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Natalie found humor in the idea of her teaching someone so educated anything. More, she just felt like it was concern for someone so dedicated that might need the reminder to look after herself instead of driving herself into the ground through pure willpower.
Silence was comfortable, and so Natalie made no effort to break it. The passing moments were easily occupied by the woman sitting across from her. She could stare for hours. Days, likely, even if she hadn't had a gaze as sharp as Teddy's.
Of course she'd say yes; why Teddy bothered to ask was beyond her. Perhaps it was a kind of courtesy. Natalie was so nice and she deserved every instance of it in return. If nothing else, it was like a warning.
In the quiet before she did ask, she had to smile. And her lips pressed together to try and keep it from being so blatant. But she knew she'd be caught. Again, she didn't know why she bothered.
Really, Natalie hadn't known what to expect was to come. Her eyes were drawn to the particular curve of Teddy's lips; how her smile had managed to come through despite any attempt to try and hide it. When they parted to speak, her gaze returned to the bright set of eyes hiding behind lenses.
"When you sat down next to me, I almost couldn't believe it." She confessed with a little laugh. "You're so beautiful, and you could have talked to anyone." It was her initial reaction, and though it could have sufficed, she thought the lawyer deserved more. Especially considering how she had requested to ask this question. It deserved the respect of a well rounded response. "And you were so sweet." She still was, and Natalie hoped that was apparent in her tone. "You're so interesting, and caring, and attentive."
The corner of her mouth drew upward. "Why do you ask?"
Teddy didn't know what to expect, but the attitude she received was so refined. It was so like Natalie to lay everything out for the lawyer like she deserved so much. She was open and honest and didn't stop where most people would have. She tried; that was enough within itself.
That small threat of a smile had her looking.
"Curious." She admitted, softly, like a single word could combat everything she was just given. She looked up again.
Because Teddy was so good at things like this. She was adept at dragging her own emotional process out of her questioning. Except her shoulders rose with every breath she took.
"Now that you know me a little better?" She asked anyway, tilting her head to the side a fraction, "What do you think now? Has any of that changed?"
This was hardly helping her counterpart with the work that required her to stay so late, but Natalie couldn't help but to comply. It was easy to talk about her thoughts on the lawyer, even right in front of her, only except that it made her heart rate elevate. She exhaled through her mouth, practicing every bit of meditative training to control it, but to little avail.
"It's more of an expansion upon those thoughts," Natalie said after a few moments. "You're wonderful. Talented. So smart. And you have all these emotions that come out and they just take me completely. Even when you're worried about balancing your work and personal life, you're still so caring. I feel it."
She sucked in another breath, if only to stop herself from going too far. "And what do you think about me, then?"
The thoughtful nature that overtook her counterpart's features was something Teddy couldn't stop herself from studying. Small points of silence forced her to communicate in different ways, even if Natalie was completely unaware of what she gave. In the end, it wasn't even necessary, just a habit Teddy struggled to break. She gave everything so willingly.
It was a complete reversal to what she'd been told to review about herself not all that long ago. She was supposed to give more. Need less questions. Be less of a lawyer, basically, of all things.
She should have expected her own line of questioning to be flipped. "What do I think?" They weren't Teddy's first words, but they were hers. "I thought it was outrageous that such a gorgeous woman was actually sitting on her own, but I could understand why. You look flawless, and there aren't a lot of people who think they can sit next to that." She offered, answering the unasked question. It seemed only fair, even if she hadn't been remotely pushed for the information. That was her initial thought, and she'd always keep it.
"I think you're too good for... Everything." Teddy admitted finally. Too good; it was perfect. "Kind and thoughtful and selfless. Genuine." It was so hard to find. The fade of her smile indicated nothing but the seriousness of her own accusation; "I'm the first to admit that I'm an egomaniac and that you, probably, don't have an ego at all." If she did, she'd never seen it.
But she did smile for her. She deserved it. Earned it, even. A hand reached up, slow to press fingers to the frame of her glasses and ease them off. They settled against the desk gently; "I think that you - Natalie - are an obsession, and that I am lucky to have you."
Natalie should have better prepared herself for what was to come. She'd heard the compliments Teddy offered when she could, and in those times they were overwhelming. When they stacked up as they did now, they consumed her entirely. The controlled breaths she was trying to take were wavering, hands sinking back into her lap as they squeezed each other. It was so much to take in, and all coming at her so suddenly. She knew her face gave it away, but she made no attempt to hide it.
It was a sort of affection that she never thought could really exist. Something out of a book or movie. Yet there it was, and now her heart was drumming in her ears with elation.
"I-" Her sentence broke, tongue running along the length of her lips. "You have this magnetic pull to you. I always want to be near you."
There was a bold point to her lack of an aided eyesight. Teddy removed the one thing that gave her such a leg up in situations like these on her off days, but fortunately for her, every new signal Natalie was firing off was obvious. It didn't take a perfect, polished vision to see the difficulty in mere breathing. For Teddy, giving out compliments was easy when they were so factual.
A fractured sentence was given to her in a reply, forcing her eyes to drop to her mouth as she clearly hoped for some aid in getting the right words out. Magnetic pull was right, and though she didn't repeat it, she could understand it. "I did ask you to stay." She reasoned instead, hoping it would sell the mutual point for her. It was Natalie who tried to leave without force.
Uncrossing her legs then, she finally eased herself out of her seat and moved to breach the distance between them.
The lawyer had a valid point, and Natalie could see it without aid of being so obvious. There was a mutual feeling in that, and when Teddy rose to her feet, Natalie felt herself doing the same, if only to try and meet her part way. Because as hard as she tried not to be a disturbance of her work, they were past that point and her palms ached with the urge to reach out to her. They pressed to the small of Teddy's back to draw her in as close as she could.
And once she was close enough, she kissed her. Slowly, lightly. Like she could savor every detail of the feeling and make it last for decades.
"An obsession." She breathed against her eventually.
Teddy knew the second she left her seat she was starting something she wasn't sure she knew how to dismantle. Coupling the serious level their conversation had reached with anything physical felt like a danger. Hands were gentle against her back as they worked to ease her through any remaining distance. They matched the sweet severity of her lips perfectly.
It carried far more weight than something rushed or chaste, and she held it for as long as she could. Separation in any stage had her hands reaching out finally, slow to track up her arms like every point mattered. Those little words given told her that finally they were understood, despite the fact that this wasn't the first time Teddy had tried to articulate it.
"How am I supposed to leave without you?" She asked her, quietly despite the obvious privacy of the empty office space they shared. After all this, going home alone felt ridiculous.
Understanding came in the form of her own perspective. She could feel it in her own blood; how she often thought of the lawyer. How she always longed to be with her. And here, how she could barely handle being only a few feet away from her. Even though her vision blurred with the close proximity between them, she still tried to look. Because she deserved every ounce of attention that she could give her.
"Then come home with me." She answered far too easily. It was already burning in her mind, but responsibility to Teddy's job had kept her quiet. She knew how important her work was, but she was weak when words like that hit her ears. "Please." Though, she knew the strain in her request wasn't needed to persuade, it was important to convey.
Looking to her immediate future, Teddy tried her best to see a solution in this exact moment. After the weight of it all - after how effected she clearly seemed - who was she to leave her on her own? Natalie had just called her out for her caring nature, and going home alone felt like the exact opposite. Hands found their way to her shoulders, looped around her neck to keep her close. She kept her own eyes closed. For someone so used to relying on sight, it was the one thing she didn't want to use. It could spoil everything.
And then after all the pressure put to leave, she offered the simplest suggestion. Once taken off the table, it was fresh in her mind again. Parted lips barely brushed her own, applying next to no pressure in a phantom kiss before she eased back a fraction.
As she felt the faintest brush of lips against her own, Natalie closed her own eyes. It almost felt like a tease, and she wanted to chase her for something more solid. Though words spoke with as much physical conviction as a kiss could have. Natalie lost the air in her lungs completely, her warm breath dusting against the lawyer's lips.
Given the events of today, she hadn't expected to find herself so tangled up like this, but it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Teddy was wonderful. Perfect, even. She couldn't help the way she was drawn to her.
Kissed again and the connection had her mind reeling. It was hard to consider breaking apart for anything in that moment; she'd spent all the time being so good with a literal piece of furniture between them. Without the forced block, it seemed so wrong to maintain any kind of break.
But she did, because someone had to. Those hands shifted back down to press against her chest, lightly forcing a little piece of space between them.
"We should go." Teddy pointed out then, like the thought had somehow left their minds the longer they waited.
It was so easy to get caught up that Natalie almost forgot where they were. Her hands applied pressure to try and keep the lawyer close, but with the first sign of distance coming from her counterpart, dark eyes opened as she eased herself back, though only a fraction. Anything more might be the death of her, but reason filtered in the space created between them, and as breathless as she was, she still nodded.
"Right." Because she absolutely was.
Still, she kissed her again, and it was longer than it really should have been, given the agreement. When she pulled away, her arms were slow to drop.