ONCE BURNED was made by MEL. Copying, altering, or stealing any of the site's content is prohibited. All of ONCE BURNED's characters are the original work of their owners and may not be replicated or stolen. All images and graphics belong to their rightful owners and ONCE BURNED does not claim to own any of them.
For someone who looked so perfectly poised and professional, the power behind her hands offered another side to her. Each sound that escaped her lips was perfection voiced; each strained breath she took ripped the air from her own lungs.
The smile worn drew out one from Natalie as well, and when her gaze shifted up from those lips, she caught a set of bright blue eyes - powerful in every sense of the word. She opened her mouth, wishing to offer something, but all that she managed was a harsh exhale. Anything her mind could draw up to say wouldn't do justice to the erratic beating in her chest.
Teddy didn't need perfect eyes to capture every detail of the expression given to her. The weight of it worked in tandem with unknown silence that she herself saw no need to interrupt. Whatever it was she might have wanted to say didn't look like something she'd found the words for, and there was no point breaching that thought process.
Her hands shifted up the length of her back, pressed against her shoulder blades. Though she would sorely miss the imperative eye contact, the pressure she added worked to ease the trainer down against her own body to rest.
Once settled into it, she realized that silence wasn't something to be bothered why. It filled the air between them without a need to be broken. Her spine curved to the feeling of growingly familiar hands traversing along the length of her back. Gentle pressure eased her down, and she eased herself down. A shoulder hit the mattress, limbs tangling with the lawyer's. Her head ducked down, lips pressing to the mark just below her collar bone before she drew her closer, were it even possible.
Dark eyes fluttered shut as she became content listening to staggering breaths, a hand resting against her chest.
Wide awake, bright eyes stared at the ceiling. Without any kind of light on in the apartment, the only light was provided by the natural wonders of the city, colliding with the moon sprawling through the sheer fabric over the window. She let her fingertips barely brush against her shoulder, drawing uneven patterns across every inch she could easily reach. Breathing lulled to a settled nature, but it was still hard to stop the elevated rhythm of her heart. Never for a moment could she forget she was in present, distracting company.
She opened her mouth with the intent to speak, but it was still one of those things; she didn't quite know what to say. Anything weighted and profound was completely gone from her mind, replaced by a simplicity she wasn't often used to. Her mind was used to traveling steps ahead of the game, not being situated right in the middle of it.
"Where are you from?" She asked lightly, like anything above a gentle tone could shatter everything.
Idle shapes painted across her shoulder were gentle in nature, but they kept her pulse at a high. Her attentive nature was overwhelming, even in the quietest of moments as they settled against a bed. Her eyes remained shut, but she couldn't consider sleep an option when she could barely feel the twitch of a pulse beneath her palm.
The question drew a slow smile out of Natalie, in part because she hadn't expected it at all. "New Hampshire." She explained lightly. "It was incredibly boring there." It felt like the best descriptor for her home state. She still couldn't grasp why her parents were so happy settling there.
New Hampshire. For someone not prone to the states, it didn't ring any major bells. Teddy didn't have a single outreach case there, and it wasn't a major place. She figured that out already, but the little additive about it cemented that idea for her pretty easily. It was nice to know. It was nice to be able to ask.
"No trips to New Hampshire, then." She said, offering a small laugh after the thought. It left her mouth on an airy breath, and she was sure to feel it in her fingertips, settled as they were on her chest.
"Your name. Do people give you nicknames?" Teddy started again, closing her eyes to the dim and boring nature of her own pale white ceiling. It was an easy name to shorten, so she had to ask; "What do you prefer to be called?"
A laugh, however small, drew an amused smile out of the trainer. The motion brought her fingertips to life, tracing gently along Teddy's skin along her collar bone. Though she'd never tell someone to never visit the state she grew up in, it humored her to think that she crossed it off any potential list Teddy might have had for business. She doubted there could be enough going on to even warrant someone with such class and power showing up.
And another question came forth, this time drawing her eyes open. Proximity made it impossible to even look at the lawyer, but she could at least follow the path her own hand was taking. "Nat is pretty common, but it's interchangeable." Despite it being a core of her identity, she found no harm in either form of her name. "I imagine Teddy is short for something." She lead into. "How'd you develop that nickname?"
Teddy should have known the question would follow suit. She let herself be overwhelmingly distracted by the small amount of her form that hand dared to trace over. It forced her chest to rise with a slow, forced inhale, drawing in far more than she needed.
"Theodora. Eden James." She gave it all away so easily. Her full name was something she often held so close due to her natural feelings and instincts about it, but it seemed so fair. "But when I was younger I didn't like how it all sounded. I grew to appreciate it when I was older, but by that time, an entire practice and world knew me as Teddy, so I kept it."
The urge to look at her again was overwhelming. Though her eyes drew open, she knew a move was going to sever the connection she liked so much. "That's why I asked what you prefer. I don't like to use nicknames if people don't choose them." She explained, hoping it made a little sense with context.
She'd honestly never met a person that went by the nickname, and when Natalie received much more than the lengthened version, her eyebrows rose. If that wasn't the textbook definition of a classy name, she didn't know what was, and as an explanation followed she could only imagine how a child would dislike something so professional sounding. The concept of choosing your own nickname made her consider for the first time which she might prefer - it was often given without thought of her opinion, and the trainer never stopped to consider it.
"Do you call yourself Teddy because it's the norm for you, then?" She asked. Given that she learned to appreciate her name for what it was, she still introduced herself as Teddy. Moving to a new country, she'd have the chance to change the way she was referred to, if she wished it.
Profound momentum was the result of the question asked. No one had ever really asked Teddy that before. Truthfully, few people cared to dig deeper into the idea of chosen names over given names. "That's who I am." She replied. It was all she could think to say. It felt right in its own way. It had its own weight and purpose in her line of work, but she didn't want to bore her with the explanation.
So instead, she sunk lower into the bed, easing an arm back and twisting to face her instead. There was little most could see in the light provided, but she had no such issue. Reaching down, she dragged the pool of crisp white sheets up to provide at least a little cover for her counterpart before she settled back on the pillow now shared.
"You can call me either." She declared then, a hand at her waist to keep her just as close.
As much as she wanted to keep close with her, the shift offered a little bit of clarity. In darkness, she couldn't make out any details, but that wasn't for a lack of trying. Sheets offered a comfort, and Natalie couldn't handle how caring this woman was. Every move she made seemed to carry purpose.
Her arm ended up resting against her hip, fingertips drawing around her form and tracing patterns against her spine. There was so much desire to keep a connection - the form beneath her hands deserved the utmost appreciation.
"Teddy, then." Natalie eventually decided to land on, the corner of her mouth drawing upward. She liked the way it sounded on her own lips. "Because that's who you are."
Attention felt drawn to the hand that settled on her own body again. The constant reminder that she wanted to maintain a connection was distracting. But she was willing to stay, and remembering that this woman wanted to do that did everything to calm any worry Teddy could have carried.
It was true; her name did sound good when she said it. She could have called her anything at that point and she would have loved it.
Drawing her hand up, she easily settled it against the side of her face. Something about the smile she gave in such darkness felt more personal. Leaning through the break, she followed the overwhelming urge to kiss her again, keeping the connection light.
Every ounce of contact was cherished. A palm to the side of her cheek had Natalie melting against the connection, and when she felt the press of perfect lips against her own, her pulse jumped, regardless of how gentle she was.
It felt loving - if two strangers could somehow manage that so easily.
She inched herself closer, were it possible given their proximity. Anything to be completely enveloped in this entity.
"Natalie Illana Arazi." She offered back, letting her lips brush against hers as she offered her own full name.
The smallest shuffle in space between them was instantly recognised, even if there was next to nothing left to steal. Teddy herself didn't pull away, and she didn't feel an ounce of backward movement from her counterpart. There was comfort in that unspoken revelation.
Reciprocation to a full name was finally given, and despite the fact that she hadn't asked for it, she appreciated it nonetheless. It felt fair; everything about this evening carried an equal exchange, so being forthright about names only seemed to fit that.
"Is that a native New Hampshire surname?" She asked, offering the smallest semblance of a laugh after the fact.
It only felt fair to offer her name in its entirety to the lawyer - but just as importantly, she wanted to give it to her. She deserved anything Natalie could offer, and the response she was given drew a little laugh out of the trainer. She probably had one of the least common names in the whole state, given it's Caucasian population. "My parents moved here from Israel before I was born," she offered as an explanation.
Humor shone in her features. "I can imagine the only name that could be native to New Hampshire is something like Smith." Her own joke drew another laugh out of her.
