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In this instance, it was likely a good thing that her parents lived so far away. Were it their way, they would have already arranged dinner or something to meet her. The Arazi family could be a little much, at times - as much as she loved them. At the first sign of steps taken in her direction, she was moving, too. At least, to meet her part way.
"I told them about your line of work, and that you moved here from England. And that you make me happy." Facts that were easy to list off. "My father was so happy to realize you were a woman," she added with a laugh. "He said something on the lines of it's about time I figured that out."
Steps were now being taken in her direction, and magnetism was quick to take hold. There was no where else to look but at the person who deemed her worthy enough to speak about to immediate family.
Teddy had to laugh at the final statement she used. It was more than enough to be labelled as someone who made her happy. "I forgot what all that was like, honestly." She admitted. That was never a conversation she'd had with her parents. Everyone just knew and they was better for it.
When she reached her, Teddy moved to take hold of her hand, interlocking their fingers together. "Most people aren't so quick to want to settle with one person once they realise what they actually like." She explained lightly; "It's like a whole new world; so I've been told."
It was interesting to hear Teddy's story. How it was never really even discussed, but rather just accepted. It helped the trainer paint a picture of the lawyer's parents. A hand intertwined with her own brought her even closer as she squeezed it, the opposite settling on Teddy's waist.
She hummed at the thought process she admittedly never considered before then. If only because she found herself so wrapped up in the first. "What if you're just lucky?"
The connection she made wasn't ignored, and Teddy knew it would only lead to more. She had done her best to fracture her attention to align with something other than the physical pull of another person, but she failed. A second hand at her waist was trying to drag her back in against her own current, and she knew she was weak enough to give up eventually.
Natalie's response was a lighter tease, one that dragged a knowing smile from the lawyer before she dropped her gaze. Nothing about this side of a discussion was simple or easy, but someone with a refined enough approach should have been able to handle it. It was just another form of negotiation.
"If your last bench mark to a successful connection was with a man, you have no idea what you were missing out on. Everything is going to seem other-worldly." She started, offering a slight pull with her hand.
"Show me your office." She said then. Lithe, yet the edge carried an almost insistent undertone.
It was so easy to be drawn towards Teddy. She had a magnetic pull that Natalie couldn't help but to be drawn into, and she wanted to be pulled into. The hand on her waist circled to the small of her back, inching her just a little bit closer.
She had to laugh, at least a little for the way Teddy worded herself. "You don't give yourself enough credit." She responded. It felt important that she needed to know it couldn't be broken down so simply. But she complied with the request made of her, taking steps back as she held on to her hand to guide her towards a door in the corner of the room.
"And you're also implying that I've had a genuine connection with a man." She thought to add, eyebrows rising upwards as she twisted the handle to the door. Inside was a small, but personal office, decirated mostly by the plant life.
Small steps were taking her back towards the corner of the room, and given it was her own request, she complied with ease. Teddy took the time to listen to the words offered, realising quickly that her assumptions had been wrong. Sure, they'd briefly touching on this kind of topic when they first met, but there was little clarity in those words. Nothing like this.
She remained silent as she stepped into the small space. Intrigue had caught her focus given how important she knew this little place could be to most.
"It was just a guess." She said finally, not quite willing to let her hand go just yet. "I never asked because it's not really my business." And it felt like a lifetime ago in situations like this, despite all potential relevance.
Her office was the one place in all of the academy that offered true privacy for the trainer. Even so, her door was almost always open for students to come in any time she wasn't preoccupied with training. The wooden desk was old but sturdy, a laptop sitting on top while her bag rested in her chair. She pulled Teddy in further into the space, using her free hand to extend towards a picture frame. Fingers curled around it, turning it to offer a photo of her family, animals and parents surrounding Natalie. "This was from when they visited a couple years ago."
She let the image settle a little longer before she looked back up at the lawyer. "You can ask me anything, any time you want." She said responded finally. "And I know this is probably helping you more than it is me on the subject of things being new, but I never really have been in a relationship before. Not one that was serious, at least. Nobody had ever seemed... right."
Teddy allowed herself to be drawn in; easy steps had her following the woman who held her hand like she owned it. And she let her eyes drop to the picture shown to her, giving faces to the individuals who she wouldn't quickly forget, given her eyes. It was a true family photo; the kind that was easily heart-warming.
"I have no problem with you being new." She pointed out quickly. That was hardly something to hold against her, and she needed to make that obvious.
"What would you consider your longest relationship?" She asked then, given she was free to do so.
Her gaze cast down to the photo briefly. She recalled how her father struggled with the timer on his camera in order to get the shot, but it came out perfect in its own way. She smiled a little before setting it down back on her desk, eyes drawing back towards the lawyer. There was relief in knowing that there wasn't an issue with being new to not just her own realization, but to finding closeness with another person. Given their age, there should have been somebody by now.
"A few months," she denoted, after a little bit of thought. She couldn't deny her an honest answer now by any means. "I often found it hard to connect." And she wondered now if that would have changed had she started paying attention to her own gender rather than the opposite.
Scepticism for someone so new to all this was natural. It seemed that when it came to her choices in this country, Teddy simply couldn't avoid it. But just as it was with Olivia, she did her best not to hold that potential for ignorance against her. Thus far, Natalie had never come across as someone who didn't seem to know what they were doing. She was perfect.
"So, you find that there's a distinct difference between dating based on gender?" She asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't as if she had a point of reference. It wasn't like she could truly count herself lucky, but she might have represented her own gender impressively.
Natalie took no issue with any question that Teddy threw her way, and she oaused with the one that was currently offered to her, giving it the thought it truly deserved. That she deserved. Because she wondered if it could so simply be defined by gender, despite how obvious it was now which she was attracted to.
"Yes, to an extent." She answered honestly. "With men, there was always a kind of authority that came with gender, no matter how outdated those thoughts are. "I felt as if I had to try and shape myself to their needs, and I was never comfortable with doing that."
She glanced away, eyes falling on a succulent that lived in her window. "You, on the other hand, make it so easy. I'm just me." Slowly, a smile began to play about her lips. "But I also am aware not all women are like you, either."
Authority based by gender was the best descriptive term Teddy could think of. It sounded so clever coming out of her mouth that she must have looked a little impressed. There was an easy relief in sharing such an important sentiment. Sympathetic eyes watched over her as she continued to explain herself, even if she couldn't catch her gaze anymore.
"You should never feel the need to change a single thing about you." She explained finally. Of course, they were such obvious words to give. "Everything about you is worthwhile."
"Besides, it's not hard to be better than the last person you were with." Teddy pointed out, leaning in a fraction to give the news like it was some secret.
Of course Teddy would say that. She was perfectly affectionate in her response, and Natalie sucked in a small breath, holding on to it as she squeezed the hand that had originally taken her own. She was lucky to be in the company of the lawyer.
When Lena was brought up, Natalie shook her head a little. It was admittedly still hard to see the dancer during her usual yoga classes; things had yet to mend. "I don't know if she even knows what she's looking for." Her shoulders rose and fell with a shrug. "You're different though."
Though Teddy had no real desire to linger in the idea of another person, she had to make an easy assumption to draw the point Natalie was trying to make. Sure, he supposed on some level that Lena counted as something in the trainer's history, but it sounded more like a minor blip than a legitimate spike.
"You? Bitter? Shocking." She had to tease her for it. Any negative emotion didn't suit her expressions, and that little comment might have been as far as she was able to go. Easing through the minimal distance, she took her potential current stance as a friend for granted and pressed herself in close.
"I thought you found her worthy of staying close to."
A word used to describe her feelings made the trainer's eyes go wide. She wasn't sure if she would call herself bitter over the idea, but a teasing tone took away the heaviness of it, as did the way Teddy eased herself in closer. Naturally, Natalie followed her movements, a hand pressing lightly to the lawyer's shoulder. Fingertips brushed along the expensive fabric as she shook her head before words could even find her.
"I thought I did - I mean, I wanted things to fall back to how they had used to be as friends." Her lips pressed together; she didn't want to hold anything against her former friend. "But it's like that idea that I can't be myself around her, or like I'm letting her down because I can't be what she wants."
