I'd wanted to write some more for Henceforth AU and I got a small White Rose idea. It's not much, and I've written White Rose tickles before, but I hope you enjoy it in this AU with a few added tidbits~

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. Henceforth AU is created by Kumafromtaiwan.

A Small Fee

After a long and arduous day of handling incompetent workers, attending presentations, writing speeches, avoiding the propaganda that coupled with the intrusive media, and of course working on the seemingly-never-ending pile of boring - but very necessary - paperwork, as head of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with a book and rest peacefully.

She'd more or less stumbled into her quarters after supper that evening and shed her coat and work clothes in the record time of five seconds, as opposed to the five minutes it took her to put them all on every morning.

After a long, warm shower where she'd sung a bit in her privacy, she'd slipped into the long-sleeved loose shirt and pants of her sleep clothes, kept her damp hair down to dry, and sat heavily down on her personal queen-sized bed.

With a sigh, she pulled her hair over one shoulder to avoid sitting on it, then reached for the book on her nightstand. Feeling tired but accomplished, she opened the tome and prepared to read for a while until she was ready for bed.

If she had her way, this would be the routine every night – peace, quiet, and tranquility.

Although, there were some nights when such an atmosphere would be interrupted, usually by the slam of a slung-open door and a cry of-

"Weiss~!"

She groaned.

No sooner had she gotten halfway down the first page of her book when the door she could've sworn she'd locked flew open and a familiar red figure darted in.

She was already dressed in her crimson nightgown, feet bare as though she already knew exactly what she wanted – to come into this room and not come out again until morning. Her flowing brown hair that rivaled Weiss' own in length whipped out behind her as she streaked across the room trailing petals, giggling like she might've ten years younger with her arms spread wide.

Weiss cringed, trying to brace herself for the impact of Ruby's zealous weight on top of herself.

But by some miracle, the girl managed to launch herself and land in the vacant space next to Weiss, wrinkling the pristine white sheets and blankets with her unruly enthusiasm which seemed inappropriate for such a late hour of the evening. The bed bounced as soon as she landed, and Weiss' book fell right out of her lap.

The white-haired girl sighed heavily and rolled her eyes as Ruby rolled around on the bed beside her, enjoying the plush of the comforters beneath her body. She giggled again before rolling over onto her back.

"Man, that never gets old! I'm gonna go again!"

She quickly sat up and threw her legs off the bed, preparing to dash back across the room and repeat the bed-bouncing process.

But a firm hand flashed out to secure her wrist, effectively keeping Ruby in place.

"Excuse me," Weiss grunted. "I wasn't aware of the fact that my room had suddenly turned into a children's ride at an amusement park. Riding again will cost you an additional fee."

Ruby hummed for a moment, leaning backward until her head was upside-down as she looked up at her girlfriend.

"Mmm, okay! I'll pay the fee then!"

Weiss was temporarily dumbfounded as Ruby tried to pull away from her again.

"Wait, Ruby stop, you dunce!" she demanded. With a tug, she pulled the girl flat on her back and held her shoulders down, pinning her to the mattress. The red huntress giggled again as she stared innocently up at the irked head of Schnee Dust.

"Aw, I was just kidding, Weiss~"

Again, Weiss sighed.

"Right..." Not willing to take any chances that might further endanger the springs in her mattress, Weiss kept Ruby pinned to the bed upside down from her standpoint, glaring down into those silver eyes. "Now, why exactly are you here?" she wondered.

"That's easy!" Ruby beamed up at her. "I came to cuddle, Weiss!"

"Of course you did."

"Aww, you don't want me here?" She sniffled and made her lower lip tremble pitifully. In the past, Weiss might've fallen for her act, but not tonight.

"Please spare me," she sighed, dragging Ruby closer so her head rested in Weiss' lap now.. "But... since you've already come all the way here, I suppose there's no point in sending you away. You know, to your own room that I had specifically prepared for you. The room you never seem to use unless you're physically unconscious and I lock you in there myself?"

Ruby chuckled, grinning sheepishly. Weiss leaned over her, wearing a disapproving look, her long loose hair slipping over the front of her shoulder and falling onto Ruby's.

But she wasn't angry. She couldn't be right now with Ruby.

Of course there were times when the girl's recklessness caused Weiss to panic, which would consequently lead to anger, but ultimately relief.

But right now, Weiss was rather glad to have her company. It was a bit chilly tonight, after all.

But she'd had Ruby pinned to the bed for nearly two minutes now, and the huntress was beginning to wonder if she'd ever be allowed up again.

"Uh, Weiss? Can I sit up, please?"

Weiss huffed.

"Fine. But first you pay your fee."

With a smirk, Weiss leaned over her girlfriend and pressed a kiss to her upside-down lips.

Ruby hummed, enjoying the new angle and perspective of this. Weiss' lips were cool, and the scent of shampoo and shower soap still radiated off of her. Her silky hair caressed the bare skin on Ruby's neck and collar that was exposed by her nightgown.

Closing her eyes, she savored Weiss' kiss, wiggling herself free of her girlfriend's grasp. Instead, she reached up and looped her arms around the back of Weiss' neck, gently pulling her down a little closer.

Weiss complied, stealing a quick breath before returning to Ruby's lips.

As a singer, her lungs were much more accustomed to expertly holding air for an extended amount of time, but Ruby had surprising stamina as well, enough that Weiss needed to cheat a little every now and again.

Only when she felt a small prickle in the top of her chest did she pull away, breathing a little hard, her eyes half-lidded as she looked sternly down at Ruby. The girl was blushing a bit, seeming content to use Weiss' lap as a pillow for the rest of the night.

In a daze, Ruby fluttered her eyes open and sighed happily.

"If that's the fee, then I definitely wanna bounce your bed again."

"Dunce."

Ruby giggled yet again, reaching up and backward a bit in an effort to touch Weiss from this angle. Her palms brushed over each of her girlfriend's sides and simply idled there.

It was a bit unexpected, and Weiss ended up jolting very slightly, letting out a small "ah!" sound.

Ruby's lips curled into a huge Cheshire smile when she heard the sound.

"Oooh~" she hummed. "Did that tickle?"

"Of course not. You just surprised me."

"Are you suuuure it didn't tickle, Weiss?"

"Ruby, I've never been surer of anything in my entire-"

"Take that!" Ruby cut her off and quickly squeezed each of Weiss' sides. The girl squeaked again, and this time small Dust crystals popped up all over her arms and shoulders.

"Ruby!"

"Heehee~" The huntress flipped herself onto her stomach and sat up on the bed, kneeling as she faced Weiss. "Weiss, you look like you've had a long day. You're too uptight. I think you need to relax and have a laugh."

"Ruby, I don't-"

"TICKLE ATTACK!"

"RUBY ROSE-"

But it was too late. Ruby was a huntress renown for her speed, and she tackled Weiss in a split second, knocking her down onto her back and trapping Weiss beneath herself.

With inhuman speed, she ran her fingers all up and down Weiss' sides, under her arms, and just about anywhere she could reach, cooing "Tickle, tickle, ticklllle~"

Weiss thrashed as she tried to defend herself, her body naturally trying to curl in on itself as the laughs were firmly coaxed from her lungs. But whenever Ruby wasn't restraining one of Weiss' arms or pinning her down to be tickled, her fingers were still fast enough to dart onto every unprotected inch of Weiss' skin.

Weiss tried to fight her, struggling as unrefined shouts of "Ruby- Ruby!" tumbled from her laughing lips.

But Ruby didn't let up, not until Weiss finally let go of her inhibitions and started to truly laugh.

She could tell by the way Weiss' eyes were closed, but not squeezed shut by force, and by the way her smile exposed her pretty white teeth and flawless lips. She wasn't just laughing from her body's natural reaction to the tickling now. She was laughing from her heart.

Weiss' merriment made Ruby laugh as well, and she continued her playful attack for another minute or so, until Weiss was helplessly begging for her to stop. Ruby relented, pulling her hands away, though she still sat on top of Weiss' thighs.

For a moment, she simply admired her. The refined Weiss Schnee now giggling on her bed like a kid, the Dust crystals she always strove so hard to hide now on full and colorful display, her clothes wrinkled and hair frazzled. She laughed for a while even after Ruby had stopped tickling her, eyes still closed with small tears clinging to the edges of her eyelashes.

Ruby leaned down and nuzzled their noses together, then gave her eskimo kisses, brushing their lashes together.

At that point, she laid herself down gently on top of her girlfriend as Weiss caught her breath. Ruby slipped her arms beneath Weiss' back, making sure to avoid the little crystals.

Weiss was speechless for a long moment, gasping softly, her heart thrumming quickly beneath Ruby's ear. After a moment, it slowed along with her breathing, and the prickling crystals started to sink back into her skin.

Only then did Weiss huff loudly and disapprovingly enough for Ruby to know she was in trouble now.

"Ruby-"

"Now, Weiss, you needed that and we both know it!"

"Ruby," Weiss growled again. "I'm afraid you'll have to be paying that additional fee after all."

But instead of kissing her, Weiss used a surge of strength to flip them both over, switching their positions. Ruby squeaked and cried out dramatically.

"Have mercy!"

"I'm afraid not."

With that, Weiss dove in for her counterattack, retaliating with just as much vigor as Ruby had shown her.

While Weiss had at least made an effort to stifle her girlish squeals, Ruby made no such effort. She squeaked and squealed loudly right from the start, wiggling and rolling all over the bed as she cried out Weiss' name in between laughs.

"W-Weiss, We~i~ss!"

Hearing her say it so choppily in between merry giggles, Weiss couldn't help but smile again, too.

She got her satisfaction of revenge for a moment or so, but it wasn't nearly as long as Ruby had gotten. Weiss had been planning on torturing her with tickles for at least five minutes, but Ruby was convulsive with her laugher and managed to escape Weiss' grasp.

Sitting up, Ruby wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Ohh, now you're gonna get it!"

Diving forward, she tackled Weiss all over again, and the Dust crystals appeared like a defense mechanism. Weiss shrieked as the assault was directed back onto herself, Ruby's weight bowling her over once again.

But she wasn't just the victim this time. Weiss made sure to get herself on top more than a few times as the two of them tussled. She took a brief moment to thank the fact that her door had closed on its own after Ruby had burst through it earlier, because if any of her staff managed to hear her like this at such an hour of the night, she'd never live it down.

Somewhere along the lines, they'd twisted and turned so their heads were nearest to the bottom of the bed now.

Ruby was on top for the moment, cheating a bit with her semblance to tickle Weiss' sides. Weiss tried to sit up and go for Ruby's stomach, but the brunette froze her in place with a shriek as she jumpstarted her. Weiss collapsed back onto the mattress and laughed in between gasps.

"Ha!" Ruby said triumphantly. "Ready to surrender?"

Weiss panted, glaring up at her girlfriend.

"In your dreams!"

With a twist of her lower body, Weiss used her knees to knock Ruby to the side, exposing her. She wasted no time in lunging forward to attack. It was Ruby's turn to squeak once again as the tables were turned.

And they turned several more times within the next several minutes.

It was all a bit difficult with the added obstacles of trying not to stab or be stabbed with Dust crystals, and trying not to accidentally yank one another's hair. The room was filled with the sounds of merry laughter for several long minutes, the bed and mattress creaking repeatedly beneath their shifting weight.

But by the time they were both getting sore and breathless, neither of them was paying attention to their positions on the bed.

Locked together, somebody moved and the other followed, and both of them felt their weight shifting over the edge. The giggling stopped abruptly just before they realized the fall was inevitable.

Down they went off the side of the bed, landing in a heap of limbs and hair with a resounding thud.

The laughs turned into moans as the impact registered on their sore sides, still locked in a tight embrace. The Dust crystals on Weiss vanished quickly as the thrashing motions of their tickle fight came to a sudden halt. Ruby groaned and reached a hand up to rub her head, blinking her eyes open slowly.

"Owwie... Ugh, my head..." She propped herself up onto her elbow and lifted herself up a few inches, looking Weiss over quickly. "Weiss, you okay?"

Weiss was winded, her breath coming quickly in short, clipped little gasps. She opened her eyes with a wince but held up her index finger, indicating to Ruby that she needed a minute.

Ruby whimpered sympathetically and slid closer to her, pulling Weiss in gently. She rubbed her back and kissed her temple, running her hands through Weiss' soft hair as the girl caught her breath again. As she waited, Ruby mused a bit out loud.

"I think you were winning there for a bit," she confessed. "Your tickling skills have improved a lot, Weiss!"

By now, Weiss could feel the air in her lungs again, and she gave a long sigh.

"Of course... I won..." she grunted.

Ruby chuckled and dipped down to kiss her cheek.

"Alright, alright, I surrender. You won, Miss Schnee."

"Don't... call me that..." she grumbled.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Or that."

"Okie-doki, Weiss!"

"Much better."

Once she was able, Weiss pushed herself up into a sitting position and Ruby followed. The huntress was still nursing a sore cheek from where she'd hit the floor, so Weiss leaned in and pressed a cool, healing kiss to it for her. Ruby sighed happily at the contact and leaned into it.

"Sorry about that," she mumbled, hugging Weiss in apology. "We kinda went overboard. Literally."

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Weiss admitted. "If not tonight, then it would've been tomorrow. It's fine. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Ruby took on a thoughtful expression for a moment as she rolled her shoulders and stretched out her legs before giving a thumbs up.

"Nope! I'm all good!"

"Alright then. Now as invigorating as all of this was, I think this is as clear a sign as any that it's time for bed."

"Agreed!"

Ruby hopped up to her feet and bowed down to offer Weiss her hand as though she were a knight bowing to a princess. Weiss rolled her eyes playfully and accepted nonetheless, readjusting her shirt and pants a bit before fixing the strap of Ruby's nightgown for her.

After picking up the book that had previously fallen and putting it back in place on the nightstand, Weiss moved across the room to close the curtains on one window as Ruby did the same thing for another.

Once done, they met back at the bed, but before Weiss sat down, she held out her hand invitingly to Ruby. The brunette wasted no time in spreading her arms and flopping down onto the mattress; it was already a mess from their fight, so it didn't make much of a difference anymore.

Ruby rolled over onto her back, still smiling.

"C'mon, Weiss! Come to bed~" She reached up for her and made grabbing motions with her hands.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming."

Weiss first flicked off the small beside lamp, shrouding the room in darkness where soft moonlight slipped through. She then willingly laid herself down beside Ruby, eager to feel the relief of that familiar softness.

The bed was certainly soft, as was the pillow, but there was something even better here now.

Ruby pulled her in, squishing her a tiny bit for emphasis. Weiss was sure to keep her Dust crystals in check as she was pulled on top of her girlfriend.

"Ahhh~" The huntress sighed, locking her fingers together at the small of Weiss' back. "You're the best blanket, Weiss."

"Dolt. We have actual covers, you know." Weiss reached to the side and pulled up the nearest comforter.

Normally she'd prefer to sleep properly in bed under the neat blankets and sheets that tucked into the mattress. But there was little hope for that now with the bed in this sorry state, and she couldn't find the energy to care anymore.

Weiss yanked the blanket free and pulled it up over herself with Ruby underneath. Once she was finished, Ruby immediately set to cuddling her again, nuzzling into Weiss' neck and shoulder.

"Weiss~ kiss meee pleeeease~"

The older girl sighed, slipping her hands up to Ruby's side and shoulder.

"Well, since you asked so nicely..."

Leaning down, she gave Ruby exactly what she wanted.

Eyes closed, they enjoyed one another's warmth for a long moment. Weiss focused on kissing her, while Ruby ran her hands gently up and down her back.

At one point, Ruby's fingers wiggled a bit on Weiss' side, and the white-haired girl paused the kiss for a warning.

"Ruby-"

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't trying to tickle, I swear!"

Weiss gave her a skeptical look, but decided to give her one more chance.

She kissed her again, and this time Ruby behaved.

As if by means of apology, Ruby actually gave her girlfriend a bit of a massage, kneading her fingers into the tight muscles in Weiss' back. Weiss sighed into the current kiss and reciprocated, also rubbing Ruby's shoulders and sides a little.

After the height of their energetic activities had worn off, their bodies began to slow down and relax. Their breathing deepened with the kisses, and their heartbeats slowed together.

Ruby could feel herself getting tired now and she patted Weiss' back a little. Weiss took the hint and pulled away from their kiss, blinking down into silver pools.

"Is this it for you?" she guessed.

Ruby yawned and nodded.

"Yeah... I'm sleeeepy." She squeezed Weiss gently. "You're so warm, Weiss~"

"Then let's sleep," Weiss murmured. "You've successfully paid your fee."

"Mm, you can overcharge me at anytime~" Ruby smiled. "I'll pay extra."

With a chuckle and one last peck to Ruby's soft red lips, Weiss shifted herself downward a bit. Ruby was still latched loosely onto her, keeping her in place, so she opted to humor the girl and remain as her makeshift blanket, despite the fact that there was a real one already right on top of them.

Weiss laid her head sideways on Ruby's shoulder, turning her face inward to nestle into her neck, feeling the softness of her long, dark hair.

Ruby burrowed up into Weiss' shoulder as well and pet through white tresses. She could feel Weiss' breathing slow down, and her heartbeat became softer.

Once Weiss had noted similar changes in her partner, she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Ruby."

Another yawn.

"Mm, g'night, Weiss..."

With the all-out tickle fight behind them, they soon fell into slumber, wrapped in a warmth greater than that of any blanket.

A/N: It's been a while since I've just written senseless fluff. Hope you enjoyed!

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