WARNINGS: partial nudity, foot massage, back massage, cute gayness.
NOTE: Wow. Really dropped the ball on this one. You know, I'm just going to... yeah, I'll just post it right now and not spend a lot of time apologising, so you can get to reading it faster! If you're actually still interested after all this time, haha.
CHAPTER FIVE
"Ugh... this is so boring."
Currently eye-deep in homework, the leader of team RWBY was laying on her bed, books scattered all over the covers, sheets of paper occasionally falling off from above. She was lucky to have the room to herself; or at least, the others always said it was best to study alone. But being rather dependent on others, Ruby became bored on her own. And working through it certainly wasn't helping. Any sort of distraction was welcome, even if it did mean her homework wouldn't be completed.
Therefore, when the door to the room slammed open and Weiss stormed in, Ruby was more relieved than she was irritated.
Papers flew everywhere when the leader jumped in surprise at her sudden arrival, but it was only her partner. If anyone could ease her boredom away, it was Weiss. The person she enjoyed being in the company of most. Although she certainly was not in a good mood.
"URGHH!" the Schnee heiress exploded. "Just... completely unacceptable! How could he?!"
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked nervously.
"Do you know what that overblown tyrant wants me to do?! He wants me to represent the Schnee family at a fundraiser here in Vale!" Her arms folded over her chest as she came to a stop next to the bed. "And do you know why?"
"Uum... No?" She leaned over from her bunk, looking down to the heiress.
"Because His Laziness doesn't want to leave the comfort of his office and travel here! I'm already here, and therefore it makes sense for him to pull me out of whatever I might have planned, since he can't be bothered to... UGH!" With that, she turned and slammed herself down onto the bed, staring across at Blake and Yang's bunks. "I'm just another company asset to him!"
"That is ridiculous! You have school and everything. Can't your sister Winter do it?" Though when watching her flop down onto her bed, she went to pack away her books. She didn't know much about Weiss's family; only that her father and her never were on brilliant terms. She knew no other way to make helpful suggestions.
"Oh nooooo," Weiss said in a saccharine voice. "Precious Winter is looking into the Vytal Festival security. Precious Winter is too busy to take time out to handle such outrageous demands on her time and social skills!"
"Ohhhh..." Once packing together all of her belongings, she hopped down from the bed, approaching Weiss's. She didn't exactly know what to say in such a situation, but she wanted to help. Even if that was just to listen.
"Look at me, Ruby. Do I seem like some sort of beauty pageant winner?" Then she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I know I look like one, but I meant in terms of being a marshmallow best suited to... to making face-time with clients!"
"Well, you can do it... I mean, you're confident enough." She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking back at her where she lay. "But you deserve the choice, at least. I mean, school is equally as important as the security for the tournament."
Weiss held her gaze for another moment, grateful for the empathy, before she broke away and stared down at the floorboards. "Try telling that to him."
"Would if I could, you know my mouth runs away with me." She rocked gently back and forth from her position. What should she do? Sure, they were good friends; maybe a little more. But did that give her permission to hug her? To hold her close so she could feel better?
Perhaps some other gesture. She reached up to her hood, unclipping it from her shirt so she could throw the cape over Weiss. Anyone that knew Ruby well knew this was an affectionate gesture; the cape always made her safe. Perhaps it would help Weiss in a similar way.
"I can come with you, if you wanted? Watch you in the audience?"
"What are you doing?" She seemed about to throw the cape off, but something about the look on Ruby's face told her that would be rude. Instead, she focused on their conversation. "No, thank you. I doubt the high society scene would hold any interest for you, to put it bluntly."
"So? I'll do it for yo- ...so there's a familiar face in the audience?" She desperately wanted to say "for you," but out of fear of seeming too clingy, she spared it. Instead, she kept her gaze upon her. As if that was somehow not as bad.
"You'd really do that for me, wouldn't you? Sit through a boring lecture about company policy and the 'face-saving power' of raising money for this cause just because I don't feel like delivering any such lecture." Her hands trailed up and drew the cloak tighter around herself as she stared at her boots. "I just wish I was already in my pajamas and asleep. I can't handle anything else today; I wanted to finish that assignment for Port, but..."
A hand reached over to her shoulder, stroking it gently with her thumb. "Then don't. If you want to sleep, or just ignore everything today, then do it. Do... do you want me to leave the room?"
"You don't have to go anywhere," Weiss sighed. "Go back to whatever you were doing; I'll just sit here and stare at the floor all night." When Ruby didn't respond, she grumbled, "Seriously, I'm fine. Away with you."
Instead, Ruby continued to rub her shoulder, smiling down warmly at her. "It probably sounds dumb but, cuddling into the cape helps. You can just hide away in it and keep yourself away from everyone."
Nodding numbly, Weiss picked up the hem and looked at it. "Is that why you wear it so often? Comfort?"
She looked away shyly, staring at the floor herself. "Yeah. Sometimes if everything gets too much, I just throw the hood over my head and ignore the world, you know? My mom always used to do it, and I guess that habit fell to me." She looked back up at her again, shrugging her shoulders. "Is that weird?"
"And that works? You really feel better doing that?" Weiss glanced down over her shoulder, then back to Ruby. With very hesitant movements, she tucked the hood up over her head. She shifted back and forth, trying to get a feel for it, and the hood slipped down over her eyes.
"I feel like a monk."
"You look like a fairy tale character," Ruby chuckled. Her hand then moved to her back, rubbing that softly instead. Just being by her side seemed to have the same effect on her has having the cape over her head. She was calmer with the heiress, despite how much they seemed to wind one another up. A stranger would never believe it if they were told how much they hated each other in the beginning.
"Really? With your giant crimson bag on my head?" When Ruby was silent, she sighed and frowned at the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that about your cape, especially not if it was your mom's. It's just... this gets to me eventually."
"Shhhh..." She continued to pet her softly through the cape, leaning down to gently kiss the top of her head. "You don't have to apologise. Just relax, okay?"
Weiss nodded, feeling Ruby's mouth shifting on her head through the hood. Her eyes began to droop closed as she whispered, "That is sort of nice."
"Told ya." She couldn't help but snap back, but then asked softly, "Hey... Did you wanna go to sleep? I can grab your pyjamas if you want."
"You don't have to..." Her words were interrupted by a tiny yawn. "...do that, I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own."
"Maaaaybe I want to?" After rocking back and forth a little more from where she was sitting, she got back up again. The smaller girl quickly scurried over to Weiss's wardrobe, where sure enough, everything was in its place and neatly folded. It was easy enough for her to quickly pick out her long nightgown, bringing it over to her.
She did look over to the door, however. Yet again, Blake and Yang had been out with one another for the whole day, with no other explanation other than "We wanna see the tournament set up". But that would never take a whole day. Where were they?
Meanwhile, Weiss had slumped over onto her side, gazing at nothing and clutching the neck of the cloak to herself. "Why are men such boorish Neanderthals, Ruby? Why don't they have active listening skills?"
She wandered back over to Weiss's side, climbing up onto her bed with her again. She couldn't help but chuckle. "My dad and uncle said men are only interested in one thing... and that must be so boring."
"Unitaskers. If they're not good for anything other than whatever that thing is, then they are unitaskers, which are fundamentally useless to me."
"Why do you think we're the best team in the school? Cause we have none to bring us down." She laughed again. Pushing her gown closer toward her, she smiled. "P.J. delivery?"
"Just put them on over my clothes," Weiss mumbled, kicking her legs weakly. "That's fine."
"But it's your gown; you kinda have to strip or you'll look... dumb." Her voice got very quiet when she said that word. "Strip." Did she really just suggest that?! This time, she had no cloak to hide her embarrassment with, either! "I-I'm just thinking for your comfort! I'll look away!"
A long, groaning whine issued from Weiss's throat. All motivation had vanished. Even with how flustered her leader was, she couldn't care any less for what exact words she'd used. Or what they meant. Besides, it was Ruby. Innocent Ruby would never intentionally suggest such things. "Can't you do this? I am used to having a maid do it, and it's been so frustrating having to do it every day since I started going to Beacon, and..." She paused. "Ugh, listen to me, I sound so spoiled. No wonder everybody hates me."
Sadness swept over her when hearing those words. Weiss really felt that way? That people hated her?
She for one certainly didn't feel that way. And wanted to prove it. First things first, she gently undid her long white hair, placing her hairpin on the side table. Though her face flushed red when she thought of what was to happen.
"I... are you sure you don't mind?"
"Go ahead, if you want to."
"...Okay." She swallowed, trying to control the awful blush on her face as she reached down for the bottom of Weiss's dress. As she pulled further up, she sometimes had to shift Weiss's body around to continue to pull it off of her. Until eventually, it just came over her shoulders, and hit the floor.
"Wow," Weiss half-laughed, only now feeling her cheeks pinken as the air caressed the skin between her underwear's coverage. Ruby had actually worked up that courage and was removing her clothing. "I didn't expect you to go through with it."
For once, Ruby had found herself with nothing to say. Face absolutely crimson, she stared at the beautiful soft skin of the older girl, mouth slightly open. She could barely believe she did it herself, her own two hands! "Uuuuuuuhhhhh..."
Looking away from her, Weiss gulped. "R-right, keep going."
"O-oh. Right." She then went to grasp the gown, waiting for Weiss to raise her arms and then slowly slipping it over her shoulders and back down her body again. Truth be told, she could take in the sight if bare skin all day, but she didn't want her partner to be uncomfortable. Why did she want to do that? It made no sense. Normal people didn't feel this way about their battle partners, did they?
Then again, she could probably assume Blake and Yang more than likely would.
"Thank you," Weiss breathed as she adjusted the gown to settle over herself more properly. Then she raised her legs and draped them in Ruby's lap, knocking her boots together. "Not done, are we, Servant?"
There was something about that term that was rather nice to hear. "Servant." It was almost as if she was property, an employee. Ruby liked that? Being talked about in such a way? She obeyed regardless, crawling toward the foot of the bed to hold one of her legs firmly, the other hand slowly sliding off her boot.
The redness in Weiss's cheeks deepened as Ruby took off her boot. She was really doing it; changing her clothes, obeying her order. Weiss never wanted to tell her what to do ever again, and yet she wanted to do it all the time. How could she feel so conflicted?
Once the first boot was off, Ruby stared blankly at the bare foot that was once within it. It was something so minor, it shouldn't make her pause. But it did. And she knew just what to do to help with the unease. She reached her hands up to the ball of it, gently applying pressure with her fingers to any areas that felt tensed up.
"Ruby, wh-what- AHHhhh..."
There were only about a dozen things wrong with what was taking place in the dorm room. Ruby was serving her. Actually doing servile things purely for Weiss's benefit - even though she was the team leader. The power dynamic was all wrong! How was she supposed to let this continue in such a fashion when both Professors Port and Ozpin had vehemently sworn that Ruby was to be the one in charge?
Even beyond that... it made her feel an odd sort of shame that Ruby was touching her foot like that. Firstly, because it was perhaps her third foot massage of her entire life, and secondly, because the other two were mere staff paid to do so, immediately following a spa day of some sort. But Ruby was doing it for no reason other than she was trying to be nice, and after Weiss had been walking around in boots all day. It didn't sit right. Good though it felt - and indeed it did, so very much - she couldn't understand why Ruby wanted to degrade herself in that way. Not after the way Weiss had treated her all this time.
The degrading element was something that was non-applicable to the leader at all. When she was home, her father would do just the same if she was aching. As would Yang. She would also do the same; and thanks to walking their dog so much, she got plenty of practice with massages when someone would come home sore.
Alas, the same could not be said for the Schnee heiress. In her household, handling another person's skin was seen as something unpleasant, and the person doing it as at the least a poor person - if not a degenerate. They were taught to hide their nakedness at all times and that contact was to be discouraged unless absolutely necessary. This did not qualify, even if it wasn't that "private" of an area.
After treating the first foot to some well deserved attention, she moved to the other, slowly pulling her boot off from her, then providing the same amount of care.
"Wh-why are you doing that, Ruby?" Weiss whispered as her blush deepened, her sole tingling from where Ruby's thumbs dug into its vulnerable flesh. "A-ah! Stop that, c-come on, why in Remnant would you touch my dirty feet like this?"
"Cause you've been on them all day, right? Cause you're achy, tired, and slightly grumpy. And a good foot rub helps me when I'm the same, so why not try?" She smiled, continuing the soft work on her arches for a little longer, until she stopped. She could make it even better. "Want your back, too?"
"B-but... aren't you disgusted?" Weiss protested, glancing down at the hands resting on her ankles. "Forgive me, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but aren't you supposed to be my superior on this team? If any of us should be doing that for the other, it should be..."
However, she couldn't finish her sentence. The very idea of touching Ruby's skin anywhere made her ears begin to glow with embarrassment. She really was going around the bend. They both were.
"I'm a leader, Weiss. Not a boss. We're all equal, so we all need to pamper one another." She moved to sit by her shoulders, only to then place her hands on either side of her spine. Palms gently began to dig into her shoulder blades, while the fingers also dug into the skin.
"Besides, what's a leader if her team is all sore, hmm?"
Weiss groaned as the muscles in her back initially protested her partner's ministrations. Apparently, the stress her father caused was greater than she realized, for she didn't even know her muscles had been tensed before Ruby started kneading them. "But I... y-you don't have to..."
"I know. I want to." She smiled, continuing the movements a little lower, pressing into the tense muscles of her shoulder blades. For how elegant Weiss was, she was more than surprised at how well toned her muscles were. In fact, it was rather pleasing to look at. However, her partner's reaction was even more pleasing than the sight of her body - not that she would tell her that. Instead she asked, even with the answer being obvious, "That good?"
"It is," Weiss sighed dreamily, relaxing into the feeling. Part of her still wanted to tell Ruby to leave her alone, and she knew it was because she would now feel somewhat indebted to the younger student, but she was having an awful enough day and the massage felt so good that she could rationalise worrying about paying her back later. Her toes wiggled to test the muscles there after the treatments that were given to her feet. And she found they now felt so much better. Surely by default, her body would feel fantastic when this was through.
"How... did you get so good at this?"
"I've had plenty of practice. We trained hard with dad and we'd all help each other out if we're aching. Yang's pretty good, too! But she'll make your eyes water. She digs in too hard..." Her hands moved to her sides, just under her arms to get right into her shoulders with the palms of her hands. "Wow... You are really tense!"
All Weiss could manage now was a weak nod and a slight moan. Ruby's hands felt so good! Her arms slid up and underneath her pillow as her teammate pressed between muscle tissue, loosening knots she never knew existed. Her head began to swim and her heart thudded in her chest. What was this feeling supposed to be?
Once she had loosened up enough, Ruby's hands began to soften, merely just moving around on her once-aching muscles so as to pay her some well needed attention. It was a little different to what she would usually do, but she didn't mind. If it was helping Weiss feel good, that's what mattered.
"Could you..." Weiss fell silent. Already, she was beginning to feel the familiar gnawing of guilt settling into the pit of her stomach. She had no right to ask for anything further.
But Ruby persisted. "Hmm?"
Squirming, she shrugged. "It's nothing." But Ruby stayed completely still, waiting. "Alright, I was going to ask if you could do my calves, but it's r-really not necessary."
She looked down to Weiss's legs. Perfectly smooth, as elegant as the heiress herself. How did she expect anything less? But this was slightly unknown territory to her. She only knew how to do feet and shoulders.
"I can give it a try. Never done legs before, though."
"That's fine, Ruby. I said you didn't have to, and you don't."
"No no! I want to try. If it'll help you, then why not?" Shuffling back down toward her legs, she placed her hands on her left and gently kneaded into the muscles again, fingers moving in circular motions.
Instantly, a flush spread over Weiss's cheeks. Somehow, she had not been expecting to feel quite so gratified at her attempt. In fact, there was a tingling deep in the pit of her stomach. Her back arched slightly and her toes curled, and she felt the muscles in her rear end clench.
"Ohhhh, Ruby... if you decide a career as a huntress is not in your future, I think we've... found an alternate path for you, mmMMmhh..."
"Heh, I'm glad I'm doing okay at it," she chuckled, then moving on to her right leg, leaning over her to press down into the muscle. It was gratifying to feel the muscles loosen at her firm touch. And the noises coming from her "patient" were enough to make her blush... yet they were the same as if she were to massage her sister, or her father. Or even if she would ever massage Blake. Why, when these noises came from the heiress specifically, did they make her cheeks glow crimson? What was this madness?
"More," Weiss panted as he breathing grew ragged, burying her face in the pillow and causing her voice to become more muffled. "Ohhh Ruby, you dolt! DOLT!"
The way she sounded even made her own face burn, but in the moment she was beyond caring. All she wanted was for this feeling to continue, for her tension to be washed away by caring hands.
She continued, eager to please her partner. If anything, the noises she made now caused her to giggle. It was amusing to unnerve the heiress this much, considering how uppity she was usually. "That good, huh? I'll have to remember this."
"You'll do no such thing." When Ruby's hands stilled, she rolled over lazily, legs draping over Ruby's lap as she gazed up at her friend, relaxed and contented. "Now massage my front, Servant."
"Massage your... Wuh?" She tilted her head again. She hadn't a clue how to start this time; her father, nor her sister, had ever done that type of massage. "H-how?"
Scoffing, Weiss flapped a weak hand. "Like I'm the masseuse here. Just get on with it so I can take a well-deserved nap, okay?"
"I... um... okay." She shifted again so Weiss's legs ended up back on the bed, moving back up to place her hands on Weiss's shoulders, pressing her thumbs near her collar bone to ease the muscles. "Really never done the front before..."
"I understand and accept your inexperience. Carry on."
The minute Ruby was hanging over her and digging her fingers into her shoulders, Weiss began to feel a bit stranger. Not by much, at first; she was simply grateful for more attention to her tense body, glad to accept the deep calm left behind.
With a nervous chuckle, she continued to knead her thumbs into the tense muscles, paying extra attention to her shoulders and neck, the areas that always got the most tense. Mainly she was relying on her instincts, having had no experience in the past.
With each passing second, Weiss began to arch her back upward into Ruby's attentions, eyes closing in bliss, a vague smile on her lips as she sighed against her touch. It was extremely nice; much nicer than she would have expected from the fledgling brat.
"Am I doing okay?" Ruby asked yet again. Anyone would have assumed the smile meant a yes, but Ruby always liked to be told she was doing well, to keep her confident in any task. Not that pleasing her friend in this way was a chore at all. In fact, it was probably the nicest thing she could think of. Certainly a welcome distraction from her homework.
It started to seem a bit stranger when Weiss's hands began to pass idly over her stomach while Ruby's continued their work on her shoulders. Then down across her thighs and up into the center of her chest - all the while, letting out soft sighs of pleasure.
"You're doing... fine," Weiss sighed, almost as an afterthought.
Gazing down at Weiss's movements, the girl blushed even further. Was the heiress... receiving pleasure from this? The movements were those similar to the odd nights when the leader would explore her own body; mostly out of boredom. And yet Weiss felt the urge to do that right now?
It was too much for her to handle, and she didn't even have her cape to hide under. She took her hands away suddenly, using them to cover her face. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just too nervous about doing your front. I'm sorry."
"Hm?" One of Weiss's eyes slit open sleepily. "What do you mean?" Shrugging idly, she rolled over onto her side. "I suppose I've asked enough of you, though. You may be finished now."
"O-okay. Sorry, again..." Quickly shuffling away, she sat back on the edge of the bed again, reaching immediately down to remove her own boots. That way she could avoid Weiss looking at her face, avoid her noticing the visible blush upon it. She couldn't even finish a simple massage without feeling strange, feeling heat in her cheeks. Was she... crushing on her?
"Hey Ruby..."
"Y-yeah?" she stuttered, pulling off one of her boots. Maybe she knew what was happening, why Ruby had to stop. Tightening her eyes shut, she braced for the worst.
"Have you ever thought about what's going to happen to us?" She rolled to idly watch Ruby change into her own pyjamas. "After Beacon. Do you think we could continue to operate as a team, or are we going to be assigned... to separate places?"
There was a wave of relief that flowed through Ruby with that question. Thank God, Weiss thought no less of her. Once her boots were off, she went to her own wardrobe. Unlike Weiss's, hers was extremely messy. Nothing was folded, it was all in one mound. Still, finding her pyjamas was easy enough.
She thought about Weiss's question for a while. Their team was such a solid unit. They worked; their personalities were perfectly suited. Why would they want to go separate ways? Ruby certainly didn't. But the future was uncertain. Especially with the amount of danger around them.
"I... I don't know."
With a sigh, Weiss watched Ruby's smooth legs slip into cottony pants and found herself wondering if she could massage them as effectively; if her hands were built to be able to do so. Why she wanted to was beyond her reasoning, other than it was a debt she would like paid off. They really were quite shapely.
"You're so..." What had she been about to say? Thinking back over their conversation, she decided it must have been about the future of their team. "You're an asset in any battle situation; I can't deny that. Hopefully we'll stay a single unit in the future."
"Yeah... I hope so too." She turned her back to Weiss, slowly pulling her shirt over her head and off. At least this way, she could additionally take off her bra without Weiss seeing anything. Grasping her pyjama top, she chuckled again. "Really hope so, cause I think Yang and Blake enjoy their 'Bumblebee' move too much. And we gotta work on 'Ice Flower'."
"Right, Ice Flower. I still think we should have named it... White... Rose..." Now Weiss found her eyes fixated on Ruby's smooth, lightly-toned back. Thinking about kneading her hands against that was equally tempting. Tempting? Her mind was beginning to confuse her, so she shut her eyes briefly and forced herself to focus on Ruby's words instead. "I'm s-sure if anyone can find a way to keep us all together, it's you, fearless leader."
"You're complimenting me..." She slid her top over her shoulders, finally looking back around to the heiress. By now, her blush was much less obvious, only now a speck of pink dust was left on her cheeks. One that can easily be blamed on the kind words. "That's kinda scary. I'm usually used to you calling me a Dolt."
"Well, don't get used to it," Weiss said gruffly. Then she drew Ruby's cloak around herself more tightly. She couldn't bring herself to let it go. Not yet. "You... don't mind me borrowing this for tonight? Not that I need it."
"Sure! I'm in my pyjamas anyway, I don't need it 'til tomorrow." With a quick leap, she hopped back into her own bed, moving the books right to one end so they were out of her way. After so much homework, she too was beginning to feel tired. It was still only early, yet she was ready to sleep the night away. "Has been a long day."
The room had just begun to lapse into a slumberful silence when Weiss whispered, "Ruby?"
"Mmm?" The noise came out as a sleepy groan as she settled herself under her sheets, nuzzling into her pillow.
"Not that I really asked for your help, but... thank you." She hadn't meant to preface those words of gratitude with any qualifier, but she couldn't help it; Schnees didn't offer thanks and didn't apologise unless absolutely necessary. It was hard for her to fight that nature, but she tried. "For everything today."
The girl was too sleepy to respond properly. All she could do was nuzzle into the pillow further, a smile spreading to her face. It was possibly the closest thing to a compliment she would receive from her partner.
Possibly.
To Be Continued
