm~!” she nodded, blinking rapidly. “That – ah~! That feels really good.”

“I’m glad,” he smiled up at her, one of his hands slipping lower before digging in with a thumb, pressing up along the length of her sole. Ruby shivered, that familiar tickling sensation mixing with a deep heat that radiated up into her ankle and further north along her calf.

Ruby knew it was going to feel good but she never thought it would feel like this! She leaned back, resting on her hands as an odd itching sensation crawled through her. It started in her thighs before pooling heavily in her belly, her back arching lightly. When Jaune slipped his fingers between her toes, spreading them out and rotating his hand, stretching her tendons, her stomach tightened pleasantly.

A soft whimper escaped her lips, confused. Wiggling her hips, something hot and slick trickled below her navel. A strange pulse thumped between her thighs, a blooming heat robbing her of breath.

What was...?

Silver eyes fluttered as he increased the strength of his hands, digging in deep with his thumbs. Giving it a twist, she tried to stifle her groan but it was pointless, the sound deep, coming from the depths of her soul.

Blue eyes peered up at her, full of concern.

“That didn’t hurt, did it?” he asked.

Ruby shook her head quickly.

“N-No,” she managed. “It – It was good!”

One hand cupped her heel before sliding up, cradling her Achilles tendon. Pinching the sensitive muscle lightly, he stroked it with gentle fingers while the other hand continued to rotate the upper half of her foot. Feeling his fingers between her toes felt amazing, her insides fluttering as he rubbed back and forth.

“This might be a little uncomfortable,” he warned, sliding his palm down and releasing her toes, pressing the base of his hand flush into the arch of her foot. “Are you ready?”

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, tensing as he applied pressure. Wiggling his hand side to side, as if he were kneading dough, Ruby felt her ankle give a twinge but his stabilizing hand around the back of her foot ensured the strain wasn’t much.

“Wiggle your toes for me,” he asked and she did as she was told, spreading them out before giving them a cute wiggle. She felt the tendons in her foot flex, a startled gasp falling from her mouth.

What had started out as an innocent foot rub was cascading into something more. Ruby’s young, innocent mind struggled to understand what was happening to her body as Jaune continued to rub and massage her sore foot, arousal sparking low in her tummy. She wasn’t so inexperienced that she didn’t know what being horny felt like. It was difficult not to know as a girl going through puberty. Even something as simple as washing her body could make her feel strange, deep down in that spot she tried her best not to focus on too much.

But was a foot rub meant to make her feel these things?

Even if it was a really, really good foot rub... was she actually just a very naughty girl?

Ruby released a squeak when the hand around the back of her Achilles moved higher, cupping her calf and giving it a long, firm stroke. Goosebumps raced up her leg, her skin prickling in delight as she shivered.

When he rotated her ankle this time, there was no pain.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded, her head feeling fuzzy. “Mhm~! There’s no pain.”

Jaune smiled happily, and then much to her chagrin, he released her foot. “That’s good. I’m glad I could help.”

“Ah,” she made a sound of protest, quickly shaking her other foot to get his attention. “T-This one needs help too. You haven’t done it yet~!”

She pointed her toes and tapped him on the chest, the cold steel of his armor making her tremble. Jaune laughed and grabbed her leg, her limb instantly awash with heat.

“You’re right,” he said, giving her shin a pat. “How could I forget?”

Cradling her foot, Ruby panted as he began rubbing it up and down, his fingers massaging the sides. Lifting her leg a little higher than before, the sudden elevation made her combat skirt ruffle slightly and slide up her thigh. A flicker of embarrassment rushed through her but she didn’t move to fix it, having faith in the anti-peek technology of Huntress equipment.

...would it be so bad if he saw, though?

Ruby’s cheeks flushed scarlet and she hid this fact by tilting her head up, looking up at the canopy. Jaune was just as careful with this foot, slowly working his way up to her toes. He focused on the balls of her foot, massaging them with circular motions that left Ruby a quivering mess, her voice beginning to leak out no matter how hard she pursed her lips. A quick swipe down the middle had her jerking, a startled giggle filling the air.

“J-Jaune~! That tickles!” she scolded breathlessly.

Jaune smirked up at her. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Ruby bit her lip, silver eyes glittering with mirth and more. “Can you rub higher? I-It’s sore in my calf.”

She flexed her foot up and down, her slender leg tensing and relaxing.

“Sure,” he replied, following her request instantly. Encircling her dainty ankle, he held her leg steady as one of his hands glided up the underside, squeezing her muscle gently.

Ruby inhaled sharply, that tingle between her legs growing fiercer by the second. Gazing down at Jaune with adoring eyes, she lifted her leg higher, resting her foot on his shoulder.

“Mm, higher,” she told him, knowing that she was testing the limits of her skirt. Jaune paused for a moment before following through, his hand gliding up towards her knee, kneading her muscle until she felt like jelly.

“That feels so good, Jaune,” she uttered softly. “Mm – yeah, right there~!”

“Wow, you’re right,” he exclaimed, digging his fingers in to soothe a knot. “This is a big one.”

“Ah~!” she squeaked, pain flaring briefly as he worked it out. When he did, she felt her entire leg throb and relax, a sigh escaping her.

“I bet that felt good,” he teased.

Ruby hummed her agreement, feeling itchy. Their eyes met and Ruby held them, taking in the vivid blue of his iris. They were so bright and alive, and she felt like she was looking across the ocean, drawn in by the endless expanse. His hands were still on her skin, large and warm, strong – and she opened her mouth, about to ask him to keep going, that her thighs were pretty sore as well...

The roar of the approaching airship shattered the moment and Ruby jumped, almost toppling from her perch. If not for Jaune hastily grabbing her hips, she just might have. Something throbbed deep inside and Ruby couldn’t tell if it was her heart, or something else.

“Careful,” he laughed, eyes darting up. A few seconds later, their Bullhead blazed overhead, the tops of the trees swaying radically beneath its powerful propulsion. “Looks like our ride is here.”

Ruby pouted.