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As Olivia spoke to her, Teddy continued to offer her undivided attention. It seemed only fair, considering she had invited her to the table in the first place. Though she never put much effort into knowing her colleagues outside of work, even she had to admit there was a level of interest in the woman who acted so different outside of that regiment. Most lawyers she'd met throughout the years were themselves through and through, not the opposite.
Did she worry about repercussions within the workplace? Not really. She'd always been good at being the authoritative figure when it mattered most.
Eyes narrowed on her a touch as a smile pierced her lips. "I trust your judgement, Olivia." She declared, "I'm not sure how much you know about wine," She hardly wanted to make assumptions given her earlier choice of drink; "But a Merlot's perfect pairing is usually red meat. I'll stick with the filet mignon." And amongst the break, she made a point of taking another sip of the drink she still had.
"So tell me why you let that woman call you Livvy." She said lightly, curiosity barely sparking in her tone. Positive control when digging for information was definitely a lawyer thing.
Olivia simply nodded and smile at Teddy's response. She did know a little bit about wine pairings but she didn't want to make the egregious mistake of assuming someone was a meat eater. Besides, now she knew something about her boss that was useful and she didn't even have to ask.
When the waitress came, they gave the order and Olivia's attention was back on Teddy. She kind of saw the question coming and she gave the other woman a sheepish grin. "It's not like I hate the nickname. And...she's just being familiar I guess." She shrugged. Of course, she wasn't going to admit that she wanted Teddy to be the only one calling her by her full name. That was weird.
"Um...I don't mean to overstep but you did give me the opportunity to feed my curiosity...but, what made you relocate here?" Olivia asked, straightening her back and leaning forward.
Curiosity had so easily gotten the better of her. Perhaps it was because Teddy always stressed the importance of her own preferred name. If she had her way, there wouldn't be a soul in the world who knew her real name. Unfortunately, she could never be so lucky. The receptionist at the firm seemed to hand it out left, right and center.
"Familiarity is part of the game, after all." She declared. It wasn't as if they'd never used the same tactic. It won points so easily.
The question of her relocation wasn't such an odd one. Most people had asked her that the second they got a chance. It wasn't as if she kept it a secret; her accent was a dead giveaway that she didn't belong here. Thinking for a moment, she considered that a more personal reason was something this woman deserved. She was different.
"London was comfortable. It was... Predictable. My father had a huge reputation in the legal world there and I suppose I didn't like that everyone assumed I wasn't good enough on my own." Despite the negative connotations of their conversation, she didn't seem heavily effected by it. They were facts; facts she had been asked for, and facts she felt this person had deserved to here, "I fit a handful of minority categories, Olivia. It's hard enough being a woman in law. Everybody assumes you'll take things too personally and get emotional. But being gay made everyone assume every sexuality-based hate crime would be something I had to shy away from. And then a meta... It's a lot of baggage."
She waved her free hand to dismiss the notion, a smile creeping onto her lips again. "So, this is a fresh start. Also, America is ridiculously oppressed compared to the UK. I wanted a firm that let me specialise in discrimination cases against meta-humans, and that's not really a thing here yet. At least, not to the degree I plan on taking it to." Her overconfident smile melted into a knowing one, like somewhere in her head were master plans to an empire Olivia couldn't even dream of. To keep herself quiet, she forced another sip of her drink.
Olivia wasn't entirely sure what game they were playing so she kept quiet and gave a small uncertain smile. Besides, she was a lot more interested in the answer to her question. And what she got was definitely a lot more than she bargained for.
Teddy seemed to have dealt with a lot and while Olivia sympathised, she didn't think she should, seeing that Teddy was now a partner in a firm that she didn't buy her way in. The fact that she was exactly what Olivia had been wondering about made it all the worst. For her. She was getting way into Teddy than she thought was appropriate. The last time she had been this interested in someone was when she was in her early twenties. He had been handsome, successful, confident and gentle with her. Somehow, Teddy was more than that.
She blinked as she realised Teddy was still talking. Olivia leaned back against her chair and studied the other woman curiously. "Yet?"
Teddy studied her for a spare second of silence. She looked with bright blue eyes that narrowed on a target as she mentally weighed the pros and cons of letting someone so new into an idea so grand. But the smile she kept seemed so genuine, and it only grew in passing moments. She'd always been a good judge of character, and she couldn't count herself out just yet.
"Well, it's all well and good to represent people in a meta-human cultural hub." She reasoned. She could easily argue that the greater population around them were high school students turned college students who never left. Or those who found it so safe that they flocked to it. "But what about the rest of the country? What about places outside this scope? Should we really confine ourselves to helping those who live here specifically?"
The scope was so small. She felt the corner of her mouth twinge like she wanted to frown, but she refused to give the expression any kind of attention. "I'll get on a jet tomorrow and fly to the corners of this country to help whoever I can. I don't care if it comes out of my pocket to do it." Confidence poured from her words like they were bathed in it. If there was one thing she knew, it was that her plan was a good one. A worthy one. She just needed to tack the right people to it.
Olivia took Teddy's silence as one of contemplation, despite her anxiety telling her that she had been rude to her boss. Being familiar with your superior didn't often pan out. But she kept steady in her resolve and was rewarded with an answer she didn't anticipate.
She didn't hide her smile as Teddy quite passionately stated her case to expand her judicial reach. She honestly couldn't do anything except breathe out a sigh of awe.
Those bright eyes stared back at her newfound counterpart; the one she was quickly beginning to consider something of a friend, if that were possible. Teddy too knew the dangers of getting remotely close to anyone in the workplace. Everyone knew that.
"Was it too much?" Teddy asked her immediately. Even she knew such a laid out plan could be overwhelming. Surely, it was something she should have confessed over a desk, not a dinner table.
"Sorry, I-" She started, offering the first falter in her perfect persona in the form of a sharp, sudden pause. An apologetic smile followed it; "I shouldn't talk so much about work. I've heard that before."
The smile on Olivia's face dropped slightly before holding a hand up to stop Teddy from backtracking. "Absolutely not no." She shook her head, her hand already reaching out to grab Teddy's as an offer of comfort.
She then caught herself and retracted her hand, balling it into a fist on her lap as her cheeks heated up.
"No, I think..." she took a deep, quiet breath and licked her lips before continuing as her thoughts calmed down. "I think that's a great idea. The firm obviously knew what they were doing when they got you on board." Olivia smiled gently, a touch of shyness lacing the expression.
"I'm glad I'm working under someone with this much conviction."
There was no way Teddy's eyes would miss the way a hand considered reaching out for her. She didn't need to look directly at it for the motion to be caught by her superhuman expertise. Her eyes widened a touch, but not for the action. She only really noticed when it didn't happen. There wasn't a single strand of unfamiliar contact, but she was beginning to blush.
Even Teddy couldn't help the way her eyes briefly trailed towards her mouth within the break of her sentence. She forced her eyes back up a second later, content to give attention where it was due.
"I'm glad you think so." She replied, exhaling a small breath in relief. "It's very easy to lose sight of why you start in a business like this. A lot of that has to do with money." Fortunately, she came from a family where that was never an issue, so there was never anything to get so overwhelmed by.
"And who knows, in five years it might be you with the next innovative legal practice."
Olivia had been a paralegal for eight years now. Ever since she started, she hadn't ever lost sight of why she did it. Sure, it fluctuated between the fantasy of being able to do what the people in TV do and to actually helping attorneys win cases but the core of it was that she knew what she did was important for other people. That she managed to get a job to help people who, God forbid, might include her niece and nephew was a lucky break.
Admittedly, however, the money did help.
Olivia smiled and ducked her head in embarrassment before forcing herself to look at her dinner mate. "You have an uncanny ability to make me feel a lot more confident about myself than I ought to be." Olivia responded, a hand sliding around the back of her neck.
"Are you the only meta in your family?" Olivia asked after taking a sip from her bottle.
"It always helps to have someone who believes in you." Teddy mused aloud. Though, if she were to be honest, she didn't consider herself all that special. She could have been just about anyone.
Shaking her head, Teddy considered how much of an anomaly the lack of a meta gene line felt. "My brother is currently at St. Bethany, but neither of my parents were meta-humans." The sanctity of St. Bethany for her brother was the only reason she was so willing and able to leave the country in the first place.
"What about you? You must have someone you care about who has one of these unique abilities."
Olivia believed that sentiment as well. Cam was that person for her growing up. Not having him around was a bit of a bummer but at least Kenny filled the gap.
She perked up a little when Teddy revealed that she had a brother. Immediately, Olivia began to imagine how the woman sitting across from her was like with her sibling.
When the question turned back to her, Olivia's smile softened and she nodded. Teddy was forthcoming about her family life and they were outside of the office. It wouldn't hurt to divulge the information, would it?
"Two someones, actually. My niece and nephew. She's in college at Bellefonte right now, she's the reason why I moved here." Olivia nodded and startled when the waitress appeared with their food. She leaned back so she could place the plate on the table in front of her and once she did the same for Teddy, Olivia asked for another bottle of beer before thanking her.
She had been so consumed in her conversation with Teddy that she didn't realise she was hungry until the food was in front of her. Her stomach gave a slow rumble and she chuckled. She looked up at Teddy as she picked up her cutlery. "Bon appetit." She smiled before cutting into her food.
Teddy knew without a prompt that this woman had people who were important to her who were the same as she was. Her interest and drive to make things better for them had been a point of difference in their first meeting. Of course, everyone she spoke to cared, but there was a depth to her explanation that felt selfless. Her unique status in a room full of people with advanced abilities made it so.
When most people heard of a niece and nephew, they assumed they were much younger. College at Bellefonte put her in a completely different age bracket. Immediately, Teddy started to wonder just how old Olivia was. Then again, her own brother was over ten years younger than her. It wasn't that odd.
She offered a brief look to the food placed before her, humour etched in her expression when she spoke.
"You moved here for someone else?" She asked then, nodding her head once as she took the information in; "Did they ask you to, or did you just decide?"
The question brought a small smile to Olivia's face and she shrugged. Teddy seemed to have a distinct way of asking questions that made Olivia feel like she expected more out of Olivia. Like Olivia should ask for more out of life. She couldn't explain it really.
"A little bit of both. After what happened 3 years ago...with my niece transferring, my sister got a little worried and I volunteered to come here." Olivia took a bite of her food and a contemplative look came over her face. "I'm glad I did." She said, trying hard not to look at Teddy before taking another bite.
Taking a deep breath, she finally looked at her counterpart and smiled. "I normally talk this candidly with my family. I hope you're okay with that."
Catching sight of her smile, Teddy immediately felt how good it was to reassure her. Now, she was invested in trying to figure out why that was a necessity. It wasn't that it was bad, just something of an anomaly about her.
"I don't mind." Teddy offered her with a encouraging smile. "If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't ask." Though she always seemed polite, even she had her limits. Her time was usually precious and she was never one to waste it.
Pausing in her meal, she reached for the glass to take another small, slow drink. "That's quite the generous choice, Olivia." Teddy pointed out, as if she didn't know that already. She easily guessed that this woman wouldn't see her decision as generous, let alone self-sacrificing. Perhaps it was a matter of perspective. For Teddy, she believed Olivia didn't see the positive depths to her decisions. "To me, it's selfless." Especially considering everything about her own move felt so selfish in comparison. "So to me, it speaks quite highly for the kind of person you are."
