Resolution

"You said earlier that the person you become isn't you. I'm beginning to think there's more there than what it sounds like on the surface." Betsy's eyes narrowed in speculation. "Who are you when you're in a scene, and who do you want to be?"

Weiss paused, completely unsure how to answer the question. Who was she in a scene? 'I'm submissive' wasn't the answer. That applied to both parts of the question. She wanted to be submissive. She liked it, even if she didn't really understand why. She fought against it sometimes, sure, but in the end she was the perfect pet. She had to be the perfect pet. It wasn't even a real choice.

That wasn't true though. She had chosen to be like that for Ruby. Everything was for Ruby. Ruby's happiness was all that mattered to Weiss anymore. It was the least she could do for the happiness and acceptance that Ruby had given her. Her own preferences hadn't mattered after that. Besides, wasn't that also part of being a submissive, to be sure her Domme was satisfied?

And the truth of the matter was being submissive to Ruby did make her happy. She didn't understand it completely, but it was there. This day and the myriad of emotions, most of them positive, was proof of that. The kicker was the amount of trust she had freely given, even when things had been unclear to her. This was Ruby's world that Weiss was still learning.

Betsy sat and waited for her to process the question patiently, the smile once again returning. When Weiss came once again to herself she waited a bit more until the words formed in Weiss's mouth. "Right now I'm the perfect pet, or close to it. I growl a bit when we first start, but after that I'd do anything she'd ask without thinking."

"A door mat," Betsy supplied, then elaborated. "Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a perfect pet who does all she can to please her Master. That's mostly the norm actually, but is that what you want to be?"

Weiss bristled at being referred to as a door mat, then calmed down. She was. She'd just admitted it herself, just in different words. Might as well explain that wasn't who she wanted to be. All of her reasons to be that doormat were true, but that wasn't all she wanted to be. There was more. It wasn't like Betsy hadn't already figured it out.

"I want to be submissive to Ruby in a scene, but not that type of submissive. Is it possible to fight back and still be a sub?" Of course it was possible. Brats and SAMs were brought up a few times when Ruby first introduced her to their game. It's why she felt it was okay to fight back a bit at the start of a scene. Ruby never pushed the subject however. She'd never pushed any subject or ideas to give her an idea of what she liked actually. She'd tell Weiss what things were, but not what she wanted. That was for Weiss to guess. Then again, had she been any better?

With a chuckle her friend agreed (When did she decide Betsy was a friend?). "That's more the type of submissive I pictured you as. Of course you can. What's Ruby been teaching you all this time?"

"Well.., that's been mentioned as a thing. Just not Ruby's thing."

"Have you asked?"

She'd tried. She'd tried many times and always chickened out. It was easier to read between the lines than look ungrateful. Of course Ruby would want a good submissive. She was a Domme after all.

Betsy translated Weiss's silence correctly, and asked her next question. "Why? What are you afraid she'd tell you?"

Could she be afraid? Well, of course she could be. Everyone experienced fear, Huntsmen more than most in the line of their jobs. But afraid of Ruby? No. Never afraid of her. Weiss was afraid of what Ruby would say though. What if, as she thought earlier, she was reading things right. Would Ruby interpret Weiss questioning as a sign of discontent?

Worse, what if she wasn't good enough? Weiss couldn't take that, so she only tried harder rather than ask and find out if Ruby was disappointed. If Ruby would prefer to find someone more like Nora or Betsy.

Involuntarily tears started, and it only added anger to the swirling winds and flames of her emotions. Damn insecurity! This wasn't her either. Where was the real her anymore? When did she become so weak? Did love do that? Nora had once said that their engagement was based more on fear than on love several months ago. So fear was the culprit. Love was what caused that fear though. How could something so paradoxical be real?

And what had been the answer the lovers came up with? Just give it time.

The smile had once again disappeared from Betsy's face at the obvious signs of Weiss's distress. She didn't interrupt though. She waited as she had with every other emotional moment until Weiss was ready.

In a whisper made necessary by the choking emotions Weiss admitted her fear. "What if she isn't happy with me..."

"Then she isn't," Betsy replied instantly. "Do you think she'll be happy when she finds out about what you've been doing out of fear?"

Weiss had memorized the shape and colors of the grain in the wood table. She continued to study it.

It would definitely be a 'when' that Ruby figured it out. Dense was a kind word for how Ruby was sometimes, but she did catch on eventually. The fact she'd arranged this meeting meant she already knew something was up.

Speaking of, Betsy was hiding something from Weiss. Nothing sinister, but something that was pertinent to the conversation. Weiss just couldn't pick out what it was.

"She wouldn't," Weiss sighed, "but does it matter? If I'm right she'll find someone else eventually."

The most negative expression Betsy had given during the short time Weiss had known her was a slight frown. This frown was much worse, and the annoyed eyes were all for Weiss's answer. "You do understand she loves you? She's loved you since before she came to Deviations the first time. Loved you longer than her relationship, if you want to call it that, with Nora."

Of course she did, but Weiss wasn't a hopeless romantic like Blake. Love came and went, and it was based on what you knew, or thought you knew, of the one you loved. What you know changes as you learn more about them, and as they themselves change. What Ruby saw and had expected could change. Ruby herself admitted she had wanted to Dominate Weiss, and she had. That first time Weiss had been perfect. Never fighting back or giving any kind of flack. That's what Ruby had known of her. Weiss couldn't risk changing that dynamic. No, never.

Rather than answer that, Weiss asked a different question to run from her fears. "What do you mean 'if you could call it that?'"

"We'll get there, don't worry," Betsy deflected. "So we're back to your insecurity then?"

"My reality."

That was met with a snort. "Perception is reality," Betsy acknowledged, "but your perception sucks. Open up those damned eyes of yours!"

A few deep breaths from her friend before Betsy continued a bit calmer. "I'm not going to tell Ruby, I did promise, but also as promised I'm going to tell you to talk to her yourself. It'd be better from you anyways. Do it, or this will explode in both of your faces and neither of you will come out happy."

Weiss really did love Ruby, and what she took away from that last sentence proved it beyond any doubt. It wasn't that neither would come out happy. It was that Ruby wouldn't come out happy. How selfish had Weiss been, scared for herself that Ruby would move out of her life? Wasn't that better if it meant Ruby would be happier?

Again the tears started. She couldn't remember crying this much since being disowned. She had been weak, unable to shoulder the possibility that Ruby might leave her. She couldn't do that any longer to Ruby. Silently she nodded to indicate not just her understanding, but her agreement to do what was necessary.

"How did you get me to talk so much?" Weiss asked quietly, remembering how she wasn't sure she could say anything at all when they were first introduced.

"Because you needed to and were ready to," Betsy replied simply. "I'm just the one to be there. It was an honor."


Looking over the spreader bars Ruby frowned. They would definitely do the trick, and the setup would allow for multiple combinations. It lacked a certain elegance however. Well, it was a beta version. She could make a second set later and refine it further.

She'd spent longer working on it than intended, that perfectionist tendency coming to the fore. She figured if Weiss needed anything there was her scroll, and nothing meant that things were still progressing. Was the problem I sensed really complicated enough to require this much time though? she asked herself.

Setting all the pieces into the duffel that would be their home for the rest of the semester Ruby headed back to the front door, a feeling of anxiety she couldn't place starting to creep into her awareness.

Hans was sitting at the desk as she passed through. "Done?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah. Might show it off tonight if things go right," Ruby said cheerfully, but not giving anything else away.

The bouncer didn't press. Walking passed him and into the bar proper, she made a left and headed into the ladies changing area. She had an outfit there waiting that she was itching to put on. Up until that night the closest to BDSM clothes her and Weiss had used was some leather cuffs. Ruby had stayed dressed in street clothes, Weiss had been naked after gracefully stripping (Ruby had been right, her body had been capable of so much more than she had seen their first time together! So much more). It was long on the list of things they couldn't get away with with roommates.

That feeling of anxiety refused to go away however, and she needed a boost in confidence to combat it. The leather Dominatrix gear that somehow showed almost no skin yet accentuated everything, was just the cure. She wondered how Weiss would react, and was hopeful it would be positive.

She left the duffel in the locker her clothes were in before leaving the changing area. From there she headed towards the corner booth and felt her heart sink as she made out the tears on Weiss's cheeks. It was worse than Ruby had suspected then. She paused, getting ready to head back to the bar and leave them to their private talk when Betsy caught her eye as she started to stand up. Their talk was over, but Ruby's part wasn't.

As Betsy headed towards Ruby she stopped. "Tell her the truth. All of the truth. She needs it."

With those words Betsy headed back to the bar leaving Ruby to puzzle out what truth she was talking about. She didn't think she had lied to Weiss, ever. Well, except that one thing. It would come out eventually, but not yet. Their relationship was still too knew. And besides, Betsy didn't know about that small omission.

It bothered Ruby however, because for the first time in their history Betsy looked like she was angry with her. Her Domme armor suddenly didn't feel nearly as impregnable. That look meant she'd messed up somehow, and done so badly. Her worst fear was right then; Weiss's problems and pain was caused by her, and in a way that she should have known she was doing it.

Ruby had no illusions about her failings. One of the biggest is she didn't pick up on things very quickly sometimes. She'd worked to be vigilant towards her relationship with Weiss though. That she had missed this, if it was as obvious as it seemed to be, said she hadn't been vigilant enough.

Nervous... No afraid of what was to happen, Ruby approached the table and noted Weiss frantically dotting away any signs of her tears with her ever present wet wipes. Her hand dived into her purse for what Ruby had no doubt was going to be a compact, but looking up Weiss realized she didn't have time before Ruby was there.

"Um... Nice clothes," Weiss started, looking over Ruby's outfit. It was only a distraction though as Weiss looked only at Ruby's legs and never gave Ruby a chance to look into her eyes. Whatever was going on Weiss still wasn't ready to talk to her about it, but those few words from Betsy told her it needed to be sai. Whatever it was had started with her and something she had done, or hadn't done, or said, or just about anything. What it could be though... Her mind could only latch on to one thing and it was something that only Nora could know. Nora wouldn't break that confidence, of that Ruby was sure of.

Sighing, Ruby sat across from Weiss and asked "so I know this has everything to do with me and something I've done." She decided to go about finding out what that something was in a less direct way, a style she wasn't known for. "Why can't you talk to me about it?"

Weiss looked up and Ruby saw a massive amount of conflicting emotions warring in her eyes. "I'm angry and I don't want to say something I don't mean because of it. I'm scared because I don't know how you'll take it even if I do say it all right. Because I don't want to make you unhappy, especially if opening up doesn't solve anything except to create wounds. I want things to stay the same, but I need things to change, and change scares anyone. I'm afraid that I might not..." Weiss paused in her monologue, which the monologue alone showed how deep the wounds were. That she stopped so suddenly meant she'd almost said too much. The thing that was most important to be said.

"I'm already hurting Weiss," Ruby whispered. "I can see, could see for a long time, that you were hurting and I couldn't help. I was always shut out even when you tried to open up."

Her love's eyes returned downwards. "Am I what you want in a pet?" Weiss asked unexpectedly.

Understanding struck her to the core, leaving her heart shaking. Tell her the truth she'd been told. Betsy more than anyone else, knew the truth. "You aren't everything I could want, but more than I could ever hope for," she said, hoping that, like Weiss, the words were taken right. How they could be taken right Ruby didn't know. Had Weiss noticed? She couldn't say anything of course. It had been Weiss's road to explore. All Ruby should do is explain the terrain. That the road hadn't gone perfectly down the path Ruby had wanted had always been possible. Likely even.

And it wasn't like it had been bad. It had been heavenly. As she had said, it was more than she had ever expected it to be.

It had been taken badly. Weiss's crestfallen expression said it all. That was the hard part of the truth though. Now that Weiss knew something was off, something Ruby had tried hard to prevent, the rest came out much easier. "You aren't as feisty as I expected though."

Weiss's eyes snapped back to Ruby's face, a look of shock and surprise brighter than any Ruby had ever seen on her before. "But... You're a Domme!"

"Who wants to Dominate a puppet though?" Ruby explained. "I mean, a lot, but I'm not one of them. How can I feel any kind of pride over my abilities that way?"

This is why Betsy would know. She'd hit on Ruby as soon as she learned that her and Nora weren't a couple, which was long enough for Ruby to know that Betsy did nothing for her. Too chipper, and too ready to please.

The confusion never left Weiss's eyes. "You want a brat then? But... when you told me about them you never really showed any interest."

She'd been so intent on letting Weiss learn what she wanted to be that she'd never, not once, given Weiss an idea of what Ruby wanted. Of course that went both ways here as Weiss had never asked. Communication, or a lack of it, was the killer in any form of relationship. "What do you want then?"

At last, the confusion was gone. "Brattier than I have been, that's for sure!" That was the smile that Ruby had missed. It was the sass that she had always hoped to hear as well.

"Tell me about my pet. The real one." Her own smile was brighter than it had been as well.